News for the Week of 3/27/13

Flying the friendly skies of "Cosham Air" in Kindergarten -  World travels continued in Kindergarten this week as students created passports and then used their iPads and Google Earth to virtually visit several countries to learn about  Easter traditions across the globe.  Two stops on the tour were the Ukraine and Italy. On their journey to Italy, the students visited Vatican City and the classroom was filled with the sounds of Italian music. Their travels were augmented by visits from Mrs. Svitlana Markiv, mother of Maxim, and Mrs. Donna Hatch, Apple Coordinator.  Mrs. Markiv shared the beauty of Ukrainian Easter eggs with the students and help them understand the intricacies of the design process when these eggs are created.  Mrs. Hatch helped students make a delicious Italian Easter bread to share with their families.  Many thanks to Mrs. Mutarelli, Mrs. Arcouette, Mrs. Heiden, Mrs. Canning, Mrs. Williams, and Mrs. Spak for their help with the baking project.  It takes a special kind of courage to embrace sticky bread dough, raw eggs and a roomful of kindergarten students!

Before the baking began, students explored why eggs are a symbol commonly associated with Easter.  Through discussion, they learned that eggs are a symbol of our new life with the risen Christ.  Students also discussed the parts of an egg, speculated on what egg shells may be made of (it's calcite) and completed a SmartBoard lesson that demonstrated the many creatures that are hatched from eggs.

The Living Stations of the Cross will be enacted by our 8th grade students on Holy Thursday, 3/28,  at 10am in the Church.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

School will be dismissed at 12:45pm on Holy Thursday, 3/28.  There will no Prekindergarten Enrichment or Aftercare.

School is open on Easter Monday, 4/1.  This is a change from the original school calendar for snow day makeup.

Open House for Prospective Families - Do you know someone who is wondering if St. Mary's School might be the right place for their family?  We hope you will encourage them to come to Open House on Thursday, April 4th at 6:30pm in Parish Center.



If you live in a "high traffic area" or have posted an "Open House" sign for us in the past, we hope you'll do so again.  Open House signs are available outside the school office.  Please be sure to "sign out" your sign.  Please return signs to the school office after our Open House on 4/4/13. Thanks!

Don't forget to set your alarm!  Friday, 4/5/13, beginning at 5am, SMS will be the "cool school" featured on WFSB.


Our next school Mass will be on Friday, 4/5/13, at 9am in the church.  Everyone is welcome to join us.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

School is closed from 4/15 - 4/19 for spring vacation.


Athletic News

 JVA and Varsity teams and their families are invited to join us for Blue Knight Night on Tuesday, April 2nd from 6-8pm in the Parish Center.

Home & School Association News

Family Fun Night is almost here - We're hoping to see lots of families on Friday, April 5th from 6-8:30pm in the Parish Center. We are looking for SMS students from each grade to put on a school talent show, as well as participate in a fun filled Karaoke night. So all you budding stars & starlets, show us what you can do and have lots of fun in the process. Click here for more details and a downloadable sign up sheet..  Mrs. Howard & Mrs. Figulski are still looking for parents & 7th grade student volunteers to help organize the event. Please e-mail Nancy Figulski, cuplfigs@gmail.com or Mrs. Howard @ michellechoward@yahoo.com, if you are able to help. 

Spring Bookfair is coming in May!  Bookfair setup will take place on Tuesday, May 28th.  Bookfair will be open on Wednesday, May 29 - Sunday, June 2.  Coffee and donuts will be available after Sunday Masses to sweeten sales!  Your help is needed with setup, staffing and cleanup.  If you can help, please contact Jennifer Pavlonnis at 860-693-0052 or jpavlonnis@yahoo.com




News from the Office of Catholic Schools

The Office of Catholic Schools has announced completion of a new ministerial plan, developed to effectively guide Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Hartford toward the year 2020. The report, 20 20 Vision: An Eye on Our Future is available as an ebook. Click here read the plan. To read the press release associated with the announcement of this plan, click here. Posted 3/27/13

The Office of Catholic Schools has created a Facebook page to promote all Diocesan schools. Please help OCS to reach a larger audience by visiting their page and "Liking" it. Click here to visit this Facebook page.

Community News


St. Mary’s School and the MS Walk.  Westminster School will host the

 annual MS Walk, Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 9:00 a.m.   Anyone interested 

in participating in the walk may register with the St Mary’s School team 

online at our “SMS against MS” website – click here or register at the 

Westminster School the day of the walk at the Jackson Hockey Rink, before

 9:00 A.M. Please consider making a donation to help find a cure for those 

with MS.  We will have a registration table for our St. Mary’s School Team.  

If you have any questions please contact Nancy Canfield at 

Canfield143@cox.net or 860-844-8065. Please note that you may restrict your donation to 

research that does not require the use of fetal stem cells.

  

It has long been a legend at St. Mary's School that a leprechaun lives in the school basement. Each year, students in first grade construct traps designed to catch the school leprechaun so he will have to surrender his pot of gold.

This year's creations were very inventive. Some featured trap doors and some included clever lures including "Lucky Charms" cereal and lots of "gold coins." Students left their traps set on Friday afternoon and arrived on Monday, March 19th, to find that the traps had been sprung! Lots of the "Lucky Charms" had been nibbled and lots of gold coins were gone. Once again, though, the SMS Leprechaun evaded capture!

To see even more photos of clever leprechaun traps, click here.

The grades 7  & 8 Shakesperience residency culminated in performances from Shakespeare's tragedies on March 15th.  Click here for even more photos from the performances.