The Phoenix Flyer: St. Thomas More School Newsletter
May 1-5, 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,
As you may have seen, I have graduated to a cane! Thank you for all your kind words of support for my recovery. It’s a journey (and I’m a bit impatient).
Thank you for all the parents who came to the event with James Knight. From the positive feedback I heard from staff and parents, I hope we can partner with him again next year.
We hope to see everyone at Jogathon on Friday!
Pax (“Peace” in Latin),
Elizabeth Glaze
Dates to Remember
5/4 Parent Club Meeting, 8:30am, Renggli Room
5/5 Jogathan
5/12 Track Meet, K-3
5/16 Track Meet, 4-8
5/21 Mass hosted by 5th and 1st (10:30)
Family Auction
The sun really showed up for us this past weekend at St. Thomas More’s Family Auction! It was a special day filled with smiles from the whole community. Thank you again to all our volunteers that made the day run smoothly. The kitchen was super busy, so thank you for those holding it down and serving us with delicious burgers, fries, and bubble tea. We are grateful to everyone who attended the event and especially to those who supported the school by bidding on our silent and live auction items! Highlights of the day were definitely the raffle drawings, live auction bidding wars, the dunk tank, and the kids games! If you missed out on the auction, you still have a chance to participate in some of the activities that were up for bid. Look out for a separate email with the details of experiences that you can still sign up for!
Sincerely,
The Family Auction Team
Barajas, Hardi, and Golla Families
Jogathon
Our Jog-A-Thon is Friday, May 5th
Our St. Thomas More goal is to raise $20,000!
Tuesday Leaderboard Update!
As of this morning (5/2) we have raised $8,089, we are only at 40% of our goal!
Classrooms by dollars raised:
7th grade-$1,405
4th grade-$1,250
5th grade-$1,240
2nd grade-$1,180
Kindergarten-$855
1st grade-$705
3rd grade-$383
PK4-$310
6th grade-$295
8th grade-$245
PK3-$220
Top Students
Evelyn Kindergarten-$435
Camila 2nd grade-$415
Brooklyn 5th grade-$390
William 4th grade-$390
Mahlet 4th grade-$375
Classroom with the highest fundraising amount will earn a free dress day/pizza party.
All students who reach $100 in fundraising will earn a free dress pass.
Local Area Events
Bunco at St. Thomas More
Bunco is coming to STMS on Thursday, May 18, from 6:30-8:30pm
This is an event for all – the cost is $10 per person ($30 max for family). We will use the money to buy pizza, salad, drinks, cookies and snacks. Doors open at 6pm for food and then we’ll start the game at 6:30pm with wrap up by 8:30pm. Please see the link to the flyer below and let Brandy Corujo know if you can volunteer!
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.
Talent Show
STMS Talent Show – Wednesday, June 14th in the afternoon (TBA)
Can your child sing? Dance? Play an instrument? Have a talent they would love to show the school?
Have them start planning their act for the upcoming Talent Show. More information will be coming soon, but have them start thinking about what they want to do now. We can’t wait to see all of our talented students perform. Contact Ms. Watters for any questions.
Parent Club
Hello Families,
We want to honor our St. Thomas More teachers and staff, not just this week, but every day for all they do for our kids each and every day! Thank you for your patience, your care, your time, your love and support! You are a caregiver, a dad, a mom, a sister, an aunt, an uncle, and in the many hats you wear, you are a role model and teacher of love in all you do! We appreciate all your dedication and selflessness in giving to our children and families each day! On behalf of our PC families, we love, honor, and appreciate you from the bottom of our hearts.With a grateful heart,Francesca and Suzi and our entire PC Team!
Here is what’s planned for this week! Thank you to all the parent volunteers for all your help!!
- May 1st Mon – Favorite Coffee for Teachers and Staff – Room Parents
- May 2nd – Tues – Yogurt Bar in staff lounge – Laurel, Fadia, & Francesca
- May 3rd – Wed – Teachers and Staff Lunch hosted by School Commission
- May 4th – Thurs – Star Wars Theme “May the Fruits be with You” 😊 Margie & Francesca
- May 5th – Fri – Cinco de Mayo – Taco Bar for Teachers and Staff Lunch – coordinated by Brandy and Mama
Huge shout out to our Awesome Family Auction Team and to all the wonderful volunteers for making the Family Auction a success! It was such a fun event for the whole family! We appreciate all our vendors, teachers, parents, and families who came out to support! Please send the Family Auction team any pictures from that day! Much love to our entire community!
Congratulations to our CYO Volleyball coaches and all the teams for an awesome volleyball season! We will remember all the wonderful memories and the friendships that were built and the family community that was strengthened from this experience! Thank you to all the students, teachers, coaches, and volunteers for your time and dedication!
Cheering on our current CYO sports teams such as Track, Football, Basketball and any all year round sports! Thank you to the coaches, students, and parent volunteers for all you do to lead and bring the fun experience to the entire community!
Have a great week! Francesca & Suzi
In Loving Memory
We recently lost two long-time STMS family members. Duane Uusitalo was a beloved community partner in the salmon raising project from 1999-2020. The link below from MY Edmonds News is a celebration of his life and dedication as a teacher.
Former STMS teacher, Karen Lindquist passed away in her home on April 13, 2023 battling cancer.
She was the first-grade teacher at STMS from 1984 – 2013, touching the lives of many students.
A memorial service for Karen will be held on Friday, May 12, at 11:00 am here at St. Thomas More.
The family invites former students, families, and all who knew Karen to attend. Please share word with alumni families who may not have heard of Karen’s passing yet and keep all who loved her in your prayers. More information can be found at: https://www.weremember.com/karen-gorsuch/1o1y/memories or by contacting the parish office.
Scrip
Shopping with SCRIP Gift Cards is FUNDRAISING while you SHOP!
START FUNDRAISING FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR!
All Rebates earned as of May 1st will give you a headstart on next year’s fundraising commitment! Remember to start using your oldest child’s grade for NEXT YEAR on your order forms.
Take advantage of RAISE DAYS May 4&5th for Bonus Rebates on the RaiseRight App! Starbucks is currently 6.5% on the App Only! Plan for Mother’s Day, Graduations, Father’s Day, Summer Travel, Home Improvement, Meal Planning etc using SCRIP Gift cards & e-Gift Cards.
Email stmpsscrip@gmail.com for the enrollment code.
Buy in Person: Wed 8-9am, Fri 2:30-3:15p and every other Sun 9:30-10:30a.
Spring Fling April Contest: Family with the highest rebate will WIN a $25 gift card and class with highest rebate will WIN a POPSICLE PARTY! Details soon.
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
| May 5 Hot Dog | May 12 Pizza | |
| May 19 No Hot Lunch | May 26 Hamburger | June 2 Pizza |
Library News
May 15-19th Last week to check out books.
May 22-26th ALL books are due!
May 19-26th Buy One, Get One Free Scholastic Book Fair (more info later)
June 5th Last day for AR tests (3-8)
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.
| May 21, 10:30 | 5th and 1st Grades |
Annual Catholic Appeal
ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL 2023 BEGINS
“Give, and it will be given to you.” Luke 6:23 is the theme of this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal, and last weekend kicks off the 2023 Campaign. The Annual Catholic Appeal funds ministries and services for our local Catholic community across Western Washington. This combined effort of parishes and missions ensures the availability of outreach ministries, education, faith formation, administration services for parishes and much more! You should have received Archbishop Etienne’s in-depth letter this week highlighting the ministries that support our communities.
This year, our parish has set a goal of $ $94,911 ___________. All gifts received over our goal will be returned to the parish for our parish project which is_the upgrading of Dalton Hall and Renggli Room. Please prayerfully consider how you can participate in helping our
parish be a light to others.
It’s easy to give to the ACA:
· Online at archseattle.org/GiveACA
· Scan the QR Code
Vacation Bible School
Please see the flyer linked below for more information about St. Thomas More Parish’s vacation bible school.
Volunteers
Parents who wish to volunteer will need to be current on their Virtus Training, Protecting God’s Children and complete the Volunteer Handbook acknowledgement form.
Here are some upcoming training dates that are nearby (register on Virtus):
6/11 Holy Innocents Catholic Church, Duvall
Online sessions are also available in English and Spanish. Visit Virtusonline.org and click on the Current Registration tab.
Trainings are good for 3 years. If you need to renew your status, you can do so online at Virtusonline.org.
CYO
CYO Update
again to our 8th Grade Boys. They won the semi-finals last Saturday. All of our volleyball teams had a fun season. It’s exciting to see volleyball at STMS again.
CYO Track and Field will start May 13th. Below is the revised schedule:
May 13 – Preliminaries (Pool A is 2:30 PM @Highline Stadium)
May 20 – Qualifying Meet (Pool A is 10:00 AM @ Highline Stadium)
May 21 – 8th Grade Pentathlom (1:00 PM @West Seattle Stadium)
June 3 – All Comers/Championships (10AM / 12NN @ Highline Stadium)GO PHOENIX 💙💙🏐🏃♀️🏃
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!!!
