STM Newsletter for November 20, 2013

Dear Parents:

As Thanksgiving approaches we have much for which we are thankful. It is a time of year when we think of others less fortunate. Your generous response to our peanut butter collection is a wonderful sign of your thoughtfulness and a great example for your children of giving to the local community. As a reminder, we are collecting peanut butter for the St. Vincent de Paul society. If we reach our goal of 500 jars of peanut butter by Friday, December 13^th, the student body will enjoy free dress on Friday, December 20^th. Keep these donations coming. We are well on our way to our goal as we have already collected over 180 jars!

Next week’s schedule leaves us with only two short days of school. Monday, November 25^th, being the 4^th Monday of the month, is a minimum day. A hot dog lunch will be available for purchase by those attending extended care that day. Please remember that next Tuesday, November 26^th we begin our Thanksgiving break with minimum day dismissal, 12:15/12:30. Extended Care will be available. School will resume on Monday, December 2^nd.

We won’t be here to do a Wednesday newsletter next week, however, we will send home the relevant flyers we receive for distribution on Tuesday.

SCHOOL TOURS: Today we were happy to meet with eight families for another school tour. We are very grateful to our 8^th grade student ambassadors for doing such a stellar job by sharing information about our wonderful school with prospective families. Our next tour is scheduled for December 10^th. Please use this link to reserve a space. A reminder that kindergarten applications are available in the office or can be downloaded from our website. Please share this information with your family and friends. Don’t forget that Utopia families and siblings or current students interested in kindergarten for the 2014-2015 school year must complete an application form if you have not already done so.

STEM SHOWCASE: Thank you to all who attended our STEM showcase this morning. Students were thrilled to share their work and projects with their fellow STM students and parents in a showcase that represented their hard work over the past six weeks. Check out the school’s website for some examples of their wonderful work.

SANDWICHES-FOR-THE-NEEDY: This Friday, November 22^nd, is our next collection of sandwiches-for-the-needy. All are welcome to participate and the eighth graders and kindergarteners are charged with taking the lead that day. 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. We thank you in advance for what we hope will be another huge collection for those at the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality.

HOOP-A-THON: The Athletic Board’s Hoop-a-thon for the kindergarten through third graders was very successful. The 4^th through 8^th grade hoop-a-thon will be this Friday, November 22^nd. Sign-ups are still being accepted. Encourage your child to participate in this fun event! We’d love to see you there to cheer on your children! As a reminder, all proceeds from this event will be donated to the Philippine Red Cross.

SEE’S CANDIES: Sue Sullivan has volunteered to head up the See’s Candies Fall Fundraiser once again and reminds you that the deadline for ordering is Monday, November 25^th. If you are interested in ordering, please return the form you previously received.

BUFFALO WILD WINGS NIGHT: Our first major Outdoor Ed fundraiser of the year was very successful raising $417. It was great to have so many families join us this past Monday night. We look forward to another ‘fun’draiser in the spring.

DECEMBER 8^th: Please mark December 8^th on your calendar as an exciting day here at STM. We will begin the day with the presentation of our First Communion and Confirmation candidates at our 10:00am Family Mass, followed by a Pancake Breakfast presented by the 7^th and 8^th grade dads, children’s activities and a visit with Santa in Carroll Hall, all presented by the Parents’ Club. A BIG thank you to the 20+ seventh and eighth grade dads who have volunteered to help in preparing the pancake breakfast.

TOY DRIVE: As a reminder, please consider donating new, unwrapped toy(s) for kids aged infant to 12 years old. Let’s continue to “show a little kindness” to the less fortunate kids especially this time of the year. We will be collecting the toys until December 18^th.

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM: Please save Tuesday night, December 17^th, for our school's presentation of our Christmas Program. We will begin at 7:00pm in the Church and all students, preschool through 8^th grade will have a part in this program.

COLD WEATHER: During these cold and wintery days, please be sure to send your child to school with a warm coat or jacket. While we understand that it may be raining upon drop-off and pick-up, we strongly suggest your child does not bring an umbrella to school. Often the strong winds and heavy rain make the umbrellas difficult to use, especially for the younger children.

As we come to the day when we recognize all for which we should be thankful, we are especially mindful of you. You continue to support so many of our efforts by your presence and participation. These efforts have continued for years. Thank you, thank you, thank you and enjoy a great holiday with family and friends!

Sincerely,

Marie Fitzpatrick                        

Principal                                   

STM Newsletter for November 13, 2013

Dear Parents:

Our prayer and thoughts go out to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan. This recent tragedy in the Philippines reminds us all of our responsibility to reach out to those in need. The Athletic Board have decided that all funds raised in the upcoming hoop-a-thons will be donated to the Philippine Red Cross to be used for the severe needs of the Filipino people. Please consider sponsoring a child in the hoop-a-thon. If you wish to contribute to this collection, we will be accepting donations through November 22^nd. Please make checks payable to St. Thomas More School and write ‘Philippine Red Cross’ in the memo area. Please continue to keep the people of the Philippines in your prayers.

Thank you for your presence and support at the Family Mass last Sunday. A special thank you to the fifth graders and their teacher Ms. Stamatis for putting together such a beautiful and reverent service. It was nice to see so many of you there. Thank you for your generous support of the second collection of $371.35, which goes to support the school and its programs.

As we continue to prepare for Thanksgiving, please consider joining us this coming Monday, November 18^th, for a Thanksgiving prayer service presented by first grade in the gym at 1:00pm.

Also on Monday, November 18^th, More Than Me (MTM), an organization that helps girls get off the street and into school in Liberia, West Africa, will visit with the 6^th-8^th graders. MTM work with community leaders to identify the girls who are at the highest risk of being sexually exploited to ensure that education and opportunity, not exploitation and poverty, defines their lives. Their Program Coordinator, Macintosh Johnson, is coming to the US for the first time ever this month! He will be traveling around the US speaking at schools, community organizations, and businesses talking about his life and More Than Me. Macintosh was a former child soldier during Liberia's long civil war. He'll be telling his personal story about how he escaped that life and made a commitment to helping children from the slum be able to make choices about their future. We are excited that one of the schools he will be visiting is St. Thomas More. He will meet with our 6-8 graders at 1:30. Please take time to preview his story and consider joining us in Carroll Hall for the presentation.

FOOD BANK FIELD TRIP: As part of their service commitment for confirmation next Spring, the 7th Grade worked three hours at the San Francisco Food Bank on Monday.  The students undertook two projects. In the first project, the students sorted through, and boxed up, 15,000 pounds of pears for distribution to needy Bay Area families. Then, the students started packaging one-pound bags of bulk rice. They finished 1,350 bags in just over 45 minutes.  The volunteer coordinator at the Food Bank complimented our students as being both well behaved and also very productive.  In fact, he said our students did about twice the amount of work compared to their most recent student volunteers.

PEANUT BUTTER COLLECTION: As a reminder, we are collecting peanut butter for the St. Vincent de Paul society. If we reach our goal of 500 jars of peanut butter by Friday, December 13^th, the student body will enjoy free dress on Friday, December 20^th. Please send a jar (or two!), any kind, any size with your child by Friday, December 13^th.

HOOP-A-THON: The Athletic Board will conduct their annual Hoop-a-thon for kindergarten through third graders this Friday, November 15^th. The 4^th through 8^th grader hoop-a-thon will be on the following Friday, November 22^nd. Sign-ups are still being accepted. Encourage your child to participate in this fun event! We’d love to see you there to cheer on your children!

BUFFALO WILD WINGS NIGHT: Save the date! Monday, November 18th is the St. Thomas More School night at Buffalo Wild Wings in Serramonte. This fun event is a fundraiser to support the fifth and sixth grade Outdoor Education program. The school will receive a percentage of all the money spent that night at Buffalo Wild Wings. Check out the flyer in today's envelope – you'll need to give it to your server when you dine. P.S. No homework will be assigned that evening!

STEM SHOWCASE: Today was the last day of the Fall STEM electives. Next Wednesday, November 20^th, STEM students will share their work and projects with STM students and families in a showcase that represent the rigorous work and training resulting from student collaboration, problem solving, effective communication, and critical thinking skills. Please drop by the gym between 9:00am-10:30am next Wednesday to see all they have accomplished.

SCRIP: Start your Christmas shopping now! Order your scrip by 6am on Friday November 15^th and receive it next Wednesday, November 20^th, the last day to receive gift cards before Thanksgiving break. For your convenience, an order will be placed the day after Thanksgiving – remember the 6am deadline!

TOY DRIVE: This year we are participating in the San Francisco Fire Fighters Toy Program. Please consider donating new, unwrapped toy(s) for kids aged infant to 12 years old. Let’s continue to “show a little kindness” to the less fortunate kids especially this time of the year. We will be collecting the toys until December 18^th.

DECEMBER 8^th: Please mark December 8^th on your calendar as an exciting day here at STM. We will begin the day with the presentation of our First Communion and Confirmation candidates at our 10:00am Family Mass, followed by a Pancake Breakfast presented by the 7^th and 8^th grade dads, children’s activities and a visit with Santa in Carroll Hall, all presented by the Parents’ Club.

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM: Please save Tuesday night, December 17^th, for our school's presentation of our Christmas Program. We will begin at 7:00pm in the Church and all students, preschool through 8^th grade will have a part in this program.

8^TH GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS: This is the time of the year when 8^th graders are busily writing their high school essays and completing their applications. Because of changing demographics many families attend church in Parishes other than where their school is located. Please remember that students will need to have their clergy recommendations signed by the pastor in the parish where they attend Mass and other church services. This will ensure that recommendations are written by a pastor who knows your child and who is familiar with your family's involvement in your local church. Please note that all recommendation forms will go directly to Mrs. Girlich. She will then distribute them to the appropriate staff members.

And finally, a BIG thank you to Joseph Lama (dad of Joey and Magdelena), Michael Santos (dad of Matt), and Jerry Sladewski (dad of Chloe, Malia and Bianca) for all their help with parking and traffic yesterday.

Sincerely,

Marie Fitzpatrick                        

Principal

STM Newsletter for November 6, 2013

Dear Parents:
 
Last Friday we began the month of November with the Feast of All Saints (November 1^st) and All Souls (November 2^nd). Thank you to all who joined us at the Friday morning mass to celebrate these important days in the church’s calendar. November is traditionally dedicated to those who have died and “have gone to their rest believing in Jesus Christ” (Eucharistic Prayer II). The month of November also draws to an end the liturgical calendar of the church. Throughout the month, scripture readings at mass reminds us of the last days, culminating with the Feast of Christ the King, November 24^th, the closing of the Year of Faith and the National Holiday of Thanksgiving day, November 28^th.
 
This Sunday, November 10^th, at 10:00am, the fifth graders will prepare our next Family Mass. Please consider joining with the St. Thomas More School Community to gather together in worship. Collection envelopes will be available at mass. Thank you in advance for your contributions to the second collection, which benefits the school. Save the date – December 8^th is our next Family Mass. We look forward to your attendance on this special day as we present the confirmation and first communion candidates.
 
We hope your parent-teacher conferences are going well. The teachers always look forward to meeting with you and sharing the good news about your child’s progress. Once again, our school showed very healthy IOWA test results with the majority of students scoring at or above the 75^th percentile. Please remember to sign and return your child’s report card. Just a reminder that every day this week is a minimum day, with dismissal at 12:15pm for grades K-3 and 12:30pm for grades 4-8.
 
SCHOOL TOURS: We held our first school tour yesterday and were happy to have 8 families join us. Thank you to our 8^th grade student ambassadors, Mark Bickle, Kai Schelstrate, Ricky Duarte, and Gian Ocampo who shared a wealth of information with those families. We have another three tours scheduled for November 20^th, December 10^th and January 28^th.  If you know anyone interested in learning more about our school, please encourage them to use this link to reserve a space on one of our tours. Applications for students new to the school for the 2014-15 school year are now available from the office or can be downloaded from our website. Please share this information with your family and friends. Students currently enrolled in grades K-7 need not reapply. You will be receiving re-registration information in the spring.
 
PARENTS CLUB MEETING: Please consider joining us for our Parents’ Club meeting tomorrow night in Carroll Hall. The social hour begins at6:45 and at 7:15 we have guest speakers coming in to talk about our school scrip programs. Come and learn how to prepare for the upcoming holidays and learn more about how to fulfill you scrip requirement. Just a reminder that ALL families need to raise a minimum of $100 profit through the scrip program. Parents will be on hand to help you sign up for the scrip program if you have not already done so. The guest speaker at our December Parent Club meeting will be Becky Wong, our technology coordinator. Becky will provide much more in depth information on the iPad roll out program for 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades that begins in January.
 
SANDWICHES-FOR-THE-NEEDY: This Friday, November 8^th, is our next collection of sandwiches-for-the-needy. All are welcome to participate and the sixth and seventh grade students are charged with taking the lead that day. Some of our upper grade students will again work with Alma Via residents this week to make sandwiches. Don’t have time to make a sandwich for our collection…we are accepting donations to help defray the expenses for when we make sandwiches here at school. We thank you in advance for what we hope will be another huge collection for those at the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality.
 
A BIG THANK YOU: Last week we delivered the many cases of toiletry items that have been donated over the past month to St. Anne’s Home. They were so grateful to receive such a blessing and thank everyone who generously donated items. A thank you letter to the students of STM from Sister Agnes lsp. on behalf of the residents and sisters at St. Anne’s Home is on display in the office. A special thank you to the 8^th grade class and their teacher, Natalia Girlich, for spearheading this fantastic collection.
 
PEANUT BUTTER COLLECTION: As we move towards the holiday season, we want our students to continue to ‘show a little kindness’ by participating in our annual collection of peanut butter. Our collection this year, led again by the first graders, will benefit the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The St. Vincent de Paul Society has requested peanut butter, as it is a much-needed nutritious staple for them throughout the holiday season. Last years collection was so successful, that the students brought in about 400 jars in just 4 weeks. This year, our collection, which starts on Friday, November 8^th, will run over five weeks so our goal as a school is to collect 500 jars. If we reach our goal of 500 jars of peanut butter by December 13^th, the student body will enjoy free dress on Friday, December 20^th. Please send a jar (or two!), any kind, any size with your child by Friday, December 13^th.
 
PANORAMIC PICTURE: For the sixth year running, we are offering a 10”x30” panoramic student body picture for purchase. Lifetouch, our school picture company, will come this Friday, November 8^th to take this picture of all students, preschool through 8^th grade, and faculty in our gym at 11am. If you are interested in purchasing one, please return the order form you received last week with your child no later than this Friday, picture day. Panoramic photos are pre-pay only and additional items cannot be ordered later. The original pictures from the last five years are on display here in the school office. Drop by and check them out!
 
NIGHT AT THE RACES: Thank you to all who joined us for Night the Races last Saturday night. It was great to see so many new faces. Thank you also to everyone who volunteered their time to help make the night such a success. We are happy to report that this event raised over $5,000 for our technology program! It added to the excitement and fun of the whole evening that all raffle prizewinners were present. Congratulations to the Kindle Fire HD grand prizewinner, our own Theresa Halloran!
 
HOOP-A-THON: The Athletic Board will conduct their annual Hoop-a-thon for kindergarten through third graders on Friday, November 15^th. The 4^th through 8^th grader hoop-a-thon will be on the following Friday, November 22^nd. Sign-ups are still being accepted. Encourage your child to participate in this fun event! We’d love to see you there to cheer on your children!
 
YARD DUTY: Thank you for all who continue to sign up for yard duty. Our teachers really appreciate your help in the mornings and during snack and lunch recess. Just a couple of reminders:

• Please arrive at least 5 minutes before your scheduled yard duty time so that you may check-in. Late arrivals will not be credited.
• Cell phone use is prohibited while on yard duty.
• Drinks of any kind are not permitted in the schoolyard while serving yard duty.
• Injured children should be sent to the office with another child. Unless in the most serious cases, we need you to remain in the yard as a parent supervisor.

UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS: Permission slips for the below mentioned field trips are in your envelopes today. Please pay attention to the due date to return the form and payment.

• The 4^th grade Students will visit the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, November 19^th.
• Students from 7^th grade will enjoy a production of The Barber of Seville at The War Memorial Opera House on Thursday, November 21^st.
• Also on November 21^st, the 5^th graders will visit The Garden for the Environment.

Don’t forget! Buffalo Wild Wings gift cards are available onshopwithscrip.com! They are currently giving 8% back to the school. Use them at our upcoming Outdoor Ed fundraiser on Monday, November 18^th!
 
Sincerely,
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal