Monday News 11/27

St. Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic School

Monday News

November 27, 2017

“The one who falls and gets up is so much

stronger than the one who never fell”

~Unknown

Message from Principal Angie Krauss:

Dear Families,

We are so happy to welcome the children back after the nice Thanksgiving break! Hopefully it was a blessed time spent with family and friends. We are so fortunate to take time to break bread with those we love and offer grateful hearts to God.

As we settle into the week ahead, we look forward to getting back in our school routine as we prepare for the season of Advent that will begin next week. Many of your students will probably be singing Christmas songs at home in preparation for our annual K-8 Christmas program, “ The Birth of Hope”, on December 13th. The ELC Christmas program is on December 6th.

In closing, I want to thank you so much for all of the items that have been brought in for the auction already! This helps to build excitement for our 26th Annual Auction, “Kids Under Construction”. Please save the date for February 2nd, 2018 and join us in our new gym!

In Christ’s Peace,

Angie Krauss

ELC Information:

Teddy Bears: This week we will be finishing up with our fall assessments and continue discussing our families and how we celebrated Thanksgiving.

Chickadees: This week we will work on shapes and colors.

Owls: This week we will discuss how animals prepare for winter. The class will learn which animals hibernate or migrate and why. Our main focus will be on bears and how they get ready for a long and cold winter.

Blue Jays: This week we will continue to talk about family. Each child will have time to share their Thanksgiving stories. We will be doing art to go with our theme.

Hawks: This week the Hawks class will focus on the letter “Jj.”  We will make a jewel collage, read The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord and taste different kinds of jam.  We will also learn about advent and discuss Jesus.

Tigers: This week Tigers class will be learning letter “Z”, with a focus on zoo, zebra and zero! Our lessons on personal safety will continue as well.

Montessori East:

Montessori West: will be discussing north America this week.

ALL-SCHOOL: Mark your Calendars:

Dec 1st- Picture Retake Day- see info below

Dec 6th- ELC/Mont Christmas Program- more info to come

Dec 8th- Immaculate Conception Mass- 12:15 at St. Al’s Church

Dec 13th- K-8th Christmas Program- More info to come

Dec 14th- Advent Reconciliation

Dec 20-Jan 2nd- Christmas Break-  ELC/School Closed Dec 25th-Jan 2nd

Jan 3rd- School Resumes

Important Notes & Reminders:

Picture Retake Day:  If you child is needing picture retakes or they need to have their pictures taken they may wear free dress (free dress is only for students having their pictures taken).  Order forms are located at the front office.  Picture retakes–please make sure you bring their original pictures you are sending back.

3rd and 4th Grade Families:  The November 30th sign up deadline is fast approaching for the 3rd and 4th grade St. Aloysius Gonzaga Basketball Program.  Your child will learn the fundamentals of basketball, play fun games and be led and coached by Gonzaga University role model coaches in the St. Al’s Gym!  First practices begin in mid- January after-school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  See the attached flyer for more details.  Questions?  Call Pete Hanson at 509-362-4411

Lost and Found:  This is your last chance to search lost and found for your child’s belongings before they are donated at the end of the week.  Our lost and found is very full.  

Mission Advancement:

Building the Future Capital Campaign:

So far, we have raised $52,000 toward our $600,000 goal to Cross The Phase 2 Finish Line! We continue to solicit major gifts, in-kind gifts, corporate gifts, family gifts, memorial gifts, etc. If you know an individual, family, business or foundation that might love to support St. Al’s and our Building The Future capital campaign, please let us know. We’ll do all the work! Please continue to pray for generous support of our mission and our campaign. Thank you!

• Cross the Phase 2 Finish Line! GIVE TODAY at www.stalsschool.org and help us reach our $600,000 goal! For more information, please contact Cami Carlson at 489-7825 x238 or ccarlson@dioceseofspokane.org.

  St. Al’s – Building The Future www.stalsschool.org St. Al’s is our past, our present and St. Al’s is building our future. Graduating students who are “leaders in action, modeled on Christ”, that is our promise to you.

Annual Report – Kids Under Construction

We hope you enjoyed your KIDS UNDER CONSTRUCTION annual report! The spirit of St. Al’s burns so brightly because of our awesome staff, wonderful families, and of course, our amazing “kids under construction!” Please consider a year-end gift for our annual fund to support our “kids under construction” and share the St. Al’s spirit! Thank you in advance for your generosity!

DID YOU KNOW??? We will have two infant care classrooms and three toddler care classrooms in our new building! AWESOME!!!  

WE STILL HAVE Christmas Cards For Sale!

We love our partnership with the Knights of Columbus #15143 – St. Aloysius Parish Council! The Knights support our school in a multitude of ways every year. This year, the Knights of Columbus used the 2016 Keep Christ In Christmas Poster Contest winning student designs to create beautiful Christmas cards! There are nine AWESOME student creations in each set of cards. The set of 9 cards is on sale now for $10! All proceeds will benefit our incredible visual and performing arts programs! You can purchase your cards at the upstairs front desk with Mrs. Kelly. Please complete the attached order form and submit it with payment (cash or check). We have 45 sets on hand now, and we can order more! Purchase your cards today!

Send Us Your Pictures

Please share your pictures you take at sporting events or any fun St. Al’s moments that you capture.  We will gladly share them on our social media!

Auction News:

We have our first 2 Hope Sponsors for the auction!

The date of the auction is February 2, 2018.  Mark your calendars now!  

Our 3nd auction meeting is on December 5th at 5:30pm.  

All St. Al’s families are asked to donate to the auction. Our partnership with parents enables this event to be our most successful fundraiser of the year.

Ways to Donate/Procure Items:

Become an Auction Sponsor!  You can do this by filling out the attached Auction 2018 Sponsorship Opportunities page and returning it to school.
Purchase merchandise worth $100 retail value and donate it to the school. Black Friday is coming up and it’s a great way to score items for a lower price.
Family Basket Challenge: donate a completed theme basket, filled, wrapped and ready for display.
Procure/Ask for donations from local businesses you frequent.
If you are unable to do any of the above, simply pay $50 to the school c/o Auction.
Family donations turned in by December 11th, 2017, will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a $200 tuition credit.
The drawing will take place December 12th, 2017.

Follow us on Instagram @ st.alsgonzaga  Share your photos and St. Al’s stories with Anne Hesler at ahesler@dioceseofspokane.org .

Follow us on Facebook “St. Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic School Spokane”

Share our stories on Facebook.  Help us spread the word of what is happening here at St. Al’s.

Volunteer Hours:

Please email  Aleisha Webb at awebb@dioceseofspokane.org if you did not receive a Volunteer Hour Summary for the month of November or if you have any questions about volunteer hour recording.

Reminder: If you are coaching a sport please indicate which sport you are coaching. If recording in any of the “other” categories, please leave a description at the bottom of the page. Hours will not be accepted until clarified. Thank you!

Volunteer Opportunities:

• PLANNING AHEAD:

  • With the Christmas program just a couple weeks away, I would like to let you know about some opportunities to volunteer. I will need volunteers to help set-up risers at about 9am on Tuesday, December 12th and then tear down later that afternoon (time TBD). In addition, I will need the same help on Wednesday, December 13th about 9am to set-up. Tear down and clean up will be after the Christmas program. Please be aware, the risers are quite heavy and require lifting. If you are interested in helping out please email me at awebb@dioceseofspokane.org.

Amazon Smile:

Today is Cyber Monday! Remember when doing your holiday shopping this season to log in to smile.amazon.com  before you do your online shopping! Follow these simple instructions:

·         Please go to smile.amazon.com
·         Login with your standard Amazon username and password
·         Search “St. Aloysius Spokane”
·         Select “St. Aloysius Parish and School”
-OR-
·         Enter this link in your browser to be asked automatically if you want to support St. Aloysius Parish and School on
AmazonSmile: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1433780

Please note: Amazon Smile is not supported on the app. The only way to do it is online. Then, every time you shop online, start at smile.amazon.com and support our school! It’s fast, easy, and very much appreciated! Please email Aleisha Webb at awebb@dioceseofspokane.org with any questions you may have.

Auction:

There are many ways you can help out with the auction! Here are a few examples:

• Decorations

• Technology

• Silent Auction

• Backroom

• Procurement

• Set Up Crew

• Clean Up Crew

Volunteering:

With this auction being our first “on site” event in the new gym, there will be A LOT of work getting everything set up and ready to go for the big night. We will need a couple of different crews. We will need one that will help with setting up tables, chairs, staging, etc. We will also need a crew that will help with decorating tables, silent auction tables, etc. Set-up will be on Thursday, February 1st starting at 8:45am (after drop off) until we are done!

If you are interested in helping out with the auction in any way, please email Aleisha Webb at awebb@dioceseofspokane.org or at 509-489-7825 ext. 244

Box Tops and Labels for Education:

Keep the Box Tops coming! Here are a few ways to collect Box Tops on top of the ones you find on participating products:

• The app offers bonus Box Tops and exclusive deals! The products listed will earn our school anywhere from 2-5 bonus Box Tops. For more information or to download go to http:www.boxtops4education.com/bonusapp

• In addition to earning our school bonus Box Tops, you can also save money at the same time. Here is the link to the current coupons available on the Box Tops website.

  • https://www.boxtops4education.com/coupons

STAG Pride/Kudos/Prayers:

• Please pray for the homeless in our community. May they find comfort and services they need during difficult times.

• We pray for those that are sick.  May God’s healing grace be showered on them as they return to good health.