News for the week of 5/4/16

TONIGHT - MAY 4TH  

We are Hosting Open House for families with children getting ready to enter Kindergarten or a primary grade.  The event will begin at 6:30pm in the primary unit.  Guests are welcome even if they did not RSVP for the event.

 

OPEN HOUSE YARD SIGNS - Please remember that  yard 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.

IOWA Testing in Grades 3-7 continues through Friday, May 6th.  Monday, May 9th-Wednesday, May 11th are reserved for make-up testing.   Please continue to keep in mind that it is very important for students to arrive at school PROMPTLY by 8:40AM on IOWA testing days.  Late arrivals will not be permitted into a classroom if the testing has begun until there is a break.  Additionally, we ask that you try to avoid scheduling doctor and dentist visits during the testing period.  Students cannot be called out of class during a testing period and no announcements will be made into classrooms during testing.

This Thursday, May 5th,  we will attend the 12:15pm Parish Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.  All are welcome to join us in worship.  Please remember that no physical education uniforms should be worn to Mass.

There will be a Middle School Dance this Friday, May 6th from 6-9pm in the Parish Center.  This dance is open to SMS students in grades 6-8.  Food and dessert will be provided!  The cost is $5 per student.  

Spring Vocal Concert Honoring Mrs. Gannatti- Please join us on Tuesday, 5/10/16, for our Spring Vocal Concert. Our concert will begin promptly at 7pm. This year's concert is our students' retirement gift to Mrs. Gannatti. All students in grades Kindergarten through Grade 8 participate in this concert and attendance is required. Performance is considered part of a student's music grade. Students should arrive at 6:45pm wearing their "Sunday Best." "Sunday Best" is defined as no jeans for boys or girls. Additionally, for boys, "Sunday Best" means a collared shirt with walking shorts or slacks, socks and shoes. For girls, "Sunday Best" means walking length shorts, skirt or skort or slacks and a shirt or blouse that covers the shoulders. It may also be a modest length dress that covers the shoulders. No flip-flops or backless sandals and no high heels.  

Blue Knight Night will be held on Wednesday, May 11th from 6-8:30pm in the Parish Center.   JVA and Varsity basketball players only.  All players should bring their jerseys to Blue Knight Night washed and in a zip-lock bag with their name written on it. They will be collected.  #UKnighted

Grandparents' & Special Person's Day & May Crowning will be held on Friday, May 13th.  Again this year, we are looking forward to welcoming special guests for a visit.  We hope many grandparents and people special to our students will join us for morning prayer at 8:45am in the Parish Center.  After a continental breakfast and some student entertainment, guests will be free to visit classrooms until 10:45am when the school community will transition to the church for our traditional May Crowning.  Guests will be free to depart after May Crowning as students return to school for the remainder of the academic day. 

2016 Fairway to Heaven Golf Tournament 

Registration Is Now Open! 

Click here to register now

Get ready for a uKNIGHTed day of swinging, serving and bidding at The Hop Meadow Country Club on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. For more information, please contact Toni Chagnon at 860-658-9412or tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.  

CHOICE Program News -  Please look for your family's final invoice or statement in your email this Friday. The CHOICE year ended on April 30th and any outstanding balances are due to the office at this time. If you have previously fulfilled your CHOICE obligation, you will not receive another statement at this time.

All profits from CHOICE cards purchased beginning on May 1, 2016 through April 30, 2017, are applied to your family's 2016-17 CHOICE obligation.  Thank you!

If you have questions about the CHOICE program or your family's CHOICE obligation, please contact Mrs. Budnick in the School Office -tbudnick@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

School Calendar Changes -  Please make note of the following changes to the school calendar:

Primary Grades Field Day has been moved to Monday, June 6th, from 1:30-3pm.  This event was originally scheduled for Friday, 5/20.  Students in Kindergarten - Grade 4 participate in this event and it will take place in the North (playground) parking lot.

Middle School Field Day (Grs. 5-8) will take place on Friday, May 27th from 9am-1pm. 

Wednesday, June 8th will be a full day of school with both PreK Enrichment and Aftercare available.

Thursday, June 9th will be our last day of school. There will be an Awards Assembly in the Parish Center at 9:30am.  Parents of students receiving an award will receive notification from the teacher.  This will be a 12:45 early dismissal with NO PreK Enrichment or Aftercare available.

Our first day of school for the 16-17 school year will be Wednesday, August 31.  This will be a regular, full day of school with both PreK Enrichment and Aftercare available.

Thanks to everyone who supported the 3rd grade's service project in April.
75 packages of napkins were collected for donation to the House of Bread.

Tuition Assistance for 2016-17  - 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 closed on 4/30/16.

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.

Alumni News -

Abby Herron, SMS Class of '12, pictured 4th from left, standing.

Congratulations to Abby Herron, SMS Class of '12 and a Senior at Northwest Catholic High School on her recognition as a Superintendent's Summa Scholar. To qualify for the award, which was given to 52 seniors from the eight Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Hartford, students needed to be in the top 5% of their graduating class through the first semester of grade 12. Abby and the other Summa Scholars were honored during a ceremony and reception at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield on May 2.  Each Summa Scholar was invited to name the teacher from a Catholic elementary or secondary school who had been the most influential in the student’s education. These teachers were also honored during the ceremony. Abby honored Jennifer Montoney, NWC Science teacher. Abby will enroll at either Boston College or Georgetown University in the Fall of 2016.

We also extend congratulations to the SMS alums that have recently been named to the third quarter honor roll at Simsbury High School.  SMS Class of '15 alums Mark Bedson and Patrick Sheridan have attained High Honors.  SMS Class of '14 alums Dominico Cirielli and Robert Tomasello have attained High Honors and Spencer Bernard and Parker Myslow have attained General Honors.  SMS Class of '13 alums Nicole Gomez-Nieto, Joseph Leon, and Griffin Myslow have attained General Honors. SMS Class of '12 alum Jennifer Kornacki has attained General Honors.

Community News -

Summer Fun!  The Simsbury Recreation Department has many programs available for summer fun.  Registration for summer camp and recreation programs is going on now.  Click here to learn more and explore all the opportunities for fun!

CSA Farm Shares are available at the George Hall Farm in Simsbury.   Farmer Daren Hall  is making efforts to steer the farm to biological organic growing.  He is working to restore the health of his soil so that greater nutrition will be in the crops grown there.

Shayna Glazier, Gr. 8,  will be part of a Girl Scout presentation on allergies including an Epi-Pen demonstration at the Simsbury Library this Saturday, May 7 at 10:30am in the Children's Room Discovery Center. This presentation is part of a project to earn the Girl Scout Silver Award.
 All school-aged children are invited to drop in and attend the event.