No School Wednesday and Thursday!

Due to the significant snowstorm that is headed our way, and in anticipation that travel will be hazardous, St. Therese School and Early Learning Center will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22  and Thursday, February 23.

Students are encouraged to read, practice IXL or other online resources, help shovel, play in the snow and pray!

If travel is safe, we encourage families to attend Ash Wednesday Masses. 

Project-Based Learning in 4th Grade

As part of our enrichment emphasis this year, 2nd through 5th grade students are doing project-based learning units. Fourth grade just completed a tree house unit with Mrs. LaSart. The objective for the treehouse was to work in pairs to design and build a 3D version of their dream treehouse with a focus on design elements, problem-solving, and collaboration. Great job 4th graders!

LENT is Here! 

Even though there is no school tomorrow, we encourage you to make it to an Ash Wednesday Mass with your family. We will have school Mass on Friday at 9am.

Learn more about Lent at St. Therese HERE! Participate in our Lenten Boot Camp! Here is a chart to track Boot Camp goal progress! Challenge yourself this lent as you also grow in your faith!

UPCOMING EVENTS & IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

Looking Ahead to 2023-2024

As we look ahead to the 2023-24 School Year, we want to share our plan for start/end dates and vacation dates. We are working on the official and detailed calendar, but wanted to get these out as soon as possible. Please note that our start, end, Christmas vacation dates and Spring Break are slightly different than Minnetonka Public Schools.

Teacher Workshops Start: Thursday, August 17, 2023

School Start Date: Tuesday, August 29, 2023

August 29th, 30th and 31^st parent drive days

Friday, September 1st is a no school day

Labor Day: Monday, September 4^th

Fall Conferences: Thursday, October 12th (No School)

St. Therese Relics Exhibit: Friday, October 13th (No School)

MEA:  Thursday, October 19^th and Friday, October 20th  

Thanksgiving Break: Wednesday, November 22nd - Friday, November 24^th

Christmas Break: December 21 - January 3 (school resumes 1/4/24)

Spring Break: Mar 29th - April 8^th (school resumes 4/09/24) 

Last Day of School: Thursday, May 30th

Tuition Updates

I apologize that this was not in last week's newsletter. I intended to get this out before your TADS Agreements came out for 2023-24. The tuition we charge our families continues to be well below the cost to educate each child at St. Therese which is $9,000. If you have the means to pay more or the full cost to educate, we encourage you to do so through a FAIR SHARE donation when you complete your paperwork in TADS.

Full tuition for a first student for next year is set at $5,750. This does represent an increase as we are working hard to increase our teacher and staff salaries to fairly compensate them for the great work they are doing in educating and forming your children.

In working with the Finance Council, we also updated the structure to how we apply multi-child discounts. We are continuing to honor a multi-child discount starting with the second child. The discount will change to a flat 10% per additional child enrolled. This way, the discount will also grow with any tuition increases. For next year, this will be $575 per child starting with the second child. This has yet to be updated in TADS. The previous model did not adjust with tuition increases and it provided significant discounts for children beyond two where a family may not actually need the discount. If this change creates a hardship for your family or a barrier to attending St. Therese, we encourage you to apply for financial aid for the 2023-24 school year HERE. 

Our Spring Scholastic Book Fair is approaching!

Here are the updated dates and times to mark your calendars:

• Wednesday, March 15th: 9-10 a.m. (after Mass) and 2:10 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 16th: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Friday, March 17th: 9-10 a.m. (after Dad's Day Mass) and 2-3 p.m. 

Students will also have the chance to shop at the Fair during their class times. For more information on eWallet for easy student shopping, or any other questions about our Book Fair, visit https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stthereseschool

Note: Scholastic has a standard set of books they issue for the Book Fair. While we try to filter them as much as possible once they arrive, we encourage parents to research appropriate books for their children, as well. A full list of Spring Book Fair items is available to view here: https://www.scholastic.com/onlinepreview/index.html#afc13d597abf416eb914bad729c4b865/0

PARENT SESSION: “Stress, Anxiety, Perfectionism and Motivation” — February 23, 7 p.m.

Parenting children with educational and behavioral differences can be rewarding AND challenging. Even children who are gifted and talented present special challenges in parenting. In this session we will discuss parenting children who have diverse needs because of educational, behavioral, and mental health challenges, as well as those who may need more enrichment. Register HERE! View previous talks HERE.

Big Dinner: March 4th!
Save the date for the Lenten Big Dinner! Come join in fellowship, Lenten Wisdom, and Dinner on Saturday, March 4^th, 2023.  We will have open gym for kids from 4pm – 5pm, Mass from 5pm – 6pm, and Lenten Big Dinner from 6pm – 8pm.  Stay tuned for more information!

Thinking About The Impact of Social Media
I was reading an article discussing the impact of social media this weekend and saw this chart studying the link between social media and depression in 14 year olds. I am not an expert, but I wanted to share because we care so deeply about the health and well-being of our students. 

Holy Family Summer Camp Registration Now Open!
Join the summer fun at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria! Our K-8 summer camps are open to the community and provide fun opportunities for kids to explore interests of all kinds and improve skills of all sorts throughout the summer. Learn more and register for camps at http://www.hfchs.org/camps-clinics

Virtue of the Month: Prudence

St. Therese students all learn about a virtue each month through our Virtues in Practice curriculum. Each grade level also learns about saints that exemplify that virtue. This month, we are learning about Prudence!