Thank you to our generous St. Michael’s community! We have well surpassed the halfway mark to our goal of $120,000 for the annual Halo Fund! Donating has never been easier. Go to https://stmichael.net/giving/annualfund/ and make a difference today

As the kick-off to Science Fair Week, the Edible Car Race will be held during All-School Chapel at 8:05 a.m. on Monday, February 3. All entries must be available for processing that morning by 7:45 a.m. along with the Information Sheet displayed with the car. Mandatory pre-registration will close this Friday, January 31, at 4:00 p.m.

Click on the link for the more information and forms: Edible Car Race

I have heard from a number of students coming in to my health office asking about the coronavirus that is all over the news currently.  Here is some recent information from the Arizona Department of Health Services and the CDC:

Novel Coronavirus 2019

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China last month. There have been cases identified in China with exported cases in a growing number of countries internationally, including the United States. As of today, there is only one confirmed case of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Maricopa County diagnosed on January 26,2020.

Patients with confirmed 2019-nCoV infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:

• fever
• cough
• shortness of breath

The nCoV viruses may have been animal-to-person spread initially but there is indication that the virus is also spread person-to-person. This person-to-person spread is likely through close contact with respiratory droplets that are created when someone coughs or sneezes. CDC believes at this time that symptoms of 2019-nCoV may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 after exposure.

There are no vaccines to prevent 2019-nCoV currently. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. However, as a reminder, CDC always recommends everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of any respiratory viruses, including:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your elbow.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Although we should take the coronavirus outbreak seriously, the influenza virus poses a far greater threat to Americans than the coronavirus from China that has made headlines around the world.  “Influenza rarely gets the sort of attention that coronavirus has, even though flu has already sickened at least 13 million Americans this winter and killed 6,600 people.  In a bad year, the flu kills up to 61,000 Americans.”  (Kaiser Health News Jan 24,2020)

Stay Healthy,

Nurse Huff

UUAA 1.26.20

Dear St. Michael’s Parents and Families

I am very proud of the good work our upper-school students (in grades 6-8) accomplished yesterday in service to nine (9) local non-profits here in Tucson. I am very proud as well of the good work our fifth graders accomplished for their on-campus Day of Service activity benefiting Ben’s Bells.

Yesterday’s Day of Service was initiated four years ago by our school chaplain, Mother Clare Yarborough, to honor the legacy of service of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to help students understand the important connection between the gift of an excellent education and the importance of giving back.

Thanks to Mrs. Marnie Ackerman, our director of philanthropy, for arranging media coverage of the day’s events from KGUN, which will air this coming Monday, January 20^th, on their morning, evening, and online programs. Thank you very much as well to the many parents who volunteered to drive and who also participated in the day of service with our students. I was able to go and visit two of the service sites—the Hermitage Cat Shelter and Beads of Courage—both of which were incredibly inspiring to me for the good work they do. Please see Mrs. Ackerman’s entry below for more details of the day.

A few more important items: 

I encourage you to attend our annual St. Michael’s musical-theatre production next weekend, this year featuring Into the Woods. Under the direction of Dr. Tony Antista, our students have been working diligently day after day to prepare for the show. Please show up to celebrate their talent!

Our Finance Committee will meet early this coming week to set tuition costs for the coming year. A letter from me and enrollment contracts for the coming year will be prepared next week. Thank you for your patience; please feel free to come and speak with me if you have any concerns or questions about re-enrollment.

Our self-study visit for re-accreditation is, as I have noted, scheduled for late March. In preparation for that, I will be hosting a series of ‘state of the school’ get-togethers in late February and early March to present to parents, in-person, where we have been, where we are, and where we are heading as a school. I am looking forward to this opportunity to communicate with you directly all the good and important work we are engaged in to make St. Michael’s even stronger for your sons and daughters. I had an opportunity to share in brief the same presentation yesterday to our SMA parent group, and it is with their recommendation that I will schedule these get-togethers with all of you. I look forward to it! I also thank all of you who took the time to reply to our self-study parent survey—I take your feedback to heart, and I appreciate your efforts to help make our school even stronger. I will share as part of my presentation in February-March the consensus findings from all of you.

Our two dynamite division directors, Mandy Hart and Alex Hawes, will also be hosting their own listening sessions with parents later in March as well, for the same purpose of establishing a more transparent and supportive relationship between home and school, between faculty and administration and parents.

As always, I welcome your questions and am available, with notice and at your convenience, to meet and chat. Thank you.

I look forward to seeing you on campus!

Brendan Sullivan
Head of School
bsullivan@stmicjael.net

8th Grade Tributes!  St. Michael’s yearbook is ready to receive tributes for your graduating 8th grader.  Deadline is Feb. 14, 2020.

1. Go to www.yearbookforever.com and select St. Michael’s Parish Day School.  
2. Select the size of your tribute and pay online. (Full-page $100, half-page $50.00, quarter-page complimentary).
3. Create!  Upload pictures, then write and design your own tribute.