Hot Lunch Program Begins Friday, 9/28/12

Just a reminder that our hot lunch program will begin on Friday, 9/28/12.  Those that preordered hot lunch will be saved a few days of brown bagging!  Our next order period for hot lunches will be in November when we will order lunches for December and January.

The schedule for lunch volunteers from 9/28 through the end of November is available on the school website.  Click here.

If you cannot come to serve lunch on a day you have been scheduled, please try to arrange for a substitute.  A list of all available volunteers is posted on the Parents Only secure page of the website.  Click here to access the login screen.  If you cannot find a substitute, please let the people you were scheduled to serve with know that you will not be able to join them and also let the school office know.  Some lunches really need 3 sets of hands!

As we enjoy the change of seasons from summer to autumn, several of our classes celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day this week.  As you can see from the photo below, a good time was had by all.  Click here to enjoy some more photos from their festivities.

Celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day with homemade applesauce!

News for the week of 9/25/12

Calendar Reminders -

Our October School Mass will be held on Friday, 10/5/12, at 9:30am.  All are welcome to join us.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

School will be closed Monday, 10/8/12, for Columbus Day. 

SMS Directory 2012-2013 has been posted on the secure Parents Only page of the school website.  As is past years, both the "Parents Only" page and the school directory files are password protected.  The 2012-13 password were sent home hard copy to each family with their youngest or only child on Friday, 9/21/12.  This password will be needed throughout the year to access the "Parents Only" page so please retain it in a safe place.  Click here to access the login screen.

Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held from Monday, November 12 - Thursday, November 15th.  Each of these days will be an early dismissal day at 12:45pm.  There will be no PreK Enrichment or Aftercare on conference days.  If you did not sign up for your conferences at "Back to School Night" on 9/12/12, you have been assigned a conference day and time(s).  Conference schedules will be available on the "Parents Only" page of the school website on Friday, 9/21/12. Click here to access the secure login screen.

Paul Cryan Photography - will take Grade 8 individual student photos and the Grade 8 class photo on October 19th. Orlanda Doskos has volunteered to coordinate after school appointments for Paul Cryan Photography for other students.  Click here for more information.

Grade 8 Fundraising - There is still time to participate in the Flower Power bulb fundraiser. All orders are due NLT 9/28/12.  Click here.

Athletic News - It's time to sign up for basketball.  Click here for more information.

Home & School Association News 

HOPES Dinner - On Sunday, Sept. 23, our HOPES (Help Our Parish Elementary Schools) volunteers of the year were recognized by Archbishop Mansell.  This year, we honor Mrs. Tammy Budnick and Mrs. Andrea Wlochowski for their service.

2012 Hopes Recipients - Andrea Wlochowski (left) & Tammy Budnick

Tammy Budnick has been a member of the St. Mary’s School community since 2001 and both her children have attended St. Mary’s since pre-school.  Caleb is now in 7^th grade and Mary Elizabeth graduated last June and is now a freshman at Northwest Catholic High School.  Tammy has been involved in many committees and activities at St. Mary’s School.  Her effort and enthusiasm are evident as she helps organize many of our social activities such as Fall Festival, Family Luncheon, Family Dance and Grandparents’ Day.  She has served many school lunches, coordinated Box Tops contests, organized tables at the Auction and has been an invaluable part of the Home and School Executive Board.  Her countless hours of volunteering and dedication are a priceless gift to our school community.

Andrea Melanson-Wlochowski graduated from St. Mary’s School and now her three sons attend St. Mary’s – Brendan in 7^th grade, Declan in 5^th grade and Aidan in 4^th grade.  Andrea has been involved in many committees and activities at St. Mary’s School.  She served for six years on the School Board and three years as Board Chair.  She helps provide music at school and parish Masses and works with the parish Social Committee to help strengthen the bond between the school and parish.  She has been a member of the Auction Welcoming Committee, a carnival volunteer and has served many school lunches.  Her dedication and countless hours of volunteering have helped to make our school community stronger.

Fall Bookfair begins Wednesday, 10/10/12.   Set up is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 9 and the book fair officially opens on Wednesday, Oct.10.  If you can help, please contact Book Fair Volunteer Coordinator Karen McKenna KDSM1120@comcast.net or Book Fair Chair, Jennifer Pavlonnis jpavlonnis@yahoo.com.

We are excited to share the Ms. Christine Kornacki, SMS alumna and illustrator of the American Girl series featuring Marie-Grace and Cecile will join us for a book signing.  Ms. Kornacki will be signing copies of her latest illustrative work, The Sparkle Box.  The Sparkle Box will be available for purchase at the bookfair.

2013 AUCTION – It’s never too early to start planning for the Auction.  See the Auction link on the HSA web page for a letter regarding this year’s theme from the Auction chairs.  You can also find a pledge card, volunteer sign up sheet and information on Sign Up Parties there too.

Photos from the H.S.A. Fall Festival have been added to the Photo Gallery of the school's website.  Click here.

Used Uniforms - An updated spreadsheet of available items has been posted on the school's website.  Click here.


CHOICE News - DEITCH PROFIT PERCENTAGE CHANGE!  Unfortunately, Deitch Energy's profit percentage will be going down from 10% to 5%.  With this change, State Line, Viking and Deitch have a 5% profit margin, and Westside, TLC and Kasden have a 10% profit.  Please remember to include your account number with all oil orders.

News for the week of 9/19/12

NBC "Shout Out" aired bright and early Monday morning - Unfortunately, we were not given any details as to when our shout out would be aired after it was filmed on Friday. So, we are pleased to share it with you here on our blog.

View more videos at: http://nbcconnecticut.com.

SMS Directory 2012-2013 will be available beginning Friday, 9/21/12, on-line on the secure Parents Only page of the school website.  As is past years, both the "Parents Only" page and the school directory files are password protected.  The 2012-13 password will be sent home hard copy to each family with their youngest or only child on Friday, 9/21/12.  This password will be needed throughout the year to access the "Parents Only" page so please retain it in a safe place.  Click here to access the login screen.

Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held from Monday, November 12 - Thursday, November 15th.  Each of these days will be an early dismissal day at 12:45pm.  There will be no PreK Enrichment or Aftercare on conference days.  If you did not sign up for your conferences at "Back to School Night" on 9/12/12, you have been assigned a conference day and time(s).  Conference schedules will be available on the "Parents Only" page of the school website on Friday, 9/21/12.  Click here to access the secure login screen.


HOPES Dinner - On Sunday, 9/23, our HOPES (Help Our Parish Elementary Schools) volunteers of the year will be honored.  This year, we honor Mrs. Tammy Budnick and Mrs. Andrea Wlochowski for their service. We would also like to thank all our other volunteers for their continued service and the valuable time they share with us.

Paul Cryan Photography - will take Grade 8 individual student photos and the Grade 8 class photo on October 19th. Orlanda Doskos has volunteered to coordinate after school appointments for Paul Cryan Photography for other students.  Click here for more information.

Home & School Association News -

Thanks to everyone who helped make our Fall Festival a wonderful success last Friday night.  Events like Fall Festival celebrate who are we are as a community and bring us together.  We look forward to seeing you at coming events as well.

Communications Updates

It has been brought to our attention that when a new post is made to our school blog, the emails of this post are often not received until much later.  For example, a post made by the office at 2pm may not be received in your email inbox until 2am.  It has been explained to us that this delay has to do with the many Google servers that are working hard on our behalf to disseminate information from "the cloud".

We will continue to post our largest collection of news and reminders each week on Wednesday.  If there is a school event occurring on a Wednesday night, it will continue to be mentioned in the blog post just in case there is a speedy response from Google.  It remains likely, however, that you may not read this reminder until after the Wednesday event has passed.

For this reason, we'd like to recommend that you check in regularly with the school calendar.  It may be helpful to give the calendar a quick glance as each school week begins, just to see what's happening in our community as you start a new week.

You may access the calendar from the school blog by using the calendar tab that appears above the post or by going to our school website, www.stmarysschoolsimsbury.org, and clicking on the calendar tab on the left navigation bar of the homepage.

One last reminder that individual student photos of students in Prekindergarten, Kindergarten through grade 7 will be taken on Monday, 9/17/12.  Please click here for more information.

School Calendar Update & Reminders

Tomorrow night, H.S.A. is hosting the Fall Festival.
 This is a fabulous family evening and we hope many of you will join us. 

Monday, 9/17/12, is individual student picture day for students in Prekindergarten, Kindergarten through grade 7.  For more information, click here.

The location for the school board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, 9/18/12, has been moved from the lower church to the Grade 8 classroom. We remind you that everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend these meetings.

Are your mornings a mad dash?  Please keep in mind that safe, happy "before school care" is available.  Click here for more information and to learn more about after school care, click here.

Morning fun at "Before Care"

SMS Directory 2012-2013 will be published on-line on the secure Parents Only page of the school website once all Family Verification sheets have been returned and the school's databases have been updated.  For now, please be aware that the contact information for Dan and Darcy Melanson's family has changed since last spring.  Please use their new email address - themelansons6@gmail.com and new home phone 860-431-5077.  If you have not returned your Family Verification sheet yet, please do so as soon as possible so the directory can be published.

School Picture Day is coming next Monday, 9/17/12, for all students in grades Prekindergarten, Kindergarten through grade 7.  For more information and for information about Grade 8 individual student pictures on October 19th, click here.

Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held from Monday, November 12 - Thursday, November 15th.  Each of these days will be an early dismissal day at 12:45pm.  There will be no PreK Enrichment or Aftercare on conference days.  If you did not sign up for your conferences at "Back to School Night" on 9/12/12, you will be assigned conference days and times.  When the schedules have been prepared, they will be posted on the secure "parents only" page of our website.

Athletic News - Cross Country practice has been changed from 8:00am to 7:50am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have not signed up for C.C. and you are interested, please see Mr. Gangloff.

Soccer starts this Friday right after school and will meet in the Parish Center. Players will walk down to Meadow fields for practice and pick up is at Meadow field 5:00pm. 

Payments are due for fall sports NLT 9/21/12. Checks should be made payable to SMS booster club. Fall sports, with the exception of cross country, are $25 each. Cross country is $10 each. If you play all three fall sports, the third one is free. (Max of $50 per child and a max of $100 per family).


Home & School Association News -  The Fall Festival will be held this Friday beginning at 5:30pm in the north (playground) parking lot.  This is a fabulous family evening and we hope lots of you will join us.  Click here for more details.

Grade 8 Fundraising - Each year, the 8th grade class conducts a number of fundraisers to help defray costs associated with their field trip to New York City and graduation festivities.  Here are some ways you can help:

1.  Carwash - This Saturday, 9/15/12, from 9-noon in the North (playground) parking lot.

2.  Support the Flower Power Fundraiser to purchase the spring flowering bulbs that will give you a beautiful garden next fall.  Click here for more information.  All orders are due NLT 9/28/12.

3.  Hold those cartridges! - Printer cartridge recycling - Please be aware that right now, printer cartridges are not being recycled by the 8th grade.  Please do not bring used cartridges to school right now.  If the 8th grade finds a recycler that will accept cartridges, we will post an announcement.

Earn money for our school!  Again this year, we will participate in several programs that are easy ways to raise money and/or obtain free supplies for our school.  Please sign up to participate:

1.  BoxTops for Education - Click here for more information about this program and about the collection contest underway now until October 19th.

2.  Big Y Education Express -  Beginning 10/4, you can earn points for our school that will allow us to get free educational supplies.  Look for registration instructions soon.

3.  Stop & Shop A+ Rewards - Information about registering for this program, coming soon.

CHOICE PROGRAM

The CHOICE desk is open Monday, Tuesday, & Friday, 8:45-9:30am and Friday, 3:00-3:20pm.  Orders sent into school via kidmail will be filled on the next staffed CHOICE day.

Click here for a CHOICE order form for kidmail orders.

Click here for a list of special profit percentages from CHOICE vendors.

Land's End has announced a "Back to School" savings promotion from Friday, 9/14 through Tuesday, 9/18.  Click here.

"Back to School" Night for Parents is next Wednesday, 9/12/12.

St. Mary’s School

“Back to School Night” Agenda

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

6:00pm – Sign up for November Parent/Teacher conferences upon your arrival.  Meet with Mrs. Gannatti in the Parish Center to hear about our vision for the year, meet the Home and School Executive Board, and the members of our School Board. 

 Parents with students enrolled in grades K-5 only:

Classroom Visit Session 1 - 6:45 – 7:05pm – You are invited to meet teachers in their respective classrooms to hear highlights of the curriculum, teacher expectations, and have an opportunity to review the materials.  Parents of students in grade 2, please note:  Information and details pertaining to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion will be given at all three classroom visit sessions. 

Classroom Visit Session 2 - 7:15 – 7:35pm –Repeat of session – this is to accommodate parents with more than one child in grades K-5. 

Parents of students in grades 6, 7, & 8 – Spend a “day” in Middle School:

6:45 – 7:35pm – You are invited to meet teachers in their respective classrooms to hear highlights of the curriculum, teacher expectations, and have an opportunity to review the materials being used in each class.  You will follow your child’s schedule, beginning in their homeroom.  Each class will be 5 minutes with 3 minutes to change classes. 

This will be the only middle school session. 

Parents with students enrolled in the grades K-5 and the Middle School:

After completing your “day” in Middle School, attend Classroom Visit Session 3 -7:40 – 8:00 – This is the final repeat session to hear highlights of the grades K-5 curriculum, teacher expectations and to review the materials used in the classroom.

Parents of 8^th grade students are reminded that there will be a brief parent meeting at 8pm in the 8^th grade homeroom to discuss fundraising, field trips & graduation.

Hot Lunch & Other Reminders

The order period for hot lunches is open until Wednesday, September 19th.  To access the hot lunch order forms, click here.

We will attend our first school Mass tomorrow (Friday, 9/7/12) at 9:30am in the church.  Everyone is most welcome to join us.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.  If you child(ren) are scheduled to have gym tomorrow, please follow the teacher's directions regarding what, if any, PE garments should be brought to school.

Order forms for Lifetouch student photos for students in Prekindergarten - Gr. 7  will be sent home with each child tomorrow.  If you plan to order a photo package, please remember that the order should be brought to school on Monday, September 17th.  Please do not send the orders in prior to the scheduled picture day - 9/17/12.  For more information about student photos, please scroll down and read the blog post from 9/5/12.

News for the week of September 5, 2012

Our first school Mass will be on Friday, 9/7/12, at 9:30am in the Church.  Everyone is welcome to join us.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

iPad Update - We are happy to announce that our iPad "deployment phase" has been completed.  All students in grades K-8 have received their iPads and taken them for a "test ride".  Each and every student is to be commended for the care and respect they have shown for their new devices and for the patience and persistence they are demonstrating as they master this new tool.  Our entire community deserves a round of applause for bringing this ambitious project to fruition.  This project has truly "advanced our mission" by giving us a huge opportunity to "work in partnership".  The generous support shown by all of you at the H.S.A. auction gave life to this initiative and your continued support and trust have allowed it to grow.  Now, we begin to reap the harvest as we watch our students embrace mobile device technology and expand their learning horizons!

"Back to School Night" for Parents is next Wednesday, 9/12/12.  This is your opportunity to see your child(ten)'s new classroom(s), get acquainted with teachers and learn about the daily routine.  This evening is geared toward parents, so line up your babysitter!  Program begins at 6pm in the Parish Center.  An agenda will be posted soon.

Simsbury Residents - Important Bus Transportation Information -  Each year, there are several days when the Simsbury Public Schools either have an early closing or a day off for professional development or other reasons that are regular full school days for St. Mary's School.  When this happens, the afternoon buses are available to us sooner than usual and as a result, the buses load and depart SMS more quickly than usual.  This means that students may arrive home substantially sooner than usually expected (e.g., 10 to 20 minutes sooner).  Please make  note of these dates so that you will be home to greet your children or have made arrangements for them to have for safe care.  The dates this may occur for this school year are:

*  September 17
*  September 19
*  September 26
*  October 24
*  November 6
*  November 27-29
*  January 23
*  February 13
*  May 22

The school's master calendar has been updated to include reminders for these dates.

Individual Student Photos for Grades Prekindergarten, Kindergarten - 7 will be taken by Lifetouch Photography on Monday, September 17th.  All students in these grades will have their photo taken on this day for our yearbook but you do not have to order a photo package unless you would like one.  An order form from Lifetouch will be coming home with each student in the next several days.  Completed order forms and payment (if you are purchasing a photo package) should be brought to school on September 17th.  Please do not send the order forms to school before picture day on 9/17/12.  Students purchasing photo packages may wear school appropriate casual clothes to school on picture day.  All other students are to wear the correct uniform for the day.  Grade 8 individual photos will be taken by Paul Cryan Photography on October 19th.  At this time, there is no one coordinating after school appointments for Paul Cryan Photography so this photographer will only be available for grade 8 students.

Athletic News -  Field Hockey will begin on 9/5.  Practice is from 3:45-5:00pm at Meadow Field (if it is raining, practice will be in the parish center).  Cross Country will start 9/6, practice is at 8:00am and meets at the parish center.  Soccer will begin 9/14 from 3:45-5:00pm at Meadow Field. 


Home & School Association News - 


The first Home & School Association meeting for the 2012-13 school year is tonight at 7pm in the gr. 4 classroom.  Click here for an agenda.  Click here for access to the secure "Parents Only" web page for the most current financial summary.
The Fall Festival is coming!  Mark your calendars for an evening of family fun on Friday, September 14th.  Click here for more information.

Calling all cars! Calling all cars!!  - The 8th grade class is calling all cars to their CAR WASH!!  This event is the first of our 8th grade fundraisers to help offset expenses for the various activites throughout the year such as the Holy Family Retreat, High Meadows Catholic Schools event, etc.  Please show your support of our 8th graders and drive your car to the North Parking lot on Saturday, September 15th anytime from 8:00 am  to 1:00 pm and give your car the TLC is deserves!  Donations are $5.00 and can be purchased in advance or the day of the car wash. Email Chris Doskos (cmdoskos@comcast.net or Ray Mancarella (our3pumpkins@gmail.com)  for further details.