The Religious Education team is very excited to welcome all families back for the new school year! Classes begin August, 22/23.
RE Parent & Student Welcome: Unlike previous years, we will not have our parent meeting this first week of classes. This year, plan to join your children on the second week in the main church worship space at the beginning of classes August 29/30! Our parish priests would like to personally welcome you all and offer a blessing to RE families. Our Director of Religious Education, Sandy Kimmey, will have some important information about the upcoming year as well. Following the welcome, parents are asked to accompany your children to their classrooms to meet their Catechists! (We suggest starting with your youngest child’s classroom and popping into the others afterward to say a quick hello and collect an Information sheet from your additional catechists. If you do not make it to all your children’s classrooms, do not fret! Our catechists will be emailing all parents a welcome letter with their contact information in the first few weeks. After meeting the catechists, parents are invited to the Gonderinger Parish Center (GPC) for refreshments and fellowship while the children finish up the second half of the hour in their classrooms. Dismissal will be as usual. Please join us—we’re looking forward to connecting with you all!
Due to some technical difficulties we were not able to finish assigning classes till this past week. Because of that, we were not able to get our usual assignment letter out to our families. Our apologies! We wanted to make sure we got this information out to you before classes next week so we are attaching all the assignments as a PDF to this note. Please find your family name and your child/children will be listed with their grade, day & time, classroom number, and catechist.
Needing to change class? See note below in the FAQ section.
FAQ's for Religious Education Classes
How do we enter the building for classes?
All Students should enter through school doors by flagpole and wait in commons till bell rings at the top of class. Once the bell has rung, children may walk to their classrooms. All classes are held in the school classrooms. No students are allowed into the classroom before class time and the catechist must be present.
How long is class?
Class time is one hour.
Do they need to bring anything?
All supplies are provided in the classroom unless specifically requested.
Will all children be dismissed at the end of class?
Grades 3-8 will be dismissed by their catechist at the end of Pre-school through Grade 2 will not be dismissed from class till an adult or older sibling picks them up. Please let the catechist know who will be picking up your child. If you are running late, please let the office know (402-896-5683) and we will have the students wait in the office.
Parking Lot Safety
Please pull into a parking space to pick up your child/children. DO NOT pull up and sit in the right of ways. This causes congestion and students darting into the parking lot. We will have adult crossing guards to help children cross at the end of class. Please follow the crossing guard instructions if they ask you to pull into a space. Safety First!!
I have a child who will be absent. What do I do?
Please use the following email to inform us if your child/children will be absent.
RE.attendance@stephen.org or call us at 402-896-5683. Informing the catechist is fine, but you must also inform the office. Parents will receive a phone call during class time if a child is absent and no notice was given to Rel. Ed. Office.
When is the Parent Meeting?
Unlike previous years, we will not have our parent meeting this first week of classes. This year, plan to join your children on the second week in the main church worship space at the beginning of classes August 29/30.
I need to change my class time. Can I do that?
We will change a child's class time if there is room where you are wanting to switch to. All class assignments are done on a first come, first serve basis. At this time, many classes are full and a waiting list me be started. Students will be assigned as space opens up. Please contact Eileen at e.smith@stephen.org or 402-896-5683 to request a class change.
In order to do this in most cases, we need more catechists. Please volunteer or encourage someone you know that might be able to volunteer. See below for openings.
Catechist Needs
Altar Server Training
Want to be an altar server? We need you! We will be having training for youth, Grade 5-High School, interested in being an Altar Server for weekend Masses at St. Stephen the Martyr on Saturday, August 26, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am in the St. Stephen the Martyr Worship Space. Current Altar Servers are also welcome to join and receive a refresher course!
Meet in the South Parking Lot for fun and joyful fellowship.
We hope to see you there!
Upcoming Dates
- August 19: SSM Tailgate
- August 22/23: Rel. Ed. Classes Resume
- August 29/30: Parent Meeting; Parents & students meet in Worship Space
- August 28: Confirmation Parent Meeting; GPC, 7 pm