St. Stephen Catholic School
April 18, 2024
Important updates in this week's Tidbits
PTCO General Meeting and Nominee Bios
Scholarship Information
Festival of the Arts
Talent Show
Yearbook Custom Pages and Recognition Ads Information
Volunteer Opportunities
SSCS Basketball, Volleyball Camp Registration
Tampa Catholic Lacrosse Summer Camp
Principal's Points
Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families!
As we get closer to the end of the year, teachers are making decisions about next year. I have recently learned that Mrs. Howells will be moving across the country, therefore, she will not be returning next year. Our ESE teacher, Mrs. Steiner, will also not return as she will spend time at home with her beautiful daughter. We wish them both well and they will be missed very much.
Be sure to mark your calendars for April 25, our last PTCO General Meeting of the year. There will be free dress passes, a raffle for a Risse Brothers gift card, and an earned volunteer hour. At this meeting, I will discuss our plans for an Angels Outreach program, and our theme for next year, and I will respond to questions/concerns submitted through a Google form. If you have a question or concern you wish to be addressed, please complete the Google form by following this link. I will not be taking additional questions that night, only those sent in through the Google form. If you have further questions after the meeting, you may email me or set up an appointment to discuss.
During the week of April 29, NJHS will be selling pretty pink wooden roses for Mother's Day to support PTCO. They will be priced at $1 each and all funds will go to PTCO to help fund our end-of-year events. Details will be in next week's Tidbits.
If you have not done so already, please complete the School Culture Survey you received by text and email. Your responses are anonymous and are of great value in planning for the future. You may also access the survey by clicking on this link.
The Step Up Scholarship renewal window has opened. New families are also able to apply. Please forward your award ID number to Gail Leung as soon as you receive it.
One final reminder that the deadline to request School-based Tuition Assistance is May 10. This is for families with multiple students at St. Stephen and replaces the multi-child discount. If you are an active parishioner at St. Stephen and wish to be considered for Heart-to-Heart, please complete the FACTS Grant and Aid application by April 30. Heart-to-Heart is money donated by parishioners for parishioners and helps those families, in particular, who are not eligible for other scholarships.
Peace,
Linda Umoh
Upcoming Events
April 18 - Field Day
April 25 - PTCO General Meeting
April 29-30 - Spring i-Ready - MATH
May 3 - NO SCHOOL
May 6-7 - Spring i-Ready READING
May 6-10 - Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week
May 7 - School Council Inauguration/NJHS Induction
May 8 - May Crowning
May 8-9 - 8th Grade Math Final Exam
May 9 - Festival of the Arts
May 10 - Marvelous Mustang
May 10 - Middle School Social
May 11-12 - Holy Card Uniform Weekend
May 12 - Mother's Day
May 12 - Ascension of Jesus
May 13 - Holy Card Free Dress
May 13-14 - 8th Grade Trip to St. Augustine
May 16 - 8th Grade Brunch
May 17 - Last Day of School for PreK
May 17 - 8th Grade Graduation
2024-25 School Calendar Dates
First Day of School August 12
Thanksgiving Break November 25 - 29
Christmas Break December 23 - January 3
Lent Pause March 17-21
Easter Break April 18 - 22
Joke of the week
What do you call a baby potato?
See below for the answer.
Scholarship Information
Now OPEN Renewal and New Application Scholarships: Families should have received emails to renew their scholarships! New Applications are open too!
Once you have renewed or filled out the new application your student will be awarded an AWARD ID NUMBER. This may take up to two weeks.
REMEMBER TO EMAIL the AWARD ID NUMBER
to gleung@sscsfl.org. This Award ID Number needs to be given to me before June 15th, 2024.
To find the student's Award ID, the parent/guardian should log into their EMA account and follow the below steps. Please click here to watch a video about locating Award IDs or view the screenshots below.
- Click on "My Students"
- Click on "View" by the student's name
- Scroll down to view the student's Award ID
Thank you! The school received a HUGE donation of art materials from the Daigle family that had been donated to them by a local art teacher. The Taylor family made a beautiful set of altar bells for the atrium which the children were so excited to have. SSCS is truly blessed to have so many generous and thoughtful parents.
Florida Bishops Letter to Vote NO on Amendment 4
Click HERE
Surprise Your Mustang with a Message Sign on "Own the Avenue"
Great for Birthdays, Congratulations, Job Well Done, Thank you, Proud of You
Easy to do.... use the link below or call the school office with any questions
Information about Own the Avenue
IMPORTANT: Please note, this is a yearly fundraiser that is on a first-come basis (via SignUpGenius). For example, if you purchase a sign this year for a specific week 9-17-23 thru 9-23-23, that same week is not guaranteed to you for future years. It is required that you sign up each school year if you wish to participate.
TALENT SHOW
The SSCS Talent Show will be held this year in the FLC on Thursday, May 23rd at 1:00 PM. Auditions for the talent show will be held on Tuesday, April 30th after school in Mrs. Stanley's classroom until 4:30 pm. If you would like to audition, please fill out the Google Form: Talent Show Application and submit it to Mrs. Stanley by Monday, April 29th. Pick up after auditions on April 30th will be at the Angel's Wing gate at 4:30. Any students still remaining will be taken to aftercare. Please bring any props or music you need to the audition or email your music to Mrs. Stanley at hstanley@sscsfl.org. She will need a digital copy of your music for you to perform. We have Amazon Music, so anything that can be found on Amazon Music can be easily pulled up and used. Thank you and we are looking forward to a successful talent show! Please email Mrs. Stanley if you have any questions.
Items Needed for PreK3
PreK3 needs large cleaned prescription bottles. If you have any please drop them off at the Office.
Yearbook Custom pages and Recognition Ads available.
Please see below.
Mustang Sports
MUSTANG SPORTS:
Boys Flag Football: The Mustangs beat Corpus Christi, 35-0, for their first win of the season. Evan J. had three touchdown catches, two from QB John Michael R. and one from QB Kellan B. Ethan D. had an interception and touchdown catch from QB John Michael R. Nathan C. had an interception and a punt return for a touchdown. The boys lost to St. Lawrence, 9-0, on Tuesday and played Villa Madonna yesterday here at St. Stephen. The result and game info will be in next week's Mustang Sports. The Mustangs are back on the field Tuesday against local rival Nativity here at St. Stephen at 4:00 pm.
Girls Track: The girls track team had the first field event meet on Monday that was rescheduled from last Thursday due to the weather. All of the girls did a great job. Here are the Mustangs that placed in the top 8 and earned points for the team.
Leah M.-4th varsity disc 59'6"
Alannah M.-3rd JV Long Jump 12'3"
Sofie R.-T-6th JV Long Jump 11'9"
Sofia S.-7th JV Disc 40'7"
Maddie T.-T-8th JV High Jump 3'6
The second field event meet is today at Nativity at 4:15 pm. The first running and relay meet is Saturday at Tampa Catholic, 8:00-11:30 am. The results will be posted in next week's Mustang Sports.
Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped today at Field Day. Thank you for your help making it a fun and exciting day for the kids.
The St. Stephen Sports Awards Night is Wednesday, May 15th from 5:00-7:00 pm in the FLC. We will recognize all of the student athletes and their accomplishments in 2023-24. Pizza, drinks, and cake will be provided for the athletes and their families. The RSVP will be sent out to all of the student athletes and their families next week.
Please see the St. Stephen Sports Summer Camp Flyers in Tidbits for all of the info and registration links for soccer, basketball, and volleyball camp this summer.
GO MUSTANGS
Coach Green
Alannah M.-3rd JV Long Jump 12'3"
Sofie R.-T-6th JV Long Jump 11'9"
Sofia S.-7th JV Disc 40'7"
Maddie T.-T-8th JV High Jump 3'6
The second field event meet is today at Nativity at 4:15 pm. The first running and relay meet is Saturday at Tampa Catholic, 8:00-11:30 am. The results will be posted in next week's Mustang Sports.
Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped today at Field Day. Thank you for your help making it a fun and exciting day for the kids.
The St. Stephen Sports Awards Night is Wednesday, May 15th from 5:00-7:00 pm in the FLC. We will recognize all of the student athletes and their accomplishments in 2023-24. Pizza, drinks, and cake will be provided for the athletes and their families. The RSVP will be sent out to all of the student athletes and their families next week.
Please see the St. Stephen Sports Summer Camp Flyers in Tidbits for all of the info and registration links for soccer, basketball, and volleyball camp this summer.
GO MUSTANGS
Coach Green
Summer Reading Skills Program
The University of South Florida Office of Corporate Training and Professional Education will be offering a series of summer reading skills programs taught by instructors from the Institute of Reading Development. The programs start for 4-year-olds entering Kindergarten and go up to students entering the 10th grade. Families can choose between classes offered in Brandon at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church or on campus at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
For more information, call 1-800-499-8557 or visit https://readingprograms.org/. Click HERE for the Flyer or the flyer can also be found outside the school office.
ANSWER to the Joke of the Week:
A small fry.
COVID 19 Decision Tree
Safe Environment Training and Fingerprints
Everyone needs updated safe environment training and fingerprints in order to volunteer in the school or to chaperone a field trip. Safe environment and fingerprints are good for 5 years. Attached here are the instructions on how to get your safe environment certificate and to have your fingerprints done. If you have any questions please contact Karen Biase at kbiase@sscsfl.org or call the front office at ext. 1100. Click the link for information here regarding fingerprints. Click for the live link here. For the safe environment click here for the live link .
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Mission Statement
St. Stephen Catholic School is devoted to inspiring students to achieve their full academic potential while demonstrating a desire to continue Jesus' mission by applying Catholic morals, beliefs, values, and practices in their everyday lives. We are committed to motivating students to sustain a lifelong love of learning.