St. Thomas More Cathedral School

1. Message from the President

2. Race for Education

3. PTO Office Transition to Membership Toolkit

4. Trunk or Treat

5. Royal Open Golf Tournament

6. Girl Scouts

7. 8th Grade High School Visits

8. Taco Tuesday @ Taco Bamba!

9. STM Breakfast with Santa

10. Save the Dates

11. Virtus Training and PTO Volunteer Opportunities

12. Drop off and Pick up procedures with STM dismissal link

13. Uniforms

14. STM PTO Board

Hey!

It was great to see the community out and about during Oktoberfest! It was a great fall Sunday and the kids were having a blast. The whole event was really was nice.

I hope to see parents next week for Race for Education and Trunk or Treat.

If you have events to be included here, please let me know by Wednesday of each week.

SAFETY & SECURITY: We have raised over $55,000, but we still need $30,000 more to meet this year's goals to make security improvements through the replacement of exterior and interior doors and to support our teachers who are on the frontlines of keeping our children safe. Please make a donation for this vital effort and spread the word to family, friends, and organizations that provide matching gifts.

DONATE! There are three ways to donate!

• Donate through Pledgestar and send requests to family and friends.
• Donate through the STM Community Support Link.
• Donate by sending a physical check to the main office to the attention of Race for Education.

DRESS DOWN DAYS AND DONUTS! Several classes have already surpassed the $2,500 milestone to receive a dress down day, and the highest fundraising class per grade level will receive a donut party! Plus if we hit the $85,000 goal, the entire school will get a dress down day!

Congrats to the following classes that have hit the $2,500+ milestone: Stockton, Fernandez, Prouty, Hoffman, Parente, McIntosh, Daniels, Beaulieu, Lyons, Adinaro, Sheckels, Baxter.

The following classes are the current fundraising leaders per grade: Stockton, Fernandez, Prouty, McIntosh, Daniels, Sheckels, K. Morgan, Meehan, Godfrey, Baxter.

RACE DAY ATTIRE! Race for Education t-shirts were sent home with students today. On race day, please send your child to school in their Race for Education t-shirt, gym pants/shorts, and sneakers.

RACE DAY PARTY! Come enjoy the festivities and cheer for your runners on Oct. 25! There will be a DJ and you'll have a chance to buy STM merch to show your school spirit. See below for grade specific race blocks:

• Pre-K & K: 9:00-9:45
• 1st & 2nd: 10:00-10:45
• 3rd, 4th, & 5th: 11:00-11:45
• 6th, 7th, & 8th: 12:00-12:45

VOLUNTEERS: If you volunteered for the race, you should have received a message from Sumner Menchero and James Whiteside. If you have any questions, feel free to contact them.

We're excited to introduce our new PTO website, which now allows for volunteer sign-ups, access to the family directory and a hub for overall PTO information!

Invitations to join the website and create an account were sent out to all the email addresses on record this week. Please check your email for your invitation today! Reminders will be sent next week for anyone who has not signed up yet.

Please check out the new website here: https://stmpto.membershiptoolkit.com

Hey – so do you have your trunk ideas ready?

Here is the Pre-Order form for The Italian place for Trunk or Treat. There will be no walk up and order food served at the event.

Trunk or Treat is back for its 4th annual gathering! Get ready for some spooky fun on October 27, 2023 from 5 to 7:30 pm in the STM parking lot. Please note this is a RAIN or SHINE event.

There will be face painters, balloon artists and a strolling magician! We also will have an obstacle course bounce house. Pre-order dinner (details to follow) and enjoy some Captain Cookie treats while "trunk" or treating with your kids.

General rules:

1. Space is LIMITED for this event. If you did not reserve your admission to this event, you will not be permitted to participate.
2. Each Trunk ticket is $10.
3. Walk-in tickets are $5 each or $20 for a family.
4. Tickets will be distributed in your oldest child’s backpack on October 25, 2023; check in will be at the school gate similar to dismissal procedures.
5. Walk-in admissions will be permitted to enter the parking lot once all the cars are parked and the school gates are closed.
6. The event last year had approximately 350 children attending, so car/“Trunk” admissions should have enough treats for that many children.
7. Cars may begin parking in the designated “Trunk” spots at 4:40 pm. The School gates will close at 5 pm and will not reopen until 7:30 pm.
8. If your car is parked in a “Trunk” spot during the event, you will not be able to leave the event early. If you cannot stay for the entirety of your timed entry, you should not park your car in a designated “Trunk” spot.
9. STM Teachers/ Staff admitted FREE, BUT YOU STILL NEED TO REGISTER WHILE SPACE IS AVAILABLE!

Tickets can be purchased here (updated link will bill you via FACTS).

Fund the Back Nine and Volunteer!

The STM Royal Open has sponsorship opportunities remaining! Help us Fund the Back Nine with $500 hole sponsorships ($250 family).

Does your child’s coach or piano teacher want some great PR? Do you want to shout out to a beloved family member, or teacher? All donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

Volunteers needed! Sign Up using this link.

Before we all start crying - our babies, I mean 8th graders are heading off to High School next year. Crazy Right? I wanted to share some of the schools that are accepting applications and planning to visit STM in the coming weeks:

• High School Visit - Paul VI Oct. 26, 2023
  
• High School Visit - Visitation and Gonzaga Nov. 16, 2023
  
• High School Placement Test (8am to 10am) Nov. 30, 2023

Get ready for an amazing taco Tuesday! We have partnered with Taco Bamba (https://www.tacobamba.com) for an in restaurant or a to go catering order fundraiser event.

• It will be at the locations Ballston & Shirlington on November 7, 2023.
• Use Online Coupon Code: “STMPTO” or when you go into the store, just tell the cashier that they are part of the St Thomas More Fundraiser.

This code and donation also applies to any gift card sales on that day!

Join us on Saturday, December 16 from 9:00am - 11:00am for a magical morning of holiday fun with steaming hot chocolate, ornament decorating, Christmas bingo and pictures with Santa! The event will be held at St. Thomas More School in the Gym & Cafeteria.

Space is limited. Registration is required. Registration will close once we reach full capacity. Once you register, you will be directed to a link to sign up for pictures with Santa. There are a limited number of slots so sign up early!

Volunteers are needed! The links to sign up to volunteer will be sent in the next newsletter.

For questions, please contact Rosalinda at rosalinda.ortega@gmail.com.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

I would not be a good PTO board member if I didn’t advocate for leaders within our school community. Currently, we have needs for the following roles:

1. STM Auction Chair (s) – the biggest event and fundraiser of the school year, this is your chance to organize the biggest party. More information to follow soon!
2. STM Fund Liaison – a new position where a parent or group of parents meet with Parish staff to begin the ramp up of fundraising through the Parish.
3. Recess Monitors - signups are on Membership Toolkit
4. Parish Volunteers - There a few opportunities to participate in parish activities that can contribute to family volunteer requirements. As we finish the migration to MT, we will begin to post activities there.

*As a reminder, all volunteers must be VIRTUS trained to volunteer at school events during school hours, including field trips*

We keep talking about volunteering but let’s take a few steps back and talk about how to get to volunteer during school hours. Want to sling some slices of pizza or attend an amazing field trip as a chaperone? You will need VIRTUS Training and an account with the Diocesan Office of Child Protection.

There is an application, background check, and training you must complete but once you are done - volunteering is more accessible. Each parent/guardian must be VIRTUS compliant in order to volunteer within the school. Please reach out to the STM Office for further information.

STM Calendar

• Wed. 10/25 – Race for Education (more information about registration available at https://pledgestar.com/stthomasmore/)
  
• Fri. 10/27 – Trunk or Treat (5 – 8pm)
• Mon. 10/30 – STM Golf Tournament
• Sat. 11/4 – Running Royals Championship Meet
• Tue. 11/7 - November PTO Meeting (Note - we may need to change this as this is Election Day and Civic Duty is core value so I want to make sure everyone has time to handle that).
• Tue. 11/7 - Taco Tuesday @ Taco Bamba
• Sat. 12/16 - Morning with Santa

***Note: PTO Board Meetings (beginning in September)– anyone is welcome to attend AND you receive 1 hour of volunteer participation time for attendance. Plus you know all the details (usually the first Tuesday of every month). We will work on a mix of in person and hybrid meetings so that you all can participate.

If you need to change how your children are picked up, please use this dismissal form by 2:30 pm. Please see the displays below about how to dropoff and pick up the students. If you have family or friends - please send this to them.

STM Handbook

Retail locations to purchase new uniforms can found here:

1. Flynn & O’Hara (650-19 Main St, Fairfax, VA 22031)

2. Robcyns (3660 King Street, Alexandria VA 22302)

3. Land’s End (Preferred School Number: 900077975) - PE Uniforms Only

President - Kristen Wright

President-Elect - Katie Burch

Secretary - Allison Rabin

Treasurer - Hannah Maloney

Vice President of Fundraising - Wege (Mimi) Kifle

Vice President of Events - Sara Harrington

At-Large CYO - Cesar Enriquez

At-Large PK -8th - Genevieve Kelly

At-Large DI - Jennifer McIntyre

At- Large Room Parent - Allison Nicholson

Email: stmptopresident@gmail.com
Website: https://www.stmschool.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1649633&type=d&pREC_ID=1792214
Location: 105 North Thomas Street, Arlington, VA, USA
Phone: 703-528-6781