Monday Memo

Dear parents,

This Wednesday we will celebrate Ash Wednesday with a mass at 8:45 AM. During this mass, students will receive a cross of ashes on their foreheads as a visible sign of repentance from sin. The prayerful celebration of Lent has three main components: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Our Lenten celebration includes

1. Prayer. We have a special Lenten Prayer for the morning announcements. We will stay after mass each week and pray the stations of the cross. On Holy Thursday, the fifth grade will lead us in prayer remembering the Last Supper. On Good Friday, the middle schoolers will lead Mary's Way of the Cross.
2. Fasting. We will abstain from meat during our hot school lunches on Fridays during Lent.
3. Almsgiving. Students will make Lenten promises and they will be displayed in the school. These promises can be to give something up during Lent or to do something extra such as pray for a friend or do a good work. The crosses will be displayed in the school's main hallway. We also will be sending home Rice Bowls for Catholic Relief Services. The Rice Bowls are a way for students to contribute to the mission of Catholic Relief Services to help those at home and around the world who are in the most need. As a child, my family kept our Rice Bowl on the dining room table throughout Lent, keeping its mission in prayer and contributing to it throughout Lent. At the end of Lent, the Rice Bowls can be returned to the school office and we will send the funds on to CRS. We will also have a school-wide food drive in April.

During Catholic Schools Week, you might have heard your children mention "Penny Wars" a time or two. This morning, we presented a check for $3,080.44 to Family Promise of Hendricks County as a result of your generosity. Thank you for being strong supporters of this important charity in our community.

Tickets for the March 4th Gala are for sale in the school office and after the masses. The Flip Zone has not received any registrations to date for childcare during the Spring Gala. They will need a minimum of 10 registrants confirmed by 2/25. If you are planning to use them, please register right away and make payment via the online parent portal: https://app.iclasspro.com/portal/flipzone/camps/21 Details for the evening are below.

• The Flip Zone - Recreational Gym
• Fr,iday March 4th
• Drop off 5:45 and Pick up 10:30 - (all children must be picked up by 10:30)
• Minimum number of participants - 10
• Maximum number of participants - 30
• 1st child - $35.00
• each additional family member is $30

God bless, Janet Abdoulaye

Wednesday, February 22nd

• Ash Wednesday mass at 8:45 AM hosted by 4R

Friday, February 24th

• Spiritwear tops with spiritwear or uniform bottoms for students and staff

Future Events such as the mass schedule can be found here: https://saintsusannaschool.com/events?page=1

CYO chess would like to start back again this Spring. We are looking for any student enthusiastic about playing chess. I am hoping to have our first meeting on March 5th at 5PM. If we can get interest from 5 families I will set the meeting up. Please write back to dastorey@gmail.com if you would like to be a part of St Susanna's chess club. - Daniel Storey

Saint Susanna has multiple opportunities to gather in prayer and celebrate Lent as a community. All of you are welcome to attend Stations of the Cross, soup suppers, and liturgical services and masses with us. Please see below for details on these opportunities.

Cardinal Ritter is excited to welcome the Class of 2027 next fall! As a reminder, the Application for Admission is now available online at www.cardinalritter.org. Please contact Jamie Liston, Director of Admissions if you have any questions at jliston@cardinalritter.org or 317-9244333 ext. 426.

Also, parents are reminded their Pre-Registration Curriculum Night is February 23, at 7:00 pm in the gym. Parents will receive their students’ mock schedules, course directories and schedule their registration appointments. Please plan to attend.

Mrs. Carson emailed EDM tax statements this afternoon to the emails on file in the daycare system. For tuition tax statements, Saint Susanna's Federal Tax ID is 35-0942645. Families who pay tuition on a FACTS payment plan can access their tuition statements by logging into FACTS, clicking on "view details" and then "view payment summary." (see screen shots below). FACTS will show you all tuition paid in the past calendar years and divide it out by child and grade level.

I am happy to announce that Saint Susanna has a school counselor available for our students on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mrs. Mariah Turnquest comes to us from Catholic Charities. She is a master's level Licensed Social Worker. She will work with students on an individual basis, as needed. She will also teach whole class social-emotional lessons on topics such as being a good friend, bullying, and other age-appropriate topics. Mrs. Turnquest's presence in our school is made possible by utilizing a portion of our EANS grant from the federal government over the next two school years.

Students may be referred to Mrs. Turnquest by teachers or the principal for a one-time visit. After that, parents must complete a consent form for continued visits. The consent form is available at the end of the Monday Memo or in the school office. You can reach Mrs. Turnquest directly at mturnquest@saintsusanna.com

A few gentle reminders about our dress code:

• Shorts are not allowed after fall break. Students may wear these again after Spring Break. Girls should wear plain black, white, or navy leggings under their uniform skirts.
• Uniform shirts are red monogrammed, light blue and white polos. Dark blue polo shirts (excluding the monogrammed middle school shirts) are not part of our dress code.
• As the weather turns colder, students may want to wear an additional layer. Acceptable additions to a uniform polo include:
• A navy or red cardigan or pullover sweater. These cannot have any designs or other colors.
• A navy or red pullover crew-neck sweatshirt. These may be plain or monogrammed through Avon Sports Apparel.
• A plain white short or long-sleeved undershirt.
• All students in K-8 must wear a belt with uniform pants. Uniform pants must have belt loops.

I have included our uniform policy summary at the bottom of this newsletter.

The Archdiocese recently changed their safe environment training provider to Safe Parish, from the previous Safe and Sacred system. In the new system, all volunteers are monitored quarterly. As long as you have a previous background check, your background check will be monitored on an on-going basis and it will not expire after five years as it did in the previous system. All volunteers must be registered in the Safe Parish system before they can volunteer. Instructions for registering and training are in the newsletter each week (see below).

In order to volunteer in our school building during the day or attend field trips as a chaperone, you must have a current safe environment training on file with us. This requirement includes safe environment training and a basic background check through the Archdiocese. The training and background checks are good for five years from the time of completion.

To check your current expiration date, contact Mrs. Carson at kcarson@saintsusanna.com

To obtain a new training and background check:

1. Go to the website www.archindysafeparish.org
2. Create an account as this is a new system. Previously the Archdiocese used a system called "Safe and Sacred."
3. You will need a passcode in order to create an account. The passcode is Archindy2021
4. Complete the background check for school or parish VOLUNTEER and select Saint Susanna as a recipient of your information.
5. Complete the training video and questions.

Please allow up to two weeks for this process to be completed.

The service hour tracking form can be found here and a copy will be sent home in the back-to-school packets. We ask that each family complete five service hours this school year. These hours can be completed during school or parish events.

Box Tops for Education

Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: Download the new Box Tops App (iTunes or Google Play) – it’s free
• Step 2: Create a username and connect it to your child’s school
• Step 3: Scan your grocery store receipt. Items with the new Box Tops label will be automatically credited to your school

Does this mean I should stop sending in my paper Box Tops that I have already clipped? No! Continue to send those to the school!

Kroger Community Rewards

Information on the Kroger Community Rewards program can be found here on their website or under the "rewards" tab in your Kroger app. You will need to search for the exact name of our organization as SAINT SUSANNAS SCHOOL PTP . From there, you can link your Kroger card with our organization and a portion of your spending at Kroger will come to us.

St. Susanna Catholic School's mission is to provide a Christ-centered, quality education that prepares and inspires its students to excel as they progress in their scholastic careers. Based on Catholic teachings, our students and staff exemplify the value of faith, service, love, and respect in all situations and with all people.

Email: jabdoulaye@saintsusanna.com
Website: www.saintsusannaschool.com
Location: 1212 East Main Street, Plainfield, IN, USA
Phone: 317-839-3713
Facebook: facebook.com/stsusannaschool