The Phoenix Flyer: St. Thomas More School Newsletter
September 25-29, 2023
Principal’s Message
New Beginnings
Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
Dear Parents and Families,
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with other principals in the Archdiocese of Seattle to prepare for our Christ in the Classroom retreat in October. Our focus this year is strengthening our relationship with God through prayer. The time spent in reflecting on our own practices, talking about the different forms of prayer, and understanding that God wants us to come to Him as we are and where we are was incredibly rewarding. I am looking forward to sharing this experience with our staff at STMS and ultimately with our students.
I am finally able to share some current pictures with you in our newsletter. I never tire of seeing the students with their enthusiastic participation in our activities. They are certainly a big part of my “Why” in coming to St. Thomas More each day.
In Christ,
Elizabeth Glaze
Dates to Remember
9/29 12:00 Noon dismissal, Teacher In-service, Extended Care until 3pm
10/4 Blessing of the Pets (see details below)
10/5 Parents Club Meeting – Partners in the Gospel Listening Session
10/11 Mass of the Holy Spirit
10/13 No School, Teacher In-service
10/15 School-led Mass, Grade 3 (8:30am)
10/20 Student Picture Day (Individual) – Free Dress
Partners in the Gospel
St. Thomas More School is hosting a listening session at the next Parents Club meeting on Thursday, October 5th, at 8:30am in the Renggli Room. If you can’t join the meeting, please see below for additional sessions hosted by St. Thomas More Parish or on the STMP website at https://www.stmp.org/.
We invite you to join us in one of the Listening Sessions:
Sunday, October 1st, 9:45 am and 11:45 am, Dalton Hall
Thursday, October 5th, 10 am School Parents and Community, Renggli Room
Thursday, October 12th, 7pm, Narthex
Blessing of the Pets
Please see the link to the flyer below for information on our Blessing of the Pets ceremony on 10/4.
Hot Lunch
Hot lunch is back!! Please see the link to the printable monthly Hot Lunch form, or stop by the school office for a hard copy.
Please note: The deadline for all hot lunch payments is Thursday. We are not able to accept payments sent in on Friday morning.
We need volunteers! Please use the Sign Up Genius link below to earn volunteer hours by helping us with our hot lunch.
James Knight
Local Area Events
St. Brendan’s Dance
Please see the flyer below on St. Brendan’s Dance on Thursday, October 12. This event is open to 7th and 8th graders. Students must bring a signed permission slip. Since we don’t have our ID cards ready, we will send over a class roster to the school.
Parent Club
We need parent volunteers! Please let us know how you would like to support our Gala Auction, our largest fundraiser of the year. Contact the school office at (425)743-4242.
Patrol
Please see the link to the current Patrol schedule.
Scrip
With Friday being an early dismissal day, there will not be any Scrip sold after school. We will not be selling any Fridays with an early dismissal. Go get your Scrip this Wednesday and this Sunday. See below for times.
Scrip is our ONLY fundraising going on now, so take advantage of TARGET, WALMART, and AMAZON shopping days:
TARGET CIRCLE WEEK- October 1-7
WALMART SAVINGS EVENT- October 9-12
AMAZON PRIME DAYS- October 10-11
We are looking for more Sunday Sellers! Please help Therese and consider selling on Sundays to get your Volunteer Hours. Sign up below- https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4AA5AB2AA1F5C70-fall
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Here is where and when you can buy Scrip:
✨️In the timed parking lot-Wednesdays 8am-9am and Fridays 2:45pm-3:15pm
✨️In the Breezeway-Sundays (every other; 10/1, 10/15,etc.) 9:30am-10:30am
✨️Anytime, via the Raise Right app.
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Contact Your Scrip Admin Team:
-Gemma Ardiente (ordering & inventory) gemma_ardiente@comcast.net
– Rachel Rogers (bookkeeping) rrodgers517@gmail.com
-Therese Sarr (volunteer selling coordinator) sarrtherese206@gmail.com
-Nick Golla (communications) nngolla@gmail.com
Pet Food Drive
The Pet Food and Toy Drive will run from September 25th through October 4th. Items such as dry food, toys, water dishes, etc. are needed. We are collecting for Bella’s Voice, a local Pet Food Bank who delivers food to 19 different local food banks and charities. See the attached flyer for more donation ideas.
CYO
CYO Cross Country – SIGN UP NOW!
Greetings St. Thomas More Families,
We’re gearing up for another fun season of CYO Cross Country led by the very awesome Coach Scott & Ms. Rash. Last year students from STMS joined the St. Pius X squad to form ‘More Pius.’ We’re excited to keep it going again this season.
Practice Schedule: *Tentative Practice schedule, Tuesdays at 3:30, Thursdays at 6:30 at Evergreen Playfield (Track) Directions below*
Please register your child online at https://www.teamsideline.com/sites/seattlecyo/home
Thank you and see you on the track!
Questions can be directed to Shawn Taylor (St. Pius X Athletic Director) at staylor@careerpathsnw.com
Coffee & Donuts
Do you need volunteer hours that can be done outside of the regular work week? Come Set up, Serve, and Clean up on Sundays for Coffee and Donuts after both the 8:30am and 10:30am Masses. It’s easy and fun and a great time for fellowship and fun with our community.
Bring kids with you. Have them dress up in Full Dress and help greet and serve. They can earn a Free Dress Pass!
Click the link below. Please print and fill out and return to the office.
Extended Care Donations Needed
Some of our games and activities in Extended Care are missing items, in poor condition and rather outdated. Some of the items that need replacing include:
Games – Monopoly, Connect 4, Candy Land, Life, Checkers and Uno
DVD’s (G rated only, please)
Crafts (any)
For your donation, you can receive 1 volunteer hour (per donation, not per item). Check back in this space for an updated list of items we still need as we begin to receive donations.
Volunteers
Current Volunteer Opportunities
Library
Shelving – Preferably someone who could come on a weekly basis on a regular schedule one or two times per week for an hour or two.
Book Covering – As needed. Can be a take home job. Cover books with laminate covering to prepare them for check-out.
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.
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.
For information on how to create your profile and register for a class, please click on the link below and look for the Registration Guide under Adult Employee Information and Resources, or contact Heather Anderson at heather.anderson@stms.org or (425) 743-4242.
Archdiocese of Seattle – Safe Environment
We want to help all of our families meet their volunteer hours and become more engaged with our amazing STMS community. Please complete the survey below so we can better understand your talents and interests in volunteering.
Volunteer Talents, Interests and Needs
Guidelines for COVID, Flu and RSV
St. Thomas More School is following the COVID guidelines published by the Washington State Department
of Health and the Snohomish Health District*.
The Snohomish Health District has recently revised their guidelines. The link to the guidelines can be found below:
Snohomish County Health Department COVID Guidelines
WA State Department of Health Guidelines
Important Updates to STMS Guidelines
- If your child tests positive, the quarantine period is 5-10 days. If after 5 days, your child is symptom free and has not had a fever within the last 24 hours, he/she may return to school and will need to remain masked through day 10.
- Day 0 is the first day of the onset of symptoms, or if asymptomatic, the first day of the positive test.
- If your child was previously asymptomatic before testing positive, but starts to exhibit symptoms after testing, day 0 is the first day of symptoms (the 5-day count starts over).
- 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 and remain masked through day 10 of exposure of anyone in the household testing positive for COVID.
- If your child exhibits symptoms of illness at school, they will be asked to wear a mask, and we will call home. We have COVID-19 testing available at school – please email or call the office if you would like your child tested.
If students have active symptoms from any respiratory infections and/or have a fever, they should not come to school.
*If you have any questions regarding STMS guidelines, please contact the school office at (425) 743-4242. Please note that although STMS guidelines are based on the Washington State Department of Health and the Snohomish County Health District, we reserve the right to add extra precautions.