October 22 Principal Post

Fall learning!

St. Anne School

Empowering a New Century ☩ Faith, Learning & Service

Our Mission

The mission of St. Anne School, in partnership with parents and the parish family, is to provide a quality Catholic education that promotes educational excellence, fosters the living of Gospel values, builds Christian community and inspires compassionate service.

2024-25 School Theme: “Guide me in your truth and teach me.” –Psalm 25

 

Dear Families,

One of the hopes we have for our students is that they grow into good and strong leaders for our community. At our Monday morning Prayer Assembly this week, Mr. Talevich spoke about servant leadership. It is the kind of leadership Jesus asks of us in Sunday’s Gospel, “Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.” A servant leader lifts the community up by helping others be their best. When he asked students for examples, one of our PreK students said her grandmother was one and talked about all the good things she did for her. It was a wonderful example. Mr. T prayed with us the following prayer:

God, grant me generosity of spirit.Let me not think solely of myself today,But make the effort and take the time to touch another’s life.Let me reach out to perform at least one kind act, to smile, to listen, to embrace.Grant that I may live this day spreading joy among my brothers and sisters. In Christ, in fulfillment of the Gospel’s command to love one another.(written by Jackie Ring)

It is Conference Week!  We are happy to welcome you into the school building this week for conferences! This is a great opportunity for communication about learning.  Some things to be aware of:

  • Enter through the front door of the school building!
  • At conferences, you will hear about:
    • what your student is learning
    • their growth and progress 
    • their next learning goals and opportunities for growth 
  • It is a time to ask questions and share information with teachers that will support your student’s learning.
  • PreK-5th are Parent-Teacher Conferences. 
  • 6th-8th are Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences–these are student led.
  • Conferences are scheduled every 20 minutes so it is important that you arrive and leave from your conferences promptly.
  • Teachers highly value conferences but they are exhausting.  If you need additional time to discuss your student’s learning needs, you can schedule that with the teacher for a later time.

Gratitude for Ms. Earnst and our Book Fair this week!: We are always excited for the Book Fair during conference week. Ms. Earnst works with Secret Garden Books in Ballard to bring this wonderful selection of books to you. There are special orders available, there are teacher wish lists and the proceeds from all the book sales go to buy new books for the library.  Times of the book fair are the following:

  • Wednesday, 3:30-7:00pm
  • Thursday, 12:30-7:00pm
  • Friday, 8:30am-12:30pm

Gratitude for Tending our School Grounds!: A component of our auction Fund-it work is to upgrade our grounds and landscaping to enhance the learning and play environment for our students. We are grateful for the planning and coordinating work of Edna Maddalena and Sharon Cercone for working with the school on this endeavor. Over the next couple of months you will notice this work unfold. Thank you to all for your contributions.

Parent Association Notes: Thank you to Jen Svrcek and her team of 8th grade parent volunteers for an amazing Mother/Son Bowling party! We are so appreciative of their efforts in making this event a success.

Auction News 2025!!!!  Save the Date – March 22nd!  Note from our auction chairs, Stephanie Wenglikowski and Katie Hillman: “Fillies and colts, head for the starting gates….it’s time for the Saint Anne Stakes! We are in a race to the finish as we run for the grandest of stakes: funds for our beloved Saint Anne School. This year’s auction celebrates all things racing: horses & hats, juleps & jodhpurs, and some friendly competition. Join us as we jockey for the inside track on an amazing auction. Win, place or show, St. Anne is always the best bet. We need your help to transform Banchero Hall into the perfect paddock for a night of fun and finery, so watch your inbox for volunteer opportunities and more auction details!”  The auction team is also planning a warm up event on Friday, March 14th – Family Bingo/Silent Auction Night. A fun evening for all so get it on your calendar!

Move-a-Thon: We are doing the final push for the collected pledges and donations from Move-a-thon. Let’s finish strong and meet our fundraising goal!  We will announce the results at our Prayer Assembly on October 28!

Halloween:  Don’t forget that next week we have our Halloween parade and assembly on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 2pm. Feel free to join us for the parade and assembly. We look forward to some of the traditional ghosts, witches and goblins and all sorts of creative characters!  Please remember that costumes may not depict violence, be gruesome and negative, nor include weapons of any sort. And students must be able to move about easily and sit at their desk!

  • 2pm: Parade: The parade begins with the Kindergarten as they lead a procession through the building, collecting classes as they go. They then exit the building at the Northwest doors and parade east on Lee street, cross the street and head West along Lee street passing in front of the church doors and waving to the parish staff.  Finally, they enter the playground through the Northeast gate and go into the gym through the parking lot door.
  • 2:15: Halloween Assembly:  The Spirit Elective Team, will be giving out prizes to the best costume from each class and all classes get to show off their costumes one more time.  Families are welcome to come and watch

Safety Alerts:

  • Last Thursday, the school participated in the Great Shakeout and practiced earthquake safety protocol. The Great Shakeout website offers many resources on how to prepare for and stay safe during an earthquake. You may wish to look at resources for you and your family on the site.
  • Thank you for focusing on safe driving at drop off and pick up!  As we enter the rainy season, keep an extra eye out for students and drive slowly around the school. This will help keep all the students safe.

Extracurricular Opportunity–Christmas Eve Mass Choir:  Read this link to learn about how your second through eighth grade student can participate in this choir led by Mo Mershan. There are four rehearsals: Nov. 20, Dec. 4, 11 & 18.

Church News:

  • Fall Campus Clean-Up Day – October 26th 
    • Join our Campus Maintenance team and help maintain the beauty and functionality of our St. Anne grounds. Whether you have a green thumb or handy skills, your efforts will make a visible difference. If you’re interested in joining, please sign up here.
    • We will meet at the main church door. Helping time slots are available between 9AM and 12PM.
    • Make a difference, meet new people, and have a meaningful impact in a short amount of time. 
    • A great way to get your volunteer hours and fresh air at the same time!
  • Parish Family Night!–October 23rd
    • Come join us for a fun Family Night! We’ll have a simple, kid-friendly dinner, a faith-based activity for everyone, and we’ll wrap up with a short family prayer. It’s going to be a great time!
    • When: Wednesday, October 23 – 6pm to 7:30pm
    • Where: St. Anne, Banchero Hall (School Gym)
    • RSVP: https://archseattle.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/3967/responses/new
    • Questions? Ask Jessica Harris – jharris@stanneseattle.org or jharris@olfatima.org

Activities at our school:

  • Wednesday, October 30: All School Free Dress
  • Thursday, October 31, 2pm Halloween Parade followed by all school assembly
  • Friday, November 1, 8:45am: All Saints Day Mass (5th Grade led)

Have a great week everyone.

Heidi