Learning, Loving, and Leading through Christ

April 6, 2023

From the Desk of Mr. Johnston

Dear St. Alphonsus Catholic School Families,

As we head into our Easter break from school, I want to take a moment to remind everyone that although Easter is close, we still have two of the most important and holy days in the church calendar between now and then. I highly encourage you to talk with your children about the importance of Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Holy Thursday is so important to us because it is when Jesus gave us the gift of the Eucharist even though we, like the Disciples, did nothing to deserve it. Then on Good Friday, we remember the Passion of Our Lord and what He was willing to endure for our sake. Both are crucial to our faith and our celebration of Easter.

I want to give a very enthusiastic thank you to our 8th grade students and Mrs. Hoeppner for the AMAZING job they did with the Living Stations of the Cross. Those who represented each station and those that read did so very respectfully and prayerfully, which made the prayer service very moving for all. Thank you to those students and Mrs. Hoeppner for making this service happen!

Please look today for a field trip form for your student as we will be having an all-school community clean up day on Thursday, April 20th. More information is on the form, but we look forward to this day as we show some care for God’s creation and our community.

Have a safe and blessed Holy Week and Easter,

Russ Johnston

Important Dates to Remember

04/07

Good Friday

No School

04/08 - 04/16

Easter Break

No School

04/19

Dine Out Night

Cousins

04/20

All School Community Clean-Up

04/21

Parish Auction

Details Below

04/21

4th Grade Pioneer Day

04/24

Milwaukee Public Museum Field Trip

4K & 5K

04/27

Harbor Village Service Project

(Grades 5K - 3)

04/28

Father Daughter Dance

Details Below

05/01 - 05/12

STAR Testing Dates

05/04

Spring Music Concert

6:00pm

05/11

First Stage Field Trip

Grades 1-3

05/12

Fun Fair

Details Below

05/12

4th Grade Madison Field Trip

05/12

Dress Down Day for MACC Fund

Details Coming Soon!

05/24

First Communion Celebration Mass

Brunch Following (2nd Grade)

Lunch Account Reminders

Parents, don't forget to take a look at your child's lunch account funds! There are several students who have low balances or deficient funds in their accounts and are now working from a negative balance. You can access your child's lunch account here.

For questions, please contact Katie Cech, Hot Lunch Coordinator. Thank you!

Continue to Donate Pull Tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities!

Have you been sending in your soda can pull tabs for our RMHC Pull Tab drive? If not, consider doing so! All of the donated tabs will be turned in on May 20th.

Since 2000, recycling pop tabs has raised over $400,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities' mission. Learn more here!

Livestream Volunteer Needed for 8th Grade Graduation

This year’s graduation ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 3rd at noon and will be livestreamed! We’re looking for a volunteer to help run the camera--in hopes that the eighth grade families can enjoy the ceremony, we would love to get a volunteer from another grade.

The person who takes care of this for the Parish will have everything set up and ready to go, but we need a volunteer to be there that day to run the camera. The commitment is about two hours. We've been assured that this is super easy and basically just involves zooming/moving the camera from time to time.

For more information or if you’re able to help please contact Kyla Mrazek. Thank you for considering!

May Lunch Menu

The Greendale Art Show Is Open!

The Art Show at Greendale Library is now open!

Stop by anytime between now and May to see your student's artwork. Most students have at least one piece on display and many students even have two!

Mrs. Hoeppner is also looking for Poster Frames!

She is looking for 5 large-sized frames of various sizes (they can be spray painted if they are not aesthetically pleasing). She will be cutting mats for the artwork, so the opening size isn't as important as the total frame size. The artwork sizes are:

15"H x 18"W

12"H x 20"W

12"H x15"W

and 2 are 24"H x 24"W

If you have any frames larger than the sizes listed above--or if you are thrifting over break--please think of donating them to the Art Studio for our Parish Auction contributions.

Holy Week Activities Around School

It has been a very busy Holy Week here at school.

All of our classes have been participating in activities like Reconciliation, reviewing the Stations of the Cross, filling Easter treat bags, and more! 4K has worked on Holy Week paintings and Resurrection eggs, while 5K learned about the washing of the feet. Our 8th Grade also participated in a new tradition: Soup & Substance, a candelit luncheon with a talk led by Father Patrick. Our whole school also attend the 8th Grade's presentation of the Living Stations of the Cross. Check out some photos of our Holy Week activities below!

Home & School News

Don't Forget To Place Your Advanced Ticket Sales & Food Orders for Fun Fair!

Get ready for our Fun Fair on Friday, May 12th, 2023 from 5:30pm-8:00pm!

Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Advanced ticket sales and food orders are now available! Click here for the order form and also check it out below.

Parish Auction Updates

Join us on Friday, April 21 for the Annual Parish Auction!

Click here for registration.

Never been to the auction before? Please join us! There are already 5-6 full tables of parents attending and we'd love to have you join us too!

We still need student volunteers to serve at the auction!

This counts as service hours for the kids, saves St. Al’s the money we’d otherwise have to pay for adult waitstaff, and is a lot of fun!

Students should arrive at 4:30 and will be done between 9:30 and 10:00. Students will assist with table and other set up. They will serve appetizers to guests during cocktail hour. After that, they will work in the dining room, clearing salad plates, serving entrees, bringing coffee carafes to the tables and clearing plates, glasses, silverware, etc. at the end of the meal.

We will feed students dinner shortly after arrival. Students should wear a plain, white shirt or blouse and black pants or skirt with comfortable, closed toe shoes.

Students in grades 4-8 are eligible to serve. High schoolers are also welcome.

Please contact Sue Ruedinger with questions, and sign your student up here!

Area Sports, High School, & Summer Camp News

Pius XI Announces their Summer Basketball Camps! Click on the flyer below for the link to register.

Parish & Community News

The Greendale Health Department is conducting a research project to understand and capture the voices of Hispanic populations in order to develop equitable policies and programs related to health.

A one-hour session will be held on April 28th at 6:30 PM at the Greendale Community Learning Center. A $50.00 gift card will be given to each participant. Please contact Megan Mermal with questions at (414) 423-2110 Ext. 6330 or via email.

El departamento de Greendale está realizando un estudio para entender y escuchar las voces de las poblaciones hispanas para así desarrollar políticas de igualdad y programas de sanidad. Una sesión de una hora se llevará a cabo el día 28 de Abril a las 6:30 PM en el Centro de Aprendizaje de la Comunidad de Greendale. Cada participante recibirá una tarjeta de Visa por el valor de $50.00 por su participación. Por favor contacte a Milagros LaBeau: (262)617-7051 or email.

Join the Parish Women's Group on Saturday, April 15!

Our April group meeting will be held on Saturday April 15 at 10:00 in the Parish Ministry Center, Room 101.

We will be doing a book swap! Bring in a book or books that have either inspired your faith, or that you just enjoyed. If you are open to lending them out, we will switch books and return them to each other in May. We will also be saying a Chaplet of Divine Mercy since that weekend is Divine Mercy Sunday. Bring your rosary to follow along, and we will lead and have handouts to help!

The final meeting of the season before we take a break for the summer will be on Saturday, May 15 at 9:30 in the PMC Room 101.

Do you have items for the newsletter? To submit them or for questions and submission guidelines, please contact Amy Schermetzler.

Please note that submissions are due by 5:00pm Wednesdays.

Kerri, did you see this? Happy Easter!