St. Stephen Catholic School
February 13, 2025
Important updates in this week's Tidbits
Volunteer Opportunities
Spirit Night
Scholarship Renewal Begins February 1st
Angels 25th Gala
Afterschool Programs
Homeroom Mom Emails
Principal's Points
Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families!
Terra Nova testing is here! We will begin testing on Tuesday. Please remember to ensure your child gets plenty of sleep, has a healthy breakfast, and comes to school on time. Students who arrive late will need to remain in the office until testing is over for the day which could be up to two hours. It is important that everyone arrive on time during testing.
Speech services are once again in-person at St. Stephen. Please see the information below if you are interested in having your child receive services from the county.
Don't forget to join the BrainTracks Zoom meeting on Executive Function Skills on Feb. 19. These are skills students need to begin a task, stay focused, and complete it in a timely manner. Having these skills allow students to be organized and to manage their time and emotions. The presenter gave our teachers some great information to help motivate students to be pro-active in their learning. As part of our agreement with this presenter, they are also providing a parent training in Executive Function. It will be help via a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 6:30 pm. There are details below. You can learn more about the company at https://www.braintracks.com/ . Please plan to join in to learn more about helping your child develop these skills at home.
As the year continues, please review all the volunteer opportunities in Tidbits. Every family is responsible for completing 20 hours and there are many opportunities throughout the week, even evenings and weekends, to get in your hours. There should be something for everyone.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to our Angels Gala committee who have worked tirelessly, especially over the past few weeks, putting the final touches on what promises to be an amazing night of fun and support for the school. I am extremely grateful for all their hard work and efforts to make this the successful event I know it will be.
Please continue to read all of Tidbits to learn about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.
Peace,
Linda Umoh
Upcoming Events
February 14 - Valentine Shirt/Jean Day and Smencils delivered
February 15 - Angels Among Us Gala
February 17 - NO SCHOOL
February 18-28 - Terra Nova Testing
February 21 - End of Trimester II
February 27 - Report Card Day
SPEECH/LANGUAGE SERVICES AT SCHOOL
As you may remember, I worked with Hillsborough County to switch from Virtual to In-Person Speech Therapy for our students who have a Service Plan with the County. This has started and is going well and they are typically group sessions of three to four students. If you are currently paying for private sessions and wish to switch to the county, or if you wish to request speech services from the county now that in-person sessions are available, please complete this form and send to the person on the form and also to Tracy Aguilar at Tracy.Aguilar@hcps.net If your child meets the eligibility requirements, the county will create a Service Plan and they will be added to the schedule.
Students Actively Participated in Kindness Program
Click the Link to Read All About the Activities in the
"Kindness Newsflash"
THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!
to the St. Vincent de Paul food drive. Because of your generosity, we donated 435 lbs of food which helps SVDP assist 65 families a week. The kindness of our school families truly makes a difference for so many in our community.
Angels 25th Gala
Angels Goes Digital
This year, guests will experience digital bidding on their phone. You can follow the bidding action and enter new bids from anywhere in the FLC. You will receive instructions and the link when registering at the Gala. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy this quick and easy new way to submit your bids.
Need Babysitting for Angels?
Many parents have asked Angels to help with watching their children while they attend the Gala on 2/15. We recently began offering the service with a nominal charge and it was very well received. We are happy to announce sitting will be available again this year. It will be available to all SSCS students while parents attend the Gala. The children will be watched in our school building.
The nominal charge of $25 for the first child and $10 for each additional child is to compensate the school employees who have agreed to attend to the children. The child can be brought to the school office between 5:15 pm and 5:45 pm. Registration and the fun begins at 5:30 pm. Please feel free to bring water, snacks, a pillow, blanket etc.
Notify ngallagher@sscsfl.org if you plan on using the service.
Please come and enjoy the dinner, open bar, auction opportunities, music and dancing knowing your child is close by.
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
School Year 25-26
Step Up for Students applications for renewal and new students will be available on Saturday, February 1. EVERYONE MUST REAPPLY!
Here is some helpful information to be aware of, including a new step that families will need to complete this year:
- Application checklist: For a list of documents that may be needed when a family applies, please click here.
- Priority deadline: To ensure renewing students receive priority for the Private School Scholarship and the Unique Abilities Scholarship, families must submit their application by Wednesday, April 30. After this date, all students will be processed as "new students" due to legislative changes for this year.
- New step for families: Once a student is found eligible, the family will be asked to "Accept" or "Decline" the scholarship. Once accepted, the student's status will be updated to "Awarded." Please monitor your email for future updates about enrollment.
- Once you receive your AWARD ID Number, please send the number(s) to Gail Leung at gleung@sscsfl.org.
- Step Up is here to help: In addition to our regular hours, our team(Step Up) will be available to assist families this weekend from 9 am to 5 pm ET.
Make sure to keep an eye on your email and Step Ups social media for updates. If you haven't followed Step Up, please do so now so you can have the latest news.
Volunteer Opportunity
February Mass count is coming up, a sign-up genius link is below. This is an opportunity to earn school volunteer hours.
YEARBOOK - Custom Pages and Recognition Ads
Mustang Sports
MUSTANG SPORTS:
Girls Flag Football: The girls flag football team opened the season with a big win, beating St Joseph, 48-0. Quarterback , Morgan C, threw for four touchdowns, three to Amelia B, and one to Camila R. Morgan also had two rushing TD's. Alannah M had a rushing touchdown. The defense played well in the shutout. The Mustangs are back on the field Wednesday against Mother Teresa at Mother Teresa at 4:15.
Boys Basketball: The varsity lost to Mother Teresa, 41-24, and they were led in scoring by Nathan T with 15 points. The JV lost to Mother Teresa, 31-17, and they were led in scoring by John R with 14 points. The Mustangs are back on the court today with games at St Lawrence. The varsity plays St Peter Claver at 4:15 and the JV plays St Joseph at 5:15. The boys also play local rival Nativity at Nativity on Tuesday. The varsity plays at 4:00 and the JV at 5:00.
Info about Field Day is coming soon. There will be plenty of opportunities for families to get service hours if needed.
GO MUSTANGS!
Coach Green
GO MUSTANGS!
Coach Green
Homeroom Mom Emails
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.