A note from Mrs. Gunderson...
Dear Parents,
As I hope you have heard from your children, our first week of the 2022-2023 school year is off to a great start! Tuesday morning, before students arrived, Father Bennet and Father Tim said a blessing over our staff. They also prayed for our students and families. See the picture at right. Their blessing filled our staff and the hallways with a sense of peace, hope, and joy!
The first days of every school year include talking about and modeling classroom and school-wide rules, routines, and procedures. With rules and routines in place, it is a joy for our teachers to instruct and for your children to learn. Parents, your support at home makes a positive impact on the atmosphere at school as well as on your child’s ongoing good behavior choices and decisions. Please use our school handbook as a starting point to discuss St. Stephen’s behavior expectations with your child/children this weekend and periodically throughout the year. (Our Behavior Plan is on pages 22-27 of the school handbook.) Thank you!
Our first day of school ended with a Pep Fest! In addition to striving for academic excellence, we believe it is important to build connections with our students and have fun. Our Pep Fest included a school-wide cheer, learning, and shouting out the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our school-wide theme this year is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: PEACE! During the Pep Fest, every staff member introduced themselves and shared something unique such as their favorite food, or where they traveled this summer.
Our second day of school began with an all-school Mass. Parents, we welcome you to join us every Wednesday for 8:00 am Mass. I was so proud to see some of our students serving as altar servers and soon students will take over as lectors and eucharistic ministers! I was also proud of the respectful behavior demonstrated by all our students during Mass.
As I shared with you last year, through our Peace of Mind (POM) grant we now have a counselor on-site every Tuesday and Thursday. Our counselor’s name is Delaney Fletcher. Miss Delaney has already met the students and spent time in each of our classrooms. Please email your child’s teacher if you would like your child to meet with Miss Delaney to talk and for extra emotional support. In addition, we will be providing Peace of Mind materials and resources to parents. Additionally, two webinars will be held and recorded (November and April) for parents to learn Nurtured Heart Strategies at Home. Details to come.
We have received all the new one-to-one devices, new iPads for PK-2 and new Chromebooks for Grades 3-8 that were purchased thanks to a grant. We are still waiting on receiving cases and warranties before passing out the devices to students. Only grades 6-8 students are allowed to bring their device home. Parents, please talk with your student about making sure their Chromebook is fully charged each morning. Thank you!
Our first-floor hallways have been dramatically transformed over the summer! Thanks to last year’s Mardi Gras, you will see beautiful cubbies line the hallway. We also have new signs above every teacher’s classroom door, and just this morning two new beds arrived for our health office, thanks to a COVID grant. See pictures below.
Thank you, parents, and guardians, for entrusting your precious children to us. Every staff member here at St. Stephen’s wants the best for your children academically, spiritually, and emotionally. We are working together as a team, a family, really, with the objective of making this year the best year yet in your child’s education.
Many blessings to you!
Theresa Gunderson, Principal
Educate: A How-to Guide for Parents
Are you new to St. Stephen's? Would you like a better understanding of how Educate, our school communications system, works? Here is an Introduction Guide to give you some help and direct you to your child's grades, lunch money account, school schedule and attendance. Just simply click the link below:
Anoka Halloween Inc., Buttons for Sale
September 26 - October 7
It is that time of year again and we are excited to be celebrating our 102nd year! Anoka Halloween™ is a non-profit organization that promotes our many free family friendly events and donations to elementary school media centers, plus high school scholarships. The only way that we can continue to offer these benefits to our community is with the help of you and your student. Every year, we encourage
families and students to support not only Anoka Halloween™, but your child’s school by selling this year’s Anoka Halloween™ button as pictured above.
The buttons may be purchased for just $3 per button. Anoka Halloween™ will give back 50% PROFIT to your child’s school. That’s $1.50 per button sold! No other fundraiser offers half of the sale! What a great and simple way to easily earn money for your school! The button also offers many local store discounts and entrance to several of our festival events.
In the past years, the kids have enjoyed participating in the button sales, as well as the “prize” they can earn. The student that sells the most buttons will receive a $25 check to do with what they want, in addition to receiving a plaque with their name and a ride on our Anoka Halloween™ vehicle during the Big Parade of Little People parade, on October 29th . Also, the one classroom that sells the most
buttons will win a pizza party! Super exciting for the kids!
If you would like more information about Anoka Halloween™, a list of the many events offered, fundraising, or merchandise, please visit Anokahalloween.com. Thank you so much for supporting Anoka Halloween™ and your child’s school.
families and students to support not only Anoka Halloween™, but your child’s school by selling this year’s Anoka Halloween™ button as pictured above.
The buttons may be purchased for just $3 per button. Anoka Halloween™ will give back 50% PROFIT to your child’s school. That’s $1.50 per button sold! No other fundraiser offers half of the sale! What a great and simple way to easily earn money for your school! The button also offers many local store discounts and entrance to several of our festival events.
In the past years, the kids have enjoyed participating in the button sales, as well as the “prize” they can earn. The student that sells the most buttons will receive a $25 check to do with what they want, in addition to receiving a plaque with their name and a ride on our Anoka Halloween™ vehicle during the Big Parade of Little People parade, on October 29th . Also, the one classroom that sells the most
buttons will win a pizza party! Super exciting for the kids!
If you would like more information about Anoka Halloween™, a list of the many events offered, fundraising, or merchandise, please visit Anokahalloween.com. Thank you so much for supporting Anoka Halloween™ and your child’s school.
Volunteer at St. Stephen's School
First and foremost, thanks SO much for your support to our students and staff! We cannot do it without you!
We have received many Volunteer Commitment forms back, and looking for many more to come in. An email will come soon from Barb Novinska, our Volunteer Coordinator acknowledging your form. We would LOVE to see all families turn in the volunteer commitment form!
Currently, we have a great need for 2 volunteers in the lunchroom every day from 10:30-12:30 (link below for sign up). Also, a great spot for art lovers (contact info below).
Watch for more great opportunities to follow!
ART ADVENTURE OPPORTUNITIES!
We are looking for interested Picture People for the Art Adventure Program through Minnesota Institute of Arts (Grades K-4, 1 volunteer for each teacher). This awesome program begins in December (approx. 5 hours TOTAL), which includes training and in-person/virtual classroom discussion with students. Connecting with teachers on what best suits their class needs. Each volunteer would receive a booklet of the art pieces and run with it however it would be appropriate for that age group. Please reach out to our Art Adventure Coordinator, Jackie Mjolhus: Mjolhus@jtoulouse@hotmail.com
Recipe Contest with Chef Faith
Chef Faith is recreating 3 top recipes turned in by students before September 23. The forms are below. Fill out the recipe and your child will be entered into a contest. If your child's recipe is one of the top three participants, he/she will spend a Saturday morning with Chef Faith recreating the recipe to use for our school lunch program!
Marathon News
It’s time for our Marathon Fundraiser! We'll be kicking off our family fundraiser on Tuesday, September 13 with a fun pep-fest the gym! Information will be coming home about this family-focused 1 mile-walking event that supports our school! There are prizes for top-earning families, top classes, and fun day-of activities at the walking event on October 9th. All are welcome!
After School SPANISH Class Offered Grades K-5
Discover the Magic of SPANISH! Did you know that early exposure to a foreign language makes the challenging transition to formal instruction in middle school much easier? AND the more exposure -- the greater the impact! Why not give your student this amazing advantage? Enroll in our NEW Futura Spanish class this fall! It is not only educationally enriching, but also interactive, dynamic and FUN! Register your student today for a language learning adventure! www.FuturaAdventures.com Please click on the link below for more information:
Orientation Paperwork
Please make sure all your paperwork from Orientation night is signed and returned to school. It is VERY important to make sure we have those papers in ASAP.
St. Stephen's Lunch Program
We are so excited to start this year's lunch program! The meals will be so delicious and cooked in our kitchen every day! Please take a peek at our menu by clicking on the link below. To add lunch money to your account, click here:
ADD MONEY TO LUNCH ACCOUNT
COVID and St. Stephen's School
As the school year is just beginning, we want to be transparent about our expectations of COVID and our students. IF your child tests positive for COVID, we will continue to stick with the policy that your child will stay home for 5 days from the symptom start date. After 5 days, if the child is symptom free, and off all medicines, he/she may return to school full-time. If you have any questions regarding COVID and your child, please do not hesitate to call Heidi in the school office at 763-421-3236.