St. Thomas More School Newsletter
January 2-6, 2023
Principal’s Message
Building Community – One Body, Many Parts
1 Corinthians 12:12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
Dear Parents and Families,
Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas holiday and were able to recharge as well as spend valuable time with family and friends. I thought of my STMS family while I was away for the holidays.
We have many things to look forward to this month, including Catholic Schools Week at the end of January. Stay tuned for more detailed information.
Vrede (Peace in Dutch),
Elizabeth Glaze
Inclement Weather
Our top priority is always the safety of staff, students, and visitors when making decisions. We recognize that canceled school days disrupt family schedules.
We make every effort to make decisions regarding closings or delays in the evening, understanding that parents need time to make arrangements. However, if the forecast is uncertain and still developing, we wait to get the latest forecast and assess actual road conditions early in the morning. Additionally, if a delayed opening has been announced the night before, and the forecast or conditions worsen overnight, we may need to update the status in the morning and announce that all schools will be closed for the day.
Depending on the winter weather conditions, one of the following options is decided:
- Schools start on time (no messages will be shared)
- Schools start two hours late (no a.m. preschool)
- Schools are closed (When schools are closed, all after school activities and evening facility use are also canceled.)
If schools are delayed or closed, information will be shared through the following communication channels:
- Email : An email will go out to all families. Please make sure your contact information is up to date to ensure you receive these notifications.
- STMS website: A message will be posted to the home page of the STMS website.
- Social media: Messages will be posted to the district Facebook and Instagram pages.
We will not send or post messages if schedules are normal. No news means that schools are open.
Parking Lot: When the parking lot is icy, the snake line may be moved closer to the doors. Please follow the cones when you come into the parking lot.
If you have questions, please contact the school office at 425-743-4242.
School Commission – Committee Members Needed
The School Commission is looking for parents interested in joining the committees designated to work on school priorities. If you are interested in joining any of the committees, please email Vickie Jarman, “Vickie Jarman” vljarman@hotmail.com or Maria Houser, “Maria Houser” maykahlo34@yahoo.com.
- Safety/ Facilities & Maintenance: Review facilities for safety concerns; help make recommendations on needed services and materials.
- Technology: Review tech needs and make recommendations.
- Fundraising: Review fundraising efforts for viability and make recommendations for future fundraising activities.
- Grants: Research grants that meet needs of school. Write grant proposals.
- Strategic Planning: Assist with long-range school planning based on accreditation goals.
Stewardship Drives
Thank you to everyone who supported our stewardship drives this year. So far this year we have donated pet food and toys for Pasado’s Safe Haven, candy for troops, food for St. Vincent de Paul and toys to Catholic Community Services. We are blessed to have such a generous community! Thank you especially to Matt Houser, who was our ark taking the food and toys to Pasado’s Safe Haven in October, and Alfredo Barajas who was our sleigh taking the toys to Catholic Community Services in December.
Specialist Spotlight
Our specialists work hard to provide a variety of interesting and engaging activities for all of our students. We would like to share some of the highlights of their work, as well as a little bit more about each of them.
Deanna Maddock is our Computer teacher and resident Tech Guru. She has been with STMS for 10 years, and teaching computer class for 9 of those years. Mrs. Maddock has found her groove teaching technology – she is not afraid to try new technology tools and her lessons are engaging and lighthearted. She enjoys watching students have the “lightbulb” moment when things click and they are able to utilize technology to explore their creativity as well apply new skills. One of the tools Mrs. Maddock utilizes in her classroom is the Technokids curriculum. This curriculum is project-based and students are enthusiastic about the lessons, which align with our technology and Common Core standards, as well as incoporating real-world experiences. Some of the lessons include writing travel brochures, creating timelines of important events, learning about being fit and being healthy, as well as reinforcing computer literacy skills such as how to use MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. One of the biggest priorities for Mrs. Maddock is teaching internet safety and digital citizenship skills; this curriculum provides thoughtful ways to teach these skills to students in a meaningful way.
When she is not teaching, Mrs. Maddock enjoys baking with her granddaughter, spend time with her family, cooking and trying new recipes and completing puzzles. Her favorite thing in the world is chocolate chip cookies.
Hot Lunch Returns
Tara Meucci is excited to be back on Friday’s to help with hot lunch. Orders and payments are due on Thursdays (day before). No Refunds or change will be given. We will be offering Costco pizza and hot dogs to start.
All pizza lunches will include choice of drink (water, soda, juice) and a treat.
Hot dog lunches will include choice of drink (water, soda, juice) bag of chips and treat.
Cost is $5 per lunch extra slice or hot dog is additional $1. Please see the link below for the order form.
If you volunteer to help with our Hot Lunch fundraisers, please use the Sign Up Genius below:
Hot Lunch Schedule through March
Jan 6 Pizza | ||
Jan 13 NO HOT LUNCH | Jan 20 Hamburger | Jan 27 Pizza |
Feb 3 Hot Dogs | Feb 10 NO SCHOOL | Feb 17 Pizza |
Feb 24 Grilled Cheese | Mar 3 Pizza | Mar 10 Pizza |
Mar 17 Grilled Cheese | Mar 24 Pizza | Mar 31 Pizza |
Early Dismissal for Appointments
Please remember to email your child’s teacher and copy the office staff if you are taking your student out of school for an appointment. We appreciate your cooperation on this.
Free Dress Days Reminder
Please remember on Free Dress Days that students may wear more casual clothing as long as they are dressed within school dress code guidelines. Along those lines, please keep in mind that student dress should be modest – no bare mid-diffs or spaghetti straps, clothes must fit properly. No leggings (unless under a skirt) in grades 5 and up.
Patrol
Anyone looking for volunteer hours? We can always use your help in patrol!! You will receive 1 hour for every AM or PM day. Please contact me (Robert Trias) for which days you are available and either mornings (AM) or afternoons (PM) or both. You contact myself @ (206)353-2000 or TRIAS0175@yahoo.com , I will also be doing patrol every Monday (PM), so you can talk to me at school.
Thank you!!!
Book Fair
Book Fair is coming January 27-February 2nd
More information will be coming as we get closer to the dates, but put these on your calendar now.
Saturday, January 27 6:00-8:00 pm – Family night. The Renggli Room will be transformed into Space Stations families can explore together.
Sunday, January 28 9:30 am – 1:30 pm Book Fair will be out of this world for families to shop together.
Monday January 29 – February 2nd 8:30 am-3:30 pm– Classes will be assigned a special day and time to shop Book Fair. Families can also attend after school until 3:30.
Wednesday, February 1st 6:00-8:00 pm – Reading Under the Stars. 3rd and 4th grade students will be reading their speech storybooks. All are invited to come and listen! Book Fair will NOT be open during this time though.
Miss Watters needs a galaxy of beings to help with Book Fair and these special events. Don’t space out. Sign up now using the Sign Up Genius below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F45AFAF229-2023
Extended Care on Half Days
Extended Care will be offered until 3pm on the half day Mondays that we have PD for teachers. The dates are as follows: January 23, February 27 and March 27. We will not have a half day Monday during the month of April. On May 22, we will not have school since there will be a full day PD.
On the half days prior to a holiday, we will not offer Extended Care. The effected days are Friday, December 16; Friday, February 17, Friday, April 7 and Friday, May 26.
New Extended Care Supervisor
We are pleased to welcome Emily Eastwood as our Extended Care Supervisor on Thursday and Friday afternoons.
We are still looking for an Extended Care Supervisor for the morning shift, Monday-Friday, 7:00-8:15. If you or someone you know is interested, please call the school office. Any parent who wishes to take on the role can receive free Extended Care services for morning and afternoon.
Volunteers
Parents who wish to volunteer will need to be current on their Virtus Training, Protecting God’s Children and complete the School Volunteer Agreement attesting to their vaccination status. Parents wishing to volunteer inside the school building will need to be fully vaccinated.
Here are some upcoming training dates that are nearby (register on Virtus):
1/10 St. John Mary Vianney Catholic Church, Kirkland (Zoom)
1/11 Our Lady of Hope, Everett (Zoom)
Parent Pick Up
Please do not arrive before 2:45. We continue to have an abundance of cars lined up on the street, which impedes traffic flow, is dangerous, and upsets our neighbors. Parents, please remember if you are parked in the gravel parking lot, you need to exit via the left lane of the “snake” line out the proper exit. If you are in the timed parking lot, you will need to wait until students are cleared from the lot before you exit.
Auction Update
Auction Updates:
Final Procurement DEADLINE Friday, January 13, 2023
Invitations: Invitations have arrived and will be coming home with students this week. Check those backpacks!
Procurement: You may continue to drop off items in the office during school hours. On Friday, January 13th we will be collecting items in the parking lot during the morning drop off.
$250 Procurement Commitment: If your $250.00 procurement commitment has not been completed by 3:00pm on Friday, January 13, 2023, your FACTS account will be billed in February 2023 for the outstanding portion.
Class Baskets: Due January 13, 2023.
Class Art Projects: Due January 13, 2023.
Jessica Lang | Auction Procurement Team | St. Thomas More School
Cell (425) 890-5891 Email: jessica@nvllaw.com
Follow Along @stmsauction
Parent Club
Welcome back everyone!
We hope you had a great holiday season.
Reminder Parent Club meeting is on 1/5/23 at 6:30-7:00.
The meeting will be on Zoom. Here is the link: Parent Club Zoom.
Book Fair
The theme of the book fair this year is space. There will be stations set up in the Renggli room.
There will be a designated day that kids can dress in a space-themed outfit (astronaut, alien, pilot, etc.)
**Ms. Waters needs a chair/lead to assist her with the book fair. The role is to assist in the execution of the pre-planned items.
Please consider helping her!
Dates to Remember
1/13 MLK Assembly, 11am (note: this date is incorrect on the calendar)
1/16 Holiday – MLK, Jr. Day Observed
1/23 Early Dismissal (Teacher PD)
1/27 Book Fair Kickoff
1/29 – 2/3 Catholic Schools Week
CYO
CYO Update
Guidelines for COVID, Flu and RSV
Please continue to keep your child at home if they are ill. We will continue to follow the advice and recommendations of the Snohomish Health District as we navigate the cold and flu season. If students have active symptoms from any respiratory infections and/or have a fever, they should not come to school.
Please see the letter published from the Snohomish Health District from November 18, 2022.
St. Thomas More School is following the COVID guidelines published by the Washington State Department of Health and the Snohomish Health District. As of the end of October, STMS had 7 reported cases of COVID-19 positive test results to date.
The Snohomish Health District has recently revised their guidelines. The link to the guidelines can be found below:
If your child exhibits COVID-19 symptoms at school, they will be asked to wear a mask, and we will call home. We have COVID-19 testing available and may require proof of a negative test prior to their return to school. The options for testing are:
- Testing is conducted at home by the parent, and a copy of the negative test is sent to the school.
- Testing is conducted by the parent at STMS with our testing supplies.
- Testing is conducted by one of the office staff at STMS.
If your child tests positive, the quarantine period is 5-10 days. If after 5 days, your child is symptom free he/she may return to school (wearing a mask) as long as you provide proof of a negative test result. Negative tests should be emailed to the STMS office staff. Siblings of a child who test positive, or if a child is exposed to someone else in the home who tests positive, may return to school as long as there are no COVID-19 symptoms with proof of a negative and remain masked.
School Mass & Assembly Schedule
This year each grade level will lead the 3rd Sunday Mass (or Saturday vigil Mass), which coincides with Coffee & Donuts (with the exceptions of December, April, and June). Please see the table below for Mass times and participating grade level . All participants and attendees in school uniform will get a free dress pass. Please note we have made revisions to the scheduled Masses.
Jan 21, 5pm * | 7th and 2nd Grades |
Feb 26, 10:30 ** | 6th Grade and Kindergarten |
Mar 19, 8:30 | 3rd Grade |
Apr | Spring Break |
May 21, 10:30 | 5th and 1st Grades |
*The January date has been changed from 1/14 to 1/21 to not conflict with Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend.
**The February date has been changed from 2/19 to 2/26 to not conflict with President’s Day weekend.
Coffee & Donuts
Please see the links below to sign up. We need more people to sign up for the 8:30 Mass.
Pastoral Council
The Pastoral Council is a consultative body to the Pastor which serves the people of God through visionary leadership and direction.
The purpose of the Pastoral Council is:
- To create, inspire, and demonstrate leadership and enthusiasm for all matters relating to the spiritual and temporal affairs of St. Thomas More Parish
- To provide recommendations for Parish priorities, directions, and policies through pastoral planning.
- To Promote communication, visibility, and understanding among the Parish Commissions, Committees, Community, Archdiocese, and universal Church.
- Informing community, Council members are challenged to ongoing renewal through prayer, study, listening, and dialogue.
- In developing priorities and directions for the Parish, the Council is to become the means to achieving full participation by the Parish in its mission by giving its voice in guiding and directing Parish life.
- In fostering communication, the Council encourages and initiates dialogue among parish leadership and organizations and brings the concerns to the larger Church.
We invite you to become a part of our Pastoral Council. Our regular schedule is 4th Thursday September- June. For more information, please contact Nick Golla, (818) 903-9140 nngolla@gmail.com
Scrip
Scrip will continue to be an easy and ongoing Fundraiser. All rebates from gift cards purchased until April 30th, 2023 will count towards this year’s fundraising commitments.
Scrip Announcements:
*7TH GRADE WON THE GIFT CARD CONTEST FOR A HOT COCOA PARTY!!
*NEW IN PERSON SALE TIMES:
- Wednesday 8-9am
- Friday 2:45-3:30pm
- Every other Sunday 9:30-10:30am
*CURRENT SAFEWAY/ALBERTSONS CARDS
Due to an update, current Safeway/Albertson’s cards in our inventory or previously purchased, will only be reloadable via the RaiseRight App until Mid January. We will keep you posted when the new reloadable cards are in our inventory.
*RaiseRight increased bank transaction fees to $0.29.
*VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
We are in need of one more seller for each sale listed above. Remember, you can drop in and are not expected to commit weekly, however MUCH Appreciated if available.
STMS Families are required 40 hours of Volunteer Hours each year (4 to be for the Auction). Selling Scrip has been a great way many of us have connected with our community by getting to know the names and faces of parents and their children. Saying our “Hello”’s in the parking lot and building friendships and relationships!
Email us at stmpsscrip@gmail.com for questions!
HAPPY NEW YEAR from your Scrip team!
Tiffany Butts- Scrip Coordinator (Volunteer)
-Always Welcoming New Volunteers!-
Website
We are continuing to revise and improve the website. You can now access the calendar under the Parents tab for to see upcoming events. There is also updated Auction information. We will continue to keep you informed of updates and improvements throughout the year.