Newsletter - January 2020

St Francis School ~ January Newsletter

Third Grade Class Prayer

Lord, please provide clothes, and supplies to help us learn. Please remind us to 
respect others by remaining quiet when they are talking, remind us to always be kind to others, guide us to be good listeners, and do things the first time we are asked. Most importantly, help us to be closer to God. We are thankful for everything You have given us, especially: books, friends and family, our teacher, toys, our class, Jesus and God, and St. Francis. Amen.

PRAYER PARTNERS:  Please join us as we lift up Mrs. Figi and our third Grade students in prayer during the month of January. Taelyn Hines, Ellie Holst, Oskar LaFave, Bentley McHardy, Charlie McMahon, Carter Moldenhauer, Eian Murphy, Brielle O’Neil, Sophia Oricchio, Emmie Pechacek, Gretta Rewolinski, and Vander Truttman

Don’t worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Philippians 4:6

During the month of February, we will be lifting up Mrs. Koch and our Second Grade students in prayer
 
VIRTUE AWARDS FOR BEING CONTENT:                                                                        
Content – You are not greedy or always wanting things
 
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
 
Deni Truttman, Ryland Hines, Tate Francis, Bentley McHardy, Shawn Huppert, Evan Beissel, Max Olson
 
VIRTUE AWARDS FOR BEING OBEDIENT:
Obedient – Doing what you are told and doing it right away

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow his commands given today, The Lord your God will set you high above the nations on Earth.  Deuteronomy 28:1
 
Kate Rohl, Grace Turvaville, Ava Acker, Bethany Kaufer 
 
Thank you!
 
Thank you to everyone who attended our Christmas program last Thursday night as our students shared the true meaning of Christmas!  On behalf of St. Francis School, I would like to thank Mrs. Penton and our entire staff for helping our students to make this year’s Christmas program such a great success. Thank you to the Home and School Association for their amazing support and wonderful gifts for our staff. A special thanks to all the parents, families and friends for making it all worthwhile.
 
KC CHRISTMAS POSTER WINNERS:  Congratulations to these students whose entries won top prizes in the Knights of Columbus Christmas Poster Contest.  The posters of the first place winners in grades 1-4 are eligible for the diocesan level of the contest, and will be sent to La Crosse.
 
1st Place   Samantha Augustine, Benton Johnson, Gretta Rewolinski,      Regan Nelson, and  Atlanta O’Neil
2nd Place  Adeline Dopp, Markus Lorentz, Ellie Holst,   Evelyn Peterson, and Vincent Oricchio
3rd Place   Ellyse Nelson,  Arie Christensen, Oskar LaFave, Aubrey Marks, and           Sienna Lansing
 
TUITION STATEMENTS:  Please contact the school office if you need a copy of your tuition statement.  Parents have mentioned having trouble printing statements from JMC.
 
FIFTH GRADE THANK YOU:  The 5th grade class at St. Francis School has spent the Fall learning about the challenges many people face trying to earn enough money to feed their families.  After learning how many of our friends and neighbors the Ellsworth Food Pantry helps each month, the students decided to have a Holiday Food Drive to benefit them program.  Through the months of November and December, St. Francis School and The Ellsworth Cub Scout Pack #3, collected 343 pounds of food and $233.84. Our fifth grade students, along with Mrs. Swanson and Mr. Buckel, personally delivered to the Food Pantry on December 13th.  Our donation will provide 519 meals to those in need!
 
MASS SERVING SCHEDULE: Our Mass Serving Schedule is included in today’s envelope. (K - 5th Grade)
 
4YK AND PRESCHOOL WINTER PROGRAM - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18:  Our 4YK and Preschool students will present a Winter Program to their parents and guests on Wednesday, December 18 at 10:00am.  Refreshments will be served after the program.
 
RECORDERS - GRADE 4:  As part of our fourth grade music curriculum, students will study the recorder.  Each fourth grade student will need to have a recorder and a “Methods” book. Additional information and an order form is included in the monthly envelope for fourth grade families.
 
CHRISTMAS VACATION:  Students will be dismissed at 3:25pm on Friday, December 20th for Christmas vacation. Classes will resume on Thursday, January 2.

REGISTRATION UPDATE FOR NEXT YEAR:  Registration forms for our present students will be sent home after the parish finance committee meeting in January. 

FIRST RECONCILIATION FOR SECOND GRADE - JANUARY 15:  First Reconciliation will be at 6:00 pm.

END OF SECOND QUARTER - THURSDAY, JANUARY 16: The second quarter ends on Thursday, January 16.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES – FRIDAY, JANUARY 17 (NO SCHOOL): Conferences for this quarter are optional unless requested by your child’s teacher, or requested by you as a parent. Teacher requests will be sent out closer to the date. We will send out a link in early January with the time slots.
Please remember that you can view your child’s grades (Grades 3-5) in our JMC program.

BAKE SALE – THURSDAY, JANUARY 23: Don’t forget to bring your sweet tooth for our 5th grade bake sale on Thursday, January 23rd.  Each treat will be 50 cents and all proceeds go to transportation for our big Valley Fair trip this spring. Thank you for your support!  Mrs. Swanson and the 5th grade class

SCHOOL CARNIVAL - SUNDAY, JANUARY 26: Our St. Francis school carnival is scheduled for Sunday, January 26.  Please see more information under the Home and School Section of this newsletter.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK - JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1:  We will join in the national observance of Catholic Schools Week January 26 - February 1.  A complete schedule of activities and dress themes for Catholic School Week will be sent out in January.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK OPEN HOUSE - FEBRUARY 1:  We will join in the national observance of Catholic Schools Week January 26 - February 1, and conclude the activities with an Open House on Sunday, February 2. 
Students in grades 1-5 are asked to sing in the choir for the 10:30 a.m. Mass.  Fifth grade students will be selected for the role of lector, and fourth and fifth grade students for servers.  If your child would like to be considered for one of these roles as lector or server, please send a note to my office no later than Wednesday, January 8. Our Open House on Sunday will begin at 9:15, following the 8:30 Mass, close during the 10:30 Mass, and continue again after the 10:30 Mass until 1 p.m.  The St. Francis Youth Ministry will be serving cinnamon rolls on this morning as well.


SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR  JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 5:  It’s Scholastic Book Fair Time!  We will be having a book fair starting Monday, January 27 and ending Wednesday, February 5. Students will be able to shop during the school days.  On Tuesday, January 28, the book fair will be open prior to the Home and School Meeting. On Wednesday January 29, parents can shop with their child during Books with Breakfast. On Sunday, February 2, the book fair will be open during our Open House.

Can’t find a book you are looking for? Want to purchase items online? Please visit https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stfranciselementaryschool3. The site won’t be available until January 7th.

BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: We are looking for volunteers to help with the book fair. On Wednesday, January 29, we need at least 2 volunteers to help from about 9:30 to 10:30 am. On Sunday, February 2, we need volunteers from 9 am to 1.  If you can only work part of the time, that is wonderful! We are also looking for volunteers to help setup. All information and training will be provided and a flexible schedule will be available. Please contact Mrs. Sandy Karlstad at school or by email at skarlstad@stfrancisellsworth.org if you are willing to help. Thank you!

HISTORY IS ALIVE - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2:  Once again, our 5th grade students with present their historical biography research projects at our Catholic Schools Week Open House on Sunday, February 2nd.  Come enjoy these presentations as our students “become” George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and many more! Through their hard work and creativity, history truly is “ALIVE”!

SCREENING DAY - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29: Our 4YK students will not have class on Wednesday, January 29 due to District Screening that day. 

FIRST COMMUNION PARENT MEETING - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12:  A Parent Meeting for 1st Communion will be held on Wednesday, February 12 from 5:45pm - 7:00pm.

NO SCHOOL - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14:  Students will not have class on Friday, February 14.  This is a district-wide in-service.

2019-2020 YEARBOOK ORDERS: Yearbook Online Ordering is open!  Visits https://ybpay.lifetouch.com to order. Our ID code is: 1934620.  Additional ordering options will be open at a later date.

HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION NEWS
 
FRIDAY FAMILY FUN NIGHT GLOW DANCE: Thank you to everyone who attended the Glow Dance and to all who helped out so much! It was such a great night and lots of fun! Josie Erlandson really loved it! 
 
HOME & SCHOOL MEETING - TUESDAY, JANUARY 28: Our next Home and School meeting will be Tuesday January 28th at 6pm in the Parish Hall. All are welcome! 
 
HOME & SCHOOL MINUTES:  Our Home and School minutes from our December meeting will be emailed.
 
“FUN IN THE SUN” CARNIVAL UPDATE:  We are almost a month away from the carnival! Please remember we are looking for prizes to hand out for boys and girls as well as Bingo prizes. If you are interested in donating or have something to donate you can bring it to the office. Below is also a list of pop that all families are asked to donate, if you have children in more than one grade just pick one. Please remember to drop that off in the office! 
 
Please turn in your ticket money ASAP, so we have a good idea as to how many have sold.  Our goal is to get all 200 sold!!! We need every ticket sold!  
 
If you haven't gotten your tickets please reach out to Amy in the office. They all went home with the oldest child before Thanksgiving.  

We are asking all families to bring in 2 - two liter bottles of pop as follows:
4YK: Sprite, K: Root Beer, 1st: Coke, 2nd: Diet Coke, 3rd: Orange, 4th: Mello Yello/Mt. Dew, 5th: Dr. Pepper
 
We thank you for your support!! Carnival Committee 
 
Carnival Need: We are looking for prizes for kids valued between $5-$10.  Please keep us in mind as you are Christmas Shopping.  
 
ST. FRANCIS SCHOOL GALA – AUCTION WISHLIST:  Thank you to those who have already signed up to donate an item for this year’s “Glory Days” Gala taking place on April 18, 2020!  If you haven’t had a chance to check out the auction wishlist please visit https://signup.com/go/rQACpCg.  Many items on our auction wishlist are linked to an Amazon wishlist, which allows you to easily purchase the item through Amazon and have it shipped directly to our school!  There is a Gala committee meeting scheduled for January 16 at 6 pm at Broz Bar.  All are welcome to attend, share your ideas, and assist with planning!
 
CHURCH/COMMUNITY NEWS
 
ELLSWORTH SCHOOL FOUNDATION -  MURDER MYSTERY DINNER:  Join the  Ellsworth School Foundation for a night of dining and deceit at "Horror at Homecoming" on January 11 at 7 pm at the EHS cafetorium.  EHS drama students and staff will entertain guests with this murder mystery while you enjoy a buffet meal. Tickets are available at the high school office for $35.  Proceeds from the event benefit the Ellsworth School Foundation which provides educational funding for students across the district including at St. Francis School.
 
ELLSWORTH SOCCER SIGN-UP:  Please see the Ellsworth Winter Soccer sign up sheet included in your monthly envelope. 
 
DATES TO REMEMBER: 
Dec. 18 - Virtue Awards for being Obedient and Content
Dec. 18 - 4YK and Preschool Winter Program at 10:00am
Dec. 18 - Recorder Order Form and Money is due (Grade 4)
Dec. 23 - Jan. 1 - Christmas Vacation
Jan. 2 - Classes Resume
Jan. 11 - Ellsworth School Foundation Mystery Dinner at 7:00pm
Jan. 15 - 2nd Grade First Reconciliation at 6:00pm
Jan. 16 - End of Second Quarter
Jan. 16 - Gala Committee Meeting at 6:00pm
Jan. 17 - No School - Teacher In-Service/ Parent-Teacher Conferences (by request only)
Jan. 20 - Beginning of 3rd Quarter
Jan. 23 - Fifth Grade Bake Sale
Jan. 26 - St. Francis School Carnival
Jan. 26 - Feb. 1 – Catholic Schools Week
Jan. 27 - Feb. 5 – Scholastic Book Fair
Jan. 28 - Home and School Meeting at 6:00pm
Jan. 29 - Virtue Awards for being Honest and Helpful (4YK awards will be given out on Thursday)
Jan. 29 - Books with Breakfast (following Mass)
Jan. 29 - Child Development Screening (No School for 4YK only)
Feb. 2 - Catholic Schools Week Open House 9:15 - 1:00 (Students in Grades 1-5 will sing at 10:30 Mass)
Feb. 2 - History Is Alive (5th Grade)
Feb. 12 - First Communion Parent Meeting (5:45 - 7:00)
Feb. 14 - No School - Teacher In-Service

May God Bless Our St. Francis Families!!  Please call or e-mail if you have questions: 715-273-4391 cbuckel@stfrancisellsworth.org
Chuck Buckel - Principal

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