School News for April 11-17, 2024

A Note from Mr. Fuerte

Dear Families,

Partners in the Gospel

Over the weekend, Father Gary announced our new Priest assignments with our Parish Family, St. Madeleine Sophie. Father Tom Belleque, our former St. Louise pastor and the current pastor of St. Anthony in Renton, will be our parish priest. He will serve the parish family together with Father Tony Bawyn, who has served for some years now as the parish priest at St. Madeleine Sophie. Father Gary will still be a resident priest and stay in the rectory. He will now work full time as the Vicar for Clergy. He will still get an opportunity to visit St. Louise classrooms during the week and be able to help out with Masses during the week and weekend at St. Louise and St. Madeleine Sophie.

With the priest assignments given, administration duties of both the parishes and schools will now be run by the pastoral coordinator, Loretta Sursely. Ms. Sursely has been at St. Madeleine Sophie for over 20 years and will have an office at both St. Louise and St. Madeleine Sophie parishes.

For more information about our new parish family and priest assignments at St. Louise please click the following link: https://www.stlouise.org/

Update on School Personnel

I announced a couple of weeks ago that Ms. Katie Lowell will be our new Middle School Religion teacher and today I would like to announce our new addition to our staff, Music Teacher, Mr. Matthew Turner. He has a Master of Arts in Teaching from SPU and a Master of Music from University of Southern California. Matthew Turner has extensive experience in teaching music. For the past 8 years he has been the PK-8 Music Teacher at Assumption St. Bridget in Seattle. Before that he taught for 11 years at St. Thomas School in Medina. Mr. Turner is excited to teach music at St. Louise and looks forward to meeting students and families at St. Louise.

Just last week, 7/8th Grade Science Teacher, Tara Maloney, informed me that she will not return next year. Please see her message below:

It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing that I will not be returning to St. Louise next year. Ever since Covid, I have felt a call to be closer to family in the Midwest.  This year we were presented with an opportunity to return to our roots. Joining the St. Louise community 10 years ago as a parent was a great experience. It is where we have met lifelong friends. Our children were educated with kindness and love. They each have a relationship with God because of the experiences they had at St. Louise. The experience only got better when I joined a group of the most dedicated and hardworking individuals as a staff member two years ago. It was a hard decision for our family because we will miss the community at St. Louise, but we feel God is calling us in a different direction. – Mrs. Maloney

We will miss Tara and her family and appreciate everything she has done for the junior high and our school.

Second, there will be some internal grade movements as Ms. Grace Dullanty will be moving to 3rd grade to partner with Mrs. Berlin as a wonderful 3rd grade team.

Now, that leaves an opening in 1st grade and I would like to announce another movement as Mrs. Joni Hoffman will move from Pre-K to 1st Grade to replace Ms. Grace Dullanty. With Joni’s experience in Pre-Kindergarten and brief stint in Kindergarten, Joni wanted to teach in the lower grades. The 1st grade will have a great team of Mrs. Portolese and Mrs. Hoffman.

Mrs. Shirley Wu is a new addition to Kids’ Club on Monday afternoons for the remainder of the year. Mr. Jesus Cruz will still be working, but only Tuesdays through Fridays for Kids’ Club. 

Did everyone get all of that? With interviews coming up, I hope to announce more new staff members to St. Louise in the upcoming few weeks.

In my next week's bulletin, I will have more information about teacher requests and nominations for volunteer extraordinaire.

Have a Blessed Weekend!

Mr. Mike Fuerte 

Announcements

Save the Date - Wednesday, May 22 at 1:00

Go Light Your World - A Mass of Gratitude and New Beginnings

As you all know, we are bidding farewell to several esteemed faculty members who have dedicated many years of service to St. Louise. Their upcoming retirements or departures signify the end of one era and the beginning of another for our school. In light of this significant transition, we have put a lot of thought into how best to honor their contributions, while also embracing the spirit of renewal that lies ahead for STL.

Therefore, we are pleased to announce that we will be having a celebratory all-school mass called "Go Light Your World – A Mass of Gratitude & New Beginnings," which will take place on Wednesday, May 22nd, at 1:00 PM with a reception following. This mass will serve as a heartfelt tribute to our departing faculty members and a celebration of the promising future that awaits us.

All are welcome, and we are hoping to fill the pews with not only our current families, but also past staff, alumni, and their families! Please RSVP below - we look forward to celebrating with you! 

Tuesday Testimonials

Congratulations to Delphine Lemarchand for winning a glassbaby!

Thank you Delphine for sharing our social media posts and spreading the word about St. Louise School!

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER TICKETS!

St. Louise Parish School Proudly Presents Matilda Jr.!

April 18 & 19 at 6:30pm

Rebellion is nigh in Matilda JR., a gleefully witty ode to the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination! This story of a girl who dreams of a better life and the children she inspires will have audiences rooting for the "revolting children" who are out to teach the grown-ups a lesson.

Matilda has astonishing wit, intelligence... and special powers! She's unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly loveable Miss Honey. Matilda's school life isn't completely smooth sailing, however – the school's mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don't abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts and could be the school pupils' saving grace!

Packed with high-energy dance numbers and catchy songs, Matilda JR. is a joyous girl power romp. Children and adults alike will be thrilled and delighted by the story of the special little girl with an extraordinary imagination.

Ticket order forms will be sent home in today's Red Envelope - or stop by the office to pick one up now. You won't want to miss out on this great event!

Stock up on Dennis Uniform Logo Items

50% Off while supplies last!

Items included in the sale are: Red Cardigan Sweater, Red V-Neck Sweater, Red V-Neck Sweater Vest, Full Zip Red Fleece Jacket, and 1/4 Zip Red Fleece Pullover,

Help the 8th grade raise funds to help offset the cost of graduation activities!

Yearbook Custom Pages are due April 15!



Calling all 6th through 8th graders - Don't miss out on the CROWD Finale!

current 5th grade students are invited to join too!

Charger Shout Out - 2nd Trimester Honor Roll!

CONGRATULATIONS

SECOND TRIMESTER HONOR ROLL STUDENTS

Laelah Avalos, Daniel Barros, Rafael Barros, Lexi Blank, Mia Brown, Mika Cam, Charlie Cermak, Claire Charles, Ashley Craig, Liam Craig, Jane D’Ambrosio, Kierin Dhesi, Ysa Eala, Mika Hewett, Kalei Kagetsu, Leika Kagetsu, Jane Kaukl, Charlie Miller, Vasonia Nguyen, Samantha Nightingale, Robert Omusoru, Hope Renners, and Jaden Sequeira.

*The criteria to be listed on the “Honor Roll” is for a 7th or 8th grader who has an end-of-trimester grade of 90% or above in all subjects and demonstrates responsible behavior, positive participation, and completion of assignments.

Spring After School Clubs, CYO Track & Field and Summer Camps - Sign Up Now!

Parents' Club News - Charger Cards

Parents' Club Meeting - TONIGHT at 6:30pm.

Join online https://meet.google.com/rev-cvtu-htj

Mark your Calendar!

We LOVE our Volunteers!

SATURDAY SPRING SPRUCE UP!

This Saturday, April 13 8:30-11:00

Do you love gardening?

Bring your family and help spruce up the St. Louise grounds!

You can earn volunteer hours for each member of your family that works.

A Note from Fr. Gary

Dear Friends at St. Louise,

So many of the Gospel accounts of the resurrected Lord appearing to the disciples include a meal of some kind. Fr. Frank Rouleau from "Outreach to Haiti" (the support organization for parishes who have sister-parish relationships in Haiti), who was with us last month, sent this picture of parishioners and Pe Josue, the pastor of our sister parish and school in Haiti, Ste. Anne de Hyacinthe. They were celebrating a parish meal after Mass on Easter Sunday, eating in the very place that currently serves as their church (their church building was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake). I could not help but think that our prayers and donations and celebration of the Eucharist here were united in a beautiful way with their celebration. In many places in Haiti people, including many children, are experiencing starvation. We can't help the entire country, but we are a real part of the joy that our brothers and sisters of Ste. Anne celebrated two weeks ago on Easter Sunday.

Lest we think that we are the ones who are giving to them, let me suggest to you that they are giving us "to eat and drink" in both a spiritual and a corporal sense. St. Anne provided the occasion that brought our newly announced parish family together for the first time. When Fr. Frank was here for our March 9 fundraising dinner for "Standing with Haiti," members of the pastoral council of St. Madeleine Sophie Parish as well as their pastoral coordinator, Loretta Sursely, also attended.

Most of you know by now that Loretta has been appointed by Archbishop Etienne to serve as the Pastoral Coordinator of our St. Louise-St. Madeleine Sophie parish family. That means that she will oversee the day-to-day operations of both parishes, in collaboration with both parish staffs, serving under the authority of the pastor. Canon law requires that every parish be led by a priest, and Fr. Bryan Dolejsi, who will be pastor at St. Anthony's in Renton, will also fulfill that role for the St. Louise-St. Madeleine Sophie parish family. That means that any big decision, like the hiring of staff or finalizing of the parish budget, will need to be approved by him. Jonathan Taasan will continue to be our Parish Administrator and be the "hands-on" administrative leadership at St. Louise.

Fr. Tom Belleque, our former St. Louise pastor and the current pastor of St. Anthony in Renton, will be our parish priest. (As you know, Fr. Tom is a huge supporter of the "Standing with Haiti" project; he is the one who invited St. Louise to join St. Anthony in their commitment as a sister parish with St. Anne's.) He will serve the parish family together with Fr. Tony Bawyn, who has served for some years now as the parish priest at St. Madeleine Sophie. These two priests will serve to make sure that the pastoral and sacramental needs of the parish family are met.

I will continue to serve as Vicar for Clergy for the Archdiocese; this will now be my full‑time assignment. I am delighted to report that I will be “in residence” at St. Louise and will assist both Fr. Tom and Fr. Tony. That means that you will still see me for weekday and weekend Masses, as I am available.

Do you see the connection? St. Anthony, St. Louise, now together with St. Madeleine Sophie – we are all stronger and are "fed" by our common relationship with Ste. Anne de Hyacinthe. I firmly believe that this is more than a coincidence. It is, in fact, the Lord feeding us through Ste. Anne’s – the Lord encouraging us to let go of fear and to trust that he will lead us.

The Lord is risen, he is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Fr. Gary Zender 

See What Happening Around Campus!

Thanks to Mrs. Marley's 5th Grade Class for leading a wonderful Holy Thursday Mass!

Thank you St. Louise Sponsors!

Antezana Garvizu Family