Welcome, St. Mary’s Catholic School Families!

My name is Jackie Newhouse, and I’m the President of St. Mary’s Catholic School Home and School Association (HASA). St.Mary’s Catholic School’s HASA is our school's "PTA." From fundraisers and teacher appreciation, to school celebrations and community events, our HASA volunteers work to create a vibrant, warm, and welcoming community at St. Mary’s Catholic School.

If you are a parent or guardian of a registered St. Mary’s student, YOU ARE ALREADY A MEMBER OF HASA.  There is no special paper to fill out or fee.  You have a vote and a voice, and you can be as involved as you choose to be.  We have monthly meetings where we discuss upcoming events, bring up new ideas, and work to fix any issues that we can.  

Our meetings are on the third Thursday of every month at 5:30 pm in the Club Room downstairs or in the Library at school. We will inform you all where the meetings will be held and remind you of the time before each meeting.  When you come to a meeting, you can make a difference.  Your opinion can be heard, and you get to vote.  Our meetings are very casual.  They are not board meetings.  They are for all members.  We sit in a circle and discuss everything.  You are welcome to voice opinions and questions and vote on every item (you also don’t have to speak if you’re more comfortable not speaking).  You are welcome to bring your children, but we are not able to provide childcare.  It’s no problem if you come late or leave early.  Your time at the meeting counts toward your mandatory volunteer service hours.  Back again this year, you can earn double the time for your first HASA meeting (whenever you attend for the first time)!!!  

We partner with the teachers and staff of St. Mary’s to enhance the school experience for both our students and their families. This year we are excited to be able to have events coming back to the school and community. We are planning to have one family event to look forward to each month to help us all to relax and bond together.

We also participate in fundraising, and vote on how best to use the raised money to help our students and school.  In the past years, we have provided enhancements to the school such as the new drinking fountain/water bottle filling station in the gym, LED lighting in the hallways and classrooms, and helped raise money to rebuild the school’s boilers.  Please see the list on the next page for more.  

We provide opportunities to earn service and volunteer hours to make it easier for families to reach their mandated amount of time, and track the progress of completed hours to help families keep track of how many hours they have completed that school year.  We look for ways to show appreciation to our school’s wonderful Teachers and Staff.  We try to make the school feel like one big family.

You are not required to attend meetings, but it is a great way to stay informed about what’s happening with the school, give input, and vote on things that are important to you.  If you’ve never been to a meeting, or haven’t for a while, that’s ok…Come whenever you want.  We’re always happy to see you!  Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 15th, 2022, at 5:30pm we hope to see you there.

For our first event we are hosting a Back to School Coffee event on the first day of school after morning drop-off, downstairs in the Club Room.  We welcome you all to come and visit with other parents who are either celebrating or commiserating over their children being back in school after summer break.

If you have any questions please don’t be afraid to ask. I’m excited to have you on our team, and look forward to a great school year!

Sincerely,

Jackie Newhouse
President of St. Mary’s Home and School Association

PS.  Please join the “St. Mary’s Home and School Association (HASA)” Facebook group.  This is a closed group for HASA communication, separate from the school’s public FB page, where behind the scenes event planning is discussed, and sign ups and last-minute requests for volunteers are posted.  It’s a good resource for finding volunteer opportunities throughout the year.  To protect privacy, only St. Mary’s Home and School Association members are accepted into this group.