August 24, 2022
Dear Parents:
Welcome to the new school year! We hope your summer was wonderful. I can’t believe summer is almost over, I’m excited to see everyone in just a couple of weeks. This note does contain a lot of information and I appreciate you taking the time to read it carefully.
Required forms: Good news! You already completed all the required beginning of the year student forms in January during re-enrollment or in March if your child is new to St. Anne School. If forms are incomplete or missing, the office will email you a Checklist Reminder Notice.
SchoolAdmin: If you would like to review any information you provided to us, please login into your parent portal in SchoolAdmin, the online enrollment system. Please contact me if you have trouble accessing it. If you would like to make a change or update information, please let me know because I’ll have to unlock that form from the administrator side of the site before you can access the form.
Classroom supply list: All classroom and field trip fees will be billed through FACTS on September 30th. The fee amounts are listed on the classroom supply list.
Parents who are new to our school: Pre-K – 8 parents have been invited to attend a garden party on Wednesday, August 31st from 5:30 – 7:00pm in the church’s Contemplative Garden on the west side of the church parking lot. Our Parent Association has planned a lovely welcoming gathering. Let me know if you did not receive your invitation. We don’t want you to miss out on this event. This is an adult only event. In the spirit of keeping our community safe please feel free to wear a mask if you are at risk for Covid or feel you have had a recent exposure to Covid.
Middle School Orientation: Middle School students will participate in a kick-start to the school year with a Middle School Orientation on Wednesday, August 31st. Students report to the gym at 9:00am, where there will be ice-breakers, activities, discussions about their leadership roles and strategies for a successful school year. Uniforms will not be required and students may dress appropriately for comfort. Students will be served lunch and will be dismissed at noon.
Pre-K and Kindergarten Open House: On Thursday, September 1st, our littlest students and their parents are welcome to visit their new classrooms between 10:00am and 12:00pm. Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers and aides will be on hand to answer questions and ease any apprehension in preparation for the first day of school. Please join us!
Pre-K and Kindergarten families– Please note that your student will have a 12:00 noon dismissal each day during the first week of school.
Drop off and Pick Up Procedure: To ensure the safety of all our students please note our drop off and pick up procedures. The first day of school will be Tuesday, September 6th with a 12:00 noon dismissal for all students. You may drop off your student beginning at 8:10. The remainder of that week’s schedule is:
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Wednesday, September 7th 8:30-2:00 grades 1 – 8.
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Thursday and Friday, September 8th and 9th: 8:30-3:00 grades 1 – 8.
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Friday, Sept. 9th, 8:30am: School Opening Mass for grades 1-8 begins at 8:45.
School hours: For grades K-8 are 8:30am to 3:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. School is dismissed every Wednesday at 2:00 pm for faculty meetings. Pre-K hours are 8:30am – 12:30pm daily. There are a few noon dismissal days throughout the school year. Please note those days and the dates that school is not in session on the school calendar. This information can also be found on the online calendar. Also please note our Dates to Remember, an overview of events throughout the year.
Uniforms: Students in grades K-8 are to wear their uniforms beginning on the first day of school. We will give you ample notice when students have non-uniform dress days. Our Uniform Policy is included in this mailing. Here are direct links to our uniform vendors Dennis Uniform and Land’s End(school code for Land’s End is 900130154)
Back to School Night: Back to School Night is Thursday September 15th at 6:30 for Pre-K-8th grade families. There will be tables set up with information about the many volunteer opportunities at the school and the church.
Service Hours and Volunteer Opportunities: All K-8 families are asked to complete 30 hours of service to the school or church. Of these hours, six must be spent working on the auction. Service hour reporting forms will be emailed to families near the end of each trimester. Here is a list for your reference of the various opportunities where we will be looking for volunteers over the course of the school year. Emails will also be sent by the event chairs for volunteer opportunities throughout the school year.
CYO Sports: Registration is now open for the upcoming fall CYO Cross Country program!
You can use this link to register: 2022 Fall Cross Country Registration
Details about the season, including meet dates, can be found here: Cross Country General Information Registration will be open through Friday, September 2nd. The registration fee is $35.
Any questions please let me know! Colin Gallagher CYO parent coordinator.
Safe Environment Program: The Archdiocesan Safe Environment policy applies to all who provide volunteer services in Archdiocesan schools and parishes. Please see the policy in its entirety on the Archdiocesan website:
A volunteer is defined as: Anyone over 18 years of age who:
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has ongoing, unsupervised contact with minors or vulnerable adults.
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drives on field trips.
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coaches or assists with CYO sports.
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chaperones the 5th grade Outdoor Education (OPI) trip.
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coaches or assists in any after-school sponsored activity such as Chess Club, Drama, Speech Team, etc.
Updates of the background check and Safe Environment on-line course will be once every three years.
Safe Environment Foundation Class: New school families, at a minimum must complete the background check. If you plan on having unsupervised contact with students or plan to drive on field trips, you must attend a Safe Environment Class “Protecting God’s Children”within 90 days of the school year. You may set up an account register here to start your background check. It is suggested that you use a computer to register and complete the forms. It appears other technical devices experience issues with the system and may show that you haven’t completed a process when you actually have completed it. Once you complete the background check, you should be directed to an area which identifies classes. You can email or call Pat Covich in the school office if you have questions. She is the Safe Environment coordinator for the school.
Child Custody: St. Anne School must abide by the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act with regard to parents’ rights of access to their children’s school records. The school shall abide by the provisions of Washington State law regarding the right of access of the non-custodial parent to his or her child and their school records. It is the responsibility of the custodial parent to provide the principal with an official copy of the court ordered parenting plan. A complete outline of the compliance requirements will be in your Family Handbook, which will be distributed at the Back to School Night.
Early Pickup:If your child will be picked up before normal dismissal time, we require advanced, written or verbal notice from you indicating time of pick up and the name of the person (including those on your Emergency Release Form) picking up your child.
Field Trips: Walking field trips are done throughout the school year and encompass an area of one mile or less on Queen Anne hill. A walking field trip form must be completed for every student. Thank you for completing this form during re-enrollment and registration. The office will notify you if the form has not been completed.
Field trips that require the use of public or private automobile transportation will have the following requirements:
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Students must have a signed Archdiocesan Field Trip Permission slip (sent home by your student’s teacher) in order to participate.
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Drivers must submit to a background check & show no felony, DUI or reckless driving conviction.
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Drivers must complete the Safe Environment class, “Protecting God’s Children” and must stay current with the on-line updates (every three years).
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Drivers must have a current Archdiocesan Driver Information Sheet on file with the school verifying that your car insurance, driver’s license and registration are up to date. Also needed is a copy of the insurance card. It is up to you to notify the office when license and insurance renewal dates have been fulfilled and when a new vehicle has been added to your insurance policy. The Volunteer Driver Form is a checklist item to complete on the SchoolAdmin parent portal.
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Children not enrolled in the school may not accompany the class on field trips. This includes siblings.
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Drivers are not permitted to make additional stops when traveling to and from the field trip destination.
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Drivers are not permitted to talk or text on their cell phones when traveling to and from the field trip destination and while chaperoning.
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Drivers must comply with the Washington State booster seat law. See details in the Family Handbook.
Hot Lunch: Queen Ann Catering will be back on-site to provide their hot lunch program. The September menu and order form can be found here and on the school’s website. The start day of the hot lunch program may be delayed a bit and we’ll send out a school wide email confirming when the first day hot lunch is available. Any questions concerning their program must be directed to Ann Wenzel ann@queenanncatering.com or 206-282-9595. Also, in case anyone you know is interested in part-time work, Queen Ann Catering has Lunch positions open at a nearby school. Please contact Ann if you are interested in more details.
Milk: Milk is available with lunch M-F. On Tuesday and Thursday chocolate milk is an option as well. Please complete this form if you would like milk for your child/ren. There is no fee for milk, however this form needs to be completed for your child to receive milk.
Medication: State law does not permit us to dispense medication to our students unless the following guidelines are met by you: If your child needs access to a prescription or over the counter medication during school hours, you must first obtain an authorization form for administration of oral medication, which is to be completed by the child’s parent/guardian and physician/dentist. Washington State law requires that this form be returned to the office before any prescription or nonprescription medication can be administered at school. All medication which the school has been authorized to administer must be in its prescription container or original packaging in the case of over the counter medication. The authorization form may be found here and in the school office and on the website.
Communication to Families: Every Tuesday and Sunday we distribute school-wide communication pieces to all of our school families via your school gmail account. Tuesday’s communication comes from our principal, Heidi Austin. In it, she recaps the highlights of school events that took place the prior week; she’ll invite you to participate in upcoming activities such as Move-A-Thon, Back to School Night, parent education nights, just to name a few. Student successes are also featured in her letter. Sunday’s communication comes from Jennifer, taking a look at the week ahead, all school event reminders and opportunities to register for the myriad of activities that take place in and outside of our school. These weekly publications are the primary basis of parent/school communication and we strongly suggest that you read all content. They are also linked on our school’s website. Watch for the first editions to be sent the first week of school. If you wish to include an item in the Sunday Week Ahead post, the deadline for submission to Jennifer Hazzard is Wednesday by 3:00. We cannot include any personal advertising.
Library: Click here (password celtics) to review frequently asked questions about library procedures.
Playground: The playground is open at 8:10 a.m. daily. There is no adult supervision before that time. Students may not be dropped off at school earlier than 8:10 a.m. unless they have a confirmed, prearranged appointment with their teacher. After school, the playground and Big Toy are off limits to all students until after 3:30. The gym is off limits to all students unless they are enrolled in an after school activity.
Visitors: EVERY person (parents and others) entering the school for any reason who is not employed by St. Anne School or Church is required to enter the school through the front door on Lee Street, check in at the front office and obtain a Visitor’s badge. Our students and staff expect to see visitors wearing the badge as an indication that the person is authorized to be in our school and is not an intruder.
Thank you again for reviewing this information, if you have any questions please feel free to contact jhazzard@stannesea.org.