An Emergency Card for each student will be available at the Back-to-School Picnic. Please return on the first day of school.

Transcription

1 June 2015 Dear STM Catholic School Families, We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new families, and welcome back our current families, to STM Catholic for the 2015/2016 school year. This letter will provide information about items required before school begins next fall, as well as helpful information about the Before and After School Care Program (Lion s Den), uniforms, carpools and the school calendar for next year. All required items (marked with an asterisk) may be brought to the school office or mailed to STM Catholic any time between now and the first day of school, Monday, August 24, PLEASE NOTE: THE SCHOOL OFFICE will be open from 8:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. June 1-30 and will be CLOSED DURING THE MONTH OF JULY. The office will open again on August 4, Much of the information contained in this letter can be found in our Parent/Student Handbook and also on our website at The 2015/2016 Parent/Student Handbook will be available the first week of school; please familiarize yourself with it. You will also receive information via an Infinite Campus blast in August. An Emergency Card for each student will be available at the Back-to-School Picnic. Please return on the first day of school. The following items are required from you (*): *Immunization Card (required unless already on file) Each student must have all immunizations required by the State of Colorado before entering school. If your child s immunizations have no updates from the card for last year, you do not need to submit a new card. *Birth Certificate (required unless already on file) *Baptism Certificate (required unless already on file) *First Reconciliation and First Communion Certificate (if applicable; unless already on file) *Emergency Card (each student) The following information is included in this packet for your information: Lion s Den Application (Before & After School Care Program) School Calendar (Subject to change) The first day of school is Monday, August 24, STM Catholic s normal school hours are 7:50 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. for ALL STUDENTS. Students are not to arrive at school prior to 7:30 a.m. If a student is not attending a school activity before 7:30 a.m., s/he will be sent to Lion s Den and a fee will be charged for this service. Students must be in the classroom by 7:50 a.m. or they are counted tardy. Students arriving after 7:50 a.m. must obtain a Tardy Slip (Grades K-5 from the Main Office; Middle School students from the Middle School Office). Students are to be picked up at 2:55 p.m. Students not picked up will be brought to the main school office to await pickup. Any students not picked up by 3:20 are required to go to Lion s Den. A fee will be charged for this service. June Newsletter Page 1

2 Used Uniform Sales There will be two Used Uniform sales in August: August 6 from 2:00-5:30 p.m. and August 7 from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. in the school basement. After August, sales will usually be held the first Wednesday of each month from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Safe Environment Training Sessions All volunteers are required by the Archdiocese of Denver to attend, and have on file with the school, a confirmation of attendance at a training session. Also, a signed Volunteer Personal Information for purposes of obtaining a background report, a signed Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosure and Authorization, and a signed Code of Conduct form before any volunteering is allowed. If you are a new employee of the church or school or a new volunteer working with children, you are required to attend this training. Class can be found on the Archdiocese website ( If you have attended a training session in the past, you only need to complete a refresher online every five years. The forms are attached. School Supply Lists and information are available on the website front page and under Forms and Documents. If you ordered by June 9, the kits were the price quoted online and on the order form. If the deadline was missed, supplies could be ordered until August 5, but they were shipped to your home and you not only pay shipping charges the kits are more expensive too. Kits that were ordered by June 9 will be delivered to your child s classroom prior to the start of school. Hot Lunch Program Mile High Catering will be providing our hot lunches again this school year. Ordering will continue online through Order Lunches. More information on the ordering process is included. Hot Lunch will not be available the first week of school. Students must bring a sack lunch the first week of school. August 31-September 30 lunches are to be ordered between August online at More information is attached that explains the process. You must change your student s teacher in the profile. Hot Lunch is not available for purchase on a daily basis only by prepayment on a monthly basis. A Milk Order Form will be available in August which should be completed and returned to school before but no later than August 24, 8:00 a.m. Milk is free the first week of school. Milk orders are placed twice per school year: August (for August-December) and December (for January-June). Please note that it is not part of our program to provide lunches to students who forget their lunches. A Cup-of-Noodles soup is available for purchase for $1.00 if lunch is forgotten. Payment should be made the next day. June Newsletter Page 2

3 Change of Address/ /Phone Number If you move or change your address, phone number, etc., please notify the school office immediately of your new information. Kindergarten Students On Monday, August 24, 2015, Kindergarten parents will bring their child to school at 7:45 a.m. and meet in your child s classroom for orientation. All students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. the first day of school. They will attend full days the rest of the first week. Parents are invited to attend the Yahoo/Boo Hoo Party held in the small cafeteria after orientation in the classroom the first day of school. See attached flyer for more information. Attendance It is essential for students to be in attendance on a daily basis to learn to the best of their ability. Verbal instruction and classroom interaction is of great value to each child s daily learning process. Therefore, we request that students be at school on time, remain in school the entire day, and that appointments be made outside of school hours whenever possible. If a child will be late or absent, parents are required to notify the school office by calling the attendance phone number prior to 8:20 a.m. The number is After 8:20 a.m., please call Volunteers Our school programs are greatly enhanced due to STM Catholic Parent Volunteers. There are many ways you can give your time and share your talents. A Volunteer Booklet, listing the various opportunities available, will be posted on the website the first week of school. Remember that you must have confirmation of your Safe Environment Training attendance on file at the school. Also, all volunteers must have a Background Check. If you have not had one done, please fill out the authorization form found in this mailing. Thank you for supporting and investing in STM Catholic. The administrators, faculty, and staff look forward to partnering with you and your family this year. If you have any questions, please contact the school office at We look forward to seeing you in August. Peace & blessings, Jan Altevogt AnnaMarie Murillo Diane Nelson Principal Elem. Asst. Principal MS Asst. Principal June Newsletter Page 3

4 June Newsletter Page 4

10 You re Invited New Family Open House And Ice Cream Social Tuesday, August 18, :30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. STM Catholic Large Cafeteria Please RSVP to Susan Schmidtlein: no later than August 13. Get The Scoop About Our School June Newsletter Page 10

12 PURCHASE SCHOOL LUNCHES ONLINE It s the fast and easy way to ensure your kids eat right at school! STM Catholic partners with orderlunches.com to provide a secure, fast, and easy-to-use online ordering system that allows parents to view our lunch menu, order, prepay and manage student lunches on the web. REGISTRATION AND ORDERING WILL BEGIN ON AUGUST 22. ORDERING WILL CLOSE AUGUST 25 FOR AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 30 LUNCHES. GO TO: - (please bookmark this page) REGISTRATION NEW PARENTS Click Register to Create an Account School Password is: hungrylion11 REGISTRATION RETURNING PARENTS Sign In with your username & password NEW! Choose student that needs location, add their grade for the new school year & click update profile If a student has graduated, select their name & click remove profile. Once all profiles are updated Click on the Order link to begin ordering. ORDERING Lunch Service starts August 31. When you, the account holder (Parent), log in for the first time at the beginning of the school year, you will be prompted to select a new location (room / teacher / grade) before you can begin ordering. Check out & pay Please be sure to complete the check-out process when placing an order. Do not close your browser prior to receiving the confirmation display or your order may be interrupted and not fully processed. Items left in your shopping cart will not be processed and your order will not be placed. Print your order by clicking in the Nav Bar LUNCH PROGRAM QUESTIONS: For questions regarding Food or Policy, including Missed/Late Orders, Credits, and Changes/Cancellations, please call Mrs. Altevogt at or jana@stthomasmore.org and we ll get back to you. TECHNICAL SUPPORT: If you have trouble placing an order online, please lindat@stthomasmore.org. June Newsletter Page 12

13 PAYMENT INFORMATION: The program accepts payment by Debit Card or Credit Card: Visa, MasterCard and Discover. Ordering for more than one person? Please be sure to add all items for all your student(s) into the shopping cart BEFORE checking-out. Be sure to proceed to checkout and process your payment. Orders that are left in the shopping cart will NOT be processed and your student(s) will not be included in the lunch service. PROCESSING FEE A nominal processing fee is charged so that we can offer our lunch program online. Thank you for participating in our school lunch program! Ordering Schedule MONTH Order Start Date Order End Aug 31 Sep 30 August 22 August 25 Oct 1 Oct 30 September 1 September 15 Nov 2 Nov 30 October 1 October 15 Dec 1 Dec 17 November 1 November 15 Jan 4 Jan 29 December 1 December 15 Feb 1 Feb 29 January 1 January 15 Mar 1 Mar 23 February 1 February 15 Apr 4 Apr 29 March 1 March 15 May 2 June 1 April 1 April 15 June Newsletter Page 13

16 ONLY NEW FAMILIES NEED TO FILL THIS OUT Parent Portal Access and Use Form STM Catholic School is implementing a Parent Portal as a means to further promote educational excellence and to enhance communication with parents. The Portal allows parents to view their own child s school records anywhere, anytime. Every parent is expected to act in a responsible, ethical, and legal manner when accessing the St. Thomas More Catholic School Parent Portal. The portal is available to every parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled at St. Thomas More Catholic School. The following guidelines are in place to ensure safety and privacy of each student. 1. Parents are not to share their passwords with anyone, including their children. 2. Parents are not to attempt to harm or destroy data of their own children, of another user, school network, or the internet. 3. Parents are not to use the Portal for any illegal activity, including violation of privacy laws. Anyone found to be violating laws may be subject to Civil and/or Criminal Prosecution. 4. Parents are not to access data or any account owned by another parent. 5. Parents who identify a security problem with the Parent Portal must notify the school immediately, without demonstrating the problem to anyone else. 6. Parents who are deemed as a security risk to the Parent Portal or any other computers or networks, will be denied access to the Parent Portal. 7. Only legal guardians may have access to the students grades. 8. Portal account permissions are issued for the duration of a school year. Please provide the following information about all your children at STM Catholic School. Last Name First Name Grade Date of Birth Please Print ONLY NEW FAMILIES NEED TO FILL THIS OUT I have read and I agree to abide by and support these rules. Parent/Guardian #1 Signature & Date Parent/Guardian #2 Signature & Date Parent/Guardian #1 Print Name Parent/Guardian #2 Print Name June Newsletter Page 16

17 USED UNIFORM SALES There will be two Used Uniform Sales in August. On August 6, the sale will run from 2:00-5:30 p.m. On August 7, the sale will run from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. After August, sales will usually be held the first Wednesday of each month (September-May) from 2:30-5:30 p.m. You will be notified of any changes. THANK YOU Thank you to all of the 40+ volunteers that helped with field day this year. We could not have done it without you. Eric Dahn, Dana Laessig, PE Teachers ANNUAL REPORT The 2014/2015 Annual Report will be posted on the website soon under Forms and Documents. An blast will be sent when it is available. Please read this report about your school. We are very proud of our school and the accomplishments of your student(s). SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS Summer reading assignments were distributed to next year s sixth, seventh, and eighth graders before school closed. Complete details are provided in the middle school June mailing. MIDDLE SCHOOL ORIENTATION Only for students NEW to STM Catholic (as last year s 5 th graders had a moving up orientation). Orientation will be on Thursday, August 20, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Room 219. Come to meet your teachers, middle school staff, and other new students. MEDICATIONS If your student has medications in the clinic, please come to pick them up. medication will be discarded if not picked up. All 8 TH ANNUAL COLORADO ROCKIES FAITH DAY It s that time again! The 8 th Annual Colorado Rockies Faith Day will be on Sunday, July 26. Don t miss this opportunity to enjoy a day at the ballpark with one of the best bands in contemporary Christian music. HELP NEEDED BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE (LIONS DEN) Monday through Friday from 2:30-6:00 p.m. Must be 16 years of age or older. This is a great part-time job for high school students who enjoy working with children ages 5-13 (grades K-8). For details, contact Sarah Teall at saraht@stthomasmore.org or CHESS CLASSES OFFERED THIS FALL National Chess Master Todd Bardwick will be offering an eight-session chess class starting September 2. See attached flyer for more information and registration form. June Newsletter Page 17

18 PARENT EXTRORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION If you are a STM Catholic School student parent, are a mandated Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at STM, and you would like to occasionally serve at a school Mass, please contact Therese Beaudette at NEW FAMILY PARISH REGISTRATION If you are a new family to STM Catholic and wish to join St. Thomas More Parish, please fill out the attached form and return to the school office. FRIENDS OF THE POOR WALK The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Denver Metro Council asks you and your classmates to Walk for the Poor and help feed, clothe and shelter the poor. See attached flyer. June Newsletter Page 18