Saint Ambrose News

Prize winners for $75 turned in by 9/19:

Congrats on winning $25 in Fall Fest Food & Game Tickets!

Dear Saint Ambrose Parents,

Our parish festival, Fall Fest has captured the attention of your children as they watch the set-up happen and get excited about all of the fun! We are looking forward to a great community celebration. New this year: we encourage any Saint Ambrose alumni to stop by our Alumni tent to say hello!

Marathon next Friday, September 27:

Students should wear SWARM shirts and athletic shorts or pants and shoes next Friday, September 27. We are encouraging our students to run laps and enjoy their time outside as we raise funds for our school. Here is information you need regarding the fundraiser, the event and the prizes. If you plan to join us for the event, we will start at 2:00. If you are not able to attend, your child will remain with their teacher and classmates. Use this form to RSVP by Monday September 23 for planning purposes. As we prepare for the upcoming Marathon event, we are seeking donations of water and popcorn to help keep our participants energized and hydrated. If you are able to contribute, please sign up using the link: Sign Up Here. Thank you so much for your continued generosity and support. We couldn’t do it without you!

No Bussing Monday, September 30th - The district does not have school on September 30th and we will have no bussing that day. We will follow the same procedure as we did the first days of school. By September 20th all students will have had bus and bike safety training in their classrooms, ask your student what they learned!

Please note: Vision screening will take place the morning of October 14th for grades 1, 3, 5.

Additional students may be screened if there are any concerns. We will also begin offering speech services soon for students on a district plan. Students in grades K-8 may be screened for speech services if needed.

LAST CALL FOR OLD UNIFORMS: If you have any red or white shirts without the logo that you would like to donate, we will be making our final donation through Donald's on September 27th.

Lord Jesus, you welcomed all who came into your presence. May I reflect that same spirit through the value of hospitality.

May your light shine in my heart this day.

Remove from me anything that would stand in the way of radiating your presence.

As I am created in your image and likeness grant me your grace to honor and praise You,

May people around me hear your voice in my words and see your love in my actions.

I thank you for the opportunity to serve you and ask your blessing upon all my efforts today.

I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Betsy Osterhaus Hand

Principal

Conference Scheduling Open Friday the 27th

Our parent/teacher conferences are on Thursday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 15th.

K-5 & Specialists Conferences will be in-person both days.

6-8 Conferences will be in-person on 10/10, and virtual on 10/15. Parents may choose one or the other.Parents will be able to schedule conferences via Sycamore beginning Friday, September 27 at 4pm. Click here to learn how to schedule your conference online

K-5 Parents

We will open conference scheduling at 4pm on Friday, Sept 27th. Choose one slot for each child’s teacher.

6-8 Parents (choose one option)

Thursday, October 10-in person conferences. No appointment necessary,(no scheduling) teachers will be available for conferences from 4:00-7:30 in their classrooms.

Tuesday, October 15th -virtual conferences.

Conference scheduling will open on Friday, September 27 at 4pm. Schedule one conference for your child with the grade level homeroom team, who will be together on the meeting. This gives you the opportunity to get feedback from multiple teachers during one virtual meeting.

• 6th grade team-schedule with Ms. Jorgensen (you will meet with Ms. Becker, Ms. Petronack, Mr. Herzog and Ms. Jorgensen)

• 7th grade team-schedule with Ms. Loney (you will meet with Ms. Loney, Mr. Shriver, Ms. Toninato and Ms. Soenen).

• 8th grade team-schedule with Ms. Woolsey (you will meet with Mr. Morgenroth, Ms. Woolsey and Ms. Schisler).

Specialist Teachers

Schedule with any teacher you would like to see on Sycamore.

If you have a question or concern, please reach out. You do not need to wait for conferences to communicate.

Teachers will need to stick to the scheduled time; thank you for helping with this.

During the first month of school, Saint Ambrose students have been introduced to our virtue focus for this year: Hospitality. The Saint Ambrose Way tenet that we are connecting to this virtue during September is Be the Best You Can Be. We hope that students will be able to recognize in themselves and in others our definition of Hospitality:

“We are all equal and connected. We care for everyone in our school. We lead with faith and virtue by helping others and growing our faith and virtues, too.”

Here are the important objectives we hope students will be aware of:

• We care for everyone in our school.

• We know that God created each of us, so we respect each other

• We forgive each other

Mrs. Hand and Mrs. Helmberger will be visiting classrooms to read and discuss Max Lucado’s book, You Are Special. Additionally, students will be encouraged to show hospitality through their caring words and actions, and they will receive a Heart of Hospitality and a monthly saint card in recognition. They do feel special when their good work at school is recognized!

We hope the students will share with you and others what they are learning about Hospitality and how we can all Be the Best We Can Be through a welcoming and open heart for God and others.

Peace be with you,

Kris Woolsey, Melissa Schisler, and Charles Morgenroth

September Virtue Focus Team

Substitute Teachers

If you are interested in being a substitute teacher at Saint Ambrose or know someone that is, please contact Dianna Helmberger at dhelmberger@saintambroseschool.org or 651-768-3078.

Please view the following presentation for more details and information - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AWeJsxdO371fNvSmQ9Q2W9CHmPaCI0ZQl4SHMeyFkFY/edit?usp=sharing. We also have a wonderful training that we can send new people to that is through CSCOE.

Volunteer helpers to walk students.

We have several students that receive speech services through the district. These services take place virtually at our school. We have found that when we have consistent help walking students from classrooms to the speech station, everything runs very smoothly. This is a volunteer position and it could be one day or multiple days. For more details contact Beth Salmon at bsalmon@saintambroseschool.org. or 651-768-3087.

Lunchroom and Recess Help

If you are interested in helping with recess or lunchroom supervision please contact Janet Seidenkranz in our school office. 651-768-3000.

August 5th

August 20th

August 30th

September 6th

September 13th

September 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we continue our partnership with Groves Literacy Organization, generously offered to us through a grant from CSCOE, we are excited to see all the reading progress that has been made over the past few years.

Three times a year, the reading skills of all of our K-3 students are assessed to ensure students are making academic gains in their literacy skills.

Each Spring, you will receive a report of Saint Ambrose’s K-3rd grade AIMSWEB+ scores where we will share our successes and areas for improvement.

Below is a list and a brief description of the assessments your child may have taken; assessments vary for grade levels. If you have questions about the assessments or the testing process, please feel free to contact Dianna Helmberger: dhelmberger@saintambroseschool.org

AIMSweb Early Literacy and Reading Assessment Descriptions

Letter Naming Fluency – The student is provided with a page of upper and lowercase letters organized in lines and is asked to read as many of them as he/she can in one minute.

Letter Sound Fluency – The student is provided with a page of lowercase letters organized in lines and is asked to orally give the sound of as many of the letters as he/she can in one minute. Only the most common sound of each letter is counted as correct. For vowels, this is the “short” sound, such as the /a/ sound in “cat”.

Letter Word Sound Fluency - The student is presented with a list of 26 letters in random order and they have one minute to say the sounds that correspond with the 26 letters.

Initial Sounds - The student looks at four pictures and either points to the one that begins with a given letter sound or verbally makes the sound that begins the word.

Reading Auditory Vocabulary - Student points to one of four pictures that match an orally presented word.

Phoneme Segmentation Fluency – The student does not look at any materials for this task; instead, he/she is asked to listen to the tester say words for one minute. After hearing a word, the student is to tell the tester all the sounds he/she hears in the word. For example, if the tester says, “Sam”, the student is to say, /s/, /a/, /m/.

Nonsense Word Fluency – The student is provided with a page of 2 or 3-letter “make-believe” or nonsense words, such as “wis”, organized in lines. The student is to either give the sound of each letter in the nonsense word or read the whole word for one minute.

Word Reading Fluency - The student reads a word list aloud for one minute. The words need to be read with automaticity and not tapped out.

Reading – Curriculum Based Measurement - ORF Oral Reading Fluency– The student is provided with a reading passage and is asked to read it for one minute using his/her “best” reading. The tester times the student for one minute, recording how many words were read correctly and how many errors the student made.

Print Concepts - The student shows their understanding of the purpose, use, and contents of a book.

Vocabulary - The student identifies the meanings of target words by selecting from multiple-choice options.

Volunteer Requirement - Essential 3 Requirements outlined on the parish website.

Math Challenge - https://www.mathinaction.org/

Bus Transportation

Procedure for Bus Rider IDs

Video

FAQ

Artsonia

https://www.artsonia.com/connect/TWKCXF27 And use the PARENT CODE TWKCXF27 to connect to Saint Ambrose.

Student and Parent Handbook

Drop-off and Pick-up Info

Hand Connection Newsletter

September Breakfast Menu

September Lunch Menu

School Calendar 2024-2025

School Supply List for 2024-2025

School Website

School Facebook Page

Quarterly Home and School Newsletter

Sycamore

Sycamore Help Guide

Sycamore Parent Checklist

Please login to Sycamore to access the school calendar, lunch menu, and schedules/grades (JH only)

Mission (what we offer)

We at Saint Ambrose School are part of a vibrant Catholic community supporting and nurturing

each child on their journey with Christ.

Through exceptional academics, embracing each child’s unique strengths and needs, and

joyfully engaging in prayer and service, we take a holistic, virtue-based approach to student

education and experiences. This is the Saint Ambrose Way.

Vision (what we aspire to)

As a thriving Catholic school, we create meaningful impact though each family we support and

student we send into the world.

By helping form the whole child, students are not only prepared well for the next level of

education, but life as Christian adults living the Saint Ambrose Way.

PHILOSOPHY

The Saint Ambrose community recognizes the partnership between parents, students, staff,

administration and parishioners in providing for the development of its members as people of

faith who worship, learn and grow together. As a community we have a responsibility to

support families- as the primary educators of their children- while providing enriching

experiences that promote a sense of belonging and responsibility to a community.

Did you know that we have a Saint Ambrose Facebook Page and Instagram Page? Please follow us for school updates and photos. Click the links at the bottom of this email for quick access to our social media pages.