Cyclone Chatter- December 31, 2020

Dear STM Families,
​
Was your Christmas holiday as happy and blessed as mine?  I certainly hope so!  Though I didn’t get to spend time with my extended family, I have been able to contemplate and recognize the many blessings our Lord continues to shower on all of us—even in these crazy COVID times.  My untimely exit from school in mid-November has definitely helped me to continue to consider all of the many things I am grateful for in my life.  My return to STM ‘IN PERSON’ on Monday, January 4 is very near the top of my list!!  
Thank you to all who prayed me back to robust health so quickly.  I share my recovery story with anyone who will listen—and I credit YOU for my healing heart and rebounding energy!  The STM staff and I are so ready to welcome your children back to school and hit the ground running in 2021.
As I said in my last newsletter before Christmas, there has been a lot of work going on in the background to rebuild our safe STM ‘bubble’ for in-school learning to continue as we all need.  Here are some of our continuing efforts to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and staff:

1. Twenty additional educational Zoom licenses were purchased utilizing CARES funding from the Grandview School District. More of our teachers will be able to livestream from their own classrooms if COVID-impacted students are absent.
2. A STM COVID dashboard is in the works to share a weekly count of actual student or staff cases, numbers in quarantine, and an overall percentage of attendance.
3. The STM COVID Task Force is expanding to include a number of parents who have insight and constructive ideas to add to the conversation as numbers of COVID cases, quarantined staff & students, or absences might rise. If you’re interested in joining this advisory group, please send your name and why you feel you would be helpful to this group to me in an email. 

Since we began our school year later than planned, our 2nd quarter (1st semester), will not end until January 15.  By that time, we hope to have our new COVID Task Force members on board, the dashboard ready to share, and our teachers set to livestream, as necessary.  All Connected Learners will remain at home through that date.  If parents would like to make a change to in-person learning (or a change to Connected Learning) for our 3rd quarter, please send me an email before Friday, Jan. 8.
In the meantime, we ask all parents to temperature screen and monitor students closely for any signs of potential illness daily.  If at any time during quarantine the student exhibits  symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, new or persistent cough, headache, loss of taste or smell, muscle or body ache, nasal congestion, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, please contact your health care provider and notify STM at Health@stmcyclones.org .
Please share any reports of such illness or exposure to Health@stmcyclones.org before Monday if your child will be absent.  It’s important for us to continue to maintain this data to inform your child’s teacher for sharing (just the data) with our community.
Temperature Check Sheets are to be returned MONTHLY during second semester.  A new version of the form is attached below.  Thank you for keeping track daily of your child’s health record.  We will ask for those to be turned in on Monday, Feb. 1.
Don’t forget to follow the guidelines to wear a mask, wash your hands often, avoid large crowds, and isolate from anyone who is known or suspected of COVID infection.  Your continued prayers are needed for the health and well-being of all of our staff and families at STM.  These will be the BEST ways to ensure that we will be able to stay on-site and in school.


STM SCHOOL UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday, Jan. 4                   First day of school in 2021
Monday, Jan. 4                   Mrs. Corkins’ class First Reconciliation Service at 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 8.                    Deadline to change learning mode for 3rd Quarter
Thursday, Jan. 14              Last day of 2nd Quarter (1st Semester)
Friday, Jan. 15.                   All STM Activity Fees are DUE
Friday, Jan. 15                    Diocesan Prof. Dev. Day for all teachers—NO SCHOOL
Monday, Jan. 18                  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—NO SCHOOL
Monday, Jan. 18                  STM Dine-Out at Caleb’s
Tuesday, Jan. 19.                First day of 3rd Quarter (second semester)
Jan. 24-30                          Catholic Schools Week




TABLET RETURN INSTRUCTIONS:
If your child borrowed a STM computer tablet during Distance Learning, please have your child return it to his/her homeroom teacher on Monday, Jan. 4.  Our computer teacher, Mrs. Elliott, will pick those up from the teachers to put the tablets back in rotation to our classrooms. 
STM SPIRITWEAR:
STM Spiritwear orders were distributed last week.  If you did not receive yours, your child will bring it home on Monday, Jan. 4.  Thank you to our STM Spiritwear Chairpersons!!


As we usher in 2021, please join me in praising our Lord and Savior with thanksgiving and petitions for a healthy and prosperous year!  Here’s a prayer you might share as a family:


God, thank you for a new year.
May everyone in our family be willing to begin anew with a clean slate. We know that you are always ready to forgive us.
Help us to be willing to forgive ourselves and to forgive one another.
As we begin a new year, remind us of our truest values and our deepest desires.
Help us to live in the goodness that comes from doing what you want us to do.
Help us to put aside anxiety about the future and the past, so that we might live in peace with you now, one day at a time.
Amen.
St. Thomas More, pray for us.


Happy New Year!
Peace and blessings,
Linda Crosthwait, STM Principal