STM Newsletter for September 2, 2015

Dear Parents, We are back at it! Morning and after school extended care are up and running, and the school lunch program is off to a great start. Today we welcome back our Spanish teacher, Beatriz Cortes, who began working with kindergarten through eighth grade students. We are happy to welcome back our PE teacher, Lawrence Cummins and tomorrow students will have their first music class for the school year. Yes, we are back at it! Thank you to all who attended our mandatory back to school meeting. Congratulations to the family of Brian Schiefer, in sixth grade, who won the raffle for $500 towards their tuition. It pays to be on time!

Picture Day, Friday, September 4th. Full school uniform is required. All students will be photographed. Extended Care combines August-September into one bill that will be billed through FACTS in the first week of October.

We hope to see everyone on Sunday, September 13th, 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.

International Food Festival 2014

INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL: Volunteer sign-ups for the International Food Festival are now online. Please click here to select an assignment. Again this year, the event will be held over two days, Saturday, September 26th and 27th. SAVE THE DATE! Check out these flyers and return them to the office if you are interested. Pre-Purchase Bracelet Form - Avoid the hassle and lines at the festival and pre-purchase your child(ren) an ALL DAY jumper bracelet. Talent Show - The International Food Festival Committee is looking for some talented students to perform at various times on both Saturday & Sunday. Fall Festival Wish List - Donations are always accepted. Check out the list to see how you can help.

EMERGENCY ALERTS SIGN-UP: If you have not already done so, please take a moment to use this link to sign up to receive emergency alerts via texts or email messages. This is how we will communicate information to you in the case of an emergency. We will send out a test alert next Tuesday, September 8th. SANDWICHES-FOR-THE-NEEDY: Our first sandwiches-for-the-needy collection is this Friday, September 4th with the 8th and 1st graders taking the lead. We encourage all of you to consider making an extra sandwich and/or lunch and sending it to the office on that day. Sandwiches will be delivered to the Martin de Porres House of Hospitality on Potrero Ave. Their mission is to serve in the spirit of compassion, understanding and love and they provide breakfast and lunch during the week and brunch on Sunday to those in need in the community. Please visit their website, martindeporres.org for more information. Here are a few guidelines to help with the distribution of sandwiches - In order to facilitate the distribution of sandwiches, we have been asked to provide just one type of sandwich: turkey on sliced white or wheat bread. Please individually wrap the sandwiches (ziplock sandwich bags).

FUNDRAISING AT STM FUNDRAISING CATALOG: Today we are sending home the fundraising gift catalog and order forms with every child. As per the financial policies, all K-8 families are required to participate in the Fall Fundraiser. Each family is to sell a minimum of $100 worth of product per child enrolled in the school. Last year we raised $23,000. This year our goal is $25,000 which will cover the cost of the Spanish program, including the teacher and all classroom materials. All order forms are due back to the classroom teachers by Tuesday, September 22nd. Extra catalogs are available from the office. K-8 families who do not wish to participate in this fundraiser will be charged (via FACTs) the $150 per child opt-out fee once all orders have been collected. Thank you again to Christy Ramos, mom of 8th grader, Ethan, who has volunteered to help count and collate the orders that come in. SCRIP: As part of your financial obligations to STM, each family is required to meet the mandatory scrip requirement to generate a minimum profit of $100 by participating in the electronic scrip programs authorized by the school (shopwithscrip.com and/or escrip.com). We have included a flyer in today's envelope on how to sign up. After reviewing that flyer, if you are still unsure how to sign up for these scrip programs, please stop by the office and Melody will be happy to help you get started.

BRONCO BULLETIN: Remember to read the Bronco Bulletin to keep up-to-date on all the breaking STM sports news. You can subscribe by clicking here. BEFORE SCHOOL PROCEDURES: As a reminder, regular yard supervision begins at 7:45. For the safety of your children, it is not acceptable to leave them unsupervised in front of the school, on the steps of the hall or in front of church before this time. Students who are dropped off before the yard opens at 7:45 must be enrolled in the Morning Extended Care Program or stay with their parent until the yard opens. Students who have been left at school unattended by a parent before 7:45 may be brought into morning extended care by a member of the staff. They will be charged at a rate of $10 per day for that service. STUDENT SAFETY REMINDER: Please remind your children to be aware of their surroundings at all times. We have noticed an increase in the nearby homeless population and ask that you keep us informed and report any unusual activity or behavior to the school office.

Sincerely, Marie Fitzpartick Principal