STM Newsletter for October 23, 2013

Dear Parents,

Our students continue to spread the word about breast cancer awareness. Thank you for supporting them in their endeavors, donating items for the bake sales and funds to buy lots of treats. Don’t forget to drop in to write the names of family and friends on our Memory Wall. If you are unable to drop by, send us an email and we will have our student council members write up the names for you.

FREE ‘PINK’ DRESS: Tomorrow, the 3rd through 8th grade students will participate in a Breast Cancer Awareness Rally and solidarity walk. Students in kindergarten through 2nd grade will hold posters and cheer us on as we leave for our walk. We encourage all parents and family members to participate as time allows. Originally, we offered free ‘pink’ dress to those who contributed $3. While we are still encouraging students to donate $3 as all funds raised will be donated to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, please know that all students may wear free ‘pink’ dress tomorrow. A special thank you to Linda and Pankaj Shah who have generously provided a $1,000 donation that will allow all students ‘free pink dress’ tomorrow.

FALL FESTIVAL: A BIG thank you to our 2013 co-chairs of the Fall Festival; Ivon van Mechelen, Michaela Munda and Anarose Schelstrate. What a fabulous time everyone had this past Saturday. The sun was shining, the food was delicious, and the children just had a tremendous day. Thank you also to the many volunteers for their countless hours in making this event such a great success. Thanks also for the many donations that were dropped off over the past few weeks. The raffle for the iPad and other items will continue through October 30th. We have included raffle tickets in your envelope today in case you didn’t get a chance to purchase them.

FUNDRAISING CATALOG: The items have arrived and all orders are being sent home with students today. A BIG thank you to Jason Malig (dad of Zhari, 5th grade, Siah, 1st grade, and Nyree, kindergarten) and Cecilia Sainez (mom of Benjamin Davila, 1st grade) for helping distribute the orders. Please check your order thoroughly and notify us immediately if you are missing anything. Call the office and check with Melody if you have questions. She has a complete list of those items.

PARENT CONFERENCES: This Friday, October 25th marks the end of the first quarter of the school year. Report cards will be sent home next Friday, November 1st. Also, next Friday, November 1st, immediately following the 8:30am mass, please consider joining us for the Academic Awards ceremony. ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) scores (second through eighth graders) will all be available to you at your parent-teacher conference. We are sending home scheduled appointments today. If you do not receive an appointment, please check with the office to ensure your accounts are up to date.

RESOURCE PROGRAM: Our new resource program is up and running. We are very excited and Steve Johnson and Tara Geoghegan join our teaching staff. They are both extremely qualified educational therapists with private practices outside of school hours. They are on campus several mornings a week and have begun working with students at all grade levels. Part of the process we are using will involve the screening of students to evaluate their various learning challenges and to identify strategies to improve their academic performance. Mr. Johnson and Mrs. G, as they are known to the students, will work in the classroom to assist the teachers and may also pull out groups of students to work on specific areas of need. If you have any questions about work that the resource specialists are doing with your child, please contact the classroom teacher. If we feel that your child would benefit from a more complete in-depth educational evaluation than we can offer through the school, the resource teachers will contact you to discuss this option.

OFF TO THE RACES: Off to the Races is coming to STM on Saturday, November 2nd! Reservation Flyers, Raffle Tickets, Ad Space, and Name a Horse/Jockey/Owner are in today’s envelope. This has always been an exciting evening with lots of fun activities, including two bingo games, “adult” refreshments, tasty food and lively entertainment. Wear your favorite racing hat for a chance to win fabulous prizes. All this for only $20! Don’t forget that childcare is also available. Send in your reservations now!

2014-2015 APPLICATION FORMS FOR NEW STUDENTS: K-8 application forms for the 2014-2015 school year will be available in the front office and online beginning November 1st, 2013. Siblings of current students as well as Utopia preschool students who requested an application will be receiving it today. As a reminder, students currently attending Utopia Preschool and/or with siblings currently attending St. Thomas More School will be given preference if the application form is submitted in a timely manner.

PIZZA AND HOT DOG SALES: Order forms are being sent home today for November, December and January sales. This is your ONLY opportunity to order. You must order for all sales if you wish to participate in these special lunches. Pay attention to the due date, Friday, November 1st, and return the form and payment in a sealed envelope. DO NOT combine payments for other activities or children.

TRIVIA AND SCAVENGER HUNT: Attention Trivia and Scavenger Hunt aficionados! St. Thomas More Broncos will be participating in Serra High School's 29th Annual Trivia Contest and Scavenger Hunt. Please help us out and participate by checking the science blog today after 4:30 pm. We will be sending our team captains, Nate Candler and Tony D’Aura, to Serra High School to pick up the trivia questions and scavenger hunt challenges. Once the question packet has been officially distributed, the questions and challenges will be posted on the science blog. If you can answer ANY of the questions, please email the answer to: science@stmsf.org. We will gather all the answers and write them on the official answer sheet to be delivered on Tuesday, October 29th at 3:30 pm. Ask friends, family, neighbors get anyone and everyone you can involved! The more correct answers we can get the better! Go Broncos!

HALLOWEEN PARADE: We will celebrate Halloween next Thursday, October 31st. Just a reminder that when purchasing costumes for wearing to school on Halloween, please consider the following: age appropriateness, bathroom accessibility, make up must be applied at home, shoes must be comfortable for walking, and no weapons of any kind allowed. The Halloween costume parade will be after lunch recess, about 1:15. The students will parade around the homestead for thirty to forty-five minutes. You should have plenty of time to capture your child’s Kodak moment. After the parade, students will return to class to party until they drop. Parents are not permitted in classrooms unless specifically arranged in advance with the classroom teacher. At dismissal we will be thrilled to return your child to you complete with a sugar high!

CYO ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME: The 7th Annual Catholic Charities CYO Athletics Hall of Fame dinner will honor the individual accomplishments of John Bickle as well as two other extraordinary Athletic Directors. Please consider joining them on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at the Father O'Reilly Catholic Charities CYO gym to recognize John as former coach and Athletic Director for the past 16 years at St. Thomas More (and countless years in other youth programs). If you know of any family or friends that want to be a sponsor (and have their name listed on the invitations and programs) please use this link to order online. The school will also reserve some tables so if you wish to purchase individual tickets you may make a check payable to STM.

SHOPAROO: We made the Final Four and have been guaranteed an additional $200 payout (on top of the $100 we already earned). We are now battling for the most Roo Points against St Clare School in Florida. If we win this round (which ends tonight) we will get another $300, and a chance to compete for the $1,000 crown. Keep snapping those receipts!

RECYCLED CANS: As we mentioned in last weeks letter, we are looking for a volunteer to pick up our used cans and take them to a recycle center. If you have a truck and are available to help us with this, please let the office know.

Sincerely,
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal