September 27: Share the Road Truck Safety Event & Progress Reports Posted to Portal (grades 4-8)

September 29: Band Begins

September 30: Crusader Cup Golf Tournament & Middle School Monthly Activity

October 3: Registration for HSPT Test Opens (for 8th Graders)

October 4: Field Trip (Grades 1 & 2)

October 5: School Picture Day

October 6: Field Trip (Grades PK & K)

October 7: First Friday Mass, Bring your Bible to School Day, & Boxes of Joy Due

October 10: Fire Prevention Week Presentation

October 11: SMR Shadow Day (for 8th Graders)

October 19: Camp Maria Retreat

October 24: Field Trip (Grade 4)

October 27: Book Fair Begins, End of First Quarter, Monthly Activity, & Trunk or Treat

October 28: No School for Students

We had a GRAND day when we hosted our grandparents! Strong roots do indeed produce beautiful leaves! We were blessed to share a wonderful day together during Grandparents Day! The bond our students have with their grandparents is truly the best!

A special thank you goes to our Grandparents Day Committee (Mrs. Downey, Mrs. Valeski, Mrs. Sarlo, and Mrs. Hinkle) and the refreshment helpers (Kelly Neale, Rachel Richards, Krystle Rossignol, Nicole Schmidt, Mindy Stevens, and Kristin Wathen) as well as all of our primary grade families who so generously supplied the food and drinks. God bless you all!

The basketball season is upon us! We will be holding practices/ tryouts starting this week. If your 5th - 8th grader has any interest in playing in the upcoming season, please encourage them to attend the practice. The tryout practices will be held as follows:

• Girls JV/Varsity: 3-5pm (Tuesday 9/27)
  
• Boys JV/Varsity: 5-7pm (Tuesday 9/27)
• Boys JV/Varsity: 4-5:45pm (Thursday 9/29)

*Please note: We have not scheduled practice times moving forward. These are just tryout times.

LET'S GET FIRED UP! Cheerleading season is back! For any student interested in cheerleading, please see the registration form that was emailed to grades 5-8 families and return it to school by this Friday, September 30th. Payment can be made by cash, check or through the Benefact link on the school website. We will not be holding tryouts this year.

*Please note, students will only be allowed to participate in basketball -OR- cheerleading this season.

Cheerleading practice will begin in early October. Look for further information to follow!

The hot lunch menu for October is now active and will close at midnight on Friday, September 30th. Please be sure to take care of any outstanding balances prior to the menu closing or it will impact your student's lunch order. https://orgsonline.com/

Our FAW Crusader Cup Committee has been working hard and planning an epic day for our generous sponsors and above par golfers. We are fortunate enough to have sold out again this year! This event is all about the food, the fun, and fundraising for FAW. Thank you for signing up to support our school. Every dollar makes a huge difference for FAW.

** This year we are happy to offer both electronic and cash payment options during the event. However, please note the 50/50 raffle will be cash only. **

Crusader Cup

8:30 Registration/Check-In

• Crusader Team Pass ($80) / FAW Individual Pass ($20) – incl. Knight Drives, Throws, Mulligans, Above Par Mini Games & Prizes
• Activities are $5 each purchased individually
• Hole #7 – Beat the Dealer Forward Hole $5
• 50/50 Raffle Tickets (*CASH ONLY)
• Bloody Mary and Crush Bar (Orange and Pineapple) $7 by Andersons Bar
• Chick-fil-A Biscuits

8:50 Welcome Message

• Program will be provided on golf carts with all of the details

9:00 Start Your Drivers

• Golfer Snack Bags by Personalized Therapy LLC
• *New* $10,000 Hole in One Prize

11:00 Firehouse Subs Delivered Out to Golfers

2:30 Catered Awards and Dinner Immediately Following by Crab Knockers

• Fried Chicken & Stuffed Ham with Sides + Cookies
  
  

All day – Beer, Seltzers, and Drinks

All day – $7 Orange + Pineapple Crush Cart-Side Delivery

We are praying for good weather! So far the forecast is showing a high of 68 degrees with possible scattered showers in the afternoon. Hopefully that improves or at least holds off until we can get finished – but just in case, bring a poncho and dress in layers in case it’s chilly in the morning! We will have coverage under a tent for the catered awards ceremony dinner to keep us all dry! If for some reason we have to cancel for rain, our rain date will be Friday, October 28th.

Please feel free to contact Katie Bailey with any questions or comments at bailey.katie.lynn@gmail.com or (301) 904-5157.

The St. Mary's County Fair was held this past weekend. Many students participated in numerous ways including artwork, crafts, baked goods, animal entries, and any other exhibits. Some students were involved in the Speech Contest on Friday. Many Father Andrew White students volunteered in various ways, such as helping the judges, holding doors, and many other tasks. FAW had the most volunteers of any school in the county. Our service to the community is a wonderful example to others.

We had two students who participated in the Speech Contest. Preparing a speech takes a lot of time and effort. Seventh grader, Anna T. gave a moving speech about students with Down Syndrome learning in the general education classroom. Eighth grader, Grace Robusto earned 2nd place for her detailed speech about saving lives through organ donations.

Congratulations to all!

We have some talented artists at FAW! We appreciate the hard work that Mrs. Gavin does every year to help our students flourish in their artistic ability! A special thanks goes to Sarah Hayden for hemming our Fair Day exhibit backdrops and to Jackie Savarese and Michelle Schoenbauer who helped display the beautiful work! Many thanks!

Please refrain from using the bus lane during arrival (7:15 - 8:15 am) and dismissal (2:00 - 3:00 pm) times. If you need to escort a student to or from the school, please park in one of the side parking lots. We appreciate your cooperation!

Next Wednesday, October 5th we will host Picture Day. Students have the option to dress in their uniforms or to wear clothes purchased for this Picture Day. Please refer to the Parent/Student Handbook for all of our non-uniform policies.

Picture Day Order Forms were sent home last week.

You can also order online at mylifetouch.com. Be sure to use our Picture Day ID: EVTKVC8F2 .

Do you know that there are many forms of gifting to Father Andrew White School? We are accustomed to donating by cash or check. But the school can also accept gifts from Donor Advised Funds, Gifts of Stocks and Bonds, IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions, Corporate Matching Gifts, and final bequests. These gifts are facilitated by the Archdiocesan Office of Development but are donated in full to the designated entity.

St. Aloysius will be hosting a meeting on October 13th at 6:30pm in the Parish Hall to discuss these avenues in detail. It is open to anyone who might consider gifting to any Archdiocesan Parish, school or charity. In the meantime, check the “Donation” section in the parish website for a brief description of each type of gift.

Last year we won "Best Private School in St. Mary's County" and this year we were nominated for the "Best Private School in Southern Maryland"! Only six schools made it to this top level and we were one of them! Let's show others how awesome FAW is by casting your vote. You can vote once each day from now until September 30th. Go to "Kids & Education" then "School - Private" to cast your vote in the 2022 Best of the Best Southern Maryland Community Choice Awards Contest.

https://www.somdnews.com/best_of/#/gallery?group=433869

Mid-quarter Progress Reports for students in grades 4-8 have been posted on the Parent Portal. If students receive any Ds or Fs, their interim will be printed and will need to be returned to school with a parent signature. If anyone needs assistance with logging into the Parent Portal to monitor student grades, please contact Mrs. Greer at greer@fatherandrewwhite.org .

FAW School is proud to participate with the Knights of Columbus and Cross Catholic Outreach in the Box of Joy Program. Pick up an empty Box of Joy at the school and fill it with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, clothing, and accessories for either a boy or a girl. These shoebox sized boxes will be distributed in time for Christmas in South American countries to children in rural areas who have basically nothing. Please include a $9 check payable to "Cross Catholic Outreach" to pay for shipping. It would be helpful if you put that check in a marked envelope and sent it to the school office (instead of putting it inside the shoebox). Thank you for helping a needy child celebrate the birth of our Lord! For any questions, please call Gordy Stellway, Grand Knight, St. Mary's Council #1470 at 240-298-1674.

Here at FAW we strive to Follow God, Always be respectful and kind, and be Willing to learn. This motto helps us teach the student as a whole! Part of that mission includes various yearly screenings to make sure our eyes, ears, and (new this year) speech are developing along with our minds. In the coming weeks, we will be providing an articulation screening. This screening will determine if speech sounds are developing typically or if there are any speech delays or errors. You will be informed of the results of your individual student's screening. It will then be up to you if you would like to do anything further with the information. We can provide you with contact information to get additional screenings.

If your student is already working with a speech pathologist, kindly let us know, as our in-house speech screening will not replace that service, and would not be needed.

Thank you so much! We look forward to providing this additional service for you, our FAW family, in our mission to grow faith-filled, hard working, and well-rounded humans.

Do you have a middle schooler? Please visit our Middle School FAQ page for answers to many questions!

Child Protection Volunteer Requirements: For our new families and as a reminder for our returning families, don’t forget the archdiocesan requirements for anyone who wishes to volunteer for activities that involve interaction with our children (ex. coaching, classroom or cafeteria helper, chaperone on field trips, etc.). The Archdiocese of Washington Child Protection Policy requires volunteers in parishes and schools to set up an account at virtus.org, complete a volunteer application, get fingerprints taken, and attend a (virtual) training session on the Child Protection Policy. Upon completion of the training session, the last page in the policy book must be signed and returned to the school office. No one may volunteer with our children until the entire process is completed. Families that need to start this process in order to volunteer for activities involving our children, may visit our website HERE for step by step instructions.

Your support in and out of school is so very important and valued. Thank you for all that you do for our whole FAW community. Part of what makes our school so wonderful is your involvement in our activities. Sometimes we have community building events that are meant to gather us together as a school family and get to know each other while having fun. Other times we host fundraisers to help our school raise the money needed to support the school's operating budget and curriculum. We value you and your God given talents! We invite you to be an active parent by getting involved in various activities throughout the year. Please visit the volunteer opportunity form to let us know how you'd like to be involved this year. We are looking for 100% participation in completing this form. Please take 5 minutes (or less!) to complete the form. After doing so, you may be contacted by the event chairs who will offer ways you can help with that specific event. Thank you so much for your willingness to support our school with your time and talents!

Email rutherford@fatherandrewwhite.org about volunteering in the FAW kitchen with Mrs. Rutherford preparing hot lunch.

Next Saturday!

St. Mary’s Ryken welcomes families to our Fall Open House on Sunday, October 23rd at 1pm. Join us to learn more about what St. Mary’s Ryken offers 9 – 12th graders in the Southern Maryland community. During this event, meet students, faculty and administrators, tour our campus and get to know our community. Opportunities will be available to learn about: academics, campus ministry, fine arts, athletics, learning resources support, transportation, clubs and so much more! Please RSVP: www.smrhs.org/openhouse

❏ Participate in the Box of Joy Program

❏ Fill out the Volunteer Opportunity Form

❏ Sign up for October Hot Lunch

❏ Volunteer for Hot Lunch

❏ Have Fun Playing in the Crusader Cup

❏ Vote for FAW as Best of SOMD Private School
❏ Order Electronic Gift Cards Online
❏ Submit Volunteer Hours

Email: office@fatherandrewwhite.org
Website: https://www.fatherandrewwhite.org
Location: 22850 Washington Street, Leonardtown, MD, USA
Phone: (301) 475-9795
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fawschool/
Twitter: @FAWcrusaders