Weekly Family Communication

The mission of Holy Rosary School is to help each child discover and fully develop their God-given talents. As a Catholic School community, we strive for excellence in our students’ spiritual, academic, physical, mental, aesthetic, and social-emotional growth. It is our intention that those who attend this institution mature into active citizens leading a committed faith life and reaching out to help others locally, nationally, and internationally with their wisdom, time, talent, and financial resources.

Dear Holy Rosary Families,

As we end the month of October, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support of our fall Annual Fund Drive. This was our first fall fund drive, replacing the magazine drive of years past, and was a tremendous success due to the support of our wonderful school families. There are many things that set Holy Rosary apart from other schools, but at the top of my list is our community. When you join the Holy Rosary School family, you join a community with a rich history of dedicated care for our school and one another. Each of you is a part of the tradition that is Holy Rosary School and I am filled with gratitude for each and every one of you!

The school will go to Mass tomorrow morning when the fourth grade Saints come marching in for All Saints Day. Students should come to school in perfect uniform and strive to be on time so they are not late for this very special Mass.

Have a spooky Halloween and a blessed All Saints Day!

In Christ,

Anna

• Nov 1st - All Saints Mass
• Nov 1st - 8th Grade Pizza Lunch
• Nov 6th - Conference Signups Open
• Nov 8th - No School, Teacher-in-Service
• Nov 11th - No School, No BASE
• Nov 15th - 8th Grade Pizza Lunch
• Nov 22nd - Noon Dismissal
• Nov 25th-27th - Parent/Teacher/ Student Conferences

Holy Rosary School will have its annual Christmas Program the evening of December 19th @ 6pm. You won't want to miss this special evening filled with student performances, readings, and prayer as we prepare for Christmas! Students will spend months preparing for this special evening and all students and families are asked to be present for this event.

I hope your Halloween is filled with lots of treats. This week in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) for Kindergarten through 4th grade we are focusing on Sportsmanship. Students are identifying positive statements like “Let’s rock this as a team” and “You’re pretty good at that. You did a great job!” Please continue to support your students with positive and respectful statements on the playground, in class, and in the community.

October 31 – All Hallow’s Eve

All Hallows’ Eve has its roots in Catholicism. It is the vigil of All Saints’ Day, which was instituted by Pope Gregory III in the eighth century. All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days commemorate the dead in heaven and in purgatory. For medieval Catholics, skulls and skeletons were popular year-round decorations to remind us of our mortality and to inspire us to live our lives well. Some of the ideas at the heart of the best-known monster stories are rooted in Catholic beliefs. Vampires drink human blood to live forever. We drink the Precious Blood to have eternal life. Zombies’ human bodies rise from the dead. We hope to rise again too, at the Second Coming. So, don’t be afraid to be Catholic on Halloween – celebrate and have some fun!

The 8th graders can't wait to serve 8th grade pizza lunch tomorrow to all of the students that ordered.

December 10th have a dinner at Talarico’s with funds going to help fund the DC trip for 8th graders.

Dennis Uniforms announced plans to close its business last week. They are working to address current outstanding orders. Holy Rosary has already been in discussions on a new source for our MacBeth plaid and will have a vendor in place for 2025/26. Please make sure to utilize our Pre-owned Uniform Closet.

The 8th graders are collecting CANDY through November 7th. Drop your extra candy in the box in the office. Candy will be distributed to the Seafarers who traverse the oceans and are gone for long periods of time to bring goods to the Port of Seattle.

During this month of giving thanks, let us remember those most in need in the community around us. Catholic Social Teachings remind us that we have an obligation to care for those most in need and Jesus tells us "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). This November we are partnering with three groups to provide much needed items that go directly to those in need in our greater West Seattle community. We encourage families to participate throughout November and support as you're able. Tables for drop off can be found inside the school entry.

1) St. Vincent de Paul Food Drive- Support those in our West Seattle community facing food instability. Items most in need include:

Peanut Butter (16oz)

Canned Vegetables
Canned Fruit
Boxed Cereal
Boxed Oatmeal( instant packets)
Canned Chicken
Canned Tuna
Macaroni and Cheese
Rice, Rice a Roni,
Knorr Rice Sides
Instant Mashed Potatoes
Chili
Canned Pasta with Meat
Hearty Soups

Please remember to check the expiration dates if things are coming from pantries at home.

2) WIN (Westside Interfaith Network) is a group of local faith communities (including Holy Rosary) who host the Welcome Table each Saturday from 12 to 2 at Body of Christ Church in White Center across from Steve Cox Memorial Park. They provide a hot meal, food pantry, clothing, and hygiene supplies and more for homeless, low income, and no income people within our community.

They always need basic hygiene items which include toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, disposable razors, chapsticks, travel size items, bandaids, cough drops, mens socks and underwear, hand warmers, men's hats, and men's gloves.

3) We will also support a local women's shelter partnering with St. James Cathedral. Items most needed include toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, chapsticks), women's underwear, women's socks, and other female hygiene items.

We are still collecting Thriftway receipts to earn a percentage of your shopping back for Holy Rosary School through their ongoing Receipt Program. You can drop off the receipts in the school office. There is a box placed on the shelf behind the door. Thank you for your continued support.

Holy Rosary School has the opportunity to join other local Catholic schools to host a Japanese exchange student for one week in March between their academic years, from March 22nd - March 30th. Last year we had three students join, who were hosted by Holy Rosary families. It was a wonderful experience for everyone! The students joining us will likely be in sixth, seventh or eighth grade, and families receive a small stipend to offset the expenses of hosting a student for the week. The students would then attend classes here at Holy Rosary School during the week. If you might be interested in learning more about this opportunity, and possibly hosting a student for the week, please email principal Anna Horton at ahorton@holyrosaryws.org.

The priority application period for parish members & current school families is September 15th and goes until November 15th for the 2025/2026 school year. If you have a new student who would like to apply to Holy Rosary School, please complete our online application at: https://holyrosaryws.org/applynow/. Re-enrollment occurs in January. Any questions, please contact: admissions@holyrosaryws.org

Next school year, our Preschool offerings will change to all 5-day a week classes. Full-time Pre-K class (M-F 8:30am-3pm), Part-time Pre-K class (M-F 12:05pm-3:05pm), and Part-time Preschool 3s (8:30am-11am). For new students Apply now if interested!

Please click on this link to order. You can pick up in the office anytime between 8am to 4pm.

Contact Ellen Voelker at ellenvoelker@gmail.com to request uniforms in your child's size.

Business Procurement Team Member

Goal: Connect with local businesses to help secure funding to support the Holy Rosary Auction!

How: Become a procurement team member and run your own Neighborhood Zone. Send procurement letter, email, walk-in, etc. to local businesses asking for their support to donate to the HRS auction. Follow up and provide tax documentation to each business. Track progress and confirm procurement. Auction items can come in various forms i.e. gift cards, wine/beer/liquor, art, cooking classes, merchandise, etc.

When: Procurement will take place now – January.

Hours Earned: 10-20+ hours (Fundraising)

Contact: Bente Madtsen: (bente.madtsen@outlook.com) or Jenna Cohen: (jenna.cohen.jn@gmail.com)

Take a few minutes to log into your Safe Env account and check your status. You may need a 20-minute refresher. Checking your status now will save staff time in contacting you before you can volunteer.

New families: Please complete your background checks and SE training before volunteering! If you haven't set up a volunteer log-in yet to record hours, here is the link! One parent must be the main account user, a 2nd parent can be added to the account as a sub-account. Instructions will be on the main account user’s page on how to add a sub-account.

Altar Server training is now available! Training is required for all new and current altar servers. Girls and boys in grades 5, 6, 7, 8 and High School can serve the holy people of God during Mass. When we join in the Mass, we remember Jesus and give thanks and praise for all the good things that God does for us.

Altar Servers | Holy Rosary Catholic Church | Seattle, WA (holyrosaryseattle.org)

• More information: Check out our flier for more information.
• Register: https://holyrosaryseattle.org/wwp-registration

GiveACA - 2024 - Archdiocese of Seattle (archseattle.org).

7th and 8th grade https://holyrosaryseattle.org/youth-confirmation

See our Flyer for more information.

https://holyrosaryseattle.org/infant-baptism-registration

srstella@holyrosaryseattle.org

srstella@holyrosaryseattle.org

https://holyrosaryseattle.org/rcia-adults.

We offer Children’s Liturgy of the Word year round at Sunday 10:30am Mass.

• Parish Children’s Choir YouthChoir! (Grades 3-6) | Holy Rosary Catholic Church | Seattle, WA (holyrosaryseattle.org)
• Altar Serving (5th -High school)–email Paul Dolejsi at Pdolejsi@holyrosaryseattle.org for more information.

https://holyrosaryseattle.org/adult-confirmation-1