| | | | Pray for Catholic Education Loving God, we gather in your name.
Called by our commitment to Catholic education.
Summoned by your grace.
We seek to care and educate our children for life.
Bless our school at this moment.
Enlighten and guide our discussion and decisions.
Gift us with vision, wisdom and insight.
We seek to ensure the present and the future of
Catholic education for all children and families.
We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen | | | | February 2, 2022
Dear STM Families,
We are halfway through our celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Please take the opportunity to check out the daily videos the students have prepared to celebrate their school, their teachers and their church posted on our school website. Below are the two winning posters that STM is submitting to an Archdiocesan wide contest to celebrate Faith, Excellence and Service at our Catholic Schools. Good luck to Jada (4) and Vivian (8). 
 | | | | Below are the updates for this week: - Calendar
- STM receives $1,000,000 grant
- Birthday celebration reminders
- Valentine's Day celebrations
- Synod Survey
- Scholastic Book Fair
- Catholic San Francisco Magazine
- Ballet Folklorico Mexicano De Carlos Moreno Dance Assembly
- Virtual Bingo ~ Save the Date, February 26, 2022
- Cioppino ~ Save the Date, March 26, 2022
- Breakthrough San Francisco
- COVID-19 Notifications
| | | CALENDAR Jan. 28-Feb. 4 - Scholastic Book Fair , OPEN UNTIL THIS FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL Jan 30-Feb 5 - Catholic Schools Week Thursday, Feb 3 - Parents' Club Meeting 7 pm Friday, Feb. 4
Carlos Moreno Dance Assembly
End of Trimester 2 Feb 1-11 - STAR Testing Q3 Friday, Feb. 14
T2 Report Cards and Q3 STAR Report distributed | | | THE CARL GELLERT AND CELIA BERTA GELLERT FOUNDATION The Carl Gellert Foundation was established in December 1958, and The Celia Berta Gellert Foundation was established in November 1970. The two foundations merged in December of 1994 to become The Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation. Both San Francisco natives, Carl and Celia's legacies now live on through their philanthropic generosity in the education, religious, and scientific fields in the San Francisco Bay Area. The foundation's mission serves "to support community-based organizations and Catholic Schools, strengthening the Bay Area and serving those in need." | | | STM RECEIVES $1,000,000 GRANT Towards the end of 2021, St. Thomas More School received a grant of one million dollars ($1M) from the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation. This is by far the largest grant we have ever applied for and we are extremely grateful to the Foundation for their life-changing gift. The grant money is to be used for the following purposes: - $750,000 have been set aside in a restricted fund to provide financial aid to our families for years to come.
- $200,000 was used to complete the remodeling of the boys and girls bathrooms in the main school building. This allowed us to complete the seismic and remodel work without the need to use the loan funds set aside for us by the Archdiocese.
- Develop a strategic planning process for STM over the next 18 months.
- Hire a director of development to assist with future fundraising and alumni development.
| | | BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION REMINDERS If you wish to provide class refreshments on the occasion of your child's birthday, please contact the classroom teacher at least a week in advance to make a mutually convenient plan. Refreshments must be limited to: an individual serving of prepared treats (such as cupcake, cookie, doughnut) and a self-serve beverage. Goodie bags, balloons, or other gifts are not allowed. | | | VALENTINE'S DAY CELEBRATIONS I know many of you are anxious to get started shopping for candy and treats for Valentine's Day before supplies get scarce! Students will have the opportunity to pass individually wrapped candy to their classmates. While we will not have classroom parties, I'm sure teachers will give students an opportunity to go outside and enjoy some of their sugary treats. | | | |  
All parishes in the Archdiocese of San Francisco are currently participating in Pope Francis' synodal process by participating in the Disciple Maker Survey and listening sessions. You can go to sfarch.org/synod to take the survey and sign up for an upcoming listening session in your area.The survey closes on February 15. It is vital that our school families have a voice in this important process. | | | SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR OPEN UNTIL THIS FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL Friday, 1/28 through Friday, 2/4/2022 The Book Fair will be open daily before and after school. - The schoolyard will open at 7:45am each morning for early shoppers.
- Students in TK-3 may be accompanied by a vaccinated parent or guardian. Proof of vaccination must be provided.
- Masks must be worn at all times while on campus.
- Only 20 shoppers are allowed upstairs to the library at a time.
- Consider making an ewallet account for your child at My Scholastic. No cash to worry about!
- If a check is used, checks need to be made out to St. Thomas More School for the exact amount as no change will be given.
- Students will visit the Book Fair with their teacher one afternoon this week.
Book Fair Schedule | | | 7:45-8:30 | 2:00-2:30 | 2:30-3:00 | 3:00-3:30 | | Wednesday | 2/2 | Open | 1 | 6 | Open | | Thursday | 2/3 | Open | 2 | 4 | Open | | Friday | 2/4 | Open | 3 | Open | Closed | | | |  BALLET FOLKORICO MEXICANO DE CARLOS MORENO
Students will attend an assembly with this exciting dance troupe on Friday, February 4th in the gym to celebrate the end of Catholic Schools Week. There will be two sessions, one for TK-3 and another for older students in order to allow students adequate space to spread apart. This will be our first major assembly since the beginning of the pandemic. | | | SAVE THE DATE
VIRTUAL BINGO Saturday, February 26, 2022
5:00 - 6:30 PM 
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SAVE THE DATE 30TH ANNUAL CIOPPINO DINNER Saturday, March 26, 2022 Join us for a special evening of food, drinks and music and see why this event is a sell-out every year! | | | BREAKTHROUGH REMINDERS! If you know a family who is interested in being part of this amazing community, encourage them to submit their application ASAP! Applications are due online by Friday, 2/4. As needed, we can support families with their online applications virtually or by appointment requested via apply@breakthroughsf.org. If you haven't done so already, and are interested in scheduling a live Zoom presentation for your class or if you have any questions, please contact us at apply@breakthroughsf.org. Otherwise, please feel free to share the following pre-recorded presentation with your 4th graders at your discretion. For more information, refer to the Breakthrough San Francisco Newsletter. | | | SCHOOL TOURS We are offering new parents school tours for new parents. Complete the sign up below to reserve your place for the dates listed below. - Monday, February 28 at 1 pm
- Monday, March 28 at 1 pm
School Tour Guidelines: - Tours will be available after school and limited to 6 visitors per tour group
- Limit two parents/guardians per family per tour
- Visitors must bring proof of COVID vaccination or a negative COVID test result dated within the last 72 hours of visit
- Tours are about 30 minutes in duration
| | | Enjoy the rest of Catholic Schools Week!
Marie Fitzpatrick Principal
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