News for the Week of 10/14/20

 

Lunch Program - Tomorrow - Thursday, 10/15/20 - is the last day to order lunches for the week of 10/19/20. All orders must be placed via the Educonnect Parent Portal. Lunch orders for the week of 10/26 may be placed from Monday, 10/19 - Thursday,10/22. Please note that NO LATE ORDERS CAN BE ACCEPTED. If you miss the order period, you will need to wait for the following week. 

Important Lunch Program Update!

You can now pay your lunch order balance online on the Educonnect website. Simply log into your Educonnect account, click the link “Make Online Lunch Payment” and enter the amount you would like to pay (a small processing fee will be added automatically to each transaction). After you click “Pay Now”, you will be presented with the options of paying with your Pay Pal account, debit or credit card. You may also continue to send in lunch payment checks to the office.  If sending a check, please send promptly after order completion.

If you have any questions regarding our lunch program, please email tprausa@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held next week from Wednesday, 10/21 - Friday, 10/23.  Each of these days will be a 12:45 early dismissal.  There will be no aftercare on conference days.   Please read the information that appears below carefully since conferences will use multiple formats this fall.

Conferences for PK3's, PreK, Kindergarten - Grade 2 will be held at school.  Weather permitting, you will meet outside with your child(ren)'s teacher in a private area on the north (playground) side of the building. Teachers will advise you if an alternate location needs to be used due to weather, etc. 

Conferences for Grades 3-5 will be held via Zoom sessions with teachers providing you with a meeting invitation for your requested day and time. 

Sign Up Genius links for PK3, PreK, Kindergarten - Grade 5 are available until 12 until midnight on Sunday, 10/18.  After that, you will need to call the School Office to schedule a conference or make a change to a conference day/time.  Please note that if you do not schedule a conference, none will be scheduled for you.  Click here to access the Sign Up Genius links you need.

Middle School (Grades 6, 7 & 8) will publish Progress Reports with comments via the Educonnect Parent Portal on Friday, 10/16.   In order to see a more detailed progress report than what is usually available, please select the "report card" option.  With this option, you will be able to view teacher comments along with grades.  If, after reviewing the detailed Progress Report, you would like to schedule a conference, please send an email to Mrs. Work.  She will respond to you with scheduling information.  

Sir Ted says Sign Up Today for his Halloween Hootenanny! 

Click here for more details & to sign up!

Virtus Online training and certification is now available online!  Virtus training is required for all volunteers at St. Mary's School.  If you have not yet completed this training, great news!  An online training program is now available!

Go to www.virtusonline.org and create an account as a First-Time Registrant.  Our Archdiocese/Diocese/Religious Organization is listed as Hartford, CT.  After registering, there is a series of 10 videos and questions after each video.  The program takes about 1 ½ hours.  You will be able to print a certificate upon completion, just send a copy to the office for our records, and then you may sign up for any future school volunteer opportunities.  Please email tprausa@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net with any questions.

Time for Pies & Cookie Dough!  Again this year, our Knights United Family & School Association is sponsoring a Lyman Pies & Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough fundraiser.  With the Donate-A-Pie feature, you can support this fundraiser even if you do not want a pie or cookie dough for yourself.  You may purchase a pie and it will be delivered to an area food pantry for you!

Orders may be placed online - click here. You may also use the paper order form that was sent home with students on Friday, 10/9/20. If paying by check, please make checks payable to St. Mary's School with "Pie Fundraiser" in the memo section.   Extra order forms are available in the school office.  All orders and payments must be submitted NLT Wednesday, October 21.  Orders will be delivered to school on Tuesday, November 24.  All pies and cookie dough arrive FROZEN AND MUST BE PICKED UP ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 between 2-4pm.  Questions?  Please contact Karen Russo at krusso201@comcast.net.  Thank you for your support! 

Fall Bookfair is Online This Year! 

 We're excited to share that we will be able to have a bookfair this fall! Follett Bookfairs has an online option. Our bookfair will be available online only from Sunday, October 25 - Sunday, November 8. Look for a link for online shopping and teacher wishlists in the blog the week of 10/21.

Choice Chat!  Earn up to 20% during Bonus Fest

Log into your ShopWithScrip.com account or your Raise Right app and celebrate the rest of October with 2-day bonuses every Friday and Saturday. Whether you’re updating your home, shopping for fall clothes, or stocking up on holiday gifts, earn up to 20% on your shopping list. All card types are included.  Brands and bonuses change every weekend.   Please email tprausa@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net with any questions.

Supporting SMS - Looking for ways to support SMS that cost you nothing?

Thanks to all who have registered their Stop & Shop shopper cards with the A+ School Rewards program.  There are currently 65 families that have designated SMS as one of their 2 chosen schools and in August & September, SMS earned $161.08 from their purchases.  If you haven't registered your card yet, it's easy to do.  Click here to get started.   Our school code is 06075.

You can also help our school earn free equipment and supplies if you place your Fitzgerald's grocery register receipt in the SMS container on your way out of the store.  Fitzgerald's will tally all of the receipts at the conclusion of the collection period and we can use the "points" earned to order free equipment and supplies.