Dear School of St. Mary Families,
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Welcome back!  Hopefully everyone survived the Great Freeze of 2019.  You know it's cold when my Brother-In-Law, who lives in Alaska , is boasting about the warmer temperatures they are having there than what we have here in the Midwest.  With tomorrow being Groundhogs' Day, hopefully the groundhog does not see its shadow and spring is on its way.

The Archdiocese of Chicago requires 180 days of attendance for students at the School of St Mary, which is reflected in our school calendar.  Due to the fact that the Archdiocese is requiring schools to participate for two days at the NCEA Convention in April, along with the unplanned and unprecedented cold weather that has caused schools to close, the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools is allowing us to have a one-time exception in our 2018-19 student attendance requirement. Therefore, calendar requirement for this academic year will be set for a minimum of 178   days, instead of the usual 180.  Since we have taken off 4 days to date because of weather, we will only be required to make up 2 of those school days, provided we don't have to take any more days off for inclement weather.  We hope to announce when the 2 make-up school days are within the next week.

We are excited to welcome Mrs. Megan Wittekind to our School of St. Mary family.  Megan joins us as our new Seventh and Eighth grade Science Teacher, replacing Paulette Poulton.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from Northeastern Illinois University where she graduated Magna cum Laude.  Megan is a licensed professional educator in the State of Illinois, with endorsements in both Science and Mathematics. She is expecting her ESL Endorsement in the Fall of 2019.  Mrs. Wittekind previously taught Seventh and Eighth Grade Science and Mathematics at Jensen Scholastic Academy in Chicago. Prior to that, Megan taught Sixth Grade Math and Science at William G. Hibbard Elementary School in Chicago.  She worked as both a General Education Paraprofessional and Special Education Paraprofessional while living in Arizona before moving to Chicago and earning her Bachelor Degree. Megan is married with two children. We feel that she will make a positive impact in our students' education and be a great addition to our staff.

Here are our rescheduled Catholic Schools Week activities:
  • Monday, February 4, 2019
    • High School/College Shirt/Sweatshirt Dress-Up Day
    • PGC and UGC Classroom Presentations
    • Used Uniform Sale @ UGC and CrusaderWear @ PGC
  • Wednesday, February 6, 2019
    • Dress-Up Day/Formal Wear Dress-Up Day
    • PGC and UGC Classroom Presentations
    • Used Uniform Sale @ UGC and CrusaderWear @ PGC
    • Geography Bee 2:30 pm @ UGC
  • Friday, February 8, 2019
    • Casual Dress Day
    • PGC and UGC Classroom Presentations
    • Used Uniform Sale @ UGC and CrusaderWear @ PGC
    • School of Rock Assembly for 1st-8th grades 10:00 am @ the UGC
    • Kids Heart Challenge Assembly 1:00 pm @ PGC
    • Kids Heart Challenge Assembly 2:30 pm @ UGC
  • Wednesday, February 13, 2019
    • The Power of One Assembly 1:00 pm @ PGC
    • The Power of One Assembly 2:40 pm @ UGC
The School of Rock Assembly scheduled for February 1 has been rescheduled to Friday, February 8 for 10:00 am at the UGC.  We are planning to reschedule the UGC Career Days. We will announce the new date as soon as we have it.

Dave Wieters
Principal
School of St. Mary receives The LDA Make A Difference Grant
The School of St. Mary is so excited to announce that the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Learning Differences Association has generously granted two significant "Make A Difference" grants.  Our two amazing LDA Board members, Mandy Castle and Cristina Coffee, worked diligently to help our students receive Learning Ally and an Active Sensory Room at the UGC. Learning Ally is an online solution giving struggling students access to the largest library of human read audio-books, providing a multi-sensory approach to reading.
The new Active Sensory Room will include the following equipment: a trampoline, rowing machine, recumbent bike, and a steam roller. We will also have a variety of comfortable seating options that include: bean bags, sensory rockers, and a privacy pop tent. In addition, there will be an assortment of weighted blankets and lap pads to comfort students. Students will have access to this supervised room throughout the day.
Our goal is to have our students provide a name for the new Active Sensory Room.  And we are excited to invite our students to help paint the new room on Saturday, March 16 th .  Along with having some fun, his will be a great opportunity for our students to earn volunteer hours. There will be a sign up sheet sent out in the near future.
Catholic Schools Week All School Service Project extended until February 8
The School of St. Mary will be participating in a New and Gently used shoe drive for Catholic Charities as a service project for Catholic Schools Week. Since we were off school due to the weather this drive will continue through Friday February 8, 2019. To make a donation please drop off pairs of new or gently used shoes at either the PGC or UGC next week. We will be dropping all the donations off to Catholic Charities Friday Febraury 15, 2019. If you have any questions about the shoe drive contact Julia Donohoe at jdonohoe@churchofstmary.org. 
UGC Spelling Bee 
On Tuesday we held the annual spelling bee at the UGC. We had students from grades 4-8 participate after winning their classroom competitions which were held in their english classes. The final was held in the UGC gym where they competed in front of their peers and parent guests. The winner was sixth grader Jason Kowalski who is now eligible to represent the School of St. Mary at a district competition.  Congratulations to all who participated and thank you to all the guests who came to watch the event.   


 
Parents Association Update
Earlier today you should have received an email with a link to a survey. As we begin to look at the 2019-2020 school year we would love to get input from all of our school families about the types of events offered by the Parents Association. We ask that you please submit your responses by  Friday, February 8, 2019 . Please contact Julia Donohoe if you have any questions.
Save the Date for the PA Spring Event - More information coming next week


Amazon Smile
AmazonSmile  is a website operated by  Amazon  with the same products, prices, and shopping features as  Amazon .com. The difference is that when you shop on 
AmazonSmile , the  AmazonSmile  Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the School of St. Mary. 

To use amazon smile go to smile.amazon.com and then select School of St. Mary Lake Forest, IL as your organization of choice. Then just use amazon as you normally would you will be supporting the school without even thinking about it. 
 



Parent Presentations


Hot Lunch Orders
Please make sure you are placing your orders for hot lunch by clicking here.  We are happy to again be working with such a great organization to bring our students hot lunches, for more information on this great program please read this story from the AP about how they are changing school lunches. 

If we can assist with anything else at all, please contact us at support@kiddoscatering.com.
Crusader Cafe at Home Basketball Games
We are pleased to announce that at all home basketball games our Cusader Cafe 
will be open for snacks and drinks. The cost ranges from 25 cents to a dollar for the items offered and all proceeds go back to the athletics programs. However, we can only run the Crusader Cafe with the help of our wonderful basketball parents.  If you would like to sign up to help us keep the cafe open please click here.

Church of St. Mary Sacrament Schedule
Kids Heart Challenge 

Our school is thrilled to announce through our  Kids Heart Challenge program we are partnering with the  Chicago Bulls!
 
Students who collect donations using our school's Kids Heart Challenge website OR the Kids Heart Challenge app will have the opportunity to earn BOGO free tickets to Hoops Night on Saturday, March 23, 2019 and/or the Court of Dreams Experience from 2:00-4:00 before that evening's game!
 
TICKETS ARE LIMITED SO IF YOU WANT AN OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN US AT HOOPS NIGHT, ACT FACT!
All tickets must be purchased by February 28, 2019 and there is no limit to how many BOGO free tickets you purchase!
 
You can collect donations using our school's Kids Heart Challenge event website by going to  www.heart.org/kidsheartchallenge and search for our school name  ( https://youtu.be/g2QfIFvIaqE)or download the Kids Heart Challenge app from the app store on your iPhone or Android phone.  Once your student has reached their fundraising incentive level you will receive an email from the American Heart Association with a promo code and instructions.  Emails with promo code and instructions will be sent out once a week (on Friday), not immediately upon hitting the fundraising incentive level.
 
We hope to see you there!

Lake Forest High School Cheer Clinic
January 26 - February 9

Saturday, February 2
  • 5th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Francis Xavier at 1:10pm
Sunday, February 3
  • 4th Graders attend Mass at 10:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
Monday, February 4
  • High School/College Shirt/Sweatshirt Dress-Up Day
  • PGC and UGC Classroom Presentations
  • Used Uniform Sale @ UGC and CrusaderWear @ PGC
Tuesday, February 5
  • UGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Joseph at 5:00pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-White at St. Joseph at 6:00pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-Blue at St. Joseph at 7:00pm
Wednesday, February 6
  • Dress up/Formal Wear Dress-Up Day
  • PGC Mass at St. Patricks at 9:00am
  • Eating Right and Healthy Habits Presentation for 7th and 8th grade at UGC
  • Used Uniform Sale at UGC and CrusaderWear at PGC
  • Geography Bee at 2:30 at UGC
Thursday, February 7
  • DAR Essay Contest Award Ceremony from 1:00pm - 3:00pm at CROYA
  • 6th Grade Boys Basketball vs. Sacred Heart at 6:00pm
  • 7th Grade Girls Basketball at Sacred Heart at 6:00pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-White vs. Sacred Heart 7:00pm
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at Sacred Heart 7:00pm
  • Presentation by Dr. Jacintha McLaughlin, PhD Clinical Psychologist at PGC at 6:30pm
Friday, February 8 - Casual Dress Day
  • Casual Dress Day
  • Used Uniform Sale at the UGC and CrusaderWear Sale at the PGC
  • School of Rock assembly for grades 1-8 at the UGC at 10:00am
  • Kids Heart Challenge at PGC at 1:00pm
  • Kids Heart Challenge at UGC at 2:30pm
Saturday, February 9
  • 8th Grade Confirmation Retreat at St. Mary's Catholic Church from 12:30-6:00pm
  • 5th Grade Girls Basketball at Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 4:20pm
Sunday, February 10
  • UGC Choir sings at 10:00am Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church
Monday, February 11
  • 6th Grade Boys Basketball vs. St. Joseph at 5:00pm
  • 7th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Joseph at 5:00pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-White vs. St. Joseph at 6:00pm
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Joseph at 6:00pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-Blue vs. St. Joseph at 7:00pm
Tuesday, February 12
  • UGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-Blue at Faith, Hope and Charity at 5:00pm
  • 6th Grade Boys Basketball at Faith, Hope and Charity at 6:00pm
Wednesday, February 13
  • PGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Patricks Church
  • The Power of One assembly at 1:00pm at PGC
  • The Power of One assembly at 2:40pm at UGC
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-Blue vs. Faith, Hope and Charity at 4:30pm
  • 7th Grade Girls Basketball vs. Faith, Hope and Charity at 5:30pm
  • 7th Grade Boys Basketball vs. Faith, Hope and Charity at 6:30pm
Friday, February 15
  • Coffee with the Principal at 9:00am at the PGC
  • Father Daughter Dance 7-9pm at the UGC