The Phoenix Flyer: St. Thomas More School Newsletter
April 3-7, 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,
Holy Week at STMS is a beautiful week. On Monday, the entire school ate Stone Soup. Although the occasion was solemn, students enjoyed eating a meal in their faith families. Later this week we have the 5th Seder Meal, the Washing of the Feet service and Living Stations on Friday.
I wanted you all to be aware that I will be out the week of April 17-21. I will recovering from hip replacement surgery and Margot McLaughlin, our Development Director will be offering on campus support. I expect to be back at school April 24-28.
I wish you all a blessed Easter and enjoyable break.
Shlama (“Peace” in Aramaic),
Elizabeth Glaze
Dates to Remember
4/7 Living Stations 12:00pm – Dismissal directly after
4/10-4/14 Spring Break
4/26 Stewardship Mass
4/29 Family Auction
Special Event with Dr. James Knight
State of the School
For anyone who missed the meeting on March 29, please call the office to make an appointment to meet with Ms. Glaze and pick up your registration packet. A copy of the presentation is linked below.
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 & Holy Week Activities
Holy Week | Wednesday, April 5- All School Mass |
Thursday, April 6 – Washing of the Feet Prayer Service | Friday, April 7, 12:00pm (Living Stations) |
Please see the Lent Reflect and Renew Flyer
Easter Egg Hunt
The Knights of Columbus will be having and Easter egg hunt, Easter Sunday, immediately after the 10:30am Mass.
Please see the flyer for more information. Knights of Columbus Easter Egg Hunt
State of the School
If you missed the State of the School, please take a moment to review the presentation on the budget for the 2023-2024 school year. If you need to pick up your registration packet, please contact the office to schedule a meeting with Principal Glaze.
State of the School Presentation
Staffing Update
Ms. Maddock will be going on medical leave for the remainder of the year. She is speaking to the students this week so they are not surprised. We welcome back Mrs. Julie Parsons, who will be filling in for Ms. Maddock.
Specialist Spotlight
Rodney Ocfemia grew up in Edmonds Washington and fell in love with music at a very young age. As a Filipino American, he grew up singing Karaoke with his family, and ended up falling in love with singing through watching old Youtubers make covers of songs. He bought his first guitar in the third grade, and his music journey officially started. He went on to learn Clarinet and eventually the double bass, which became his main instrument during his years at Edmonds-Woodway High School. He went on to get his BA in Music Education at Whitworth University, where he was able to perform with many stellar artists such as Joshua Redman, Ryan Keberle, and Maria Schneider. He is excited to be teaching in his first year at STMS and looks forward to the future time spent here.
Family Auction
Hello STMS families,
The Family Auction is less than a month away! It’s on Saturday, April 29, 2023. Please mark the date in your calendars! As if a day of fun with your family and the community isn’t enticing enough…we will be auctioning off 2 tickets to Taylor Swift’s “The Eras” Tour!! The tickets are for 6:30 pm, Sunday, July 23, 2023, Section 121, Row L. Thank you Jessica Lang for securing them! You definitely don’t want to miss the Live auction. On another note, our sign-up genius is almost filled up. Thank you all again for the quick responses! If you need hours, there’s still a few spots left; Goffers, Live Auctions Spotter, and clean-up crew.
Have a great day!
The Family Auction Team
(Barajas, Hardi, and Golla)
Local Area Events
Flag Football at AMHS
The Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County is hosting a Flag Football program at AMHS for students in Grades 1-8. The program runs from Sunday, April 23 through May 28, 2023. Please see the link to the flyer below for more information.
St. Brendan Middle School Dance
Our Middle School students are invited to attend another dance at St. Brendan’s Middle School. on Friday, April 28th from 6:30-9:00 PM. The dress is casual. 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.
Please see the flyer for more information.
St. Brendan’s Dance – April 28
Parent Club
See you all at next week’s Parent Club Meeting, Thursday, April 6th at 8:30am after drop off.
Have a fantastic week!
Francesca & Suzi
Scrip
Scrip Spring Fling!
Prepare for Spring shopping with Scrip! Get all you need for Spring Cleaning, Gardening, Travel, Gatherings, and new Wardrobes with Scrip Gift Cards. Download the RaiseRight app and consider using E-Gift Cards for all your Spring Break needs!
April is the last month to count towards this year’s fundraising… So it’s Contest time! The Class with the greatest rebate will earn a Free Dress Day! Family with the highest rebate earned will win a $25 Gift Card!
Remember to keep using Scrip in May and through the Summer to get a headstart on fundraising for the 2023-2024 school year!
Contact us at stmpsscrip@gmail.com
Need Volunteer hours? Join our team!
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
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.
April | Spring Break |
May 21, 10:30 | 5th and 1st Grades |
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):
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
CYO Update
It’s the end of the CYO Volleyball and 3rd Grade Boys Basketball season. Congratulations to all the athletes. Thank you to all the parents who came out to support them.
A special shout out and congratulations to the 8th Grade Boys Volleyball team for making it to the playoffs. Their first game is against Holy Family Seattle Saturday, April 22nd at 2:00 PM at Our Lady of the Lake (8900 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115). If you’re free, please come and cheer them on.
CYO Track and Field registration is still open thru Friday, April 7th. All practices will be at Meadowdale Middle School (6500 168th St SW, Lynnwood, WA 98037) Tuesday and Thursday from 5-7 PM starting Tuesday, April 18th.
Meet dates and location: 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 6/3 Highline Stadium ( 400 S 156th St, Burien, WA 98148)
Register at: https://www.teamsideline.com/seattlecyo
GO PHOENIX!!!!!!
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, 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.