News for the Week of 12/13/17

Calendar Reminder - Friday, 12/22/17, is a 12:45pm early dismissal.  There will be no PreK Enrichment or Aftercare.  School is closed for Christmas break from Monday, 12/25/17 - Monday, 1/1/18.  School reopens for full, regular day of school on Tuesday, 1/2/18.

Hot Lunch Order Period for January - The order period for January hot lunch is OPEN through the close of the school day on Friday, 12/15/17.  This open order period is your only opportunity to order hot lunches for January. Please keep in mind that no late orders can be accepted.

NEW LUNCH SELECTION OPTION - As you complete your lunch order, you will notice that on January 17th, we will be offering grilled cheese and chicken noodle or tomato soup. If you decide to order this lunch, you will be prompted to choose which soup you would like. You will also now be able to choose an extra grilled cheese sandwich for $2.

Hot Lunch Volunteers Are Needed!  Our hot lunch program depends on the time generously donated by volunteers to serve and clean up.  We hope that if you are Virtus trained you will consider volunteering for hot lunch duty.  We are happy to train new volunteers and always happy to welcome back friends that have volunteered in the past.  Serving hot lunch is a great way to share in your child(ren)'s school day.  Click here to access the Sign Up Genius.

LAST CALL FOR TOY DONATIONS!

Again this year, we will be accepting donations for Toys for Tots.  New, unwrapped toys may be brought to school until Friday, 12/15/17.  Thanks in advance for making the Christmas season bright for children in need.

Students are busy practicing for Lessons & Carols.  Above, Mrs. Keany's second
grade class prepares.

Our annual Christmas prayer service, Lessons & Carols, will take place on Monday, December 18th in the church.  There will be a 10am dress rehearsal.  This is a perfect opportunity to take photos.  The prayer service will begin at 7pm. Church doors will open at 6:30pm.  All students in grades Kindergarten - grade 8 actively participate in this prayer service and attendance is expected.  If your child(ren) will not be able to attend, please contact Mrs. Williamson.  Please remember that if your child is absent from school on Monday, December 18th, they may not participate in the evening prayer service as noted in our Parent/Student Handbook.

GUIDELINES FOR DRESS & STUDENT ARRIVAL FOR LESSONS & CAROLS -

All students except Kindergarten and 8th grade wear their full, formal uniform (NO sweatshirts or sweaters).

Kindergarten & 8th grade students have received dress guidelines from their teachers.  Summary of dress guidelines:  Grade 8 students should wear khaki skort or shorts and plain white or light gray t-shirts with plain, white socks. Kindergarten students should wear uniform white, short sleeve polo shirt and PE shorts with plain, white socks.

Grades 1-7 should meet their teachers in the pews of the church at 6:45pm.

Grade 8 should report to the lower church at 6:30pm.

Kindergarten should report to the lower church at 6:30pm.

The snow date for Lessons & Carols is Tuesday, 12/19.

Campus Connection Update - At the end of last week, Mrs. Williamson shared an important Campus Connection Update via an all family email.  If you missed that email, click here to read the update.

Lifetouch Group Class Photos - Group class photos of students in grades PreK, K-7 taken by Lifetouch Photography will be sent home on Friday, 12/15.  Please be sure to check backpacks.

SMS CHOICE - Time is running out to get your gift cards for Christmas giving!  We can no longer guarantee Christmas arrival for special order cards but the school's CHOICE box still has lots of great selections to area grocery stores and stores including Kohls, Barnes & Noble, and Dicks along with restaurants like the Max Group and Chilis and favorite stocking stuffers like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.  Click here for an order form that can be sent in via kidmail.

Yankee Candle Fundraiser - Orders Accepted until 1/11/18. Your voluntary participation in this Yankee Candle Fundraiser will help us defray the costs associated with a new recorder program for our third grade and the purchase of replacement music stands for our school band. Your order will ship direct to your address!  No school pick up or sorting! How convenient is that?  It's too late for guaranteed holiday delivery but orders may be placed until 1/11/18.  All orders must be placed on-line.  Click here to start shopping!  Please feel free to share this link with friends or family that might like to support our school.  Please note - when checking out, no need to fill out a Seller ID, our group number will be prefilled and that is sufficient. (If, for some reason, you land on a "general" page, please use our group number - 999977285)

Looking for a Gift that Keeps on Giving?  Your donation to the SMS Support the Mission annual campaign is always a perfect fit and helps us continue to give the gift of a rich, faith-filled, academically challenging Catholic education to the children of the Farmington Valley. Click here to make your donation.

Pulling out all of your favorite recipes for the holidays? Snap a quick picture to submit to our Community Cookbook!  Here's one from Mrs. Hatch's kitchen - we'd love to feature one of your family's favorites next week.

Recipes can be emailed as a photo attachment, typed into a submission form or handwritten on a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.  Click here for the link to the recipe form. All  recipes can be emailed to tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net or dropped off in the office.  

*Recipes need to be submitted no later than January 6th. Our plan and goal is to have the cookbook available for sale late February and feature it at our Annual Art Show on February 23rd.  We are hungry just thinking about it!  Thank you in advance for your participation.

SMS Stars

The Girls Varsity Basketball Team won two games on Sunday night,
lifting their league record to 3-0 and their overall record to 5-0.

Classroom Heros! Students in Mrs. Keany's second grade researched an American hero, typed up their findings on their iPads using the Notability app, created an interactive book about their hero using the Book Creator app, and made a cut out of their hero. Parents were invited to their "Living Museum", put a ticket in a cup and pushed a "button" on the floor to make my "artifacts"- hero characters- come to life and told facts about their hero!