Wednesday, January 28, 2015

STM Newsletter

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Dear Parents,

The Family Mass, Book Fair, the school-wide open house and the general spirit of goodwill were a fitting beginning to National Catholic Schools Week at St. Thomas More School. We have accomplished so much here by working together. A special thank you to our teachers, Heidi Haas, Anna Tyaglo, and Julianne Beach for preparing a beautiful Family Mass with the kindergartners and their families. We are so proud of our wonderful kindergarten students. This is a good time to reflect on the benefit of being part of a Catholic school. The strong school community, grounded in a shared faith and the support and high expectations of parents, teachers and the larger community, offers your children a foundation for facing the rapidly changing world around them. By sharing this belief in God's goodness and living out their faith every day, your children are blessed with a clear advantage. Faith provides an anchor that will serve your children well into the future.
 
You are welcome to visit the Book Fair any morning this week before school begins or right after dismissal. Just go straight to the library where Judy Silva and her crew of booksellers will be there to assist you. Check out the wish lists the teachers have prepared of books they would like to have in their classroom libraries. Consider donating a book to your child's classroom. Can't make it to our Book Fair? Check out our Online Book Fair. Click here to purchase books. All orders will ship directly to school for free when the Online Fair has ended.
 
Tomorrow is Grandparents and Special Friends Day! Thank you to the 200+ special guests who have RSVP'd for this fun event. The children are really looking forward to welcoming them to our school. Your children are so lucky to have such special people in their lives.

SPELLING BEE: We invite everyone to join us for our annual Spelling Bee on Friday beginning at 1:00pm in the gym. The following students will be battling it out as they face the many challenging words to become the Spelling Bee Champion!
4th grade - Jacob David, Isabel Sanchez, Eric Duarte
5th grade - Matthew Lim, Ethan Nguyen and Nicoli Panelo
6th grade - Gabe Santos, Aysiah Radoc-Manrique,   Zhari Malig
7th grade - Abbie Atkin, Chris Law, Dylan Limjoco
8th grade - Lara Bautista, Kevin Dunn, Jacqueline Villarosa
CIOPPINO 2015: Work continues in preparation for our BIG fundraiser on Saturday, February 28th. Consider getting together with other parents from your child's class to purchase a table. This event is a lot of fun. Remember, childcare is available for a nominal fee. Please respond as soon as possible as we believe this will be a sell out event again this year. To purchase tickets, please use the flyer you received last week.

DONATIONS NEEDED/FREE DRESS PASS: Thank you to those who donated items last week that we can use in our baskets at Cioppino. We depend on your donations, so please keep them coming! As a bonus, every school parent who buys a ticket or makes a donation (value $20 or more) for Cioppino will receive a FREE DRESS PASS for their child/ren to be used on Monday, March 2nd.
 
PARENT VOLUNTEER HOURS: SIGN UP FOR CIOPPINO NOW! As a reminder, each family is required to volunteer for a minimum of 12 hours for Parents' Club activities. As this is our major fundraiser, we have many volunteer slots available now. Chances to accrue volunteer hours are limited for the rest of the year.
GEOGRAPHY BEE: Congratulations to the recent winner of our annual school Geography Bee. The top three students in each classroom competed for the school championship. Those contestants were:
5th: Diego Ruiz; Matthew Lim; Ryan Buckley
6th: Zack and Jackie Schneider; Gabe Santos
7th: Kailey Solorzano; Sebastian Bernardo; Izzy Androtti
8th: Ryan Lobre and Lara Bautista; Zoe Taylor
The final five, who all bowed out on the same round, were: Diego, Jackie, Kailey, Ryan and Lara. Our school's champ, who will represent us in the statewide competition for the 3rd year running, is 6th grader Zach White. Congratulations to all the contestants and good luck in the next round, champion Zach!
 
USF CLASSES: There are still a few spaces available for students in grades 6 through 8 to work in collaboration with USF graduate students in an exciting course entitled, Digital Media and Learning. This will look great on the resume of students applying for high school next year! Please let Mrs. Fitzpatrick know if you are interested.

RE-REGISTRATION: Re-registration for current students will be online again this year. More information on how to re-register will be available mid-March.

Today you are receiving the February calendar of events and hot lunch menu. Keep these handy as February proves to be a busy month.

STUDENT HOLIDAY: Plan ahead - Please remember that the school will be closed on Friday, February 6th. This is the day set for the annual Archdiocese Professional Development for all Catholic school teachers and administrators.
Sincerely,

Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal
Copyright © 2014 St. Thomas More School, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email from the office of St. Thomas More School.  
Thank you for helping us go green.

Our mailing address is:
50 Thomas More Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
www.stmsf.org

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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

STM Newsletter

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Dear Parents,

Our Catholic faith is central to all that we do at St. Thomas More School. Gospel ideals permeate the substance and structure of lessons prepared by our teachers. Faith is shared through daily prayer and the regular celebration of Mass as a school community and with our families on Sundays. Catholic schools offer an excellent, nurturing, values-centered education in a structured environment. This helps children of all backgrounds realize their fullest potential as human beings.

The Catholic school experience is an unparalleled opportunity to develop a child's mind, heart and soul.

RESPECT LIFE ESSAY CONTEST WINNER: We are proud and pleased to announce that one of our students took a first place prize in the annual Respect Life contest, organized by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Our congratulations go out to Nicoli Panelo, 5th grade, who was awarded first prize in the Fifth and Sixth grade category among San Francisco Catholic schools. Well done Nicoli!

National Catholic Schools Week runs from January 25th through January 31st. Please mark your calendars for our Family Mass, Open House, and Book Fair, and other exciting events this Sunday, January 25th.
 
As a faith community, we will gather together on Sunday, January 25th, at the 10:00am Family Mass. Let's use this opportunity to reflect on the importance that we all place on Catholic education. Our kindergarten students and families will take the lead in preparing this special Mass, which is the opening activity of the celebration of National Catholic Schools Week. We look forward to seeing you all there.
 
A schedule of all these events and the times of classroom observation during this week can be downloaded here. Feel free to drop in and see what's going on around the school. Please share the schedule with friends who may be interested in STM.
 
ONLINE BOOK FAIR: Our Online Book Fair is now LIVE! Click here to purchase books. All orders will ship directly to school for free when the Online Fair has ended.
REPORT CARDS/HONOR AWARDS: Report cards will be sent home with your child this Friday, January 23rd. We would like to invite everyone to join us at the honor awards ceremony on Friday, January 23rd immediately following the 8:30am mass.
 
SPELL-A-THON: Just a reminder that pledges for the Spell-a-thon are due to your child's teacher by dismissal on Thursday, January 29th. Keep those pledges coming!
CIOPPINO 2015: Work continues in preparation for our BIG fundraiser on Saturday, February 28th. Consider getting together with other parents from your child's class to purchase a table. This event is a lot of fun. Remember, childcare is available for a nominal fee. Please respond as soon as possible as we believe this will be a sell out event again this year. To purchase tickets, please use the flyer you received last week.

DONATIONS NEEDED/FREE DRESS PASS: Thank you to those who donated items last week that we can use in our baskets at Cioppino. We depend on your donations, so please keep them coming! As a bonus, every school parent who buys a ticket or makes a donation (value $20 or more) for Cioppino will receive a FREE DRESS PASS for their child/ren to be used on Monday, March 2nd.
 
PARENT VOLUNTEER HOURS: SIGN UP FOR CIOPPINO NOW! As a reminder, each family is required to volunteer for a minimum of 12 hours for Parents' Club activities. As this is our major fundraiser, we have many volunteer slots available now. Chances to accrue volunteer hours are limited for the rest of the year.
SCRIP: As you know, each family is required to generate $100 from our scrip programs for the 2014-2015 school year. Since establishing this Scrip Requirement, it has been great to see so many families enroll in the Great Lakes Scrip (GLS) program and to see so many successful online orders that have generated funds for our school. It's not too late to sign up for Great Lakes Scrip, just click here and use our school enrollment code: 17L5C54E28365. Funds generated from scrip purchases are counted from May 1st, 2014 through April 31st, 2015.

WARRIOR TICKETS: You will find a flyer in the Wednesday envelope for Warriors' Night sponsored by the STM Athletic Board. The game vs. the Utah Jazz will be on Saturday, March 21st at 7:30 PM. The Athletic Board is not using this as a fundraiser and we are passing along the tickets at their actual cost. This event sold out last year and tickets will be reserved on a first come basis, so get you completed order form and payment in ASAP.  Until we determine if we will sell our allotment, there will be a six ticket maximum. If you have any questions, please send them to Mr. Kavanagh at JKav@stmsf.org.

TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: Families that applied for the STM TAP will be receiving an application form today. Funds will be distributed on the basis of those families who need the most help. To qualify for temporary tuition assistance, families will need to show proof of financial hardship and funds will be distributed on a discretionary basis by the school administration. Please let Mrs. Fitzpatrick know in writing if you are interested in receiving an application form. We will continue to accept application requests through the end of January.
 
STUDENT HOLIDAY: Plan ahead - Please remember that the school will be closed on Friday, February 6th. This is the day set for the annual Archdiocese Professional Development for all Catholic school teachers and administrators.
Sincerely,

Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal
Copyright © 2014 St. Thomas More School, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email from the office of St. Thomas More School.  
Thank you for helping us go green.

Our mailing address is:
50 Thomas More Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
www.stmsf.org

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St. Thomas More School · 50 Thomas More Way · San Francisco, CA 94132 · USA

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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

STM Newsletter

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Dear Parents:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught valuable lessons of equality, compassion, and understanding to people everywhere. King is perhaps best remembered for delivering his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech in front of a quarter of a million people in the Mall in Washington, DC. His famous line, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," still resonates today. Dr. King continually encouraged everyone to make a difference. Let us all continue to become more active, concerned citizens who care for others and become involved in acts of charity and work towards a more just society for all. We can enjoy a three-day weekend this weekend thanks to the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday.
Cold and Flu season is upon us. We have many students and several staff member ill this week. Many are presenting with fever, chills, and severe coughs. Students need to be fever free for at least 24 hours before they can return to school.. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - if your child is showing ANY symptoms of illness such as headaches, cough, dizziness, fever, or stomach aches, keep them at home. This will avoid spreading these symptoms to others.
REPORT CARDS/HONOR AWARDS: This Friday marks the end of the second quarter. Report cards will be sent home with your child on Friday, January 23rd. We would like to invite everyone to join us at the honor awards ceremony on Friday, January 23rd immediately following the 8:30am mass.
PM EXTENDED CARE: Do you need a 2014 payment summary from Afternoon Extended Care for your flexible spending account or your 2014 tax return?  Please contact John Kavanagh at JKav@stmsf.org and he will provide one for January through June. A payment summary for August through December is available through your FACTS account.
CIOPPINO 2014: Work continues in preparation for our BIG fundraiser on Saturday, February 28th. Consider getting together with other parents from your child's class to purchase a table. This event is a lot of fun. Remember, childcare is available for a nominal fee. Please respond as soon as possible as we believe this will be a sell out event again this year. To purchase tickets, please use the flyer you are receiving today and return it to the school office. Additionally, we need your auction donations to make baskets or balloon prizes.  As a bonus, every school parent who buys a ticket or makes a donation (value $20 or more) for Cioppino will receive a FREE DRESS PASS for their child/ren to be used on Monday, March 2nd.
SANDWICHES-FOR-THE-NEEDY: Our first collection for the new year is this Friday, January 16th. Thank you again to the Kindergarten and 4th grade classes who will take the lead. We encourage ALL families to provide an extra sandwich for this first collection of the year. Some of our older students will prepare 50 additional sandwiches in our school kitchen to add to this collection. Please remember that in order to facilitate the distribution of sandwiches, we have been asked to provide just one type of sandwich: turkey on sliced white or brown bread, no mustard or mayo.

USF CLASSES: There are still a few spaces available for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 to work in collaboration with USF graduate students in an exciting course entitled, Digital Media and Learning. This will look great on the resume of students applying for high school next year! Please let Mrs. Fitzpatrick know if you are interested.
GRADUATION PICTURES: 8th grade graduation pictures are this Friday. Please follow the appropriate dress guidelines given by Mrs. Girlich. As a reminder, boys should wear white-collared shirts and ties with either a suit or dress pants and dress shoes. Girls are reminded that there is to be no make-up, dangling earrings, or nail polish.

NATIONAL CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK: This runs from January 25th through January 31st. Please mark your calendars for our Family Mass, Open House, Book Fair, and other exciting events on Sunday, January 25th. We are asking our kindergarten class to provide breakfast pastries and treats for our Open House. Please send these items to the front office on Friday, January 23rd or bring them to the school office before Mass on Sunday, January 25th. Thank you for the great response to Grandparents Day (January 29th). So far we have over 50 Grandparents and other special friends joining us for a special pasta lunch and other fun activities. There is still time to sign up! Send in your reservation form by this Friday. We are also looking for donations of breakfast pastries and treats for Grandparents' Day. Please drop your donations to the school office on the morning of January 29th.

STM TAP: We are happy to announce that we have again this year received a $20,000 grant from the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation to be used for tuition assistance. Funds will be distributed on the basis of those families who need the most help. To qualify for temporary tuition assistance, families will need to show proof of financial hardship and funds will be distributed on a discretionary basis by the school administration. Please let Mrs. Fitzpatrick know in writing by next Tuesday, January 20th, if you are interested in receiving an application form. Applications will be sent home in next week's envelope. Thank you once again to the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation!
ONLINE BOOK FAIR: Our Online Book Fair is now LIVE! Click here to purchase books. All orders will ship directly to school for free when the Online Fair has ended.

KINDERGARTEN SCREENING: We have received many kindergarten and preschool applications for the 2015-2016 school year. Many thanks for your referrals of new families. A reminder that again this year we will be screening all kindergarten applicants in order to assess their readiness for our kindergarten program. Screening day is set for Saturday, January 24th.
SPELL-A-THON: Today you will receive a flyer for our second annual Spell-A-Thon in support for our technology program.  We anticipate a 100% participation from all families.
 
PANORAMIC PHOTOS: Those who preordered panoramic pictures will be receiving your order today.  If you missed the ordering deadline, extra unframed photos are available through the office for $30 each. 
Sincerely,

Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal
Copyright © 2014 St. Thomas More School, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email from the office of St. Thomas More School.  
Thank you for helping us go green.

Our mailing address is:
50 Thomas More Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
www.stmsf.org

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St. Thomas More School · 50 Thomas More Way · San Francisco, CA 94132 · USA

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