Dear Families,

Monday, January 16th, there will be no school or Kids’ Club as we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was one of the most important African American leaders in U.S. History and one of the most iconic figures of the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. During a speech to Congress on September 24th, 2015 Pope Francis paid tribute to the contributions of great Americans including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You can read his address to Congress in which Pope Francis recognizes four great Americans. During the next few days, your child will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in their classrooms. 

SLE of the Month: November/December classroom updates

For the month of November/December, all K-8 classrooms focused on the following SLEs:

• a St. Louise student is a well-balanced individual who sets goals and implements steps to achieve them. (SLE #3.3)
• St. Louise student is a community member who shows awareness of local, national, and international events. (SLE #4.2)

Below are examples of what St. Louise students have been doing in the classroom to focus on these SLEs:

• In Kindergarten, both classes demonstrated the SLE of the month by collecting items for the Seattle Ronald McDonald House wish list. The items are going to help so many families whose loved ones are sick. 
• In 3rd grade, the classes collected items for St. Vincent de Paul, and they organized books in the church on Fridays. They also learned about the different regions of the United States, including the typical climates, common jobs, and varying cultures. Students also share stories about their travels and families with their classmates.
• In 6th grade, the students prepared for conferences individually by setting goals for the second trimester. They also followed the SLE by reading multiple articles in Scholastic News in Social Studies. The students learned about current events including the Ukrainian War, and also learned how to test their geography skills by following the path of a cartographer. 

School Auction: Saturday, February 4th, 2023, at the Bellevue Westin

In your red envelope today, you will be receiving an invitation to this year’s auction. We hope you can join us for a fun-filled evening celebrating our theme, “All the World is my School, and All Humanity is my Teacher”. For more information and to purchase tickets, please click HERE. 

Updates on Personnel

Current Kids’ Club Supervisor, Tyler Norman will take on an additional role, beginning Tuesday, January 17th. Mr. Norman is completing his Masters in Teaching with an endorsement in Elementary Education from Grand Canyon University and will begin Student Teaching with Mrs. Tubb in 1A. As part of the 15-week Student Teaching component of his program, he will start teaching some lessons and then take over full-time teaching duties with support from Mrs. Tubb. Let’s welcome Mr. Tyler Norman!

Quiz question for the week. The first parent to answer this question correctly via email will receive a Charger Card.

Question: In what year did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. win the Nobel Peace Prize and what was it for?

Have a Blessed 3-day weekend,

Mr. Mike Fuerte

Principal

A Word From the Office

Fundraisers

Parish

Dear Friends at St. Louise, 

On Monday, January 16, our country will celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year is significant because this August 28 will be the 60th anniversary of his “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., which was pivotal in moving the Civil Rights movement forward in the United States. 

In 2018 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops promulgated a pastoral letter against racism called Open Wide Our Hearts: An Enduring Call to Love. Here is a short excerpt of what they wrote: 

As bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, we want to address one particularly destructive and persistent form of evil. Despite many promising strides made in our country, racism still infects our nation. 

What Is Racism?

Racism arises when—either consciously or unconsciously—a person holds that his or her own race or ethnicity is superior, and therefore judges persons of other races or ethnicities as inferior and unworthy of equal regard. When this conviction or attitude leads individuals or groups to exclude, ridicule, mistreat, or unjustly discriminate against persons on the basis of their race or ethnicity, it is sinful. Racist acts are sinful because they violate justice. They reveal a failure to acknowledge the human dignity of the persons offended, to recognize them as the neighbors Christ calls us to love (Mt 22:39). Open Wide Our Hearts, pp 3-4.

While Dr. Martin Luther King gave his life in doing the “heavy lifting” of fighting racism, the Bishops proclaim loud and clear for us that there is much work still to be done, and that we as Catholics are called to actively participate.

It could be tempting to treat this holiday like any other, as a day to go on an extended weekend getaway, shop, or do chores at home. I would strongly encourage you to do something different. Maybe read the “I Have a Dream” speech or Open Wide Our Hearts, which is available on the USCCB website. Or attend the Mass that Black Catholics in the Archdiocese organize each year to remember Reverend King. This year’s Mass will be on MLK Day, January 16, at 11AM in the St. Ignatius Chapel on the Seattle University Campus. Bishop Frank Schuster will preside and preach. 

Catholics, together with all people of good will, need to make Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream our dream. 

Fr. Gary Zender

“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.”

– St. Thomas Aquinas

The fourth and fifth graders had a blast at their basketball game.

Class 2A came together to wish Mrs. Berlin's husband, our third grade teacher well.

Happy Epiphany!

So proud and heartwarming to see that the altar servers(Akean, Jethro and Mika) are all from our school.

Widodo Karli Family

Morris/Herber Family

Antezana Garvizu Family



Coles Family