St. Thomas More Cathedral School

1. Message from the President
2. In the Classroom and Academic Reminders
3. In the Parish
4. Volunteer Corner
5. Lunch Information
6. STM Auction 2024
   
7. Save the Dates
8. Reference Information

Highlight of the Week: Catholic Schools Week!

What a great week – I saw excitement about celebrations and events. Thank you again for investing in Catholic education in the classroom and at home!

Upcoming Events

My Hot Lunch Box Launch! The end of crazy lunches is near folks. Visit https://ordernow.myhotlunchbox.com/login if you have not already to get yourself in the system and lunches for your students squared away.

PTO Meeting

PTO February Meeting (Virtual) is Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 6:30 pm

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/phn-eeip-kvn

PTO 2024-2025 Board Nominations

The PTO Board Nominations Interest form will be live Friday, February 9, 2024. This form will be available through March 15, 2024. Interested parties will be contacted through April 2024. A election slate will be published for consideration April 15, 2024 with PTO Elections, May 7, 2024.

PTO By-Laws: https://stmpto.membershiptoolkit.com/assets/07592/Resources/STM-PTO-By-Laws-August-2021-FINAL.pdf

Contact

• Questions, ideas, concerns, even gripes...feel free to contact me.
• If you have events to be included here in the weekly newsletter, please let me know by Wednesday of each week.

1. February Dress Down Day – February 7

2. Parent University – February 8 about family mental health (Register here: https://forms.gle/qNqBrLxGSNqXH6p89)

Little League Baseball is the largest youth sports organization in the country, providing baseball instruction to kids of all ages. The Arlington, VA program is open to kids ages 4 - 13; it also offers baseball programming to athletes ages 5 - 22 who have varying disabilities.

We have opportunities at all ages but are especially interested in growing our program at ages 4 and 5.

Registration for our Spring 2024 program is open now, and prices are at their lowest level in more than a decade!

Practices will start in mid-March for a season that runs from the beginning of April to the end of May. Teams are forming now!

Arlington Little League runs a paid Junior Umpire program, and we would like to offer kids in the middle school ages (13 and up) a chance to get started with that. It's been a great first job experience for many and has led a few who have come through the program to a lucrative, portable, in demand side gig in college and beyond.

Currently, we have needs for the following roles:

1. *Recess Monitors - signups are on Membership Toolkit; and
2. *Lunch helpers because little hands need help opening lunch boxes and yogurt squeeze tubes.
3. STM Auction (see the post on the Auction!)
   

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

Visit https://ordernow.myhotlunchbox.com/login if you have not already to get yourself in the system and lunches for your students squared away.

• Monday - Tropical Smoothie
• Tuesday - Noodles & Co
• Wednesday - Chick-fil-A
• Thursday - Which Wich

There are plenty of ways that you can help support this year's Auction! We're now accepting donations of beer, wine, and liquor for the event, and for every $15 worth of libations you contribute, you'll earn 1 volunteer hour. Please reach out to Michelle A if you would like to donate!

We're also still accepting donations and securing sponsorships, but the deadline is fast approaching! If you're interested in contributing to the Auction in these ways, please contact the Auction Committee members below.

Sponsorship Lead: Elizabeth Doherty

Business Donations Lead: Mimi Kifle

But the biggest news of all... AUCTION TICKETS ARE ON SALE! It's a chance to eat, drink, be merry, and bid with your fellow STM parents! Go to the Auction website right now to get your tickets for the STM event of the season!

For general questions, please email stmschoolauction@gmail.com.

Thanks for supporting this major STM fundraiser!

STM (School) Calendar

• February 2: Early Dismissal w/ Extended Day
  
• February 3: First Reconciliation (2nd Grade Families)
• February 6: PTO Meeting (Virtual)
• February 7: February Birthdays DDD
• February 8: Parent University
• February 9: Pizza Lunch
• February 14: Ash Wednesday – Additional information by class will be announced by next week
  

• February 16: Early Dismissal, No Extended Day (UPDATED)

• February 23--Stations of the Cross 2-2:45 pm

• February 19: No School - President's Day

***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.

Parish Calendar

Valentine Cards for Seniors – details can be found here

February 17: Lenten Morning of Reflection - Mass at 9am followed by bagels and a talk at 80 North Glebe Road (Parish Event) register here

June 17 -21, 2024: Vacation Bible School (registration and volunteers needed) details

Want to get out of the house and see some cool sports stuff (listen of all the sports, hockey is not mine)? But the Washington Capitals know that STM loves our hometown team. The Washington Capitals has generously offered discounted tickets for STM families for the remainder of the season.

Please use this link to make your purchase: https://fevo-enterprise.com/group/capsyouthhockey

LET'S GO CAPS!

Starting now, we are excited to introduce self-reporting for volunteer hours. While the majority of the hours have already been recorded in our Membership Toolkit system, we want to ensure that every contribution is accurately reflected. This will also allow families to check their volunteer hour balance. We will still continue to use the volunteer sign-ups for volunteer coordination and tracking purposes, but all volunteer hour balances will be managed via the new portal.

To access this new portal for self-reporting hours, please utilize the following steps:

1. Navigate to the STM PTO Website’s new Volunteer Hours page (LINK) and log into your account.
   
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and verify the “Previously Reported” hours that have been recorded for your family.
   
3. Review the hours logged for your volunteering/donations and verify that they are accurately represented in the system. If you find any discrepancies or if there are additional hours that haven't been recorded, please take a moment to submit them through the system.

Please be as descriptive as possible with any submitted entries because all self-reported hours will undergo thorough cross-checks with sign-up sheets and event chairs to guarantee accuracy and completeness.

If you encounter any challenges or have questions about the self-reporting process, feel free to reach out to stm.pto.volunteers@gmail.com.

• Visit our website and register for an account at https://stmpto.membershiptoolkit.com!
• Here is a video primer on MT for your reference.

If you have questions, please contact Amy, our PTO Volunteer Coordinator at stm.pto.volunteers@gmail.com.

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.

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

If you need to change how your children are picked up, please use this dismissal form by 2:30 pm.

STM Handbook

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/
Location: 105 North Thomas Street, Arlington, VA, USA
Phone: 703-528-6781