Updated Sunday, June 29, 2025 by Jennifer Laws
Welcome!
St. Catherine School is excited to have your family join our community! We hope this school year brings your child growth, joy, and meaningful experiences.
This page includes helpful information to ensure a smooth and confident start to the year.
If you have any questions over the summer, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jennifer Laws. We’re here to support you!
Information
Orientation Overview
Please find the orientation packet here.
Student & Parent Handbook
We’re currently updating our Student & Parent Handbook for the 2025/26 School Year. It will be available to all families in early August. There will be a TADS signature form provided for families to sign, indicating that they have read the Handbook. The TADS signature form will be due by Sun, 8/31.
You may also view the current edition — please note that details are subject to change.
School Communications
ParentSquare is our school-to-home communication platform. All general announcements and grade specific communications will be sent through ParentSquare. We also use ParentSquare to publish our school calendar and request sign ups for items and volunteers. ParentSquare for all families — new and existing — will be available in early August.
Prior to the start of school, Mrs. Laws will email any updates and you can contact her via email if you have any questions.
School Calendar
Students are scheduled for 180 school days — each one is a valuable opportunity for learning and growth. To support your child’s success, family trips should be scheduled during designated school breaks whenever possible.
Our 2025/26 Important Dates overview can be found here.
THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL and BEYOND. Below please find a summary of the activities planned for the first week of school, as well as dismissal timings until Labor Day. At this time, we do not anticipate any changes to the schedule below.
Sun, 8/17
TK and Kinder Kick Off, 11.30am to 12.30pm after 10.30am Mass. EVITE INVITATION COMING SOON!
Weds, 8/20 – First Day of School
Extended Care, available from 7am
Parents, join us for our first Morning Assembly of the school year, from 7.40am, followed by a Back to School Coffee Morning from 8am in the Parish Center. It’s a great way to meet parents across all grades and hear all about the activities and events happening at St. Catherine School. Invitations with an RSVP will be sent out on ParentSquare in early August.
TK & Kinder - 10.30am early dismissal
Grades 1-8 - 12.30pm early dismissal
Extended Care, available until 5.30pm
Thurs, 8/21
Extended Care, available from 7am
TK & Kinder - 10.30am early dismissal
Grades 1-8 - 12.30pm early dismissal
Extended Care, available until 5.30pm
Fri, 8/22
Extended Care, available from 7am
TK & Kinder - 10.30am early dismissal
Grades 1-8 - 12.30pm early dismissal
Extended Care, available until 5.30pm
Week of Mon, 8/25
Grades 1-8 - Normal dismissal schedule
TK - 12.30pm early dismissal until Fri, 8/29. TK will begin normal 2pm dismissal on Tues, 9/2.
Kinder - 12.30pm early dismissal on Mon, 8/25, Tues, 8/26 and Weds, 8/27. Kinder will begin normal 2pm dismissal on Thurs, 8/28.
Daily School Schedule
These are the standard timings for the drop off / dismissal schedule.
The Tardy Bell rings at 7:55am and students who arrive after this time will receive a tardy.
Any changes to the schedule above will be communicated to families via ParentSquare.
Please note that TK students must be brought to the TK classroom and signed in/out by their parent or guardian every day.
School Lunches
We offer a school lunch program in partnership with ChoiceLunch. They offer a pay-as-you-go model, as well as packages that offer discounts. Alternatively, parents pack lunch for their student(s). We are a nut-free school. All students should also have a water bottle at school containing water only, labeled with their name and grade.
Extended Care
Extended Care will be available to all interested families starting Weds, 8/20 at 7am. Families may choose between hourly or monthly rate options.
The 2025/26 Extended Care Info Pack will be posted on ParentSquare from Fri, 8/1. You may also view the current edition — please note that details are subject to change.
Preparing for Volunteer Hours
At St. Catherine, parent participation is an important part of our school community — and there are so many meaningful ways to get involved! Before you begin volunteering on campus, there are four simple steps to complete. See the details below to get started.
1) FINGERPRINT CHECK. In order to volunteer at school, the Diocese of San Jose requires parents to complete a fingerprint check. This only needs to be done once during your time with us.
We offer two ways to have fingerprints checked:
St. Catherine School hosts fingerprint events at the start of the school year. We will share the fingerprint session dates once available, including a link to reserve your time slot. On the day, parents will need to bring a completed LiveScan form, $20 cash or check, and a photo ID for each adult.
Alternatively, adults can complete the LiveScan form and take it to their nearest LiveScan location. You can find Santa Clara County LiveScan locations here. Scroll down and enter your zip code to find the location nearest to you. Please note the cost may differ from the $20 fee offered at school fingerprint events.
For both options, the school will be notified of the results via the Diocese of San Jose.
2) VIRTUS SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING. All volunteers are required to complete the VIRTUS Online course, "Protecting God's Children from Maltreatment 4.1 - San Jose." This course needs to be re-taken every 3 years.
If you're taking the training for the first time, set up your account on VIRTUS here.
Go to TOOLBOX > SEE AVAILABLE TRAINING MODULES and select "Protecting God's Children from Maltreatment 4.1 - San Jose" from the list.
If you've taken the training before, log on to VIRTUS here.
On the Home page, go to TRAINING HISTORY.
You'll see a list of the courses you've completed.
In the last column, you'll see the last completion date for "Protecting God's Children."
If your last completion date has been more than 3 years, please take the course "Protecting God's Children from Maltreatment 4.1 - San Jose".
Once you have completed the online training, save your training certificate as a PDF and email it to Tracy Delgado in the Front Office.
NOTE: if you are coming from a school within the Diocese of San Jose, we’ll contact the school and arrange for your fingerprint verification and Safe Environment Training to be transferred to St. Catherine School. If there are any issues, we’ll contact you.
3) VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY WAIVER FORM. This is completed annually and kept on file at school. We’ll provide this form at the start of the school year.
4) TB RISK ASSESSMENT. The questionnaire and Certificate of Completion for TB Risk Assessment is required for all volunteers. The form needs to be reviewed and signed by your physician, and is completed every 4 years. You can download the TB Risk Assessment form here. Please note the adult volunteer TB form is different from the student TB form. We encourage all new families to take care of this task during the summer, so that it’s completed before the start of school.
Action Items
Summer Packets
Student summer packet links can be found below. Should have you have any questions regarding the work required, please reach out to Jennifer Laws.
Incoming Transitional Kindergarten • Incoming Kindergarten • Incoming First Grade • Incoming Second Grade • Incoming Third Grade • Incoming Fourth Grade • Incoming Fifth Grade • Incoming 6th Grade • Incoming 7th Grade • Incoming 8th Grade
Required Documents to be Submitted on TADS
When enrolling your student on the TADS platform, a number of documents were requested. Parents are asked to please complete document uploads as soon as possible, and no later than Friday, July 18, 2025. If you’ve not done so yet, please take a moment to review your child’s TADS account and make sure all documents have been uploaded. If you’ve already submitted the required documents, thank you!
Student Photo
Birth Certificate
Immunization Records
TB Risk Assessment Form, completed by a physician. Download the form here.
Baptism Certificate (if applicable)
First Holy Communion Certificate (if applicable)
Most Recent Report Card
Most Recent Standardized Testing
IMPORTANT - Forms to Be Completed
Please see below a list of forms that need to be completed and returned to us as soon as possible, and no later than Friday, July 18, 2025. They can be emailed to admissions@stcatherinemh.org or dropped off in person at school. Please email us to schedule a time you’d like to drop off the forms in person. If you’ve already submitted these forms, thank you!
ALL STUDENTS — Request for School Records Form. This form is for Grades K through 8 only. The Front Office will submit this form to your student’s prior school to obtain their school records.
AS NEEDED — Parish Affiliation Form. If you practice at another Catholic church in the Diocese, or have relocated to Morgan Hill from another area, please complete this form.
School Supplies
The following links contain the school supplies requested by your student’s teacher. These can be purchased at the retailer of your choice, unless noted otherwise.
Transitional Kindergarten • Kindergarten • First Grade • Second Grade • Third Grade • Fourth Grade • Fifth Grade • Junior High (6th, 7th, 8th Grades)
Uniforms
All St. Catherine-branded uniform items (clothes with our logo or plaid) are purchased through MerryMart.
St. Catherine uniform requirements can be found here. Note, all girls are required to wear
You may purchase non-branded, generic uniform items such as polo shirts, basic blue pants and shorts at other retailers, such as Target or Old Navy.
We also have a Uniform Exchange at school, which offers a selection of freshly laundered, gently used uniforms arranged by type and size at no cost. Families are welcome to drop in during school hours to shop the Uniform Exchange. In June and July, parents can visit by appointment only. Please email to make arrangements. In August, we will resume our normal office hours of 7.30am to 4pm. Items and sizes are limited to first come, first served. There is no charge and our only request is that when your student outgrows them, that you return them to the uniform exchange for the next student who may benefit from them.
UNIFORM SCHEDULE. Students are expected to wear their formal uniform each day, except on designated PE days. On PE days, students should come to school in their PE uniform — unless their class is attending a school Mass, prayer service, or liturgy. Any uniform changes will be communicated in advance by the classroom teacher and included in the school announcements.
We are currently finalizing the PE schedule for the 2025/26 school year. The official uniform schedule will be shared by Friday, August 1.
Class Spirit Shirts
Class Spirit Shirts are a required purchase and can be ordered on this link. Students proudly wear their Cougar Class Color for special events like class field trips, the annual Walkathon, Student Council Rally Days, and other spirit days announced by the Principal. Please note that Class Spirit Shirts are for special events and spirit days, and are not part of the PE uniform.
TK, Kinder and First Grade Tote Bags
Students in TK, Kinder and First Grade are required to use our St. Catherine Tote Bag. Backpacks are not permitted in these grades. TK and Kinder students will be given their Tote Bags at the TK & Kinder Kick-off on Sun, 8/17. Mrs. Laws will be in touch with new 1st Grade parents to arrange for them to pick up their totes before the start of school.
Helpful Links
TADS, our Admissions & Enrollment, Tuition Management and Financial Aid Assessment platform.
mytads.com
Educate, our student information system. Families will receive student report cards through this platform. Log in details will be provided at the start of the school year.
educate.tads.com
ParentSquare is our school-to-home communication platform. It will be available at the start of August and we’ll send out instructions for how to register when it is ready for the new school year.
ParentSquare.com
ChoiceLunch, our school lunch program partner.
ChoiceLunch.com
Contact Information
School Website
stcatherinemh.org
School Phone Number
408-779-9950
School Hours
7.30am to 4pm
School Email
office@stcatherinemh.org
Melissa Sidebotham, Principal
msidebotham@stcatherinemh.org
Jennifer Lamontagne, Assistant Principal
jlamontagne@stcatherinemh.org
Jennifer Laws, Director of Marketing and Enrollment
jlaws@stcatherinemh.org
Tracy Delgado, Office Manager
tdelgado@stcatherinemh.org
Lisa Caratozzolo, Assistant Office Manager
lcaratozzolo@stcatherinemh.org
Anne Nguyen, Finance Office
anguyen@stcatherinemh.org