Dear Parents and Families,

Let me first thank you for your understanding and patience as we have journeyed through the past ten days and adjusted to Mr. Johnston’s rapid departure.

Let me also take a moment to thank our leadership team who have stepped up quickly and in a BIG way to help manage our school and even more to continue to move our school and its initiatives forward. We have been working together now for over a week and my confidence in their skills and abilities has only been growing! I am learning lots from working so closely with them, and I thank them for being willing to serve our students and families in this way. In order to maintain continuity in our initiatives and the excellent work of this team, they will be our school leadership until a permanent principal is hired. 

You are no doubt wondering about the search for a new principal. One of the challenges of this situation is that we are not in the usual “season” for hiring a permanent school leader. A silver lining to this is that it allows us to go about this search methodically and not make a rushed decision. We will be posting the position soon, and a search committee will be formed to assist in the interview process for qualified candidates. There will be multiple rounds of interviews, and while more specific traits that we will be looking in a candidate will be flushed out at a later date, today I can tell you that we need a principal who possesses excellent communication skills, strong organizational ability, loves being a leader of teachers, and loves their students. 

Some of you have asked the team how you can help the school. Here are a few ideas:

• We are in need of additional adult team members for our after school care program (called Cougar Club). Please contact our Cougar Club coordinator, Stacey Pagac, for more information on this position.

• We could use help in the school office for administrative tasks, answering phones, and aiding children & visitors who come to the office. 

• Since the pandemic, schools have been struggling to find substitute teachers, and St. Al's is no different. We could always use more substitute teachers on our list to call when one of our teachers is out.  

• We could also use more assistance in the area of recess and lunch monitoring (which helps take pressure off of our teaching staff).

If you are interested in any of these areas, please call the school office to inquire. Working in any of these capacities would require up-to-date Safeguarding certification.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our leadership team & our school!

God Bless,

Father Kevin McManaman 

Does your son or daughter wish to be a server at school or weekend masses?

If so, they can take server training with Father Kevin on Wednesday, September 27 at 6:30pm in the church. At least one parent needs to attend the serving training with each student as well. Students in grades 4-8 are eligible. Trained servers will be added to our weekly mass schedule once training is complete. Email Father Kevin to sign up!

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US REACH OUR GOAL!

Congratulations St. Alphonsus School Families! You exceeded our goal for the Fun Run and raised over $28,000 this year! Thank you for your hard work to make this happen!

Mrs. Schermetzler is working out the details for camping out on the roof and the students are very excited for her to do this. More to come on that soon (and before the nights get too cold!).

THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN!

{pictured above: some second & third grade friends meeting Snowball the puppy who came to cheer the kids on!}

The start of the year is always so fun! I love reviewing concepts, skills, and techniques with student artists. This year is no different. We are starting this year with an emphasis on Drawing- be on the lookout for students using materials in new ways (layering and blending oil pastels, graphite drawing pencils, colored pencils, drawing pens, and more!).

I wanted to give a quick note on Artsonia, a simple way for students to share their artwork with those important people in their lives… and maybe even create a gift or two! At the end of each project, I photograph their work and display it in our Artsonia Digital Gallery for St. Alphonsus School. It is only visible to me- unless you sign up and accept the invitation. If you did this last year, you do not need to sign up again! Those new to our school or new to Artsonia will have invitations coming home this week. If you missed it in backpack mail, please use the link and code below. Once you join, you are able to see all of the beautiful things created. You are also able to share the invite with those who may be interested (grandparents, Godparents, special people in their lives). The work is also able to be made into gifts, and the Art Studio receives a portion of the sale to buy more fun materials!

Please consider joining if you haven’t already done so!  

In Kindness and Joy,

Mrs. Rebecca Hoeppner

Art Teacher

Please join us for our second annual Trunk or Treat, on Friday, October 27 from 5:30- 7:00pm, where the kids can wear their Halloween costumes and go car-to-car trick or treating in our school parking lot!

Siblings and family are welcome--this is sure to be a great event for the whole family! 

We are SO excited to be hosting this event again and would love to have your support in hosting a Trunk!

What does it take to host a Trunk?

• Arrive 45-60 minutes before the event begins to set up
• Decorate your trunk (check out Pinterest for some fun ideas!) with child appropriate decorations
• Supply and hand out candy to kids that trick or treat from your trunk
• Be able to stay the entire event 5:30- 7:00pm

It's going to be a great night! Use this link to sign up to host a trunk.

For questions, please contact Dawn Eisold or Tricia Williams, our Trunk or Treat chairs.

Registration is still open for Chess & STEAM Club!

Please note that Coding Club has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

We are again partnering with After School Enrichment Solutions to offer these clubs to St. Alphonsus students. Check out the flyer below for more information and register here.

St. Al’s SCRIP is happy to now have $25 Culvers gift cards available for immediate purchase!

Don’t forget to stock up on Cousin’s gift cards for Dine-Out Nights! It’s a Win-Win for you and the school.

And make sure to take advantage of the 9% Kwik Trip rebate bonus! This great offer ends soon!

Place your orders either on-line or calling Vickie by Sunday night and your cards will be sent home through backpack mail by the end of the school  week.

Signing up for SCRIP is easy, and there is even an app to use! Register here, using the enrollment code 855F1LF31943. You can also check out our Enrollment Forms and FAQ on our school website.

Any questions, please email our SCRIP coordinator, Vickie Major, here.

Basketball Registration is Now Open!

Students in Grades 5-8 are eligible to play basketball for St. Alphonsus.

The link to register is here!

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is hosting a retreat day for all those experiencing separation and divorce.

The retreat will take place on Saturday, October 14 from 9:00am to 7:00pm at the Schoenstatt Retreat Center

W284N698 Cherry Ln, Waukesha WI 53188.

Cost: $50.00 (includes Lunch and Dinner)

Financial Assistance is Available

Register here by September 27!

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 5:00pm Wednesdays.