September 16, 2021 Dear STM Families, We are blessed at STM with such involved and dedicated families! Our Home and School Association, Booster Club, Auction Committee, COVID Task Force, and School Advisory Board are key to helping our school thrive. These groups appreciate your input and are often looking for your volunteerism to prepare for an activity, a fundraiser, a project, or assistance to make improvements around our school. Please let us know in the school office if you want to jump in (again) with the community of giving parents and family members. Our Booster Club is sponsoring the STM Football Raffle, and we need your help right now. Currently, there are 1,500 tickets representing $30,000 of revenue for our school that HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED. If you plan to sell your unused tickets, that is AWESOME. If they are just sitting on your dining room table or in a pile in the kitchen, we need you to bring those to the school office. We have a waiting list of people who want more tickets to sell--but we have NO TICKETS TO HAND OUT. Please get those back to us ASAP! The Our School Advisory Board met last night and there are several highlights to share with you:
Peace and Blessings, Linda Crosthwait, STM Principal STM SCHOOL UPCOMING EVENTS: Sept. 27-Oct. 5 Scholastic Book Fair Thursday, Sept. 30 COVID Task Force Meeting Saturday, Oct. 16 Fall Fling--An Outdoor Market Saturday, Nov. 13 Booster Club Pickleball Tournament at Blue Hills Country Club KINDERGARTEN & NEW FAMILIES: The STM community is SO GLAD that you have joined our school family! We hope you’ve enjoyed your welcome sign! Please don’t forget to return them to school so we can carry on the tradition. They can be dropped in the front of school or near the playground area at pick-up. CALLING ALL ROOM PARENTS FOR THE 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR! What are Room Parents responsible for?
DRESS CODE ISSUES: We are having some issues with STM Dress Code adherence. Please review the uniform requirements in the attached STM Student Handbook on p. 37. Here are a few of the most common infractions:
WE ARE ALREADY RUNNING OUT OF MASKS AND PLASTICWARE! Please make sure your child arrives at school with a mask or gaiter AND an extra for just-in-case incidents throughout the day. We have TOO MANY students showing up without appropriate face coverings and are expecting one from the nurse or office on a daily basis. Also, please send the appropriate fork or spoon with your child to eat his/her lunch. Applesauce, pudding, noodles in a thermos, and jello are really difficult for them to eat without appropriate plasticware. A napkin in the lunch box every day is a great idea, too. BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Our school will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair Monday, 9/27 - Friday, 10/1 in the STM school library. The return of the Book Fair will be a familiar and welcome celebration. Volunteers are crucial to the success of this event. If you’re available to help us with our upcoming Book Fair, please visit https://volunteer.scholastic.com/#/signup/A27kL1FCy to sign up today. The link includes available time slots for daytime and after school opportunities. Service hours are available for middle school students to help assist with fair set up on 9/24 immediately after school and tear down on 10/1 at 4:15pm. See sign up link for more details. Thank you for considering becoming a volunteer! Any questions? Contact Courtney Fahey at crfahey@me.com or 816-729-3056. It's not too late to shadow the Book Fair Chair position for Home & School. Please reach out today if interested in leading the next fair. 8TH GRADE GATHERING PARTY INFORMATION: Dear 8th Grade Parents- Please join us on Saturday, September 18th starting at 6:30 at the home of Bill, Colleen & Joe Teasdale for the 8th grade Gathering Party. Students are invited to attend for a Hawaiian themed night of fun and community. See flyer for more details. Please RSVP by returning the attached form to school or by reaching out to one of the hosts. See you then, Colleen & Bill Teasdale Jami & Mike Pizzichino Tricia & Todd McCullough Angela & Chris Sweeny Courtney & Andrew Fahey DON’T MISS OUT! GATHERING PARTY INFO: Gathering parties are a way for our school to raise money or receive auction items for the annual STM Auction on Feb. 5. This year's parties that are already booked are listed below. Invites will be sent home in backpacks closer to your child’s grade level event. 9/18- 8th 9/24- 3rd 10/2 - 2nd & 4th 10/9 - Preschool & Kindergarten 10/30 - 5th & 7th STUDENTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STM GUATEMALAN PROJECT: This Week at St. Thomas More we will be celebrating Guatemala Sunday. We hope you will join us. Our school is partnering with the Guatemala Action Group of STM this week and I am excited to share with you more information about this mission. During the height of the pandemic our friends in Guatemala started hanging white flags out of the homes in hope that someone would share food with them as they were desperate! This year our school children will be creating white flags to symbolize the need. These flags created by the children can be found in the narthex and at the foot of the altar next weekend. Covid-19 has seriously impacted our brothers and sisters in Guatemala due to the lack of vaccines, a poor public health care system, and expensive private health care. Additionally, many people cannot find work and the price of essential supplies has increased. Families hang white flags outside their mud huts to let others know they are completely out of food. Additionally, the trips, lead by the Guatemala Action Group have been canceled for two years now which has severely impacted the income for the Sisters in the Convent, interpreters, masons, local bus drivers, and the orphanage for physically and mentally handicapped children. But St. Thomas More has brought hope to our Guatemalan sister community. In the last year, we have financially supported them through:
Please consider a donation to support our efforts to meet some of their basic needs. Your check, Guatemala written in the memo line, may be brought to Mass this weekend or to the parish office. You can also donate online at https://stmkc.com/growing-in-faith/faith-in-action/guatemala-2/ COVID-RELATED INFORMATION: STM COVID DASHBOARD: Week ending 9/2/21 Week ending 9/9/21 Week ending 9/9/21 Students in quarantine 16 8 2 Staff members in quarantine 0 0 0 Students in isolation 8 7 0 Staff members in isolation 0 0 1 Percentage of attendance 97% 92% 95% Total # of Student COVID cases this school year: 15 Total # of Staff cases this school year: 1 If your child has tested positive for COVID, and STM was not notified, please email Health@stmcyclones.org with the date of the positive test. We appreciate you partnering with us on school days to verify that every child is fever-free and not experiencing:
EARN CASH FOR STM! Please take a look at the attached flyer about all of the ways you can earn cash for STM with Box Tops for Education! You can take a photo of your receipt to submit, scan your online grocery order info, or manually cut out the little Box Tops for Education coupons on your purchases. Every little bit helps! Please see the attached flyer for all of the details! JOB OPENING AT STM: Position: Substitute Teacher St. Thomas More Catholic School, an early childhood and K-8 Christ-centered learning community in the South Kansas City area, is accepting applications for substitute teachers. Responsibilities: The substitute teacher will fulfill the mission of the Catholic Church by employing lesson plans provided by the classroom teacher to guide and evaluate the learning process of students within the framework of St. Thomas More’s School’s philosophy, organization and curriculum. Qualifications: Ideal candidates will possess a Bachelor's degree or at least 60 credit hours (preferred), or high school diploma with completion of DESE state approved 20-hour online training course. All candidates will complete a background screening and register for and complete the Protecting God’s Children training program for adults. Please go to the ‘Job Openings’ link on the diocesan website to apply: https://kcsjcatholic.org/start/job-openings/ The month of September is dedicated to Mother Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows. Please consider sharing this prayer with you family in her honor: O Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, grant, we beseech Thee, that Thy dear Mother Mary, whose soul the sword pierced in the hour of Thy Passion, may intercede for us, now, and in the hour of our death, through Thine own merits, O Saviour of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God, world without end. Amen. Peace and Blessings, Linda Crosthwait, STM Principal Attachments: ![]()
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