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Dear St. Alphonsus Families,
We have several great things to update you about this week! First, just a reminder that tonight is the next all-school Home & School Meeting. It will take place at 6:00pm in the Community Room. This is a great opportunity to get more involved at school--come hear updates from all of our Home & School chairs and learn about the events remaining for this school year! Anyone who attends will receive an Out of Uniform pass for the student(s).
Second, don't forget that this weekend is our next Pack the Church at the 11:00am Mass! We are still in need of some student lectors & gift bearers, so if you will be around this weekend and would like to have your students involved in mass, please sign up here or check out more details below.
We are pleased to announce that applications for the St. Gerard Scholarships are now open. This scholarship is available for students entering grades 3-8 for the 2024-2025 school year, and honors demonstrated volunteerism by the student & their family in the school, church, or community, as well as academic achievement & financial need. Applications will be due to the school office by April 5, 2024. You can find more details and the application below!
A couple of calendar notes: Don't forget that this Friday, February 23 is now 11:30am dismissal, and there is no Cougar Care available. Optional Spring Conferences will be held March 21 from 4-6pm by appointment only. A sign-up genius will be available soon. And don't forget our next pizza lunch is this Thursday! No hot lunch or milk will be available so if you did not order your student a pizza lunch, please send cold lunch.
Last week, Mrs. Schermetzler and Mrs. Bruhn took some of our middle school girls to the DSHA Middle School Leadership Conference! Students had a chance to attend various breakout sessions on everything from managing & organizing student life to public speaking, communication, confidence, and more. Over 30 schools from the area attended, and we brought back lots of great ideas to implement at St Al’s!
Lastly, we wanted to leave you with a quote about faith & trusting in God that has been resonating with our leadership team as of late. Father Kevin shared this quote with us--it is from St. Faustina's Diary Divine Mercy in My Soul and portrays the Lord speaking to St. Faustina.
"The graces of my mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is: trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to me, because I pour all the treasures of my graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is my desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little when they narrow their hearts."
Have a fantastic week!
Best regards,
Ms. Parey, Principal
Mrs. Schermetzler & Mrs. Bruhn, Leadership Team
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The scholarship application can be downloaded here, and the applications are due to our school office by April 5, 2024. | |
Important Tax Information for Parents
Tuition paid reports for the current school year (August-December 2023) have been printed and can be picked up in the school office. Also available are current tuition balances by student.
Reports for the prior school year (January-June 2023) can be found in TADS by following the instructions below:
HOW TO ACCESS YOUR HOUSEHOLD PAID TUITION TAX REPORT in TADS (for January to June 2023).
1. Go to TADS.com
2. Login to your TADS account
3. Click on” Billing” and then look below the blue box for the “Household Paid Tuition Tax Report.”
4. Click on Household Paid Tuition Tax Report
5. Enter the year for which you need the information and a statement will appear that details the fees you paid in that year. These include: Tuition Deposit, Tuition, and field trips.
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More Student Lector Dates Available!
Do your students in grades 2-8 love to read at mass? Consider signing them up to lector at Sunday Mass. Our spring dates are now available here. We will also need gift bearers.
Students practice with Mrs. Schermetzler on the Friday before weekend masses.
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February & March Dates to Remember | |
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02/19
Home & School Meeting
Community Room, 6:00pm
02/21
Dine Out Night
Noodles
02/23
11:30am Dismissal
No Cougar Club
02/25
Pack the Church
11:00am Mass
02/26
No School
Teacher In-Service
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03/01 - 03/15
Iowa Testing
Grades 3, 5, & 7
03/04 - 03/10
Book Fair
03/08
End of Trimester 2
03/15
Report Cards Released to Parents
03/21
Optional Spring Conferences
4-6pm
Sign-up Coming Soon
03/28 & 03/29
No School
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Save the Date for the 4th & 5th Grade Spring Concert!
This year our 4th & 5th Grade spring concert will be held on Thursday, May 2nd at 2:00 pm in church. Please save the date and we will have more details as the event approaches!
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Our Next Pizza Lunch is Coming Up on Thursday, February 22nd...
...and we need your help as volunteers! Consider giving up an hour of your day to help us serve the pizza lunches to the kids. You can sign up here!
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Updated February + March Lunch Menu | |
February & March Out of Uniform Schedule
We thought it might be easier for you to have a list of days that are Out-Of-Uniform either with a pass or with special circumstances for the whole month, so here are the Out-of-Uniform Days for the remaining days of February and for March:
02/22
Out of Uniform with Dine Out Night purchase on 02/21 (receipt required)
02/23
Last Friday of the Month
Out of Uniform with Purchased Pass
03/01
First Friday of the Month
Spiritwear Day! Wear St. Al's spiritwear & jeans or out-of-uniform bottoms
03/07
Out of Uniform with Dine Out Night purchase on 03/06 (receipt required)
03/21
Out of Uniform with Dine Out Night purchase on 03/20 (receipt required)
03/22
Last Friday of the Month
Out of Uniform with Purchased Pass
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This Year's Book Fair Is Coming Soon! | |
The Book Fair is Coming March 4 - March 11!
The online link to our school book fair from Literati is now open! You can check it out here to preview & purchase some of the titles that will be available at our fair. You can also purchase digital gift cards if you would like your student to shop cashless at the in-person book fair.
We will again be offering Kids Book Club memberships at our fair this year. These are personalized book boxes that help kids build vocabulary, confidence, and a love of reading. It’s like getting a book fair in a box, every month!
- Get a monthly selection of five books, handpicked for your child’s reading pace and preferences.
- Buy what they love. Return the ones they don’t for free.
- 10% of every dollar spent on kids book clubs will always come back to St. Alphonsus.
Kids book club membership starts at just $9.95/month but right now you can sign up for 3 months for just $1. You can check them out here!
Finally, please also mark your calendars for March 3 - March 10 and considering volunteering to help us out at the Book Fair. You will help us by setting up, helping students shop, running the register, reminding customers about Literati Kids book clubs, and restocking products and displays.
All volunteers will receive a 20% discount at the fair.
We will post the volunteer sign-up next week!
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Spring Extracurricular Opportunities! | |
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Congratulations to our Service Club on a successful first project!
They coordinated the Penny Wars during Catholic Schools Week to great success. Last week they had a visit from a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to present him with a "check" for our donation. Students also received t-shirts and were able to hear a presentation about what our donation will help with. Stay tuned for the next Service Club project coming soon!
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Congratulations to our 8th grade boys' team who received an invitation to play in this years Padre Serra tournament!
We will keep everyone informed when their first game is scheduled.
Below is the schedule for each St Alphonsus team (and students playing at other schools) for the upcoming weekend:
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5th Grade Girls: 11:00 am February 24th @ St Alphonsus; 1:00 pm February 25th @ St Alphonsus
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6th Grade Boys: 10:00 am February 24th @ St Alphonsus
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6th Grade Girls: 9:00 am February 24th @ St Alphonsus
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7th Grade Boys: 6:00 pm February 20th @ St Leonard; 12:00 pm February 25th @ Divine Mercy
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7th Grade Girls: 9:00 am February 24th @ St Gregory the Great
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8th Grade Boys: 2:00 pm February 25th @ St Alphonsus
We still have the following athletic board positions open:
Treasurer
Volleyball Coordinator
Communications Coordinator
If you are interested in helping out with building the future of athletics at St. Alphonsus, please reach out to Nick Warrichaiet.
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7th Grade Science Revs Up!
7th grade Science class has been talking about electricity. Students have been working on creating their own electric car from a preassembled bag of necessary items.
Their goal was to use two AA batteries as a power source, to make their own design of car move forward.
In other science related news, the Mobile STEM Lab will be visiting St. Alphonsus this week! Students in grades 4-8 will get a chance to step into the lab and check it out. We will share some pics of that next week!
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This week is Dine Out Night at Noodles & Company!
This Wednesday, February 21 is Dine Out Night at Noodles & Company and we hope to see you there! Dine in or carry out from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Greenfield location, 4859 S 76th Street. Be sure to show our flyer (on your phone or printed) and 25% of the sales will go to support St. Alphonsus. You can also order online and use our code GIVING25 in the Coupon Code line to be sure our school gets credit for your order. Remember to get a receipt (one per child) so that your student can be out of uniform the following day.
Come support our school and let Noodles & Company do the cooking!
Dine Out Nights - the easiest and most delicious fundraisers around.
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Join St. Alphonsus and the Home & School Association at the Milwaukee Wave Game!
St. Alphonsus Catholic School is the featured organization at the Milwaukee Wave game on March 22 at 6:35pm. We hope you can attend, watch a great game and support St Alphonsus Catholic School!
Please use this link to buy your tickets and we’ll see you at the game! St. Alphonsus School will get a percentage of the money from each ticket sold at this link, so feel free to spread the word & share this with your family and friends. MANY school families will be sitting in the 200s sections, so consider purchasing your tickets in those seats!
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Updates from our SCRIP Program:
SCRIP is off to a good start. Six weeks in and parishioners and school families have have raised over $1250 so far!
...and yet, this could be so much more!
Do you spend $500 a month on groceries?
Do you spend $400 a month on gas?
Do you go to Dine Out Nights?
If every school family bought the same amount in SCRIP, that’s a $40 rebate per month just for those purchases! Imagine if every school family took advantage of this.
Of course, there are many other ways to increase that amount by using the frequent bonuses! (Kwik-Trip is offering a 9% bonus thru February 23.)
If you haven’t questions, contact Vickie Major! She is happy to help you become a regular SCRIP buyer.
Lastly, the SCRIP program could use some help on Sundays for a few hours. Please consider sitting at the SCRIP table from 8:30-11:00. It's not hard and you get a chance to say hi to all your friends at church! Sign up here!
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Local School & Alumni News | |
Please note that any outside activities are not sponsored or endorsed by St. Alphonsus Parish or School | |
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Registration is now open for Franklin Public School Summer Learning Programs!
The Summer Learning Program is offered for students entering 1st through 12th grade in fall 2024. View the Summer Learning Program webpage here for more information. Registration is open from 1/23 through 2/11.
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Greendale High School Announces Opportunity for Incoming 8th Graders to Meet the Guidance Team
During the High School Parent/Teacher Conferences on Thursday, February 15th, there will be small group sessions available for your 8th Grader to meet with the Greendale High School Guidance Team.
Please contact Khou Perry, 414-423-0105, to reserve a spot for the small group presentation.
- 1st session- 4:00-5:00 p.m.
- 2nd session- 5:15-6:15 p.m.
- 3rd session- 6:45-7:45 p.m.
All family members are welcome to attend.
Please contact Khou Perry if you have any questions.
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Calling all St. Alphonsus Alumni!
Do you have an alumni student in your home? Are you an alum yourself, or maybe you've heard some great things our alumni are up to? Please share them with us! We would love to share more alumni news in upcoming newsletters and on our social media. You can email items to Mrs. Schermetzler. Thank you!
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Christian Formation Updates & Opportunities | |
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Want to ignite the faith of your family this summer? Want them to encounter Jesus, the Blessed Mother and have fun as well?
Then sign your family up for Totus Tuus! Totus Tuus has two distinct parts - one for younger kids and one for middle and high schoolers. The younger kids come during the day and have a group of Totus Tuus Missionaries lead them in an action packed vacation Bible camp! The missionaries are young adults who are on fire with their faith!
Then for the older kids, the missionaries (same ones mentioned above) engage them at night to grow in their faith as well - the older kids will do things more appropriate to middle and high schoolers.
St. Al's will be co-hosting this with St. Martin of Tours and it will be held at St. Martin of Tours parish.
Want to learn more about Totus Tuus? Check out the national website!
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In Matthew 25, Jesus is very clear that we are called, no, commanded to love those in need and to serve them. Somehow, by doing so, we are able to serve Jesus. He is in disguise.
And if I could bring everyone to one place to show them what it looks like to serve as if you are serving Jesus Himself, I would bring you all to the Kinship Community Food Center! It is a food pantry unlike any other one I have ever seen. They operate more like a grocery store than a food pantry. People go to different stations to choose the food they want. It affords a real dignity to everyone.
And, it's a place where generosity reigns.
Come and check it out! Please consider joining us on April 13, 2024. It's an amazing opportunity to serve Jesus disguised in the poor. To sign up or to learn more about serving, check out the sign up genius.
--Karen Farrell, Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry
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Save the Date for the Annual Parish Auction!
On May 10, 2024, we will Roll Out the Red Carpet for the 23rd annual St. Alphonsus Parish benefit auction, and we invite you to join us!
The auction is the only parish fundraiser that benefits all of St. Alphonsus’ ministries, including our school, Christian formation programs, adult education, community outreach (food pantry, community meal programs, giving tree, etc.), support groups and more.
It is sure to be a great evening, so mark your calendars now! We are also looking for donations. You can learn more in the letter below!
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St. Alphonsus Parish Hosts Eucharistic Miracles Exhibit
This exhibit from the Vatican International Exhibition presents 158 miracles that are connected to the Eucharist. All of the miracles have been investigated and approved by the Vatican. Through them, we see God demonstrating for
us that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. This exhibit was created by Carlos Acutis, one of the first "teenage" saints of the Church.
We hope you will join us to see this special exhibit in person from Thursday to Sunday in the Community Room!
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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 12:00pm Fridays.
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