A note from Mrs. Gunderson...
Dear Families,
What a week this has been! We bounce back from Christmas break and the New Year celebrations and KA-BOOM, we are closed due to the winter weather. I hope your children had fun playing in the beautiful snow yesterday, making snowmen, building igloos, sledding, ice-skating, you name it!
Today, we are so excited to be back in full swing! I spent time at school over Christmas break and although I could work on projects that I normally don’t have time for, the building was so quiet and lonely without your beautiful children filling its hallways and classrooms. I am glad to be back!
With the new year comes some exciting and very important updates:
NWEA TESTING STARTS NEXT MONDAY
NWEA Testing Dates for St. Stephen’s are January 9-27. We are hoping to see an increase in the test scores of our students as compared to their fall test scores and as compared to their peers state and nation-wide. One way you can help your child do well on the tests is to ensure they get plenty of sleep the night before taking a test and make sure they eat a healthy breakfast. In addition, I strongly encourage you to spend some time looking through the website linked below. It is a Family Tool Kit for NWEA Testing: https://www.nwea.org/family-toolkit/
OUR ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE IS SUNDAY, JANUARY 29!
COME ONE, COME ALL!
ENTER YOUR FAMILY TO WIN AN AMAZING PRIZE (SEE BELOW):
Please mark your calendars so that you are sure to start the day of our Open House by attending either the 8:30 or 10:30 am mass. Students, please wear your best-looking uniform and you will receive an out-of-uniform pass to use on a Friday. After mass, please bring your entire family over to the school and take a stroll through the building, through classrooms, visit this year’s and next year’s teachers, talk with teachers and staff, sign up for extra-curricular activities coming up this spring and enter for a chance to win tickets for your family to Nickelodeon Universe or Great Wolf Water Park at Mall of America. Delicious treats and refreshments will be served. You won’t want to miss this year’s Open House!
OPEN HOUSE TIMES: (JANUARY 29, MARK YOUR CALENDAR!)
- 9:30-12 Noon Tours in English
- 12:30 - 2 PM Tours in Spanish
At our Open House we’ll show off the school building updates! If you have not seen them yet, you are going to love our new maple cubbies throughout the first floor. You’ll be amazed at the new, ultra-contemporary middle school classroom furniture, our state-of-the-art sound system in the gym, our enormous new wrestling mat, and our beautiful new volleyball net, padding, and stand. The most recent update underway is in our boys’ and girls’ locker rooms, thanks to an anonymous and very generous donor!
Happy New Year and God Bless Each of You, Your Children, and Your Families!
Theresa Gunderson, Principal
Activity Fees Billed to Accounts
Activity Fees have been invoiced on all TADS accounts - due December 25-January 25. These fees pay all field trips and any extra classroom expenses. If you would rather pay this fee with cash or check, please drop off payment in the school office before December 21, 2023. Thank you!
CSCOE is offering a January Parent Webinar
“Parenting Exceptional Children” — January 18, 7 p.m.
Parenting children with educational and behavioral differences can be rewarding AND challenging. Even children who are gifted and talented present special challenges in parenting. In this session we will discuss parenting children who have diverse needs because of educational, behavioral, and mental health challenges, as well as those who may need more enrichment.
Catholic United Financial Raffle is coming soon!
It’s coming! Catholic United Fundraiser! St. Stephen’s School only REQUIRED Fundraiser – 1st day to sell is Friday, 1/13/23!! All families are required to raise at least $125/per K-8 student and $50 for each preschool student.
Watch for packets coming home via your child (s) backpack next week!
Help us reach our goal of (your goal)! Every single dollar from ticket sales stays with our school. When you buy a $5.00 ticket, you’re entered for a chance to win some amazing prizes. You and a friend good win center stage floor tickets to see Shania Twain, have a relaxing spa day, enjoy some food on your new Green Egg Grill and so much more. Stay tuned for more information on prizes.
BoxTops for Education
Thank you, parents, for continuing to participate in the BoxTops for Education program! Today we received a check for $169.40 for the month of December. All you need to do is download the BoxTops app on your cell phone and scan your receipts! If there is a participating product on your receipt, we earn money!
Shop on Amazon?
If you shop on Amazon or plan to purchase holiday supplies from the large online retailer, please consider helping St. Stephen's by using our unique charity link while shopping! Simply click the link, save St. Stephen's as your nonprofit of choice, and then shop! Amazon will send us a quarterly donation based on the eligible purchases made using our link.
AmazonSmile is a charitable program developed by Amazon.com. St. Stephen’s is eligible to receive a donation of 0.5% of eligible smile.amazon.com purchases at no additional cost to the consumer.
Angel Award Winners
Congratulations to this week's Angel Award Winners! Thank you Daniel, Caroline, and Jazmyn for making our school a better place to be and showing respect to fellow students and adults. We appreciate you and are so proud of you!
Volunteer at St. Stephen's School
Happy NEW Year Volunteers!
We are in GREAT need of volunteers! (links below)!
Do you want to make a difference in 2023? We have a spot for YOU.
Volunteering is a KEY to your student’s success, along with lots of fun! You can make that difference! Please prayerfully consider helping us out!
Lunchroom: Help out during lunch times with student needs i.e. open milk cartons, assist with silverware, etc. The lunchroom is in need of 3 volunteers EACH DAY. The link below gets you a 2 hour spot (10:30 - 12:30) on any day or days that work for you. You do not need to sign up for consecutive days or weeks.
Virtual Academy Support: Assist small groups of students with signing into computers, passwords, etc. Once students are logged in and tutoring, you may work on your laptop, read, knit, etc. There are several time slots available throughout the day.
Recess/Playground Supervision: We have a GREAT new volunteer spot we would LOVE to fill each day! Hello! Do you love fresh air? A nice brisk hour outside a day or two a week? We have a spot for YOU! We would love to give our teachers a bit of extra time each day! 2 shifts each day! We hope you will prayerfully consider!
Are you Virtus trained? This process is mandatory to volunteer at our school/church. Please access this link for procedure. Virtus Account Link
Thanks SO much for all you do for our school!
Barb Novinska
Administrative Assistant
763-421-3236
St. Stephen's Lunch Program
The lunch program is doing FABULOUS! Thank you, parents, for being aware of how much money is in your child's lunch account, and adding money when needed.
What is coming up...
January
14 - MLK Day - No School
29 - St. Stephen's All School Open House 9:30 - 12 (English Tours)
12:30 - 2 (Spanish Tours)
29 - Feb 3 - Catholic Schools Week
COVID Updates
COVID tests available for every family. Please stop in the office to pick yours up today!