STM Newsletter for Wednesday, September 16, 2020

View this email in your browser As a group, sixth grade developed a class contract that establishes a safe but challenging environment for our classroom. Then they used Canva or Pic Collage to create their poster with 3-5 ideas for their class. Ms. Santillan used Padlet to create a virtual bulletin board for the students to view each other's work and leave comments. Check out the Sixth Grade Virtual Bulletin Board. September 16, 2020 Dear Parents,  It is so refreshing to have the air quality restored to somewhat healthy levels today, allowing us to return to enjoying outdoor activities and opening up our windows to bring clean, fresh air indoors. It certainly reminds us not to take things for granted.  Pope Francis's encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si, published in 2015, says that climate change is real and mainly "a result of human activity." He goes on to say, "Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years." As we often remind our students, we all have a responsibility to care for all aspects of God's creation. From little things like recycling and choosing to cut down our use of disposable containers, to getting actively involved in urging our government leaders to lead us in positive changes, we can all do our part.  Thanks so much to all who completed the survey about whether or not we should apply to reopen our school now that we are allowed to do so by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. As you can see from the responses below, a majority of our families are in favor of STM applying to reopen. Based on this information, I will submit our application this week. In order to allow for time to get our application processed, and our visit from the health department scheduled, we must allow at least 4 weeks to get this done. Our current plan is to reopen to TK-2nd grades on October 19th, followed two weeks later by grades 3-6. We are hoping that the SFDPH will allow the return of 7-8 grades shortly after that.  Survey results were highly in favor of either a 5-day a week, a full-time schedule, or a hybrid schedule. To meet the needs of the majority of our families, we will reopen with a 4-day a week, full-time schedule, Monday through Thursday, and continue with distance learning for all students on Fridays. This schedule will stay in place until further notice. Returning to school will look a lot different from what we were used to in the past. With approximately 40% of our students planning to continue with distance learning and some classes on campus separated into smaller cohorts in two classrooms, the teachers will have to continue a similar schedule of Zoom as they are currently doing in order to maximize the learning for all students in each of the groups.  Let us hope and pray that we can move forward with our reopening plan. When we get approval for opening, we will again ask you about your preference of on-campus or distance learning. I apologize for the huge number of surveys sent your way over the past six months but it is the best method for us to make sure every parent and family has a say in what happens at our school. There is one more survey coming your way today in regards to the strengths and challenges of distance learning for your student/s. We appreciate you taking the time to complete these surveys, but request only one response per family, please. Students in grades 3-8 will complete a similar survey this week during schooltime and younger students will be surveyed next week. Feedback for all shareholders is critical to our future planning. LINK: Distance Learning Parent Survey   Calendar Thursday, September 17 - School Internet Connection Test Tuesday, September 22 Serra High School virtual visit with Grades 7-8 at 2 pm  Thursday, September 24 Riordan virtual visit with Grades 7-8 at 2 pm  School Internet Connection Test As part of our reopening preparations, we will be running an internet connection test on Thursday, September 17. All classroom teachers will be on campus and leading distance learning lessons from their classrooms. Please excuse any Zoom meeting interruptions. The network test will give us more information on the number of Zoom sessions that we can run simultaneously at school. Based on that information teachers will create a strategy that will work best for a hybrid learning environment with in-school students and distance learning students. We are also working with Comcast to see if we can upgrade our service to a higher tier and increase our upload speeds that would allow for more simultaneous Zoom sessions when we reopen. Fundraising at St. Thomas More   As you are aware, tuition and fees only cover about 80% of the costs of educating your children. We depend on fundraising to raise the additional funds needed to operate our school and provide a rich variety of programs available to our students. St. Thomas More School families and alumni families have always generously supported our many fun and friendly events and activities. Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, our fundraising will face huge challenges this year. In-person events will be unsafe and prohibited for most of this school year. Luckily, our Parents Club has been busy planning safe and fun activities for all. The Cioppino Committee is also well into planning for their "event" in February 2021. Meanwhile, there are many ways, both big and small that you can help us raise additional funds now. The Fun Run continues to be our biggest fundraiser of the year. Let's work together to make this year's one the biggest and best ever! The FunRun itself will take place on October 7 and this year  we are including a fun, 9-day fitness program as part of our preparation for the event. Prizes and T-shirts will be picked up from STM on Friday, October 9. Other ways to support your school on an ongoing basis are: using our SCRIP program regularly, online or through the new App  Signing up for Amazon Smile Using the Boxtops for Education App Check out all the information included in this newsletter. The St. Thomas More Fun Run Program will be kicking off Monday, September 21st (video kickoff) and we are super excited!! On Wednesday, October 7, 2020, students will be running and walking for about 30 minutes or doing any fun exercise option that fits in your family's schedule. We will finish class at 12:15pm on that day to allow time for some running and walking family fun.  The Fun Run website and e-mail correspondence will be the primary method of communication throughout the program. We will email you the kickoff video link and will email you updates as the program progresses. The Prize Program will be posted on the main page of the fun run website.  If you'd like to get a head start on the FUNDRAISING, you may access your donation page below! We hope we can count on your generous support. With 100% participation, we will be able to reach our school goal of $60,000.00. Please share your donation page with family and friends so they can help us too!  This is one of our main fundraisers for this year and proceeds will benefit all our students!  Note: The suggested goal for each student is $200.00. Awesome Fun Run PRIZES will be awarded for pledges made to students (starting after the Kickoff Day on designated PRIZE DAYS). WE NEED YOUR HELP! Here are some tips: Make your generous donation NOW, to set a good example for other potential donors to follow. SHARE your donation page with at least 10 family and friends. You may use the e-mail function from your donation page from your computer, tablet or phone. The more people you SHARE it with, the more donations you will receive! Forward your e-mail and the link to family and friends. From your donation page, you can easily post on FACEBOOK. From your PHONE you can TEXT your donation page link. If you have questions, e-mail us at FunRunTeam@gmail.com. Please include your 1) school name 2) teacher and 3) student name in your inquiry. Thank you in advance for your generous support! Healthy Kids Fun Run Team SHOPWITHSCRIP UPDATES Now it's easier than ever to support St. Thomas More School and meet your minimum Scrip requirement of $100. Download the RaiseRight app. You may login with your previous Shop-with-Scrip information or open a new account. Once you have set up PRESTOPAY and/or add a charge card, you can purchase scrip within minutes at the store(if they are in the program).  No more planning to order in advance or waiting for the delivery to arrive at school.  It's great for those shopping trips that just happen. Email our Scrip Coordinator, Nancy Cottura at scrip@stmsf.org have any questions. Thank Scriping Day One Day ONLY Thursday, September 17, 2020 See the Thank Scriping Day Flyer for more information.  Amazon Smile Support STM by checking out with our school's Amazon Smile link below:  https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-1665274 BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION No more clipping Box Tops and sending them into the school. Boxtops now has a mobile app, BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION that can be downloaded.  Once you have purchased participating products from your receipt, your box top account is credited. See the Box Tops for Education flyer for more details.  Save the Date!  Virtual Family Bingo  Saturday, November 7th @ 3pm  More details to come... A Prayer for Our Earth All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe  and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters,  harming no one. O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain  at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,  to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature  as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. Pope Francis, Laudato Si' Copyright © 2020 St. Thomas More School, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email from the office of St. Thomas More School.   Thank you for helping us go green. Our mailing address is: 50 Thomas More Way San Francisco, CA 94132 www.stmsf.org unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

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