News for the Week of August 27th

It was a beautiful first day of school under bright, sunny skies and filled with bright, smiling faces!  

Father Matera, Father Santiago and Homeroom teachers were on hand in the north parking lot to welcome students as they arrived.  

We are looking forward to a wonderful year and thank you for choosing St. Mary's School!

A Very Special Welcome - Click here for a welcoming letter from Dr. Dale Hoyt, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Bus Transportation Reminders - In the event that our school is in session for a full day on a day when the Simsbury Public Schools have early closing or are closed, please be aware that students that ride the bus in the afternoon may arrive home significantly earlier than usual (10-15 minutes).  Dates that this will occur in the 2014-15 school year are:
Wednesday, 9/24
Wednesday, 10/15
Tuesday - Thursday, 11/18-20
Friday, 1/16/15
Friday, 2/13/15
Tuesday, 6/9/15 (Tentative - public schools' last day depending on snow day makeups.
 Please make note of these dates and make the arrangements necessary to assure that someone is home or that your child(ren) know your family's safety plan if they arrive and you are not at home.

Virtus Training for New Volunteers - All volunteers at SMS are required to complete the Virtus "Protecting God's Children" program and have a background check completed in order to volunteer for any activities at St. Mary's School. This is an Archdiocesan requirement. If you have already done this and submitted your paperwork to the school office, you should be all set. If you have completed this at a previous school, we must have a certificate on file in our office.

If you need to attend a training session, Mrs. Ginny Gore will be holding a training class on Wednesday, September 19th at 6:00pm in the Grade 5 classroom. You may RSVP for this class through Mrs. Gore at vgore@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net or Tammy Budnick at tbudnick@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net. If you are unable to attend this class, you must go to the archdiocesan website (http://www.virtus.org/virtus/) and find a class that is more convenient for you. 

You must provide proof of attendance at a Virtus session before you can volunteer at school. If you do come to volunteer and you have not obtained the training, we will have to ask you not to volunteer at that time. Please understand that we must follow the guidelines put in place to protect our children.


It's a busy time of year! Our school's Google calendar has been updated with all of the upcoming school year's events.  The calendar is always available to you using the Calendar tab at the top of the blog. Here are a few key dates that are coming up soon:

*  Grade 8 Parent Meeting - Thursday, 8/28, 6:30pm in the Grade 8 classroom.  At least one parent from each grade 8 family should attend this important meeting.  The 8th grade year includes many special activities and involves several special fund raising projects that help defray the costs associated with these activities.  Your input is needed at this meeting to finalize plans.

*  Labor Day - Monday, 9/1, School is closed.

*  Parent Meeting for NEW Instrumental Music Students - Tuesday, 9/2, 6:30pm in the Grade 4 classroom.  Only parents of students that are beginning study of instrumental music for the first time at SMS need to attend this meeting.  See below Instrumental Music News for more information.

*  Home & School Association Meeting - Thursday, 9/4, 6:30pm in the Grade 8 classroom.  Did you know that just by sending your children to SMS, you are automatically a part of our Home & School Association.  Your active involvement helps assure that our community does all it can to directly benefit our students and to keep SMS a vibrant, family centered Christian community.

*  School Mass - Friday, 9/5, 9am in the church.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend our monthly school Masses.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

*  "Back to School Night" for Parents - Wednesday, 9/10, 6:30pm in the Parish Center.  Book your sitter and join us for your first opportunity to experience a condensed "Day in the Life" of your special SMS student(s).  This is your evening to get to know his/her teacher(s) a little better, visit the classroom(s) and leave a little note of encouragement.  This is also your first opportunity to sign up for your required Parent/Teacher Conference(s) in November.  Signing up for your conference at "Back to School" night helps assure you get the day and time most convenient for you!




New Teachers' Blogs are now available!  Ms. Soucy has launched her new second grade blog and Mrs. Kelley has launched her blogs for grades 6, 7, and 8 Math at the academic level.  You can access these blogs from our main school blog by using the SMS Teachers Blogs links that appear on the right of the blog or you may click on the links below for immediate access -

Grade 2 Blog - Click here.
Grade 6 Academic Math - Click here.
Grade 7 Acaemic Math - Click here.
Grade 8 Academic Math - Click here.

 Once the teacher's blog is displayed, you can enter an email address in the "Follow by email" box to receive all future posts at the email address of your choice.  Senora Puerta, Spanish and Mrs. Tunsky, Grade 4, are in the process of developing their blogs.  Once these blogs have been launched, we will provide access information.

Alumni News - Congratulations to Aaron Belletsky, SMS Class of '14! Aaron was selected as a recipient of the Damuth Music Scholarship at Northwest Catholic High School. It is a $2,000 scholarship (renewable for 4 yrs).  In letting us know about this award, the Belletsky family also shared "Not only are we very proud of him for achieving such an honor, we are thankful for the instrumental music program at St. Mary’s that allowed him to appreciate, enjoy and excel at playing the trumpet."  We love to hear about our alumni's successes, please share any alumni news you may have with us via email to dhatch@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.