News for the Week of 10/7/20

 

October is the month of the Holy Rosary.

Early Dismissal - School will be dismissed at 12:45pm this Friday, 10/9.  There will be no aftercare on 10/9.

School will be closed on Monday, 10/12, in observation of Columbus Day.

Lunch Program - Tomorrow - Thursday, 10/8/20 - is the last day to order lunches for the week of 10/13/20. All orders must be placed via the Educonnect Parent Portal. Lunch orders for the week of 10/19 may be placed from Monday, 10/12 - Thursday,10/15. 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 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 will be active beginning on Monday, 10/12. Conference scheduling will be open via Sign Up Genius from Monday, 10/12 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.

Middle School (Grades 6, 7 & 8) will publish Progress Reports with comments via the Educonnect Parent Portal on Friday, 10/16.  If, after reviewing the Progress Report, you would like to schedule a conference, please send an email to Mrs. Work.  She will respond to you with scheduling information.  

Grade 8 Fundraising - Popover Bistro & Bakery in Simsbury - This Friday, 10/9!   Stop by for some lunch, buy a gift card for a favorite person or take some treats home for the long weekend...and support the eighth grade class at SMS. 

Popover has outdoor seating, online ordering and take out, just make sure you mention you are supporting SMS when you place your order!  Thanks in advance for your support!

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 beginning today (Wednesday, 10/7) - click here. You may also use a paper order form that will be sent home with youngest and only 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! 

Knights United Family & School Association is excited to be hosting our first  Sir Ted's Halloween Hootenanny!   Trick or Treating & Halloween fun will be had by all on Saturday, Oct. 31st  from 12:30pm to 3:30pm in 3 separate hourly sessions. All activities will be outside, children will be trick or treating at the exterior doors of the building. 

To help assure the health & safety of all and to abide by current guidelines for gatherings - no outside (non-SMS) guests may participate in this event.  Siblings of SMS students attending other schools, grades 8 and below, or those not yet of school age may participate.  This is not a drop off event, all children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.   

Costumes must follow school guidelines: no scary and/or bloody costumes, no fake weaponry. 

We will be following CDC and state guidelines. 

Please click here to sign your family up for 1 of 3 (1 hr.) sessions. Please note - each family member that will be attending should be signed up in a separate slot so we have an accurate attendance count. For example, Susie and her parents are coming to session one - On the Sign Up Genius, 3 "reservations" are entered:  Susie, Susie Parent1 and Susie Parent 2.  Family groups are limited to participation in only 1 session.

 

Best Halloween Decorations Contest: The winning grades in PreK through 4th grade and 5th thru 8th grade voted to have the best decorations will enjoy a Friday pizza lunch and a trophy for their classroom!  Look for more details coming soon from your room parents! 

REMINDER - If you are planning to volunteer to help at this event, you must be Virtus trained.  

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.