News for the week of 3/25/21

 

Final Day to Submit FACS Scholarship Applications is TOMORROW,  Friday, March 26, 2021- In addition to the tuition assistance resources available from our school, scholarships are available for the 21-22 school year from the Foundation for the Advancement of Catholic Schools (FACS).  Click here for the guidelines and application form.  It is extremely important that Mrs. Williamson has your completed form and  required financial information by TOMORROW -Friday, March 26, 2021 so that she may certify and submit your applications by the deadline.

Final Days for Yearbook Orders!  Don't miss a minute of memories!  The SMS yearbook contains a photo of every student along with candid photos from all major school events.  Yearbooks are $35 each and may be ordered online - Click here.  Our yearbook ID code is 9415321.  Please note that the order deadline is TOMORROW - March 26, 2021 and that all yearbooks must be preordered. 

Join us for a Virtual Lunch & Learn Knights United Meeting on Tuesday, March 30th at 12 noon. 

Learn more about our upcoming 3rd Annual SMS Superhero Challenge Scavenger Hunt taking place Saturday, May 1st & Sunday, May 2nd. As our largest fundraiser of the year, we need your superpowers to make it super fun and super successful!   Look for the Zoom link in an all school email soon! 

Looking Ahead to April -

Important Calendar Change! Holy Thursday, 4/1/21, will be a remote learning day with all students learning from home. It will be a half day of remote instruction. All students will bring home their iPads on Thursday, 3/31/21 and teachers will provide instructional guidance &/or materials for the morning.

School will be closed on Good Friday, 4/2/21 and Easter Monday, 4/5/21. Please be sure iPads are returned to school on Tuesday, 4/6/21.

Our April School Mass will be held on Tuesday, 4/6/21. We will continue to have some students attend Mass in the Church while the remainder attend via livestream. Parents are requested to continue to refrain from attendance at Mass at this time.

Tuition Assistance Application Deadline for 21-22 is Wednesday, 4/7/21- Again this year, all requests for tuition assistance from any of the available sources other than FACS must be made via SMARTAID.   Click here to view the types of tuition assistance available. Click here to access all the instructions needed to complete the SMARTAID application. All SMARTAID applications must be completed NLT Wednesday, April 7, 2021.  Families will received information regarding their tuition assistance package in early May.

School will be closed for Spring Vacation from Monday, 4/12/21 through Friday, 4/16/21.

Over both the Easter holiday and the Spring vacation, we ask that all families remain attuned to and adhere to the health and safety guidelines surrounding travel and gatherings. Below is the most current information from our health office based on the guidance being provided by the state of Connecticut and the Farmington Valley Health Department -

Connecticut's COVID-19 recommended guidance is that if you have traveled out of state (except NY, NJ, or RI) it is suggested you quarantine for 10 days, which can be reduced with proof of a negative test (PCR or Rapid) taken no more than 72 hours before returning to CT or at any time after that. 

Please continue to carefully consider out of state travel and avoid potentially high risk situations in which you could be exposed to COVID 19.  Continue to wear a face mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands.  If anyone in your family becomes ill, have them tested for COVID 19.  It is important to keep all members of your family home until you get the test results back.

Relaxed uniforms will begin on Monday, 4/19/21. Click here to review our uniform guidelines and for information about our Used Uniform Exchange. If shopping for new uniforms from Lands' End, don't forget to use CHOICE cards to defray your family's CHOICE obligation and to order using our school code - 900132150 to assure that your selections are the correct style/color/pattern for our school. As we transition to relaxed uniforms, please remember that school shoes are still required unless it is a gym day and that belts are required with walking shorts.

Calendar Change for our new school year - In response to a change announced by the Simsbury Public Schools, we have adjusted our start date for the 21-22 school year.  School will begin on Wednesday, September 1 instead of August 25 as previously announced.  Please make a note of this.  We hope everyone will enjoy a few extra days of summer!

SMS Stars - The St. Mary's Robotics team (Julie G, Evan P, Andy G, Ethan Z, John R, Abbie G, Charlie G, Ahren L, Ben Z, Larry G, and Joseph R) looked a little different this year.  Rather than building robots, everything was conducted virtually and was coding based.  They ended the season with an internal competition to determine who would move on to the Archdiocesan tournament.  

Congratulations to the St. Mary's competition winners: Evan P & Andy G; Julie G,  Abbie G, & Charlie G; Larry G & Joseph R.  Thank you to all our participants and best wishes to our teams moving on.  The Archdiocese tournament will be broadcast live on Saturday morning at 10 am.  A link will be provided soon.

Special thanks to our Faculty Moderator for Robotics - Mrs. Gina Raymond and our other team facilitators - Mr. Jeff Prausa and Mr. Michael Gaul.

CHOICE News -CHOICE obligations for the 2020-2021 school year are due on April 30, 2021.  There’s still time to earn towards your balance by purchasing gift cards in the school office, online at www.shopwithscrip.com or using the RaiseRight app. If you have any questions regarding your CHOICE contributions, please email tprausa@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net.

Community News - 

Living Stations of the Cross  - Our beautiful 8th grade tradition of the Living Stations was held on today (3/25) at 2pm in the church and was available via livestream.  If you were not able to view them today, the Stations have been recorded and will be available for viewing on the parish website for the coming month.

The Archdiocese of Hartford has published their schedule of Holy week services.  Some of the liturgies will be on television, and all will be streaming on the Archdiocese of Hartford Facebook page.

Holy Week at St. Mary's - Click here to view the Holy Week schedule for St. Mary's Church.  Please note that there is a Sign Up Genius for those planning to attend Easter Mass in person. 

Gregory M., Gr. 7, has participated in a virtual adaptation of Peter Pan with the Goshen Players, a local community-based theatre. He plays Tootles in this satire version which is filled with modern day comedy.  This is a production for all ages to enjoy! It is available on demand through the end of the month, 3/31/21 and is FREE!  To watch, click here to access the Goshen Players site, then click rent video, include your name and email address, and you will be sent a separate email where you just click "watch stream." 

There's still time to stock up on some fun & adorable growing gifts for Spring.  Order select products and SMS will earn 35% of your order. Fundraiser ends March 31st. Order now to increase your household cuteness (or for some cute spring gifts!) and support SMS!

Click here to see all these amazing plant growing products.