Summer Parent Newsletter
All Saints Academy, St. Cloud Campus
Summer 2021
We hope the summer is treating everyone well! School is still several weeks away, but there’s lots of news we want to share with you. Please be sure to read this summer newsletter and be all ready when school starts!
New Teachers & Staff!
ASA welcomes several new teachers this year. Mrs. Emily Poganski, our new Preschool teacher comes to us from Brainerd. She was the preschool coordinator and teacher for St. Francis of the Lakes.
Ms. Julia Lutz will be our second 4 th grade teacher this year. She graduated from St. Cloud State this past spring. Ms. Lutz has been working summer Funzone to get acquainted with our building.
Ms. Susan Wielinski has joined ASA to teach Physical Education. Ms. Wielinski was a long-term sub for Phy. Ed. this past spring for us. She is looking forward to teaching the students again.
Ms. Abigail Molitor will be our new Music teacher. ASA will be sharing her with St. Wendelin. ASA looks forward to welcoming her. Last year, Ms. Molitor worked in the Litchfield public schools.
Mr. Frank Keller is the Art teacher. Mr. Keller has worked in both public and Catholic education as an art teacher in the St. Cloud area. He is excited to get to know all of his students.
Ms. Shelby Rue joined ASA July 15 th as the Funzone Director. Ms. Rue worked in Excelsior, MN as an after-care site supervisor for the Minnetonka school district.
Mr. Ray Halupczok will be joining Mr. Tommy in the kitchen. Mr. Halupczoka will be his assistant cook. Prior to ASA, he worked at the St. John’s Abbey Guesthouse.
As many of you know, Mr. Karl Terhaar, principal, also joined the school this summer as an interim principal. Mr. Terhaar has a long relationship with ASA. Mr. Terhaar was the principal for St. Joseph Catholic School for many years. Mr. Terhaar will be at Paperwork Night and is looking forward to meeting students and parents! Welcome to all of our new staff at All Saints Academy!!
Open House Conferences
Open House Conferences will take place on August 26th from 1-7 pm and August 30th from 10 am to 6 pm. Each student will have a 30 minute conference with their homeroom teacher on either day. Sign up for conferences will be through School Speak. Watch for an email from Mrs. Bristow through SchoolSpeak. Families with 3 or more children will have the opportunity to sign up beginning August 16, and all other families beginning August 18. These conferences will include time to discuss your child’s goals, the curriculum, and do some assessments to help our teachers meet your child’s needs. Please bring your child with you to this conference.
There will also be time to register & sign up for FunZone, turn in forms, log on to School Speak and learn the online payments system for lunch and Funzone. Please plan for approximately one hour at school when you attend your conference.
The Recess Calendar will be available in the office. Stop by to sign up for recess supervision. All families must volunteer for TWO recess supervisions each year, a total of 3 hours of volunteering. Sign up early as its first come, first served. Recess will begin at 11:00 am and end at 12:35. If you find your schedule doesn’t allow you to volunteer for Recess Duty, you may opt out by paying $50. (Separate charge from Volunteer Requirement. Recess hours are applied to the 15-hours/year of volunteering.) These funds are used to defray the cost of additional paid recess staff. At the end of the school year, families will be charged $50 if they haven’t volunteered for recess.
Paperwork Folder Pick Up
Paperwork folders will be available for pickup beginning August 9 August 12 from 9 am – 3:30 pm. This folder will have all the necessary forms for the beginning of the year. We ask that these be completed ahead of your conference and brought with you to turn into the school. Included in this packet is the free and reduced lunch application. We ask all families to fill out the free and reduced lunch application as ASA receives benefits from the school district according to the number of students who qualify. Additionally, some families may qualify for the P-EBT cards.
We would like all parents to login and update their profile on SchoolSpeak by Sept. 15th.
Start Dates 2021-2022 School Year
The 2021-2022 school year for Preschoolers (2-day & 5-day) and K – 6 th graders will begin Tuesday, August 31, 2021. 3-day preschool students’ first day will be Wednesday, Sept. 1 st . You may drop your child off as early as 7:30 am. Class begins at 7:45 am and ends at 3 pm.. Preschool parents may walk their child to homerooms during this first week of school. Beginning after Labor Day, preschool students will be escorted by ASA staff to their homerooms. Please review the Drop Off & Pick Up Procedures document included in your Paperwork Folder.
There is no bussing available Aug. 31 st – Sept. 7 th . Bussing will begin Wednesday, September 8 th for K – 6 th grade. As in the past, we ask that parents provide transportation for their children to and from school during these first few days.
Fall Athletic (PAA) Activities
Attached to this email you will find the PAA (Parochial Athletic Association) 5th and 6th grade fall sports information for 2021-2022. These registrations should be returned to the Office at your Open House conference. Students have the option of playing volleyball, soccer or football in the fall.
There will be a fall sports meeting the night of Open House, Aug. 30th from 6:15 - 7:15 pm in the building cafeteria.
If your child will be playing football, we will be handing out the football equipment after the meeting as well.
If you would like to coach any sport that PAA offers or have questions, please contact ASA’s PAA Director Kaydee Stockinger at k aydee.610@gmail.com .
What is School Speak?
School Speak is an online school management system used by ASA. It is a secure portal that allows us to provide more information, communicate with parents and offer useful tools for everyone who is a member of our school community.
If you are new to All Saints Academy or have never logged onto School Speak, you will be receiving an introductory email. Due to security issues, the email will only stay in your inbox for a few days. If you need the email resent, please call the office at 251-5295.
Individuals who have used School Speak in the past will not get an email. The username & password you had last year is still the same.
School Speak will be down August 5th - 8th for regular maintenance. Access will be available on Monday, August 9th.
Hot Lunch
ASA will continue to offer Hot Lunch, specially prepared by Mr. Tommy! For one more year, hot lunch will be free for all students. Students are welcome to bring a cold lunch if they wish. Milk can also be purchased for $.50 a carton! Preschool parents sending cold lunch to school - please make sure that your student’s lunch complies with the USDA my plate standards, which include milk, meat or cheese (or an alternative), at least one fruit and one vegetable, and a serving of whole grains. Per MN State Licensing rules and regulations, if your child does not have these items, we are required to offer a supplement to your child. Thank you for your help on this! If your child has food allergies, alternative options can be offered!
This year we are asking all families to complete the Free & Reduced forms in your Paperwork Folder. There are additional benefits through P-EBT (Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer) that ASA needs to track.
2021-2022 Playground Supervision Program
Our goal is to have a volunteer parent, who has children in K – 6 th grade, on the playground every day to assist the school staff during the entire recess period. Recess will be 11:00 am – 12:35 pm. A calendar will be available for families to sign up at Open House Conferences and will be kept in the office.
All families need to volunteer for recess supervision 2-3 times this year for the safety of the children. (Parents of half-day preschoolers are not required to volunteer as their children do not participate in lunch recess time.) If you find your schedule doesn’t allow you to volunteer for Recess Duty, you may opt out by paying $50. (Separate charge from Volunteer Requirement. Recess hours though are applied to the 15-hours/year of volunteering.) These funds are used to defray the cost of additional paid recess staff. At the end of the school year, families will be charged $50 if they haven’t volunteered for recess.
Volunteering at All Saints Academy
Volunteering at school is a wonderful opportunity to give back, share your gifts and allows you to see your children and other children in the school setting. It is also an important component to supporting the education delivered daily.
We request that each family volunteer 15 hours/year at school. This can include but not limited to the following: serving lunch, recess supervision, classroom assistance, Picture Day, playing a musical instrument at mass, copying, Thursday folders, Spring Picnic, Junior Achievement (JA), Extravaganza planning, etc.
If your day/year does not allow you to volunteer the 15-hour requirement, families pay $50 per family. Hours are tracked in our office. These funds are used to defray the costs of additional staff or overtime required of staff in the building assisting teachers and school staff daily.
Our talents and skills are meant to be cultivated and shared with others. Sharing our God-given gifts by actively participating in the life of our parish and school is an expression of stewardship. “As each one of us has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace,” 1 Peter 4:10.
Stay Informed! Be the first to know!
We encourage parents/guardians to sign up for REMIND - a safe, free and easy way we can communicate with parents instantly through texting.
To sign up, text ASA Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Marissa Bristow, at 612-260-4578 and in the message enter @ef392 .
It is that easy. You will be added to the parent list . If you have signed up in the past, it is not necessary to sign up again.
ASA is Nut-free!
Please remember that we are a Nut-free building. All snacks and lunches need to be peanut-free and nut-free. There is a safe-snack list on School Speak under Announcements. NOTE: Since ingredients change this list may be updated from time to time – we ask that parents check this list before purchasing snacks throughout the year.
Did you know? Childhood allergic reactions are most likely to happen at school and 50% of reactions were previously unknown to the parents or child.
Thank you for helping to keep our school safe for all of our students.
Keep Collecting!
Continue to save the following labels:
Labels for Education (UPCs from Campbell's. Swansons, Post, and Prego) Box Tops for Education
Country Hearth and Village Hearth Products (UPCs)
Pop and can tabs
Old cell phones
Empty ink and toner cartridges
Thank You!
…to our custodians and staff who have worked hard this summer to clean, update and get our school building ready for the coming year!
Upcoming Dates
August 9 – 12 Paperwork Folders available for pick-up between 8:30 am – 3:00 pm in main office
August 26 Open House Conferences, 1:00 – 7:00 pm; sign up on School Speak
August 30 Open House Conferences, 10:00am – 6:00 pm; sign up on School Speak
August 31 First Day of School for Students PreK – 6, Full Day of Classes; No bussing available this week
September 3 No School for Staff or Students
September 6 Labor Day - No School for Students or Staff
September 7 Regular classes
September 8 Bussing begins
September 14 Picture Day PreK – 6 th grade, St. Paul’s Community Room
September 24 Grandparents’ /Special Friend Day, 12:30 – 2:45 pm
September 25 Rocktober Fest, St. Joseph Catholic School
Welcome back to a new school year!
Our Mission
… is to deliver an academically excellent, Catholic education that develops the whole person and inspires a Christ-centered life in a global community.
Our Vision
All Saints Academy creates and nurtures an environment which supports
students, educators and community in realizing their God given gifts, reaching their full potential and developing their life-long relationship with Christ.
This parent weekly update is published each Thursday school is in session. Anyone with questions, comments or articles they wish to be considered for inclusion should send an e-mail to Marissa Bristow at marissa.bristow@allsaintsmn.org no later than Monday, 3 PM for that week’s update or drop it off at school.
