PRINCIPAL’S NOTE

We have started the season of Advent, which are the four Sundays and weeks of preparation for the celebration of the coming of Jesus. This is a great time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, God sending us His Son, Jesus.

ADVENT SERVICE MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

All students are required to participate in our Advent Service, Thursday, Dec 19, from 6:30 – 8 PM. Students practice violin, praise dance, and choir together as a family, and this is our opportunity to minister as a family!

ADVENT SERVICE DRESS CODE

Students are required to wear a button-up white shirt, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Please start shopping for these if you do not have them. If you have problem buying them, contact the office ASAP.

DECEMBER CHOCOLATE AND CANDY SALE:

Thank you all for a great candy drive! The order went in yesterday, and we will notify you when it arrives!

2nd QUARTER MIDTERMS COME HOME TODAY!!!

Please sign one copy and return it with the envelope.

COLD WEATHER CHRISTMAS DRIVE

Please buy an extra pair of gloves or mittens, a warm scarf, a winter cap, or pair of white socks to decorate our school Giving Tree! We will collect these items for St Vincent de Paul here in East St Louis from Monday, Dec 9 to Wednesday, Dec 18. If you can spare a little extra, we can help keep our neighbors warm this winter!

PTO CHRISTMAS SKATING PARTY

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20 From 6 -8 PM. Tickets go on sale next week! This will be a great time again this year for our students to celebrate Christmas and the end of the first semester!

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE

Please enjoy your Thanksgiving Break and give Praise and Thanks to God for all we have each day.

THANKSGIVING BREAK: NO SCHOOL UNTIL MONDAY!  ENJOY THE HOLIDAY!

EARLY DISMISSAL MONDAY, DEC 2: 12:30 DISMISSAL For all students due to Staff Meeting.

PICTURE RETAKE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4

If you need a retake, return the form Monday with your student name on it.

 

ADVENT SERVICE DRESS CODE

All students are required to participate in our Advent Service, Thursday, Dec 19, from 6:30 – 8 PM. Students are required to wear a button-up white shirt, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Please start shopping for these if you do not have them. If you have a problem buying them, please send a note to the office ASAP.

DECEMBER CHOCOLATE AND CANDY SALE:

Return Forms & $$ by Monday, December 2

All families have a fundraiser fee of $100, which is covered by $250 worth of sales of TJs Pizza, Bobo’s chocolate and candy, or a Spring Photo Day. The Bobos sales run through November to include Thanksgiving, and it has an online ordering piece too! Contact family and friends and advertise sales for Christmas gifts!

ST AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO FALL HARVEST SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT

November 29 at 7 PM. Free Will Offering. 408 Rev Joseph Brown Blvd, East St Louis, IL.

2nd QUARTER MIDTERMS COME HOME TODAY!!!

Please sign one copy and return it with the envelope.

The St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature project, “The Believe Project,” has opened a literacy lab at Sr. Thea Bowman Catholic School. This is one of eight literacy labs in the St. Louis area that will create literacy spaces within schools and community centers that serve pre-kindergarten through third grade students. 

 

 

News 4 Schools: The Literacy Library

EAST ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – Students in a Metro East school have a whole new reason to ditch the phones, turn off the TV and get out the books because they have a new library.

The Literacy Library Site was dedicated Thursday at Sister Thea Bowman School in East St. Louis. It is the second such project from the Believe Project.

The goal is to help make sure students are proficient in reading by the third grade. Many of the books feature African American characters.

Students even got to meet Clifford the Dog at Thursday’s dedication. The books for the library are being provided by Scholastic Books and Ready Readers. The furniture was donated by IKEA.

WATCH VIDEO

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE

“It Takes A Village” repeated Rev Tracy several times, and I agreed with her. Who is that village? Our staff, our students, our families, and our school supporters are all part of the village, but to be a village, we must all speak the same language of commitment, hard work, and accountability in our roles to educate, inspire, prepare, and empower our young people!

IOWA ASSESSMENT: September 16 – 18

All of our Grade 2 – 8 students will take the Iowa Assessment. This is very important to your student and our school. Please have students to school by 7:30, so they can enjoy a good breakfast and be ready to test! Please encourage them to try their best and do well. We use test scores in grant requests to garner money for Tuition Assistance for your students.

FAMILY FUN 3K WALK AT MARY BROWN CENTER: Saturday at 10 AM

We have 10 paid for open spots and T-shirts to walk on Saturday. This is a great event! Just be the first to send in a note with your student saying you will participate, and how many children need a shirt, and you are in!  We need this Friday!

BELIEVE READING ROOM RIBBON CUTTING: Thursday, Sep 19 at 9:30

Please join us for the Ribbon Cutting for our new Believe Reading Room. It is beautiful and will be a great place for our young students to read, read, read!  We will have a little ceremony, Room tours, and refreshments! Please join us!

TOUR AND LUNCH: September 24 at 10:30

Do you know a professional, local clergy, or somebody who might be interested in supporting our school? Contact Ms. Roberta Trost at our school, and she can invite them personally to our bi-monthly Tour!

SPECIAL COMMUNITY PLANNING MEETING: Tuesday, Oct 8 at 6 PM

United Congregations of MetroEast (UCM) and Parents United For Change hosted a special meeting for our families to participate and raise a voice in their community for what they care about most: family, schools, safety, clean water/air, etc. The next meeting is Tuesday, Oct 8 from 6-7:30 PM! Please plan to join and make a difference in ESTL!

CAMP ONDESSONK INFORMATION SESSION: Monday, Sep 16 at 6 PM

Informational session for all 6-8th grade parents and guardians on the Camp Ondessonk Trip. This is an open session for you to receive information and ask questions about the great opportunity for the 6-8th grade students, 24-25 Sep.

See the Transformation September 19 – 9:30 a.m.

Join us and learn!

Celebrate with us – the incredible work of many partners to bring this Literacy Program to Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School

• 9:30 a.m. Opening Remarks
• Tour The Believe! Room
• Unveiling of Believe Mural painted by Sister Thea Alum, Damon Davis
• Refreshments and light snacks

We will share statistics about the issues in our metro region with students learning to read by Third Grade and what we are doing to overcome.

Sister Thea is the second site in the region to implement this program.

 

PRINCIPAL’S NOTE

We have one purpose here at Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School, and that is to make your student successful! We know it takes academic, social, and spiritual growth to become future leaders of their communities, so we strive each day to approach education with a whole person growth concept. We appreciate your support of your student and your school!

CURRICULUM NIGHT, THURSDAY, AUG 29 at 7 PM

This is a very important night for you to receive information on changes at the school, classroom and teacher procedures, and your role in your student’s education. This is a MANDATORY attendance event for just the adult. We will meet in the chapel, and then go to your student’s class for specific information.

THURSDAY ENVELOPE

Please continue to read the enclosed information, sign the envelope, and return it with your student on Friday.

ARRIVAL AND BUSES

We are still pushing District 189 to move up bus times to get students here by 7:30 for breakfast and to add our unassigned bus riders. If you have a bus issue, please contact Ms. Cooper at the District 618-646-3051, and Illinois Central at 618 646-3051. As always, you can contact the office also. Please continue to have students to school by 7:45!

DISMISSAL

We have gotten better with K-3 out the front door and 4 -8 out the back doors. Family members cannot park on the opposite side of Church Lane, as it is too dangerous. Continue to pull into empty parking spaces in front of the school.

UNIFORM

Please review uniform requirements from your handbook. Teachers will send home a uniform reminder if a student is out of uniform. We appreciate you helping them prepare their clothes the night before, so they can arrive in uniform.

REDUCED/FREE MEAL APPLICATION

Don’t forget to complete the application for free/reduced meals and return it as soon as possible. The deadline for the application is Tuesday, September 3.  Without a completed application form, all meals are full price.

SMART TUITION

We NEVER want you to receive LATE FEES or INSUFFICIENT FUND FEES, as they go to SMART, and we lose the dollars for your school. Contact us early if you foresee a payment issue or delay, so we can work it!

PEACEMAKER ACTIVITY

Our first peacemaker activity for the year is next Friday, August 30.  As a special incentive, students who are Peacemakers during a month (no major discipline issues) attend a Peacemaker Activity on the last school day of the month. This month…Ice cream might be involved!

MASS

Our first Mass for the year will be Friday, September 6, at 8:30 AM. in the chapel.  You are welcome to join us for this Mass, as well as all Masses held throughout the year.  Ordinarily, our Masses are every Friday at 8:30a.m.  Please check the calendar for any alternative dates.

NO SCHOOL

There will be NO SCHOOL on Labor Day, Monday, Sep. 2.  School will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

 

VOLUNTEER POSITION OPENINGS:

We have a few volunteer positions open at our school. If you are interested or know a qualified person, please contact the office. All positions require the applicant to complete a volunteer application, Child Protection Training, and background check.

–  Lunch/recess monitor: M – F from 11:15 AM to 12:45 PM.  Requirements: Good interaction with kids.

– Extended Day K-5 Assistants:  M – F from 3:30 – 5:00 PM.  Requirements: Good interaction with kids.

PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)

We NEED you to help us make your school great. Please join us for our first PTO meeting on Thursday, Sep 5 from 6 – 7 PM. Light Snacks will be provided. If you want to bring your student, they can read in the library during the meeting. We will make introductions at the meeting and plan the year events. All are welcome!

VOLUNTEERS WELCOME!

We love volunteers. We will soon send out an official volunteer sign up form, but if you want to get started, here are a few items:

1. We have all volunteers fill out applications per Diocese of Belleville guidelines. This includes a background check.
2. All Volunteers working with students must complete Child Protection Training:
   1. Initial Child Protection Training locations and times are at: https://www.diobelle.org/faith-formation/child-protection. You can attend any session. This is for first time volunteers.
   2. Refresher Child Protection Training is for returning volunteers and is online at: https://safeandsacred-diobelle.org/login/index.php. This is for people who took the Initial training already.

 

IN THE NEWS

Check out our Believe Room and Kindergarten on Channel 5:

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/education/the-believe-project-inspires-children-to-read-more-books-with-diverse-characters/63-acde5bed-f113-4f31-b649-f9e7d1ed9df2

 

Calendar

August

23 Prayer Service K-5: 8:30, 9:00

29 Curriculum Night 7PM  Mandatory, Adults only, no students

30 Peacemaker Activity. Prayer Service- Gr. 6-8 8:30am. Peacemaker Flags due

September

2 Labor Day. No School

5 Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) Meeting 6 PM

6 Opening Mass 8:30am (Grade 8 leads)

13 Mass 8:30 (Grade 7 Leads). 1st Qtr Midterm

19 Believe Reading Room Ribbon Cutting 9:30 AM

The Believe Project inspires children to read more books with diverse characters

The goal is to incorporate more books written by African Americans that have African American protagonists.

Author: Jenn Sullivan
Published: 10:36 PM CDT August 18, 2019
Updated: 10:36 PM CDT August 18, 2019
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School is changing up their reading curriculum to try and inspire more students to read. It’s called “The Believe Project.”

The goal is to incorporate more books written by African Americans that have African American protagonists.

“When children are connected to black literature, particularly children, they become more confident in themselves,” said Julius Anthony the author of “Me. 10 Poetic Affirmations.”

According to Anthony, 70% of all black third-graders in the bi-state failed a standardized reading exam last year. He also said that the majority of children’s literature features white protagonists and that can make young children feel invisible if they don’t relate to the character.

Anthony paired up with Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School to bring in more books written by African American authors. There’s even a new reading room with a mural depicting African American characteristics.

Some of the characters in the mural appear to be holding up balloons but instead, there are books tied to the end of the strings.

“It’s this whole idea that we can soar that we can rise beyond and let us believe in the best of who we are and the best of our community,” said Anthony, describing the mural.

The mural was painted by Damon Davis, whose work is in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Davis is also an alum of Sister Thea Bowman.

“The Believe Project” will be expanded in three other schools this fall.

READ ARTICLE ON 5 ON YOUR SIDE