News for the Week of 6/7/17

Congratulations to the SMS Class of 2017!

"for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul" Proverbs 2:10

Calendar Reminders

Kick off Summer with an Annual Tradition - The St. Mary's Carnival!

Carnival Opens TONIGHT!  Wednesday, June 7th!

34 Hopmeadow St
(Same Location as 2016) 

This year the carnival runs from June 7-10th.  Click here for more information and to learn how you can help.  Our school receives substantial financial assistance from carnival proceeds so this is a great community activity to support as a volunteer and as an attendee!

Carnival Hours
Wednesday (June 7)    6-10 pm
Thursday (June 8)       6-10 pm 
Friday (June 9)          6-10 pm
Saturday (June 10)    5-10 pm

Ride all night!
$20/person Wednesday & Thursday
$25/person Friday and Saturday
(Individual ride tickets also available)


Raffle Tickets $20 each
Click here for Raffle information
Must be 18 years or older to purchase raffle tickets. 

Kindergarten invites everyone to an End of Year Prayer Service on Tuesday, 6/13 at 9am in the church.  Students should wear their relaxed uniform to school.  Students in Kindergarten - grade 4 should follow the teacher's directive regarding clothing items to bring for field day activities in the afternoon. Please join us in giving thanks for a wonderful school year and in hopeful anticipation of a restful, enjoyable summer.

Field Day for grades K-4 will be held in the afternoon on Tuesday, 6/13.  

Last Day of School - Thursday, June 15th will be our last day of school.  This will be a 12:45pm early dismissal with NO PreK Enrichment or Aftercare available.

School will reopen on Wednesday, August 30.  This will be a full day of school with both PreK Enrichment and Aftercare available.  "Meet & Greet" for younger students and "Morning in Middle School" for grade 6 and students new to grades 7 and 8 will be on Tuesday, August 29th.  Additional details will be published as soon as times are finalized.

Hot Lunch Help Needed!  We are down to our last few hot lunches for this school year.  One additional volunteer is still needed on Monday, June 12.  If you are Virtus trained and can help, please contact the school office or use the Sign Up Genius to sign up - click here.

Home & School News - We are excited to announce that our renewed & re-energized Home & School Association is on it's way for the new school year.  All we need is your talent & energy.  There will be a meeting on Tuesday, June 20th at 7pm in the Library Portable.  If you are interested in serving as an HSA officer, chairing an event or working on a committee, please join us.  An RSVP to Mrs. Williamson is appreciated.

A reminder from the health office:
Thank you for a wonderful school year!
Please remember to pick up any medications that have been kept in the health office this year. Our school nurse will be in 8:30-1:30 on the last day of school, please stop in to pick up your student's medications. Medications cannot be sent home with students.

Reminder to Smart Tuition Account Holders who make payments via invoice: as you begin making payments in June on your 2017-2018 Smart Tuition account, please remember to change the school year in your account number from 16 to 17. Account numbers are broken down as follows: 02300 is the school code; 17 refers to the school year; and the last six digits reflect your individual family’s account. If you continue making payments using the 16 school year, they will apply to your 2016-17 account, generating an overpayment status. Your 2017-18 account will then appear delinquent, causing $50 late fees to accrue each month the payments are missing. If you have any questions about this, please call Smart Tuition’s Parent help center at 1-888-868-8828.

Please note that this change occurs automatically for families who have Smart Tuition draw their payments from checking, savings, or credit card accounts.

Yearbooks have been distributed to those that ordered - There are a very limited number of yearbooks available "first come, first served" in the school office.  These yearbooks may be purchased for $28.  Checks should be made payable to St. Mary's School.  The SMS Yearbook is a great momento that features a photo of every student, club photos and candids from all our school year activities. 

PreK & 8th grade buddies enjoyed their last project together.  They painted
rocks that will become part of a beautiful community garden project.

iPad News - 

Students in Kindergarten - Gr. 7 will turn in their iPads (and chargers, if applicable) on Tuesday, June 13th.  

All iPads should be turned in "as is" - devices should not be reset.  iPads will be inspected for physical damage.  If there is any visible physical damage, you will be billed $40.  As you know, we are going to be replacing all of our school owned iPads.  Our current inventory of devices is being turned into a "buy back" company.  This company will be paying us $60 for a device in "good" condition and $20 for a device in "busted" condition.  We are requesting the $40 for damaged devices to recoup the loss we will incur on "buyback" rather than requesting the $50 repair fee that would normally be charged.

Next year, all students in grades K-8 will receive a brand new 32GB iPad with a school owned case.  These iPads will be Apple's most currently released version of the standard size iPad.  We are excited about new capabilities that will be available to use using the JAMF Device Management System and to introduce coding as part of our continuing effort to meaningfully integrate technology in our curriculum.

Summer Office Hours - Beginning the week of 6/19/17,  the school office will be on "summer hours".  The office will be routinely staffed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9am-1pm and by appointment as needed.  Both email and phone messages will be checked regularly.

Summer CHOICE Sales - CHOICE cards will be available for sale on Wednesdays in the school office between 9am-1pm.

Getting Ready for a New School Year - Again this summer, the school blog has a "Back to School" Page.  This page should be available the week of 6/19/17.  There will be Summer Blog Posts as needed. 

Finally, be sure to be on the look out for your "Back to School Mailing" in August.  Again this year, this "mailing" will be sent to you electronically at the email you have designated as your primary family email address.  If you are not sure that the email address we currently have on file for your family is the "best one to use", please send the email you want used to smsoffice@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.  Put "Back to School Mailing email"in your subject line and we will be sure to update our school database(s).

BoxTops for Education - Just a reminder that you may send in any box tops that you may have at home before the end of the school year. Please also keep collecting over the summer so we have a good amount to send in at the fall submission time.

Ahren L., Grade 3,  was Mrs. Williamson's
"Principal Shadow" last week.
"Principal Shadow" was one of the prizes auctioned
at the 60th Anniversary Gala.
One of the activities Ahren helped with was morning arrival.

Alumni News -  It's the time of year that brings lots of wonderful news about alumni accomplishments!  Our congratulations to all.

Claire Keating, SMS Class of '09, was one of 653 graduates to receive a degree during Assumption College's 100th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 14.

Madeline Mancarella, SMS Class of '11, earned two awards in the Western New England University 15th annual Student Media Festival. Her TV Report, titled Dining Commons, took Third Place in the TV Report category and Verbal Abuse, her PSA/TV Commercial entry, won Second Place in the PSA/TV category. Madeline is a Communication major at the University concentrating on Media Theory and Production.

Community News

The St. Mary's Picnic Planning Committee invites St. Mary School families to join us on Monday, June 12 at 7 PM in the lower church for our next planning meeting for the parish/school picnic being held on Sunday, Sept. 17, 3-5 PM. Your ideas and insights are needed in helping plan the best picnic ever to celebrate our parish community.  Looking forward to seeing you on June 12!

Simsbury Public Library - Click here to learn more about the library's Summer Reading Program and to register.  The library is also offering many programs in June.