News for the Week of 12/11/13

The second week of Advent - Our time of preparation and joyful waiting continues.  Now two candles are glowing on our Advent wreaths.  Looking around school, signs of the season are everywhere from bulletin boards proclaiming "Gloria" to samples of student work that center around the theme of Christmas.  Last Friday, we celebrated St. Nicholas Day with our December school Mass and by participating in National Believe Day sponsored by Macy's.  For every stamped letter mailed at a Macy's red Santa Mail letterbox in-store, Macy's will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, above the existing $1 million campaign goal. If letters were written on the paper provided by Macy's, their contribution was $2 per letter. Each student wrote a letter to Santa on Macy's paper in support of this campaign. We are proud to share that we were able to send 218 letters to Macy's.  These letters mean our school's contribution to Make-A-Wish will be $436.

 Students also attended a brief assembly about St. Nicholas that was prepared by two of our 8th grade students, Lainey Muller and Collin Duran.  After the assembly, students were surprised to find that St. Nicholas had visited, leaving everyone a special "Believe" bracelet and candy cane pencil.

Saint Nicholas had his hands
full filling all these shoes!

Everyone attended the assembly wearing
only one shoe - just in case St. Nicholas
happened by….

"Make-A-Wish" Letters were collected

Mrs. Hatch & Mr. Cosham "still believe" -
in wonder, in sharing, in the miracle of Christmas!

Grade 8 thanks everyone that supported their sales of SMS Spirit Wear & Christmas poinsettias.      The poinsettias were delivered on Friday, 12/6, and arrived safely in enormous cardboard boxes.  The 8th grade generously shared several of these boxes with their friends in PreKindergarten.  As is so often the case, these boxes provided lots of fun for imaginative play!

Christmas Band & Chorus Concert - Thursday, 12/12/13 - Everyone is invited to join us for an evening of Christmas music presented by our Cadet and Advanced Bands conducted by Mrs. Debbie Morse and our school Chorus directed by Mrs. Patty Lepak.  The evening performance begins at 7pm in the Parish Center.  Musicians should follow directives from Mrs. Morse and Mrs. Lepak regarding arrival times and attire.  Click here for Mrs. Morse's arrival/dress directions. There will also be a 2pm dress rehearsal.  Guests unable to attend the evening performance are cordially invited to dress rehearsal.

Our annual Christmas Prayer Service, Lessons & Carols, will be held on Monday, 12/16, in the church.  There will be a dress rehearsal that is open to the public at 10am.  This is a nice opportunity for young siblings to see the presentation and also a great time to take photos. The evening presentation is at 7pm.  Church doors will open at 6:30pm.  Students sit with their homeroom class.  Grade 8 students report to the lower church. As is customary, the first 6 pews on the right side are reserved for the parents of our 8th grade students.  The first 2 pews on the left side are reserved for the families that had the winning bids at last year's HSA auction. 

All students in grades Kindergarten - 8 are expected to attend and participate in the evening performance.  If a student needs to be excused, a request should be made to Mrs. Gannatti.   Students in grades 1-7 should wear their full formal uniform.  Students in Kindergarten and grade 8 should follow dress directions from their teachers.

School will be dismissed at 12:45pm on Friday, 12/20, to start our Christmas vacation.  There will be no Prekindergarten Enrichment or Aftercare.  School reopens on Thursday, 1/2, and we begin our celebration of Catholic Schools' Month.  Our January school Mass will be held on Friday, 1/3, at 9am.

Reminder - HOT LUNCH ORDERS & PAYMENTS ARE DUE FRIDAY, 12/13/13.


Home & School Association News

Box Tops for Education – As you shop for Christmas, don’t forget that you can order through the Box Tops Online Marketplace and earn cash for our school!  Visit www.boxtops4education.com/marketplace.  You can even use your CHOICE gift cards to get more bang for your buck! Please remember that you can send in your clipped Box Tops at any time.  Each classroom has a collection container for storage.

Cookie Swap – The first annual St. Mary’s Cookie Swap was a great success!  Everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed each other's cookies. Father Matera was kind enough to stop by as well. Thank you to all who participated and this is one occasion that we will repeat next year.

Coffee Hour – Thank you to all those who stopped by for coffee with HSA President, Maggie Domashinski, on Friday before Mass.  It was nice to visit and she looks forward to seeing more parents next month.

Scholarship Fund Announced in honor of Archbishop Mansell - The Foundation for the Advancement of Catholic Schools (FACS) and the Archdiocesan School Board have established a new academic scholarship fund, The Archbishop Henry J. Mansell Scholarship Fund, to benefit Catholic school students in the Archdiocese of Hartford.  Donations may be sent to the Office of Catholic Schools, 467 Bloomfield Avenue, Bloomfield, CT 06002.  Checks should be made payable to FACS with Mansell Scholarship Fund noted in the memo section.

"We Are Called to Stewardship
The earth and all life on it is God’s creation. We are called to take care of it because it is a holy gift from God and the only place we can live. When we make bad or thoughtless use of the earth’s resources, many people suffer. When we make poor choices about how we treat other living things (people, animals, plants) we cause life to be less than God intends. Making wise choices about the care of God’s creation is called good stewardship."  Anne E Neuberger

On 12/4, Mrs. Auger's fourth grade students had an opportunity to learn more about stewardship and caring for God's earth during their visit to the Trash Museum.  Students learned about recycling and repurposing and had the opportunity to observe single stream recycling in action.