News for the Week of 3/31/21

 

Important Calendar Change! TOMORROW - Holy Thursday, 4/1/21, will be a remote learning day with all students learning from home. It will be a half day of remote instruction. All students will bring home their iPads on Wednesday, 3/31/21 and teachers will provide instructional guidance &/or materials for the morning.

School will be closed on Good Friday, 4/2/21 and Easter Monday, 4/5/21. Please be sure iPads are returned to school on Tuesday, 4/6/21.

Our April School Mass will be held on Tuesday, 4/6/21. We will continue to have some students attend Mass in the Church while the remainder attend via livestream. Parents are requested to continue to refrain from attendance at Mass at this time.

Tuition Assistance Application Deadline for 21-22 is Wednesday, 4/7/21- Again this year, all requests for tuition assistance from any of the available sources other than FACS must be made via SMARTAID.   Click here to view the types of tuition assistance available. Click here to access all the instructions needed to complete the SMARTAID application. All SMARTAID applications must be completed NLT Wednesday, April 7, 2021.  Families will received information regarding their tuition assistance package in early May.

School will be closed for Spring Vacation from Monday, 4/12/21 through Friday, 4/16/21.

Over both the Easter holiday and the Spring vacation, we ask that all families remain attuned to and adhere to the health and safety guidelines surrounding travel and gatherings. Below is the most current information from our health office based on the guidance being provided by the state of Connecticut and the Farmington Valley Health Department -

Connecticut's COVID-19 recommended guidance is that if you have traveled out of state (except NY, NJ, or RI) it is suggested you quarantine for 10 days, which can be reduced with proof of a negative test (PCR or Rapid) taken no more than 72 hours before returning to CT or at any time after that. 

Please continue to carefully consider out of state travel and avoid potentially high risk situations in which you could be exposed to COVID 19.  Continue to wear a face mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands.  If anyone in your family becomes ill, have them tested for COVID 19.  It is important to keep all members of your family home until you get the test results back.

Wishing a Happy Easter to our Eno friends!

Our community outreach efforts continued today with the

delivery of beautiful handmade Easter cards from our

students for our friends at the Eno Senior Center.

It is time for health screenings!

Vision and Hearing grades K, 1, 3, 5

Posture girls in grades 5 and 7

Posture boys in grade 8

The most common problems that can be detected and for which early intervention can be successful are vision and hearing. Connecticut statutes and regulations mandate screening in these important areas as well as postural screenings.  Our school nurse, Kim Tyrrell, RN, will conduct the vision, hearing and postural screenings. If any irregularities are found, a note will be sent home asking you to follow up with your physician. If you do not want your child to be screened for any of the above, please make a request in writing by Tuesday, April 6th.

Relaxed uniforms will begin on Monday, 4/19/21. Click here to review our uniform guidelines and for information about our Used Uniform Exchange. If shopping for new uniforms from Lands' End, don't forget to use CHOICE cards to defray your family's CHOICE obligation and to order using our school code - 900132150 to assure that your selections are the correct style/color/pattern for our school. As we transition to relaxed uniforms, please remember that school shoes are still required unless it is a gym day and that belts are required with walking shorts.

Calendar Change for our new school year - In response to a change announced by the Simsbury Public Schools, we have adjusted our start date for the 21-22 school year.  School will begin on Wednesday, September 1 instead of August 25 as previously announced.  Please make a note of this.  We hope everyone will enjoy a few extra days of summer!

CHOICE News -CHOICE obligations for the 2020-2021 school year are due on April 30, 2021.  There’s still time to earn towards your balance by purchasing gift cards in the school office, online at www.shopwithscrip.com or using the RaiseRight app. If you have any questions regarding your CHOICE contributions, please email tprausa@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

SMS Stars -

Congratulations to Nick G. and Andrew M. (both Gr. 8) and the rest of the Simsbury Bantam A hockey team on their win at the Tier 2 U14 State Tournament. Their victory came after a hard fought game that went into overtime!

Congratulations to our Robotics Team on a fine season! Our team worked in pairs to solve certain problems with programs in the Archdiocese of Hartford Virtual Robotics Competition. The problems were very challenging and everyone did well. Special recognition goes to Evan P. and Andy G., both Gr. 5, for their second place finish in the Elementary Division.  Many thanks to our Robotics Team Coaches:  Mrs. Raymond, Mr. Prausa and Mr. Gaul.

Congratulations to our Mock Trial Team on the completion of their first year of competition. The students worked extremely hard preparing their testimony, questions and even their objections! Their coach, Ms. Bernabo, was thrilled at how they did and how much they have learned through this experience. Our students received excellent comments from the judges and also received recognition as best attorney/best witness in their trials. Thank you to all and especially Ms. Bernabo! 

Alumni News

Congratulations to Avery Hatch - SMS Class of ‘12, NWC Class of ‘16 - Avery has accepted a generously funded offer to pursue her doctorate in environmental engineering from the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder beginning in fall 2021. Having graduated magna cum laude from Elon University in May 2020, Avery spent the last year working in the clinical laboratory testing setting, working with high priority Sars Cov-2 tests, as well as routine medical laboratory tests. Her next academic adventure will build upon a strong foundation of interdisciplinary STEM research conducted at her undergraduate institution, with her thesis work focusing on investigating the physical and chemical behaviors of nanoscale aerosols both indoors and outdoors. This work will continue to inform the scientific, political, and layperson communities on the safe design and use of consumer products. Avery’s ultimate goal is to take the skills honed in her doctorate program to the risk assessment field, potentially working in the federal lab setting with an agency like the EPA.

Community News - 

Living Stations of the Cross  - Our beautiful 8th grade tradition of the Living Stations was held on 3/25 and is available for viewing on the parish website for the coming month.

Holy Week at St. Mary's - Click here to view the Holy Week schedule for St. Mary's Church.  Please note that there is a Sign Up Genius for those planning to attend Easter Mass in person. 

News for the week of 3/25/21

 

Final Day to Submit FACS Scholarship Applications is TOMORROW,  Friday, March 26, 2021- In addition to the tuition assistance resources available from our school, scholarships are available for the 21-22 school year from the Foundation for the Advancement of Catholic Schools (FACS).  Click here for the guidelines and application form.  It is extremely important that Mrs. Williamson has your completed form and  required financial information by TOMORROW -Friday, March 26, 2021 so that she may certify and submit your applications by the deadline.

Final Days for Yearbook Orders!  Don't miss a minute of memories!  The SMS yearbook contains a photo of every student along with candid photos from all major school events.  Yearbooks are $35 each and may be ordered online - Click here.  Our yearbook ID code is 9415321.  Please note that the order deadline is TOMORROW - March 26, 2021 and that all yearbooks must be preordered. 

Join us for a Virtual Lunch & Learn Knights United Meeting on Tuesday, March 30th at 12 noon. 

Learn more about our upcoming 3rd Annual SMS Superhero Challenge Scavenger Hunt taking place Saturday, May 1st & Sunday, May 2nd. As our largest fundraiser of the year, we need your superpowers to make it super fun and super successful!   Look for the Zoom link in an all school email soon! 

Looking Ahead to April -

Important Calendar Change! Holy Thursday, 4/1/21, will be a remote learning day with all students learning from home. It will be a half day of remote instruction. All students will bring home their iPads on Thursday, 3/31/21 and teachers will provide instructional guidance &/or materials for the morning.

School will be closed on Good Friday, 4/2/21 and Easter Monday, 4/5/21. Please be sure iPads are returned to school on Tuesday, 4/6/21.

Our April School Mass will be held on Tuesday, 4/6/21. We will continue to have some students attend Mass in the Church while the remainder attend via livestream. Parents are requested to continue to refrain from attendance at Mass at this time.

Tuition Assistance Application Deadline for 21-22 is Wednesday, 4/7/21- Again this year, all requests for tuition assistance from any of the available sources other than FACS must be made via SMARTAID.   Click here to view the types of tuition assistance available. Click here to access all the instructions needed to complete the SMARTAID application. All SMARTAID applications must be completed NLT Wednesday, April 7, 2021.  Families will received information regarding their tuition assistance package in early May.

School will be closed for Spring Vacation from Monday, 4/12/21 through Friday, 4/16/21.

Over both the Easter holiday and the Spring vacation, we ask that all families remain attuned to and adhere to the health and safety guidelines surrounding travel and gatherings. Below is the most current information from our health office based on the guidance being provided by the state of Connecticut and the Farmington Valley Health Department -

Connecticut's COVID-19 recommended guidance is that if you have traveled out of state (except NY, NJ, or RI) it is suggested you quarantine for 10 days, which can be reduced with proof of a negative test (PCR or Rapid) taken no more than 72 hours before returning to CT or at any time after that. 

Please continue to carefully consider out of state travel and avoid potentially high risk situations in which you could be exposed to COVID 19.  Continue to wear a face mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands.  If anyone in your family becomes ill, have them tested for COVID 19.  It is important to keep all members of your family home until you get the test results back.

Relaxed uniforms will begin on Monday, 4/19/21. Click here to review our uniform guidelines and for information about our Used Uniform Exchange. If shopping for new uniforms from Lands' End, don't forget to use CHOICE cards to defray your family's CHOICE obligation and to order using our school code - 900132150 to assure that your selections are the correct style/color/pattern for our school. As we transition to relaxed uniforms, please remember that school shoes are still required unless it is a gym day and that belts are required with walking shorts.

Calendar Change for our new school year - In response to a change announced by the Simsbury Public Schools, we have adjusted our start date for the 21-22 school year.  School will begin on Wednesday, September 1 instead of August 25 as previously announced.  Please make a note of this.  We hope everyone will enjoy a few extra days of summer!

SMS Stars - The St. Mary's Robotics team (Julie G, Evan P, Andy G, Ethan Z, John R, Abbie G, Charlie G, Ahren L, Ben Z, Larry G, and Joseph R) looked a little different this year.  Rather than building robots, everything was conducted virtually and was coding based.  They ended the season with an internal competition to determine who would move on to the Archdiocesan tournament.  

Congratulations to the St. Mary's competition winners: Evan P & Andy G; Julie G,  Abbie G, & Charlie G; Larry G & Joseph R.  Thank you to all our participants and best wishes to our teams moving on.  The Archdiocese tournament will be broadcast live on Saturday morning at 10 am.  A link will be provided soon.

Special thanks to our Faculty Moderator for Robotics - Mrs. Gina Raymond and our other team facilitators - Mr. Jeff Prausa and Mr. Michael Gaul.

CHOICE News -CHOICE obligations for the 2020-2021 school year are due on April 30, 2021.  There’s still time to earn towards your balance by purchasing gift cards in the school office, online at www.shopwithscrip.com or using the RaiseRight app. If you have any questions regarding your CHOICE contributions, please email tprausa@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

Community News - 

Living Stations of the Cross  - Our beautiful 8th grade tradition of the Living Stations was held on today (3/25) at 2pm in the church and was available via livestream.  If you were not able to view them today, the Stations have been recorded and will be available for viewing on the parish website for the coming month.

The Archdiocese of Hartford has published their schedule of Holy week services.  Some of the liturgies will be on television, and all will be streaming on the Archdiocese of Hartford Facebook page.

Holy Week at St. Mary's - Click here to view the Holy Week schedule for St. Mary's Church.  Please note that there is a Sign Up Genius for those planning to attend Easter Mass in person. 

Gregory M., Gr. 7, has participated in a virtual adaptation of Peter Pan with the Goshen Players, a local community-based theatre. He plays Tootles in this satire version which is filled with modern day comedy.  This is a production for all ages to enjoy! It is available on demand through the end of the month, 3/31/21 and is FREE!  To watch, click here to access the Goshen Players site, then click rent video, include your name and email address, and you will be sent a separate email where you just click "watch stream." 

There's still time to stock up on some fun & adorable growing gifts for Spring.  Order select products and SMS will earn 35% of your order. Fundraiser ends March 31st. Order now to increase your household cuteness (or for some cute spring gifts!) and support SMS!

Click here to see all these amazing plant growing products. 

News for the Week of 3/17/21

 

Students in Mrs. Phillip's first grade used all their imaginative and creative skills to build leprechaun traps to see if they could catch the wily SMS leprechaun who causes some playful mischief every year on St. Patrick's Day.   It was a close call, but again this year, he was able to play his silly tricks and avoid those clever traps!

As you can see, there was a confirmed sighting of our resident leprechaun today!  After a brief stop in the school office, barely long enough to snap a photo, he sprinted off and was observed running past the PreK patio tossing gold coins and dashing through the playground lot at magical speed!

School Board Meeting  - The School Board will meet via Zoom on tonight -  Wednesday, 3/17/21, at 7pm.  All are welcome to attend.  Mrs. Williamson has sent out a meeting invitation via email.   Are you interested in serving on the St. Mary's School Board? If so, please contact Mrs. Williamson to learn more about the Board, its role and its various committees and how you can help make SMS be the best school it can be!

Celebrating St. Joseph's Day on Friday, 3/19/21

As you can see in the photo from Mrs. Gore's 5th grade, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day today with green shirts and accessories with PE uniform bottoms.  All students are invited to celebrate St. Joseph's day on Friday, 3/19, by wearing a red, school appropriate shirt and/or red accessories.

On Monday, 3/22/21, students may wear crazy socks in support of World Down Syndrome Day with the "uniform of the day". 

School will be closed on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.

It's Time to Complete Your Enrollment for 21-22!

Your response is due NLT this Friday, 3/19/21.

Family Enrollment Packets were sent out via email  Friday, February 26th.  Those planning to re-enroll are requested to return the signed Family Enrollment Agreement, the $250 Family Enrollment Fee and next year's iPad Coverage Agreement and $50 fee NLT this Friday, March 19th.  This year, given current health and safety guidelines, we must firmly adhere to the return dates specified in order to plan for seating for next year.  Failure to return your signed Family Enrollment Agreement and Fee by 3/19/21, will indicate that your family is not planning to return to SMS for the 21-22 school year and that your child(ren)'s seat(s) are available to another applicant(s). Families that may have special circumstances affecting their ability to re-enroll by the requested date should contact Mrs. Williamson.  Many thanks to all those that have returned their Family Enrollment Forms & Fees.  

Tuition Assistance - Again this year, all requests for tuition assistance from any of the available sources must be made via SMARTAID.   Click here to view the types of tuition assistance available. Click here to access all the instructions needed to complete the SMARTAID application. All SMARTAID applications must be completed NLT Wednesday, April 7, 2021.  Families will received information regarding their tuition assistance package in early May.

FACS - We are pleased to share that there is also an opportunity to apply for scholarships through the Foundation for the Advancement of Catholic Schools (FACS).  Click here for the guidelines and application form.  It is extremely important that you send Mrs. Williamson the completed form and the required financial information by Friday, March 26, 2021 so that she may certify and submit your applications by the deadline.

It's Time to Order Your Yearbooks!  Don't miss a minute of memories!  The SMS yearbook contains a photo of every student along with candid photos from all major school events.  Yearbooks are $35 each and may be ordered online - Click here.  Our yearbook ID code is 9415321.  Please note that the order deadline is March 26, 2021 and that all yearbooks must be preordered. 

Looking Ahead to April -

School will be dismissed early at 12:45pm on Holy Thursday, 4/1/21. There will be no Aftercare.

School will be closed on Good Friday, 4/2/21 and Easter Monday, 4/5/21.

Our April School Mass will be held on Tuesday, 4/6/21. We will continue to have some students attend Mass in the Church while the remainder attend via livestream. Parents are requested to continue to refrain from attendance at Mass at this time.

School will be closed for Spring Vacation from Monday, 4/12/21 through Friday, 4/16/21. We ask that all families remain attuned to and adhere to the health and safety guidelines surrounding travel and gatherings. Here is the most current recommendation from our health office based on the guidance being provided by the state of Connecticut and the Farmington Valley Health Department -

Connecticut's COVID-19 travel advisory will become recommended guidance on March 19, instead of a requirement.  If you have traveled out of state (except NY, NJ, or RI) it is suggested you quarantine for 10 days, which can be reduced with proof of a negative test (PCR or Rapid) taken no more than 72 hours before returning to CT or at any time after that. 

Please continue to carefully consider out of state travel and avoid potentially high risk situations in which you could be exposed to COVID 19.  Continue to wear a face mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands.  If anyone in your family becomes ill, have them tested for COVID 19.  It is important to keep all members of your family home until you get the test results back.

Relaxed uniforms will begin on Monday, 4/19/21. Click here to review our uniform guidelines and for information about our Used Uniform Exchange. Lands' End is offering 30% off beginning on March 18. When shopping for uniforms, please be sure to use our Lands' End School Code to be sure your selections are part of our school uniform code. Our school code is 900132150. Additionally, keep in mind that using gift cards purchased from the CHOICE program will help defray your family's CHOICE commitment.

St. Mary's School has partnered with Noted to offer some fun & adorable growing gifts for Spring.  Order select products and SMS will earn 35% of your order. Fundraiser ends March 31st. Order now to increase your household cuteness (or for some cute spring gifts!) and support SMS!

Click here to see all these amazing plant growing products. 

SMS Stars - We are proud to announce that the St. Mary's Middle School Mock Trial Team prevailed in both of their virtual trials in Round 1 of the Connecticut Middle School Mock Trial Tournament.  This year's case, Drew Gardener v. Taylor James, is a civil case involving trespass and conversion.  Congratulations to this year's team and we are wishing the team all the best in Round 2 scheduled for March 26th.  This year's Mock Trial Team members & roles are: 

Attorney: Sara O., & Elizabeth H., Gr. 8; Joseph R. & Ahren L., Gr. 7; and Anthony K. & Greta F., Gr. 6

Witnesses:  Grace C. & Madeline P. (2 roles), Gr. 8; Anne K. & Ben Z., Gr. 7 and Simeon B., Gr. 6

 Back up Witnesses:  Devin B., Gr. 7 and Noah T., Gr. 5

 Bailiff:  Mitchell P., Gr. 5

Our thanks to our Mock Trial Team Coach, Nicole Bernabo, for her time and dedication mentoring our team and helping them prepare for their tournament.  

Pictured are some team members during their recent tournament.

We'd also like to congratulate Brendan K, Kindergarten.  Brendan participated in our recent after school Karate clinic sponsored by Villari's and at the closing ceremony for the clinic was named "Best Student".  Thanks to our Physical Education teacher, Mrs. Williams, for arranging for the Karate Clinic along with the workshops in Hip Hop Dance.