Dear Families,
Many thanks to our Board of Directors and High School parents for reaching 100% SCM Annual Fund participation! With two weeks remaining in the drive, we are counting on every St. Catherine’s family to help us reach our twin goals of $240,000 and 100% parent participation. Check out our progress below and make your gift or pledge today at www.stcathmont.org/annualfund. Remember: Completing the Annual Fund drive by December 1 gives our school solid financial footing for the remainder of the school year. Families can fulfill pledge payments any time through May 31, 2021.
Thank you again to the generous donors who are leading the way in this year’s SCM Annual Fund.
Lyndsey Ray
Advancement Director
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Thursday, November 19
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Thursday Chat, 9:00 AM (Zoom)
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Thursday, Chat, 6:00 PM (Zoom)
Friday, November 20
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PSO NEW Parent Virtual Coffee, 9:00 AM (Zoom)
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Friends of the Atrium Virtual Rosary, 8:00 PM (Zoom)
November 23 - November 27
- Thanksgiving Break. No School. After-school Program Closed.
Tuesday, December 1
Wednesday, December 2
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Moving Up to Lower Elementary, 6:00 PM (Zoom)
Friday, December 4
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PSO Book Club Meeting, 12:00 PM (Zoom)
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Casa de Esperanza Christmas PJ, Socks and Underwear Drive Begins TODAY |
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Every year at Christmas time, the SCM community supports the children of Casa de Esperanza with a PJs, socks, and underwear drive. This year we have been asked to support 101 children.
Instead of picking name ornaments from a tree, we will choose names found on this SignUpGenius link. Detailed instructions on where to ship or drop off your donations can be found on this sign-up. You can also support Casa de Esperanza by purchasing items found on their Basic Needs list.
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Join us for Thursday Chat TOMORROW, November 19
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Join us tomorrow at 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM with your questions and insights as we discuss what it is like to transition to the next level at St. Catherine’s.
This Thursday Chat is specifically timed to fall between our November Adolescent Community and High School parent education events and the Moving Up to Lower and Upper Elementary events scheduled for December.
We look forward to hearing your questions about what comes next, learning what surprised and delighted you when your children moved up, and facilitating a lively conversation between SCM parents of all levels.
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Save the Date: Moving Up to Lower and Upper Elementary |
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Please hold December 2 at 6:00 PM (Lower Elementary) and December 10 at 6:00 PM (Upper Elementary) for Moving Up Parent Education events. The Elementary guides will take you through all the details of the next cycle and plane of development, leaving time for Q&A at the end. Stay tuned for an email from the dean of students, Vivian Blum, for a Zoom link and and login information.
Click here to learn more about the Elementary program.
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SCM Christmas Card Designs |
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Thank you to the talented student artists who submitted a design for the school's 2020 Christmas card! The chosen design will be revealed after Thanksgiving when the extended St. Catherine's community will receive our Christmas greetings in mailboxes and inboxes all over the world. |
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Friday, November 20 is the Last Day to Order a Thanksgiving Turkey |
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Make your holiday preparations a little easier and enjoy a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving while supporting St. Catherine’s Montessori! Knights of Columbus Houston Council #803 is selling 10 lb. whole smoked Thanksgiving turkeys for $60.00 as part of their annual fundraising activities.
For the third year, St. Catherine's has been chosen to receive a $20.00 donation for every turkey purchased by members of the SCM community. Proceeds will support the school’s operating budget. Click here to learn more and to reserve your turkey. All orders must be placed by Friday, November 20.
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Annual Parent Survey Due This Friday |
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The Annual Parent Survey will close this Friday, November 20 at 11:59 PM. If you have not already done so, please take the time to complete the short questionnaire. The information gathered helps St. Catherine’s to strengthen school practices across several areas as part of our continued commitment to best fulfill our mission. Conducting the survey each fall gives us the opportunity to make adjustments within the school year to positively impact the community.
Currently, the survey response rate is 27%. Receiving input from every one of our families is the best way to ensure we can address the needs of the full St. Catherine’s community.
The survey is available at this link and will close Friday at 11:50 PM. We ask that respondents fill out one (1) survey per family.
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Anti-bias Education at St. Catherine's |
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On Saturday, 21 members of our faculty and staff attended “Introduction to Anti-bias Education” an interactive workshop facilitated by Britt Hawthorne. Britt is an anti-bias/anti-racism educator and Montessorian. During this full-day virtual workshop, Britt guided us through the first steps towards creating developmentally appropriate anti-bias environments. Those in attendance are still processing the implications and possibilities of this valuable and meaningful experience. As a school team committed to guiding our learners, we are looking forward to next steps.
This spring, St. Catherine’s will host “Anti-bias Education for Families,” Britt’s 90-minute presentation where families learn how to empower their children, affirm their racial and ethnic identities, and accept differences.
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SCM High School Open House Recap |
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On November 5th and 6th the SCM High School hosted a virtual open house. This presentation featured an overview of the high school's curriculum, three-year cycle, and assessment process. Please enjoy the HS Open House presentation – watch it through to the end for the Q&A session featuring current and former high school students!
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Tip of the Week: The Practice of Gratitude
A Message from Sandra Espinosa, SCM Counselor and Health Care Coordinator
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“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayers.” - Dr. Mayo Angelou
Dear St. Catherine’s Community,
As we approach the second week of November, I can feel the presence of Thanksgiving around the corner and pleasant memories arise for me, as I’m sure they do for many of you: The eager anticipation of celebrating with family and friends, the familiar smell of savory and sweet foods that fill us with delight and warm the home, and cooler weather that invites us to take a long walk (especially after our bellies are full and deeply content). All of this lends itself easily and organically to giving gratitude for the abundance that surrounds us. However, Thanksgiving will look and feel very different this year for many of us due to COVID-19. As we grieve the losses that are in our hearts, let us also make space to adapt to the new and unfamiliar, and take time to notice the silver linings that surround us – big and small.
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INSIDE & OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM |
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Ms. Romesha's Primary Class Carves A Pumpkin Rosary |
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October is the month of the Rosary and to honor Our Lady of the Rosary Ms. Romesha's Primary class made rosary bracelets during Atrium. Ms. Erica, her Assistant, also carved a rosary pumpkin. Several of the children helped to keep track of the Hail Mary count and clean up afterwards. The children then gathered around the lit pumpkin and sang the Hail Mary; it was a beautiful prayer time, and they loved the experience.
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PARENT SERVICE ORGANIZATION (PSO) |
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PSO Virtual Fall Fest Week Update |
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Thank you so much for participating in the PSO virtual Fall Fest Week. We hope you have a fabulous last week of fall!
Here are the winners of the Fall Fest raffle:
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Mariah Baker
Nazia Mirza
Kristin Shedd
Brooke Nyberg
Courtney Lerch
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Romesha Jayasundera
Elizabeth Weaver
Megan Jordan
Alison Young
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Click here to enjoy a photo gallery of our community celebrating during Fall Fest week.
Grecia Parra
PSO Fall Fest Chair
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A Message from Friends of the Atrium: Getting to Know the Doctors of the Church - St. Augustine of Hippo |
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A Doctor of the Church, also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing. The Catholic Church has named 36 Doctors of the Church.
Click here to learn more about St. Augustine of Hippo.
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Virtual Rosary on Friday, November 20 at 8:00 PM |
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All are welcome to join Friends of the Atrium for the Virtual Rosary on Friday, November 20 at 8:00 PM.
Meeting ID: 671 548 4578
Passcode: PSO
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PSO Book Club Meets Friday, December 4 at Noon |
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Whether you run a company or a family (or both) you will not want to miss the next SCM PSO book club selection: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pinkett. Please join us via Zoom on December 4th, 2020 at 12 PM to discuss ways to create an environment in your home or workplace to generate intrinsic motivation for learning, growing, and achieving.
Meeting ID: 671 548 4578
Passcode: PSO
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AP Environmental Science in Action |
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Welcome back to the High School Corner!
This week we are giving you a peek into our AP Environmental Science class! An integral part of this class is lab work, which helps us understand the real world applications of what we are learning in class. We are currently studying mining, and to demonstrate the various factors that are a part of mining, we did our own mining project…with cookies!
Each student chose a cookie and “mining tools” (toothpicks and paper clips) of varying costs, and then attempted to “mine” as many chocolate chips as possible out of their cookie. Throughout this lab, we had to take into consideration our land (cookie) cost, tool rental fees, mining cost per minute, processing fees (to count our chocolate chips), land reclamation fees, labor costs, the income from the mined chocolate chips, and total profits. By learning about all of the costs associated with mining, we were forced to consider the different issues that come into play during real-life mining.
Thank you for reading!
Jacob, Isabella, Julia, and Sarah
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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.
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