SFSS Family Newsletter

We are just shy of two weeks from the first day of school.

For the last two weeks, I have been watching this one lone sunflower growing in the landscaping by the rectory. This past week it was in bloom. It's petals are bright and beautiful and just stand out.

I have been reflecting on this lone sunflower and our upcoming year. Our school is going to be standing out as a beautiful beacon in our community this year.

We have many wonderful new families joining our school community this year. I cannot wait for our veteran families to meet our new families. And there have been more inquiries about our school this past week. Word about our wonderful little school is getting out there.

Our teachers have been busy taking professional development and trainings to improve student learning and to support our students general well being. Many of our classrooms have been refreshed with new desks, chairs, paint, blinds, and bookshelves. The Harry J. Touhey library is close to being finished and will be ready for classes on Friday, September 8th.

Our school team has been discussing marketing strategies from service projects for all our students to participate in, ways to be visible at our local parishes, and being part of different community activities and events.

I have a really good feeling about this year being another great year of growth for both the students and the school. We are going to be like that lone sunflower standing tall and being a beautiful presence.

One change from last week's newsletter...we will not use the kindergarten doors for arrival and dismissal of our kindergarteners. To simplify the parent drop off, please drop students off at the Elmwood Ave or High St door. We will make sure our new students have a middle school student escort them to their classroom the first few days. For pick up, Mrs. Sindoni and the class will meet families at the garden door next to the principal's office.

As always thank you for your patience as we add new items to lunch ordering and using FACTS Family Portal. We discovered that those trying to order milk were unable due to a configuration issue. That has been resolved. To order:

1. Go to your Family Portal Account.

2. Click student.

3. Under student, go to Lunch.

4. Go to Create Web Order and find the September 1st date.

5. Click the child's name and the milk type.

6. Quantity is 1. (This will order the milk for the whole month of September.)

7. Submit order and pay.

There is also a Lactaid 1% Milk option.

Also loaded into FACTS is the lunch orders for the month of September. Due to our food suppliers, ordering must occur by Friday 9 AM of the prior week.

What does this mean?

To have lunches for the week of September 4th, orders must be placed by 9 AM Friday, September 1st. For the week of September 11th, orders must be placed by 9 AM Friday, September 8th.

Extra supplies and gently used uniforms are available!

We want to acknowledge one of our students: Nora Hoffman for a short essay she wrote for the Catholic Courier this summer. We are so proud of our students and how they share our faith with others.

We have a few opportunities and activities that could use some volunteers. Time commitment varies.

• PTO - Join the committee to organize and work events or sign up to help at an event or two.
  
  
• Restaurant Fundraisers - Organize and coordinate a restaurant to donate 10% - 20% of their sales on a given day. Need a different restaurant for each month.
  
  
• Alumni Association - Coordinators of our alumni list and to plan an alumni gathering.
  
  
• School Historians - Those interested in uploading and creating a digital archive of school history, news articles, and random photos.

More information about these opportunities are available during the Supply Drop Off and Meet the Teacher event.

We are going to show our school spirit and worship together as part of our Take My Family to Mass series.

Each month we will visit one of our supporting parishes to show that Catholic education is still an option in the local community.

Our first Mass is Sunday, September 17th at 10:30 am at the St. Stephen Church - Geneva.

We are looking for students to participate in the Mass. We will need a couple of readers, greeters, and singers.

Miss Chris (chris.sauter-milligan@dor.org) is looking for some grade 5 - 8 students to join her liturgical choir for the September 17th Mass.

Rehearsals start Monday, September 11. Please reach out to Miss Chris, if your child is interested.

Please reach out to Ms. Pohorence (suzanne.pohorence@dor.org) if your child is interested in greeting or reading.