Dear Parents,

Happy new school year and welcome back  from what I hope was a wonderful summer for your family!

This year at St. Thomas the Apostle School, we will continue to focus on an atmosphere of health and safety which supports challenging academics and strong character development. We will strive to be good administrators, faculty, staff and students, working together to be good and responsible citizens of our world.

 We are one school community and together this year, like last year, I believe we can be proactive and meet the directives that promote the safety and wellbeing of all of us.

 While things may once again look a little different, we are committed to the stability of what characterizes Catholic education.

– Catholic tradition and academic excellence

– a balanced curriculum

– learning with a moral purpose

– strong preparation for further education

– safe and disciplined environment

– exceptional faculty

– stewards of our resources

 I believe that St. Thomas the Apostle School is the place to be…it’s a place where values matter, where academics are strong and faith encapsulates everything…a place where faculty and students together make a difference.

 Someone once said that “a good teacher is like a candle…it consumes itself to light the way for their students”! My gratitude goes out to our teachers for giving of themselves to brighten the lives of their students.

 We will move through this year in the same positive way as last year, knowing that we are a strong school community surrounded by the great love of God.

 Peace, Sr. Patty

GETTING TO SCHOOL ON TIME!

It is very important for students in preschool through grade 8 to arrive on time for school every day.

Children in kindergarten through grade 8 should arrive no later than 7:30, as the bell to begin school rings at 7:35. If you live in West Springfield and are able to use the school bus, we strongly suggest you allow your child to take the bus to avoid being late. If you are traveling across the train tracks you should plan to leave your home at least 15 minutes earlier to avoid being late because of the train. You can also plan to use the Morgan/Sullivan Bridge thus avoiding the train all together. Children in preschool should arrive by 8:00. When students enter the classroom late, it is very disruptive to the teacher who has begun the school day, as well as to the children who have arrived to school on time.  We understand that there may be times when being late is unavoidable, however, coming to school late habitually is not acceptable.

OPENING MASS FOR ST. THOMAS SCHOOL The school will gather for our opening mass the week of September 13.

PEANUT AND NUT FREE SCHOOL Allergens in peanuts are similar in structure to allergens in tree nuts. Children who are allergic to peanuts are often allergic to tree nuts. Please do not send in PEANUTS OR NUTS, in any form with your children for snack time, lunch time,  After School Program or any other school activity.

KEEPING STUDENT INFORMATION CURRENT Please be sure to send any address, telephone or email changes to the office for your family during the school year. If we do not have the correct information, this will affect your family receiving important information regarding your child and will also prevent you from receiving our Parent Alert phone messages.

IMPORTANT FORMS TO BE RETURNED! Please be sure to return your child’s Emergency Contact Form and the Nurse’s Emergency Data Card, preferably by Friday, September 3. Children in preschool who do not come to school on Friday should return this information the first day that they will be attending the week of September 6.

ST. THOMAS SCHOOL PARENT/STUDENT HANDBOOK The St. Thomas Apostle School Parent/Student Handbook for the 2021-2022 school year can be found on our school website www.stthomasapostleschool.org under Parents and on the FACTS Parent Portal under Resources. You can view and print the handbook from either site. All parents and students are to read and understand the information in the handbook. The handbook agreement form must be sent back to school by Friday, September 10.

GYM UNIFORMS AND SWEATSHIRTS As in previous years, gym uniforms will continue to be purchased at the school. The cost of the gym uniform is $30 a set ($15 for each piece). We have changed the color of our hoodie sweatshirts to navy blue with white lettering, (students can continue to wear the gray hoodies).  Crewneck sweatshirts to be sold will be gray.  Hoodie sweatshirts are $27 and gray crewnecks are $22. The St. Thomas School sweatshirts are the only sweatshirts that can be worn in school.

THOMAS SCHOOL WEBSITE and FACTS FAMILY PORTAL For important school information throughout the school year be sure to view our school website at www.stthomasapostleschool.org and the FACTS Family Portal. New families have received information regarding FACTS, returning families can use their log in information from last school year.