In this week’s news, you’ll find a wonderful video showcasing our fifth and sixth grade vocalists, auction news and ways you can earn volunteer hours, PTC news, including how to join tonight’s general parent meeting and another delicious Take & Bake dinner, our planned school open house, planned celebrations around Catholic Schools Week, reenrollment information for 2022-23 and plans for our annual State of the School meeting, how to catch what is sure to be a fabulous Variety Show next week, COVID updates and how to order free rapid antigen tests for your family, another change for 6th-8th graders to register for Girls’ Volleyball, a continuous need for Playground Angels, coming back to Mass as a whole school this week, and upcoming calendar items. Thanks for reading!
Dr. Mabalot has been working with the fifth and sixth-grade choir to perform this version of Stand By Me, originally written in 1905 by Rev. Charles Tindley. This song was an inspiration for the 1987 popular hit by Ben E. King. However, the original gospel version is a great reminder of hope and encouragement. We hope you enjoy this week’s video.
Auction News
As we approach the 2022 Growing Great Kids Auction and Gala, on February 26th, we will begin giving you a sneak peek into the amazing items up for auction. Today we bring you Paella Dinner with Tapas & Sangria! Enjoy a Spanish-themed sunset dinner for 8-10 guests at a beautiful home overlooking Bellingham Bay!
Don’t forget to Sign up to help with the Auction! A few new positions have been added so make sure to take a look.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c4da9af23a5f49-growing
We still need WHITE wine for the auction. Red will no longer be accepted. Donate wine worth $15 or greater and earn one volunteer fundraising hour (with a receipt)! Limit of a total of 24 bottles per family.
PTC News
PTC General Meeting will take place TONIGHT, January 26th at 7:00 pm, in a virtual format – there will be no in person meeting. Our meeting will focus on the rapidly approaching Growing Great Kids Auction, with additional updates on PTC financials for the year and upcoming events through the end of the year. As always, if at least one parent attends the meeting your children will earn free dress on Thursday January 27th
Topic: PTC General Meeting
Time: Jan 26, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87916478826?pwd=dTN2NXVQWUxNWFEvWHlrTkZRSnd4dz09
Meeting ID: 879 1647 8826
Passcode: 188623
Get your orders in for our next Take and Bake dinner: Pulled Pork BBQ on February 10th! See the flyer that went home last week (or here) for the full menu and get your orders in by Friday February 4th.
We will need help in the kitchen to make this meal possible, please see the sign up on the volunteer page. https://school.assumption.org/parent-resources/current-volunteer-opportunities/
ACS Open House
We will be holding an open house on Sunday, February 13th from 2-4 pm. All current families are encouraged to invite a friend. Student work will be showcased and there will be an interactive scavenger hunt for all! Friends will have an opportunity to meet the teachers and find out what makes our school the best choice for education in Whatcom County. All usual health protocols will apply.
In this week’s physical envelope, you’ll find an invitation meant to be shared. Thank you for helping to spread the word about all that Assumption has to offer!
CSW- Honoring Families & Parents
Catholic Schools Week begins this weekend. If you can attend one of the Masses, please have your child come in his/her dress uniform to represent our school. Students who wear their dress uniforms to Mass will receive a free dress on Wednesday, February 9th. (This is on the honor system…)
Starting on Monday, each day of the week is a chance to celebrate different people in our school. On Monday, we celebrate teachers with a special gift and lunch from the PTC. On Wednesday through Friday, we celebrate the community, students, and alumni on Friday.
For Tuesday, we honor FAMILIES in two ways. Parents/guardians are invited to a coffee and donut social starting at 7:45 am while students are lining up. If it’s raining, come join us in the gym! We also honor families by putting up family photos. Please send a photo of your family on Monday to be posted this week.
See the attached for details by day.
Re-enrollment Information for 2022-2023 and State of the School
Thank you to everyone who returned their intent forms for the upcoming school year. This information is used to prepare our budget with a projected enrollment and to set tuition for the upcoming year. For the past two years, we haven’t waited until the State of the School to announce this tuition information and instead have provided it in a letter to families during the last week of January (which would be this week).
However, this year, we are adopting a new billing and admissions program called School Admin to be consistent with the rest of the Archdiocese. The implementation of this new program is taking more time than expected and re-enrollment forms for current families will not be available until Wednesday, February 9. Thank you for your patience in this process.
The State of the School address, scheduled for Wednesday, February 9 at 7 pm, is a chance to hear from Mr. Anderson about successes in the current school year- facilities, fundraising, curriculum, and staffing. It also provides context for our expenses and illustrates comparisons around salaries and tuition with other schools in the county. The presentation usually takes about 45 minutes and at least one parent should plan to attend. Unfortunately, childcare is not provided for this event. Please mark your calendar and arrange to be here, if possible. Information about re-enrollment will also be given this evening.
Variety Show on Friday, February 4th
There will be two performances for the Variety Show on Friday, February 4th. The first is the “dress rehearsal” just for all current students and teachers starting at 1:30 pm. The evening performance at 7 pm is for ANYONE who would like to come. We look forward to some great performances!
Free Rapid Tests
Testing is an important tool to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Public health experts and the CDC recommend that Americans use at-home tests if they begin to have symptoms, at least five days after coming in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 or are gathering indoors with a group of people who are at risk of severe disease or unvaccinated.
To help ensure Americans have tests on hand if a need arises, the federal government will make FREE tests available to every household, and to promote broad access, the initial program will allow four free tests to be requested per residential address. Starting January 19th, Americans will be able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, and tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering. Tests will NOT be sent automatically- you must follow the link to order.
COVID-19 Update
We’ve updated our guidance (January 24, 2022) to reflect a change in the travel quarantine that was implemented at the beginning of the school year. Students (whether unvaccinated or vaccinated) will no longer be required to quarantine on Days 1 and 2 after returning to Bellingham. They will follow the same protocols for close contacts and symptoms as other students in the school and return to school on Day 1 after travel, without symptoms. There have been approximately 35 cases related to the school in the past few weeks, and our “Learn to Return” program along with antigen testing from home has allowed us to catch exposures quickly and prevent an outbreak within the school. For the updated guidance, you can find this on the school’s webpage under Parent Resources -> Forms and Documents. It is called “Health Protocols COVID-19 (Revised 1/24/22).”
Many have asked whether there will be a vaccine requirement for children going into the 2022-2023 school year. There is a group at the state level that is in conversations about this and they are soliciting feedback from families. If you’d like to share your feedback, you can complete the following survey.
The Department of Health has updated the Symptom Decision Tree for K-12 schools. Every situation is a little different and rather than rely on Mrs. Dennis or Mr. Anderson to “do the math” for quarantine and isolation, this document will help direct you. You will always be asked to confirm this with the school, but it may be easier to get a quick answer to your question.
Girls’ Volleyball begins Monday, January 31st
Volleyball registration forms for grades 6-8 went home last week and are due this Friday, Jan. 28 (extras available in the office). Thank you to Mrs. Whelan for agreeing to coach again this season.
Playground Angels
Please consider signing up for a recess shift or two! Angels help keep our students safe on the playground, which we are so grateful for. Thank you in advance for your help!
School Mass this Friday
This Friday, January 28th, we will resume our all-school Mass with second grade leading. Parents of Second Graders are welcome to join. We ask that visitors sit in the north and south transepts instead of with the students. Masks are required of everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
Upcoming calendar items:
January 18th-28th– MAP Testing (grades 2-8)
January 26th– PTC General Meeting starting at 7 pm. This is now by Zoom only.
January 28th– Last day of the semester, Early Release with 11:45 am dismissal
January 30th – February 5th– Catholic Schools Week
February 4th– Variety Show includes a 1:30 pm dress rehearsal and a 7 pm evening performance
February 9th– State of the School, 7 pm
February 10th– PTC BBQ Dinner To-Go! (orders due Feb 4th)
February 13th– ACS Open House, 2-4 pm for all CURRENT and NEW families
February 26th– Growing Great Kids Auction and Gala
