News for the Week of 4/20/16

Welcoming Mrs. Williamson --- Our Welcome Reception is this Thursday, April 21!  

We look forward to this special evening and our first opportunity to introduce Mrs. Williamson to our wonderful community. 

HOT LUNCH HELP URGENTLY NEEDED!  Our school is able to provide a hot lunch program because of the volunteers who come in to serve the lunches.  As we enter the final weeks of our school year, we have lots of gaps in our lunch duty coverage.  If you are Virtus trained, please consider signing up for hot lunch duty.  It is a great way to be part of your child(ren)'s day and helps assure that we can continue to offer hot lunch.  Click here to access the Sign Up Genius for Hot Lunch Volunteers.

2016-2017 St. Mary's School Trust Scholarship Applications must be submitted NLT April 30, 2016. 

ST. MARY SCHOOL TRUST SCHOLARSHIPS

Who can apply:

Any family whose children have completed a year's enrollment in kindergarten or above and will be enrolled in grades 1 through 8 at St. Mary's School during 2016-2017 is eligible to apply. There are no requirements regarding parish or religious affiliation.

Applications must be submitted no later than April 30, 2016. Click here for a  helpful reference guide. Additional instructions are provided when you access the application link. The link for the scholarship application is:

http://www.psas.org/1267.aspx

If you have any questions regarding the application process for the St. Mary's School Trust scholarships or about other financial assistance that may be available, please contact the school office.

Additional Tuition Assistance  - Again this year, tuition assistance will be available from funds provided by the Archbishop's Annual Appeal (AAA), the Catholic Schools' Support Program (CSSP) and our school's budget.  These funds are distinct from the scholarships that are available from the St. Mary's Trust.  The application period for the Trust Scholarships is also open now.  Application details for the Trust Scholarships appear above.

To apply for tuition assistance from the Archbishop's Annual Appeal, CSSP and the school budget this year, your application must be submitted via SMARTAID.  SMARTAID is a confidential service provided by SMART, LLC that helps schools to assess a family's need for financial assistance based on the information provided to SMARTAID by the family.  St. Mary's School, with the guidance and advice of our pastor, Father Matera, will continue to be solely responsible for all tuition assistance decisions and the school will notify all applicants of any tuition assistance awards.

The application deadline for tuition assistance requests is May 15, 2016.  There is a $35 fee to apply via SMARTAID.  If this fee presents a hardship for your family, please contact Mrs. Gannatti.

Click here for a set of helpful guidelines for completing your SMARTAID application.  To access the SMARTAID application, click here.

April Service Project - During the month of April, our third grade class will be coordinating the collection of packages of paper napkins to be used at the House of Bread.  The goal is to collect 1,000 packages of napkins!  Thanks in advance for your support!

Open Houses for Prospective Families -   There will  be an Open House especially for families with children getting ready to enter Kindergarten or a primary grade on Wednesday, May 4th at 6:30pm in the Primary Unit.

 An RSVP event to Toni Chagnon is appreciated -tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

OPEN HOUSE YARD SIGNS - Do you live on a well traveled road?  If so, please consider posting an Open House yard sign for us.  Signs will be available for pick up beginning Friday, 4/22, at the school office.  Signs should be promptly removed from your yard after the Open House on May 4th, and returned to the school office.  We do reuse the signs.   Thanks in advance for your help publicizing this event.

NEW!  MOMS in Prayer.  Praying with other moms lightens our burdens and provides hope, strength, and encouragement for our daily lives.  Please join us each week for one hour of conversational style prayer to lift up our children, their teachers, and the school staff before the Lord.  Tuesday mornings 9 to 10am in the Lower Church "Library" starting April 26^th.  Please contact Christine Sinopoli at christineds1213@yahoo.com for more information.

There's still time to order your SMS Yearbook - 

Yearbooks must be preordered.

The SMS Yearbook is a great way to remember a fabulous school year. Every student is pictured and every special event is captured and captioned. 

Every year our students have great fun having all their friends and teachers sign their yearbooks.  

All yearbooks must be preordered.  Orders are still being accepted. Click herefor a downloadable order form that can be sent to the school office with payment or click here to order online. Our Yearbook ID Code is 9415316.

It's In The Mail!

Fairway to Heaven Golf Tournament invitations are on their way! Get ready for a uKNIGHTed day of swinging, serving and bidding at the The Hop Meadow Country Club on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. For more information please contact Toni Chagnon at 860-658-9412 or tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

Congratulations to the Northwest Catholic High School Math team and Gabriela Doskos, SMS Class of '13, on a great performance in the State Math Meet.  Gabriela has also recently been recognized for achieving a silver medal, maxima cum laude status on the National Latin Exam for Latin III. Nationwide more than 150,000 students take this exam each year. We also extend our thanks to Gabriela for her continued role as facilitator of our school's Robotics Club. 

Congratulations to Avery Hatch, SMS Class of '12, on achieving Magna Cum Laude status on the National Latin Exam for Latin IV.  Avery is a senior at Northwest Catholic High School who will attend Elon University as Presidential Scholar and College Fellow in the fall.

We also congratulate Claire Keating, SMS Class of '09, on being named to the Dean's List for the fall semester at Assumption College.

Community News 

Announcing the St. Mary's Parish Adult Service Project—Supporting Birthright of Greater Hartford. Two ways you can help- 1) we are collecting gently worn maternity clothes, pregnancy & child care books, new or gently worn newborn- 2T clothes, blankets, diaper bags & diapers 1 and under year. Drop off is at the Parish Center,April 24th , 8– 11:30am or drop off to Shannon Matyczyk 860-335-7012. 2) Come help sort items and write encouraging notes to these courageous mothers before or after the 9:30am Mass on April 24th in the Parish Center. Let’s show our St. Mary’s spirit and support these mothers in need as we approach Mother’s Day.

Do you know where your fruits & veggies come from?  CSA members do!  Holcomb Farm in Granby invites you to learn more about CSA and to consider purchasing a share or a "picking pass".  Click here for more information or to purchase your share.

Avon Recreation is offering a Flag Football Program for students in Grades 1-12.  Registration will begin on Thursday, April 21 at www.avonrec.com and will continue thru Friday, August 1, 2016; or at Sycamore Hills Pool Monday through Friday from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm after June 27.

DESCRIPTION:   This is a NON-CONTACT NFL Flag Program and backed by USA Football. This is a recreation league, so there are no tryouts, cuts, etc. There is a full set of rules for each division developed by NFL Flag and the Rec and Parks Dept. Each player must bring cleats/sneakers (cleats preferred), mouth guard, and their own water bottle. A reversible NFL game jersey and flag belts will be provided.

For more information, click here.

Simsbury Public Library is offering lots of programs for teens and tweens in May.

Xavier High School in Middletown is holding Summer Athletic Camps for young men in grades 6-9 throughout the month of July.  They will also be continuing their Expedition enrichment camp for students entering grades 5-8.  For more information on any of Xavier's summer programs, click here.





iDTech offers Summer STEM camps for students ages 6-18.  Both day and overnight programs are available at a number of Connecticut college campuses including Trinity, Wesleyan, Western Connecticut State University and Yale.  For more information, click  here.  You can save up to 75 when you pay in full during registration by April 28th.  Use promo code:  SCHOOL2016.





Summer Programs are available at Kingswood Oxford.   There is a group sports discount if 4 kids sign up together for one particular sports week.  Registrants will get $100 off making the camp $375 for a full-day camp. Contact Sheri Shea, Camp KO Director at 860-727-5032.  For more information about the many programs being offered at Camp KO, click here.