St. Thomas More Cathedral School

1. Message from the President

2. Race for Education

3. PTO Office Transition to Membership Toolkit

4. Royal Open Golf Tournament

5. Girl Scouts?

6. 8th Grade High School Visits

7. STM Morning with Santa

8. Save the Dates

9. PTO Volunteer Opportunities

10. Virtus Training

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

12. Uniforms

13. STM PTO Board

Hey!

Hey!

We did it! October is nearly in the books! Race for Education was huge, and the students were in their element. The kids looked amazing in their themed outfits (from superheroes, cows, minions, sport all-starts, and 8th Grader Court – many thanks for the sashes with “2024” on them). If you see Sumner and James during drop off and pick up, give them major props for their hard work. Thank you to all the volunteers, cheerleaders, and teachers (the real MVPs) – I hope you all had fun!

In terms of Trunk or Treat, what a night! I loved walking around and seeing all the creativity – Aliens, 101 Dalmatians, Stranger Things, Tiger King, the Witches Lair (with the warning of baking children into pies) and very on topic – Taylor Swift! Major respect to the Swifties! Thank you for your participation and creating a safe place for the kids to just play.

As we roll into November, we are turning into serious part of parents – pageants and events. November 1 is the Kindergarten All Saints Day Parade – a fun way to learn about saints. For the older students, our 8th graders will be confirmed on November 6, 2023. Prayers to both kindergartners and 8th graders and their families.

Please remember that November 7 is both the PTO monthly meeting (all virtual) AND our Taco Bamba restaurant fundraiser night.

- Kristen

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

What an amazing Race for Education! The weather was perfect and the smiles were bright as the kids raced their hearts out!

We're thrilled to have passed the $72,000 mark and we're leaving the donation portal open through October 31! If you didn't get a chance to donate yet or you're inspired to pitch in another $10 after seeing the kids' excitement on Wednesday, then you can still do so through the links below. And remember... those dress down days and donut parties are still up for grabs!

To date, the following classes will receive dress down days thanks to hitting the $2,500 milestone: Stockton, Yaffie, Fernandez, Prouty, Hoffman, Parente, Donovan, McIntosh, Daniels, Beaulieu, Lyons, Adinaro, Sheckels, K. Morgan, Godfrey, Baxter. Dress down date will be determined in the coming weeks.

To date, the following classes are leading their respective grades in fundraising: Stockton, Fernandez, Prouty, McIntosh, Daniels, Sheckels, K. Morgan, Meehan, Godfrey, and Baxter. Donut party date will be determined in the coming weeks.

Special thanks to all of the volunteers who came out to support the race and the parents who came to cheer! Thanks to our DJ, Rob Hanna from Sound Center Deejays, and of course, our wonderful sponsor, VCO Orthodontics, who made our race day t-shirts possible!

Stay tuned for the Race for Education wrap-up in the coming weeks!

DONATE through Pledgestar and send requests to family and friends: https://pledgestar.com/stthomasmore/

DONATE through the STM Community Support Link: https://bit.ly/3PYkLLB

DONATE by sending a physical check to the main office to the attention of Race for Education.

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

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 - 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 & filling up quickly. Registration is required. Registration will close once we reach full capacity. Time slots for pictures with Santa are now full.

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

• Mon. 10/30 – STM Golf Tournament
  
• Wed 11/1 - All Saints Day and Kindergarten Saints Parade
• Sat. 11/4 – Running Royals Championship Meet
• Mon 11/6 - WINTER UNIFORM Begins (see Handbook and links to uniform shops below)
• Mon 11/6 - 8th Grade Confirmation
• Tue. 11/7 - November PTO Meeting (Virtual - Google Link to be posted next week and via Facebook Parents Page)
• Tue. 11/7 - Taco Tuesday @ Taco Bamba
• Sat. 12/16 - Breakfast 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