News for the Week of February 13

School will be closed Monday, 2/18 - Friday, 2/22.  Please remind your child(ren) to bring home all their snow gear for winter fun at home.


Student Directory Update - Please update your student directory and join us in welcoming Annie Sherbacow to our 6th grade class.  Annie resides with her parents, Eric and Michele, at 11 Sleepy Hollow Road in Avon, 06001.  860-675-7545, aemsehrbacow@comcast.net

Also please update your directories with a new home phone number for the Frutuoso family - (860) 352-0544.

School Calendar Changes for snow day make-up.  All of these changes have been applied to our school's Google Master Calendar.  Please update your school calendars with these important changes -

Ski & Snowboard Club will meet for the last time on Wednesday, 2/27/13.

Shakesperience Residency for Grades 7 & 8 has been adjusted to makeup for missed sessions.  The new performance date is  Friday, March 15th at 2:00pm in the Parish Center.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Easter Monday, 4/1/13 - Full day of school for snow day make-up.Prekindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare available.

Thursday, 6/13/13 - Full day of school instead of 12:45 dismissal.   Prekindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare available.

Friday, 6/14/13 - Full day of school.  Prekindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare available.

Monday, 6/17/13 - Full day of school.  Prekindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare available.  Field Day for grades K-4 will be held on 6/17 instead of 6/10 at 1pm in the North parking lot.

Tuesday, 6/18/13 - Full day of school instead of 12:45 dismissal. Prekindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare available. Science Day will be held from 9-11am and  Physical Education Awards will be presented at 2pm on 6/18 instead of 6/11.

Wednesday, 6/19/13 - Last Day of School.  12:45pm Early Closing - No Prekindergarten Enrichment or Aftercare.  The prayer service originally scheduled for 6/13 will be held on 6/19 at 9am.  The Academic Awards originally scheduled for 6/12 will be held at 9:45am on 6/19.

A Reminder about Emergency Notifications - Please keep in mind that our school follows the directives of the Simsbury Board of Education in regard to emergency closings and delays.  If you hear that the Simsbury Public Schools are closed or opening late, we will be doing exactly as they do.

Our notification procedures for emergency closings and delayed openings are as follows:

1.  Notice is posted on the Home Page of the school's website  - www.stmarysschoolsimsbury.org

2.  Blog Post is done.  Due to the the way in which Google publishes to email, there is a delay in your email receipt of this post.  The post is done anyway because it is live on the blog as soon as we publish.  You can check the "live blog" by visiting - http://stmarysschoolnews.blogspot.com

3.  A "Remind 101" text message to sent.  If you have not already subscribed to this service, please do so. following the directions below.

Question of the Week - What happens to Hot Lunch when school is cancelled on a hot lunch day? -  Our agreement with Fitzgerald's now provides for "make-up" hot lunches if a snow or emergency closure happens on a Monday or Wednesday.  If/when a lunch is missed on a Monday or Wednesday, it will be served on the following school day.  For this reason, Monday's scheduled chicken pot pie lunch was served on Tuesday. A missed Friday pizza lunch is not made up. If you are scheduled to serve hot lunch on a day that school is closed, please plan to come in and serve the next day if you are available.  If you cannot make it in, please let the school office know so we can try to find another volunteer.

CHOICE NEWS - CHOICE oil orders received this week will most likely not be processed until after the February vacation.  Please plan accordingly.

SMS annual Diaper Drive on behalf of the Gifts of Love.  Sizes 4,5, and 6 are needed!  

Diaper Drive will run from February 25 through March 1. Thanks in advance for your kind attention to this important community service event.

Home & School Association News -

On behalf of the HSA and the entire school community, we would like to sincerely thank Kimberly Zanini-Bryant and Michelle Howard for their dedication and hard work on this year’s successful auction. They have spent months planning and preparing to make this year’s auction a fantastic event to benefit our great school. A special thank you to Claude Howard and Rob Bryant for all of their hard work, as well, and to all of the volunteers who made this event possible.


Some fabulous photos were taken the night of the auction.  Those shown below are just a sampling.  You may see the rest of the photos on our school website by clicking here or you can download or purchase copies from Motophoto by visiting Mrs. Howard's album of the event by clicking here.

Mrs. Winkler sporting what faculty judged to be the evening's best hat!

Beautiful class gifts - Value:  "Priceless"

The O'Bryan's, ready for the races!

It was a fabulous evening - thanks to everyone who supported this event.

Auction Co-Chair, Kimberly Zanini-Bryant - Thanks, Kim!  And thanks to your wonderful Co-Chair, Michelle Howard.

Home and School Board Nominations HSA is looking for nominations to fill board positions for the 2013 – 2014 school year. The following positions are available:

President (or 2 Co-Presidents)
Vice President (or 2 Co – Vice Presidents)
Recording Secretary
Corresponding Secretary
Treasurer

If you are interested in serving on the HSA Board OR if you would like to submit a board nomination, please contact the Nominating Committee Chair, Pam Carter at carterfive@comcast.net . Home and School activities help connect the families of St. Mary's students, and we look forward to your participation and nominations.

St. Mary Parish Youth Group for 7th & 8th Grade Students - Save the dates! The St. Mary's Parish 7th & 8th Grade Youth Group will be getting together for three events this Spring on 3/16, 4/6, and 6/1, immediately following the 5PM Saturday Mass. Our first event will feature dodgeball and pizza. All current 7th & 8th grade students are welcome. Details will follow on the parish website and bulletin."

 

Grade 8 Fundraising - It's that yummy time again! It's time to order your Butter Braids & Munson's Chocolates! 

Order forms were  sent home on Friday, 2/1/13, with your youngest or only child. Extra order forms are available in the School Office. 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. 

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 - Click here. Just enter our school code 9415313 and follow the simple instructions. If you prefer cash or check, please click here for an order form. 

Kindergarten celebrated the 100th day of school on Wednesday, February 6th, and had lots of fun doing it! Each child brought in a collection of 100 items. The catch was they had to create something out of the 100 objects!  Creations included a house made of 100 Q-tips, a colorful bird with 100 feathers, an ocean scene with 100 goldfish crackers swimming in the water, a peacock with 100 fruit loops as the colorful tail and many more. Abby created a mural of handprints with 100 reasons the kindergarten students love Mr. Cosham! The students shared their creations and created a museum in the hallway! Then, the students made 100th Day of School crowns, counted 100 steps (and there are 100 steps from Kindergarten to the 8th grade classroom!!!), and made fruit loop necklaces out of 100 fruit loops after learning that there are ten sets of ten in 100! Overall it was a wonderful day full of creativity and learning!  Click here for more pictures & if you are at school, stop by the showcase in the main hallway near the Parish Center to see the "100th Day" Museum.