News for the Week of 6/3/15

IT'S OPENING NIGHT!

36th Annual
St. Mary's Carnival
June 3-6, 2015!

*** Location:  34 Hopmeadow St
Field South of Eversource Energy

 (Formerly Connecticut Light & Power)

Your help is needed as a volunteer.  Click here to volunteer.   Click here for more information about the carnival.

Buy a wristband & RIDE ALL NIGHT!  Wristbands are $20 on Wednesday & Thursday and $25 for Friday and Saturday

Don't forget the Raffle!  1st prize is $10,000, 2nd prize is a $500 gift certificate to Holloway's; 3rd prize is a Samsung 40" LED TV and 4th prize is Fitzgerald cake of the month for 1 year. Tickets are $20 each - limit of 2,500 being sold.  Tickets are available at the carnival or at the Parish Offices at 3 Massaco Street.

Friday, June 5th we will celebrate the SMS Class of '15 with Graduation after 10AM Mass and Class Day beginning at 1pm in the Parish Center.  All are welcome to join us at Mass and for the graduation ceremony.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.  Eighth grade students should follow the dress guidelines provided by Mrs. Gillen.

Yearbooks have been distributed to our graduating class. All other students can look forward to receiving their yearbooks during the week of 6/8/15.  If you didn't purchase a yearbook,  the school has received a limited number of extra books that can be purchased for $28. Please drop by the office to purchase yours or send in your check in an envelope marked as "Yearbook Order".  Checks should be made payable to St. Mary's School with "yearbook" in the memo section.  These books are available first come/first served. If you would like us to give the yearbook directly to a student, please indicate the name of the student as well (particularly if you have more than one child enrolled here at SMS).  

Monday, June 8th - Grades PreKindergarten, Kindergarten - 4 will enjoy field day in the north (playground) parking lot. Students should wear sneakers and a shirt that features the color of his/her team.  Shorts may match the shirt color or be black or be the school's PE shorts.  Please be sure to send a water bottle and sunscreen!

Seventh grade students will be assuming their roles as school leaders and coordinate this field day with teachers supervising.

Reminder to Smart Tuition Account Holders:  as you begin making payments in June on your 2015-2016 Smart Tuition account, please remember to change the school year in your account number from 14 to 15.  Account numbers are broken down as follows:  02300 is the school code; 15 refers to the school year; and the last six digits reflect your individual family’s account.  If you continue making payments using the 14 school year, they will apply to your 2014-15 account, generating an overpayment status.  Your 2015-16 account will then appear delinquent, causing $50 late fees to accrue each month the payments are missing.  If you have any questions about this, please call Smart Tuition’s Parent help center at 1-888-868-8828.

Students in Mrs. Jehning's First Grade invited guests
to a Poetry Celebration last week.  It was a wonderful afternoon.

Wednesday, June 10th and Thursday, June 11th are regular, full days of school.  PreKindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare are available on both of these days.

HOT LUNCH HELP NEEDED!  We have NO volunteers signed up to serve the hot lunch scheduled for Wednesday, 6/10.  If you can help, please contact Mrs. Budnick at the school office at either 860-658-9412 or tbudnick@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.  Thanks!

There will be an End of Year Prayer Service on Thursday, June 11th at 9am in the church. All students should plan to wear their relaxed uniforms on this day. Everyone is invited to join us at this prayer service to give thanks for another wonderful year of exploration, excitement, learning and growth.

Friday, June 12th is our last day of school.

This will be a 12:45 early closing day. There will be NO PreKindergarten Enrichment or Aftercare. 

There will be an awards assembly at 9:30am in the parish center.  Parents will be notified by teachers if a student is going to receive an award.  A pizza lunch will be provided for all students. 

Summer Office Hours begin the week of Monday, June 15th. The office will be open from 9am-1pm on Tuesday - Thursday or by appointment. Voice mail and email will be checked daily. Dates for Summer CHOICE sales will be announced prior to the close of school. Summer blog posts will be sent on an as needed basis and the Back to School mailing will be sent out early in August.

School will reopen on Wednesday, August 26th. It will be a regular, full day of school with PreKindergarten Enrichment and Aftercare available. 

There will be a "Meet & Greet" for students entering PreKindergarten, Kindergarten - Grade 3 on Tuesday, August 25th. Incoming 6th grade students and students new to our 7th and 8th grades should plan on attending a "Morning in Middle School" on Tuesday, August 26th. Timing for these events will be announced via summer blog post.

iPad Summer Collection -

Grades 6 & 7 - All grade 6 and 7 iPads and school owned chargers and cords must be turned in to the homeroom teacher on Wednesday, June 10th. Any physical damage or device operational issues should be reported when the device is turned in. There is a $50 repair fee due for any type of repair required. There is a $40 charge for replacement if the school owned charger and/or cord are not returned with the iPad. An invoice will be sent via US mail if a repair or replacement fee is due. If a fee is still due at the start of school, the student will not be issued a device until the fee has been paid.

Grades K-5 - These students will have daily use of their iPads until Thursday, June 11th. Students will bring their iPad cases home for the summer. ( If a replacement case is being purchased, please keep in mind that the case must be for a 3rd generation iPad. Cases for newer versions will not fit the 3rd generation device appropriately.) All of these devices will be inspected by the homeroom teachers and Mrs. Hatch for physical damage and/or operational issues. There is a $50 repair fee due for any type of repair required. An invoice will be sent via US mail if a repair or replacement fee is due. If a fee is still due at the start of school, the student will not be issued a device until the fee has been paid.

All questions regarding iPad summer collection or iPads in general should be directed to Mrs. Hatch at dhatch@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

Something's Fishy in Kindergarten!  To kick off Ocean Week, students in Miss Cole's Kindergarten began by reading the book, Rainbow Fish.  Then, the  children decorated scales and wrote about why it is good to share with others!

Jump Rope Club -  

There will be a Jump Rope Club show today (6/3) at 6:45 at River Ridge in Avon.

Athletic News - Mark your calendars now for Field Hockey Camp! This free camp is open to all students entering grades 4-8 in the fall and will be held at Meadow Field on Iron Horse Blvd. in Simsbury on 8/25-27 in the morning.  Click here for all the details.











The Federation seeks to develop support for a bill that would allow allocation of state funds for inter-district transportation for non-public schools. In order to build support, the Federation is researching the current use of in-town bus transportation and the potential use of inter-district busing by CT Catholic school students. All CT Catholic school parents are asked to complete this very short survey, the results of which will provide useful data for the Federation’s efforts. Please click here to complete the survey.

Alumni News - Congratulations to Domenic Cirielli, SMS Class of '14.   Domenic was awarded “Simsbury Scholar” status. This status is conveyed to those students with high honors (top five percent of his freshman class). Domenic also received “The Colt Award for Spanish Excellence” from the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers.

Northwest Catholic High School held its annual Academic & Service Awards Night on 5/28/15.  We are proud to congratulate the following SMS alums for their achievements -

Katherine Jessen, SMS Class of '13, was presented with plaque awards for English, Math & Honors Chemistry.

Gabriela Doskos, SMS Class of '13, was presented with the Religion 2 plaque award.

Brett Baker, SMS Class of '13, was presented with the John Rice award, This award is given in memory of John Rice to an underclassman who has exhibited interest in politics, as well as demonstrating an understanding of the political process.

Abigail Herron, SMS Class of '12, was presented with the Latin 3 plaque award.  Abby also received the Yale Book Award.  This award is given annually to a junior who demonstrates qualities of leadership, teamwork, organizational abilitlies and who ranks in the top 15% of the class.

Avery Hatch, SMS Class of '12, was presented with the Xerox Award to Innovation and Information Technology.  This award is presented annually to a junior to recognize outstanding achievement in the pursuit of innovative approaches and appreciation of the possibilities of technology.

Mary Elizabeth Budnick, SMS Class of '12, was presented with the College of the Elms Book Award.  This award is given annually to a junior for oustanding academic achievement.

Matthew Sottile, SMS Class of '12, was presented with the Notre Dame Award.  This award is given annually to a junior who combines excellence in academics with a sense of community and responsibility that prepares them for leadership in building a society that is at once more human and more divine.

David Kalamarides, SMS Class of '11, was recognized as a National Merit Scholar.

We also congratulate Adrian Hatch, SMS Class of '09, on being named to the Dean's List at the iSchool at Syracuse University for his fourth consecutive semester.

We love to hear about the accomplishments of our alumni, if you have news to share, please send it to Mrs. Hatch at dhatch@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

Rainy Day fun in PreK -  Jackson made the best of an indoor recess by constructing his own "treadmill" to get in his daily workout!