Dear School of St. Mary Parents

 

On Wednesday, December 19 th , our School of St. Mary band performed their annual Christmas Concert.  Congratulations to our students and to our Band Director Kyle Anderson for an exhilarating evening of music with the many gifted and talented students from our school!

Our School of St. Mary 1 st through 8 th grade students and staff had a truly exceptional time attending Mary Poppins Returns yesterday.  We went to the Regal Lincolnshire Theater as a school to view the film, which was a gift to everyone from our Student Council.  Many teachers taught mini-lessons on various aspects of life set in pre-World War II England prior to attending, and a number of classes read the book Mary Poppins Returns as well.  A number of staff at the UGC also dressed in period clothing for their lessons. In addition to the movie, our Student Council also paid for popcorn and a drink for all. A field trip of this size and magnitude would not have been possible without the time and talent of Tina Moulton, who spearheaded the field trip along with fellow Student Council advisor Margaret Tazioli, were in charge of much of the scheduling, organizing and arranging of the trip.  Kudos to a job well done!

Earlier this week our School of St. Mary Preschool students put on  a wonderful holiday performance with Christmas music and cheer that put everyone in the holiday mood.  On  Thursday, our Kinder garten students held  a wonderful Christmas performance telling the story of the Nativity .  T hank you to all the families and friends who came to celebrate with us.  Congratulations to our early education and kindergarten teachers Shelley Cummings,  Gosia Kalinowski ,  Hannah Lockridge ,  Anne Prindiville ,  B eth Brueggeman  and  Anne  Casey   who worked hard to prepare our students for their performances.  A special thanks goes out to Father Mark for his narration.  Great job everyone!

Homeroom Wars, 2.0: The first annual School of St. Mary Christmas Classroom Door Decorating Contest that was held at the UGC has come to an end.  The doors decorations the students and staff came up with were awesome!  The doors were judged on creativity, theme and seasonality.  The judges (Brad Doherty, Kathleen Trkla and myself) were overwhelmed with the ingenuity and hard work.  Needless to say, judging was extremely difficult. This year's winner? Lauren Fairchild's Homeroom and their Grinch inspired decorating. Great job everyone!

"Tis the Season!:  A number of our 5 th grade students here at the School of St. Mary held a Bake Sale in October to raise money for Fill a Heart 4 Kids!  Fill a Heart 4 Kids mission gives unaccompanied homeless youth and rescued children tools and positive experiences to help them heal and restore their dignity - 4 Brighter Futures. Their vision is for homeless and foster children to feel loved and valued, gain confidence, self-esteem and a successful future.  Congratulations to all of our students and parents that helped make the Bake Sale and donation possible!  

For several years now, Amy Baniewicz has been having her students write letters to S anta every year during their last few of days of school before the Christmas break. Ms. Baniewicz lets the students know that the letters will be dropped off at Macy's instead of the post office, (so there isn't any heartbreak☺).  For every letter to Santa that Macy's receives, they donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So far, Ms. Baniewicz' students have raised about $100 for the foundation from Macy's!  Thanks to Amy for this creative and fun way to help others during the Christmas season!

On behalf of the entire staff, we want to wish our extended School of St. Mary family a most joyous and merry Christmas, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.  God's blessings for all the best in 2019.

 

 

School resumes Monday, January 7 th , 2019.