News for the week of 1-31-13

Can you believe that Catholic Schools' Month is almost over?  We hope you will join us in closing out this special month at Mass on Friday, 2-1-13, at 9am.  Since Mass begins at 9, please make every effort to have your children at school on time.  If you arrive at 8:55 or later, please escort your child(ren) directly to the church and meet Mrs. Gannatti in the rear of the church. Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

Students in Kindergarten & grade 1 will be receiving a bright yellow fleece scarf to celebrate National School Choice Week. SchoolChoiceWeek.com is a diverse and non-partisan group that encourages special events and activities to highlight the importance of school choice.  National School Choice Week believes that parents should be empowered to choose the best educational environments for their children and supports a variety of school choice options. The mission of SchoolChoiceWeek.com dovetails nicely with our own celebration of Catholic Schools' Month. Ten extra scarves will be raffled off at the end of the week.  Interested students should stop by the school office to fill out an entry slip.

February will be a busy month!  Please read on for important details.

Parent Meeting regarding Internet Safety - We  have arranged for Officer Dunne from the Simsbury Police Department to join us on Monday, February 4, 2013 at 7pm in the Parish Center to discuss internet safety.  Due to the importance of this topic and its direct impact on our children, we are asking that you consider attendance at this meeting a mandatory commitment for at least one parent/guardian from each family.  Middle school students are encouraged to attend as well.

March Parent/Teacher Conferences - Sign up for these conferences will be available at the Internet Safety Meeting.  March Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Monday, 3/18, Tuesday, 3/19, Thursday, 3/21 and Friday, 3/22.  School is closed on Wednesday, 3/20 for the annual Diocesan Faculty Retreat.  School will be dismissed at 12:45 on each of these days and there will be no Prekindergarten Enrichment or Aftercare. Unlike the Fall Parent/Teacher conferences, these conferences are not required for all students.  Conference times will be assigned to those families that signup for a conference slot.  If you do not sign up for a conference, none will be assigned to you.  If you do not sign up and your child's teacher feels a conference is necessary, he/she will contact you to arrange a conference day and time.  Parents with students in Mrs. Raymond's Honors Math & Algebra I classes, please be aware that Mrs. Raymond will be available for conferences in person at SMS on Monday (3/18) and Tuesday (3/19).  She is not available on Thursday, 3/21 and is only available during the first conference rotation on Friday, 3/22, from 1:30 2:20, via SKYPE.

Due to the snow day on 1-16-13 and the weather related cancellations on 1-23-13 and 1-30-13, Ski & Snowboard Club  will be extended three more weeks and will meet on 2-6-13, 2-13-13 and 2-27-13. February 20th is part of our winter vacation week, so the club will not meet on that date.

The Home & School Association Auction is only about 7 days away!  This event will be held on Saturday, 2-9-13, at 6pm at the beautiful Riverview in Simsbury. We are "Racing into the Future"!! Are you saddled up and ready to join us?

• Have you purchased your tickets? Click here for an invitation. Just fill it out and send it in to Tammy Budnick in the school office with your payment.  Checks should be made payable to St. Mary's H.S.A.  Please write "auction tickets" in your memo section.
• If you have been at St. Mary's for years, consider inviting a new family to sit at your table! If you are a new family, don't be shy!! Tammy Budnick will be happy to find the right table for you!
• We are encouraging everyone to dress in theme. So find a Derby hat and a bow tie and you will be all set. Shhh...there will be a prize for the "best" hat. Will it be the biggest, prettiest, most creative, smallest...
• Did you know that the proceeds from the auction are going toward a new playground? 

Here are just a few items we have for bidding on:

Your Valentine's Day plans will be set if you bid on the Rose & Champagne Sleigh Ride for 2

Foursome of Golf

Spa day

Kate Spade Bag

"Stars Above" Quilt dedicated to Sandy Hook

Saige, The 2013 Girl of the Year from American Girl

Vera Bradley

Alex and Ani

and so much more!!!

Here is our night's agenda:

6:00pm – 7:30pm	Check In, Cocktail Hour, Photo Op, Silent Auction Open
6:00pm – 8:20pm	Race Betting and Raffle Sales
7:30pm – 9:00pm	Dinner Stations Open
8:00pm	First Silent Auction Close
8:15pm	Second Silent Auction Close
8:20pm	Race Betting and Raffles Close
8:30pm – 9:00pm	Horse Races
9:00pm	Raise Your Paddle
9:00pm - 10:00pm	Live Auction
10:15pm – 11:00pm	Check out

St. Mary's School 2012-2013 Yearbook is available for pre-order sales only! Our children are having an amazing year with wonderful memories being made each day.  This is your chance to help keep those memories alive for years to come.  The 2012-13 yearbook will include photos of every student from Pre-K through the 8th grade. This is a great way for you and your child to celebrate the happy times & momentous occasions that occurred through out the year, from little shepherds and angels, to Shakespearean drama plus much more!  The yearbook must be ordered in advance and costs only $28.00. Orders will be accepted until March 28th. If you place your order by February 28th, your name will be entered into a drawing for an SMS Butter Braid, Cookie dough, and Munson's Chocolate Easter Basket, donated by the class of 2013!  You can place a credit card order on line today on Lifetouch's secure website at http://ybpay.lifetouch.com.  Just enter our school code 9415313 and follow the simple instructions.  If you prefer cash or check, please click here for an order form. 

Grade 8 Fundraising - It's that yummy time again! It's time to order your Butter Braids & Munson's Chocolates! Order forms will be sent home this Friday with your youngest or only child.  All orders must be submitted NLT 2/15/13.  Butter Braids and Munson's Chocolates must be paid for separately (i.e., one check for your Butter Braids, one check for your Munson's chocolates)  Checks should be made payable to St. Mary's 8th Grade.  Mark your memo section either "Butter Braids" or "Munson's Chocolates".  Orders will be available for pickup on March 13th.  Pickup times will be announced soon.  Thanks in advance for your support.  Questions should be directed to Grace Petrarca at 860-601-8487 or gshp@aol.com. 

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 13th. We will attend the 12:15pm Parish Mass. Please remember that no Physical Education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

Our School Mass schedule for the remainder of the school year is as follows:

Friday, March 1

Friday, April  5
Friday, May 3
Friday, June 7 - Join us at Mass at 10am as we celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2013 and bless them on their way!

All Masses are at 9am unless otherwise noted.

Home & School Association News -

HSA is looking for a few people to join the Nominating Committee to help fill positions on next year's HSA Executive Board. If you are interested in learning more about either the Nominating Committee or the positions on the Executive Board, please contact Jude Zanelli-Krocheskijudez.krocheski@att.net or Susan Glazier susan.glazier@comcast.net. 

Box Tops For Education – Have you sent in any Box Tops lately? Don’t forget to keep clipping. The next contest deadline is Friday, February 15^th. The class with the most Box Tops will win the privilege of enjoying extra recess time with their classmates. Additionally, the winning class's teacher will receive a gift certificate to purchase something for their classroom. Please mark your envelope "Box Tops Grade ____." Contact Amy Lillis at amylillis73@gmail.com with any questions.

In just the blink of an eye, it will be time for our February vacation from Monday, 2-18-13 through Friday, 2-22-13!

The Kindergarten Class celebrated the last week of Catholic Schools' Month in a unique way...they made apple pie! Not just any apple pie...Mrs. Hatch came in to help the students discover the world by using Google Earth on their iPads to gather the ingredients for apple pie. Their journey around the world was guided by the book, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, After their "virtual trip", the baking began! The apple pies were sent home with the children as a thank you gift to their parents for sending them to Saint Mary's School.  Special thanks to the parents who came in to help our young bakers, to Mrs. Williams for baking all the pies and to Mrs. Tomasello for making everyone an apron so uniforms stayed tidy & clean!  To see even more photos, click here.