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Dear St. Alphonsus Families,
Well, here we are! Welcome to the last week before Christmas break begins. We are sure holiday prep is well under way in your households, just as it is here at school. We know this last week will go by quickly!
I do have a staffing update to give you. As many of you already know, our wonderful 3K aide, Ms. Jimenez, and her family are moving! Ms. Jimenez says, "I will miss the students and staff at St. Alphonsus. I have loved being a part of the community here!" We are sad to see her go but are excited for her and her family as they return to North Dakota. We are currently hiring to fill this position, so if you know someone who would be a great fit for our early childhood team, please have them check out our job posting here.
In addition, we are in the process of restructuring the school office to best support our needs both now and going forward. As such, we are hiring for one Executive Administrative Assistant who will handle all office tasks that are currently being split between two personnel. Ms. Warrichaiet will continue to assist us virtually with PowerSchool through January. I want to personally thank both Ms. Warrichaiet and Ms. Ramos for their dedication and support for our school. If you know someone who has administrative experience that would be a great fit for our school, please share this job posting with them!
Here are some other reminders for the week:
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Friday, December 19 is early dismissal at 11:30am! There is no lunch or Cougar Club that day. Enjoy your start to Christmas break!
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There are lots of extracurricular opportunities for your students to sign up for this winter, and we would love to see Stage Stars get going! Check out all the details and sign-up information below.
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Our next Pizza Lunch is this Thursday, December 18. Remember that no hot lunch or milk are served on this day, so if your student did not order pizza, please be sure to send a cold lunch and beverage.
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Christmas Spirit Day is tomorrow! Bring a minimum $1 donation for the St. Alphonsus Food Pantry and your student can wear their favorite Christmas outfits, ugly sweaters, or red & green. If you do not want to participate your student should wear their uniform as usual. Thank you for helping us to support the pantry during the holiday season.
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Don't forget to make plans to join us for a very special St. Alphonsus holiday tradition this Thursday at 8:00am in church: Las Posadas. This is a special program & prayer service that tells the store of Mary & Joseph's Journey to Bethlehem in Spanish, and the whole school attends and participates. More details below! Also remember that Thursday, December 18 is a DRESS UP day! Put on those Christmas dresses and ties, wear your Sunday best, and dress up to celebrate the last day of school. No jeans or athletic wear--if your student is not going to dress up, they should wear their school uniform.
As we approach the Christmas holidays and welcome the new year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of our school families for their unwavering support and dedication to our school community. May this season of joy bring peace, love, and blessings to your homes, and may the new year be filled with hope and renewed strength. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in your children's growth and faith, and we look forward to continuing this journey together in 2026.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing you all back in school on Monday, January 5!
Megan Sagat
Principal
| | Christmas Concert Videos Now Available! | |
Thank you for attending our Christmas Concert!
Our students in Grades 5K through 3rd Grade performed a wonderful Christmas Concert earlier this month! We also had amazing performances from our Band and Orchestra students. Thank you to all of our staff who helped to put on this event, especially Mrs. Greco who worked extremely hard to create this show! If you would like to watch or download videos from the concert, please click this link.
| | Winter Extracurricular Sign-Ups Now Available! | | |
Sign Ups for our Winter Extracurricular Activities are Now Available!
Please check out the flyers below and click on this link to sign up. We would love to see Stage Stars get going here at St. Al's, so if you have a student who loves theatre, consider signing them up! Physical flyers will also be sent home this week.
| | December Virtue: Gratitude | | |
December's Virtue is Gratitude!
And we wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude to you. Thank you for all you do to support St. Alphonsus Catholic School and our teachers, staff & students. From your donations for things like the Fun Run, to baking for the Cookie Walk, donating items for the staff luncheon, or just sending a nice email to our staff, we are so grateful for your wonderful support of this school and our community. Our families & students are what motivates us all to come to work each day. We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas!
With love from the staff of St. Alphonsus School
(Not everyone is pictured, but please know we are all grateful!)
| | Other Important Reminders | |
School Office Supplies!
The school office can always use some help keeping office supplies stocked. Please check out our Amazon wishlist to see some of the supplies that are always needed.
Thank you for your donations!
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Staff Wishlists and Favorites Now Available!
Are you looking for a unique way to gift your teachers & staff this holiday season? Why not buy them something off their wishlists or their favorites list?
Home & School asked teachers & staff to fill out a form listing their favorites--colors, foods, stores, etc.
You can find these Staff Favorites on our school website year-round, on the Home & School Page here.
Look on the right hand side of the page for the section that reads Staff Favorites.
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In addition, we also had teachers make a wishlist of items they'd love to have in their classrooms or as gifts for themselves. You can check these wishlists out below. Don't see your child's teacher? Encourage them to make one! We will continue to share these throughout the month of December, and will add new ones as they are created. If a teacher opted not to share a wishlist, we have included a list of gift cards they might like to receive.
3K Mrs. Knautz's Wishlist
4K Miss Greupink's Wishlist
5K Mrs. Domzil's Wishlist
She also likes gift cards for The Hair and Body Shoppe, Target, Kwik Trip and McDonald’s.
1st Grade Mrs. Ramion likes gift cards to Target, Amazon and Hobby Lobby.
2nd Grade Mrs. Frank likes gift cards for Amazon, Walgreens, Target, or Hobby Lobby.
3rd Grade Ms. Temple likes gift cards from Amazon, Target, and Starbucks!
4th Grade Mrs. Gutche's Wishlist
She also likes gift cards for Disney, Culver's and Noodles & Co.
5th Grade Ms. Gehrke like gift cards for Barnes and Noble, Target, Amazon, Fiddleheads, Stone Creek.
6th Grade/MS ELA & Literature Ms. Jaeckels' Wishlist
7th Grade/MS Math & Religion Mr. Bengs likes gift cards to Subway, Little Caesars, Culver's, and Kwik Trip.
8th Grade/MS Science & Social Studies Mr. Kneifl's Wishlist
Music Mrs. Greco's Wishlist
Art Mrs. Hoeppner's Wishlist
PE Mr. Gutche likes Menards, Qdoba, Subway, or restaurant gift cards!
Learning Support Mrs. Bruhn's Wishlist
Library Mrs. Schermetzler's Wishlist
She also likes gift cards for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or local bookstores so she can buy books to enjoy, and she loves plants!
| | | | Important Dates to Remember | | |
12/16
Christmas Spirit Day
Details Below!
12/18
Las Posadas
Details Below
12/19
11:30am Dismissal
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12/22 - 01/02
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year!
No School
Christmas Break
01/05
Welcome Back!
School Resumes
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Out of Uniform Dates - December
We thought it might be easier for you to have a list of days that are Out-Of-Uniform either with a pass or with special circumstances for the whole month, so here are the Out-of-Uniform Days for December:
TUESDAY 12/16
Christmas Spirit Day
Details Below
THURSDAY 12/18
Dress UP for Las Posadas!
Wear your Christmas best!
If you choose not to dress up, please wear your uniform
FRIDAY 12/19
Last Friday of the Month
Out of Uniform with Purchased Pass
| | | | Lunch Menus for December & January | | |
SHOPPING FOR CHRISTMAS? Don't forget to use RaiseRight to purchase all those gift cards!
If you haven't started saving towards your tuition, now is a great time! SCRIP/RaiseRight offers so many gift cards to use for gifting or shopping. Does your company give away gift cards for year end bonuses? Start here!
SCRIP is an easy way to earn money for our school and tuition credit for yourself! We are excited to again be offering SCRIP for the 2025-2026 School Year. Please scan the QR code and fill out the SCRIP enrollment form & agreement below to get started. For questions, please contact our SCRIP coordinator, Michael Wusterbarth, via email here.
SCRIP Enrollment Form
SCRIP Agreement
Find our more information about SCRIP here!
Learn more about the SCRIP program
Learn how to download the app and get started
Learn how to shop with the app
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Mark your calendars for the St. Alphonsus Cougar Carnival!
Friday, February 20th, 2026
5:30-8:00 pm
at St. Alphonsus School
Please join us for an upbeat evening of games, food and fun that provides direct financial support for our school!
Important Prize Room Donation Information:
Each year we rely on donations to fill the prize room. All families are assigned a specific donation based on their grade. This year these are as follows:
● 7th Grade: Baked goods including cakes, cookies, bars, etc. These can be baked or store bought. More details to come after the holidays.
● 3K-6th and 8th Grade: $15 monetary donation so the committee can purchase specific prizes at the levels most in need.
Please send in your $15 donation by Friday, January 16th, (checks can be made out to St. Alphonsus Home & School), in an envelope clearly marked “Cougar Carnival Prizes.”
Raffle Basket Donations:
If you are interested in donating a raffle basket or an item for the Blue and Gold raffle prizes, please contact Erica Scherbarth at efurumo@gmail.com. Blue and Gold raffle examples include sporting event tickets, golf packages, electronics, getaway/entertainment packages, etc.
All donations are greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance for your cooperation, time and effort in making this another memorable and successful event!
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Box Tops is an Easy Way to Earn Cash for Our School!
Check out the flyers below and scan the QR code to get set up to earn money for St. Alphonsus. Even small bits really add up each month!
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Girl Scouts Support St. Alphonsus Food Pantry!
Girl Scout Troop 11412 would like to send out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated to the pet food drive. Along with the St. Alphonsus Food Pantry, the troop was able to provide food & treats to the families our parish serves. Cash donations were used to purchase extra food, and the pantry should be well supplied for the next distribution day. People were very thankful for the extra help.
The troop also provided low cost pet resources for extra assistance. A special thank you to the anonymous donor who gifted us; your generosity was much appreciated.Troop 11412 is grateful for the support of our school, parish and the pantry.
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Basketball Season is Here! Athletics Families, don't forget to sign up for your volunteer slots!
We are off to a great start for the 2025-2026 basketball season with St. Alphonsus Athletics! Our teams have played their first few games, and our gym has already hosted two successful game days! Thank you to all of the basketball families that have already signed up for volunteer slots for admissions or concessions.
If your student plays St. Alphonsus basketball, this is a reminder that each family is required to sign up for TWO volunteer slots during the season. If you have not already done so, please sign-up for these required 2 volunteer slots ASAP. If we do not fill up all available slots, the Athletics Department will proactively assign your family a slot. You have until this week before slots will be assigned!
You can find the sign-up genius here.
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Volunteer Opporunity at Kinship Community Center
Want to see how people of faith transform the world? Then join Karen Farrell and come to the Kinship Community Food Center! It is a place where lives truly are transformed. This food center is able to do something a lot of food centers are just not equipped to do - and that is to help provide pathways out of poverty. This helps to end the cycle within many inner-city communities.
And... this has all grown out of the Catholic Church and her desire to serve those on the margins. This is a place where faith is made real!
This opportunity is one for the whole family. Kids ages 4 and up are recommended (volunteering time is about 3 hours long).
We have two dates:
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Saturday, March 21, 2026
While there, volunteers help shoppers with grocery selection, carrying bags, with hospitality and in other various ways.
Check out the Sign-Up here!
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Join the St. Alphonsus Women's Group!
So... who is in your tribe?
We all need one! Why not make St. Alphonsus' Women's Group YOUR tribe?
This group is a little different than the Moms Group. This group is comprised of women of all ages and backgrounds. We meet to pray, discuss and enjoy life! Contact Maggie Ensing for more information!
Check us out:
- January 24, 2025
- February 14, 2026
- March 21, 2026
- April 25, 2026
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Do you have items for the newsletter? To submit them or for questions and submission guidelines, please contact Amy Schermetzler.
Please note that submissions are due by 12:00pm Fridays.
If you read this far, THANK YOU.
"Light the lamp, not the rat!"--one of my favorite Christmas movies
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
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