School News for Feb 8-14, 2024

A Note from Mr. Fuerte

Dear Families,

We had a wonderful Catholic Schools’ Week and from the faculty and staff, we want to say, “Thank you”. The week began with Catholic Schools’ Week Masses where our students served in many roles such as Ministers of the Word, cantors, essay readers, musicians, instrumentalists, and altar servers. Special thanks to our 2nd grade students, teachers, and families for being greeters and ushers at the masses. We had a free dress day, no homework night, and students wrote letters of gratitude to their parents Fr. Gary and Fr. N. Teachers and staff were appreciated by room parents and families. The Parents’ Club provided lunch for the staff on Wednesday, and we ended with crazy hair day. The teachers and staff of St. Louise are so grateful for all of our wonderful families and students. What a way to celebrate St. Louise and Catholic Schools’ Week. 

Thank you to those of you who have quickly returned your re-enrollment paperwork and paid your annual registration fee - you beat the price increase from $125 to $250, which will be instituted this Tuesday, February 13th, 2024. If you have yet to re-enroll for the 2024-25 school year, please do so by no later than, Monday, February 12th, so to save yourself $125! Follow these easy steps to complete your current student’s re-enrollment and register your new siblings:

1. Pay your re-enrollment fee here
2. Complete and sign the Parent Contract that was emailed to you on January. Email the office if you need it re-sent to you.
3. Complete the Skyward re-enrollment by logging into your parent Skyward account here. (needs a link)

Ash Wednesday

At 9:00AM on Wednesday, February 14th, 2024, the school attends Mass with parishioners where everyone receives ashes on their foreheads as symbols of penance and as reminders of Jesus's suffering and our own mortality. Please join us on Ash Wednesday at 9:00 AM; you may join your children outside their classrooms or by the flagpole at 8:40AM.

Lent

Lent is so important to Christians as a time for us to model Jesus' 40 days in the desert with our own 40 days of preparing our hearts for the joy and promise of Easter. If Jesus can fast for 40 days, Noah can be in the Ark for 40 days, and Moses can go up on Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments for 40 days, it's not too much to ask for us to spend 40 days focusing intently on turning away from sin and being faithful to the Gospel message. Just be thankful that the Lenten season is counted in days instead of years. After all, the practice could have been that we needed to model the Israelites, who wandered around the desert for 40 YEARS! 

At St. Louise School, the students, teachers, and staff spend 40 days engaging in the traditional Lenten practices of fasting & abstinence, good deeds & almsgiving, and prayer & reflection. Our parish also has many liturgies and activities taking place during the Lenten seasons. Please see the schedule of St. Louise Parish and School Lenten events at the end of this bulletin for all the ways you and your children can make the upcoming 40 days a meaningful period of growth in our faith.

The school community begins Lent on Ash Wednesday by foregoing our usual hearty lunches and partaking in a simple lunch consisting of rice and beans and a 1/2 pint of milk. Then, the money which each student and staff member would have normally spent on creating or purchasing a hearty lunch is donated to the New Bethlehem Programs and Standing with Haiti. We are suggesting that each student bring $5 cash which we will donate to the New Bethlehem Programs and Standing with Haiti. ($5 is a guesstimate of how much would have been spent on their usual more filling lunch. Your child can always donate more.) New Bethlehem Programs serve families with K-12 children who are experiencing homelessness and will be the recipient of our school community's almsgiving this year. Standing with Haiti is helping our sister school St. Anne de Hyacinthe School in Haiti. Your kids will hear more from both programs in the coming weeks. 

School liturgies taking place in Lent besides our Ash Wednesday service include:

• Grade 3-4 Students' Confessions on February 28, 10:30AM
• Grade 7-8 Students' Confessions on March 20, 10:30AM
• Standing for Haiti Mass on March 7, 2024 (Grades 4-8) 9:00AM
• Stations of the Cross School Prayer Service on March 11 for PK-3 (11AM) and 5-8 (1:05PM),
• Holy Thursday Prayer Service on March 28, 9:00AM

Have a Great Weekend!

Mike Fuerte

Announcements

Tuesday Testimonials

Be sure to follow St. Louise School on Facebook and Instagram, then like and share our Tuesday Testimonial posts for a chance to win a limited edition glassybaby, or charger card!

Help us spread the word about St. Louise School!

Used Uniform & Dennis Uniform Sale!

Need Uniforms? Save the date for our Used Uniform Sale - Tuesday, February 13 from 2-4pm

If you want to buy any new uniform items, DENNIS is having a 25% off sale on logo items such as sweaters and fleece. Visit the Dennis Uniform store here and use our school code XTL420.

Please note that while we are changing uniform suppliers for next year, ALL DENNIS UNIFORMS WILL STILL BE ALLOWED. There is no need to buy new uniform items from Lands' End unless you need to.

Chargers C.A.R.E. | SLE of the Month

SLE of the Month – January (Class Updates)

(1.1)          A St. Louise Student is an Active Christian Who Seeks to develop a personal relationship with God as demonstrated by living out Gospel values and participating in liturgies, sacraments, and daily prayer.

(2.1)     A St. Louise Student is a Life-Long Learner Who Demonstrates a solid academic foundation while using problem solving techniques, technology, critical thinking and study skills.

During the month of January, second graders have been studying the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. They have been talking about God’s love for us and to have peace with him by recognizing our sins and asking for forgiveness. They are preparing for their first confession, as part of their journey to their First Communion. Weekly, they write in their personal journals, conversations with God. This is their special one-on-one time to personally communicate with God, to thank him for our blessings and to ask for guidance and forgiveness.  

In Mrs. Green’s library class, the fourth-grade students researched a person of faith through books and articles, using the library catalog, Destiny, as well as Gale in Context Elementary, a new research database available to all students at St Louise. These students also learned how to create bibliography citations for the books and articles that they read.

SLE of the Month – February

(4.1)     A St. Louise Student is A Community Member Who Honors the gifts of others and values the dignity of each person. 

Congratulations to St. Louise students Andre, Robert, Maria Jane, Sofia, Matias, Charlie, Alexis, Lauren, Jane & Eliza, who were confirmed last weekend at MQP with Bishop Elizondo, Fr. Chad and Deacon Marco.

Parents in Prayer Group

We are starting a Parents in Prayer group, so that interested parents can join together to pray for our children and the needs of our school community.

Please contact Laura Bonner (lmebonner@live.com) if you are interested in joining.

Parents' Club News - Charger Cards

Mark your Calendar!

Charger Shout-Outs - Type-A-Thon & Speech Team

Congratulations to 5B student Jerrell for winning the Type-A-Thon and to other the 136 students who participated this year! Together they typed for a whopping total of 63,119 minutes / 1,052 hours! Thanks Mrs. Flaat for putting on such a fun AND educational event.

Type-A-Thon 2024 Top 15

1. Jerrell - 5B
2. Mariluz - 5A
3. Josh - 5A
4. Alice - 6B
5. Telwin - 5A
6. Jethro - 6B
7. Henry - 3B
8. Rachel - 5A
9. Idara - 6B
10. Emma - 5B
11. Amelia - 5A
12. Renee - 6B
13. Reggie - 5B
14. Fernanda - 5B
15. Ava - 4A

Congratulations to the St. Louise Speech Team who performed exceptionally well at the 2024 Seattle Prep Speech Tournament, finishing in 2nd place overall amongst 16 schools. We are proud of our students for all their hard work in competing against 249 total competitors.

Congratulations to the following category winners and finalists:

Claire C. – 2nd Place in Open Expository and 2nd Place in Open Humorous 

Liam C.– 2nd Place in Open Impromptu 

Ysa E.– 2nd Place in Novice Duo and 3rd Place in Novice Expository 

Lauren D. – 2nd Place in Novice Duo and 3rd Place in Novice Editorial Commentary 

Jaden S. – 2nd Place in Novice Oratory 

Samantha N. and Phoebe G. – 3rd Place in Open Duo 

Bodie S. – Finalist in Open Expository 

Mika C. – Finalist in Open Humorous

Many thanks go out to the parents and alumni who served as coaches this year, as well as Rebecca Nightingale for her extraordinary Speech Team leadership. Thank you to St. Louise alumni and current Seattle Prep students Ellie Nightingale and Michael Charles for volunteering at the tournament. Also, a big thank you to the following people who judged at the Seattle Prep tournament: Kristy Charles, Ed Nightingale, Rebecca Nightingale, Alex Gallant, Carol Guattare, Sam Craig, JC Renners, Patrick D’Ambrosio, Mike Fuerte, and Julie Sturgill.

We LOVE our Volunteers!

A Note from Fr. Gary & Parish Happenings

See What Happened this Week - Catholic School's Week Wrap-up, Speech, Library Makerspace, Cedar & Salmon, Parachutes with Pre-K

3rd graders worked in teams to create zoo enclosures for an animal (or two) of their choice. For this makerspace, students were inspired by the book, Gingerbread Man Lost in the Zoo, and they worked hard to use growth mindset statements during the process.

4th Grade enjoyed the Of Cedar and Salmon program about Native American Culture thanks to a generous Enrichment Grant from the Parents' Club.

CSW Week Wrap-up - Crazy Hair and Decorated Locker Bays!

Speech Team takes 2nd Place at the Seattle Prep Speech Tournament - Way to go!

The Pre-K students got to watch the 7th grade students test unconventional and conventional parachute designs. The goal was to design a parachute that would stay in the air the longest. This gives our astronaut passenger the most time to observe the wonderful landscape on their descent.  

Thank you St. Louise Sponsors!

Antezana Garvizu Family