St. Stephen Catholic School
September 12, 2024
Important updates in this week's Tidbits
PTCO General Meeting
Spirit Night
Book Fair
Spirit Store
Volunteer Opportunities
Afterschool Programs
31st SSMC Golf Scramble
Angel Among Us Save the Date
Home Game Schedule
Homeroom Mom Emails
Principal's Points
Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families!
Next Friday is our first Marvelous Mustang Award Ceremony of the year. Each month, students are chosen to receive the award based on certain behaviors. In some years, it has been students who are living our school theme. This year, like last year, we are tying the behavior to our Catholic Virtue of the month. Our first virtue is Charity. Teachers will choose students who have exemplified charity during the month. The ceremony is shared through Facebook Live in the media center right after the morning show. If your child is chosen, you will receive an email from the teacher inviting you to attend the ceremony. This year, with the help of PTCO, we are bringing back the Marvelous Mustang breakfast after the ceremony. Students and their parents will be invited to stay for coffee, juice, and donuts in the East Hall after the presentation. Siblings in other grades may not attend. This is only for the student receiving their award and two guests (parents, grandparents, etc.). If there is a young sibling at home (i.e., a 2 year old sibling), they may also attend.
As you may know, most of our classes are at capacity and other than PK 3, we may have few spots available next school year. As always, we make siblings a priority for enrollment. In order to begin planning, we need to know how many siblings may be applying for next year. Please complete the Google form by October 15 if your current SSCS student has a sibling(s) you would like considered for enrollment in 2025-26. Siblings are considered based on our enrollment policy and receive priority based on grade availability determined in February 2025.
Please see below for the events tied to book fair week as well as our plans for Grandparents/Grandfriends Day. If someone is attending, it is important that you complete the Google form so we know how many Grandparents and Grandfriends to expect and the students that may be going home with them.
Finally, I'd like to take a moment to give you an update on lunch for this year. We are in the process of installing a prep sink in the Family Life Center kitchen and applying for a full-service license from the Health Department. Once that is completed, we will be able to offer lunches again. I do not know how long this will take, but my hope is that it will move along quickly.
Please take the time to read all of Tidbits as much is happening at school this month.
Peace,
Linda Umoh
Upcoming Events
September 17 - PTCO General Meeting 6pm
September 20 - Marvelous Mustang at 8am
September 23-27 - Book Fair
September 24 & 25 - Donuts with Grownups 7am
September 26 - Family Event 3pm
September 27 - Grandfriends Day 8am
September 27 - Jean Day
September 27 - Noon Dismissal
October 1-11 - Boo Gram Sales
October 1 - Picture Retake/Graduation Pictures
October 12-13 - Holy Card Uniform Weekend
October 14 - NO SCHOOL
October 15 - Holy Card Free Dress
Joke of the week
Why don't we see giraffes in elementary school ?
See below for the answer.
Grandparent/Grandfriends Day 2024
Join our school community for Mass, breakfast, and the joy of attending our annual book fair.
Grandparents and Grandfriends of K- 8th graders can join their student(s) in school before Mass or meet them in church for 8:30 Mass. If joining your student at school before Mass, please check in at the front office between 7:50 and 8:15 and proceed to the student’s classroom. If you are meeting a student in church, you will check in after Mass in the breezeway on your way to the school. Please note a guest can only sit with one student during Mass. Guests can come into the school if they are not attending Mass at approximately 9:15 and meet their student(s) in the classroom. Please use the main lobby to sign in.
PRE-K 3 and PRE-K 4 students will not be attending Mass. Guests can sign in at the PRE-K gate and enter the classrooms with the student. They are welcome to visit the Book Fair at 8, enjoy a breakfast treat (brought by the student), and spend time enjoying the children in the classroom. When entering the school buildings, all guests should be signed in and have a visitor’s badge, which will be available anytime from the front office, the breezeway after Mass, and at the Pre-K gate during drop-off.
This year, individual students have been invited to pack a special breakfast for their Grandparent or Grandfriend. This will be enjoyed in the classrooms after Mass.
Classes will be called one at a time to visit the Book Fair. Students and their guests may return
to the classroom after their visit to the bookfair. Early dismissal is permissible. There will be a parent volunteer in each classroom (one for the middle school wing) for checkout. Grandparents and Grandfriends must sign out with this parent prior to leaving. If their name is not on the checkout list, they will need to go to the office without the student to sign out. Once the front office verifies the Grandparent or Grandfriend, then we will call the student down to the office.
When coming back from Mass, we recommend Grandparents/Grandfriends go with the youngest child.
- Middle School Students without younger siblings visit first.
- K-2 students will go next. If they have older siblings, they should pick them up and go together.
- Third through fifth grade students will go last. If they have older siblings, they can pick them up and go together.
Volunteers Needed for Grandparents and Grandfriends Day
We need two volunteers at the front office and one volunteer per classroom. See the link below to signup!
Grandparents and Grandfriends Day Attendance and Sign Out Form
We are asking the parents of the students from PreK to 8th grade to let us know which Grandparents/Grandfriends will be attending on September 27, 2024. We also need to know if your student(s) Grandparents and Grandfriends plan on signing the student out for the rest of the day. If you have multiple students please submit the form below for each student by 9/24/24.
Thanks from SVDP
St Vincent De Paul says thank you school parents for their patience during early pick-up days. School parents have truly been great in making sure parking areas near the FLC are not blocked. The traffic seems to now be better managed and sincere appreciation to all who helped make it happen!
Closes 9/15 Sunday at Midnight
Spirit Wear Shop Opens
The link below will take you to the SSCS Spirit Wear Store.
The store will be open 8/5 at 8AM through 9/15 at Midnight. All proceeds will help the PTCO fund activities for the students during the school year. The Spirit Wear purchased through this link is for weekend wear and only allowed to be worn in school on specific school days. The clothing purchased through this link is not part of our school uniform but can be worn to school on days considered Free Dress Pass Days and Jean Days. The weekly school newsletter sent out on Thursday and the school calendar will note when there is a Jean Day or a Free Dress Pass Day. The school handbook also provides info regarding uniforms and Spirit Wear. Delivery will be approximately one month after the close of the store. The info you need regarding purchasing Spirit Wear should be included in the link. If you have any questions, please reach out to ngallagher@sscsfl.org.
Link to Spirit Wear Click HERE
ITEMs Needed For PK3
PK3 needs the tops of baby food and apple sauce or yogurt pouches.
Thank You!!!
Thanks to our school families for helping our kids help others!
Our kindness crew from 4th and Kindergarten helped collect the donations received so far. Still one more week to give to the blessing bags!
Our kindness crew from 4th and Kindergarten helped collect the donations received so far. Still one more week to give to the blessing bags!
Help Our Kids Help Others! Donations accepted through 9/23
Angels Among Us Requests Student Artwork
In Celebration of 25 years Supporting SSCS, Angels Among Us is offering students the opportunity to use their creativity and skills to recreate the Angels Among Us Wings. A print of the Wings is provided to use for your design. The design should closely resemble the wings provided and be recreated using a material of your choice. Suggestions include wood, ceramic, canvas, pottery, paper mâché, cardboard, foam, plastic, and fabric. Feel free to use paint, feathers, lights or other embellishments. The presentation can be 3 or 4 dimensional, a carving, a sculpture, a painting or wherever your imagination takes you. Be as creative as you like. The size should be no more than 3 feet by 3 feet and no heavier than 4 pounds.
All entries will be part of the Angels Gala on 2/15 and will not be returned to the student. Artwork is to be delivered to the school office on or before Monday, November 11. Our principal will select the most creative and best executed work of art and the winning artist’s parents will receive two complimentary tickets to Angels.
Mustang Sports
MUSTANG SPORTS:
Girls Volleyball:
The girls volleyball teams had their first match of the season on Tuesday against Mother Teresa. The varsity won two games to zero (25-17, 25-17), and the JV lost two games to zero (20-25, 17-25). The Mustangs are back on the court today with a match against Villa Madonna at Villa Madonna. The varsity plays at 4:00 pm and the JV at 5:00 pm. The girls also have a match on Monday against local rival Nativity at Nativity. The varsity match is at 4:00 pm and JV at 5:00 pm.
Coed Soccer: The coed soccer team has their first game of the season today against St. Joseph here at St. Stephen at 4:15 pm. The Mustangs also play on Tuesday against Villa Madonna here at St. Stephen at 4:00 pm.
Please see the school website under the Athletics page for the complete 2024 girls volleyball and coed soccer schedules.
GO MUSTANGS
Coach Green
Coach Green
Homeroom Mom Emails
ANSWER to the Joke of the Week:
Because they are all in high school.
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.