STM Newsletter for September 11, 2013

Dear Parents:

As we observe Patriot Day today, we remember all those affected by the September 11th tragedy 12 years ago. To mark this day, we began our morning assembly with an abbreviated version of President Obama's proclamation. The proclamation asked everyone for a moment of silence while the flag was raised to half-mast. Following the raising of the flag, we proceeded to say the Pledge and sung God Bless America. Thank you Mr. Kavanagh and Ms. Stamatis for putting together such a beautiful ceremony.

We hope to see everyone this Sunday, September 15th, for one of the most important celebrations of the school year. Please join us for our Back-to-School Mass at 10:00. Come and share in the celebration as we begin a new year together at St. Thomas More School and Utopia Preschool. We will also introduce our choir, altar servers, and our new 8th grade Eucharistic ministers. Sunday’s second collection will directly support the school. We are sending home offertory envelopes for you to use when the collection is taken up. The school receives the money contributed through these envelopes. We’ll have extra envelopes available at the Mass. Thank you in advance for your support.

Following the Back to School Mass, beginning at 11:00am, all STM families are invited to join together for a free Back to School Family Picnic at Buri Buri Park in South San Francisco. The 1st and 6th grade families are sponsoring this picnic and will serve burgers and hotdogs. Please RSVP by using the form we sent home last week or downloading it from our school website.

Training of our Altar Servers started yesterday after school. We thank our 4th grade teacher, Jen Conley for volunteering to prepare the children for this important service to their church. Choir continues to meet Thursdays after school in the church until 3:45pm. Thank you once again to Mrs. White for training this wonderful group of singers.

OUR FIRST SERVICE PROJECT OF THE YEAR: This year’s toiletries collection will benefit the Little Sisters of the Poor and the residents of St. Anne’s Home in San Francisco. Please join us in helping the residents of St. Anne’s Home by donating new or unused personal items such as: mouth wash, moisturizer, body wash, shampoo, lotions, soaps, denture fix, toilet paper, facial tissue and other personal hygiene items. They are happy to receive full size or trial size of any of the above items. If you can help, please send your donations of any of the above items with your child to school, or drop them off in the office. The Toiletries for St. Anne’s Home donation drive will run from September 11th through October 11th

SANDWICHES-FOR-THE-NEEDY: Our first sandwiches-for-the-needy collection is this Friday, September 14th with the second and seventh graders taking the lead. All students are encouraged to contribute to this act of kindness. Just a reminder…here are a few guidelines to help with the distribution of sandwiches - Please individually wrap the sandwiches (ziplock sandwich bags) and label what is included. This helps people with allergies and dietary restrictions. Thanks to Alexis Reyes (dad of Tyler, 4th grade and Yelena, 2nd grade) for offering to deliver sandwiches this year.

PICTURE DAY: Remember, tomorrow, September 12th is picture day for all Preschool through 8th grade students and staff. Please make sure your child is in full uniform.

CATALOG FUNDRAISER: How is the catalog fundraiser coming? The deadline for returning your orders is Tuesday, September 24th. Thank you to Christy Ramos (mom of Ethan, 6th grade), who has volunteered to help tabulate the orders again this year.

EVEN MORE (EASY) FUNDRAISING

SHOPAROO: Thank you to all the new people who signed up for Shoparoo. We are currently the TOP SCHOOL NATIONWIDE!! Keep snapping those receipts!

TARGET: Remember, each vote is worth $1, and currently we have 221 votes (this means $221). Just click on the red and white "vote" button at GiveWith.Target.com to vote for St. Thomas More School. You can do this once a week through September 21st. Voting will support St. Thomas More School's Technology Program.

BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION: Teachers in each classroom continue to collect boxtops for education to purchase additional classroom supplies. Please send box tops directly to your child’s teacher.

LABELS FOR EDUCATION: Labels for Education a fun and easy program where families and members of the community work together to “Earn Free Stuff” for their school! Check out http://www.labelsforeducation.com/ for more information. Please send labels directly to the front office.

TYSON CHICKEN LABELS: Please support the Tyson Project A+ program by sending in your clipped Tyson product labels. Each label we receive is worth 24¢! This is an easy way to raise funds for STM. More details are available online at projectaplus.tyson.com or contact Shelley White, program coordinator, at swhite@stmsf.org if you have any questions.

DONATIONS: We are again asking for donations of new plain white 8.5x11 paper. We appreciate your generosity. Keep those used ink cartridges and old cell phones coming! We recycle them through Cartridges for Kids and over the last few months this program has earned us over $200!

BAND: Again this year we are offering band classes to students in grades 3-8. We are excited to welcome a new band program under the direction of Joshua Frye. This year we plan to collaborate with some other local Catholic schools that use the same band director. Before signing up, third through sixth grade students will have the opportunity to test drive some instruments on Friday at our ‘Band Petting Zoo’. Sign up forms for these classes are going home today.

FROM THE ATHLETIC BOARD: Just a reminder that Cross Country begins at 3:15pm tomorrow. Interested students in grades 3-8 should meet outside the 5th grade classroom. Also, the Athletic Board is holding a parent meeting tomorrow night at 7:00pm in the Gym. Parents in attendance will be in a drawing for a chance to win one boys' sports registration and one girls' sports registration, worth $80 each. All parents are also encouraged to visit our Athletics page to share personal stories and nominate John Bickle for the CYO Hall of Fame.

PIZZA SALE: Today the students enjoyed the first Pizza Sale of the year. Thank you to Marivic Vila (mom of Ricardo, 8th grade) who has volunteered to tally the orders once again this year. We are in need of parents to help distribute the pizza on sale days throughout the year. If you are available, please let the office know.

CIOPPINO 2014: There will be a Cioppino/Silent Auction meeting next Monday, September 16th at 7:00pm in the STM Library. All are welcome.

PIRATE DAY IS COMING!: Talk like a Pirate Day is Thursday, September 19th. Students may wear pirate accessories with their uniforms (no weapons please). There will be a coloring contest for grades K-3 and an art contest for grades 4-8. Arrrg!

USF COUNSELING: As you know, again this year, we are working with the USF Center for Child and Family Development to offer a school-based Family Counseling Program. This service is designed to meet the counseling needs of individual students and families as well as the consultation needs of teachers and school staff. The goal of the program is to support our students’ social, emotional and academic needs and thereby afford them increased opportunity for success at school. This year we welcome two counselors, Sarah Safir and Ashley Crouch. They will be on campus Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. This is a free service. If you would like your child to visit with our counselors, you may contact them directly at ssafir@stmsf.org or acrouch@stmsf.org, or request it through your child’s teacher. Please also check out the introduction letter they have included in today’s envelope.

IOWA TESTING: Last week, we sent out the September calendar that showed IOWA testing beginning next Monday, September 16th. This is NOT correct. We begin the IOWA Test of Basic Skills for students in 2nd grade and above the following week on Monday, September 23rd. Because of the shorten time schedule allotted for testing this year, there will be less time available for make-up testing. Please do not schedule appointments, or shadowing during this important week.

Sincerely,
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal
St. Thomas More School