Marketing Committee Update
The newly restructured Marketing Committee has been meeting and has breathed new life into increasing our enrollment and maintaining those families who have already enrolled. We are updating the Marketing Plan and the marketing and registration packets. We are hosting our first annual Open House for Pre-K and nursery schools. This event will be held on April 29, at 4 pm. We have invited several representatives from various schools to come to St. Ambrose for a tour, information, and appetizers. We will also provide them with a “goody” bag that they can share with their co-workers and clients in an effort to “Spread the Good News” of St. Ambrose. Thank you to the committee members: Debbie Hilderbrand, JoAnn Buckley, Chris Felt, Sharon Gambaro, Maggie Nikolai, Jill Jovanovic, Karen Sinak, Michelle Feltz, Jeannemarie Lamme, Katie Brennan, and Tim Curtin.

Coffee and Donuts
Sunday, April 19, after the 9:00 Mass, a coffee and donuts reception will be held in the school cafeteria for those interested in hearing the evaluation of the School Improvement Report. As you recall, this past February we finalized our School Improvement Process with a 2-day visit with various educators from schools in the archdiocese. This Visiting Team evaluated our report, met with the faculty and parent leadership, and compiled a report of their own evaluating the document we had created. We did receive a very favorable report and we would like to share that with the parish and parents. Please come join us. We have also invited all new parents who have recently registered with St. Ambrose. This is a great opportunity for them to meet people, hear about our school, and attend a short orientation, complete with uniform information, athletic information, and other topics.

Spring Clean-Up Day
Please mark your calendars for this year’s Spring Clean-up Day - April 25, 2009. Not only are we asking people to volunteer to “spruce-up” the exterior grounds and interior areas, but we are also hosting a Flea Market! That’s right—St. Ambrose School Flea Market will also take place. More information will follow from the PTO, but we will be selling spots for people to sell their wares. Be on the lookout for a sign-up form and start cleaning out your basements and closets. We will begin the day at 9 am and end at 1 pm. April 25 is also the Sacred Heart Villa Spring Bar-B-Que. We would like to ask people to attend their event as well. It is a great day full of food, fun, family, and friends.

South City Catholic Collaborative Update
The South City Catholic Collaborative has made use of the services of a national educational consultant, Sr. Carol Cimino, SSJ, to visit each of the member schools and to work with their Boards of Education to begin to focus on new paradigms for Catholic elementary education. The next visit and work session will be April 6 or 7 in the evening. This will involve a training session on strategic planning for Catholic elementary schools. All 15 member schools are invited to bring their Boards and Administration to one of the sessions. Since we have just completed our School Improvement Process, which included a lot of the strategic planning that Sr. Carol is going to speak about, Sr. Carol Sansone and members of the St. Ambrose School Board and Marketing Committee will meet with Sr. Carol Cimino on April 7 to discuss ways to improve our marketing strategies to increase enrollment. During the past months, Pastors and Principals have been involved in meetings about effective funding for Catholic elementary schools for the future and other topics. The Marketing and Publication Committee is currently preparing a brochure about Catholic elementary schools in the City. It will be directly mailed in late March to households with children in the city of St. Louis. A city-wide Open House and a parent presentation on communicating with your student were sponsored by the Collaborative in January and February. Watch for future updates on our progress and activities. For additional information, contact Sr. Kathleen Koenen, SSND at 314 341 0177 or kkoenen@stgabschool.org.

Show Me St. Louis Scouts
Show Me St. Louis is inviting all Catholic Girl Scouts who have received religious awards this year to be on their show at KSDK headquarters on April 13. A separate day is being held for Boy Scouts on April 9.

The Power of Prayer
Please continue to keep Stevie L, grade 1, in your prayers.  Also, in the last weeks of her pregnancy, please remember Mrs. O'Toole in your intentions.
 
Anyone wishing to include names or special intentions in our community prayer chain, please contact Debbie Hilderbrand at school.

• On April 3, at 7:00 pm, the Aftercare Finale, will be held in the St. Ambrose gym. You will be treated to a band concert, a performance by the Music Appreciation students, a demonstration by the guitar students, performances by our two dance classes, a performance from the Creative Drama class, Stages' Jungle Book, and Stages' Review of Rogers and Hammerstein Musicals. In addition, our children participating in Science Club will be judged on their science projects, and they will be on display. Please join us for a night of food, fun, and friendship.
• The 2009 Alumni breakfast will be held on May 17. It is always held on the Sunday after Mother’s Day. Please keep the date open. If you are an alum, more information will be mailed to you.
• The School Picnic is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19. Plans are for breakfast to be served at 9:00 and for students to check in at 9:30. Armbands for picnic rides will sell for $20. Proceeds from the Guitar Hero event will help offset the cost of the School Picnic.
  

Miscellaneous

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Safe Touch Program
The Archdiocesan Child Safety Committee has developed a school-based curriculum for grades K-8 that contains practical, helpful information to help children protect themselves from dangers that exist today. The goal is to equip our students with the skills necessary for them to participate in their own personal physical safety. The objective of this curriculum, entitled "Safe Touch," is to teach our children self-protection skills. Children will learn body safety rules in an age-appropriate and non-threatening manner. This curriculum will be taught by Lisa Horner, our learning consultant, who is a trained lead teacher for "Safe Touch." It will consist of one class period.

The "Safe Touch" curriculum approaches safety issues in a respectful manner, connecting our Catholic values with information to keep our children safe. Please do not hesitate to contact Sister Carol or Mrs. Horner if you have any questions or concerns regarding this important piece of your child's education. The curriculum and lesson plans are available for you to look over, should you wish to do so. Just contact Mrs. Horner. If for whatever reason you would prefer your child not to hear this presentation at school, you have the option of opting him or her from the program. Simply contact Sister Carol or Mrs. Horner.

Important Dismissal Notice
Safety patrol will be at the driveway entrance at about 2:50 pm on a daily basis to keep ALL cars out. Parents, please be advised that NO cars will be allowed into the parking lot after that time and no one in a car will be allowed to leave the parking lot until the safety patrol students leave their post at about 3:10 pm or all the students have been dismissed and are safely off the property.

Failure to follow this procedure endangers the lives of our students and will not be tolerated. The police will be notified immediately. Let us work together for the safety of our children. This is a "Common Sense" Procedure. 
Thank you, Sr. Carol

Playground Notice
The playground is not open for play during the basketball games. We want to avoid unsupervised play, as there will be many visitors/traffic going in and out of the gym. We have posted a sign that the playground is off limits during basketball games and this door should not be opened.

Today and Tomorrow Foundation Tuition Aid
Check out the link on the Fast Direct Home page for information on the awards, eligibility requirements, and the 2009/10 School Year Scholarship Application.

We have just received the FACTS Grant applications for the the Archdiocese of St. Louis Financial Assistance Program for the 2009-2010 school year. Anyone needing financial assistance with tuition should pick up an application packet at the Rectory or you can apply online at www.factstuitionaid.com. The deadline to file the application is April 1, 2009. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call Donna at 771-1228.
Thanks, Msgr. Bommarito

New Marketing Brochure and DVD
If you are interested in viewing the new DVD and/or brochure, please visit our website at www.stambroseonthehill.com. If you know of anyone looking for an elementary school, please encourage them to look at St. Ambrose. We certainly have a lot to offer and would love to share that with others. Please contact Debbie Hilderbrand at (314) 772-1437 for additional information and/or to schedule a tour.

To Families Enrolled in Extended Care:
After much consideration, Msgr. Bommarito has given permission for students who attend Extended Care in grades 6, 7, and 8 to go out to lunch on half days. Students will NOT check into Extended Care until after they return from lunch. No one will be accepted into Extended Care after 1:45 pm. It is the parents' responsibility to make sure the student(s) has arrived at Extended Care by 1:45 pm. Extended Care staff will NOT be responsible for the student(s) until AFTER they are clocked in at Extended Care. Failure to meet this 1:45 pm arrival time will result in forfeiture of this lunch privilege. A signed, handwritten permission note must be presented to the Extended Care staff at least 24 hours before the half day.
Also, if your child(ren) will be leaving Extended Care with anyone other than the names you have given on the Extended Care forms, we will require a signed, handwritten permission note. A verbal "Okay" in person or over the phone cannot be accepted per the Extended Care Guidelines. Please be sure to update your Extended Care Release Form frequently!
Thanks so much for your understanding in these matters!!!!
Sincerely, Sue Nelson

Help Keep the Communication Channels Open
Please forward any information you wish to include in this newsletter to Debbie Hilderbrand or Sharon Gambaro via Fast Direct or through the school office. Additionally, Marsy Canino will be available in the school parking lot on Friday afternoons to receive and forward your news for publication.

Help Support YOUR PTO
The way we are able sponsor events for our families is through Together We Are Better and e-scrip. Please register for a Schnuck's gift card; they send us 1% of total registered sales each month. We only have about 3% of our families who participate, and we receive around $500 a month. Just think if 50% of our families participated! Please continue to support the PTO, so we can continue to become stronger for our family events and children's activities. 

With Together We Are Better in mind, I started a promotion through my business for St. Ambrose. I am in the mortgage business and I offered to donate back to St. Ambrose any time I do a mortgage for someone and they mention St. Ambrose to me. There is an ad in the auction book describing my offer. Basically, if I originate a mortgage for someone that is a family or friend of St. Ambrose, I will donate .1% of the loan amount back to St. Ambrose up to $200. So on a $175K mortgage, St. Ambrose would get a $175 donation from me. I have one St. Ambrose deal closing this month worth a $93 donation back to the school. The more it is promoted, the more I can donate back to school and build my business at the same time. If you want me to do more to promote this offer, I would be happy to.
Thanks, Christine Wilson