St. Thomas More Cathedral School

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

Highlight of the Week: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and a National Day of Service.

Monday, January 15, 2024 marks the 38th anniversary of the national Dr. Martin Luther King holiday observance. Throughout the course of his short life, Dr. King exemplified service and love to one's neighbor and strangers alike. Service comes in all forms, from gathering socks for those who are unhoused, creating art projects for kindergarten students, to delivering food for low income seniors throughout the District of Columbia. Service much like faith requires action.

I want to highlight the works of all our students in the coming weeks so parents and teachers - so please send to the service projects are students are working on or completed this year. Send those humble brags in so we can highlight faith in action!

Upcoming Events

• Catholic Schools Week: Events abound and please stay tuned. The Catholic Schools Week Mass is January 28 @ 9 am and will be student-led. However teachers will be at all Masses (thank you) to hand out DDD slips to students in uniform.

PTO Business

• PTO Board Nominations are forthcoming - we will start sending out interest feelers in the next few months.

Contact

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

You should have or will be receiving a flyer on Winter Enrichment for your students.

Important Information

• Registration OPENS: Tuesday, January 9th @ 9am
• Registration CLOSES: Tuesday, January 16th @ 11:59pm

Detailed registration information can be found here.

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.

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 Book Fair
4. 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*

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.

We anticipate a February 5, 2024 launch.

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

We should anticipate a January 22 email blast inviting parents to create profiles for the 2/5/2024 launch. Exciting and the days of crying about crusts will end (it is in sight folks).

Please continue to loop in on daily lunch logistics and until then, please arrange for your student's lunch.

The annual book fair at St. Thomas More is set to start the Sunday of Catholic Schools Week, and we need volunteers in order to make sure this Fair is super successful.

Fun Fact: This fair is the library's biggest fundraiser! Enjoyed by all the children at the school, our library grows more special with the more books/learning materials it has. Your support, be it through volunteering during the fair, buying books during the fair, or both, supports the continued excellence of our beloved library!

Interested?

Please take a look at your availability to help during the dates of January 27 through February 2. Any adult/high school student may volunteer during setup, after school, or breakdown. Only Virtus trained volunteers may volunteer during the school day.

Ready to go? Well Sign Up Here!

Sign up as soon as possible for the slot/slots in which you would like to volunteer. All slots are per hour, and each hour volunteered does count towards your family commitment of twenty volunteer hours per school year.

Have any further questions? Email Stephanie Pacheco at spacheco@stmschool.org.

Do you know of any families interested in Catholic Education? STM's Open House will be January 28 from 10 am to Noon.

Thanks to everyone who donated to the Auction Gift Card Drive. We raised $4,860 in gift cards!

We're now moving to the next phase of Auction season. Click here to learn more about donations, sign-up parties, sponsorship, and volunteer opportunities. Plus get a sneak peek of when Auction tickets will go on sale!

If you are interested in volunteering to help put on this night of FUNdraising, please email stmschoolauction@gmail.com or contact one of the event co-chairs: Elizabeth Doherty (elizabeth.santadonato@gmail.com); Mimi Kifle (wegek@hotmail.com); or Allison Nicholson (allisonbnicholson@gmail.com).

STM (School) Calendar

• January 15: MLK Holiday and National Day of Service - No School
  
• January 19: Pizza Lunch
• January 25: Group Yearbook Pictures
• January 26: Interims; Pizza Lunch
• January 28: Catholic Schools Week Begins; Open House: STM Mass
• January 31: Coffee with the Principals
• February 2: Early Dismissal w/ Extended Day
• February 3: First Reconciliation (2nd Grade Families)
• February 6: PTO Meeting
• February 7: February Birthdays DDD
• February 8: Parent University
• February 9: Pizza Lunch
• February 14: Ash Wednesday
• February 16: No School - Teacher Development Day
• 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

• January 27: Trivia Night

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!

Remember the phrase “It takes a village”? Let’s remember that when I say that you are not alone. Feel free to email, use STM Parent FB, or your Room Parent to find answers. We are here to support our little humans and each other.

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/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1649633&type=d&pREC_ID=1792214
Location: 105 North Thomas Street, Arlington, VA, USA
Phone: 703-528-6781