PARENT BULLETIN
December 15, 2016
DAN'S BLOG
"'Tis the season for giving," they say, and the school teachers and staff were so grateful to be gifted earlier this week by the larger school parent community, as represented by the Parents' Club. The Parents' Club presented each faculty member a generous supply of each of our favorite Charger Cards. Your fund raising via the Walk-A-Thon, Charger Cards, Charger Gear, and the Auction generated the funds which made these Christmas presents possible. So thank YOU, school parents, for these wonderful gifts!

One family who gifted both the St. Louise faculty and parent community this Christmas season was the Widodos. Andrew Widodo and Miranda Karli have a son, Dhani Widodo, in 2nd grade, and recently Dhani's grandmother - Lan Widodo - passed away. Grandma Widodo was a strong believer in Catholic school education, and so Andrew and Miranda felt is was only fitting that two prized religious art pieces from her estate were donated to a Catholic school. Thus, on the stairwell to the second floor in the main lobby, you'll find the first of the Widodo's donations to St. Louise - a porcelain crucifix made by Helen Boehm. (See photo below.) Who is Helen Boehm? She was known as the "Princess of Porcelain" with her elaborate sculptures gracing the walls and coffee tables of royalty and heads of state for the past six decades. Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth had sculptures of hers made especially for them! But the crucifix is not all! A second Helen Boehm piece - a Madonna sculpture - can now be found in the school office. Please take a look at both of these impressive collector's pieces the next time you're at school.

 Both the crucifix and Madonna were blessed by Father Gary yesterday, with the Widodo family and Dhani's classmates present. We thank Andrew and Miranda for their support of St. Louise School through this generous donation of religious art.

I trust the teachers have been able to team with you during this Advent Season to help your children focus on the "reason for the season." Be it through students learning about the Jesse Tree and the Immaculate Conception in religion classes, homerooms lighting Advent candles each morning, or our kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders performing Christmas songs for all, there has been an obvious distinction between December at St. Louise School and December at brand-X neighborhood school.

Unlike schools who can't provide a "well-rounded" education (i.e. help touch children's hearts, not solely their minds), we proudly acknowledge Jesus at this time of year, not Frosty the Snowman, and we loudly proclaim we are about to embark on a Christmas vacation, not a holiday break. Furthermore, tomorrow the brand-X neighborhood school's principal can only say to his students, "Have a Happy New Year!" Whereas I can say to my students, "Merry Christmas!" and to you parents I can share this Irish prayer:
 
In the light of the Christmas star,
God bless you.
In your travels, both near and far,
God bless you.
As you celebrate Jesus' birth,
God bless you.
And as you pray for peace on earth,
God bless you.
Merry Christmas.

Thanks for reading,
Mr. Fitz

p.s.
As your children are handing you their Christmas wish lists, may I please hand you mine? I want one, two, or three parents to step forward and announce they'd love to co-chair the 2017 St. Louise Auction! I say one, two, or three because some years we have had a duo or trio of parents who know each other come together to chair, and other years individual parents express interest and we help them "find each other" to create a team. Outgoing chairs Julianne and Esther will be around to help train the new Auction Chairs, and many committee heads have already committed to return to their Auction jobs. If you will have the time to put into co-chairing the Auction (most time is needed this spring and next fall) and would like to make your positive, historical mark on your child's school, please talk to Julianne or Esther to get your questions answered. Then "slip this Christmas present under my Christmas tree" by way of an email or phone call to me before school resumes in January.


...No need to wrap it.

School Calendar
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TOMORROW
  
Friday, December 16
  • NOON DISMISSAL DAY
  • AFTER-SCHOOL KIDS' CLUB IS CLOSED
  • School closed for Christmas vacation through and including Monday, January 2.
FYI...
        With government offices and most businesses taking their New Year's holiday on Monday, January 2, we too will take off Monday for the final day of our Christmas vacation. Thus, school will resume on Tuesday, January 3.
        By the way, in the fall Parent Survey, the majority of parents chose their preferred 2017-18 Christmas vacation dates to run from Saturday, December 16, through Monday, January 1 - with school resuming on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. You can plan on those Christmas vacation days for a year from now. The entire 2017-18 school calendar will be finalized later this spring.
 

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEW YEAR...  
 
Tuesday, January 3
  • School Resumes

Thursday, January 5
  • School Commission meeting, 6:30PM; the School Commission will be looking for new members to begin serving in the 2017-18 school year; consider attending this meeting to find out more and/or contact current Commission President Nancy Tribolet or Vice-President Chris Read.

Friday, January 6
  • No school ONLY for grades 7 & 8; junior high teachers' workday to complete high school admissions applications

Thursday, January 12
  • Parents' Club meeting, 6:30PM; the Parents' Club will be looking for new members to join their board in 2017-18, plus there are various leadership opportunities available for events and programs which fall under the Parents' Club tutelage; consider attending this meeting to find our more and/or contact current Club President Joni Hoffman or President-Elect Jennifer Sharp

 
Reward Program for Admissions
          The Admissions Season for enrolling new students has begun and runs through February. This is the time when prospective new school families for the 2017-18 school year begin touring the school, sitting in on classes, and meeting with Mr. Fuerte and Mr. Fitz so they can learn all there is to learn about St. Louise Parish School.
          Occurring every Tuesday morning through February, we hold "Tuesday Tour" days. We need your help! YOU are St. Louise's BEST ambassadors and can help make a difference in our overall enrollment by telling prospective school parents about our amazing school! We are asking you current school families to please spread the word to your friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members who will have 4-14 year-olds next fall. A simple, " Check out St. Louise !" in your next chat, text, or social media post may be all that is needed to direct these people to our direction in their search for their first or a new school for their kids. (Keep reading to find out your possible "reward" for spreading the word!)
          You can let these prospective new school parents know that their first step in the admissions process is to contact Lola or Mindy in the school office at 425-746-4220 to set up their "Tuesday Tour." You can also invite them to our February 2nd Open House and, even better, offer to be their personal host/tour guide for this family event.
          We know that, as current school parents, you like to spread the good news about St. Louise School to friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members simply because you love our school and want these people you care about to consider such a strong Catholic school for their children too. But even though we know you spread the word about us without any expectation of a "reward" or "incentive," we'd like to give you one.   
          One of the forms a newly enrolling family will fill out when applying to school will ask them, " Is there a current school family who encouraged you to consider enrolling in St. Louise School ?" If they list your name as the "referral source" who got them to consider St. Louise, and if they are indeed enrolled when we start school next fall, WE WILL REWARD YOU BY GIVING YOU ONE MONTH'S FREE TUITION*  NEXT YEAR! This reward is our way of saying, " Thank you for helping us recruit new families to help us grow our enrollment !" (*The 1-child rate for 2017-18 tuition will be removed from one of your monthly payments next year.)
           If you have any questions about our new "reward program for admissions," please talk to Cindy or Laura in the development office.
 
Time for St. Louise Parishioners to Renew Their Stewardship Commitment
          The vast majority of our school parents are also St. Louise Parish parishioners, and as parishioners you have a major benefit and a major expectation. The benefit is you have reduced tuition costs compared to non-Catholic families ($3,744 less for our one-child tuition rate). The expectation is you help financially support the parish as one requirement for being granted this reduced tuition.
          Our parish office needs to verify annually that a school family paying the reduced, in-parish tuition rate is indeed a "contributing" parishioner, and the annual  Stewardship of Treasure Commitment Renewal - which is currently ongoing during this November/December timeframe - is one part of this verification. (Of course, the other part is to make sure you are following through with your commitment by indeed donating to the parish.)
          You will find our parish's 2015-16 Annual Stewardship Report online here: www.stlouise.org/stewardshipreport. Thank you for fulfilling your annual commitment to renewing your Parish Stewardship by completing your commitment card by no later than the end of December. Starting in January, the parish office will be contacting any school families who are paying in-parish tuition but aren't fulfilling these parishioner requirements of renewing the card and continuing with stewardship contributions. If you have any questions, please contact our parish business administrator, Jonathan Taasan.
          Finally, a letter from Father Gary was mailed out recently to all St. Louise parishioners, regarding Stewardship of Treasure Commitment Renewal. Here is a portion of Father's letter:
  
  
November, 2016                       
  
Autumn blessings as we come to the close of the Year of Mercy! Thank you for your participation in the Stewardship Life of St. Louise Parish. The sacrifices you are making to support our parish help all of us together to be instruments of Christ's mercy.
 
I have a big idea and I need your help to make it happen. Actually, the idea came from you.
  
In the parish survey that many of you completed two years ago we heard that we need to add more people to our parish staff. We listened and defined one of the eight pillars of our strategic plan to ensure that we have the right number of staff resources in place to address all the needs of our parish community and its vision for the future. With this in mind, we hope to add a Junior High Youth Minister and a new position for Parishioner Engagement (Volunteer Coordination, Welcoming & Hospitality and Outreach). We hope to add the new position for Parishioner Engagement in early 2017 and the Junior High Youth Minister position by July 2017.
 
In order to add and sustain these new positions for the coming years, we would need to increase the total amount pledged to the parish by $140,000 starting in 2017. This year the total amount pledged to our Parish is $1,573,711. Our total pledge goal for 2017, January - December, is $1,715,000.
 
The idea is a bold one and I think that we can do it. The final answer will come from you. I ask that you take the time to prayerfully review your annual financial support to St. Louise and Take a Step in your pledging to help reach our goal.  Kindly complete and return to the parish - in the Mass collection basket or drop off at the parish office - the Stewardship of Treasure commitment card. You can also complete a commitment card online at www.stlouise.org/stewardshipoftreasure.
 
Together with the parish staff, I thank you for completing and returning your commitment card. In thanksgiving for all God's blessings to us, and for your generosity in response,
 
Father Gary Zender
Pastor
 
 



Words of Wisdom from Sister Polly Policy...
 
I write each week to shine the spotlight on a specific school policy and its guidelines, as found in the school's Policy Handbook . You  should want to read this section each week simply for the good of your soul. However, if you need more incentive than that to read it, the 5th school family who emails Mr. Fitz with the correct answer to the question below will win a $5 Charger Card. (Last week's winner was Darlene Kraft!)   So sit up straight, pay attention, and listen to Sister talk about one of the St. Louise School policies...



ONLINE LEARNING POLICY
 
One option to make up missed school days due to weather-related or pandemic illness-related school closures is to use computers to instruct children in their homes. (See "Pandemic Preparedness Plan.") Should St. Louise School need to close unexpectedly, it is possible we will have each teacher send an email to his/her grade level's families, announcing that an online-lesson is being assigned. The instructions for the online-lesson will either be within the email or posted on the teacher's webpage on the school website. The teacher's directions will include how the completed assignment is to be turned in - either emailed back or printed out and brought to school when school resumes. For primary grade students, the teacher will inform the parents they can help their children with reading the online-lesson and printing out or emailing back the homework; whereas, upper grade teachers and parents should expect the students themselves to be responsible for locating, completing, and submitting the work.

 
With both flu season and snow season commencing, it's comforting to know we could do some "virtual" learning should school have to be closed. Typically we don't worry about this unless it's a long closure - not simply one missed school day for snow.

The above policy refers to our "Pandemic Preparedness Plan." We developed that plan 10 years ago when a certain type of "flu" was predicted to sweep through America and cause massive illness. What was the nickname of this type of flu in 2005-6?  Email Mr. Fitz, and if you're the 5th family with the correct answer, you win a $10 Charger Card.

Talk to you next week about another school policy
....and until then...say three Our Father's, two Hail Mary's, and a Glory Be!
 
Congratulations, Speech Team!
          We are proud of our St. Louise Speech Team who placed 4th out of 20 schools and 330 students who competed at the Blanchet High School Speech Tournament last Saturday. Among the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who participated, these St. Louisers (pictured below) earned special recognition:
  • Ellie Charles - 3rd place in Junior Editorial Commentary;
  • Elsa Kammereck - 1st place in Junior Impromptu;
  • Frances Kowal - 3rd place in Junior Impromptu;
  • Erin Tylutki - 3rd place in Junior Expository; 3rd place in Junior Humorous;
  • Savannah Wallis - Most Inspirational Award; Finalist in Senior Expository; 1st place in Senior Humorous; Earned a $1,500 scholarship to Bishop Blanchet High School.
Many thanks to the parents who served as coaches and to the following people who judged at the tournament: Molly Akers, Frank Buysse, Margie Clinton, John D'Costa, Andreas Kammereck, Tami Kowal, Vimal Stephen, Frank Vanris, Shannon Wallis, and Mr. Gallant & Mrs. Patterson. In addition, we want to thank Anais Fawcett for her hard work on running our own St. Louise tournament last month, which helped prepare our Speech Team for these high school-run tournaments. Our next tournament is at Seattle Prep on January 14.
Volunteer Opportunities
         
This Saturday, December 17, parishioners will be stringing lights on the trees outside the church to prepare the space and beautify it for the Christmas season. If you and/or your family would like to help us with this endeavor and earn some school volunteer hours (as well as enjoy some delicious hot beverages and Christmas cookies) please contact parish youth minister  Annarose O'Brien-Wilson.
 
The St. Louise Parish Council is looking for a secretary to take notes at their monthly meeting, which takes place the 3rd Wednesday of the month from 6:30-9pm.  This position would involve attending the meeting, taking notes, typing them up, and distributing them.  It would take approximately 5 hours a month, and is the case with most parish programs, your help counts toward your school volunteer hours!  If you have any questions or if you would like to volunteer, please contact Ingrid Flaat at 425 443-9151.
 
The school's Parents' Club - to which all school parents are members - will be looking for parents to fill various leadership roles in next school year's programs and events. Some chairperson or co-chairperson roles are for one-time, short-term events, and others are for year-round programs which allow you to choose the times you volunteer, with your commitment hours spread throughout the year. To find out more about the various ways you can step up and be a part of leading a program/event, please come to the Parents' Club meeting on Thursday, January 12, 6:30PM, where the current PC Board will explain the many opportunities. You may also directly contact any member of the PC Board: Joni Hoffman, Jennifer Sharp, Jen Yarnell, Marinell Zevenbergen, Mari Sullivan, Rosamund Wu.
 

Have You Been Logging in Your Volunteer Hours?
          As St. Louise School parents, you have committed to volunteer at least 40 hours for school needs or St. Louise Parish programs from July through June. We appreciate the thousands of hours total this gives our school in volunteer support! We could not run our school (or at least could not run it affordably) without your help!
          Please make sure you document your volunteer hours as soon as you complete them by logging into our volunteer database and noting the event/program and hours you gave. Here are the steps for logging in hours: 
 
1. Find the "Volunteering" section under the "Resources" tab on the school website's main page HERE. 
2. Then click on the "Submit Hours" link at the right-side of the volunteering page.
3. You will be asked for a password. Enter the email address you have registered at school as your primary email address, then click the button "send password to email entered above"
4. Once you receive the password, you are ready to start entering hours.
  
          There are many opportunities prior to the end of the school year for parents to fulfill their minimum 40 hour commitment.   This Bulletin regularly lists volunteer needs, or you will find ongoing needs on our  volunteering page.  In addition, you may contact the Parents' Club's Volunteer Coordinator - Marinell Zevenbergen - to discuss other opportunities. Alternatively, if you are unable to volunteer 40 hours total, you may pay a $18.00 per hour fee for the remaining hours needed. If you need to do this, please submit payment to Dan Fitzpatrick's attention. Finally, if there is a hardship affecting either your ability to complete the volunteer hours requirement or pay the fee, please contact Dan.
 
                                                            Going Once...Going Twice...
           The Lost and Found bin in our main building outside the 5th grade classroom is not just overflowing with lost and forgotten sweaters and jackets, but we think the clothing might be acting like amoebas and reproducing through a binary fission process. Each day the pile grows higher, and we can't seem to make a dent in it's size. (See photo at left.) Therefore, tomorrow at noon we are going to gather all the clothing that does not have a nametag inside identifying the owners, and donate these unmarked items to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Thanks for checking out the bin by tomorrow morning if you realize your child can't locate a sweater... or jacket... or backpack... or water bottle... or p.e. shoes... or...
St. Louise Family Charger Card Tips for Starbucks Drinkers
Do you drink Starbucks or know someone with a Starbucks habit? If so, you should be earning 7% of their monthly habit for St. Louise! It's SO easy - here's how:
  • Buy 1 "scrip" Starbucks card from the Charger Card team.
  • Enter that card on the myscripwallet.com mobile site and reload from your phone.
  • Reload is ready in seconds! Every future purchase will support St. Louise!  
For the Power-Starbucks users...
  • Enter that same card number on the Starbucks app.
  • Use this card on your Starbucks card to pay or transfer the balance to any other card on the Starbucks app! (Keep the card on file in your app.)
  • Anytime you reload this card, it will automatically be reloaded in your Starbucks app.
For a limited time, Starbucks has a bonus rebate of 11%! Stock up now!
 

Small Denomination Cards Available for a Limited Time
Available now (while supplies last), a limited run of the following gift cards will be available:
  • Panera Bread $5 Card
  • Starbucks $5 Card
These small denomination gift cards make thoughtful gifts or stocking stuffers! With the small denominations you can thank all the staff that support your child! Don't forget our amazing homeroom and specialist teachers, the school staff, and your kids' hard working CYO coaches!
 
 

Teacher Wish List
Many school families choose to purchase Charger Cards to give as Christmas gifts to the faculty. You'll find the " WISH LIST " of the teachers and school staff at this link. Thanks in advance to families who generously gift the faculty and purchase Charger Cards to do so!
 
 

Earn Big 20% Rebates for the Following StoreS
  While supplies last, purchase cards to use at these businesses and you'll earn 20% rebates:
LeVue Nails, L.L.Bean, Menchies, Purple, Tutta Bella, Regis Salon, Hair Masters, Red Robin
 

 

 

 
Office Hours
+ Charger Card office hours are from 8:15-8:45 on every Friday school morning.
          + Available for online purchases 24/7 at www.shopwithscrip.com.
                    +For questions or more information on Charger Cards, please email      
                      [email protected] or visit the school website.

Katie, Dyllan, and Katrina served at our Advent Mass earlier this month. This weekend is the 4th week of Advent, with a Simbang Gabi celebration at Saturday's 5PM Mass. What is Simbang Gabi? Read THIS.

 
If you have a photo of your kids in a school or community event and/or at a CYO game, send it to Dan Fitzpatrick for possible publishing in an upcoming Parent Bulletin and/or to Catherine Saffel for possible inclusion in the end-of-year School Yearbook.