Dear Parents:
Last Friday evening, Bishop McElroy administered the sacrament of confirmation to our seventh grade students. We congratulate them on their further initiation into the Catholic Church. May the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to work in their lives. Thank you to seventh grade teacher, Natalia Girlich, and CCD Director Kathy Sanford for preparing such a prayerful and meaningful ceremony. Thank you also to our fabulous student choir, led by Shelley White. A special thank you also to the sixth grade families for their help setting and cleaning up at the confirmation reception.
During the Month of May, a month both named for and dedicated to Mary, Catholics have long honored Mary by placing a crown on her image. The tradition in the United States and many other countries has been for school children to have a "May Crowning" ceremony, with a procession, pretty dresses and a wreath of fresh flowers that are placed on the statue. This Sunday, May 5th, at 10:00am, we invite you all to join with the 2nd and 7th graders as they present the Family Mass and May Crowning.
We are heading for the home stretch! The May calendar of events, is in your Envelope today. Keep it handy for reminders of all the activities as we draw closer to the end of the school year. Today you are also receiving the hot lunch menu for May.
Progress Reports, the last of the school year, are going home today, too. If your child receives a report, they still have many weeks to improve before the final grades are given.
The Parents’ Club meet at 7:00 in Carroll Hall tomorrow, Thursday, May 2nd. If you have not yet attended a meeting this year, now is a great time to participate and become involved in YOUR parents’ club.
Parent Agreement: If you have not yet turned in your parent agreement, please do so by this Friday, May 3rd. Please be aware that monthly tuition payment plans begin this month, and the 1st payment was due today. As a reminder, tuition payments may be mailed or given to your child to deliver to the school office via their Wednesday Envelope. Also, please consider mailing all tuition payments during the summer months as our office hours vary and we can’t guarantee that the office will be open during regular business hours.
Congratulations: We would like to congratulate the Sixth graders, and their teacher Miss Beach, on their magnificent production of YOLO – an opera they wrote in conjunction with the Books to Bravo program of the San Francisco Opera Guild. Photos and songs from the performance can be seen by clicking the link on the STM homepage. A job well done, sixth grade. This is our sixth year working with the Opera Guild and is a great opportunity to showcase the talents of our students.
Physics Day: This Friday, the eighth grade class will represent STM at Great America for Physics Day. The eight graders have been working on a rollercoaster physics project for the past several weeks. We are very proud of their creativity and workmanship as their rollercoaster’s have many vertical loops, corkscrew turns and plunging drops. Along with the 8th graders, we have four rollercoaster’s going to Great America this Friday to represent St. Thomas More School at Physics Day. We’re sure that the students will enjoy this educational opportunity.
More Science News: Congratulations to the following students for receiving an Honorable Mention in the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition. Sean Ramos, Ian Ostrea, Kameron Powers, Jose David submitted a project titled "Eco-Light". Vialina Bulatova, Julietta Lehmann, Paulina Toledo and Daniela Londero submitted a project titled, "My Mirror". The award places these teams' projects among the top 10% of all ExploraVision projects submitted to the nationwide competition. They demonstrated innovative thinking in their exploration of science and its impact on technology and the future. You can visit the following websites to see the list of the 2013 Honorable Mention winners:www.exploravision.org or NSTS (National Science Teacher Association)www.nsta.org. Great work 8th grade! We are so proud of your accomplishments.
Extended Care: Billing for the month of April will be in your envelopes next week. A Reminder - Beginning Monday, May 20th, parents who use the after school Extended Care program will need to either pre-pay or pay-by-the-day. Prepayments may be made in the office or when you pick up your child from extended care. The cost is $4.00 per hour or fraction-thereof. Any unused balance from a pre-payment will be applied to next years’ billing.
Disaster Preparedness Day: Please mark your calendars and save the date, as Saturday, June 8th, 2013, the 9th Annual San Mateo County Disaster Preparedness Day will be held at the San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Avenue, San Mateo! The San Mateo County Fair will again host the event from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., offering free parking and free admission to the fair to everyone who arrives before 11:00 a.m. that day. If you have attended Disaster Preparedness Day before you know what a wonderful opportunity this is to take a free CPR course, learn about the latest in emergency preparedness and bring your friends and family to the San Mateo County Fair! Check out the flyer you are receiving today.
Thank you for all who took the time to acknowledge their teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. We are blessed to have such dedicated educators here at St. Thomas More School. A special thank you to the Parent's Club, especially Linda Shah and Jessica Ramirez, who prepared a special Teacher Appreciation lunch last week. Together we can help our children become thoughtful, spiritual individuals.
Finally, thank you to all the students and staff who made Principal Appreciation Day so special today. I loved all the cards and well-wishes and feel privileged to work with such caring students and staff.
Sincerely,
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal
Principal
