News for the Week of 2/6/14

Last week, we concluded our celebration of Catholic Schools' Month and celebrated Chinese New Year!

First Grade students celebrated Chinese New Year with Tammy Nguyen, mother of their friend, Will.

Campus Facility Update - Please check your email inbox for an important letter from Mrs. Gannatti regarding the expected arrival of 2 portable classrooms on Monday, 2/10/14.  This letter is also available on our school's website - Click here. The arrival and installation of these units will temporarily impact morning arrival.  There are important new drop off procedures for you to be aware of if you drive your child(ren) to school.

February School Mass will be held on Friday, February 7th at 9am in the Church.  Everyone is welcome to join us in worship.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to school.  The Home & School Association invites you to enjoy a cup of coffee and some friendly conversation in the lower church prior to Mass beginning at 8:30am.

In March, we will attend the 12:15 Parish Mass on Ash Wednesday, March 5, as we begin the holy season of Lent.




Punxsutawney Phil says "6 more weeks of winter!" And this week's weather certainly seems to confirm his prediction.  Please keep in mind that students must have full snow gear, including gloves, boots and snow pants, if they wish to play in the snow at recess.  You may also want to tuck a dry pair of socks into your child(ren)'s backpack(s) - warm, dry feet make any afternoon more comfortable!

School Uniform Reminders - Students have been dressed in their formal attire for several months now.  Please take a moment and check for proper sizing and to be sure all items are in good repair.  Please also help boys remember that a belt is required with uniform trousers.  The Home & School Association's Used Uniform Exchange can be a great option for replacing an item that may be outgrown or in poor condition. Click here for more information about the Used Uniform Exchange.  Our Relaxed Uniform may begin to be worn after April vacation on 4/22.

March Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held from Monday, March 17th - Thursday, March 20th.  Each of these days will be a 12:45 early dismissal.  There will be no Prekindergarten Enrichment or Aftercare.  Unlike the Parent/Teacher Conferences held in November, the March appointments are not considered mandatory though they are strongly recommended.  If you do not sign up for a conference none will be scheduled for you.  You will be contacted by your child(ren)'s teacher(s) if you do not sign up for a conference and it is felt that one is needed. Conference sign ups are again being completed using Sign Up Genius.  Click here to access the Sign Up Geniuses for conferences or use the March Conference tab that appears at the top of the blog.

Home & School Association News

It's finally here!  The annual H.S.A. auction, A Knight at the Olympics, will be held this Saturday, February 8th, beginning at 6pm at the Riverview.  Riverview is located at 10 Winslow Place in Simsbury.  Click here to preview some of the wonderful items that are available at the auction this year.

Air Conditioning (last year's HSA Auction project) is Coming to the Middle School!The planning for portable air conditioning unit installations for each of the middle school classrooms is underway! The units will be installed during April break just in time for that warm weather we are all desperately waiting for!

Box Tops for Education: The winter Box Tops collection ends this Friday, February 7th. Please send your clipped Box Tops to your child’s classroom this week.

Simsbury Food Bank: The Simsbury Food Bank is in need of donations including coffee and canned fruit, along with the standard staples. Please consider helping to keep our community fed.

The next HSA meeting will be held on Thursday, March 6th at 6:00 pm in the fourth grade classroom. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The HSA is seeking members for a Nominating Committee for next year’s HSA board. Please contact Maggie Domashinski at mmdomo@cox.net or Jennifer Pavlonnis at jpavlonnis@yahoo.com if you would like to join the committee.

Community News

St. Mary's Parish invites students in grades 4 and above to become altar servers - Training sessions will be held on the following four Saturdays from 1:30 to 2:30 PM in the church: February 22nd, March 1st, 8th, & 15th. Those who wish to be servers must plan on attending all four sessions.

The Master's School welcomes Carolyn Clement on February 17th at 7pm to share and equip parents with information about internet safety and social media. If you missed this workshop last fall when it was hosted by the Simsbury Library, mark your calendars for this repeat opportunity! RSVP is NOT mandatory, but it will help the Master's School plan with regard to space and weather-related issues.  Please RSVP to jmonitto@masterschool.org.

Avon Soccer Club announces its Spring 2014 Recreational Season -  Click here to learn more about the clinic opportunities open to Avon residents.



Kelsey's Award Winnning Drawing

Alumni News - Kelsey Baker, Class of '10 -  SMS Alumna & Northwest Catholic senior Kelsey Baker of Simsbury has received an Honorable Mention in the Discover FAA High School Architectural Drawing Competition, run by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s College of Fine and Applied Arts. The contest attracted entries from 25 states and three countries.  To read more about Kelsey's accomplishments and more alumni news, click here.    Adrian Hatch, Class of '09, has been named to the Dean's List at Syracuse University.  Adrian is a freshman majoring in Information Management & Technology.  We are always happy to hear about our alumni's successes, if you have alumni news to share, please send it along to dhatch@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.




Click here for the February issue of Partners in Faith.

Our celebration of Catholic Schools' Month concluded with our annual Family Pizza Lunch on 1/31/14.  As always, it was so much fun to see families enjoying lunch together.