| | | | | January, 6, 2021
Dear STM Families,
With hope and gratitude we begin the year 2021 at St. Thomas More School.
We are grateful for our faculty, staff and administrators, from Preschool through 8th grade, who are working harder than ever to educate and support our students whether at home or in the classroom. We are grateful for each other's partnership in mission as we continue to "prepare our diverse community of students to become citizens committed to service and stewardship" (STM Mission Statement).
We are grateful for our students who continue to bring joy to our lives each day, and who continue to grow and learn in so many extraordinary ways. Our sincere gratitude to our families for their continued support and partnership. Your strength and your commitment to Catholic education as we move forward together is inspirational.
We face 2021 with hope for an end to the pandemic, a quick and safe rollout of the vaccine, and with good health and prosperity for all.
Teachers reported that students returned to school yesterday with smiling faces and an eagerness to see their friends and to get back to work. At this point in time, it appears that the decision to remain in distance learning through January 19th has been a good one for our community as the number of Covid-19 cases in California and around the world continues to rise. We will continue to monitor the situation closely with the health and safety of our staff and students paramount in all our decisions. Your input is always gratefully appreciated.
| | | KINDERGARTEN and TK APPLICATIONS 2021-2022 Applications for next school year are currently being accepted. New student application forms for Kindergarten, Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and grades 1st-8th are now available and may be completed online. -
Children currently in TK will not need to reapply. You will be automatically saved a space in next year's Kindergarten class. -
Children currently attending Utopia, our preschool, siblings of current students, as well as alumni families will be given preference in the application process. -
Screening for all applicants began December 7th and will be ongoing. The first round of acceptances will be emailed on January 15, 2021. -
Questions? please reach out to our office at (415) 337-0100 or to Betty Quinlan, our Admissions Director, bquinlan@stmsf.org. We ask your help in encouraging prospective parents to consider St. Thomas More School for their child for the 2021-2022 school year. You, our current families, are our best advertising! Please invite friends and relatives interested in St.Thomas More School to come to one of our virtual "MEET THE PRINCIPAL" events for prospective parents. Click HERE to reserve a place on one of the dates listed below: -
January 20, 2021, 6pm -
February 10, 2021, 6pm | | |  | January 11- February 6 www.onewarmcoat.org Winter is here and there are many families in our community who are in need of a warm winter coat. Between January 11- February 6, St. Thomas More School will be collecting clean, new or gently used coats in conjunction with ONE WARM COAT. Your donations will benefit many local charities in the area which are in desperate need of coats. Please help us keep everyone warm this winter. Thank you in advance for your generosity. Kindly drop coats in the bins outside the front door of the school during school hours. | | CALENDAR Tuesday, January 12
Grade 8: Cultural Project Visitor
Grade 4: Virtual Field Trip - The First Colonizers
Thursday, January 14: Parents' Club Meeting 7 pm (note new date) Friday, January 15: First round of TK and K acceptances sent
Monday, January 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
Tuesday, January 19
In-person Instruction Resumes
Request for Student In-Person Learning Form due Jan. 12 | | |  | | New Applications Starting January 15th BASIC FUND'S new application for the 2021-2022 School Year will be available online on our website, www.basicfund.org. Because this year has been so challenging, we are making a change and allowing applicants to provide their 2019 tax returns, if their 2020 returns are not yet prepared. New siblings for current BASIC Fund students must request a link to apply for a new student. The deadline is March 31, 2021.
Renewal Applications Taking in consideration this unprecedented situation, The BASIC Fund has decided to use the financial documentation that we have on file for the current year, to process the 2021-2022 renewals for our renewing families. In February we will email families a renewal application link for them to update their information. Families will still be able to update any financial documentation if they would like to be considered for a higher percentage. Families that were over our financial guidelines but met the leeway for the 2020-2021 School Year and were awarded 25%, we will determine the leeway for the 2021-2022 school year in July. These families can submit recent financial information for consideration | | DONATIONS NEEDED Thank you to all those who donated to our school improvement projects. As of today, we raised $2,600! We completed one of our school improvement projects over the winter holiday with the installation of a mail slot at the front door. Please continue to support and donate to fund our school improvement projects and to purchase additional PPE supplies to keep our children, faculty and staff safe. School Improvement Projects: -
Acquire and install desktop speakers for classroom laptops to ease communication among in-class and distance learning students. -
Install a clear barrier on the second floor outside of the library and science lab. -
Purchase document cameras for classrooms to capture and visually share books, artwork and objects to the classroom projectors, large monitors and over Zoom.
| | | Thank You! A big thanks to Quinlan Construction for the donation of time and talent to the installation of the new mailbox. Our sincere gratitude also to the Ansari family for donating the new banner advertising our school. Check it out when next you drive by. | | | | We end the month with Catholic Schools Week, our annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. This year the celebrations run from January 31 to February 6. We will offer some of the well loved traditions such as the Book Fair but we also have many new activities for our grandparents and families that will be in a virtual format. Watch here for updates as we complete the planning! Be safe! Be healthy!
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal | | | | | | | | |
