January 22, 2020
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, January 22
  • Girls’ Varsity Basketball HOME Game, 4:30 PM (Gym)
  • Boys’ Varsity Basketball HOME Game, 5:30 PM (Gym)

Thursday, January 23
  • Great Conversations Volunteer Meeting, 8:30 AM (Gym)

Friday, January 24
  • Friends of the Garden Work Day, after drop-off (Welcome Center)
  • AM Child Playdate, 11:30 AM (Soccer Field)

Tuesday, January 28
  • Friends of the Library Work day, after drop-off (Library)
  • Girls’ Varsity Basketball HOME GHCAA Playoff Game, 4:30 PM (Gym)

Wednesday, January 29
  • Christian Meditation for Parents, 8:05 AM – 8:25 AM (Atrium)

Thursday, January 30
  • Montessori Night School, 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Friday, January 31
  • Yearbook PDA Submission Deadline
  • Friends of the Garden Teaching Day: Farm to Table, after drop-off (Welcome Center)
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Great Conversations Volunteer Meeting Tomorrow
Join us for our weekly meeting tomorrow, January 23 at 8:30 AM in the gym to brainstorm with us as we clarify the exciting NEW vision for Great Conversations.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Remember to save the date: Great Conversations is scheduled for Saturday, April 4, 2020 .

See you tomorrow!
Chanelle Clark & Saudia Turney 
2020 Great Conversations Co-Chairs

Great Conversations is St. Catherine’s biennial fundraising event that supports the SCM Tuition Assistance Program, which provides tuition aid directly to St. Catherine’s families.
New Student Applications
Please submit any sibling applications for new students by the application deadline of Friday, February 14 . You can access the online application via the Admissions Procedures page of the school website.

For questions regarding new student applications, please contact Julie McLarry at jmclarry@stcathmont.org
Classroom Observations: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary and Adolescent Community
If you have a child moving up to Lower or Upper Elementary or to the Adolescent Community next year and are interested in observing a classroom, please email Julie McLarry at   jmclarry@stcathmont.org to schedule an observation. Observations are by appointment only.  

Lower Elementary
Thursday, January 23 from 9:00 – 9:30 AM
Wednesday, January 29 from 9:00 – 9:30 AM

Upper Elementary
Thursday, January 23 from 9:00 – 9:30 AM
Wednesday, January 29 from 9:00 – 9:30 AM

Adolescent Community 
Thursday, January 23 from 9:00 – 9:30 AM
Wednesday, January 29 from 9:00 – 9:30 AM
Montessori Night School is Thursday, January 30th . The evening is an opportunity for parents to see Montessori work in action, as Primary and Lower Elementary children will show you their classrooms and demonstrate the lessons they are learning. In Mr. Chris’s and Mr. Snow’s Upper Elementary classrooms the students will host a state fair and a geography fair.

The Primary classrooms will be open from 5:30 to 6:45 PM for parents to spend a brief period in their child’s environment. The Upper Elementary classrooms will be open from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Lower Elementary parents will visit the classrooms between 6:00 and 7:50 PM in two 50-minute groups. Lower EL parents received emails last Friday with information on how to sign up for your group time slot.

Free childcare will be available in the gym for currently-enrolled SCM students in Primary and above. Parents with multiple children are encouraged to use the childcare while they visit each classroom with their children individually.
2020-2021 Tuition Assistance Application Deadlines
The FACTS application for 2020-2021 tuition assistance is now open.
 
If you would like to apply for consideration in the first round of the Archdiocesan scholarship fund, please complete the  FACTS application  by  February 14, 2020 . The application will use the information from your 2018 federal tax return. This application also automatically  applies you for the St. Catherine's Montessori Tuition Assistance Program.
 
To apply for St. Catherine's tuition assistance  only , complete the application by March 1, 2020. 
 
If you have any questions regarding tuition assistance, please contact Holly Copeland at  hcopeland@stcathmont.org  or by phone at 713-665-2195. 
The Yearbook PDA Deadline is 1 Week Away!
Public Displays of Affection ads (PDAs) are a great way to congratulate a graduate, celebrate a student, or recognize a guide. Ad space is limited and has sold out in the past! Purchase and create your ad here .

The deadline for PDA submissions is  Friday, January 31, 2020 - no exceptions or extensions . Click here for more information.
ADVANCING THE MISSION
Steps 4 Students Registration Ends Next Week

Register by January 30th to guarantee your pink signature Team SCM t-shirt and race packet pick-up at school!

Our students are excited and motivated to do their best, so be sure to register your family for Steps 4 Students today and if you can’t make it to the race on February 15th–register as a “Snoozer”!

Proceeds from the race help support the SCM Tuition Assistance Program. Help us exceed last year’s total so we can increase our impact on SCM families by registering, and by asking friends and family members to support you on race day with a donation. Go Team SCM!!

Note: All registration fees will increase by $10 beginning January 31.
Upcoming Sociables
Family Yoga
Open to Alumni Families, Grandparents
Bring your yoga mats if you have them and enjoy a morning of family yoga! BIG YOGA has donated 2 family instructors to come lead the course for us. Healthy snacks will be provided!

Saturday, February 1, 2020 10:00 – 11:30 AM

Ticket price: $40/family
Location: SCM Welcome Center
Hosts:  Katherine Vo, Jennifer Taylor
Lunar New Year 2020
Open to Alumni Families, Grandparents
Welcome good fortune and prosperity as we celebrate the Year of the Metal Rat! Learn about the history and traditions of the Lunar New Year, which is celebrated in countries such as China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Have fun making New Year crafts and enjoy yummy foods while learning about their New Year symbolism. And of course, delight in the exuberance of a colorful lion dance and other cultural performances and strike a lucky pose in our costume photo booth!

Sunday, February 2, 2020 2:00 – 4:30 PM

Ticket price: $60/family
Location: SCM Gym
Hosts: Jennifer Wu, May Chiu, Vy Collett, Mardi Do, Janella Gee, Monica Tang
Please refer to the  Sociables Catalog for more information on all upcoming parties, and visit the Sociables Store to purchase your tickets. 
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
AC and HS Visual Arts exhibit at Montessori Night School
The Adolescent Community and High School will showcase original visual art featuring mixed media, photography, paintings, and sculpture. This exhibit will be displayed in the Welcome Center during Montessori Night School on Thursday, January 30 .
SPORTS
Girls Varsity Basketball is Undefeated and Heading to the Playoffs
The Girls’ Varsity team is currently undefeated and heading to the GHCAA playoffs!

Make plans to come out and cheer on the Lady Owls on Tuesday, January 28 at 4:30 PM in the SCM Gym for the quarter-final playoff game.
Register Now for Spring Track
4th-9th year students are invited to join the SCM track team. Practice will begin mid-February.

To register your child for the 2020 track season, please visit ParentsWeb .
C-Team Basketball Season Wraps Up
What a great season full of fun and hard work!

Click here to see head shots from the Girls' C-Team and Boys' C-Team.
PSO ACTIVITIES
AM Child Playdate on Friday, January 24
The PSO New Parent Welcome Committee would like to invite the families of all AM children (new and returning!) to join us on the SCM soccer field on Friday, January 24 at 11:30 AM for snacks and play time. 
For those who wish to attend, please drive through the carpool line as usual to pick up your child, then park and walk through the school entrance to join us at the soccer field. 
PSO Chili Lunch for Faculty and Staff is Thursday, January 30
Please join us in supporting our Faculty and Staff at our second annual Chili Lunch on Thursday, January 30. Last year this event was a huge hit. We noticed that there was no chili left at the end of the day! Let's do this again! Please click here for the Sign-Up Genius.
PSO Friends of the Garden Teaching Day on Friday, January 31
Join the Friends of the Garden and SCM Naturalist Blas Espinosa on Friday, January 31 after drop-off to learn more about the "Farm to Table" movement and how you can enhance your dinner with local seasonal produce. Participants will help prepare simple dishes with ingredients fresh out of the garden, and leave with recipe cards and home-grown produce.
PSO Book Club to Meet on Friday, February 21
The next meeting of the PSO Book Club will be held on Friday, February 21, at 8:30 AM in the SCM Gym. Please join us for a discussion of “The Bully, The Bullied, and the Bystander,” by Barbara Coloroso.  You do not need to have read the book to attend! Light snacks and coffee will be provided.
High School Corner
Welcome back to the High School Corner!

We are excited to share that on Tuesday, we visited Japhet for the first time during the 2019-2020 school year! What the school has come to call “Japhet” is a property located in the Greater East End neighborhood that serves as a small patch of green in a heavily industrial part of our city. The Adolescent Community and the High School both take advantage of the unique learning opportunities Japhet provides. There is a small flock of chickens (taken care of by neighborhood residents and SCM students), a workshop in the garage, garden beds, plenty of open and wooded spaces to explore, and Japhet Creek—a small, spring-fed creek that runs into Buffalo Bayou—is only a short walk away. 

Our time at Japhet on Tuesday began with a few minutes of silence as we wandered the property and reflected on how much our work in refurbishing, improving, and adding to this beautiful piece of land has changed it. After we had some time to reacquaint ourselves with the space, we moved onto our work for our AP Environmental Science which was a fun game illustrating the impacts of natural selection on biodiversity. After this immersive lesson, we read, dissected, and discussed a poem by John Donne, a famous metaphysical poet, titled “The Flea.” Our morning time at Japhet flew by— we were all happy to be back in a place where so many of our memories in the past school years have been made. We look forward to spending more time at Japhet this semester! 
 
Thank you for reading; we hope you’ll be back to read more next week!
Jacob Blackman and Sophia Devereux 
If you would like to submit something for the Globe, please send it for approval to globe@stcathmont.org by  Monday at noon.

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