St. Stephen Catholic School
April 3, 2025
Important updates in this week's Tidbits
PTCO Board Nominations
Field Day
Volunteer Opportunities
Scholarship Renewal Begins February 1st
Summer Reading Program
Summer Sport Camps
Summer Camps
Principal's Points
Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families!
Thank you everyone who participated in our Spirit Raffle and congratulations to our winners. Unfortunately, we did not reach our goal but we came very close! I do not have the final numbers yet, but hope to share them next week. Those families who did not meet their fundraising obligation will be billed later this month through FACTS.
I am excited to see the number of parents who have shown interest in PTCO. We will be in touch with the nominees and the election form will be sent through Tidbits and email next week. Please watch for that and take the time to vote for next year's PTCO board members.
It's almost time for our Spring Concert and I know this will be amazing. All students PK through 8th will participate. It will be in the church starting at 6:30 pm and the theme of the concert is social justice. More details will be sent home next week.
Lastly, I do want to share some changes for next year in our faculty. Our ESE teacher, Mrs. Dautzenberg, is leaving as her family is moving out of the area. We thank her for all she has done and wish her well. Her replacement is Carin Shadwick. This name may sound familiar as Mrs. Shadwick worked here for many years in the office. When she left us she continued her education and has been working in special education for the past nine years. We are all excited to have her return to St. Stephen.
Two other teachers who are leaving are Ms. Lopez and Mrs. Tipaldo, both middle school teachers. They will be leaving to pursue other positions and we thank them for a great year and also wish them well. We have not hired their replacements, but we are interviewing and hope to have the positions filled before the summer.
Have a great rest of the week and keep scrolling to see what is happening at school, learn about volunteer opportunities, and find out about Summer Sports Camps.
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
March 31-April 7 - SVDP Food Drive
April 2-4 - Natures Classroom 7th Grade
April 10 - Field Day
April 11 - Book Exchange
April 11 - Rice Bowls Due
April 11 - Living Stations 7pm
April 12-13 - Holy Card Uniform Weekend
April 14 - Holy Card Free Dress
April 15 - PTCO General Meeting 6pm
April 17 - Holy Thursday
April 17 - Living Stations 10:30am
April 17 - Living Stations 10:30am
April 17 - Noon Dismissal
April 17 - NO EXTENDED DAY
April 18 - Good Friday
April 18-22 - Easter Break/NO SCHOOL
Joke of the Week!
Can February March?
An Act of Kindness
The St. Vincent de Paul Ministry needs our help to care for those in need in our community. Angels Outreach will be collecting canned food donations from each class through April 7. Please allow your student(s) to select one or two cans of food to donate.
"Go to the poor: you will find God” St. Vincent de Paul
"Go to the poor: you will find God” St. Vincent de Paul
Rice Bowls
Rice Bowls
As students continue 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 brought home on Ash Wednesday.
Rice bowls are due back at school by April 11.
Thank you for encouraging your child to live our faith.
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.
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.
Mustang Sports
MUSTANG SPORTS:
The boys flag football team has a few more practices before their first game. The Mustangs open the season with a home game on Wednesday, against Mother Teresa, here at St. Stephen 4:15 pm.
The girls track team has another week of practices before the first running and relay meet on Saturday, April 12, at Tampa Catholic from 8:00-11:30 am.
Please see the Athletics webpage for the complete boys flag football schedule and girls track meet info.
Field Day is next Thursday, April 10. K-4th is from 9:15-10:45 am, and 5th-8th will go from 1:00-2:30 pm. The students will participate in five different activity stations, including a bouncy house obstacle course. There are plenty of parent volunteer opportunities available for both sessions, and Coach Green needs as many volunteers as possible to make the day a success for the kids. Please see the Field Day flyer in Tidbits which includes the SignUp Genius link for info and times for the different volunteer opportunities.
The St. Stephen summer sports camps info flyers and registration links are now available in this week's Tidbits, see below. Please check out the info and dates for soccer, basketball, and volleyball camps below. Coach Green is looking forward to another summer of improving our skills and having fun.
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.
Young Adult Ministry at SSCC
St. Stephen Parish Community welcomes young adults ages, 18-35 to participate in community, worship, and fellowship. This ministry invites young adults in the area to come together to pray, make connections, and grow in their faith with one another.
For more information about all Young Adult Ministry has to offer, please contact the Faith Formation Office at 813-671-4434 or Stephanie Gallegos at the Parish Office, 813-689-4900.
We offer a Young Adults Bible Study on Monday evenings beginning at 7:15 PM at the Faith Formation Office. To Register please contact Rene Bonetti at the Faith Formation Office at rene@ststephencatholic.org.
We are always looking for Adult Core Team members to minister to the youth of our parish! Do you feel called to help bring teens closer to Christ? Join Core Team!
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 12th grade and College. 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.
Students entering Middle School, this program will expand vocabulary and learn note-taking, test-taking strategies, leading to better exam scores and higher grades.
For more information,call 1-800-499-8557 or visit https://readingprograms.org/usf. Click HERE for the Flyer or the flyer can also be found outside the school office.
Answer to the Joke!
No but April May!
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.