The Phoenix Flyer: St. Thomas More School Newsletter
January 23-27, 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,
Next week is Catholic Schools Week! Please see more information below on the different themes and dress-up days.
To kick off Catholic Schools Week, we will hold an Open House on Sunday from 11:30-1:00. Please help us spread the word and invite neighbors and friends!
We still need help with the Book Fair – if you would like to earn volunteer hours and help Ms. Watters, please contact the school office or Ms. Watters directly.
ความสงบ Khwam sngb (“Peace” in Thai),
Elizabeth Glaze
Dates to Remember
1/27 Book Fair Kickoff – Space Theme Dress Up Day
1/29 STMS Open House
1/29 – 2/3 Catholic Schools Week
2/4 Speech Tournament at Seattle Prep
Catholic Schools Week
Next week is Catholic Schools Week. We will kick off the week during Mass this weekend, as well as our Open House after the Sunday 10:30 Mass (see additional information below). Students who attend a Mass this weekend can earn a free dress pass. Parents or guardians, please email the school office on Monday with the service date/time you attended and student names and grades who attended in full uniform.
Monday: Neighborhood Appreciation; Uniforms
Tuesday: Western Dress Day
Wednesday: Teacher Appreciation Day; Mass – Full Uniform
Thursday: Parent Appreciation Day; Sill Dress Day
Friday: Student Appreciation Day; Faith Family Color Dress Day
Please contact your student’s teacher for more information on the dress up days.
The following Fact Sheet contains info on the history and purpose of Catholic Schools Week:
STMS Open House
Please attend our Open House on Sunday, January 29 from 11:30-1:00. Please spread the word and bring friends and neighbors. Refer a family who enrolls and you could receive a month off from tuition. (Please check with the school office for more details of our Family Referral Program).
Auction Update
Auction Updates:
Gala Registration Deadline – Friday, January 31, 2023
Invitations to the Dream Big Fly High – Step Into Spring Gala have been sent home, here are a few details for the event:
RSVP for the Gala:
Ticket Price: $95.00
Final RSVP due on January 31, 2023
Embassy Suites Hotel Room Block: Embassy Suites Hotel Room_STMS Auction Gala
Procurement: Thank you to EVERYONE that procured items for our school auctions, we appreciate your help in making these auctions a success for our school.
$250 Procurement Commitment: If your family has not fulfilled the $250.00 procurement commitment, your FACTS account will be billed in February 2023 for the outstanding portion. If you owe, an invoicing email will be sent home this week outlining your outstanding balance.
Class Art Projects: Shout Out to 1st and 5th grade students and their auction project chairs for turning in their class art projects!! They are beautiful!
Follow Along: Don’t forget to follow the auction @stmsauction for sneak peaks on class art projects, baskets and maybe a few clues on some of our wonderful live items.
RSVP: The gala is going to be a wonderful party, and you are all invited! Please make sure to RSVP soon so you don’t miss out!
Jessica Lang | Auction Procurement Team | St. Thomas More School
Cell (425) 890-5891 Email: jessica@nvllaw.com
Follow Along @stmsauction
Judges Needed for Speech Tournament
On March 8 and 9, we will hold our Speech Tournament for grades 3-8. We are in need of judges for the different speech events. Parents who do not have a student in the competition are welcome to participate and earn volunteer hours.
If you or someone you know can help judge the tournament, please contact the school office.
Parent Club
Hello Families!
Happy Lunar New Year! It’s the Year of the Rabbit!
Reminder Catholic School’s week in next week and class posters are due this Thursday. Please help your room parent so they can complete it.
We are still in need of volunteers for Ms. Watters Book Fair. Please see the sign up genius to lend a hand.
If anyone is interested in helping pick up the food for Saturday’s Family Night please let us know.
Thanks again for everyone’s ongoing support. We know everyone is busy and we appreciate all that you do to lend a hand.
Have a great week!
Francesca and Suzi
Scrip
STMS Scrip Announcements:
*FEBRUARY CHALLENGE:
*IN PERSON SALE TIMES:
o Wednesday 8-9am
o Friday 2:45-3:30pm (not on half days)
o Every other Sunday 9:30-10:30am – Feb 5th & Feb 19th
*CURRENT SAFEWAY/ALBERTSONS CARDS
Due to an update, current Safeway/Albertson’s cards in our inventory or previously purchased, will no longer be reloadable on the App. We will keep you posted when the new reloadable cards are in our inventory in February.
*Please note, we won’t get the new cards until the current ones are gone.
*RaiseRight officially increased bank transaction fees to $0.29 on the App.
*Shell Gas $50 cards now in our inventory!
*VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
We are in need of one more seller for Wed AM and Sunday. Remember, you can drop in and are not expected to commit weekly, however MUCH Appreciated if available.
Email us at stmpsscrip@gmail.com for questions! STMS.org/fundraising/scrip
See updated Form
Shopping with Scrip Gift Cards is Fundraising while you shop !
Mock Trial
Our Mock Trial team will compete in the YMCA Middle School Tournament on Friday, January 27th at 5:00 PM and Saturday, January 28th from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Denny Juvenile Justice Center (2801 10th St. Everett WA).
Parents and spectators are welcome to attend. Please come support our team members Olivia Ha, Mia Abellera, Amen Theodros, Maddie Ford, Ted Pehanich, Emerson Houser, Christian Aaron, Ethan Ha, Blen Tsegaye, Adrian Jimenez, Jasmine Aboulesaad, Shannon Mullins.
We wish them the best and good luck!!!
GO STMS PHOENIX MOCK TRIAL!!!!
Local Area Events
Thursday, February 9, 6:30-9:30pm: St. Brendan’s is hosting a middle school (7th and 8th grade) dance and has invited STMS students. Please see the details in the flyer below – the flyer also includes the permission slip, which is required of all students, as well as their ID card. St. Brendan’s has provided the following information regarding safety and security for the event:
The dress is casual (please see the flyer for further dress code reminders). The cost of the dance is ten dollars per student. Students will need to bring their student ID and a signed permission form (attached). Additionally, we will be selling concessions, so students are welcome to bring extra spending money for that.
St. Brendan’s Dance, February 9
Catholic Schools Night
Seattle University is hosting basketball game at the Climate Pledge Arena on February 1st. Please see the promotional flyer for more information and the promo code.
Seattle U Basketball – Catholic Schools Night
Book Fair
Saturday, January 28-Thursday, February 2nd
For all things Book Fair, click on the Book Fair Info Letter here.
Miss Watters needs a galaxy of beings to help with Book Fair and these special events. It has been two years since we’ve been able to do the Family Night, so she has a lot of fun things planned. She can’t do both Family Night and Book Fair at the same time though. She needs YOUR help. Don’t space out. 🙂 Sign up now using the Sign Up Genius below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F45AFAF229-2023
Add these dates to your calendars:
Saturday, January 27 6:00-8:00 pm – STMS Space Station Family Night. Upon entering the Renggli Room, students will be given their interplanetary passport to travel to each planet’s space station. Students will learn about the planets and their birthday constellations, go for a moon walk, enjoy a Rocket Dog in the galley, and more! All activities are free for families to enjoy.
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 (see info letter). 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.
STM Students are truly Out of this World! Congratulations to our Bookmark Contest winners. They each won a $10 gift certificate they can use at book fair. You can get a copy of their bookmark for free at Book Fair.
K Nolan Cece
1 Natalia Gwenyth
2 Layla Heran
3 Ximena Karlie
4 Noah Paulina
5 Andrew Brooklyn
6 Maddie Sarah
7 Sofie Katie
8 Makayla RJ
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
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 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 |
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.
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 February date has been changed from 2/19 to 2/26 to not conflict with President’s Day weekend.
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):
1/28 St. Mary Magdalen, Everett (Vietnamese)
2/3 Holy Family School, Seattle (Spanish)
2/7 Our Lady of the Lake, Seattle
2/28 Holy Family, Kirkland
CYO
Stay tuned for CYO Updates…
Please contact Karen Pena at kjpena77@gmail.com for questions.
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.
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.
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!!!
Coffee & Donuts
Please see the links below to sign up. We need more people to sign up for the 8:30 Mass.
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.