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MARCH 21, 2018  

HERITAGE DRESS UP DAY AND CELEBRATION IS TOMORROW!

We are very blessed to have so many cultures represented at SLCS and we want to ensure that our students benefit from the wealth of languages, experiences, and diverse cultures that surround them on a daily basis.

Students are invited to wear something traditional that represents their family’s heritage or culture on Thursday. This can be as simple as a shirt, hair accessory or anything else that represents their heritage! Please keep in mind that students must be able to move around comfortably throughout the school day. We ask that you keep modesty and safety in mind. We will celebrate this day with a cultural presentation and a tour around the different countries by an amazing group of volunteer parents! Thanks to all our wonderful parents who contributed to this enriching experience for our students!

IMPORTANT DATES    

 

3/22 STUCO Prayer Group St. Joseph Room Wear Your Heritage! Cultural Celebration!

3/23 All School Mass Led by NJHS End of the 3rd Quarter

3/25 Palm Sunday 3/26-3/28 Classroom Oratoricals

3/27 2nd Grade Seder Meal 3/28 Living Stations of the Cross 8:30

Spirit Store Sales 3/29 Holy Thursday

Early Dismissal 12:00 p.m. Spring Conference Day 1-4 p.m. for those who signed up or were contacted

3/30 Good Friday- No School 3/31 Holy Saturday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mrs. Barto! 4/1 Happy Easter 4/2 Easter Monday-Regular school day due to make up weather day 4/4 Jean/Spirit Day

Leos Officers Meeting

SHS Meeting Pancakes with the Padres Main Campus Oratoricals

4/5 Spring Sports Picture Day Early Dismissal 1:45/2:00 p.m. Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night

4/6 All School Mass Led by 5A MS Dance 7th and 8th Grade Band Competition

4/7 First Communion Retreat 1-4 p.m.

Dear Parents,

It’s that time of year when we ask for your feedback on our Annual Parent Survey. Please take some time to complete this anonymous survey put out by our dedicated School Board. As part of the trinity we want to hear your opinion in order to reflect on our strengths and determine areas for growth. This year we are shooting for 90% participation from our families, which is our biggest goal yet. If we can make it to that percentage of completion, all our students will win a free dress day on Thursday, April 19th. The deadline for completing the online survey is Friday, April 6th, so please take a minute and let us hear your voice! Look for the survey link in today’s newsletter under the School Board Tab.

In the same theme, I’d like to make you aware of some recent accomplishments and major projects in the works based on our Strategic Plan (which takes our parent survey results into account).

● We are communicating with the City of Sugar Land about a joint venture in utilizing some green space near the school for several of our athletic teams to practice and conduct sporting events. We will be presenting a feasibility study to them very soon.

● Improvements and safety/security updates are in the works for our facilities, including: ○ new roofing for the main building ○ updates to the intercom system to allow for better communication within and between campuses ○ new fencing and upgrades to the Chapel playground ○ new carpeting and paint in the 1st-3rd grade classrooms, along with new Multi-touch interactive

boards to replace the older SmartBoards ○ addition of cameras to both campuses for added security ○ flexible seating in some classrooms and upgrades to the Collaboratory (STREAM Lab)

● Students are now asked twice a year to complete a survey soliciting their feedback as part of the trinity ● Increased marketing and communication with updated materials and advertising via print/magazines and

social media ● Common focus on differentiated instruction for our teaching staff professional development next year to

better meet the needs of a variety of learners There are so many more things in the works but I felt it was important to keep you updated in how your tuition and fundraising help us accomplish our goals. Every voice and every little bit counts and we truly appreciate the support. At this time we are actually at 93% of meeting our Annual Fund goal and that is pretty amazing. We also ask for your help with our upcoming Auction (see Auction news below for how you can help) as those funds also go directly to serving our students.

This year has been a tough one for all of us and I know that we seem to be constantly asking for your help. We can never thank you enough for all that you do and for trusting us to educate and take care of your awesome children each and every day. As we wind down the third quarter of school, it is amazing to think back on how this year began. A whole new excited set of Saints families have just been accepted to SLCS for the 2018-2019 school year and we happily share the news that all of our 8th grade students who applied to the local Catholic High Schools were accepted to at least one of the schools of their choice. Many were accepted to more than one! We do have a couple on a waitlist, but this is a major accomplishment and one that makes us extremely proud. Our goal is for our students to succeed long after they leave us and have the choice to go and follow their dreams. We feel strongly that you are making a long term investment in SLCS as we are in you and we truly appreciate the trust you place in us.

Have a wonderful week and we look forward to sharing pictures of our exciting new Heritage Celebration this week!

God Bless,

Mrs. Barto

 

DID YOU KNOW THAT SLCS HAVE  

AMAZING QUIZ BOWL TEAMS? Two of our Quiz Bowl teams played hard recently at the Catholic and Parochial school division of the March Madness tournament. The red team made it to the quarter finals and the blue team made it to the semi finals! We are proud of how much the teams learned and improved throughout the season!

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

   

WE ARE CALLED TO…. SERVE ON THE SCHOOL BOARD! LAST CALL  

Did you know that several board members will have fulfilled their term limit of three years at the end of this school year, so we will be actively seeking new members? We are open to all parents and community members that are committed to SLCS, but especially have a need for those of you that specialize in the areas of law, construction/facilities and finance or accounting. If you are interested, please click HERE and send us your information. We will be happy to contact you!

School Board Information Night – April 5th Discernment Day - April 7th

TO TAKE OUR ANNUAL PARENT SURVEY! Click HERE! 90% participation qualifies all our students for a free dress day Thursday, April 19th! 

Due by Friday, April 6th 

 

WAY TO GO, WHITNEY! We are very proud of Whitney! She was awarded High Honors in writing by Dyslexic Advantage. She is a prize winner of the Karina Eide Young Writers Awards. Her poem "Fear" was written during the Writers In Schools (WITS) 6th grade session at our school. Way to go, Whitney! JOIN THE LAST LAGNIAPPE OF THE YEAR!  

Our first session for the semester runs from March 26 -May 4th. See your course flyer HERE for details & course descriptions. All payments should be made payable to SLCS and returned to the front office. Classes fill quickly…first come, first serve!

CARPOOL SAFETY REQUEST! 

Parents, we ask that you do not let your children out of the car in the morning until a staff member or carpool volunteer (adults) signal  

that carpool has begun, even if you are still in your car. On numerous days there are children waiting outside without supervision prior

to carpool, which technically does not begin until 7:30 on the main campus. We are attempting to open doors with staff and volunteers

earlier to allow everyone to get in on time. This is due to the large amount of families in the main campus carpool line. Also, please

pull all the way up to the cone to allow more cars to unload. Do not stop early by the first grade doors or under the cover. This may

benefit your child but it causes others to be late! Middle School children can unload themselves once carpool has begun.We do our

best to get everyone in as quickly and safely as possible. Remember, if you have a few minutes in the morning, we can always use

your help. We also remind you not to turn left out of the driveway as this holds up everyone behind you! Thank you to those of you

that are patient and supportive of these policies.  

HELPING HANDS! SECOND GRADE CARD SALES 

Second Grade children have been working on with prayer cards and packages to comfort and acknowledge individuals needing some form of care and/or attention. This program, called Heaven’s Hands, is now on its second stage: selling prayer card kits to raise funds to support our sister school, Queen of Peace in Houston. Please see the proof sheet to see what children’s packages of “class cards” will look like! If you are interested, complete the form HERE designating the number of sets you would like to purchase for yourself or a loved one. These cards make great thank you notes for First Communion & Graduation and the perfect little Mother’s Day gift for a special mom in your life. All orders will be delivered to you with envelopes via your child’s backpacks.

YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW Order your 2018 yearbook today! Order now before it is too late. Yearbooks will be delivered in late August. Go to Balfour.com and type St. Laurence, and purchase using a credit or debit card.  

RENWEB AND YAHOO EMAIL ACCOUNTS 

Have you had any issues receiving emails from your child's teachers or from the school? Do you have a Yahoo email account? Or an AOL email account? If the answer is yes, we understand your frustration. We have learned over the past several years that because Yahoo has been the victim of repeated hacks, they have taken extraordinary steps to seemingly protect email account security. Unfortunately, this has resulted in emails sent in bulk to be flagged by Yahoo as SPAM. This could be the reason you may not always receive emails from school. This is not specifically a RenWeb issue as we've had this problem in the past. But because we are more frequently using RenWeb to send bulk emails out to the parent community, we have seen this issue come up more frequently.

So, if you have a Yahoo account or even an AOL account (they too can experience this issue), please consider obtaining a free Gmail account to use for school business. Our experience has been that Gmail does not block emails aggressively and uses smarter filtering technology. If you decide get a Gmail account, make sure you login to ParentsWeb to make that change to your email address in the system. If you have any questions, please email John Maklary at jmaklary@stlaurence.org. Thank you!  

ONLINE SAFETY NEWS AND TRICKS Please click HERE to read some Online Safety News Tricks shared by John Maklary, Director of Instructional Technology.

AUCTION DONATIONS NEEDED 

Spring Break is over and now you can focus on Auction 2018! We need everyone to help make our auction the best yet. 100% family participation is always the goal and we need you to make this a reality! We are still taking family donations and bottles of wine worth $25 or more. And to make it even easier on you, we will be walking afternoon carpool on Friday, Wednesday, March 23rd and Tuesday, March 27th We will be glad to pick up your item, wine, or monetary donation while you stay in your car. Please look for us pulling our wagons. Don’t know what to contribute to make this an auction for the record books…click HERE for our registries and have your item sent directly to SLCS.  

AUCTION CATALOG ADVERTISING 

Don’t wait any longer. Advertise in our auction catalog and your business will be seen by 500 plus families! We have advertising to fit all budgets! The popular pre-designed personal messages are back this year for just $25. Take this opportunity to thank a teacher or put into print just how proud you are of your student. Click HERE for the flyer. All ads must be turned in by March 28th to ensure inclusion in the catalog. Please direct questions to Kiki Le at kikile@comcast.net or 281-705-9826.   

AUCTION RSVP 

Get something off you to do list prior to Spring Break! Use this link HERE to underwrite and buy individual tickets. Please note in effort to ease the lines at the Marriott for drinks we are pre selling drink tickets this year only through the online system. Invitations were mailed last week if you prefer to use a response card click HERE. RSVP by April 9 to avoid the price increase.   

GOOSE ON THE LOOSE 

Have you seen the Goose on the Loose? Join in some pre-auction fun. It is like being “booed” at Halloween. If you get “Goosed”, purchase a bottle of wine valued at $25 or more and deliver it to the Main Office. We still need 40 bottles! Choose who you wish to Goose next and let the fun continue. Have questions? Contact Cassandra Atme HERE!   

BELIZE BELIEVE IT OR NOT! 

Stay tuned right here for more Live & Big Board items in the coming weeks! If you are the highest bidder you could be enjoying this exclusive trip to Belize. Click HERE. Can you say Disney, Rockets and original artwork??? Check back here next week for more exciting items.

PTO PRAYER GROUP TOMORROW Prayers, Coffee, Fellowship...is there a better way to start your day? Please join the PTO Prayer Group tomorrow, tomorrow, March 22, at 8:15 a.m. in the Ave Maria Center, St. Joseph Room. All are welcome!   

LUNCH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR ECC 

We need you! Lunch volunteers for our Early Childhood Campus. Please sign up HERE!

EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL! 

● AMAZON SMILE: YOU SHOP. AMAZON GIVES!  Do you shop on Amazon? Did you know that by going to Amazon Smile and picking St. Laurence Catholic School, SLCS gets a donation from Amazon with no additional cost to you? This is a great way to support our school as you do all of your online shopping. This fundraiser is on-going. Please visit SMILE to sign up.   

● DO YOU SHOP AT KROGER?  Help Us Earn Free Money While You Shop! Read more HERE!

● SAVE YOUR BOX TOP AND TYSON PROJECT LABELS!  If you have BOX TOPS or Tyson labels, please drop them by the school office and we will put them to good use. You can find more information and prizes HERE! Print the calendar HERE!  

BASEBALL The Varsity boys are now 2-1. The Saints travel to St. Vincent De Paul on Wednesday and play St. John Paul II on Thursday at home.

SOFTBALL 

The softball team is now 5-0. The Saints defeated St. Francis de Sales 15-1 on Monday and St. John Paul II 10-0 on Tuesday. They will play St. Vincent DePaul on Wednesday at 4:30 at home for 1st place in the GHCAA.

TRACK The track team has their first meet on Saturday, march 24th at Barnett Stadium. The field events begin at 8:00 Am and the running events begin at 10:00 AM.

   

We are thrilled to announce Alec Schroeder, class of 2014, will continue his football career this Fall kicking for Blinn College. Alec signed on February 7th, National Signing Day, and can't wait to kick in college. Way to go! #OnceASaintAlwaysASaint #ShareYourNews

SHARE YOUR NEWS! Stay connected and share your news and       pictures! We always love to hear from you! Don’t forget to include your name and graduation year in your description. Please send them to Adriana Gutierrez at agutierrez@stlaurence.org. Remember “Once A Saint, Always A Saint”

READ OUR CHURCH BULLETIN HERE!  

REGISTER FOR VBS 

Sign the kids up for Vacation Bible School, scheduled for June 4-8, with the theme, Shipwrecked: Rescued By Jesus. Children are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until spots are filled, and you must register in person at the Ave Maria Center. There are lots of fun ways for adults and youth to volunteer, but these spots go quickly, too! Please contact Joan Hastreiter for more details.

WANT TO CONTINUE LEARNING ABOUT YOUR FAITH WITH OTHER ADULTS? Click HERE for the upcoming speakers in Adult Faith Formation. There is truly something for everyone.

CATHOLIC FAMILY DAY AT MINUTE MAID! ASTROS VS. ATHLETICS  

Join us for a night of fellowship as the Houston Astros take on the Oakland Athletics. There will be a special in-game recognition with our in-game host, Lauren Blackwell. Stay after the game to enjoy Friday Night Fireworks! Click HERE for more information.  

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