St. Mar y's School
                  Following Christ's command to TEACH, rule and sanctify.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Becky Knakmuhs of Walnut Grove, this week’s $100 weekly calendar raffle winner.  Thank you for supporting our school!

Thank you!

Thank you for the memorials donated in memory of Kathy Dieken.  We are blessed by your thoughtfulness!

LifeTouch Picture Retakes

Lifetouch picture retakes have been schedule for tomorrow Friday, November 6^th, 2009.

Echoes Basketball!

It’s getting close to that time of year again when our basketball season starts up.  Joe Vandendriessche, our Athletic Director, is trying to get everything prepared.  He needs to know the numbers of students in Grade 4 and 5 who would be interested in playing basketball and if anyone would volunteer to be the basketball coach.  Please let the school office know if you will volunteer.

Report Cards

Report cards will be sent home tomorrow afternoon.  Students in the 3^rd and 4^th grade room will receive their report cards on Monday.  Please take the time to look these over and then return them during conferences.

Fall Conferences

Fall Conferences will be Tuesday and Thursday, November 10^th and 12^th.  Conference letters went home this past Tuesday.  Please let the office know if these times will not work for you and we can work with the schedule to help you out.

Candy Sales

Be sure to pick up your candy sales kit during conferences.  Candy Sales run through the month of November.

2^nd Grade Parent Reconciliation Retreat

There will be a 2^nd Grade Parent/Student Reconciliation Retreat on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. in the church basement.  If your child is making their First Reconciliation this year, please be sure to attend this retreat.

Meals for Horner’s

Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered to bring a meal to the Horner family.  We have up until November 13^th covered.  Please help us keep them supplied with meals up to Christmas Break.  I know that the family really appreciates your efforts.  It’s one more thing that Tammy doesn’t have to worry about while she is in Sioux Falls with Joseph.

SCRIP News

Plan ahead for your holiday shopping and gift cards!  Use SCRIP to easily earn dollars toward the cost of tuition.  If you need copies of the national scrip vendors, let the office know or go to www.glscrip.com and check out the list of vendors.  JCPenney, Shopko, Cabela’s, Walgreens, and Applebee’s are offering 1% bonuses now through the end of the year.  Keep in mind that even if you use Tracy Food Pride and HyVee, you can earn 5% credit towards your tuition.  Casey’s is 3% credit.  Keep in mind that for your Thanksgiving weekend shopping, you will need to get your orders in by November 19^th to receive them before the long weekend.

Wreath Sales

Our wreath sales fundraiser is going on right now.  Please don’t forget to check with anyone who may be interested in decorating their house with greenery for the holidays.  All orders need to be back to the school office by Monday, November 9^th.

PartyLite

Please try to do all you can for this added fundraiser.  Don’t forget that PartyLite candles are high quality candles.  These candles make great Christmas gifts for teachers, relatives, assistants, and others whom you want to spread holiday cheer.  Don’t forget that this is a very easy fundraiser.  There is no shipping charge or tax because we are a non-profit organization.  If you would like to see some samples, please stop by the school office.  All sales forms need to be turned into the office by Friday, November 13^th.

** With all of our fundraisers, don’t forget to ask people from our church and in our community.  We’ve had many people stop by the school office to ask why no one has come to them for fundraisers.  Sometimes their feelings have gotten hurt because no one has come to them.**

Thanksgiving Meal for Food Shelf

This year we are once again putting together the Thanksgiving Meals for the Tracy Food Shelf.  We won’t put together as many meals, but we’d like to put 10 meals together.  Included with this newsletter this week is the list of food items that each grade is responsible.  Let’s try and make another person’s Thanksgiving wonderful.  Thank you for your help!

November

            6^th – 8:30 a.m. Mass by Grade 5

            6^th – End of 1^st Quarter

            6^th – Report Cards Come Home

            6^th – SCRIP Pick-Up

            8^th – 2^nd Grade Parent Reconciliation Retreat

            9^th – Beginning of 2^nd Quarter

            9^th – Candy Sales Kick-Off

            10^th – Mission Tuesday

            10^th – Fall Conferences

            11^th – 8:30 Mass by Grades 3 & 4

            11^th – SCRIP Orders Due

            12th – 5^th Grade Visits Prairie View Nursing Home

            13^th – CPT Late Start

            13^th – All School Prayer at 2:40 p.m. by Grades 3 & 4