Learning, Loving, and Leading through Christ | |
Follow Us on Social Media! | |
|
|
Dear St. Alphonsus Families,
Happy New Year and welcome back to school! We hope you all had a wonderful set of winter holidays and a peaceful & relaxing break. It is great to be back in the building and see so many shiny, happy faces! We started off this morning with Shout Hosanna with Mr. Zelinka and his wife! If you will remember, this is a special musical program we are doing quarterly. It is a great way to get our bodies moving, learn some fun praise & worship songs, and spend time together as a school.
It always seems like January comes in with a bang every year, and this year is no different. We have a lot of reminders to start us off this year:
- January of course means winter weather is truly here. This is how school closings work at St. Alphonsus: St. Alphonsus School follows the Greendale Public School system when closing for inclement weather. If for some reason Greendale Public Schools are not in session (ie, they have a scheduled vacation day while we do not), and there is inclement weather, St. Alphonsus will follow the Franklin School District. All announcements for such closings will be placed on local radio, television stations, and television news websites. Also, families will receive an email, text message, and voicemail message with closing information, and we will post to our social media channels and website as well. If school should be canceled, the hot lunch menu will be followed accordingly upon return to school (ie, the canceled day's lunch would be skipped).
- STAR Testing for all students in grades 1-8 starts next week! Please have your students get a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast each day.
-
Also next week are our Activity pictures and 8th Grade Formal Pictures. These will be held on Thursday, January 16. 8th Grade will take their formal photos first and then the office will call activity groups down to have their photos taken. This includes but is not limited to Band, Orchestra, Cantors, Guitar & Ukulele Club, Battle of the Books, Forensics, Scouts, Chess Club, Rosary Club, and Altar Servers, as well as additional groups. This does NOT include Athletics. Students such as Scouts should bring their vest or sash pieces.
- There are also lots of extracurricular opportunities for your students to sign up for this winter, and we want to remind you of a very special one: CharacterKids, coming to St. Al's for the first time! This is an AWESOME musical theatre program for students in grades 1-5 that starts in January. You can find more details below, and we hope you will consider signing your students up!
-
Also, don't forget to sign your kids up for Chess Club, Coding Club, and STEAM Club! You can find more details about all of these below--these are great opportunities particularly for younger students who do not have a lot of extracurriculars available to them.
-
Home & School also has a lot of great stuff coming up soon! Below, find information about Family Movie Night to kick off Catholic Schools Week, the upcoming Milwaukee Wave game, and important information about Cougar Carnival! Get those tickets for the Wave game soon--this is always a really fun night out with lots of St. Al's families.
-
The parish also has an easy opportunity for your family to get involved at Mass. Consider helping out at the tables for Nametag Sundays! This is an easy 30 minute commitment before Mass and a great way to meet some of your fellow parishioners. In addition, this is GREAT marketing for our school! Consider helping out if you already attend Mass anyways! You can find sign-up details below.
-
Lastly, just a quick note for those of you who purchased Out-of-Uniform passes this year. Because the last Friday of the month falls during Catholic Schools Week this year, we will honor the Out-of-Uniform pass for Friday, January 31 on Friday, January 24 instead. This is noted for your below and we will continue to remind you. Catholic Schools Week has a bunch of fun out-of-uniform days planned and we will share those with families next week so you can start planning!
Best regards,
Ms. Parey, Principal
Mrs. Schermetzler & Mrs. Bruhn, Leadership Team
|
|
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!
| | | |
Important Dates to Remember | |
|
01/08
Dine Out Night
Cousins Subs
01/13 - 01/24
STAR Testing
Grades 1 - 8
01/22
Dine Out Night
Red Robin
01/25
Family Movie Night
Details Below!
01/26
Pack the Church & Open House
9am Mass, 10a - 12p Open House
01/30
Pizza Fundraiser Lunch
01/26 - 01/31
Catholic Schools Week
Details Coming Soon!
| |  |
|
01/31
Early Dismissal
11:30am
02/07
No School
Teacher In-Service
02/10
No School
Teacher In-Service
02/12
Dine Out Night
Cousins Subs
02/20
Pizza Fundraiser Lunch
02/21
Cougar Carnival
02/26
Dine Out Night
Panera
| | |
Out of Uniform Dates - January
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 January:
01/09
Out of Uniform with Dine Out Night purchase on 01/08 (receipt required)
01/23
Out of Uniform with Dine Out Night purchase on 01/22 (receipt required)
01/24
Last Friday of the Month
Out of Uniform with Purchased Pass
(date moved because of Catholic Schools Week)
01/26 - 01/31
Catholic Schools Week!
We will have a full breakdown of all of the special Dress Down Days
AND an informational PDF for parents next week!
| | | |
Winter Extracurricular Opportunities! | |
Guitar & Ukulele Club Ends on a High Note! | |
|
December meant the end of Guitar & Ukulele Club for the year!
On their last day, some of our guitar students wanted to try out the ukulele (and why not, since it was the last day?!). Allison and Maddie were great ukulele teachers to these students!
The students in Guitar & Uke Club did really well this year and learned a lot! Mrs. Greco loved working with all of them and hopes they continue to show off their songs at home and practice their instrument throughout the rest of the school year.
Mrs. Greco does plan to offer private lessons again in the summer. If your student really enjoyed Guitar and Ukulele Club, this would be great for them! She will send an email out sometime in May to see who is interested in lessons.
| |
St. Alphonsus Athletics News | |
|
Volunteer at Athletics Events!
St. Alphonsus Athletics is always looking for volunteers to help us when we host events at our gym!
This is a great way for families to volunteer together, have fun, and cheer on the Cougars and other schools in youth sports. You can volunteer in both Admissions and Concessions. We ask that anyone volunteering on their own be of high school age or older. Your younger children are more than welcome to help alongside a parent (the kids love to work the concessions stand!).
This basketball season we are assigned 15 game days at our school, which is amazing for our Athletics programs and our school! Help us keep the gymnasium and our programs thriving! Sign up to volunteer here.
| |
|
Get your Cougar Athletics Gear Now!
The St. Alphonsus Athletic Association has opened up their own spiritwear shop with the same company who does our school store. Right now, basketball apparel is available, but more sports attire will be added!
You can find the new Athletics web store here.
| |
|
Happy New Year from SCRIP!
It's 2025 and time to make a New Year's resolution!
The fiscal year for SCRIP is January to December, which means its time for a quick wrap-up! In 2024, over $15,000 was earned in rebates. Several families earned over $300 to use for their tuition. One family even reduced their tuition by $925 this year!
Those families that have participated in SCRIP during 2024 have received an e-mail from our SCRIP coordinator, Vickie Major. For those that have not boarded the SCRIP train, why not start now?! The school receives half of your rebates and you earn the other half for your tuition.
The app is easy to use and everyone needs gas, groceries, retail shopping and visits to restaurants. You can purchase digital cards right on your phone as you are checking out!
PLEASE NOTE: In the future, orders will be processed on Sunday nights. Please place any orders for physical cards by 5:00 Sunday.
Learn more about the SCRIP program
Learn how to download the app and get started
Learn how to shop with the app
| |
|
Dine Out Night At Cousins Subs!
Wednesday, January 8th is Dine Out Night at Cousins Subs and we hope to see you there! Dine in or carry out from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Franklin location, 7700 S. Lovers Lane Road. 20% of the sales will go to support St. Alphonsus. Remember to get a receipt (one per child) so that your student can be out of uniform the following day.
Come support our school and let Cousins do the cooking!
Dine Out Nights - the easiest and most delicious fundraisers around.
| |
|
Get ready for an evening of family fun at the Annual Cougar Carnival to support our school!
Friday, February 21st, 2025
5:30-8:00pm
at St. Alphonsus School
Important Prize Room Donation Information:
As a reminder all families are assigned a specific donation based on their grade to help fill the prize room. Below are the details by grade level.
● 7th & 8th Grade: Baked goods including cakes, cookies, bars, etc. These can be baked or store bought. Details will be emailed to families soon. Baked goods can be dropped off Thursday, February 20th at drop off.
● 3K-6th 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 17th (checks can be made out to St. Alphonsus Home & School), in an envelope marked “Cougar Carnival Prizes.”
Raffle Basket Donations:
If you or anyone you know would like to donate items 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, entertainment/experiences around the area, etc. All raffle donations are greatly appreciated!
Ticket and food pre-order information and forms will be coming home soon.
Thank you once again for your cooperation, time, and effort in making this another memorable & successful event!
| |
Join St. Alphonsus Home & School at the Milwaukee Wave game!
St. Alphonsus Catholic School is the featured organization at the Milwaukee Wave game on January 18 at 6:05pm. We hope you can attend, watch a great game and support St Alphonsus Catholic School!
Please use this link to buy your tickets and we’ll see you at the game! St. Alphonsus School will get a percentage of the money from each ticket sold at this link, so feel free to spread the word & share this with your family and friends. We encourage school families to sit in section 204, 205, or 206, so consider purchasing your tickets in those seats!
| | | |
The Stewardship Committee Would Love Your Help on Name Tag Sundays!
The Stewardship Committee will be holding Name Tag "Sunday" on the weekends that we have Hospitality. There will be 2 tables in the Gathering Space at which we’ll have name tags, markers and signage (you won’t have to do the set-up). We’ll need at least one person at each table.
Tasks:
- Arrive 30 minutes before Mass (we want to make sure that the folks who come early to mass are greeted too)
- Stand at the table and welcome parishioners as they come into Mass
- Encourage them to make and wear a name tag
- Have a friendly, upbeat disposition
- Greet and make small talk with your fellow parishioners
Kiddos and other family members are welcome to help too! Please click on this sign-up genius to sign up!
If you're going to be at Mass already, why not help out? If you have any questions, please contact Sue Ruedinger.
| |
|
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.
| | | | |
