Important Fundraising Information

I want to thank all of the families who have already met their fundraising goal for the year, especially those who have exceeded the goal. We rely on your ongoing generosity.

This year we are making some changes to the way that our jog-a-thon is run in order to make the whole process smoother and easier for everyone. I know that many of our school families look forward to the jog-a-thon as their preferred method of fundraising. I encourage all of you who do to continue supporting the jog-a-thon. It is a quick and fun way to support our school.

For the jog-a-thon this year we will be using an outside company to support our marketing and collection for the jog-a-thon and all pledges will be paid online by means of a credit or debit card. In addition, all pledges for the jog-a-thon must be made by the day of the event (May 15th). 

From May 16th to June 1 you will only be able to fulfill your fundraising obligation through the purchase of scrip or magazines. From June 2nd to June 19th all families who have not met their fundraising obligation will be required to write a check for the difference between what they have raised and the $450 opt-out fee. Finally, from June 20th and beyond the full $450 opt-out fee will be required with no credit given for other fundraising.

- Mr. Burroughs

Our Lenten Journey

Lent begins this week! We use this season of preparation to grow closer to God through prayer, fasting and service.  This year, our school will support Catholic Relief Services with CRS Rice Bowl, a family-based program that raises awareness of the issue of world hunger. Your child has received a cardboard Rice Bowl and a Lenten calendar, which contains a prayer or reflection for you to say as a family each day throughout Lent, recipes for meatless Fridays and stories of hope from people around the world.  Other resources can be found at: www.crsricebowl.org  We hope this is a valuable experience for your family this Lent!

Join us in saying the Lenten prayer (located on your Rice Bowl) as we being our 40-day journey:

Loving God, 

We thank you for the many gifts you have given us. 

Bless our prayers and sacrifices this Lent. 

May these gifts from our table bring hope and life

to our sisters and brothers who suffer with hunger each day.

Unite us through Christ with the poor worldwide,

and bless our efforts to bring relief to those in need.

Amen.

Another Accreditation Update

As we prepared for our recent accreditation visit we had to gather all sorts of evidence to support what we had written in our self-study. One interesting piece that I found was a staff survey that was conducted almost six years ago (my first year here). In the surveys the staff envisioned all sorts of things that they hoped would be added to our school over the next five years. It was terrific to review these surveys and see how much we have accomplished in six years and how many more things have been added to our school in that time. We still do not have an indoor play area for rainy days or every teacher in his or her own classroom (although we are much closer to that now). But we do have so many great things that we did not then, including: aides in all primary grades, increased art and music, a drama class, Spanish throughout the school, increased field trips, increased enrollment, a pre-kindergarten program, updated science and social studies books, a curriculum map for all of our grades, a school counselor, and dedicated rooms for art, music, and middle school science. Re-reading these surveys makes me very grateful for our school and for all of the things that we have been able to accomplish together.- Mr. Burroughs

The Importance of Sacrifice

Now that we have entered the season Lent I want to say a few words about the practice of giving up something for Lent. This kind of sacrifice has great moral and spiritual value and I encourage our whole community, children and adults alike to make some kind of sacrifice for Lent. On a spiritual level, sacrifice helps us to be more aware of the many blessings that we have been given and those who do not have what we do. It reminds us that God gives us all of the good things that we have and that they should all be kept in the proper perspective in our lives. On a moral level, our Lenten sacrifice helps us to strengthen our will and to learn to resist temptation. This is especially important for young people and will shape their lives for the better. When we sacrifice something good in our life we learn to say "no" to something that we desire so that we are better able to say "no" to the many other temptations we will encounter in our lives that are not good. We train our will by sacrificing something good because if and when we fail in our sacrifice we have not actually fallen into sin, we've just made a mistake. And then we just begin our Lenten sacrifice over again. Think of this Lenten sacrifice as an opportunity to practice making good decisions and learning to master our desires in a risk-free environment. - Mr. Burroughs

Safe Environment for Youth and Talking About Touching

Each year grades kindergarten through 3rd and 7th are required to present the Talking Abut Touching (k-3) and the Safe Environment for Youth (7th) programs to our students. These programs are a part of the overall Safe Environment program of the archdiocese and school. All students are encouraged to participate in this important program. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Mr. Burroughs or Mrs. Boyd. If you decide to not have your child participate in the program, please complete the opt-out form for Talking about Touching or Safe Environment for Youth and return it to your child's teacher by TOMORROW - Friday, March 7th, 2014. 

 - Mr. Burroughs

Calendar for the 2014-2015 School Year

I anticipate that we will have next year's calendar finished by the end of next week. 

- Mr. Burroughs

Registration Information for 2014-2015

Both returning *and* new families will register for 2014-2015 school year through our on-line process (same as we have done the past few years.)   This will take place early-mid March with a deadline around March 24th.  You will receive emailed instructions in March which will walk you through the steps.  If you already know that your student/family will not be returning to SHS (or is considering not returning), please feel free to confidentially contact me to discuss this right away.  Thank you, Susana Knapp.  

SHS Playmakers Presents:

Willy Wonka! 

Sunday, April 6, 2014 - 2 pm

• Ticket Sales for the general public begins on Monday, March 10th. Please check the website to purchase yours.  General Admission for Friday & Saturday shows will be $8 online /$10 at the door 
  Sunday - All seats $5 online/$7 at the door.  Hope to see you there!

• Seattle Chocolates Wonka Bars will go on sale Friday March 7th after school in the upper and lower lots.  Five golden tickets will randomly be hidden inside these specially made Wonka Bars.   Anyone who finds a golden ticket will be entered to win a grand prize!  If you find a golden ticket please bring it to the school office. Limited supply so be sure to get one (or many!).  Bars will cost $5 each or 5 bars for $20. All proceeds benefit Playmakers.