May 6, 2021 - News & Notes
From The Desk Of Principal Kerr

Yesterday we celebrated our Blessed Mother Mary with a special Mass that included a May crowning led by our 8th grade class. They prepared a beautiful liturgy, processing in with blue and white flowers, and placing a floral crown on the Mary statue. They also led the Mass readings, prayers and did the cantoring. It was a beautiful Mass! Many thanks to Mrs. Hinker, Mrs. Murray and our 8th graders!
Mrs. Olmanson delivered eggs and incubators to the kindergarten and 1st grade classes this week. We are looking forward to seeing them hatch and hearing the little peepers in the classrooms. What a great opportunity for the kids to see the chicks hatching up close and in person! We’ll keep you posted on the progress.


Our teachers have been feeling very appreciated this week! Thank you to everyone who has brought in treats, written notes, and expressed your gratitude for their work this year. The PTO represented the parent community by providing many goodies throughout the week, and today they brought in beautiful hanging planters for the faculty. These gestures are all appreciated especially this year!

This week is also nurse appreciation week, and we are so blessed to have Hayley Kulstad helping guide us through our year. Her job took on even more importance as she was the keeper of the COVID tracking information. She has calmly and steadily led us through a few dicey moments (OK maybe more than a few), and we appreciate her greatly!

Ms. Raske, one of our first grade teachers will not be returning next year. She is resigning at the end of the school year to pursue other opportunities. Her grace under pressure this year, and her willingness to pivot when personnel adjustments were necessary were truly a blessing to the St. Michael community. We wish her all the best in future endeavors, and especially in her wedding this summer!

May is quite the month for educators and parents of school aged children. I like to call it December on steroids! Please hold one another in prayer and assume that we all are trying to do our best to slay May!

I shared this wisdom from Teddy Roosevelt with the teachers this week:
It is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong person stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if one fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that one’s place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Enjoy your weekend and happy Mother’s Day to all our St. Michael Moms! You deserve some pampering on Sunday--we’ll remind the kids before they leave Friday! God bless, go Blues and go Gophers!

Mrs. Kerr
Final PTO Meeting Tonight
May 6, 6:30-7:30pm

You are cordially invited to attend in-person or virtually for our final PTO meeting for this school year! 

Join us in-person at St Michael’s in the multi purpose room (enter through the flagpole door). 
Virtually - join us on Google Meet - 
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 650-535-0951‬ PIN: ‪476 193 220‬#

Agenda:
Welcome
Opening Prayer
Introductions
School update - Mrs Kerr
Event planning - Next year marathon, gala, etc.
Volunteer info and opportunities
Family picnic update 
SAC Update
Questions
Closing Prayer

We are also looking for committee members for our PTO. Email for more info: parentconnections@saintmpl.org
Last Friday our students held a fundraiser in remembrance of Rhonda Zweber who passed away last Wednesday. They raised over $700 by offering students a chance to be out of uniform and wearing pink in honor of the Pink Prayer Warriors, a group founded by Rhonda. They are a group who assist and pray for those whose lives have been touched by cancer. Rhonda Zweber’s Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated tomorrow at St. Michael at 11:00.
Wednesday Early Dismissal Childcare Time June 2021
Please let us know if your child(ren) will need Wednesday Early Dismissal Care (12:15 - 2:15) in June by completing this form as soon as possible, and no later than Saturday, May 15, 2021. We are offering this for families who do not have other options available for Wednesday afternoons. If you are able to have your child come home at 12:15, please do so, as the teachers are finding the Wednesday afternoon planning especially necessary this year.

If you are picking up your child before 2:15, we ask that you call the office so that one of our staff members can bring your child safely to their car line pickup zone.

In order to ensure proper staffing and the safety of all students we request no late enrollment.

Please complete one form per student.
It truly takes a village to raise and educate our children, and we have an awesome volunteer village here at St. Michael. Many important fundraisers, extracurriculars, classroom activities, and staff appreciation efforts are run by our parent and community volunteers. Our Student Advisory Council (SAC) and PTO members provide support to the administrative team and teachers in countless important ways; classroom, lunchroom, and recess volunteers help us meet the needs of our children and keep things running smoothly; and the awesome teams who run our fundraising and social events, and welcome new families as ambassadors help us advance the mission of our school. We appreciate all the help we receive and recognize the sacrifices parents make for the benefit of our school and our children. We are planning ahead to next school year and have many opportunities for volunteers. Please see the link below to sign up. God bless you and thank you!

SAVE THE DATE!
Plan to join us for our Family Picnic on Thursday, May 27th!
It's Time to Order School Supplies for 2021-22!
Make sure to order your supply kit now so you don’t have to run from store to store in August!
Orders placed by June 10, 2021 will ship directly to school FREE and arrive before school starts in September. Supply kits can be customized by removing items or adding additional supplies as needed.
Register for Summer Adventures Plus 2021 

NEW THIS SUMMER 
Summer Adventures Plus (SAP) is open for ages 4 and older. 
Limited spaces are available. Registration is required.
Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday 8:00 am-4:00 pm
SAP reserves the right to close due to lack of enrollment.
SAP will be open June 14-August 20
PLEASE NOTE: SAP will be closed the week of July 5-July 9 for routine building maintenance.
Fees
Registration Fee – $60 per child
Session Fee – $50
All fees will be billed via TADS Billing Management
Why choose our program? 
Each week a new theme will be introduced. The following special events and activities will tie in with each weekly theme.
-Community service project
-Spiritual theme and bible verse
-Virtual or in-person field trips

For more information please see the Summer Adventures Plus Handbook or visit the school website. Please direct questions to Julie Herbst at advplus@saintmpl.org or 612-619-7484.
Junior Leader Opportunity
Summer Tutors
Don't let learning stop over the summer!

  • Summer tutoring provides an opportunity to review difficult material.
  • Working with a tutor during the summer helps students retain past content for a smooth transition into the following academic year.

Teachers are available to provide summer tutoring to students. Please email them directly for more information or to schedule tutoring.

Mrs. Kelley DeGross, K-5 Math and Reading (Orton-Gillingham trained), degross@saintmpl.org
Mrs. Amy Peterson, 1st grade teacher, K-1 Math and Reading,T-W-Th, peterson@saintmpl.org
Ms. Deanna Vochoska, All Grades and All Areas, vochoska@saintmpl.org

Lunch and Recess Volunteers Needed!
Your help is appreciated!

All volunteers must be up to date on Virtus training.
Please visit virtusonline.org to log in or to create an account and complete the required steps to be a volunteer.
COVID-19 Testing for Kids and Families

The MDH announced a recommendation for all youth attending school in-person, and their families to get tested every two weeks through the end of the school year. While it is not a requirement, regular testing complements other safety measures already in place, such as masking and social distancing.

Information and resources are available here: COVID-19 Testing for Kids and Families

Getting tested every two weeks from now until the end of the school year can help keep schools open and sports operating, and ensure we are limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Routine COVID-19 Saliva Testing
The State of Minnesota has provided free COVID-19 test kits for schools so that we can offer COVID-19 tests for all students to take home and return to school to be sent to the lab. Please contact kulstad@saintmpl.org or herbst@saintmpl.org for more information and for the schedule of when tests will be available for pick-up.

In order to slow the spread so that we can continue learning in-person, we encourage every family to take advantage of this opportunity to get their students tested for COVID-19. As long as students don't have symptoms and have not been close to someone with COVID-19, they do not need to stay out of school, sports or activities while awaiting test results. Learn more about student COVID-19 testing.

Minnesota is experiencing high circulation of variants of COVID-19. For example, it is currently estimated that 60% of all COVID-19 cases in Minnesota are the B.1.1.7. variant strain, which is a new version of the virus that spreads more easily. The spread of COVID-19 variants, including B.1.1.7, is contributing to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases statewide in Minnesota and in particular we are seeing more cases concentrated in the school-age population.

Anyone can have COVID-19 and not know it, almost 50% of people with COVID-19 have no symptoms. Getting tested is the best way to know you are healthy and allow us to continue to offer in-person learning and activities, especially with the increasing spread of virus variants in our state.

This testing program is intended to help identify asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 so that we can prevent further spread. If students are experiencing any symptoms, they should stay home, and get a test from one of Minnesota's free community testing sites or through their health care provider.

At any time, any Minnesotan can order a test kit to be sent directly to their home, through a program offered by the Minnesota Department of Health. Once you have completed the test, you can drop off the test kit at school to be sent to the lab every other Thursday. Please check with the school nurse for the schedule.

Additionally, all youth in grades 6-12 who are participating in club or school sports are strongly encouraged to get tested at least once per week for COVID-19. Learn more on the Stay Safe Minnesota – Organized Sports webpage.

Thank you,
St. Michael Catholic School COVID-19 Committee
School Office: (952) 447-2124
Fax: (952) 447-2132
24/7 Absentee Line: (952) 447-2230