2024

Dear St. Therese Community,

I attended the 8th grade and 7th grade St. Therese girls' volleyball games last night with my kids and wow (!!!), they were exciting! I'll just say that I will make sure to attend more games next year. Keep rocking it in the rest of your tournament this weekend Lady Eagles!

This week at school mass we had a lovely guest, Father Jaspers, from Ascension Parish. The kids enjoyed his homily on St. Francis Cabrini, who was a champion for immigrants new to the county. It felt fitting for our community. Father Jaspers taught us that "Eucharist" translates to "thanksgiving." We have been talking about gratitude in our classrooms, and "gratitude" is our Virtue of the Month for November. I encourage you to continue those discussions at home with your kids about gratitude, and the Eucharist!

I wanted to share the slide deck from our Parents Club meeting that was held this Tuesday. Please reach out if you have any questions about its contents. Also, please consider attending the next meeting(s). You get Fair Share Hours!

Have a wonderful weekend!

In Christ the Teacher,

Principal Schoning

We are so excited to announce our new Hot Lunch program for St. Therese students. St. Therese is partnering with My Hot Lunchbox! My Hot Lunchbox partners with local restaurants our school requests and facilitates delivering meals individually packaged, labeled, and sorted for your students. Parents can now download the My Hot Lunchbox app for easy ordering, or order online. We will be offering this lunch service two days a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our first Hot Lunch day will be Tuesday, November 26th.

What are the big details to know?

• Orders must be completed AT LEAST 24 hours ahead of time. Students can not bring money to school and order lunch from the office.
• Ordering can ONLY be done via the app or website- the school cannot take money from students for lunch orders.
• Tuesday lunch is provided by Red Robin.
• Thursday lunch is provided by Chick Fil A.
• The menu includes meals and a la carte options.

How do I order?

• Lunch can be ordered via the App or go to https://ordernow.myhotlunchbox.com/sign-up and click the ‘Create Account’ button under ‘Customer’.
• Fill in all required fields, agree to our terms and conditions, and click ‘Create’!
• Once you have created and logged into your My Hot Lunchbox account, select the 'My Profiles' tab on the left sidebar. Click 'Add Profile' and fill in your child's first & last name, type of organization (School), organization name (St. Therese School), teacher and/or grade, if applicable. Click 'Add Profile' again to add other students once you're done!

• Family FAQs about how to order, download the app, and how the lunch program works. (Also available in Spanish)
• A flyer with instructions for downloading the app.
• A QR code for a YouTube tutorial video.
• Benefits for Parents

Next Tuesday, we will have a special assembly presented to our students in 6th grade and below. The focus of the assembly is on growth mindset, problem solving, and leading with kindness. The medium for delivery of the messages is a pretty amazing show with professional yo-yo artists!

This unique company goes around the country performing these shows, which are fully funded through the sales of yo-yos. It's a pretty amazing model. So, in exchange for the performance, we will be selling yo-yos to interested students and families here at school.

Your students are going home with these order forms, if you are so inclined to purchase a yo-yo for your child. They will be available for purchase all of next week.

If you are interested in talking at home with your children about the experience, please feel free to look at these resources. Here are some more. We are excited for the assembly! Go Ned!

I tell them every day, "Math is fun!" Today was proof of that. 5th Graders had fun playing a fraction game. -Ms. Campos

This week, our 2nd graders went on a field trip to Franz Bakery! While there, they toured the factory, ate fresh bread, and made their own dough!

It was a lifelong dream for Mr. Schoning to attend this field trip. He is still working through his resentment towards his 2nd grade teacher at All Saints, for not arranging this field trip 33 years ago. Fortunately he was able to attend this year with Ms. Lavagetto and the second grade students. Here is to healing, peace, closure, and carbs.

Thank you, Ms. Lavagetto, and all the chaperones who helped!

On Thursday, November 14th, our 8th graders joined other middle schoolers for a Faith in Action walk led by high schoolers from Central Catholic. We gathered at All Saints School and walked to Central Catholic. Along the way, student leaders led the 8th graders in discussions of faith, leadership, and service to others. At Central Catholic, we attended Mass a group and celebrated our faith with one another.

Third graders are learning multiplication in math class. The students worked in pairs to build measuring strips out of unifix cubes and matching number lines for multiples of 2-10. They also looked for patterns among the multiplication facts. - Mrs. Kenfield

For Native American Heritage Month, music classes have been learning about Native American music. To continue the discussion, I would love to have the kids make their own rain sticks. In order to do this, we need toilet paper or paper towel tubes, plus bags of dry lentils or small beans. I am hoping to collect 125 tubes and 10 bags of beans. If you are able to contribute, please send these items to school with your kiddo by Monday, 11/11. Many thanks!

Thank you for your help with this!

St. Therese Church is looking to form a Children’s Choir for the Christmas Day 10AM Mass. No prior experience necessary, ages 6-12 preferred but exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis. There will be an optional rehearsal on Friday, December 20 at 4PM, and a rehearsal on Christmas Day, December 25th from 9-9:40AM. Please reach out to Emily Bavaro at ebavaro@archdpdx.org or in person at Mass to sign up.

Please follow the link below to read the letter detailing the Christmas pageant, from Ms. Bavaro.

Thank you!!

Emily Bavaro

Director of Music

St. Therese Church and School

Save the date for our Christmas Pageant! Friday, December 13th at 5:30 PM in the church. Join us afterwards for a holiday reception of cocoa and cookies in the school gym. We cannot wait to celebrate with our families!

It's that time of year again! Next week begins our annual Food Drive! Every year, we partner with St. Vincent de Paul to bring in food for those in need. This year our SCHOOL WIDE GOAL is 2,500 points! Each item is worth 1 point. Frozen turkeys and hams are worth 25 points each! Last year we brought in over 2,000 items; I know this year we can beat that! All non-perishable items are welcome, but please see the "wish list" items on our flyer!

• Hot Shots and Basketball registration is open through the end of the month

• Deadline to sign up is December 1

• Jamboree for basketball is the week of December 7th and 14th

• We will start practice as soon as teams are finalized -- we need a minimum of 8 players per team and currently only have 2 full teams

• We will combine grades for partial groups in order to make a full team.

• Games are on Saturdays, with practices generally twice weekly for 90 minutes each

• Practices begin next week 11/18

• A pre-season jamboree will be held on 12/7 and 12/14

• First games begin on Saturday 1/4

• Games are on Saturdays, with a 30 minute practice before each game

• Season is 8 weeks long, and the first game is Saturday January 4th

• Wednesday November 20th we will meet to talk about Hot Shots and Basketball

• We will send out the agenda so you know what is being covered

• Hoping to have coaches present so that you can ask questions

• Cover key dates, things to know

• Volunteer opportunities, learning sessions and more

• Second week of December we will open a meeting to all parents interested in supporting the decisions and direction of the program for St Therese.

• We want to increase visibility and partnership with the school community

• Talk about priorities and focus points

• Review finances and goals

• There are plenty of opportunities to work concessions, or as a site monitor, or just be available to help in the gym when we run games, to get your Fair Share Hours!

OPEN GYMS for 3th - 8th grade on Wednesday nights from 6-8pm. These will be managed by Coaches Avery Robinson and Trey Harry who coached the 6/7 Boys team last year.

This is free and open to all interested athletes. Students outside of St Therese are welcome to attend! You will be required to sign a waiver for your student the first time your student participates.

• 11/22 Last Friday of the Month: Free Dress
• 11/18 - 11/22 Food Drive
• 11/27 1/2 day, with noon dismissal.
• 11/27 School mass changed to 8:30 a.m. Join us!
• 12/9 School mass at 1:15, Feast of the Immaculate Conception
• 12/13 Christmas Pageant at 5:30 PM in the gym

Tuesdays

• Vietnamese classes has changed from leveled classes, to one class from 3:30 - 4:30

Wednesdays

• School mass: 1:15 - 2:15 (subject to change based on holy days of obligation, feast days etc.)
• Sacraments classes with Sister Martina: 2:45 - 3:45 in the PSC.
• Open Gym Time, 6 - 8 pm. St. Therese Students from Grades 3 - 8 are all welcome! Free!

Last year Mr. Rymer showed his students the new Glowforge laser cutter, which he got for the school through a grant. By showing the kids the hardware, Mr. Rymer and the kids came up with the idea of making Christmas ornaments for their families. In doing so, the students are learning about engineering, design, and production. They are handmade by the students, with Mr. Rymer's guidance.

Post-pandemic, the prices of materials have gone up significantly and Mr. Rymer uses Baltic birch for these, which isn't cheap. It's a great way to get a custom made keepsake for loved ones and support the school at the same time. The price is $30 per ornament, or $50 for two ornaments.

Please see the links for a video with more information from Mr. Rymer, and the order form.

Central Catholic’s annual Middle School Leadership Summit is just around the corner. If you know students who have a passion for leadership and want to make a difference in their community then this is the place for them! Join us on December 3rd or December 4th (please pick one of the dates) from 400-7:00 P.M.

At this event, participants will get the chance to attend workshops of their choice facilitated by current Central Catholic Leadership students and staff. Dinner will be provided and we welcome parents to come back for the last 20 minutes of the event for a leadership showcase.

This applies to any and all events after regular school hours.

This is for student safety first and foremost. Our students need to be safe and feel comfortable, which is why we take security seriously, and why we invest in necessary infrastructure to protect our students and staff during school hours.

Unsupervised kiddos at after school events is a different case, and there are serious safety concerns which seems to persist despite messaging. At after school events such as the Boo Bash and even CYO, students tend to roam our sizable campus.

I get it. Middle school kids especially want to spend time with their friends, away from their parents. However, the few staff members who attended the Boo Bash spent more time keeping middle school students in the gym, than they did in the event with their own children. Nobody is a martyr, and it's hard to turn off your adult/teacher instincts when one sees dozens of children on the dark playground.

Simply, we do not have staff here to watch kids after normal school hours. If your child is attending any school or parish event, it is expected that they are accompanied by you, their parent or other guardian, and will be supervised by their parent or guardian at all times.

Do not drop your student off at an event. It is not uncommon to have students lingering around the gym or playground after an event is concluded, sometimes left to the care of strangers because their parents are not present.

If it is noted that an event is for adults only, please do not arrive with children and assume they will be safe on the playground, because we are not staffed to watch kids at such events.

Thank you for understanding the severity of the concern, and the need to be direct.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Mrs. Baumbach, Mr. Schoning, or Mrs. Barnett in the main office.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Registrar/Office Mrs. Barnett, barnetta@stthereseschool.org

Principal Schoning schoningc@stthereseschool.org

Vice Principal Baumbach cbaumbach@stthereseschool.org

School Phone: 503-253-9400