News for the Week of 1-8-14

January Calendar Reminders

Our January School Mass will be held on Friday, 1/10/14, at 9am in the church.  All are welcome to join us.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

Upcoming School Masses - 
February 7th at 9am
Ash Wednesday, March 5th at 12:15 - We will worship with our Parish family as the holy season of Lent begins.
April 4th at 9am
May 16th at 9am

School will be closed on Monday, 1/20/14, for Martin Luther King Day.


Upcoming Catholic Schools' Month Celebrations

Author & Illustrator Visits -

Author, Fern Michonski

1-22-14, Author, Fern Michonski will visit with students in PreKindergarten through grade 2.

Illustrator, Christine Kornacki

1-24-14, SMS Alumna and Illustrator, Christine Kornacki will meet with students in grades 3-8.

Thanks to our Home & School Association for arranging these programs.

Open House for Prospective Families - Tuesday, 1-28-14 at 6:30pm in the Parish Center.  Please encourage anyone that you know that might be interested in our school to come to this friendly, informative Open House.  Please ask that they RSVP to the school office - it helps us plan if we know how many guests we are expecting.

The Mikan family enjoying last year's Family Pizza Lunch

Family Pizza Lunch - This annual event is always a highlight of our month long celebration. Moms, dads, grandma's, grandpa's, aunts, uncles, cousins and special people are ALL invited! This year's Family Pizza Lunch will be held on Friday, 1-31-14.  All pizza lunches must be pre-ordered.  Student lunches for Friday, 1-31-14, were already ordered via the hot lunch order form.  To order a pizza lunch for yourself or other guests OR for a student that has not already had a hot lunch ordered, please click here for an order form.  All orders and payments are due NLT 1-17-14. Don't care for pizza?  Bring a lunch of your choice and join us!  Brown baggers are always welcome!  Our Home & School Association will be providing a special dessert - our thanks for their generosity!

SMS Community News - Mrs. Gannatti has sent out an email containing important information.  Please be sure to check your email inboxes.  If you do not receive her email, please contact the school office.

Hot Lunch Reminder - There is NO "Cash & Carry" pizza available on Fridays anymore.  Only students that have pre-ordered pizza lunch will be served.

Aftercare News - We are pleased to share SMS Alumna, Lauren Henzler, will be joining our aftercare staff.  Her first day will be Tuesday, 1/14/14.  She will then begin her regular aftercare schedule of Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays on Tuesday, 1/21/14, since school is closed on Monday, 1/20/14.

Home & School Association News

The annual HSA Auction is coming soon! This year's event, A Knight at the Olympics will be held at the Riverview in Simsbury on Saturday, February 8, 2014.  With just under 5 weeks until the St. Mary’s School Auction, it’s time to start getting serious!   If you have a donation, please fill out a donation form and send it to the school. Click here for the Sponsorship/Donation Form.  


Wondering what to donate?

Do you have a vacation home you are willing to donate for a weekend or a full week? 

Do you have season tickets to a sporting or theater venue?

Do you have a special talent that you are willing to share? 

Not sure what to give?  How about CHOICE cards?  You can donate any card in any amount.

This year’s auction proceeds will be put toward the purchase and installation of a new playground for our school.  The more items we have for auction, the more money we can make.  The more money we make, the better the playground our children will have!

We look forward to seeing you for A Knight at the Olympics!

January HSA Meeting - The meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, 1/16 has been moved to Thursday, 1/23 at 6pm in the Grade 4 classroom.  Please note the earlier start time.

The March HSA meeting will also begin at 6pm.  This meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 3/6, and will also be in the 4th grade classroom.

The Spring "Buy One - Get One" Scholastic Bookfair will be delivered and setup on Wednesday, 5/14.  Bookfair sales will begin on Thursday, 5/15.  The final day of sales and bookfair cleanup will be on Monday, 5/19.  If you are interested in helping with this fun event that promotes summer reading, please contact Jen Pavlonnis at jpavlonnis@yahoo.com.

St. Mary Church Youth Choir - Make a joyful song!  Young people in grades 2 through 8 are welcome to join in singing with The St. Mary Youth Choir!    Rehearsals are Fridays from 3:45 to 4:30 on the following days: 1/24, 2/7, 2/21, 3/7, 3/28, 4/11.  The choir will sing on 2/9, 3/9 ad 4/13.  Please note that students participating in the choir must have supervision crossing the lot between the school and the church.  St. Mary's School staff and faculty ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO ESCORT STUDENTS.  Please make arrangements for your child(ren) to have adult supervision when crossing from school to the church for this choir practice.  Please email Patty Lepak at lepakfamily@gmail.com if you would like to join the choir!  Click here to see pictures of the Youth Choir at the Cathedral last spring.

Northwest Catholic High School invites you to a special evening of Latin Jazz.  The NWC Big Band & Jazz Ensemble will be performing with Ed Fast & Congo Bop on 1/11/14 at 7pm at Northwest Catholic High School.  Ed Fast is the Director of the Latin Jazz Ensemble at the Hartt Community Division of the University of Hartford.  For more information including ticket pricing, click here.