STM Newsletter

View this email in your browser Dear Parents, Students are learning that Lent is a time for preparation for the Resurrection of Jesus. Throughout the Lenten season, students discover how forgiveness, charity, and faith can help them participate in the sacrifice of Jesus. Please work along with us as we help your children explore how they can prepare their hearts for Easter. Discuss with them some of the changes they are hoping to make in their lives during the season of Lent. Share with them some of the changes you hope to make. Together we can help the children understand the significance of this important time in our church calendar. Check out this site for activities you can do with your children.   Thank you to all who joined us for our Family Mass this past Sunday. The 6th graders, along with their teachers, Mrs. Santillan and Mr. McKillion, prepared a meaningful service. Thank you also to our wonderful choir and their director, Shelley White, for gracing us with their beautiful voices. Yesterday, our second grade class received the sacrament of First Reconciliation. When we receive this sacrament we find God's unconditional forgiveness for each and every one of us; as a result we are called to forgive others. The peace of mind and soul which this sacrament imparts to us is one for which there is no substitute. It is a peace that flows from a certainty that our sins have been forgiven and that we are right with God. Please keep the second graders in your prayers as they continue their preparation for their First Communion on Saturday, April 23rd at 10:00am. STATIONS OF THE CROSS:  Please join us this Friday at 1:30pm in the church for 4th grades presentation of the Stations of the Cross.   SPELL-A-THON: Students had lots of fun preparing and studying for the Spell-A-Thon and have completed their part in this fundraiser. Today, your child will bring home their pledge sheets and information on the number of words they spelled correctly. Please remember that all monies pledged are due back by Wednesday, March 23rd. PARENT SERVICE HOURS SNACK BAR: Girls' basketball is about to begin and there are many 4 hour shifts available on Friday nights and Saturday mornings at the gym's snack bar. To sign up for a snack bar shift click HERE. Don't forget that families that do not fulfill the 12 hour minimum service hour commitment will be assessed $450 at the end of the school year. 7th Graders can also earn service hours towards their Confirmation commitment. The sign up for 7th Graders can be found under the Athletic tab on the STM website. TRIVIA NIGHT: We are still in need of a couple of volunteers to help when we host the Winter League Trivia Finals on Saturday, April 9th. If you are available and have not completed your hours, click HERE to sign up! SPRING SHOWS!   SAVE THE DATES: Thursday, April 14th and Friday, April 15th, are the dates of the Spring Shows, under the direction of Mary Powelson, our Theater Arts teacher. This year, we have divided the school into two performances on different days. The upper grades (4, 5, 6, 7 & 8) will perform on Thursday night, April 14th at 7pm in Carroll Hall. The following day on Friday, April 15th, at 1pm in Carroll Hall, the lower grades (PK, K, 1, 2 & 3) will perform. We look forward to seeing you at one or both of these fantastic productions. SEE'S CANDIES: A BIG thank you to Trilce Farrugia, mother of Enzo (3rd grade). Trilce has volunteered to head up the See's Candies Spring Fundraiser. Please follow the deadline for ordering. Candy orders will be delivered in plenty of time for Easter. Complete and return the form you are receiving this week if you wish to order. Don't forget to get up early and set your clocks ahead at 2:00am on Sunday, March 13th, or even better, set them ahead on Saturday night. And while you are at it, change the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Finally, while our school calendar for 2016-2017 has not yet been approved by the Archdiocese, we want to let you know that we have requested to begin the new school year on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016. Hopefully this will help those of you who are planning your vacations now. An official 2016-2017 school calendar will be sent home as soon as it has been approved. The new school year for Utopia, our preschool, will begin on August 15th, 2016. The 2015-2016 school year is certainly flying by! Sincerely,   Marie Fitzpatrick Principal Copyright © 2014 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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STM Newsletter

View this email in your browser Dear Parents: Yesterday, Mr. Mike from the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA) visited with the students to let them know about the important work MCA is doing in Laos, Rwanda, Columbia, Honduras, and Madagascar. The children learned they could help missionaries do Jesus' work by praying for them and by sharing their resources. Please ask them about how they might help others during Lent. Encourage your children to continue to fill their Lenten boxes so that the MCA missionaries can continue their good work in the world. Family Mass: Please join us this Sunday, March 6th for our next Family Mass. Thank you to our sixth grade families for taking the lead in this Mass beginning at 10:00am. See you there! Cioppino: Cioppino 2016 is history! What a wonderful event. Thank you to all who supported the event in any way. There were over 350 diners and countless volunteers for set up, the event itself, and clean up. It was so impressive to stop by the night before during set up and see the beehive of activity with dozens of people working to prepare for the big night…a wonderful involved community of school and alumni parents. Thank you to the cioppino committee made up of April Dominguez, Trilce Farrugia, Jessica Ramirez, Anarose Schdelstrate, Linda Shah, Judy Silva, Zodine Spiegel, Val Willsea and Shelley White, for all their hard work. Congratulations to head chef, Robert Maldonado and his wonderful crew made up of Don Brenes, Anthony Bustos, Jason Bustos, Joe Goncalves, Grant Jung, Julio Fontes, Benny Sablad, Charles Farrugia, Seth Maldonado, Matt Goncalves and Reuben Sablad for catering such a scrumptious meal. A special thank you also to Boy Scout Troop 343 for donating their time to assist with parking and serving dinner. This was our 24th Cioppino. Next year we are planning many fun activities for our 25th anniversary celebration in February 2017. Golf Tournament: Thank you to everyone who supported our 2nd Annual Golf Tournament, The STM Classic. It turned out to be a wonderful success. In all, we raised $7,201 to aid in the construction of a stage in our new Creative Arts Center. Congratulations to the winning team - Joe O'Brien, George Birmingham and Mark Lynch. A big thank you to Sinead Foley (mom of Anna O'Shaughnessy, 3rd) for planning and organizing the tournament. SPELL-A-THON: Just a reminder that pledges for the Spell-a-thon are due to your child's teacher by dismissal on Friday, March 4th. Keep those pledges coming! STREAM: Today we began our Spring STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) electives for the 6th, 7th and 8th graders. These classes nurture students' interests and love of learning through a project based learning approach that emphasizes our school learning expectations (THINK) as well as inspire innovation and creativity. Classes take place on Wednesdays through April 6th with a showcase on April 7th. STREAM students will share their work and projects with STM students and families in the showcase that shows the rigorous work and training resulting from student collaboration, problem solving, effective communication, and the use of critical thinking skills. Ask your junior high student how their STREAM class went! RE-REGISTRATION: Re-registration for current K-7th grade students will be online again this year. More information on how to re-register will be available mid-March. PM EXTENDED CARE: Do you need a 2015 payment summary from Afternoon Extended Care for your flexible spending account or your 2015 tax return? Payment summaries for January through December are available through your FACTS account. JOB LISTINGS: The Archdiocese has some job openings available. Click here to view their listings.  Sincerely,   Marie Fitzpatrick Principal Copyright © 2014 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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STM Newsletter

View this email in your browser Dear Parents: We are now on day eight of the Lenten Season. As we continue on this journey, we are reminded to show personal acts of kindness and sacrifice. We hope you continue to work with your children to help them better understand the concepts of prayer, fasting, and giving. We began our day by blessing the lenten boxes that your child is bringing home. Ask them to tell you how they are going to use their box to help others. Consider sitting down with your children once a week to discuss their Lenten plan. Meet as a family every Sunday during Lent and discuss ways you have shown personal acts of kindness and sacrifice. Be accountable to each other. If you make this a great Lent you will notice the difference on Easter Sunday. The celebration of Jesus' resurrection gives us much to which we can look forward. COPPING 2016/FREE DRESS PASS: There's still time! Buy one of the few remaining Cioppino tickets to earn a FREE DRESS PASS for your child to be used on Monday, February 22nd. To purchase tickets, please use the flyer you have previously received, or you can also make an ONLINE RESERVATION HERE!. FREE DRESS PASSES will be distributed on Friday to students whose parents have bought a ticket or made a donation (value $20 or more) for Cioppino. SILENT AUCTION: In today's envelope you are receiving information about the Cioppino Silent Auction. Please review the items and send in your bids!  SPELL-A-THON: Today you will receive information about our third annual Spring Spell-A-Thon in support for our technology program. As per the financial policies, all K-8 students will participate in this activity. Additional sponsor forms are available in the office and online. PROGRESS REPORTS: Progress Reports are going home today. Again this quarter, all students, third grade and up, are receiving such a report. These progress reports show a snapshot of the student's current academic standing with optional comments from their teachers. The grading scale is available here. As a system default, art, PE, music and tech will show P/90-100% for students who fully participate. Students in the lower grades with behavior and/or academic concerns may receive a progress report if the teacher has concerns in these areas.  RE-REGISTRATION: Re-registration for current K-7th grade students will be online again this year. More information on how to re-register will be available mid-March. LABELS FOR EDUCATION: In the past few years participation in Labels for Education has declined and as a result, Campbell has come to the very difficult decision to wind down the LFE program. The good news is that they will continue to accept labels until August 1, 2016. Send in your labels to the school office! Now we need to collect as many as we can before the end of the school year.  Thank you to all who responded to our request for recommendations about purchasing defibrillators for the school. We value your input! Don't forget, Monday is a minimum day with 12:15/12:30pm dismissal. Extended care will be available until 6pm and there will be a $4 pizza lunch to purchase for those staying. There won't be a newsletter next week as I will be away, Tuesday through Friday, leading a WASC accreditation team at St. Matthew's School in Phoenix, Arizona. See you Saturday night at Cioppino!   Marie Fitzpatrick Principal Copyright © 2014 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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Keeping Hearts Healthy

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Can you help? Dear Families, We need to purchase defibrillators for our school and provide training for our teachers and staff. We know that many of our parents work in the medical field. Does anyone have any recommendations of a device or company that you may be familiar with. Please email me at marifitz@stmsf.org if you can help. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Marie Fitzpatrick Principal

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STM Newsletter for February 10, 2016

Dear Parents: Lent is a time when we prepare as a faith community to meet the risen Christ at Easter. It is a time for us to turn away from what keeps us from living the Gospel, and to remind ourselves that we are called to lives rooted in justice. To be just in the biblical sense is to be in a right relationship with God. Over the 40 days of Lent, we pray for a change of heart towards greater love of God and each other as we share our food, our wealth and our time with others in need. May the Holy Spirit give us the strength to act justly, the courage to love tenderly and the faith to walk humbly with our God, as we prepare for the resurrection of Jesus at Easter time. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten Season and students had an opportunity to attend Mass and receive ashes. During Lent we are reminded to show our love for others. One way that students can do this is through personal acts of kindness and sacrifice. During this Lenten season, we invite your children to pray and offer financial help so that the "children in the Missions today may know Christ and experience His love and care”. We hope to have individual coin collection folders available next week. National Catholic Schools Week at St. Thomas More School was a wonderful success. We have accomplished so much here by working together. Thank you for all the positive comments made to the teachers and staff this past week. It is great to be recognized for a job well done. Thank you to all who made Grandparents and Special Friends Day such a success! The children were so happy to have over 150 special guests join us for this fun event. A HUGE thank you goes out to Jeffrey and Maria Spiegel for their help in preparing over 450 pasta lunches for all to enjoy. Thanks also to the many other parent volunteers who pitched in to make the day run so smoothly. BOOK FAIR: Last year we raised $7,933.28. This year, we reached our goal and raised the highest amounts in recent years - $8352.66! Thanks to all who purchased books at the fair, especially our grandparents, the school now has OVER $4,500 to buy new books and furnishings for our ever-growing library. Miss Silva, our librarian, has been busy keeping an eye on the types of books we would like to add to our collection. CIOPPINO 2016: Work continues in preparation for our BIG fundraiser on Saturday, February 20th. Remember, childcare is available for a nominal fee. Please respond as soon as possible as we believe this will be a sell out event again this year. To purchase tickets, please use the flyer you are receiving today, or you can also make an ONLINE RESERVATION NOW!. DONATIONS NEEDED: Thank you to those who donated items last week that we can use in our baskets at Cioppino. We depend on your donations, so please keep them coming! As a bonus, every school parent who buys a ticket or makes a donation (value $20 or more) for Cioppino will receive a FREE DRESS PASS for their child/ren to be used on Monday, February 22nd. ONE WARM COAT: Thank you to all who donated a warm coat or jacket to our drive. The folks at St. Anthony's and the St. Vincent de Paul Society will be very grateful for your generosity. We continue to welcome your donation. Donating to those in need is a good way to show our love of others during the Lenten season. SCHOOL UNIFORM PANTS FOR GIRLS: Beginning tomorrow, February 11th through April 15th, girls will be able to wear uniform pants if they wish. Those who decide to purchase uniform pants, may do so through either of the uniform companies that we contract with, Dennis Uniform and Simply Uniforms. Please remember that navy blue knee-high socks need to be worn with the pants. Girls must wear their uniform skirts (not the pants) on field trips or on occasions specified by the school. Please remember that Simply Uniform and Dennis Uniform scrip can be purchased for all your uniform needs. SHOPAROO: Last year we raised almost $900! All you need to do is take pictures of your grocery receipts with the Shoparoo app for smartphones and tablets. It doesn’t matter where you shop or what you buy - every receipt submitted results in a donation to our school! So, what are you waiting for? Simply download the free app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and then select St. Thomas More School as your chosen cause. Since there is no limit to how much money we can raise with Shoparoo, be sure to invite your friends, neighbors, and grandparents to join in – every receipt counts! A MINIMUM DAY AND A HOLIDAY: Please remember that this coming Friday, February 12th, is a minimum day for optional parent-teacher conferences. Dismissal for the primary grades will be at 12:15pm followed by the fourth through eighth grades at 12:30pm. We remind you also that Monday, February 15th is a holiday in honor of Presidents' Day.                  Sincerely, Marie Fitzpatrick Principal

STM Newsletter for February 3, 2016

Dear Parents: The Family Mass, Book Fair, the school-wide open house and the general spirit of goodwill were a fitting beginning to National Catholic Schools Week at St. Thomas More School. We have accomplished so much here by working together. A special thank you to our teachers, Anna Tyaglo and Natalia Girlich for preparing a beautiful Family Mass with the kindergarten students and their families. We are so proud of our wonderful kindergarten students. This is a good time to reflect on the benefit of being part of a Catholic school. The strong school community, grounded in a shared faith and the support and high expectations of parents, teachers and the larger community, offers your children a foundation for facing the rapidly changing world around them. By sharing this belief in God's goodness and living out their faith every day, your children are blessed with a clear advantage. Faith provides an anchor that will serve your children well into the future. You are welcome to visit the Book Fair any morning this week before school begins or right after dismissal. Just go straight to the library where Judy Silva and her crew of booksellers will be there to assist you. Check out the wish lists the teachers have prepared of books they would like to have in their classroom libraries. Consider donating a book to your child's classroom. Can't make it to our Book Fair? Check out our Online Book Fair. Click here to purchase books. All orders will ship directly to school for free when the Online Fair has ended. Tomorrow is Grandparents and Special Friends Day! We will kick off the activities at 11:30am. Parking will be limited, so we suggest all attendees arrive a little early. The school yard will be open from 10:45am for parking. Hospitality, courtesy of the Parents' Club, will be provided in Carroll Hall beginning at 10:00am. As a reminder, all students, attending grandparents and special friends will receive a delicious FREE lunch thanks to the Spiegel Family! Thank you to the 150+ special guests who have RSVP'd for this fun event. The children are really looking forward to welcoming them to our school. Your children are so lucky to have such special people in their lives.

CIOPPINO 2016: Work continues in preparation for our BIG fundraiser on Saturday, February 20th. Consider getting together with other parents from your child's class to purchase a table. This event is a lot of fun. Remember, childcare is available for a nominal fee. Please respond as soon as possible as we believe this will be a sell out event again this year. To purchase tickets, please use the flyer you are receiving today or you can also make an ONLINE RESERVATION NOW!. DONATIONS NEEDED/FREE DRESS PASS: Thank you to those who donated items last week that we can use in our baskets at Cioppino. We depend on your donations, so please keep them coming! As a bonus, every school parent who buys a ticket or makes a donation (value $20 or more) for Cioppino will receive a FREE DRESS PASS for their child/ren to be used on Monday, February 22nd.

SPELLING BEE: Another thrilling Spelling Bee, complete with a nail-biting ending, was enjoyed by all on the first day of Catholic Schools Week!   4th Grade: Mikaylla Catangay, Isabella Alcantara, Santino Martinez 5th Grade: Salma Van Mechelen, Malia Sladewski and Isabel Sanchez. 6th Grade: Ethan Nguyen, Isabella Brenes, Chris Malbas  7th Grade: 2nd Place Jordan Mak, Zachary White, Michael Conefrey 8th Grade: 1st Place Dylan Limjoco, 3rd Place Justin Santos, Kevin Sarmiento Congratulations to all our participants!  You are ALL winners!

ONE WARM COAT: These cold days also reminded us to count our blessing and give thanks that we have enough to eat, warm coats, and cozy homes. Unfortunately, many others in our community are not so lucky. St. Thomas More is happy to participate in the One Warm Coat program. Please look through your closets and see if you can locate a warm coat or jacket that is in really good condition, clean and ready to be worn by someone less fortunate. ALL types of coats are needed and will be distributed to needy people by St. Anthony's and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. You can also drop off your donations anytime between now and February 10th to the school office. SPORTS PHOTO FORMS: If you still want to purchase sports photos from the recent picture sessions, the photographer will be picking up all late order forms tomorrow afternoon. Please return them with your payment before then. SCHOOL NEWSPAPER: The Newspaper Committee, moderated by Miss Kane, have decided to produce an online version of the school newspaper, Bronco On The Go. Check it out HERE. Thanks to the following contributing students: Jordan Mak, Chloe Sladewski, Ethan Limboco, Cristian Torres, Igor Bessa, Adriel Garcia, Zhari Malig and Ariana Montiel. STUDENT HOLIDAY: Plan ahead - Please remember that the school, preschool through 8th grade, will be closed on Friday, February 5th. This is the day set for the annual Archdiocese Professional Development for all Catholic school teachers and administrators.                           Sincerely, Marie Fitzpatrick Principal