2024

Happy new year and continued Christmas blessings as we celebrate this beautiful liturgical season. Some may disagree, but it was nice to get back to school this week, back to a routine, see friends, students, peers and colleagues. It is also during this time of year after the 2 week break that for many of us, it feels like everything is coming at us at terminal velocity!

For that reason, I want to highlight some essentials of January, things to know and do!

#1) Catholic Schools Week begins on Sunday, January 26th, with a school mass presented by teachers and staff at 10 a.m. (the regular Sunday mass, with more teachers). We invite you all to join us that day for mass to celebrate our school and our parish. You are always welcome at liturgy services at St. Therese. If your home parish is a part of the vicariate, each of those parishes have been so loving and supportive of St. Therese as the final remaining school in the vicariate, that I'd bet that your home parish priest would understand if you joined us that Sunday. Your priest may even be joining us that Sunday anyway!

#2) After mass, we will open our school doors to visitors and prospective families for our annual Open House! Tell your friends, neighbors, loved ones and anyone you know with children looking for a better option for pre-k through 8th grade education. It will be worth it (read below).

#3) One of our liveliest and most culturally vibrant celebrations of the year is coming up, Lunar New Year! If you are interested in getting involved, please join us this coming Tuesday, January 14th @ 6 p.m. for our monthly Parents Club meeting, which will be designated for planning the Lunar New Year event. All are welcome to participate. It's a super fun way to get some of those Fair Share Hours, and even the meeting counts towards those! 😜

#4) Apply for tuition assistance ASAP! The deadline for applications is February 3, 2025. If you need consideration for financial assistance for the 2025 - 26 school year, it is to your advantage to apply as early as possible. It is to the advantage of the whole St. Therese School community. Use this link to our school webpage. Once there, hit the big red button with the words "New Families Click Here for FACTS Grant and Aid Application," even if you are a returning family.

• Ascend is the new title of the Catholic Schools Endowment Foundation (CSEF). Ascend serve all diocesan Catholic schools, and they make a determination of the amount that each school shall receive in grants in early spring. The data that they use to determine the amounts is solely based on the perceived financial need of each school, according to the families who apply before February 3.
• It is imperative that we as a school get the most accurate picture of the collective financial needs of our community before the deadline of February 3. Those who apply before the deadline will be given preferential consideration when our business office and school administration have to make final decisions on financial awards, for no other reason than hitting the deadline. We want to help every family who needs help!! This is our way of asking you to help us help you!
• Please inquire with the school office, or the St. Therese business office if you have questions on the intricacies of this system. We assure full transparency and can give a more thorough explanation, though I do say that unless you are in the finance world, or a Catholic school administrator, it may not make a whole lot more sense.
• Here's the takeaway: Use this link to apply for consideration for financial assistance before February 3, 2025. Help us help you!

You will hear more in the coming weeks and months about 2025 as the Jubilee Year of Hope, as declared by Pope Francis. If you have time, I would encourage you to read through the links on this Jubilee Year and its theme of hope. It is in the spirit of hope that we look forward to what the Lord has planned in the 2025 for the St. Therese community. We remain hopeful, and grateful to you, for making St. Therese School what it is for so many: home.

In Christ the Teacher,

Chris Schoning

Principal

St. Therese School

schoningc@stthereseschool.org

Do you know any families looking for Pre-K through 8th grade for next school year?! Send them our way on January 26th! Our annual Open House will be from 12:00 - 2:00 PM!

You can earn a tuition credit of $500 by referring a new family to St. Therese! Our best form of

advertising is you, our current parents and families. There are some limitations of this

program, which we will share transparently ASAP. In short, see the following.

To be eligible for this credit:

• The family you refer must not have had students at St. Therese in the last five years
• The family you refer must have their students enrolled and be current on tuition for at least three months. For example, if the family enrolls students in September for the 2025-26 academic year, you account would receive the $500 credit approximately at the beginning of December.
• The referral credit will be applied to your family balance as of the date of the issuance of the referral credit.
• If there is no current balance, the credit will be applied to the next school year initial balance.

Bring interested loved ones and friends to our Open House on January 26th! We can answer all their questions! All Catholic Schools depend on tuition dollars to fund their schools. As enrollment increases, so do resources for all! That increases the budget for new curriculum, classroom spending for each teacher, facilities improvements, and opportunities for students. The $500 kicker doesn't hurt either!

Please SAVE THE DATE for the upcoming International Festival and Lunar New Year planning session in the new year on Tuesday, January 14th, 2024 @ 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held in the Parish Social Center.

Lễ Hội Quốc Tế & Tết Nguyên Đán
Buổi Họp Lên Kế Hoạch

Ngày: Thứ Ba, 14 Tháng 1, Năm 2024
Thời Gian: 6 giờ tối

Ban Tổ Chức Tết Nguyên Đán kính mời quý phụ huynh tham gia buổi họp để cùng thảo luận về kế hoạch tổ chức và các cơ hội tình nguyện. Hy vọng mọi phụ huynh có thể tham dự!

If you have been around for a few years, you know how amazing our Lunar New Year celebration has become over the years. It is not longer just a Lunar New Year celebration, but a cultural celebration of everything that makes St. Therese unique! We would love to make this year's event bigger and better! Join us on January 14th at 6PM in the PSC for our Lunar New Year planning session during the Parent's Club Meeting! All are welcome and encouraged to come!

Catholic Schools Week is the last week in January! This exciting week starts with MASS on January 26th. We encourage all families and students to attend! Follow Mass is our annual Open House. Please spread the word to all about our Open House. We have openings in Pre-K through 8th Grade.

Catholic Schools Week is a lot of fun and a time for us to be proud of our Catholic School. The staff are currently working hard to create a memorable week for all our students.

After mass and the Open House kick off the week, the next big event will be a Student Pancake Breakfast for student appreciation! If you would like to volunteer or donate to the event, please see the Sign Up Genius below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4AACAC29A6FECF8-54342977-student

Today, January 10th, our 8th graders were invited to spend a day at De La Salle North Catholic High School. The students were warmly welcomed and were able to experience what a day at De La Salle looks like. The met with a panel of high schoolers, toured the whole school, and even got to wait in the hot lunch line for a real high school meal.

It is currently high school application season in 8th grade. The 8th graders work hard to explore what all our amazing local Catholic high schools have to offer. They then work hard to find their perfect fit!

• 1/14 Parents Club Meeting at 6PM in the PSC
• 1/20 No School- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• 1/24 Last Friday of the Month- Free Dress with donation
• 1/26 Open House 12:00 - 2:00
• 1/26 - 1/31 Catholic Schools Week
• 1/31 No School- Staff Faith Formation
• 2/7 Lunar New Year Celerbration
• 2/17 No School for President's Day

Tuesdays

• Vietnamese classes has changed from leveled classes, to one class from 3:30 - 4:30 --Vietnamese class is CANCELLED ON TUESDAY DECEMBER 17TH, and will resume in January.

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!

There are various ways to help the less fortunate this holiday season through St. Andrew Bessette Catholic Church in downtown Portland. Some are more direct than others. The Street Essentials ministry looks like a great way to get younger people involved in giving to others if you are concerned about taking the whole family downtown. Explore them all here.

Thanks to the Archdiocese for sending these out to the Catholic communities of Portland!

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