Eagle's Edge
St. Therese Family Newsletter - March 31, 2021
Blessed Holy Week
"Dear Lord, on Thursday you celebrated
your Last Supper with your best friends.
You knew your disciples would be sad after you died,
so you gave them two big gifts.
You gave them the gift of bread and wine,
which become your Body and Blood, so we remember you.
You washed their feet to show them we're called to serve.
Thank you, Jesus, for these powerful gifts.
Through them, we find the way to you and your eternal life.
May we always treasure the Eucharist
as the foundation and center of our faith
and as your gift of life in us. Amen."
We spend a lot of time with our friends these days, since returning to school in person. We spend time laughing together during lunchtime and playing together at recess - each thing we do together helps to strengthen those friendships. How many times did Jesus break bread and eat with his friends? How many times did they laugh together as they ate, or walked, or sat around a fire? Each moment they spent together strengthened their human bond - Jesus and his disciples model the importance of friendships for us.
Even as we nurture our friendships on earth, so we must nurture our relationship with Jesus. Talk to Him, laugh with Him, cry with Him - all that you experience in this life, experience it from within the fullness of His love. We are so loved, and as Christians we are never more certain of it than during Holy Week.
Challenge yourselves to seek out a friend you haven't spoken to in awhile. Who's feet can you wash? Who can you humble yourself before, modeling our Lord's great sacrifice for us - who can you forgive? Who's forgiveness do you seek?
Pray this week especially for our brothers and sisters in Myanmar, who are suffering. Pray for their families in our community who are worried and heartbroken for their loved ones and countrymen.
God bless you all,
Rosemarie El Youssef
Principal, St. Therese School
503-253-9400 ext. 122
Interfaith Prayer Service for
From the St. Joseph the Worker website: https://www.stjosephtheworkerpdx.org
ST. JOSEPH FRONT LAWN, SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2:00-3:30PM
Leaders from the Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish faiths as well as senators and representatives plan to attend a prayer service for the political situation in Myanmar, the country where most of our Zomi Community have immigrated from.
The country has once again been taken over by the repressive military, threatening many lives and the freedom of people who live there, including family and friends of our Zomi Community. Our Zomi Catholic community, members of other refugee communities, and Catholic Charities of Oregon are planning an Interfaith Prayer Service to be held on the front lawn of St. Joseph the Worker, weather permitting. (It will move inside the church if needed.)
You are welcome to join them in prayer and support of human rights and democracy. For more information on the situation in Myanmar (Burma) go to https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55902070
SPRING PICTURE DAY - Wednesday, April 14th
In honor of picture day, Wednesday, April 14th will be a FREE DRESS DAY.
All students will have their photo taken - if your student didn't have a fall photo taken, this is your chance!
Fridays are BACK and better than ever!
Our first FULL WEEK of school will be April 19th - 23rd.
To make it fun, and ease the burden for families, these Fridays will be FREE DRESS.
We are so excited! More to come...
Updated Case Rates 3/20/21
Please continue to wear masks and be safe so we can see our numbers start falling again.
We will watch the data and keep you informed as things change.
Travel and Quarantine
UPDATED GUIDANCE COMING
If you or anyone in your household travels, you won't meet our health requirements and will need to learn from home for 7-10 days following your return. St. Therese staff follows these same safety rules and will likewise quarantine at home following any travel outside of Oregon.
Please call the office as soon as possible to notify us about any plans for travel that will include your student accessing distance learning for a period of time so that we can inform teachers and make arrangements to get you the necessary learning materials.
We appreciate all that you do to keep our community safe, and our students learning at school with us.
FACTS Financial Aid and Enrollment - IMPORTANT UPDATE
We still have families who have not completed the re-enrollment for 2021-2022, so PLEASE give us a call if we can help you. I know it's been difficult - it's new and not without challenges. Mrs. Barnett has helped many families through the re-enrollment process and she is a pro! We can schedule a zoom, make an appointment for you to come in, or help over the phone.
Thank you for your patience as we work to make our enrollment process better - it isn't without bumps in the road, but I have faith it will be worth it.
Now enrolling preschool and pre-kindergarten!
If you have any questions, please give us a call! You can find information about tuition for our programs on our website, https://www.stthereseschool.org/little-flower-preschool - we look forward to a full group this fall!
Enrollment Opportunities
We have so much to offer children and their families - please help us get the word out!
St. Vincent de Paul - UPDATES
Volunteer opportunity: St Vincent de Paul is in need of delivery drivers. We need substitute drivers for Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Drivers on a rotating basis are needed for Saturday morning. Usual start time is around 9 am and shifts are 1 1//2 to 2 hours. Training provided. Must be able to carry 25 pound boxes up stairs. Please call Shasta Hatter at 503-253-7566 for more information or to volunteer.
If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please contact Shasta Hatter at the SVdP office 503-253-7566.
BottleDrop Thursdays
We are so grateful for your generosity! With your donations we purchased a Distance Learning T-shirt for each student and staff member to wear on Fridays, prizes for spirit week, and the pumpkins for our St. Therese Pumpkin Patch. We recently purchased an eagle mascot costume and our new mascot will soon be visiting classrooms to learn what it means to be a St. Therese Eagle!
The school budget is tight this year, but there are some things that we believe students shouldn't go without - your can and bottle donations make this happen!
Parents' Club Corner
Here is the Parents' Club schedule of meetings for the rest of the school year. We will meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from 6-7pm via Zoom. Our last meeting was on Wednesday, February 10.
4/21
5/19
Please contact Melanie Reyna at 503-467-1805 or via email at melanie.reyna@usbank.com with any questions.
Please see the attachment below for the meeting minutes from 11/18.
Parent Obligations for the Year - Fair Share and Fundraising
If we all work together, we can make this happen!
Rather than having MANY events with specific obligations, we have one financial obligation for each family.
Dual-parent household - $500 (fundraised or donated)
Single-parent household - $300 (fundraised or donated)
This replaces the auction basket obligation, auction project obligation, jog-a-thon, and raffle.
If we make our goal of $36,000 and everyone pitches in, there is no reason to bill people for what they aren't able to fundraise.
Our goal is to have one BIG fundraiser in the spring - if we can generate enough money to fulfill our obligation to the school our tuition won't go up. Jog-a-thon seems doable with the changing of the metrics and there are MANY ways we can get creative to make it happen.
The key to making this happen is ALL of us working together!
You are not expected to figure out how to fundraise on your own - but come to Parents' Club meetings and share your ideas. We are always better together! Our next PC meeting on January 20th will be focused on brainstorming ideas for fundraisers.
School Office Hours 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
St. Therese Catholic School
Email: elyoussefr@stthereseschool.org
Website: stthereseschool.org
Location: 1260 Northeast 132nd Avenue, Portland, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 253-9400
Facebook: Facebook.com/StThereseSchoolPortlandOrFamilyPage
Twitter: @sttherese_pdx