St. Mike's Matters - Thursday Notes
March 8, 2018 Issue #22
Dear St. Michael Families,
We are excited to welcome you back to our “family of families” for the upcoming school year! Registration for the 2018-2019 school year is now open for our current school families. Registration packets are included in your purple envelopes and contain all the necessary information to register your children for the next school year at St. Michael Parish School. Please complete and return all registration forms by March 23. Your registration will then be finalized when we receive your registration fee, due by June 15th. Please contact the school office if you have any questions about re-enrollment and registration.
After a long and thorough budget season, I am thrilled to report that we have a balanced budget for next year. It allows us to hire for our open positions, purchase new science textbooks for the school, and meet all of our school needs through wise stewardship. As I build the budget, please know that it is always my goal to keep tuition rates as low as possible. In the scope of the overall budget, our tuition rates take into account rising benefits costs and an increase in salaries to properly compensate our faculty and staff while remaining competitive with other schools. Additionally, the school will receive a lower Parish Grant to the School than in previous years, which reflects the decreased sacrificial giving from our school families. Please remember that your sacrificial giving has a profound, direct effect on school tuition through the generous Parish Grant to the School funding formula. Fortunately, we are able to navigate these budgeting challenges and meet next year’s budgeting goals with a tuition increase of only 3%. While next year’s tuition is a slight increase over the 2.5% increase from the previous year, historically our rates have increased between 4%-6% annually. This is indeed good news.
All tuition assistance applicants will receive their 2018-2019 tuition assistance award letters in the purple envelopes today. These letters contain the tuition assistance amounts that applicants have received from the Fulcrum Foundation and/or The St. Michael Parish School Endowment. Providing tuition assistance to all families demonstrating need is a major priority of our parish. If you applied for tuition assistance, please complete and return the bottom of your award letters.
Lenten Blessings,
Connor Geraghty
Principal
Calendar for the week
Thursday - 03/08 - 1:00 PM Reconciliation
Girls Basketball @ CCS @ 3:30 PM
Friday - 03/09 - All School Mass @ 9:00 AM
END of TRIMESTER - HALF DAY - SCHOOL OUT AT NOON
Middle School Theater performances at 10:15 AM and 6:15 PM
Monday - 03/12 - Stations of the Cross @ 8:30AM
Tuesday - 03/13 - Girls Basketball @ Hood Canal @ 3:30 PM
Middle School Conferences by appt - 3:15 PM - 5: 45 PM
Wednesday - 03/14 - NO SCHOOL - Elementary School Conferences - Book Fair
Thursday - 03/15 - NO SCHOOL - Elementary School Conferences - Book Fair
Friday - 03/16 - NO SCHOOL
St. Mike's Middle School Theater Group presents....
"Beauty and the Beast"
March 9th, 2018
10:15 AM & 6 PM shows
Mark your calendars! The Spring Scholastic Book Fair is coming!
The Spring Scholastic Book Fair is coming during parent conferences. If you would like to help with the set up on Monday morning the 12th of March at 9:00, please email Mrs. Joanis (jjoanis@stmikesolympia.org) or drop by the library. It’s a big job for just one person! Thanks everybody!
Book Fair hours:
Tuesday 3/13 3:00pm – 6:00pm
(Middle School conferences)
Wednesday 3/14 8:00am – 3:00pm
Thursday 3/15 8:00am – 1:00pm
It's a win-win for everyone!
March Madness - Week 1
Thanks to the 26 families and friends who bought gift cards (Scrip) to support the PTSA. We sold $6,460 on our way to our $25,000 March Madness goal for the month. If we meet the goal, the faculty will play an exhibition basketball game with players from all grades. To buy gift cards through scrip:
-Stop by the office, especially during conferences next week
-Send an order form (pink sheet) and check through the purple Thursday Notes envelope
-Set up on online account at ShopWithScrip.com
We are also teaming up with the S.M.A.R.T. Auction to make it easy for you to donate to the auction and participate in March Maddness! During March buy gift cards through our Scrip Gift Card Program. If we reach our goal of $25,000 in sales for March, the faculty will play an exhibition basketball game with players from all grades.
We have posted brightly colored PRE-FILLED procurement forms on the window across the hall from the office. All you need to do is to take off the form of your choosing, bring it to the office, and pay the pre-determined dollar amount. It's that easy!
Use Scrip for Spring Shopping!
Uniforms: Dennis Uniform, Gap/Old Navy, JC Penney, Kohls, Land's End, Target
Spring Sports: Big 5, Dick's
AND MANY MORE - check out the pink form in your purple envelope!
S.M.A.R.T. Auction News! Check your purple envelope for auction updates!
Check out the window across the hall from the office where we have posted brightly colored ALREADY FILLED OUT procurement forms! All you need to do is to take off the form of your choosing, bring it to the office, and pay the pre-determined dollar amount. It's that easy!
Have you checked out the Table Sponsorships, Event Sponsors, and Advertising forms that were sent home last week?
Amazon Wishlist
Shop off of our Amazon Wishlist for an easy and quick way to meet your $150 procurement requirement.
Please contact Vicky Byrd at smartauction@stmikesolympia.org if you have any questions.
Thanks so much for your support!
Bring wine to conferences!
Thanks to everyone that has already donated!
Notes from the Health Room
Spring forward! Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead on Sunday, March 11th! Daylight saving time is not easy on kids (or adults!), and for some, it may take a week to adjust. What may be your child’s usual bedtime may feel “too early”, as it is still light outside. Some recommend for parents to assist their child transition a week before DST by having them go to bed about an hour before their usual bedtime. The thought is that when DST occurs, their bodies may have adjusted somewhat.
Adopting healthy sleep routine throughout the year helps your child bounce back from time changes. Our busy schedules may not allow us to follow the routine sometimes, but we are able to adjust! Here are some tips in developing good sleep hygiene (from Montreal Children’s Hospital):
- Your child should go to bed and get up at a similar time every day. A regular routine is very important. On weekends or days off, try not to extend his waking hours too much.
- Develop a pre-sleep routine: bath, brushing teeth, pajamas; kiss goodnight and a bedtime story. Any activities before going to bed should be quiet ones.
- Your child should - and not only for a good night’s sleep - exercise regularly. However, avoid heavy exercise within three hours of going to sleep.
- Optimize your child’s sleeping environment by ensuring his room has a cooler temperature, is dark (you can always use a night light if your child is afraid of the dark) and quiet.
- Your child shouldn’t go to bed hungry; a light snack will help but don’t put him to bed if he has had a heavy meal within three hours of sleep.
- Your child should not read, watch TV, eat or play video games in bed. Your child’s bed is meant for rest.
- Firmly discourage the consumption of energy drinks, which contain dangerously high amounts of caffeine and too much sugar.
Early morning stewardship hour opportunity
The school hospitality team is looking for a family or families that can help set up breakfast between 7:00-7:15 on March 21, 22, 23. For more information contact Mrs. Quebedeuax squebedeaux@stmikesolympia.org
School Commission Corner
The St. Michael School Commission is consultative and advisory in nature. Members meet once a month to advise and support Mr. Geraghty and Fr. Jim as they (Mr. Geraghty and Fr. Jim) form school policies to support the ongoing growth of our parish school. The St. Michael School Commission collaborates with the Pastoral Council and the Parish Finance Council and has liaisons from these councils attending the meetings.
Last evening, the St. Michael School Commission held their sixth meeting of the year. The meeting focused on the following topics:
· A principal’s report featuring highlights and updates from around the school (including school finance, S.M.A.R.T., enrollment, and hiring).
· A discussion of past, current, and future steps taken by the school in the interest of student safety.
· A focus on the parish Strategic Plan.
· Preparation for the upcoming accreditation visit on March 21-23.
Spartan Spirit Day schedule change
EDGE for March 18th
*** SPARTAN PTSA News ***
Minute to Win It! Thursday April 19th
Bingo Night is back on! Wednesday May 9th
Play Ball! Saturday June 2nd
Folds of Honor Scholarship application deadline March 31st, 2018
Expanding Your Horizons - Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Conference for Girls in 6th, 7th & 8th Grade
The Expanding your Horizons EYH Thurston County (http://
www.thurstoneyh.org) will be holding its 29th annual STEM conference for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls on Saturday, March 10, 2018 on the South Puget Sound Community College campus. In case you are not familiar with Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), it is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to introduce girls to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The EYH conference runs a half-day annual conference with exciting hands-on workshops for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls led by women professionals in STEM fields. The conference is very affordable (just $15.00) and offers many full scholarships to the event.
The ultimate goal is to motivate girls to become innovative and creative thinkers, ready to meet 21st century challenges by providing them with professional women role models.
Please consider this opportunity.
~ Paul Kuss, St. Mike’s Science
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ ThurstonEYH
St. Michael Parish School - a Family of Families
Email: connect@stmikesolympia.org
Website: www.stmikesolympia.org
Location: 1204 11th Avenue Southeast, Olympia, WA, United States
Phone: 360-754-5131
Facebook: facebook.com/St.MichaelParishSchoolOlympia