St. Mark Catholic School
Weekly School Bulletin
October 3, 2014
In this Issue:
Virtue of the Month
Reminders for Next Week
Changes in Afternoon Dismissal Procedure Starting Monday, October 6, 2014
Emergency Text Alert – Did You Receive It?
Announcing St. Mark Enrichment Clubs
Thank You Notes for Priesthood Sunday
Vocations Week
Watch D.O.G.S.
October – Month of the Rosary
4th-8th Grades: Buy A Pretzel and Support the Yearbook!
St. Mark – Top Fundraiser for HIKE FOR LIFE
Don’t Wait: Participate!
News from the Athletics Department
News from the Library
Are You Using Our Website’s Search Feature?
Bishop Lynch Middle School Football Night
Cistercian “Little Hawks” Cheer Camp
Help Wanted
Home & School Association (HSA) News
In Alumni News…
Seen & Heard Around St. Mark
Virtue of the Month – Empathy
Teachers discuss the Virtue of the Month with students by using either stories or activities to engage them into seeing the virtue in action. Ask your child what he/she is learning about “Empathy” this month.
Reminders for Next Week
7th Grade was presented with the Vocations Chalice at the conclusion of today’s All-School Mass, and will be praying for vocations during the upcoming week.
Saturday, October 4-Sunday, October 5: Discounted Carnival Tickets Sold After Masses
Sunday, October 5, 9:00 AM, St. Mark Catholic Church: Children’s Choir Performance
Come and see our wonderful Children’s Choir in action!
Monday, October 6, 8:00 AM: Early Childhood Fire Truck Visit
Tuesday, October 7: Discounted Carnival Tickets Sold in Carpool Lines
Monday, October 6-Wednesday, October 8: MS Fundraiser: Soft Pretzel Sale
See details below.
Monday, October 6, 6:30 PM, Bethany Narthex: First Reconciliation Meeting Part I
Monday, October 6, 6:45 PM, Jesuit-Terry Center: Catholic High School Information Night
Thursday, October 9: Free Dress Day for Students Who Returned 10 Carnival Raffle Ticket Stubs
Friday, October 10: October Service Project Items Due
Remember to turn in your donation for the Carnival. The list can be found in last week’s “Weekly School Bulletin” on our website.
Friday, October 10-Sunday, October 12: St. Mark Community Carnival
See details below.
Friday, October 10: All School Mass
Our All-School Mass will be held at 8:30 AM in the church. All are invited to attend. This Mass will be presented by the 7th grade. They will perform the Call to Worship, the Mass readings, and present the Communion gifts.
Changes in Afternoon Dismissal Procedure Starting Monday, October 6, 2014
Parents: Please note the following changes to our afternoon dismissal procedure:
1. In our continuing effort to make afternoon dismissal as efficient as possible, 6th grade students with younger siblings will go to Line B (Individual Family/Kindergarten line) to join their younger siblings and will be picked up there. These family groups will no longer be picked up in Line C (Middle School line).
2. Also beginning on Monday, ALL parents in ALL dismissal lines need to prominently display a sign in their car window indicating their last name. It should be written in large, dark letters. A teacher will be stationed in Lines B and C and will call out last names using a bullhorn to facilitate the dismissal process.
As a reminder, all parents are asked to wait patiently in their cars during dismissal. Please do not park and walk over to get your child(ren). This presents a safety risk that needs to be avoided. We thank you for always working with us to dismiss nearly 600 students in the safest and most efficient way possible.
Emergency Text Alert – Did You Receive It?
Yesterday (Thursday), an emergency text alert was sent to all parents. If you did not receive it, please check to see that your cell phone number is entered correctly into RenWeb.
Visit www.renweb.com.
Click on “Parents Login.”
Enter the St. Mark District Code: STMCS-TX.
Enter your username and password.
Click on “Family Information,” then scroll down to “Online Filing Cabinet.”
Click on “Family Demographic Form.”
Click on “Custodial Parent Form” to view/update.
If your cell phone number is entered correctly and you did not receive the text, please notify Mrs. O’Connor in the school office immediately.
Announcing St. Mark Enrichment Clubs
The St. Mark Faculty and Staff are pleased to announce the return of our after-school Enrichment Clubs, and we’ve added even more options to accommodate all grade levels! Our teachers have put on their thinking caps and come up with a wide variety of club offerings to appeal to our St. Mark students’ many interests – see the attached list.
In order to accommodate as many students as possible, Enrichment Clubs will be offered in two sessions. Session I will begin October 20 and end on December 17. Session II Enrichment Clubs will be announced later this year. If your student does not get a spot in Session I, priority will be given to him/her for Session II.
Clubs will take place on Mondays or Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:00 PM, and will meet seven times. There is no charge for these Enrichment Clubs, and they will all be conducted by St. Mark teachers.
If your child would like to participate in an Enrichment Club during Session I, please print and complete the attached Permission Slip and return it to Mrs. O’Connor in the school office by October 10. Students who attend the After School Program are able to participate and will be taken to the ASP classrooms after club dismissal at 4:00 PM (simply indicate ASP participation on the attached Permission Slip).
Thank You Notes for Priesthood Sunday
Priesthood Sunday will take place on Sunday, October 26 and St. Mark Catholic School is helping to celebrate! Our students will be making thank-you cards and posters which will be presented to our parish priests. We would like to invite parents to write their own thank-you notes to our priests for all that they do for our church and school communities. Please submit your cards to the school office no later than Tuesday, October 21. They will be presented along with the students’ cards.
Vocations Week
Vocations Week will take place October 13-17 (during Standardized Testing week). Presentations to our 5th-8th graders will begin at 2:45 PM each day. Students will learn about vocations within the Catholic community.
Calling all Dads! If you’d like to volunteer for a day at school during the month of November as a Watch D.O.G.S. Dad, you must sign-up by October 15th! For more information and the sign up calendar, click here. You will need to be Safe Environment cleared before you can serve. Click here for more information on Safe Environment Training.
October – Month of the Rosary
October is the month of the rosary. Students and faculty/staff will be saying the rosary throughout the month. Students will say the rosary every Wednesday morning beginning at 7:30 AM in the Cafetorium. This will take place as students are being dropped off in the mornings, so students entering the Cafetorium will need to enter quietly. Students may bring their own rosaries with them to school. An instruction sheet on how to recite the rosary is attached for your reference. Faculty and staff will say the rosary on Mondays at 3:45 PM in the Faculty Lounge.
4th-8th Grades: Buy A Pretzel and Support the Yearbook!
The Middle School yearbook elective will be selling soft-baked pretzels to students next week to raise money to cover the cost of printing the yearbook. Pretzel orders will be taken during class time on Monday, October 6th-Wednesday, October 8th. Pretzels are $1.50 each. Exact change is appreciated. Payment must be made during the order process. The warm pretzels will be delivered to students during school as a morning snack between 9:30-10:30 AM on October 10th. We will not be able to accommodate any orders on October 10, so if your child would like to enjoy a warm pretzel in class, be sure that he/she pre-orders and pays between October 6th-8th. Please help support the yearbook and enjoy a tasty treat!
St. Mark – Top Fundraiser for HIKE FOR LIFE!
Congratulations to all who participated on the St. Mark “Respect Life Club” team during the HIKE FOR LIFE event on Saturday, September 27. St. Mark Catholic School was the top fundraiser during the event! Randy LeGrand from the HIKE FOR LIFE Organizing Committee sent the following note of thanks to Father Cliff: Dear Father Cliff, I am happy to say that the top fundraising team for this year's Plano Hike for Life was our very own St. Mark Catholic School Respect Life Club. Together they raised over $3,100 to support local crisis pregnancy centers and ministries. They were a major force in the approximately 275 people that came for the hike. Thank you for allowing the Respect Life Club to continue leading the lives of the students and their families to Christ, through whom all good things flow. For more information about the St. Mark Catholic School “Respect Life Club,” visit www.stmcs.net/respect-life-club.
Don’t Wait: Participate!
Carnival Corner: To volunteer, click here. Volunteers, please contact Anna Rozell at or 972-312-9959. All adult volunteers must participate in Safe Environment Training.
For more information, click on these links:
https://www.facebook.com/StMarkCommunityCarnival
http://stmarkplano.org/st-mark-community-carnival
* Carnival Dates: October 10 – 12, 2014
* Rides by Triple T Amusements, Live Entertainment, Raffle, Games, Delicious Food, & Vendors
* All proceeds benefit St. Mark Catholic Church and School.
* Raffle tickets will be sold after all weekend Masses.
*Students-return 10 raffle ticket stubs for a Free Dress Day on October 9!
If you are interested in helping out in any way, please contact Claudine Humphries, Carnival Chair @ 214-236-9916 or .
All Souls Remembrance Run: Mark your calendar and plan to join us on the St. Mark campus on Saturday, November 1 for our first ever "All Souls Remembrance 1K/5K Run" benefiting our Athletic Department! There will be a 1K "fun run" starting at 8:00 AM, followed by a 5K at 8:30 AM. Strollers and wheelchairs are welcome in both categories. Registration includes a commemorative t-shirt, and prizes will be awarded to the top finishers. Personalize your race t-shirt as you run in memory of a loved one for All Souls Day, a day designated for lifting up prayers for the departed in our Catholic tradition. Click here to be taken to the registration page. There are also many adult and student volunteer positions available. Contact Marlene Ehring at for more information. For student volunteers (eligible for service hours), please contact Eric Librea at .
The 2015 St. Mark Catholic School Mardi Gras Dinner & Auction committee is pleased to announce that all proceeds from this year’s event will be used solely for the purpose of putting technology into the hands of our students! Around the school halls, this has become “the year of technology.” Efforts to put personal technology into our students’ hands is being pursued aggressively. It is our goal to have personal devices that all students have access to by the end of this school year!
This is something that every student, every parent and every faculty member can get excited about! How can you help? Think about ways you can get involved. There are many opportunities to volunteer, both big and small.
The Mardi Gras Dinner & Auction will take place on Saturday, January 31, 2015 in the Great Hall of the St. Mark the Evangelist Parish Center. Watch for information about ticket sales in the coming weeks.
One feature of this year’s auction will be the ability to purchase an electronic device directly for the school. You won’t want to miss out!
Contact Auction Co-Chairs Steve Nasche at , or Raju Kattady at for more information about how to get involved in the event planning.
News from the Athletics Department
Congratulations, Lions!
The St. Mark 7th Grade and 8th Grade Volleyball teams, and the 6th Grade D1 Volleyball team won their games this past weekend. The 5th Grade Gold Volleyball team won one of their games. Way to go, Lions!
Swim Team Registration Now Open
Registration for the St. Mark Junior Varsity and Varsity Swim Teams is now open! Swim team is open to 5th-8th grade students who are currently members of a swim team and who can perform four basic strokes at an advanced level: backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and butterfly. The registration deadline is October 30. Click here to register online, or submit a check payable to “St. Mark Catholic School” with the athlete’s name on the memo line. The fee is $60. There is no uniform deposit. Athletes must have a current DPL Sports Physical form on file. Click here for the form (scroll to “Documents” section). Coaches Tara Blankenship and Kristen Young will hold one meeting with registered students during the school day to determine their areas of strength, and teams will be formed accordingly. The teams will participate in one DPL Swim Meet, date to be announced (timeframe is likely October 24-November 4). Questions? Please email Athletic Director Marlene Ehring at .
$5.00 Sports Physicals at Plano Urgent Care
Plano Urgent Care, located across the street from St. Mark at the northeast corner of 15th and Alma, is offering $5.00 sports physicals for all St. Mark students and staff through December 31, 2014. All student athletes must have a current DPL Sports Physical form on file. Visit the school website to print the Sports Physical Form and the Plano Urgent Care information flyer: click here and scroll down to the “Documents” section.
Come out and cheer on your St. Mark Lions! This week’s games:
Football
Sunday, October 5: St. Mark vs. Bishop Dunne, 2:00 PM @ Bishop Dunne
Volleyball
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 8th Grade vs. Holy Trinity, 3:00 PM @ St. Mary-Sherman
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 8th Grade vs. St. Mary-Sherman, 4:00 PM @ St. Mary-Sherman
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 7th Grade vs. St. Rita White, 2:00 PM @ MIS
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 7th Grade vs. All Saints, 3:00 PM @ MIS
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 6th Grade D2 vs. Collins-Blue, 3:00 PM @ SPX
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 6th Grade D2 vs. St. Bernard, 4:00 PM @ SPX
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 5th Grade Gold vs. St. Monica Blue, 12:00 PM @ St. Monica
Saturday, October 4: St. Mark 5th Grade Green vs. SPX, 2:00 PM @ SPX
Be sure to visit our fully-stocked Concession Stand and the Lion’s Den Spirit Store at all home games!
News from the Library
Did you know that our school library has a virtual presence? From the St. Mark home page, go to Academics: Library: Destiny. Once Destiny is open, there are many resources for our families to use from home. Directions to our databases and e-books, as well as links to other recommended web pages and Mrs. Hollenbeck’s blog with book trailers, are available on the Destiny home page. It also includes access to Student Britannica, a quality online encyclopedia with both elementary and middle school levels.