Monday Memo

Dear parents,

Teachers and staff have been busy preparing for your students arrivals! Please don't forget that we have supply drop off on Sunday after the 11:30 Mass (about 12:15) until 2:30PM. School starts bright and early Monday morning and we're all very excited to see everyone's bright and happy faces in our hallways again.

We've had a few more staffing changes in the past couple weeks. Sister Merrita will be leaving us as she has been called by her order to serve in another community. We can not thank her enough for the 9 years she blessed our St. Susanna School and community. Mrs. Abdoulaye and Mrs. Weaver will be filling in her spot until we have a new teacher.

Mrs. Bizeau will be returning as our PE teacher at St. Susanna as will Dr. Laura Krell for our PreK through 4th grade music teacher. Mrs. Ruplinger will be our new fourth grade teacher. She has been a long time sub and parent at our school. Mrs. Flores will be teaching Spanish to our 2nd through 8th graders this year. It is great to have new faces as well as some returning faces this year!

We will see you soon!

God bless,

Katie Weaver

My name is Sharon Ruplinger and I am honored to be teaching in the Fourth Grade this year. For the past 7 years St. Susanna has been home to my children and me. I have four high school graduates, two current high school students at Roncalli, and three more in Saint Susanna’s elementary grades. I graduated from the University of Dallas, earning my degree in Elementary Education. When my children were very young I taught second grade four years in a Catholic school in Texas. I also taught Second Grade in a Catholic school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After moving to Indiana we found Saint Susanna and all of the wonderful families in this community. Four years ago I substituted in just about every class here and then worked as an aid in St. Susanna’s Second Grade. It is truly an honor to take on this school year with such a great group of kids. I foresee a wonderful year ahead of us in Fourth Grade, both academically and spiritually.

My name is Sarah Flores, I have 10 years of teaching experience in various classroom settings. Being raised in a bilingual home, I am passionate about fostering a love for language and culture. I am excited to embark on this journey of the Spanish Language with your student!

• School supply list: Can also be found on the school website here
  

• Supply Drop Off: Sunday, August 4th after 11:30 AM mass (approximately 12:15 PM) until 2:30 PM. Families are welcome to come to school, drop off supplies, meet the teacher, and see the classroom before the first day of school! Avon Sports Apparel will also be there if you're still in need of uniforms or spirit wear.

• First Day of School: Monday, August 5th. Morning care opens at 7:00 AM. Doors open for drop off at 7:55 AM. Parents may walk their children to the classroom if desired only this first day. Students should be in the classrooms by 8:20 AM. Announcements start at 8:25 AM.

• Back to School Night: Wednesday, August 7th at 6:30 PM in the Gym. We will all meet in the gym first for a short presentation and then you will be able to go to your child(s) classes for a 15 minute teacher presentation. There will be two sessions to allow parents with multiple children to meet all their children's teachers.

• Saint Susanna Parish Backyard Bash: August 9th and 10th Everyone is welcome to join us for food, fun, and more.

The 2024 Backyard Bash is August 9th and 10th. I am looking for volunteers to help sell raffle tickets after the weekend masses in July leading up to the Bash in August (raffle license #002622). This is a super easy (and important) way to support the parish! The time commitment is only about 25 minutes after mass.

Please checkout the signup below to see when you can help. Any questions? Please contact me at jabdoulaye@saintsusanna.com

https://www.signupgenius.com/.../4090F4BA8AB2AA7FB6...

Below is a reminder of the 2023 updated uniform policies. There is also a download available at the bottom of the Monday Memo

Dear parents,

Mrs. Abdoulaye will continue to be in charge of FACTS, tuition, and financial aid for the school year. She is out of the office in June but will resume work in July. Feel free to email her any time. jabdoulaye@saintsusanna.com

Payment Options:

• FACTS Payment Plan: Families who have a FACTS account and who owe a balance have already been billed through FACTS. You should have received an email with next year’s payment plan. If you would like to pay your balance in FACTs, please log in and create a payment plan at https://online.factsmgt.com/signin/3FXLZ
• Pay in Full: All families who wish to pay in full must do so by July 15th. A 3 percent discount is available to non-Choice Scholarship families who pay tuition in full. Choice families may also choose to pay their balance in full. You have two options for paying your bill in full:
• Online at www.saintsusannaschool.com/pay Enter the amount due for your children in the “Designated Fund” category and add your students’ names.
• By check at Saint Susanna School. Please place your check in an envelope and leave with Ms. Cody or place in the dropbox next to her window in the school entryway. You can also mail your check to us at 1212 E Main Street, Plainfield, IN 46168
• Choice awards are subject to the submission of the household’s 2023 tax return and meeting program requirements. I have processed awards for most families who have submitted their paperwork. You have received this paperwork via Dropbox Sign. I will be processing awards for families that include an incoming kindergartener and those who have yet to submit their tax returns during July and August. The Choice Scholarship submission deadline is September 1st.
  

The Saint Susanna Backyard Bash will be August 9 - 10, 2024. Setup for this celebration requires using our campus, therefore, some slight adjustments have been made to the 24-25 calendar. Parent/teacher conferences will also be added to the calendar. The full calendar is in the files at the end of this newsletter. The changes include moving the first day of school to Monday, August 5th; scheduling a 1:20 PM dismissal with NO EDM on Thursday, August 8th, and no school on Friday, August 9th.

The state of Indiana provides free summer meals to children 18 and younger through the Summer Food Service Program. These meals are provided to any child, regardless of free/reduced lunch status. This website is updated at the end of May each year.

To find a location, parents can

• Visit the website at https://www.in.gov/doe/nutrition/meal-site-information/. This website includes a searchable list of sites, program rules, and additional resources.
• To find a site near you, text “summer meals” or “verano” to (914) 342-7744 or call USDA National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8- HAMBRE
  

1. To apply for a Choice Scholarship in K-8: send a copy of your 2023 1040 tax return to Mrs. Abdoulaye. You can drop off a physical copy at the 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 page is required.

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 preschool and 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, 2023. Award decisions will be sent to families in early June.

Each year, the state of Indiana increases the maximum household income allowed to qualify for Choice. Please see below for this year's eligibility requirements.

Indiana has also finalized award amounts for the 23-24 school year. Some of our families will see this school year's scholarship increase as a result. I am working through each scholarship account to rectify any tuition owed. These increased scholarship funds will be applied to this year's balances, lunch, or EDM accounts owed, or credited toward next year's tuition.

The state will use this year's finalized awards as the estimated awards for the fall of 2024. For example, families who live in Plainfield School District will see next year's estimated award increase from $5,912 to $6,265.13. See the table below for this year's finalized and next year's estimated award amounts by home school district.

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.

Payments for lunch are requested in a timely manner. All payments must be pre-paid into the student’s account in one of the following methods:

• 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