Letter From
the Principal
Dear St. Louis Friends and Families,
This is one of my favorite times of the year! The Advent Season is such an important time in the liturgical year and in our lives. We await the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ! Nothing in the world is more important for our children than developing that close and intimate relationship with Jesus. As I walk through the school, I see children working on special art projects for Advent and Christmas and teachers decorating their classrooms with symbols of the season. Msgr. McArthur, Fr. Dexter, and Fr. Saji talk to the students about preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus during children’s Mass. This is what makes Catholic Education such a blessing!
This first semester has gone by so fast and I am so proud of each student and their accomplishments. Every student is a wonderful present from God. Each child is unique and special in their own way. Every child learns differently and at their own pace. For some students math concepts may come very easily to them and others require more instruction, practice, and time. One of the many things that I am proud of here at St. Louis is our effort to try to meet the individual needs of our students in a traditional Catholic school setting. Students who need extra support and help have our Learning Lab teachers to work with them in
small groups and assist with accommodations that are necessary for some students to be able to experience success.I am also proud of the efforts we are making in our 5th and 6th grade math classes. Students who are able to master the material quickly are able to utilize the gifts of our Learning Lab teacher, Melissa Brownlee, who is here three days a week. Melissa will meet with those who are ready for more challenging problem solving and offer them enrichment work, while the rest of the class is revisiting and reviewing concepts that may require more practice for mastery.
Meeting the needs of individual students in a traditional setting is not an easy task; however, with the efforts of our support team in Learning Lab, we are making great strides. If students need more help in math, do not forget that we have Shannon McCrary and Shannon Kirk working with students after school twice a week on math skills and there is no charge.
The faculty and staff of St. Louis are truly committed to walking hand in hand with parents in the faith formation and academic growth of our students. We welcome any input from parents as we make this journey together, building the future citizens of our world.
Mrs. Shaw and I wish each and every family a wonderful, Holy and happy Christmas!
Peace & Joy,
–Mrs. Teddi Niedzwiedz, Principal
Important Dates
Jan. 5
Classes Resume
Jan. 9
Geography Bee
Jan. 9
Reports Cards emailed home
Jan. 13
Home and School Mtg.
Jan. 15
Kindergarten Registration
Jan. 16
Faculty Retreat
No School
Jan. 19
Martin Luther King Day, No School
Jan. 22
Pre-School Registration
Jan. 23
Jeans Day awarded by the Principals of the Day
Jan. 24
Confirmation Parent Mtg. 10:00am in the church
Jan. 26-3
Catholic Schools Week
Jan. 26
Registration Cards go home
Jan. 28
Chic fil A Biscuit sale 7:30am
Jan. 29
Grandparents’ Day Grades 5-8
Jan. 30
Grandparents Day Grades K-4; Dismiss 11:30am
Brittain Ross
Three-peats as
Spelling Champ
Twenty-two contestants in grades 4-8 competed for the title of St. Louis Spelling Bee Champion. This year we had an unprecedented four sets of siblings competing against each other for the title of champion: Ethan and Fontana Cary, Anna Kate and Andrew Wade, Kaylie and Zachary White, and Brittain and Michael Ross. Our first and second place winners were one of these pairs of siblings. Brittain Ross placed first and Michael Ross placed second. Brittain will compete in the Memphis and Shelby County Spelling Bee on February 7, 2015. Congratulations to all of our contestants.
Mrs. Kirk
Named Educator
of the Week
Congratulations to Mrs. Shannon Kirk for being named a Tennessee Lottery Educator of the Week. Mrs. Kirk, our 5th/6th grade language arts teacher says she likes seeing her students learn, prosper, grow, and smile; these things make her job amazing
Advent Message from Monsignor McArthur
Dear St. Louis Catholic School Parents, Rejoice,
Let Your Joy Overflow. Your Savior Will Come To You.
Advent is a season of joy and anticipation. We wait to celebrate the coming of Jesus. Not only to remember His coming in history but certainly to be conscious of the fact that He will come again to judge our lives on how we have used the time on earth that we have been blessed to experience.
In His public ministry Jesus gave us the Commandment to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength.The Second Commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Advent competes with the secular world. One tells us that Christ is coming-a Holy Day. The other speaks of a HOLIDAY. One appeals to the soul and the other to the worldly needs of the body.Sacred vs. secular.
Besides His coming in history or in the future there is another coming that should speak to our minds, hearts and souls right now.
The Lord comes every day in our lives. In Matthew 25, Jesus says we will be judged on how we received, saw and cared for Him in the sick, thirsty, naked, hungry, the stranger, the imprisoned. Did we have love and attentiveness? He comes in His Word, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and in people.
"I am the living bread come down from heaven, he who eats of My flesh and drinks of My blood remains in Me and I in him." Yes, Christ is born every day on our altars. He comes to unite Himself to us, to feed and nourish ourselves with eternal love. I see Advent as a spiritual time to ready ourselves to celebrate His birth in Bethlehem with gratitude for the love. God so loved the world that He gave us His Son to evaluate our lives on how we will present ourselves at the end of our lives. Secondly on how we have lived and loved? What have been our priorities?
Finally what is prohibiting Him from coming into our heartstoday? Our sins are like locks on our doors, and furniture and junk on the front porch.The Special Guest-EMMANUEL-God is with us-can't come in until we clear out the obstacles and unlock the doors to our hearts.
"8 Days a Week." A Beatles song that reminds us that this week has 8 days left in Advent until the celebration of the Incarnation. God taking on our flesh to save us.
Rejoice-Wait-Reflect-Be Grateful-BeAnxious-Confess And Pray. 0 Come!
O Come! Emmanuel. Merry Christmas and God Bless you and your families!
Msgr. John B. McArthur
Thank you!!!
Thank you for your generosity! Our month of giving was a huge success! We would like to especially thank the Beta Club and Student Council members for spearheading our projects! The Thanksgiving Food Drive enabled the St. Vincent de Paul Society to feed many families during this holiday season and the Ave Maria Shoebox Project provided gifts for over fifty residents of Ave Maria Home.
The annual Cardinal Christmas basketball game to benefit Catholic Charities collected bags of toys for the many less fortunate children in our area. An added bonus to the game was the raffle for students who wanted to participate in the faculty vs. student basketball game. The raffle raised in excess of $550.00! This money, along with donations from SLS families enabled us to adopt a family for Christmas. Clothes, toys, household items and even two beds were given to our family. Thank you to STASH Furniture for donating the beds through the Beds for Kids program. The sixth grade also adopted a family and sold homemade baked goods at lunch to raise money to buy presents for the family. Your generosity is overwhelming!
It is so wonderful to be part of such a giving community. Not only is our school family generous with its treasures, but the time and talents of our students shine brightly in their community service. St. Louis students in grades 5-8 performed in excess of 2000 hours of community service this semester!
Christmas Performances
Put Us in the Spirit of Christmas
In the hustle and bustle of December it is nice to take a break from the busy schedules and enjoy the holiday spirit with our young performers. We have been blessed with the talents of our students in the Christmas programs. The 1st-4th grade drama students presented two performances of “No More Cookies for Santa”. This musical rendition coupled with the annual choir and orchestra concerts. We hope everyone enjoyed the musicians’ and vocalists’ Christmas arrangements. These talented children are not only performing at their concert but add to the beauty of our weekday Masses. Their talents are truly inspiring. We invite you to join us at either an all school Mass to hear the choir or weekly Mass to hear some of our string musicians. The choir will also be singing at the 4:30pm Mass on Christmas Eve.
The preschool and kindergarten Christmas performance was held on December 16. We will continue the tradition of bringing the 8th grade to the stage to sing with the kindergarten on Friday, December 19 following the 8:25 Mass. Join us for a “Hey God What is Christmas?”
Thank you for supporting the book fair and helping us raise $1559.21 for our library!
Principals of
the Day
Want to be Principal of the Day? Caroline and Robert Senter were the winners of our auction item for this honor. Caroline and Robert were Principals of the Day on Friday, December 5. After starting the day with breakfast in Mrs. Niedzwiedz’ office the two moved on to the tasks of the day. They visited classrooms and helped Mrs. Niedzweidz with a special project for the teachers. The two were introduced at the faculty vs. students basketball on at that time proclaimed Friday, January 23, 2015 as a jeans day for the students. Thank you Caroline and Robert !
Welcome to Officer Shipp & Officer Michael
We are pleased to welcome Officer Melvin Shipp and Officer Michael Tabron to campus. In an ongoing effort to insure the safety of our students and church community the church and school has contracted with Pro-Tech security to have officers on campus seven days a week. Let us assure you this is a pro-active approach and not in response to any safety issues for the children. Officer Shipp is on campus beginning at 6:00am; Officer Michael begins with us at 2:00pm.
Alumni Update
- Congratulations to SLS alumnus Hayes Anderson (SLS ‘11) for receiving a Naval ROTC scholarship to attend The Citadel
- Congratulations to former SLS student Henry Atkinson for being named a National Merit Commended Scholar.
- Congratulations to SLS class of 2014 students Jack Herring, Cameron Boyer, and Bryson Mitchell for being named to the CBHS freshman basketball team.
- Congratulations to SLS alumna Violet Durden (SLS 2011) for being selected to the All West Tennessee Honors Orchestra.
1st Quarter Honor Roll
Highest Honors
4th Grade: Will Brownlee, Ward Simmons, Kaitlin Smith
5th Grade: Caroline Baker, Auden Brummer, Hudson Carr, Fontana Cary, William Gossett, Michael Novarese, Justin Ross, Branic Swain, Ginny Tavoleti, Thomas Wilson
6th Grade: Embry Bird, Nicholas Quarles, Jack Scherson, Rachel Ward, Celia Watson, Chloe Webster
7th Grade: Ethan Cary, Alexis Connor, Jackson Deneka, Marc Anthony Marconi, Andrew Martin, Charlie Moore, Elizabeth Navarre, Sarah Grace Price, Sarah Reno, Brittain Ross, Zachary White
8th Grade: McKenzie Barnett, Karen Benedict, Alyssa Donato, Bridgette Groben, Gerard Tavoleti, Christian Ward, Emily Wilson
Honors
4th Grade: Lindsey Crossnine, Madeline Duffee, Hughey Ferguson, Ian Garrott, Jacob Goughnour, Anne Grimes, Mary Grimes, Alex Johnston, Lily Lee, Trenton Lyons, Melissa O'Neill, McKenzie Patterson, Ellie Reynolds, Hana Roberts, Mia Soefker, Walker Steinriede, Anna Kate Wade, Ava Wendt, Cooper Williams, Ben Wills, Audrey Zweig.
5th Grade: Carrio Anthony, Tyler Brimm, Anna Grace Cervetti, Grace Cestaro, Anthony Cestaro, Hadley Donaldson, Ben Evangelisti, Jane Fracchia, Madeleine Gaia, Hunter Pratt, Ethan Soefker, Andrew Wade, Kaylie White, Jacob Wildman, Maggie Wood.
6th Grade: Mary Hunter Adair, Ella Almand, Emily Arangino, Cecilia Carney, Mia Cervetti, Maria Cremerius, Matthew Durden, Grace Goughnour, Richard Hauser, Grant Herring, Mickey Hossenlopp, Willy Huffman, Ben Jones, Josh Jones, Clay Kirkland, Lydia Koch, Anna LaBarreare, Amelia Madden, Hayden Meadows, Brendan Phelan, Trey Price, Collin Roberts, Olivia Rouse, Caroline Senter.
7th Grade: Phillip Benedict, Taylor Brenner, Kaitlyn Broughton, Zoie Couch, Katie Cunningham, Cecilia DiMeglio, Katherine Emery, Caroline Evangelisti, Samuel Goodman, Joseph Heinz, Amelia Hinton, Carson Kane, Jackson Lyons, Maddie McGee, Maggie Montegut, Sarah Moran, Hughes Raiford, Laney Skinner, Emma Soefker, Spencer Stalnaker, James Strickland, Hunter Stroud, Mary Helen Weirich, Sarah Wingfield.
8th Grade: Ivy Almand, Rachel Baioni, Anna Grace Barnett, Samuel Barnett, Allison Bryant, Michael Buchholz, Sophia Cervetti, Anna Kate Cremerius, Eric Enright, Perry Gates, Catie Grusin, Mason Hall, Claire John, Kara Kane, Gracie Kitchens, Garrott Knott, Patrick Koch, Zach Lucchesi, Madelyn McCrary, Connor Saig, John Schroeppel, Reid Voss, Robert Ward, Will Wolbrecht.