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St. Michael's Academy
:
We are looking forward to our annual Christmas Pageant next week at St. Catherine of Siena Church. We are grateful to Fr. Glover for providing us with a beautiful and spacious church to hold our pageant.
The students have been practicing for many weeks with Mrs. Duplessis and their teachers and are ready to go! It is always such a heart-warming presentation that helps us get into the Christmas spirit and reminds us of the reason for the season. From little angels and animals, to singers and musicians, all students join together to participate in this meaningful nativity reenactment.
Just a
s a reminder, the students whose last names begin with the letters A-L will perform on Tuesday, December 12th and students whose last names begin with the letters M-Z will perform on Wednesday, December 13th. Both performances will begin at 6 p.m.
I hope to see you at the Pageant!
Peace,
Ann E. Dougal
Principal
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Upcoming Dates To Remember
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Please make note of these important upcoming dates:
Friday, December 8, 2017
Progress Reports Sent Home
Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 6 p.m.
St. Michael's Academy Christmas Pageant
Students with last name A-L perform
St. Catherine of Siena Church
Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 6 p.m.
St. Michael's Academy Christmas Pageant
Students with last name M-Z perform
St. Catherine of Siena Church
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Snow Date for Pageant
Friday, December 15, 2017
Walk-a-thon DRESS DOWN Day
Please remember to attend Church as a family.
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| The Fund For SMA |
The Fund for SMA Challenge!
"The Sky's the Limit"
We have some exciting news! For every NEW GIFT, every LAPSED DONOR GIFT, and every INCREASED GIFT, St. Michael's Academy will receive a MATCHING GIFT in its entirety. This matching donation is made possible through the kindness of an anonymous donor
! This means your gift will have twice as much value!
This is an incredible opportunity for our school! Please help us by making your contribution today. Every donation, no matter the amount, goes a long way in helping our school meet the needs of our students!
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Perfect Attendance
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Good Attendance Pays Off !
Congratulations to our perfect attendance dress-down winners! In order to qualify for the weekly drawing, a student must have no absences, tardiness or early dismissals the previous week of school. We select one from PreK - 2nd grade, one from 3rd - 5th grade and one from 6th - 8th grade. Congrats! This issue we have two weeks of winners!
The week of November 13th:
Brayden - KA Sheldon - 5B
Jessica - 7B
For the week of November 27th:
Raymond - KB Thomas - 5A
Zoe - 6C
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From The Class of Sr. Constance - Tutorial
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Jesus Is The Reason For The Season
Suppose you planned a special birthday party for your child and NO ONE came. Let that image roam around in your mind for a minute. All the work, all the planning, the food, the treats, and above, all your child's excitement! It's time for the party and no one has arrived.
Then you hear your child's pain filled cry, "M o m m y!" You go to your child who is standing staring out the window, tears flowing down his cheeks. You follow his gaze and see all of his friends who are invited to his party, playing together on your neighbor's lawn. It seems they are having a party without your child. You gather your child into you arms, willing him to feel all of your love, wanting to fill him with happiness.
But you know that isn't going to happen. The "birthday boy" is hurt, confused, and deeply sad. How does
your
heart feel? The heart of a mother or father looking at her/his heartbroken child and not being able to make it better.
Christmas is the birthday of Jesus. We plan for months. We buy gifts. We decorate the house, prepare special food and get ready for our guests. This is all good. We make memories and start and continue traditions with our families. But, remember "the birthday boy" - Jesus!
Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of the Christ Child. It's t
he birthday of Jesus.
Advent is the time we are called to prepare for the coming of Jesus, the birth of Jesus. How can you prepare as a family? There are many ways. What is most important is that you help your child remember it's about giving, sharing, and loving others. Sure we all
want
something, but there are those who
need
things.
Here are some ideas of things you can do as a family to prepare for the birth of Jesus:
- Pray for those who are in need; the sick, the suffering, the lonely.
- Read about and talk about the birth of Jesus.
- Have a nativity scene in your home and talk about it.
- Write a letter to Jesus thanking Him for all you have.
- Spend time together reflecting on how you can show love to others.
- Make an Advent Wreath.
- Use an Advent Calendar.
- Visit a home for the elderly and take a small gift or treat.
- Make toy donations.
- ATTEND MASS TOGETHER ON CHRISTMAS.
These are just a few ideas of the many ways your family can prepare for the birth of Jesus. I am sure you can think of many more ways to engage your family in remembering the reason for Christmas. It will take time and thought and it may not be easy, but it is well worth the effort.
During all the hectic preparations for Christmas, remember
the Birthday Boy!
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School Mass
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The Feast Of The Immaculate Conception
Today we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Thank you Msgr. Joyce for celebrating Mass with us today. And thank you also to our Grade 3 hosts who provided us with choir music, served as altar servers and as readers - great job as always!
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Student Writing Gallery
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Motivation = Success
What does student motivation look like?
I encourage you to enter the SMA web site under Student Life/Student Writing Gallery by clicking here and discover what teacher diligence, caring, and hard work can do for student motivation. Once there, you will find the work of a young English as a second language third-grade student, who in the beginning, found school and the work load overbearing. With the persistence and support of his teachers, he now enjoys coming to school and doing the things he once avoided, namely reading and writing.
Our young student now also carries a writing notebook with him to jot down his thoughts, feelings and illustrations as time permits. He is happy to write, not only at school, but more importantly at home as well.
Enjoy reading his writing and all the writing of our students!
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Christmas Pageant
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For Unto Us A Child Is Born!
It's here! It's here!
The Christmas Pageant will be performed on two nights next week - December 12th and 13th at
St. Catherine of Siena Church beginning at 6 p.m. Students whose last names begin with the letters A-L will perform on the 12th and students with the last name starting with M-Z will perform on the 13th. All students need to arrive between 5:30 and 5:50 p.m. on their designed night.
Share our Christmas spirit and join us for this heart-warming nativity rendition performed by students of all ages.
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Confessions
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We thank the following priests for helping our students receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week:
Fr. Mark Mengel
Fr. Ryan Rooney
Fr. David Darcy
Fr. Robert White
Msgr. David Joyce
Fr. Matt Alcombright
 
 
 
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Middle Level Dance
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Christmas Dance
The middle level students were sporting their Sunday best at the Christmas dance this week. There were some handsome gents and some pretty ladies! Here are just a sampling of photos!
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Walk-a-thon
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Dress-Down Day For Walk-a-thon !
The dress down day for students who raised $25 or more for the Walk-a-thon will be
Friday, December 15th.
Teachers will be sending home a ticket with all students who qualify for the day!
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Girls On The Run
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Way To Go Girls!
Hats off to the St. Michael's Academy middle level Girls On The Run team!
They completed their season and ran their 5k on November 19th at Smith College. They were among 1,000 runners from schools all over Western Mass who participated in this great event.
Both family and local community volunteers ran with the girls as running buddies. What a fantastic showing of so many parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who came out to support the team! Thank you!
Girls On The Run is also looking for coaches for our 10 week Spring season! Anyone interested in coaching either grades 3-5 or 6-8, can go to www.girlsontherunwesternma.org, or contact Kristie Budrecki at [email protected] directly for more information!
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School Safety
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There's A New Stop Sign In Town!
Old habits are hard to change so we wanted to call attention to a new stop sign on the corner of WHEELER AND ARVILLA. If you travel this way for pick up or drop off, please take note!!
Also, please notice that this creates a four-way stop on this corner.
Safety first!
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Pope Francis Players
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"How The Other Half Dies"
The Pope Francis Players will present the comedy/murder mystery, "How The Other Half Dies" on December 15, 16, and 177. St. Michael's Academy 8th grade students and their parents will receive a discount of $2 off their ticket!
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Prayer Corner
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St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us!
We pray for all St. Michael's Academy students, families, faculty, and staff, and their special intentions:
Rose Mary Caudle
Thu Lieu Vo
David Ericksberg
Kathy Hudak
Msgr. Daniel Liston
And we pray in a special way for our recently departed:
Kathleen Bergdoll
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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Food For Thought
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"Since love completes all, makes all hard things soft, and the difficult easy, let us strive to make all our acts proceed from love."
- St. Arnold Janssen
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Parish News
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Mt. Carmel Church
Whether these hectic days make you sing Joy To The World or mumber Bah Humbug, this festival is for you! Mt. Carmel Church, 123 William Street in Springfield, invites you to "A Christmas Carol Festival" on
Sunday, December 10th from 2-4 p.m.
Sing your favorite carols and learn a bit about their history. Be inspired by Christmas memories, relive the mirracle of Christmas and enjoy homemade Christmas cookies. FREE! No reservations or tickets needed!
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Holy Cross - Springfield
Breakfast with Santa
The Holy Cross Knights of Columbus invite you to join us for this year's "Breakfast with Santa" on
Sunday, December 10, from 9 - 11:30 a.m. in the St. Michael's Academy gym.
In addition to the pancake breakfast there will be activities for the kids including a "Keep Christ in Christmas" poster contest, an opportunity for a picture with Santa and more. Tickets are $3 for children, $5 for adults, or $12 for a family. Tickets will be available for purchase after Mass, at the tree lighting on Dec. 3, or online on the parish website.
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St. Patrick's - Springfield
Christmas with The Dan Kane Singers
Sunday, December 17th
at 2 p.m. (doors will open 1 p.m.)
Tickets are not required, however a goodwill offering
is gratefully accepted.
St. Cecilia's - Wilbraham
SAVE THE DATE!
The Saint Cecilia Children and Adult Choirs will present their annual
Festival of Carols
in the Church on
Sunday, December 17 at 7 p.m.
The program will feature Advent and Christmas favorites that are sure to fill you with the spirit of the season.
Admission to the concert is free! A free-will offering will be taken.
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Thank you for your interest in St. Michael's Academy. To ensure receipt, please add [email protected] to your address book.
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St. Michael's Academy
153 Eddywood Street - Springfield, MA 01118
www.smaspringfield.org
413.782.5246 office
413.782.8137 fax
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