News for the Week of 1/10/18

Calendar Updates - Lots of Important Updates This Week!

School will be closed on Monday, 1/15/18, in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

There is NO PE Club this week (1/10 or 1/11).  If you have already paid for January, you will be credited for a session in February.  To receive Mr. G's texts regarding changes to PE Club and other athletic activities - 
On your iPhone or Android phone,open your web browser and go to the following link:

rmd.at/smssport

Follow the instructions to sign up for Remind. You’ll be prompted to download the mobile app. -
rmd.at/smssport .  Follow the directions to join SMSATHLETICS with your:
Full Name
First and Last Name
Phone Number or Email Address
(555) 555-5555
OR
Text the message @smssport to the number 81010.  If you’re having trouble with 81010, try
texting @smssport to (301) 200-4763.

Important Note - This SMSATHELTICS Remind Group is separate and distinct from the general school remind community.  To receive Mr. G's texts, you must join the SMSATHLETICS group as directed above.  This information was originally shared in this blog in November.

The date for the Northwest Catholic Jazz Band & Singers' Visit has been changed to Thursday, 1/25/18, from 9-10:30am.  All are invited to the 9am performance in the Parish Center.

The date for this year's Art Show has been changed.  Originally scheduled for Friday, February 23rd, the event will now take place on Friday, March 2nd, at the Slipe Gallery at the University of Hartford's Art School.

Snow Day Makeups Have Changed Our Tentative Final Day of School -  At this time, we have had 2 snow days and our final day of school has been moved to Friday, 6/15/18.  Wednesday, 6/13/18, and Thursday, 6/14/18, will both be regular full days of school.  Friday, 6/15/18, will be a 12:45pm early dismissal with no PreK Enrichment or Aftercare.  NOTE - If we have additional snow days, our last day of school will change again.

There is no change to the date for 8th grade graduation.  Graduation is scheduled for Friday, 6/8/18.

The End of Year Kindergarten Prayer Service has been rescheduled for Thursday, 6/14/18, at 9am in the Church.  This date may change again if there are additional snow days.

It has been necessary to reschedule the dates for our Spring Scholastic Bookfair.  Spring Bookfair is now scheduled for Tuesday, 5/29/18 - Friday, 6/1/18.  Additional details will follow later this Spring.

Outdoor Recess - It's SNOW much fun!Temperatures have finally soared past 20 degrees and the wind is not blowing!
Please remember to send your child(ren) with full snow gear - including
boots & snowpants so that they can enjoy the snow!

The Open Order Period for February Hot Lunches will begin on Monday, 1/15/18.  The Open Order Period will close at the end of the school day on Friday, 1/19/18.

All orders should be placed via the Educonnect Parent Portal.  This is the only opportunity to order hot lunches for February.  Payments should be sent into the office as soon as your order is placed.




School Board Meeting - The School Board will meet on Wednesday, 1/17/18, at 7pm in the lower church.  All are invited to attend.




Upcoming Virtus Sessions - Anyone wishing to volunteer at school must complete Virtus training.  There is a training next week in our area:

St. Brigid in West Hartford on Wednesday, 1/17/18, at 3pm

To register for this session, click here and then on "First Time Registrant".

Catholic Schools Week News

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming soon! Each day during the week of Jan. 29th, the HSA will need help providing food/supplies, set-up, and clean-up, and collecting monetary donations for gift cards and a lunch. We will also need people to make posters at home! Keep your eyes out for a Sign Up Genius in the coming week, and think about how you’d like to contribute. If you’d like to help coordinate this event, please contact Mrs. Williamson. Thank you!

Mass to celebrate St. Mary’s School! At the 5:00pm Mass on Saturday, Jan. 27th, Fr. Matera will celebrate Mass in honor of our school. The whole school and their families are invited, and then there will be a pizza party for all of the SMS families in the Parish Center. If you are interested in coordinating or assisting with this event, please contact Mrs. Williamson. The HSA will also be looking for volunteers for set-up, serving, and clean-up. Sign Up Genius coming soon.

Advancement News

January is Jumping at St. Mary’s School! Take the leap to learn more about the advantages of a Catholic Education! Click here to visit our website.

Take a Tour: Walk in Wednesdays, January 3rd thru January 31st - Drop in on a Wednesday anytime between 9:00am & 11:00am and see our classrooms in action. 

Sunday Open House: January 28th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm – Meet staff, faculty, current parents and students and alumni. Featuring workshops for both parents and children in coding and cursive!

Fairy Tale Fridays: Have a 3 or young 4 year old and thinking about PreKindergarten? Come in for story time and nursery rhymes from 9 to 9:45am on any Friday in January for fun activities for child accompanied by parent or caregiver and take a peek at life as a PreKindergarten student at St. Mary’s School!

For more information or to register for any of these events please contact Toni Chagnon at 860-658-9412 or tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net

Come Grow With Us - In conjunction with the launch of our Come Grow With Us campaign, we are excited to share our new open house referral program and our new open house format. 

Our next open house is scheduled for January 28, 2018!

 …a new format, a new day, a new experience!  

Be rewarded for referring prospective families to the January Open House.

New Day:  Sunday afternoon, 1/28/18, from 2 - 4pm instead of a weeknight

New Format: New voluntary break-out sessions for prospective families to sign up and attend. Break out sessions include cursive handwriting and Dot & Dash coding.

New Experience:  More interaction, more visually stimulating/hands-on activities, more time showcasing our uniqueness real time with integrated use of technology

New Open House Referral Program:  Simply share your referral family via the referral link below and include their contact information in the confidential sign up section.  The Advancement Office will invite them to the January open house.  If they attend in person, your family will receive $25 in spirit wear credit!

Click here for New Open House Referral Link

You are our best advocates and we welcome you sharing your St. Mary’s story in whatever way you can.

Check Us Out on SCTV!  Our St. Mary's School interview with State Representative (and SMS alum) John Hampton is currently live on YouTube!   Click here. Throughout the month of January, our program will also broadcast periodically on SCTV channels.  Click here for specific programming information.

This is just a sample of what's available in the SMS Spirit Shop!
Visit the Sign Up Genius to see all the products available!

Spirit Wear Shop is Always Open!  Visit the new Spirit Wear Sign Up Genius to browse the shop and place your order.  You can even pay online!  Click here to visit the shop.

Moms in Prayer will be meeting on the following Wednesdays from 8:30-10am in the Lower Church Library - 2/21, 3/21, 4/25 and 5/23.  If you have questions about Moms in Prayer, please contact Christine Sinopoli at  christineds1213@yahoo.com or text (860)558-9868.   Children are welcome.

Lost & Found is FULL to the Brim - Our current Lost & Found collection features several pairs of gloves, a navy blue L.L. Bean jacket - child size large, a lightweight hooded black jacket, adult size medium and several cardigans, pullovers and sweatshirts along with a few winter hats and miscellaneous other items.  Please encourage your children to check the bin outside the school office if you are missing any items.  Items not claimed by Friday, 1/19/18, will be donated to charity.

News for the Week of 1/3/18

Calendar Reminders 

Our January School Mass will be at 9am on Tuesday, 1/9/18.  All are welcome to attend.  Please remember that no PE uniforms should be worn to Mass.

School will be closed on Monday, 1/15/18, in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

Winter Weather Reminders -

SMS follows the Simsbury Public Schools in regard to emergency closures, delayed openings and early closings.  If you hear that the Simsbury Public Schools are closed, opening late or closing early, SMS will be doing the same thing.  A Remind Text will also be sent if delays or closures occur and an announcement will appear on the home page of the school website.  Click here for directions to join our Remind Text community.  It is strongly recommended that all families participate in the Remind Text group.

Winter weather has really settled in!  Additionally, boiler repairs for the middle school classrooms are still pending.  Please be sure your children have appropriate winter clothing.  If the temperature should ever exceed 20 degrees, students will go out for recess.  Snow gear is needed if a child wishes to play in the snow.  Parking lots and sidewalks are plowed and sanded but boots are still needed for snow play.  Until boiler repairs are complete, middle school students may wear their PE uniforms to school and are encouraged to wear either the uniform sweatshirt or school approved spiritwear fleece items.



Upcoming Virtus Sessions - Anyone wishing to volunteer at school must complete Virtus training.  There are two sessions coming up in our area:

1. St. Therese in Granby on Wednesday, 1/10/18, at 6pm
2. St. Brigid in West Hartford on Wednesday, 1/17/18, at 3pm

To register for either of these sessions, click here and then on "First Time Registrant".



Health Office News

Welcome back! With travelling and the opportunity for sleep overs during the time off, schools often see a spike in cases of head lice after a school break, such as the beginning of the school year, after Christmas, and again after spring break.

Parents are the first, middle and last line of defense against head lice. Routine screening at home is far more effective in terms of prevention and early identification than mass screenings in school can ever be. St. Mary’s School and Simsbury School system have followed the lead of the American Pediatric Association and continue to encourage frequent screening at home. For more details, please click here.

My child is not feeling well. Should I keep him/her home?

Regular school attendance is necessary for optimal learning. However, a mere presence at school does not ensure effective learning. A child must be feeling well in order to maximize the learning experience. In addition, a child who is sick and comes to school may help spread the illness to other students and staff. It is recommended that a child remain home if any of the following conditions are present.

1. Temperature of 100 degrees or higher.

2. The need for medication, e.g., Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Motrin, Aleve or other acetominophen, aspirin or NSAID to keep the temperature below 100 degrees.

3. Vomiting and/or diarrhea with a loss of appetite and/or fever.

4. A rash that is itchy and spreading and of unknown causes. The child may return to school after an evaluation by the health care provider.

5. Acute pain that requires narcotic medication for relief.

Advancement News

January is Jumping at St. Mary’s School! Take the leap to learn more about the advantages of a Catholic Education! Click here to visit our website.

Take a Tour: Walk in Wednesdays, January 3rd thru January 31st - Drop in on a Wednesday anytime between 9:00am & 11:00am and see our classrooms in action.

Sunday Open House: January 28th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm – Meet staff, faculty, current parents and students and alumni. Featuring workshops for both parents and children in coding and cursive!

Fairy Tale Fridays: Have a 3 or young 4 year old and thinking about Prekindergarten? Come in for story time and nursery rhymes from 9 to 9:45am on any Friday in January for fun activities for child accompanied by parent or caregiver and take a peek at life as a Prekindergarten student at St. Mary’s School! Starts January 5th!

For more information or to register for any of these events please contact Toni Chagnon at 860-658-9412 or tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net

Come Grow With Us - In conjunction with the launch of our Come Grow With Us campaign, we are excited to share our new open house referral program and our new open house format. 

Our next open house is scheduled for January 28, 2018!

 …a new format, a new day, a new experience!  

Be rewarded for referring prospective families to the January open house.

New Day:  Sunday afternoon, 1/28/18, from 2 - 4pm instead of a weeknight

New Format: New voluntary break-out sessions for prospective families to sign up and attend. Break out sessions include cursive handwriting and Dot & Dash coding.

New Experience:  More interaction, more visually stimulating/hands-on activities, more time showcasing our uniqueness real time with integrated use of technology

New Open House Referral Program:  Simply share your referral family via the referral link below and include their contact information in the confidential sign up section.  The Advancement Office will invite them to the January open house.  If they attend in person, your family will receive $25 in spirit wear credit!

Click here for New Open House Referral Link

You are our best advocates and we welcome you sharing your St. Mary’s story in whatever way you can.

Check Us Out on SCTV!  Our St. Mary's School interview with State Representative (and SMS alum) John Hampton is currently live on YouTube!   Click here. Throughout the month of January, our program will also broadcast periodically on SCTV channels.  Click here for specific programming information.

Last Chance - Our Cookbook Needs Your Recipes!  So far, we have only received about 15 recipes for our new community cookbook.  In order to have a successful book, we need about 150.  *Recipes need to be submitted no later than January 6th. Our plan and goal has been to  have the cookbook available for sale late February and feature it at our Annual Art Show on February 23rd.  If we do not receive enough submissions, we will "table" this project due to lack of interest.

Recipes can be emailed as a photo attachment, typed into a submission form or handwritten on a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.  Click here for the link to the recipe form. All  recipes can be emailed to tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net or dropped off in the office.  

Snow Day Fun!  "Cut out" cabin fever & earn money for SMS with this fun Box Tops for Education collection sheet. Click here to download and print yours.  Box Tops may be sent into classrooms at any time!

Merry Christmas 2017

There was lots of fun at our Christmas Carnival today!  

Many thanks to all of the parents who sent in supplies or shared their time with us today.

Check our Facebook & Twitter Feed for lots more photos of our fun!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone back to school on Tuesday, 1/2/18, for a regular, full day of school with Early Drop Off,  PreK Enrichment & Aftercare available.

News for the Week of 12/20/17

Calendar Reminder - Friday, 12/22/17, is a 12:45pm early dismissal.  There will be no PreK Enrichment or Aftercare.  School is closed for Christmas break from Monday, 12/25/17 - Monday, 1/1/18.  School reopens for full, regular day of school on Tuesday, 1/2/18.

Thanks to all who supported our collection of new toys for "Toys for Tots"
Thanks to your generosity, there will be a lot more smiles this Christmas.

Mrs. Williamson was on Santa duty to drop off
all our Toys for Tots donations!

Get in the "Spirit" of the Season with last minute gifts from the SMS Spirit Shop. Looking for some last minute Christmas gifts that show your spirit? Check out our new sign up genius to order spirit wear. All orders placed on items in stock will be filled in time for Christmas!   Also, check out some of our new items to order for the New Year! Click here to visit the store.

Pulling out all of your favorite recipes for the holidays? Snap a quick picture to submit to our Community Cookbook!  Here's one Mrs. Howard made for our Staff Christmas Party.  It's SO delicious!!

Recipes can be emailed as a photo attachment, typed into a submission form or handwritten on a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.  Click here for the link to the recipe form. All  recipes can be emailed to tchagnon@stmarysimsbury.eduk12.net or dropped off in the office.  

*Recipes need to be submitted no later than January 6th. Our plan and goal is to have the cookbook available for sale late February and feature it at our Annual Art Show on February 23rd.  We are hungry just thinking about it!  Thank you in advance for your participation.

Don't Forget to Clip & Save Your Box Tops for Education!  As you prepare all your family's favorites for the holidays, don't forget to keep an eye out for Box Tops for Education!  Clip, Save & Send into school to help SMS.  Box Tops can be found on lots of products like:  Annie's baking mixes, refrigerated dough and boxed macaroni & cheese, Reynolds bakeware pans and parchment paper, Chex cereals, Ziploc freezer bags and containers, Totino's pizza rolls and party pizzas, Lysol bathroom cleaner, spray and disinfecting wipes, Scott paper towels and toilet paper,  Land O'Lakes butter and cheese products, Pillsbury refrigerated cookies, Hefty disposable plates and trash bags and many, many other products.  Click here for a full list.

Yankee Candle Fundraiser - Orders Accepted until 1/11/18. Your voluntary participation in this Yankee Candle Fundraiser will help us defray the costs associated with a new recorder program for our third grade and the purchase of replacement music stands for our school band. Your order will ship direct to your address!  No school pick up or sorting! How convenient is that?  It's too late for guaranteed holiday delivery but orders may be placed until 1/11/18.  All orders must be placed on-line.  Click here to start shopping!  Please feel free to share this link with friends or family that might like to support our school.  Please note - when checking out, no need to fill out a Seller ID, our group number will be prefilled and that is sufficient. (If, for some reason, you land on a "general" page, please use our group number - 999977285)



Our congratulations to the SMS alums named to the Northwest Catholic Honor Roll for the first quarter.

First Honors: Kathryn Krocheski, Aaron Belletsky, Madeline Meskill, Caroline O'Meara, Amelia Toscano, and Brendan Wlochowski, all SMS Class of '14; Olivia Chappano, Joanna Kuziak, Emma Schumaker, Matthew Shea, Meghan Shea and Lindsey Voelker, all SMS Class of '15; Isabel Mortillaro, Evan Clark, John Dumont, Kelsey Bompane, Jonathan Heiden, and Isabella Krocheski, all SMS Class of '16 and Emily McKenna, Connor Melanson, Evan Sautters, Megan Shanley, and Maureen VonHassel, all SMS Class of '17.

Second Honors:  James & John Sullivan, SMS Class of '14; Kieran Shanley, SMS Class of '15, Declan Wlochowski,SMS Class of '16; Matthew Poniatowski and Jacob Rodriguez, SMS Class of '17.

We also congratulate our alumni that have been named to the Avon High School Honor Roll.  Highest Honors:  Ava Howard, SMS Class of '17; Honors:  Thomas Howard, SMS Class of '16 & Ruairi Stenson, Class of '17.

We are also proud to share that a number of SMS alums have been named to the National Honor Society at Northwest Catholic High School.   Our congratulations to Olivia Chappano, Joanna Kuziak, Emma Schumaker, Kieran Shanley and Lindsey Voelker, all SMS Class of '15.

We are happy to share that Tim Nolan,
SMS Class of '14, will attend the
Newhouse School at Syracuse University
in the Fall of 2018.