All around the world the Class of 2020 is facing changes to graduation traditions, but COVID-19 has not kept the spirit of this important rite of passage down. Students, along with their families and schools, are adapting to find new ways to celebrate their milestone achievement and honor the work that led them to commencement.
St. Catherine's will honor our Class of 2020 - SCM's inaugural senior class - on Friday, May 29 at 7:00 PM. Attendance at the ceremony is limited to a small group, but all are invited to watch and celebrate live on
Facebook
. Mark your calendars now!
To prepare for this momentous occasion, last Friday the seniors and their guides gathered at school for a socially-distanced dinner, at which the students received their caps, gowns, and class rings! In true Montessori fashion, the seniors and their high school classmates led the process of selecting the ring's style and design, which St. Catherine's will use for many years to come.
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The students concluded their evening by each taking a final walk through the school - stopping at classrooms along the way to revisit their journey from Primary through High School, and to contemplate their years at St. Catherine's and new beginnings.
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Monday, May 25
Thursday, May 28
- Last Day of School. Early Dismissal, 12:00 PM
- Live on Facebook: End of Year Mass, 5:00 PM
Friday, May 29
- Live on Facebook: Inaugural High School Commencement, 7:00 PM
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Help Make End of Year Mass Special
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St. Catherine’s will celebrate of our End of Year Mass live on Facebook at 5:00 PM on Thursday, May 28.
We are asking all parents, faculty and staff members to help us make this gathering special by sending one (1) photo of your family to
[email protected]
by Monday, May 25.
The photos will be used in a presentation to be shared during Mass. Please feel free to include family pets in your snap; all are welcome.
The livestream link will be shared later this week. We look forward to worshiping in community on the 28th.
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Celebration Quilt - Deadline to Submit is May 29
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Thank you to everyone that has already contributed to the St. Catherine's Montessori
Celebration of Life
quilt.
There is still time to create and send in your squares. You can mail them to
SCM, 9821 Timberside Houston, TX 77025
.
Families are welcome and encouraged to create more than one square to add to the quilt.
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Registration Still Open for Summer Swimming Classes with Coach Keith
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Did you know our gymnastics coach, Coach Keith, has also been teaching swimming for more than 35 years? He's offering classes for children aged 2 and older this summer, and will donate 20% of r
egistration fees to St. Catherine's for every SCM student enrolled.
Click here
to learn more and sign up.
The registration form can be found online at
ParentsWeb
in the Resource Documents section.
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A Message from Sister Theresa Josephine
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In the midst of this pandemic, this Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus. The two events seem to be a paradox. This year, I think it would be very appropriate and necessary to celebrate Jesus' Ascension by focusing on the way He remains with us after his Ascension: the Real Presence in the Eucharist. I, therefore, would like to share with our community the talk of Bishop Barron about the Real Presence given to catechists at Religious Education Congress last February.
Click here
for Bishop Barron's talk about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist at the 2020 Religious Education Congress in L.A.
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INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
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REMINDER: DePelchin PJ Deadline is May 29
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Thank you to everyone that has donated items!
The deadline to drop off pajamas is Friday, May 29.
There will be a plastic box in front of the school at SCM (9821 Timberside Dr, Houston, TX 77025). Bring items Monday through Friday, beginning May 6 - May 29 between the hours of 1:00 - 4:00 PM.
THANK YOU!
The students in Mr. Snow's Upper Elementary class
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Weekly Fitness Activities
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Click the video to hear a new message from Coach Lewis and also check out the Week 9 links below for new creative ideas on how to have fun and stay fit. These activities will help you get moving and start your day off right!
Week 9 information:
Coach Lewis' previous and new videos and fitness tips now have their own link on the Community Resources webpage, under Health & Wellness
.
Click here
to visit.
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Wednesday Wellness: A New Message From Sandra Espinosa, Counselor
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Dear St. Catherine’s Community,
I hope you all had a nice weekend and got a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather and do something that brings you joy.
As we approach the end of the school year and move towards the summer, I’m thinking about all the traditional summer activities and family rituals we typically participate in and the uncertainty that exists around them this year. For example, will our favorite summer camps be available? Will we be able to gather with friends on the 4th of July? And what about the yearly family trips? Alongside this, I’m thinking of our children as they are faced with these potentially new set of losses and the challenge that we have as parents to hold space for them as they grieve these losses.
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REMINDER: Free Parent Support Group – What’s Next: Families Recovering and Thriving from a Pandemic
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Throughout
May, Dr. Kimberly Harrison, clinical psychologist and founder of
The Conative Group
,
is hosting a free weekly support group via Zoom for parents. Topics with cover some of the many issues parents face working from home, managing virtual classrooms, dealing with emotions relating to the pandemic, and reconfiguring summer plans as many vacations and summer camps have been cancelled. Sessions will include practical guidance for next steps during these uncertain times. The meetings are free, open to all and no registration is needed.
- May 20, 2020 08:00 PM
- May 27, 2020 08:00 PM
Meeting ID: 933 6262 8396
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Keep Your Email Safe!
A Message from Bruce Moses, IT Manager
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In our age of widespread cyber-mischief, hackers will often use emails containing fake-but-real-looking links to spread malware or for phishing scams – particularly links that pretend to be for a file that has been shared with you through Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox.
Here are a couple of tips to lessen your chances of becoming a victim and which will ultimately help protect all of us:
1) If you receive an email from someone you don't know that contains a link to a file in Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox,
DO NOT
automatically click on the link! If you think there's a possibility that the email is legit, try to contact the sender first to verify.
If you can't verify it, don’t click the link out of curiosity … just delete the message!!
2) If an email with a link comes from somebody you know but was unexpected, or is in regards to an unfamiliar topic,
verify with that person before opening the link!
Unfortunately, cyber-miscreants can be VERY clever at impersonating people from your contact lists.
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Camp STREAM is Going Virtual
A Message from Sarah Lewis, Library Manager
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The Houston Public Library's (HPL) summer camp paves a new way forward bringing library programs home to patrons. Same great experiences, same cool experiments, but online in the comfort of your own home! HPL will transform camp into an online interactive classroom.
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PSO Book Club - Recap From Virtual Meeting
A Message from Tracey Ledoux, PSO Book Club Committee
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On Friday May 15, a group of SCM moms met over zoom to discuss the book “Educated” by Tara Westover. While most reported enjoying the book, we were mostly glad for the opportunity to check in with other SCM parents. Book club co-chairs attempted to structure the discussion with a published discussion guide, but no self-respecting Montessorian wants to be stifled like that!
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Ms. Lewis, Library Manager and College Counselor, is doing
quite well! In addition to keeping up with the breakneck speed of changes in college admissions and taking advantage of all the virtual professional development opportunities, she is baking a lot of sourdough bread and taking lots of walks in her neighborhood.
She has also been spending Sunday afternoons, including Mother’s Day, exploring Brazos Bend State Park and Lake Livingston State Park.
Ms. Lewis misses the community at St. Catherine’s, but loves the virtual connections such as photos and videos in
The Globe
.
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Sounds of America: A Musical Playlist from 1945 - 1980
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Welcome back to the High School Corner!
Over the past three weeks, we have all been working on a fun project in Humanities that we are excited to share with the SCM community.
This spring, we studied contemporary American history and everything from emerging social movements to the political choices to the new innovations of the United States from the end of World War II through the end of the 20th century. Our studies included watching documentaries, giving presentations to our peers, and coming up with fun activities that put us right in the midst of historical events!
For several of us, perhaps the most exciting avenue through which we explored these different decades was examining the music written and released in each decade. Every week, each of us was tasked to work independently to find and deconstruct a song we felt was indicative of American experiences, morals, values, or beliefs during the particular decade we were studying. We looked past the surface of the song and dug into the social norms and stigmas that shaped the song. We then put all our song choices in one playlist, which we now want to share with you!
Although we mainly stuck to music by American artists and groups, some of us included a few submissions by artists outside the US that we felt were especially relevant to cultural conversations happening in America. We’re proud of this beautiful tapestry of music from wildly different artists and genres that we’ve created.
We hope that you find a new appreciation for some old-school classics and enjoy listening to our American History Playlist!
Thank you for reading!
Next week will be our last entry for this year’s High School Corner. You won’t want to miss it!
Jacob B and Sophia D
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If you would like to submit something for the Globe, please send it for approval to
[email protected]
by
Monday at noon.
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!
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