WEEKLY NEWSLETTER                         

June 2nd, 2010

Dear Parents,

Welcome to your last Wednesday newsletter of the year! No field trip permission slips, no pizza or hot dog lunch order forms, no cookie order forms, no requests for volunteers…the year is rolling to an end.

The graduates are off on their picnic to Six Flags tomorrow before they return for all the activities of graduation day. We are saying good-bye to a fine class of eighth grade students at graduation this Friday. They have earned awards and recognition for their academic achievements from several of the high schools at which they have been accepted! The student body will come together for the graduates’ last Mass as STM students this Friday at 11:00. The graduation ceremony will be at 5:00 p.m. that evening. At those events, students will pray together, share their thoughts about their time at STM, hear the announcements of awards, and celebrate this educational milestone in their lives. We salute our graduates and hope you will join them at either or both ceremonies. Congratulations to: Alia De Jesus, Therese Dela Rueda, Meghan Desmond, Asia Flores, Bianca Flores, Emelita Fox, Sinead Hinchion, Mary Martinez, Malaya Mojica, Geraldine Ostrea, Stefanie Panelo, Danielle Panlaqui, Mika Patterson, Anastazja Ragasa, Liliana Reyes, Isabell Serrano, Valerie Trigueros, Yunona Troshina, Jessica Urbina, Gabriela Villalta, Elliot Baker, Nathaniel Catindig, Rodrigo Enriquez, George Freedland, Adam Gamboa, Thomas Graham, Christian Hall, Angel Hernandez, Padraig Hughes, Liam Mihelich, Conor O’Keefe, Steven Sagasty, Angelito Santos, and Christian Santos.

Our annual collection of peanut butter concludes Friday. Thank you for your true generosity! Thank you, also, for your generous donations of children’s books for the new school library. Many of you have been so kind as to pass your children’s slightly used, but no-longer-needed, books to us. We will continue to welcome your donations as long as you decide to send them.

Your generous donation of new and recycled paper is also very much appreciated. We find many uses for paper that is used on one side only. Please keep these donations coming…we’re running low!!

Next Monday and Tuesday we will have minimum days with 12:25 dismissal for students in grades K-3 and 12:35 dismissal for students in grades 4-8. There will be extended care starting at dismissal both days. Remember, extended care payment for this final week continues to be on a cash basis. Wednesday, June 9, our last day, we will dismiss at 10:00. There is NO extended care that day. Forget to pick up your child at dismissal and you’ll pay our very high teacher provided babysitting rates of $1 a minute!

The school office will not be open during the summer on a regular schedule. If you plan to come and make a payment of tuition and any fees, please call first to see if we are here. We prefer that you mail those items; but if we are here when you call, we’ll be happy to help you. However, don’t be late with your payments and incur late charges waiting for us to be here to take your payment. We will use the date of mailing when we consider late charges. If you want to make in person payments, plan to pay well ahead of the deadline and call until you find someone here in the office. Now, if you do need us during the summer, be sure to leave a message or send us an email.

Do you have any unpaid tuition or fees for this school year? Please make sure you settle up with Sr. Patricia before the 10:00am dismissal next Wednesday, in order that your child/children may receive their report cards in a timely manner. Report cards for students absent on the last day will be filed in their cumulative folders and may be picked up during the summer or next school year.

Tomorrow night is the final Parents’ Club meeting of the school year. The meeting will be held in Carroll Hall at 7:00pm and all are welcome to attend. Don’t forget, the Parents’ Club is providing you with a final social activity as the year ends. The end-of-the-year-social is scheduled to begin just after school begins next Wednesday and lasts until dismissal. All are invited. See you there.

To facilitate the Parents’ Club collection of used uniforms this year, we are allowing the students to enjoy free dress on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. There are no strings attached, no required donations, just enjoy a little freedom. The used uniform sale, along with the sale of school supplies, and orientation for parents new to the school has been set for Saturday, August 14th. You will receive further details on this in our August newsletter.

Speaking of uniforms, there are still students who have NOT returned basketball and baseball uniforms. Please do so immediately.

Our first day back to school for the 2010-2011 school year is Wednesday, August 25th. The following evening, Thursday, August 26th, we will have our annual Back-to-School Night. Please save these important dates.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our families who volunteered their time this school year. Activities like showing up for yard duty, rain or shine, attending the Parents’ Club meetings, chaperoning on field trips and outdoor ed, working on the Cioppino, Fall Festival, Mother-Son and Father-Daughter events and numerous other school activities, would not happen without you. Your involvement allows St. Thomas More School to be a wonderful place for your children to grow and develop. Together we make a big difference in the lives of our children.

On a final note, we would like to express our gratitude to those who have completed their pledge to the Capital Campaign for this school year. The response has been overwhelming, especially in these tough economic times. Since beginning the campaign in 2006, thanks to your contributions, we have raised $222,341 to help pay off the Archdiocesan loans. We are happy to announce that through your generosity and that from various foundations, matching gifts and other donations, our balance with the Archdiocese will be below $1,000,000 by the end of August 2010! We look forward to beginning Phase 2 of the Capital Campaign this fall. Together, we can all be proud of our wonderful new building that is now serving our families and will continue to do so for future generations to come.

Thank you for all you have helped us accomplish this year! See you in August!                                                      
Sincerely,

Marie Fitzpatrick        Sr. Patricia Rogers, BVM
Principal               Vice-Principal