The Phoenix Flyer: St. Thomas More School Newsletter
February 27-March 3, 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,
This year we are making a concerted effort to strengthen our ties with the parish. One of the ways we are doing this is to increase our school presence in Sunday Mass by assigning one Mass a month to a class. The class presents the readings, the gifts, and reads the announcements. All students participating wear full dress uniform. Seeing these students at Mass representing our school sends a powerful message that we are indeed one body in Christ. Parishioners have reached out to me over the last few months with such positive feedback! This past weekend our kindergarten students joined their 6th grade buddies in presenting the Mass. This was even more special as these two classes have been building friendships as buddy classes since the start of the school year. We were so proud of them!
There will be more opportunities for families to join students this Lenten season – I hope to see more families at the school.
صلح Solh (“Peace” in Farsi),
Elizabeth Glaze
Dates to Remember
3/2 Parents Club Meeting, 6:30 (on Zoom) – Cancelled; next meeting April 6, 8:30 Renggli Room
3/3 Primary Speech Presentations
3/8-3/9 Speech Tournament, Grades 3-8
3/10 No School (Teacher professional development)
3/27 Noon Dismissal
Parking Lot Reminder
Please remember to exit to the left of the “snake line” at pick up and go through the proper school exit, rather than the entrance. We have had several near misses on accidents lately.
Yearbook Sales
Pre-order your child’s yearbook now. Only $30 for 68 pages of precious memories! To ensure your child gets one, yearbooks MUST be pre-ordered by Friday, April 7th. Get your order in TODAY! Print the attached flyer and send to school with the exact cash payment or checks payable to STMS. 8th graders will be receiving a free yearbook and do not need to submit an order form.
Lent Activities
St. Thomas More School/ Parish – Stations of the Cross
| March 3, 11pm | March 17, 2:15pm | March 24, 1:00pm |
| March 31, 2:15pm | April 7, 12:00pm |
St. Thomas More Parish – Evenings of Reflection
During Lent, St. Thomas More Parish will be hosting several special evenings of reflection:
Wednesday, March 8 at 7pm – Special Women’s Reflection Mass
Wednesday, March 15 at 7pm – Lenten Parish Reconciliation Service
Wednesday, March 22 at 7pm – Men’s Night of Lenten Reflection
Please see the Lent Reflect and Renew Flyer
Knights of Columbus Fish Fry
During Lent, the Knights of Columbus will be hosting a fish fry every Friday. Please see the flyer linked below for the more information. “To Go” orders are also available. Call Jim at (425) 248-3157 for more information.
Knights of Columbus Friday Fish Fry
Deanery Events
Parent Mental Health Night
On Tuesday, March 7, Archbishop Murphy High School will be hosting a Parent Mental Health Nigh with Kevin Ashworth, Director of NW Anxiety Institute. Kevin has worked closely the AMHS community and with many schools throughout the Archdiocese of Portland.
Please see the AMHS Parent Mental Health Night Flyer for more details.
Auction Update
Auction Updates:
Please sign up to attend our Dream Big Fly High – Step Into Spring Gala Auction, this is our school’s largest fundraiser. Come and enjoy a fun evening out with fellow parents, teachers and our amazing school staff, while also supporting our school. Your attendance will help fund programs and provide valuable resources to our staff and students at St. Thomas More. The registration link can be found below.
Gala Auction, Saturday, March 11, 2023, 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday March 1st Final Day to RSVP for the Gala here: Gala Registration (ejoinme.org)
Embassy Suites Hotel Room Block: Embassy Suites Hotel Room_STMS Auction Gala
Dessert Dash Sign Up: Dessert Dash Sign Up
Donate to the STMS Gala Auction in the SWEETEST WAY!
We are looking for 25 procured desserts from local bakeries & businesses to auction off at March 11th’s Auction Dessert Dash! (Please no Costco or grocery store desserts)
Tables donate money and DASH to the dessert table to pick the BEST dessert for their table! The tastier and fancier, the faster they’ll run!
Each dessert donated will count towards ONE hour of auction volunteer hours!
Please sign up below and reach out to Tiffany Butts (miwongtumt@gmail.com) for questions.
Gala Auction Volunteer Sign Up: Gala Auction Volunteer Sign Up
Jessica Lang | Auction Procurement Team | St. Thomas More School
Cell (425) 890-5891 Email: jessica@nvllaw.com
Follow Along @stmsauction
Parent Club
Please join us for our Parent Club Meeting on Thursday at 6:30pm via Zoom. Ms. Glaze will provide the link.
Our World’s Finest Chocolate Fundraiser has just finished this week and all orders have been submitted. Thank you to all the families that participated and to our parent volunteer Tara Meucci for leading our fundraiser! Stay tuned for more information on the order delivery and the class winners!
For any questions, please feel free to reach out to Tara Meucci @ 425-218-1787 or via email at meuccita@aol.com!
Please come support our K-2nd Graders at the Primary Speech Presentations on Friday, March 3rd, from 1:45-2:30pm in Dalton Hall! Grades 3-8th will be presenting on March 8th and 9th!
Go Phoenix!
Stay warm and cozy!
Francesca & Suzi
Scrip
SCRIP NEWS!
JOIN US THIS SUNDAY MARCH 5TH FOR A SCRIP INFO POPUP!
Being the last quarter for Fundraising, using Scrip is an easy way to get some fundraising done. Come learn more about the RaiseRight App and ask questions after 8:30 & 10:30 masses!
Speaking of the app, Check out BONUS DAYS March 2-3rd and earn more rebates!!
IN PERSON SALE TIMES:
Wednesday 8-9am — Friday 2:45-3:30pm — Every other Sunday 9:30-10:30am (March 5th)
Email us at stmpsscrip@gmail.com for questions!
WSCC Catholic Schools Quarterly Newsletter
Below please find the links to the WSCC’s Catholic Schools Quarterly Newsletter for Winter Quarter 2023 in English and Spanish.
English https://www.wacatholics.org/_ui/img/global/Schools-Quarterly-Newsletter-02.07.2023.pdf
Spanish https://www.wacatholics.org/_ui/img/global/Noticias-de-la-WSCC-para-Escuelas-Cat%C3%B3licas.pdf
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.
Tim Feeney graduated from Central Washington University with a B.A. in Education. Tim has coached many softball and basketball teams. He has been a basketball official for over twenty years and has refereed at six Washington High School State Tournaments. Mr. Feeney ran Washington Prep Basketball, which runs high school girls basketball leagues, for ten years. Tim is married to Kim, who works at Boeing and they live in Orondo. They have two daughters, Megan and Erin and 3 grandchildren, Remi, Tristan, and Lola (just born February 24). Mr. Feeney enjoys reading, jogging, traveling, camping, boating, and using his SeaDoo and going to the gym.
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:
STMS Hot Lunch Fundraiser – Volunteers Needed
Hot Lunch Schedule through March
| Mar 3 Pizza | Mar 10 No School | Mar 17 Grilled Cheese |
| Mar 24 Pizza | Mar 31 Pizza | April 7 Half Day (Spring Break_ |
| April 14 Spring Break | April 21 Hamburger | April 28 Pizza |
| May 5 Hot Dog | May 12 Pizza | May 19 No Hot Lunch |
| May 26 Hamburger | June 2 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.
| Mar 19, 10:30** | 3rd Grade |
| April | 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.
**The March time has been changed from 8:30 to 10:30
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):
3/15 St. Mary Magdalen, Everett, 6p,
4/19 St. Joseph, Seattle, 6:30pm
Trainings are good for 3 years. If you need to renew your status, you can do so online at Virtusonline.org.
CYO
4th Thru 8th Grade Track and Field
(3rd Graders may run if we do not have enough 4th graders)
Prelim Meet 5/6, Relay Meet 5/13, Qualifying Meet 5/20, Championship Meet 6/3
Meet Location: Highline Stadium (400 S 156th St. Burien)
8th Grade Pentathlon 5/21
Meet Location: West Seattle Stadium (4432 35th Ave. SW Seattle)
Registration Deadline: 3/31 Coach: Jerome Angeles, need assistant coaches
Practice: TBD Practice Location: Meadowdale Middle or Alderwood Middle
Register at: https://www.teamsideline.com/seattlecyo
***We still need assistant coaches for Track and Field. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Karen Pena at kjpena77@gmail.com
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, 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.
