2023-24 Safety/Security Updates

As you know, we work each year on additional common sense security measures that adjust because of legislative decisions as well as the culture surrounding us in the United States, in the state of Minnesota, and in the city of St. Paul. This year, we have chosen to continue certain improvements from past years, introduce some new things, and adjust others:

• Safety/Security Personnel: Mr. Kiehl is back in the mornings and will be staying with us for more time this year than last year. Mr. Ismael Vega will continue to monitor our main entrance after school hours and open doors for community members until 6:30 PM each school day. Providence Security will be hired again for events (games, meets, matches, plays, etc.) that we are unable to cover with school personnel. Only doors 1 and 3 will be open and monitored again by an administrator before school beginning at 7:30 AM. Students may arrive beginning at 7:00 AM, but they must enter through door 1 and be buzzed in by our main office personnel and remain supervised in the cafeteria until 7:30 AM.  
• Lafond Becomes One-Way During Morning and Afternoon Drop-off/Pick-up: Lafond Ave. becomes a one-way (going from Kent St. on the West toward Mackubin St. on the East) from 7:15 to 8:00 AM each morning and then again from 2:35 to 2:55 PM each afternoon. For safety reasons, please do not enter Lafond from the East during those timeframes. Your cooperation is appreciated and expected.
• Replacing Thomas Avenue Gate Between Convent and Bandas Gym/Locker Rooms: To tighten security along Thomas Ave. as well as prevent access to our courtyard, we are working on getting an automated, electronic gate that better secures access to the courtyard (where our bus is stored). We will retain the keyed pass gate on its side to access the courtyard on foot.
• Ongoing training of faculty/staff and students: After our enhancements to security personnel and building security and safety, training personnel and students is the most important thing we can do, should an unfortunate event occur in our school. Mr. Kiehl, Mr. Hendrickson, and I have spent a considerable amount of time this summer discussing training of faculty and staff members and students. We spent an afternoon last week training faculty/staff on ways to keep themselves and their students safe in the event of an emergency, and we will be training our students throughout the school year as well.
• New MN Marijuana Laws and Saint Agnes School: As of August 1^st, it is now legal in the state of Minnesota for anyone 21 and older to possess and use cannabis recreationally. Whatever view you hold on this new cannabis legislation (good, bad, or indifferent), it is not going to be without its challenges for high school students and for us as we educate them. Unfortunately (and in spite of its illegality for them), some students may consider the legalization of marijuana, cannabis, and THC in various forms to be good reason for experimentation, recreational use, and even use at school. As many of you know, marijuana is often a gateway to other drugs like cocaine, heroine, opioids, etc. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to keep our school and students safe from marijuana and other drugs on our campus. To that end (and in keeping with our handbook policy), we will be contracting with Metro K-9 to come to our campus and educate all of our students in the hopes that we can keep them safe from the illegal and immoral behavior surrounding marijuana and all other drugs.
• Please Pray: Please continue to pray for the safety of all in our community. We have been richly blessed with safety these past years, and I believe that we need to continue to pray for our children and employees as we make our way through another school year!

Food Pantry Opening September 5!

The Saint Agnes School Food/Parent Pantry will re-open for the 2023-24 school year on Tuesday, September 5. The pantry will be open from 1:30-3:00 PM each Tuesday afternoon on all the days that school is in session. The pantry is open to all Saint Agnes School parents, regardless of income.

The pantry is still in the same convent basement location. You may park on Thomas Ave and enter through the black gate by the round driveway. Go in the open convent basement door and then straight ahead. The Linen Room will also be open for parents to shop various clothing and other items. Please bring your own bags. We have some to share, but it would be helpful if you could bring your own.  

Families who use the pantry will be asked to provide some basic demographic information to satisfy our food provider's food distribution policies. The required information are things like zip code (it is allowed to use the school's zip code), household size, number of children, adults, seniors in the household. Names/addresses/phone numbers are not required.  

We are very excited to start offering this service once again! Hope to see you there. 

Questions? Please contact: Mrs. Becki Berthiaume

First Day of School Photos Link

View and download photos from the first day of school, courtesy of our volunteer parent photographer Mr. Rich Graner: https://spaces.hightail.com/space/3Wm1aUdoBm

Old Man Sunday Night Pick-Up Basketball & Wednesday Night Weightlifting + Rosary

All men (18+) are welcome to Sunday night hoops at Saint Agnes starting at 7:30 PM every week. Bad hip? Bad knee(s)?? No worries. Varying skill levels and abilities are welcome. Email Mr. Joseph Olson to get on the email list.

All men (18+) are welcome to Wednesday night weightlifting at 8:00 PM in the Berens Strength and Conditioning Room followed by a group rosary in the chapel across the parking lot. Meet at Door #5 (church parking lot door) at 7:55 PM. Email Mr. Joseph Olson to get access to the Slack group chat channel.

K-6 Opening Assembly Thursday, August 31 at 8:25 AM

Parents: You are welcome to hang out in the UAC Commons after drop-off and attend our K-6 Opening Assembly this Thursday, August 31st at 8:25 AM. It’s approximately a 35 min. program. 

5^th Grade Parents Interested in Band 

We have discovered that some of you have not received our emails because they have been going to your spam folder. It is not too late! If you are interested in joining band, please contact Mr. Steve Truran.  

New Upper School Parent Orientation: Tuesday, 8.29 @ 8:15 AM 

Assistant Headmaster and Director of the Upper School, Mr. Karl Hendrickson, will be hosting a Parent Orientation Event for parents who are new to the Upper School. Come learn all the jargon and the inside scoop at Saint Agnes, like:

• What is a “House”?
• Is it “Day 1”? Does it matter?
• What is “Educate”? I thought that was the school’s job?
• My kid said he is in “'A' Lunch”...what does that mean?

Join Us Tomorrow:

Upper School New Parent Orientation Event

Tuesday, August 29th

8:15-9:15 AM

UAC Auditorium

Costa Rica 2024

Come to the informational meeting for the Costa Rica trip TONIGHT: Monday, August 28^th from 6:30-7:30 PM in Room 373 (Mr. Wappes’ room)! Both parents and students can find out all the details of the trip, get their questions answered, and sign up for the trip. Attendance at this meeting is strongly encouraged for both students planning to travel with us and at least one of their parents. If you are unable to attend and would still like to find out more or have any questions regarding the trip, please reach out to Mr. Wappes or Mr. Walter.

Enrollment is already open for the June 10th-19th, 2024 Costa Rica trip. You can find more information and sign up at the trip website: www.explorica.com/Wappes-6221 and on this PDF. Be sure to use the code “Scholarship100” to receive $100 off for your trip by August 30th.

Homecoming Tailgate Volunteers Needed

Sign Up Here!

Hot Lunch Volunteers Needed Daily

We are looking for helpful hands and smiling faces to serve Hot Lunches daily from 10:30AM-1:30PM. Excellent opportunity to work with a great crew, see your students, and become an integral part of the Saint Agnes school day. You need to be current with VIRTUS/E3 and can sign up for whichever days work within your schedule. 

Sign-Up Genius links sent out monthly. Contact Volunteer Coordinator, Annette Beaudry, if interested at 651.925-8826. 

How to Purchase Tickets to Athletic Events

This season Saint Agnes will offer two ways to buy tickets for high school athletic events. You can still purchase tickets with cash at the gate and now you may also purchase tickets online through our online ticketing partner GoFan. Scan the QR Code for the Saint Agnes Box Office. Many schools we play will be using the GoFan Box Office as well; many schools have gone completely cashless.

Ticket Policy

Saint Agnes Home Ticket Details:

Football Games - Adults $10 Students/Senior Citizens $5

All spectators, including students, must purchase a ticket.

Volleyball Matches - Adults $7, Students/Senior Citizens $3

Saint Agnes students are admitted free to these events.

Be sure to bookmark our athletic calendar which can be found at www.saintagnesaggies.org. Click on calendar. If a ticket icon is showing you may purchase tickets online; if a camera icon is showing you may watch the game online. Some sites charge a fee to stream the game.

See the Saint Agnes athletic calendar for all times, locations, and livestreams for this week's games.

Please contact Athletic Director Mr. Streitz with any questions.

7-12 Schedules & Course Change Requests

Students/parents may inquire with the School Counseling Office (Mrs. Jolene Schmitz or Mr. Alex Loesch) about changes or adjustments. The opportunity for students in grades 7-12 to request changes ends on Wednesday, August 30th.