| | | | Dear Friends,
Parenting in today's society can be both rewarding and challenging. Effective parenting practices must focus on fostering children who have the ability to be self-reliant and resilient. Children need help managing time, scheduling, prioritizing tasks and setting goals. Your job is to help them develop these skills in an age-appropriate level. This article by Dr. Pat McCormack has some great insights and helpful tips to help you negotiate the tricky path between doing too much for your child and setting them up for success by learning to do things for themselves.
STAR TESTING
Over the next two weeks your child, along with all elementary school students in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, will take the Renaissance STAR Reading and STAR Math Assessments. To help your child prepare for this, please ensure they eat a good breakfast, get a good night's sleep and come to school on time. Results of these assessments will be shared with you at the end of the first quarter. | | | BACK TO SCHOOL MASS
We hope to see everyone on Sunday, September 9, for one of the most important celebrations of the school year. Please join us for our Back-to-School Mass at 10:00am. Come and share in the celebration as we begin a new year together at St. Thomas More School and Utopia Preschool. | | | SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR Again this year we are lucky to have two Scholastic Book Fairs! Our Fall Book Fair will take on a fairy tale theme. The fair begins on September 7 and runs through September 13. Please visit our Book Fair in the library during the times below. Can't make it to the Book Fair? Shop online! Friday, September 7 7:30-8:30 AM; and 2:15-3:15 PM Sunday, September 9 10:45 AM (After Family Mass) -12:15 PM Monday-Thursday; September 10-13
7:30-8:30 AM; and 2:45-3:30 PM | | |
BINGO 'NITE'
Family Bingo 'Nite' is set for Saturday, September 22. This is a great event for the whole family! Reservation forms went home last week. We hope to see you there. | | | | ROBOTICS - INTO ORBIT
Our award-winning STM robotics team is looking for a few, good coaches! All parents, high school/college age siblings, and adult mentors are eligible (STM parents can earn their parent volunteer hours). Engineering or computer science background is a plus but not required. First Lego League Teams (grades 5-8) compete this Fall, with a tournament in November. Jr First Lego League Teams (grades 1-4) compete this Winter/Spring with an exposition in February. This year's challenge theme is "Into Orbit." Please contact stmbroncobotics@gmail.com or Shelley White at swhite@stmsf.org if you are interested. | | | FUN RUN - FALL FUNDRAISER
Next Tuesday, September 4, we will kick off our Fun Run Fundraiser. As per the financial policies, all TK-8 grade families are required to participate in the Fun Run. Each family is to raise a minimum of $100 per child enrolled in the school. More information will be available next week. NO-FUSS FUNDRAISING AT STM
As you are aware, the difference between the cost of educating a child at STM and the tuition we charge is approximately $2,000. In order to fill this gap, we reply on fundraising. Below are resources that are quick and easy ways to support our school!
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). If you are unsure how to sign up for these scrip programs, please stop by the office and Judy will be happy to help you get started.
SHOPAROO
We raised over $800 last year! 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 and neighbors to join in – every receipt counts! | | | | Shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/94-1665274 and Amazon will donate a percentage back to St. Thomas More School. To register, visit smile.amazon.com, log in with your regular Amazon user and password, and select "St. Thomas More School" as the organization you'd like to support. Remember that purchases must originate from smile.amazon.com to be counted. | | | BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AT SCHOOL
As a courtesy to parents, we do allow birthday celebrations during the school day. If you wish to provide a small individual treat (no cakes) for your child's birthday, you will need to purchase a birthday book beforehand. A birthday book request must be submitted at least a week in advance through the school website. Once this has been submitted, your child's teacher will contact you to set up a mutually convenient plan. Please do not contact the teacher directly. Requests not received in time may require that your child's birthday will be celebrated on a day other than their actual birthday. For more information and to submit a birthday book request, click HERE.
Finally, it was great to see you all at our back-to-school night last week. Congratulations to the family of Dominic Patton (4th grade), who won the raffle for $500 towards their tuition!
Enjoy a fantastic Labor Day weekend! Remember, there's no school on Monday!
Sincerely,
Marie Fitzpatrick
Principal | |
David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished."
1 Chronicles 28:20 | | | | | | | | |
