HALO NOTES

The principal, Kelly DeMolle, of St. Louis Catholic High School announced today that Senior Grant Evans has been named a Commended Student in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, was presented to this scholastically talented senior.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2025 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2025 competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource: recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

THIS WEEKEND is our annual Russell Stutes Memorial Golf Tournament. Tee time is at 8 AM on Saturday, September 28 at Contraband Bayou GC.

• Soft drinks and waters will be sold for $1 each. Please bring cash.
• No student will be allowed to enter the dance after 9:00 pm
• Students or their guest not meeting the dress code reminders will not be admitted into the event. Review mandatory dress code for girls here.
• Students must have a ticket purchased (contract signed) before entering the dance
• Breathalyzers will be used before and during the event
• Any student and their guest not following the rules will be asked to leave
• No student may leave the dance until after the homecoming court is presented, around 10:00 pm
• Review the dance policy from the student handbook here.

Teaching students responsibility and self-reliance is a team effort. Families and the school need to work together to foster independence. There has been a huge increase in the number of deliveries to the school; from lunches to forgotten school supplies and athletic gear, students are having more items delivered than Amazon!

To build independence within our Saints, after four (4) deliveries, the student will receive a disciplinary infraction and serve lunch detention.

To clarify:

• fast food/lunches may not be delivered to school
• parents should avoid bringing lunches to school during the day; if a student forgets to bring lunch they may purchase a cafeteria meal
• any athletic gear/uniforms must be brought to school with the student each day; anything brought to the office after the school day begins will be given to the appropriate coach.
• it is the student's responsibility to make sure they have what they need before school each day.

We recognize that all families have "off" days and the occasional forgotten item is understandable. We are hopeful that this effort will be beneficial for all parties and thank you for the support.

If a student needs to check out, please complete the attendance portal on our website. Once you arrive to pick up your student, park in a visitor spot and call the school's office. We will call the student down ad send them out to meet you. No need to come in to sign them in/out in the front office.

Please click HERE to review detailed information regarding the back gate entrance on Bank Street.

Any questions regarding the use of the gate, please reach out to Mr. Wyninger.

It's never too early to start planning ahead for next year! Please see our Admissions Timeline in preparation for the 2025-2026 school year. Detailed information will be announced for each item as we get closer to date. For questions please contact Fara McKinley '90, Director of Admissions, at 337-436-7275

Dr. George Delgado will be the keynote speaker at this year’s New Life Counseling banquet on October 8th, and has agreed to come and speak to our students during lunch that same day! Dr. Delgado is board certified in family medicine and in hospice and palliative medicine, and is the founder of the Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), a process that aims to reverse the effects of the abortion pill. Abortion pill reversal allows women a second chance to continue their pregnancy and save the life of their unborn baby.

Dr. Delgado will be speaking to our students at lunch for those who are interested. If you would like your student to be able to attend Dr. Delgado’s talk on abortion and what the APR can do for those in need, please sign the waiver giving your consent for your student to attend.

Students will have virtual assignments on Friday, September 27. The virtual assignments will be due by 7:30 a.m. on Monday, September 30, and teachers have reviewed these with students in their weekly agendas.

Save the Date! No School October 14 - Teacher in-service

End of Quarter 1 on October 11th.

Report cards emailed October 18th.

Click HERE for more information on academic assistance.

CLICK HERE for details about three different ACT Boot Camps available to students prior to the October 26th ACT test date.

Math Intensive Boot Camp (Sat. Sept 28th) is the one most requested and provides a comprehensive review of math topics covered on the ACT. For many students, math is the toughest score to improve.

Original All-4-Subjects Boot Camp (Sat. Oct 5th) covers content review, test-taking strategies, and time management skills with practice. This class will fill up first.

Timed Practice Boot Camp (Sat. Oct 19th) is the new class added this year to provide the much-needed timed practice-and-answer analysis in all four subject areas. In my opinion, this class is the most important one for students to take.

SLCHS is offering a workshop for the school day PSAT on Friday, October 18. This engaging learning experience is open to Sophomores & Juniors, regardless of their current test scores and grades.

Our teachers will implement high-quality lessons which will help students improve their PSAT score, work to achieve mastery in core subjects, provide acceleration, maintenance, or extension of academic skills in order to support a stronger academic performance for the future.

Sessions will be from 3:15 - 4:45 on the following Tuesdays: October 1, 8, 15

If your student is interested in participating in this free workshop, please sign up here.

What is it and why should I care about it?

Cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT)—often shortened to PSAT—is a standardized test targeting 10th and 11th graders in the US. Every year, approximately 3.5 million students take the PSAT test at various high schools.

As it stands, the PSAT is heavily connected to the SAT. One of the test's primary purposes is to act as a precursor to the SAT, and for many students, it is also their first exposure to any college admissions exam. Students will get practice on what to expect of a real college admissions exam testing experience.

The PSAT is a qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Program. PSAT scores determine students' eligibility for National Merit scholarships, and each year the top 1% of 11th-grade PSAT takers become Semifinalists. Semifinalists receive national recognition which often lead to scholarship opportunities from various universities.

How can my student prepare?

Through our English & Math classes, our students have been completing test practice questions. There is also an official PSAT Student Guide that offers students insights and practice questions.

The Counseling Department is hosting St. Louis's first College & Career Fair for our students on October 11. We need volunteers to attend and share information with students from the following professions: doctors, chemist, radiologist, accountant, real estate agent, interior design, graphic design, psychiatrist, dental hygienist, plant operator, contractor, pharmacist. If you would like to sign up, please email Mrs. Fournet. Thank you!

An admissions counselor from Louisiana Tech University will be on our campus next Thursday, September 26 during lunch in the library. Students are encouraged to attend and must sign up on Scoir.

The Lake Charles Football Officials Association submitted an LHSOA shout-out to recognize St. Louis Catholic High School for outstanding sportsmanship on 9/14/2024 at a football game. The LHSAA commends your school community for going above and beyond to support our officials. LHSOA describes the experience as "first class. Coaches, players, administration showed professionalism and sportsmanship!" Way to go Saints!!

The Saints will celebrate Homecoming tonight when they host Washington-Marion at Matt Walker Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

FREE "Proud to be a Saint" yard signs will be available at tailgate!

Player/parent tennis team meeting Tuesday at 5:30 PM at OLQH FLCC.

Saturday at the Crawfish Aquatics High School Open Invitational - taking 3rd OVERALL, 2nd place BOYS, 4th place GIRLS & 7 MORE STATE CUTS : Junior, Cora Diedrich (1 cut - 100 Free), Junior, Andrew Findley (2 cuts - 50 Free & 100 Breast), Junior, Gabrielle McKinley (1 cut - 100 Free) Junior, AJ Schlang (1 cut - 500 Free), Junior - Noah Katoch (1 cut - 500 Free) and Sophomore/Team Captain, Luca Genius (1 cut - 200 Free).

Our 4th meet of the season, Sulphur Relay Meet, is Saturday, September 28th at SPAR (933 W Parish Road) in Sulphur.

Girls cross country returns to action Saturday when they will compete in the Ain’t No Shade in Cade meet, hosted by Episcopal School of Acadiana. Racing begins at 8:30 a.m.

The Saints will host Barbe in the pavilion on Monday in a non-district match. Varsity play begins at 6 p.m. The team will also travel to LaGrange for a match on Tuesday. The team is coming off a 25-18, 25-17, 25-23 road win at Rayne on Tuesday. They also picked up wins over Cabrini, De La Salle and Ursuline at last weekend’s Academy of the Sacred Heart tournament in New Orleans.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, we will be giving away 200 "Proud to be a Saint" yard signs FREE during Homecoming Week! (Be on the lookout at Homecoming Week activities!)

Please contact Jill Mahoney or call 346-400-3019 to make an appointment for senior pictures and for retakes.

Those of you interested in attending this next year's March for Life: Please CLICK HERE for the information packet.

March for Life is a wonderful opportunity to witness community at its best, and for many, this is a life changing experience. Fundraising opportunities will be available leading up to the trip, so please don't let financial concerns keep you for registering! Here is a link from the March for Life website that can help give you a glimpse as to what its like. Let us know if you have any questions.

God bless,

Blaine Wyninger

Assistant Principal

Dean of Student Life

Do you have your membership secured with the Alumni Association? CLICK HERE to join us and make sure you have access to the VIP upstairs area at Crying Eagle this weekend. See membership details above.

Can't find the most recent email with the current edition of Halo Notes? Halo Notes can be accessed anytime on our website!

On the home page, click on "News" at the top of the page and you will see the link to Halo Notes. We also keep previous editions on file for your convenience. This way you can always access everything St. Louis Catholic!

OUR FOUR PILLARS:

Wonder - Identity - Community - Service

Email: saintsmail@slchs.org
Website: www.slchs.org
Location: 1620 Bank Street, Lake Charles, LA, USA
Phone: 337-436-7275
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slchssaints
Twitter: @slchs_saints