February

Dear parents,

Thank you to all our volunteers who helped with the Middle School Dance and the My Girl Dance. Everyone had a wonderful time!

Presidents' Day weekend is this coming weekend. Thursday we have a 1:20 dismissal with EDM to follow. Friday and Monday there will be no school. Enjoy the long weekend!

Tickets are on sale now for the Mardi Gras celebration on March 1st after masses and in the school and parish offices. Tickets are $75 each and include dinner and an entry into the $2,500 raffle drawing. We will have music, games of chance, and live auction events throughout the evening. The silent auction events will be on display that evening. Bidders may access bidding from home or on-site through our auction vendor GiveSmart and their mobile phones. The funds raised go to support education efforts in Saint Susanna School and Parish. Get your tickets and join us for a wonderful evening!

We have had many students and staff being sent home sick. Parents, please keep our sick policy in mind when assessing your children for school:

• A fever is a temperature of 100.4 or higher
• Students should be fever-free without Tylenol, Advil, etc. for 24 hours before returning to school.
• Students must be symptom-free (diarrhea, vomiting, etc.) for 24 hours before returning to school.

Have a wonderful week,

Mrs. Weaver

Saint Susanna Catholic School is proud to be an Indiana Choice Scholarship School. We are able to offer Choice Scholarships from the state of Indiana, as well as other forms of financial aid. Applications for financial aid will open in March. Please see the paragraphs below for application information.

1. To apply for a Choice Scholarship in K-8: send a copy of your 2024 Federal1040 tax return to Mrs. Abdoulaye. You can drop off a physical copy at the school office or email the document to her at jabdoulaye@saintsusanna.com. You can block out your family’s social security numbers prior to sending the form. The first page of the 1040 form shows household members and adjusted gross income. This is the only page that is required unless you have additional household members on another page of the return. If so, send the first page and the list of additional household members. Additionally, the 2024 Choice Eligibility information is available at the end of this newsletter as an attachment. Updated eligibility will be released from the state by March.

2. To apply for preschool, prekindergarten, or additional financial aid for K-8 students: If your child is not eligible for a Choice Scholarship OR if you are seeking financial aid above and beyond that granted by Choice, we have a limited amount of additional financial aid available. This aid is available for our prekindergarten students as well. You must apply via our FACTS Grant and Aid platform for this aid at https://online.factsmgt.com/signin/3FXLZ A fee will apply for the application. The deadline for financial aid is June 1, 2025. Award decisions will be sent to families in early June.

• Wednesday: PreK/K Prayer Service (Hoffman) at 2:05
• Wednesday: Girls Basketball 6 & 7pm
• Thursday: 8:45am Mass led by 8th grade
• Thursday: Early Release @1:20, EDM Available
• Friday: No School: Presidents' Day Weekend

_________________________________________________

Future Events:

• February 17: No School: Presidents' Day Weekend
• March 1: Spring Gala
• March 5: Ash Wednesday Mass @8:45
• March 3rd-14: IREAD Testing
• March 8: My Guy Dodgeball
• March 9-14: Book Fair
• March 10: 1st Grade Field Trip
• March 11: 2nd Grade Field Trip
• March 19: Girls Basketball 6 & 7pm
• March 24- 28: Spring Break

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is the primary law in the United States that governs SMS marketing and requires businesses to obtain written consent before sending text messages to consumers. Parents and Staff must OPT IN one time to receive School text messages.

*See directions above*

Once completed, you will receive all messages sent as texts by the school.

Students are expected to dress appropriately for our winter weather. This includes a coat, hat, and gloves whether we have recess or not.

The following are the recess guidelines:

• If the temperature (wind-chill included) is ABOVE 32 degrees, we will go outside for the full recess time unless it is raining or there are puddles on the playground.

• If the temperature (wind-chill included) is 32 -10 degrees, we will go outside for 15 MINUTES. Recess time begins at regular time and ends 10 minutes early.

• If the temperature (wind-chill included) is BELOW 10 degrees, we will stay inside.

• If there is snow/ice on the playground, we will stay inside.

Extended Daycare Ministry (EDM) is our daycare program. It is a self-supporting program whose operating budget is separate from our school. We ask our families who use this program to keep a positive balance in their account by estimating their upcoming usage and applying money to their account. Supervision charges will then reduce from this balance. You do not need to wait for a statement to apply money to your account. Deposits/payments may be made at anytime for any amount online via bank account transfer or credit card with no additional fees at www.saintsusannaschool.com/pay. Please do not send cash payments in an envelope with your child to ensure they are not lost. Cash payments must be made in person with Ms. Brown at the reception window. Payments are posted when received. Statements to help you track your positive balance are sent bimonthly depending upon school breaks. The first statement each year will be sent after August 31 as we adjust our enrollment with the start of the new school year. Charges are based at $6 per hour for the first child in the family and $1 per hour for each additional child in the same family attending at the same time. Charges are based on actual recorded in/out times rounded to the quarter hour. Snacks are offered and billed at 70-cents per item and are separate from the lunch program. There is a one-time charge of $15 for registration fee per school year charged at the first use of EDM each year. All charges must be paid in full at the end of each semester-Christmas break and the end of the school year. Families with outstanding balances may be restricted from further use of this program. If you need assistance with keeping your EDM account current or have billing questions, please email Kandi Carson at kcarson@saintsusanna.com.

• All pants must have belt loops, NO drawstring pants
• All students wearing pants must have belts
• All polos must have the St. Susanna Logo on them
• All jumpers must be the St. Susanna Plaid (Blue, red, and white)
• Next Uniform Sales will be
• Friday, January 31st, from 3:30-5 at the Parish Center

If you have any questions, please email kweaver@saintsusanna.com

• Make an appointment for your child to spend the school day with us and see what a day at Cardinal Ritter looks like. https://www.cardinalritter.org/page/raider-for-the-day

• Just a friendly reminder, applications for next year are open. https://www.cardinalritter.org/page/application-process

Jamie Liston

Director of Admissions

Cardinal Ritter High School

(317) 924-4333 ext 426

In order for our cafeteria to be self-sufficient, we must receive regular and timely payments from those who participate in the hot lunch program. As such, I have updated our lunch policies accordingly. Please see below for the excerpt from the attached Student Parent Handbook:

• For any student with a negative cafeteria balance, the student will continue to be eligible for a hot or cold lunch and milk; however, they will not be eligible for extra servings or any a la carte items including bottled water, until the account is brought positive. Students are always welcome to bring their own refillable water bottles to lunch with them.

• Preferred: www.myschoolbucks.com Payments made through MySchoolBucks credit to a student’s account automatically and accounts are updated without delay. Previously setup accounts will continue to work throughout your child’s time at Saint Susanna. Accounts can be set up with the lunch number that will come home in your child’s back-to-school packet. This system also shows parents all of the charges and credits to a student’s account.
• Alternate Method of Payment: Payments made outside of the MySchoolBucks system are subject to delay in crediting your student’s lunch account: 1) Online via www.saintsusanna.com/pay 2) Check sent via backpack mail to Mrs. Carson’s attention clearly describing the amounts to be applied to each student account. Do not send cash.

All volunteers must have a background check and completed safe environment training through the Archdiocese's Safe Parish system. All volunteers' background checks are monitored quarterly. All volunteers must be registered in the Safe Parish system before they can volunteer. Instructions for registering and training are in the newsletter each week (see below).

In order to volunteer in our school building during the day or attend field trips as a chaperone, you must have current safe environment training on file with us. This requirement includes safe environment training and a basic background check through the Archdiocese.

To obtain a new training and background check:

1. Go to the website www.archindysafeparish.org
2. Create an account.
3. You will need a passcode in order to create an account. The passcode is Archindy2021
4. Complete the background check for school or parish VOLUNTEER and select Saint Susanna as a recipient of your information.
5. Complete the training video and questions.

Please allow up to two weeks for this process to be completed.

The service hour tracking form can be found here and a copy will be sent home in the back-to-school packets. We ask that each family complete five service hours this school year. These hours can be completed during school or parish events.

Box Tops for Education

Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: Download the new Box Tops App (iTunes or Google Play) – it’s free
• Step 2: Create a username and connect it to your child’s school
• Step 3: Scan your grocery store receipt. Items with the new Box Tops label will be automatically credited to your school

Does this mean I should stop sending in my paper Box Tops that I have already clipped? No! Continue to send those to the school!

Kroger Community Rewards

Information on the Kroger Community Rewards program can be found here on their website or under the "rewards" tab in your Kroger app. You will need to search for the exact name of our organization as SAINT SUSANNAS SCHOOL PTP . From there, you can link your Kroger card with our organization and a portion of your spending at Kroger will come to us.

St. Susanna Catholic School's mission is to provide a Christ-centered, quality education that prepares and inspires its students to excel as they progress in their scholastic careers. Based on Catholic teachings, our students and staff exemplify the value of faith, service, love, and respect in all situations and with all people.

Email: kweaver@saintsusanna.com
Website: www.saintsusannaschool.com
Location: 1212 East Main Street, Plainfield, IN, USA
Phone: 317-839-3713
Facebook: facebook.com/stsusannaschool