St. Stephen Catholic School
February 27, 2025
Important updates in this week's Tidbits
Lent Pasta and Pizza
March Madness Spirit Raffle
Volunteer Opportunities
Spirit Nights
Scholarship Renewal Begins February 1st
Afterschool Programs
Principal's Points
Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families!
Spring is almost here and with it comes our Spring fundraiser - the annual Spirit Raffle. This is your opportunity to meet your fundraising obligation of $250 if you have not met it already. Help us reach our goal of $25,000 and at the same time be enter into the drawings and possibly win $2000! Please see the details below.
Also here is Friday lunches during Lent. This year we are offering five Friday lunches during Lent. We will be serving Cheese Pizza three of the weeks and Pasta (mac & cheese, and pasta alfredo) the other two weeks. Please see details below and the link to the order form. Please complete a separate form for each of your children and be sure to complete it before the deadline of 8 am Tuesday morning, March 4. Orders will NOT be accepted after the deadline.
Finally, at our last PTCO General Meeting, Mrs. Dieringer talked about offering training for parents on parent controls to keep students safe on the internet. The first training will be on Wednesday, March 26 at 2 pm in the Media Center. This training will be for Middle School parents and it will focus on GoGuardian. Parents may also bring questions about other protections they can put on devices to monitor internet activity.
While our calendar for next year has not been completed and approved, there are some dates that we know and want to share if families are planning vacations for next year. Please see the dates for the start/end of the school year and holiday breaks.
Please continue to read all of Tidbits to learn about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.
Peace,
Linda Umoh
2025-26 SCHOOL YEAR DATES
First Day of School August 11 Spring Break March 16-20
Thanksgiving Break Nov. 24-28 Easter April 3-6
Christmas Break Dec. 22 - Jan. 2 Last Day of School May 28
Upcoming Events
February 18-28 - Terra Nova Testing
February 27 - Report Card Day
February 28-March 27 -Spirit Raffle
February 28 - Marvelous Mustang
March 5 - Ash Wednesday
March 8-9 - Holy Card Uniform Weekend
March 10 - Holy Card Free Dress
March 14 - Green Shirt and Jean Day
March 17-21 - NO SCHOOL Lenten Pause
March 25 - Spring Pictures
March 27 - Dads vs Varsity Basketball Game 3pm
Marketing Toolkit
Pictures to post to Social Media
Joke of the Week!
What is a snakes favorite subject?
GoGuardian Training for Middle School Parents
Mrs. Dieringer will be providing training for middle school parents in GoGuardian to help you monitor your child's activity on the internet. There will also be the opportunity to ask for help with other parental controls and software.
When: Wednesday, March 26
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Where: Media Center
Rice Bowls
As the students begin their Lenten journey, hopefully they are reminded to practice almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (from things like sweets and electronics). They can practice almsgiving by donating part of their allowance or money earned from chores to the Catholic Relief Services rice bowls they will bring home next week.
Rice bowls are due back at school by April 11.
Thank you for encouraging your child to live our faith.
YEARBOOK - Custom Pages and Recognition Ads
BrainTracks Presentation and Wednesday Presentations
In case you missed last weeks Wednesday BrainTracks Presentation, you can access it here, Presentation. Then use this Passcode W%6JfVQf when opening it up.
Or you can join Wednesdays Presentation, below describes the presentation and the link for the Wednesday Presentations.
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.
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.
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 contact Tracy Aguilar at Tracy.Aguilar@hcps.net In your email, indicate if your child needs to be evaluated or if they have an evaluation and need a service plan. If your child meets the eligibility requirements, the county will create a Service Plan and they will be added to the schedule.
Mustang Sports
MUSTANG SPORTS:
Girls Flag Football: The girls lost to Christ the King, 26-2, on Tuesday. The Mustangs are back on the field today with a home game against St. Lawrence here at St. Stephen at 4:00 pm. They also play on Tuesday against Villa Madonna here at St. Stephen at 4:00 pm.
Boys Basketball: The varsity lost to Villa Madonna, 58-17, and they were led in scoring by Nathan T. with 12 points. The JV lost to Villa Madonna, 27-21, and they were led in scoring by John R. with 16 points. The Mustangs are back on the court today with an away game against Corpus Christi at Corpus Christi. The varsity plays at 4:00 pm and the JV at 5:00 pm. They also play on Tuesday at St. Lawrence with the varsity at 4:00 pm and JV at 5:00 pm, and there's a varsity only game on Wednesday vs Incarnation in the FLC at 4:00 pm.
Please see the Athletics webpage for the complete girls flag football and boys basketball game schedules.
Field Day is set for Thursday, April 10. There will be two different sessions. K-4 will participate in the AM and 5th-8th will participate in the PM. Coach Green will need volunteer help for the activity stations and with supervising classes for both sessions. Volunteer service hours can be earned. More info to come.
St. Stephen Basketball and Volleyball summer camp dates have been set. Basketball camp is the week of July 14-18, and volleyball camp is July 21-25. The details and plans for soccer camp are still coming together. More info about the sports camps and registration coming soon.
GO MUSTANGS!
Coach Green
Boys Basketball: The varsity lost to Villa Madonna, 58-17, and they were led in scoring by Nathan T. with 12 points. The JV lost to Villa Madonna, 27-21, and they were led in scoring by John R. with 16 points. The Mustangs are back on the court today with an away game against Corpus Christi at Corpus Christi. The varsity plays at 4:00 pm and the JV at 5:00 pm. They also play on Tuesday at St. Lawrence with the varsity at 4:00 pm and JV at 5:00 pm, and there's a varsity only game on Wednesday vs Incarnation in the FLC at 4:00 pm.
Please see the Athletics webpage for the complete girls flag football and boys basketball game schedules.
Field Day is set for Thursday, April 10. There will be two different sessions. K-4 will participate in the AM and 5th-8th will participate in the PM. Coach Green will need volunteer help for the activity stations and with supervising classes for both sessions. Volunteer service hours can be earned. More info to come.
St. Stephen Basketball and Volleyball summer camp dates have been set. Basketball camp is the week of July 14-18, and volleyball camp is July 21-25. The details and plans for soccer camp are still coming together. More info about the sports camps and registration coming soon.
GO MUSTANGS!
Coach Green
PK3 Needs
PK3 Needs large clean prescription bottles again. Please bring them to the office.
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COUNCIL 14084
Knights of Columbus Council 14084 invite all men of St. Stephen parish to Cor meetings. The name “Cor” is inspired by Saint John Henry Newman’s words, “Consume my heart (“cor”) with that burning fire with which Your Heart is ever inflamed.”
COR offers an opportunity for parish men to increase their heart to heart relationship with Jesus Christ through a brotherhood committed to prayer, formation, fraternity and the mission of evangelization for their families and communities. All meetings include prayer and open discussion while exploring and embracing the rich teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.
Meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month from 7:15 to 8:30 PM in the Saint Stephens Room inside the Church.
Answer to the Joke!
Hisssstory
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.