News for the Week of 1/18/17

Hot Lunch Order Period for February now OPEN -  The order period for February hot lunches is now open and will remain open until January 25th. The portal will not allow orders to be placed after the 25th.   Please sign in to the Educonnect parent portal to place your lunch orders. Once your selections are submitted, the system will show you the total amount spent to date on the left of the screen.  The negative number shown to the right of the "Current Balance" is the amount actually owed for hot lunch for the month.  Please send your payment to the school office marked February Hot Lunch.  Here is a sample of what you may expect to see :

Family ID:221   Family Last Name:Sample    Parents: David & Jane
Students: Michael Sample :7th  
Total Spent: $96.00   Current Balance: -$54.00 - ***$54  is the amount owed by the Sample family****

The Sign Up Genius for Hot Lunch Volunteers for January - June is now available. Click here to volunteer. There are still many days that help is needed - if you are Virtus trained, serving hot lunch is a great way to share in your child(ren)'s day.

Rosa Parks refuses to move to the back of the bus, even when
asked to do so by the bus driver.

Students in Mrs. Jehning's First Grade Class acted out the story of Rosa Parks. They did a fabulous job of retelling the events that happened in history so long ago.

Celebrating SMS & Catholic Schools Everywhere! This month, we join Catholic schools across the country in celebrating Catholic Schools' Week from 1/29 - 2/3. It will be a busy week here at SMS with lots of events designed to build community and celebrate our special school.

ALL SCHOOL FAMILIES PLEASE NOTE - We will begin our celebration at the 5pm St. Mary's Parish Mass on Saturday, 1/28. Father Matera is very excited that our school community will be present at this liturgy.  This is an opportunity for us to worship together and we anticipate that all school families will attend. Students should wear their formal uniforms. If your family will not be able to attend Mass, please email Mrs. Williamson.

School families are invited to the Parish Center after Mass for a casual pizza supper. A Sign Up Genius is now available to reserve your dinner - Click here. Dinner will include cheese pizza, green salad and water and will be $5 per person. All meals must be reserved via the sign up genius and paid for in advance so that we know how much food to order.  We hope many of you will join us as we celebrate Catholic Schools and our wonderful school!

Monday, January 30 - Friday, February 3 is Teacher Appreciation Week at SMS! As part of the celebration of Catholic Schools during Catholic Schools Week, there is a tradition of expressing appreciation for the faculty and staff for all that they do for the children. We thank those that have stepped forward to organize this week's activities. Several wonderful surprises are planned for faculty and staff.  If you would like to contribute to this week's activities, please use this Sign Up Genius - Click here.

Wednesday, January 25, we will host an Open House for Prospective Families at 6:30pm in the Parish Center.  If you know a family wondering if SMS is the right place for them, please invite them to attend this event.  We would also be happy to provide them with a school tour on a day and time convenient for them if they are not able to attend Open House.

Thursday, January 26, is Family Lunch Day at SMS!  

Everyone is invited to bring a brown bag lunch to share with their favorite SMS student(s).  Please note - NO PIZZA will be provided for lunch this year. All students and guests will need a brown bag lunch.  Students that participate in the milk program will receive milk as usual.  Times for Family Lunch Day are:

11:00-11:35 PreKindergarten, Kindergarten, Grades 1 & 2

11:40-12:15 Grades 3 & 4

12:20-12:50 Grades 5, 6, 7 & 8

Box Tops for Education - Our school is collecting Box Tops for Education again this year and we hope you've been clipping your Box Tops!  This is a painless way for our Home & School Association to raise money.  The next time we can submit Box Tops is at the end of February so we are requesting that all Box Tops be sent in no later than Friday, February 24th.  Your Box Tops can be sent into school and turned in to the homeroom or you can send them directly to Richard Kuziak, Kindness of Michael in Grade 6.  Any Box Tops that are saved after February 24th may be sent to school at your convenience or sent directly to Mr. Kuziak.  Thanks to all for clipping and saving those Box Tops and our special thanks to Mr. Kuziak for coordinating the Box Tops program for us!

Moms in Prayer -  In addition to prayer, the group will be reading and discussing The Blessing -Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance by John Trent and Gary Smalley, through the end of Chapter 9, at our next meeting on Wednesday, February 8th at 8:30am, in the lower church library. The book draws from Scripture with examples of how those in the Bible have historically blessed their children through meaningful touch, a spoken message, attaching a high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment. Please contact Christine Sinopoli to borrow a copy of the book.

Looking Ahead to February's Parent/Teacher Conferences - 

Conferences for PreKindergarten and students enrolled in grades 1-8 will take place from Tuesday, 2/14/17 - Thursday, 2/16/17.  (Kindergarten Conferences are being held from January 18-21 only during the regular school day.  A Sign Up Genius has been made available to Kindergarten parents for these conferences.).   

Tuesday, 2/14/17 - Thursday, 2/16/27 will be 12:45pm early dismissal days.  Friday, 2/17/17, is also a 12:45 early dismissal for professional development.  Please note that there will be NO PREKINDERGARTEN ENRICHMENT OR AFTERCARE AVAILABLE ON TUESDAY, 2/14/17 - FRIDAY, 2/17/17.  Please make note of this and plan accordingly.  A Sign Up Genius to reserve your conference days and times will be available soon and will be announced via an all family email and blog post.

Alumni News - 

Jennifer Kornacki,
SMS Class of '12

Jennifer Kornacki, SMS Class of '12, had the opportunity to travel and perform with Stonehill College's Chapel Choir in Italy for 7 days in January.  Jennifer plays the flute with the choir, and had four performances including a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and a Papal Audience for Pope Francis.  She traveled to Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Assisi, and Rome and had a wonderful experience sharing her faith with the ensemble.

Assumption College has announced that Claire Keating, SMS Class of '09, is one of 486 students named to the college's prestigious undergraduate Dean's List for the fall 2016 semester. To earn a spot on the Dean's List, Assumption students must achieve a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for a five-class, 15-credit semester. 

Community News -