News for the Week of 5/16/13

Important Calendar Changes for 2013-14 - This week we were advised by the Simsbury Board of Education that the decision has been made to abbreviate the February vacation next year.  As you know, our school does follow the Simsbury public schools in regard to the major holidays and school vacations.  Please make a correction on your preliminary calendar for 2013-2014 to reflect that school will be closed on Monday, 2-17-14 and Tuesday, 2-18-14.  School will be open and in session on Wednesday, 2-19-14, Thursday, 2-20-14 and Friday, 2-21-14.  Due to the abbreviated February break, it has also been decided that school will be closed on Monday, 12-23/13.  This was previously planned to be an early dismissal.  The detailed 2013-2014 school calendar will be published this summer as school events are finalized.


Last week, we notified you about a pending piece of state legislation that could result in the termination of bus services for Catholic School students.  Mrs. Gannatti has been in touch with Simsbury's State Representative, John Hampton.  He has advised Mrs. Gannatti to strongly urge all of our families to get in touch with our State Senator, State & House Senate leaders, and leadership of the State Appropriations and Education committees.  The contact information for all of these State officials has been posted on our website, click here.  Please make it a priority to contact these individuals and express your opposition to the proposed cuts in transportation funding for Catholic school students.  The loss of school bus transportation will be a significant issue for over 50% of our school's population. This is your opportunity to demonstrate the qualities of good citizenship to your children and show democracy in action.

 

A Special Thank You to the SMS Community - Thank you very much for the recognition of my retirement at St. Mary’s School during the vocal Spring Concert.  It truly was a special night.  The songs sung by each class and the chorus were fantastic.  I was very touched to have received such a memorable gift, the framed autographed basketball shirt from this year’s NCAA Championship UCONN team.   This gift was made even more special by having Geno Auriemma personally signing it and wishing me a happy retirement.  It was the perfect gift.  Thank you, Mrs. Rushin, for your effort in making this special gift happen!  And to top it off, the roses were beautiful!  St. Mary’s will always have a special place in my heart.  Thank you.  Marilyn Szilva

GOLF TOURNAMENT A SUCCESS!!! On Monday, May 13th, 82 golfers arrived to the Golf Club of Avon to enjoy 18 holes of golf on a partly sunny, but chilly afternoon. Everyone had a wonderful time and in the evening additional guests joined us for our dinner and auction. A special thank you to Ryan Hall, the club’s golf pro; Rebecca Rushin, our auctioneer for the evening; Mrs. Gannatti and Fr. Matera who greeted the golfers throughout the day; Tammy Budnick for all her work creating the invitations and keeping track of reservations and donations; the golf committee for their time and talents in preparing for the big day and the many donors and sponsors who gave generously whether they were able to attend the event or not. Although the final tally has not been completed just yet, we know it will be great and will benefit each and every student here at St. Mary’s! THANK YOU! Sue Zordan & Fay Lenz, Golf Tournament Co-Chairs

Used Uniform Exchange: Thank you to everyone who has donated gently used uniforms.  We have quite a supply, thanks to this program.  When going through your items, please note that we can NOT accept the following:  clothes from any manufacturer other than Lands' End or Dennis (our previous supplier); items that are stained or show wear; old-style plaid jumpers (the ones with multi-pleated skirts that were worn with cross tie); girls' navy vests (worn with previous uniform); socks; tights.  Note that the brands sold at Vincent Sport Shop (that conform to our P.E. uniform) are acceptable.  Thank you for your compliance.

Athletic News - 

Field Day for students in grades 5-8 will be held on Monday, 5-20-13.  Here is a list of things students should bring.  Please note, these are recommended items.  Parents are requested NOT to make any special purchases:

Team Color Outfit (if available)

Glove

Bat

Sunscreen

Water bottle

Sneakers

Baseball hat or sunglasses

LUNCH for Middle School field day -  If you have not ordered hot lunch for Monday, 5/20/13, please bring a bagged lunch to eat at the fields.  Room parents are requested to arrange a cooler for each class to hold bagged lunches.  If any parents would still like to volunteer your more than welcome to come.

Private Coaching with Mr. G. - Beginning this summer and continuing through Spring 2014, Mr. Gangloff will be offering private coaching sessions.  Please click here for more information.

Home & School Association News - 
The next HSA meeting will be Thursday, May 30 at 9:00am in the music room in the lower church.  The new board will present next year's budget at this meeting. 

Scholastic Book Fair will be here soon!  Below are the hours of operation for the book fair -

5/28 Tuesday  -     2-4    Teacher Preview

5/29 Wednesday-   8-4

5/30 Thursday    -  8-4

5/31 Friday         - 8-4

6/1  Saturday       CLOSED

6/2  Sunday        - 8-12:30      Coffee & Donuts Following Mass

              

In addition to these hours, we will be setting up the book fair on Tuesday morning from- 9-12 and breaking down the fair on Sunday from 1-3.

CHOICE Program News 

Big Y 6% Cards Still Available!  We have a good supply of 6% Big Y cards still in stock, so take advantage of this bonus percentage.

End-of-year CHOICE statements were sent home this week in your youngest/only child's backpack.  Please contact Kristin Potter if you did not receive your statement.

Community News

The St. Mary's Youth Group invites all current 7th and 8th grade students to an evening of laser tag and bowling at Blue Fox Rock 'N Bowl on Saturday, 6/1/13, from 6-8pm.  Cost is $10 per student. Please click here for a registration form and more information.

St. Mary's Spring Carnival is Coming Soon!  This year's carnival will take place from June 5-8.  For more information, click here.  To become a carnival sponsor, click here.  St. Mary's School receives a large percentage of funds raised by the carnival so let's show our support by volunteering! Your help, even for an hour or two, would really be appreciated and it's a lot of fun!  The Spring Carnival is one of the most family friendly traditions in the Farmington Valley!  Click here or contact Peg Mancarella at Margaret.Mancarella@gmail.com.



Alumni News - It's getting to be that "time of year" - college acceptances, graduations, weddings, new opportunities and new successes!  Do you have news about an SMS alum you would like to share?  Please send your news to dhatch@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net. 

Mr. Cosham prepares for his presentation at UCONN

On Wednesday, 5-14-13, Mrs. Hatch and Mr. Cosham represented St. Mary's School at University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education's "Teaching and Learning with iPads:  Apps Applied" conference.  We are proud to share that they were the only presenters from a Catholic School at this conference that was attended by approximately 400 educators from across the state of Connecticut.  Mr. Cosham presented "Blogs as an Assessment?  YES" and Mrs. Hatch presented "Children's Literature - A Cross Curricular Approach suing the iPad and Project Based Learning".   Mr. Cosham and Mrs. Hatch were also able to attend several sessions while they were not presenting and have come back with some great new ideas!