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 Dear School of St. Mary Families,
We had a very busy day at the School of St. Mary on December 21st, prior to going into Christmas break. To start the day, there was a wonderful performance of Christmas and Holiday music from the Lake Forest High School Bel Cantos singers for our students at the UGC. A number of our School alumni take part in the group and it was great to welcome them back to our school.
 A highlight of the morning was our Nativity Prayer Service. Narrated by several of our 8th graders, our 2nd grade students recreated the story of the birth of Jesus based on the gospels of Matthew and Luke. It was a great reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. Thank you to our second-grade teachers Colleen Wanner and Francesca Sullivan for all their hard work and planning in helping our students prepare for their performance.
Our students at the UGC had another wonderful musical presentation following the Nativity Prayer Service as our UGC Band put on a brief concert for their classmates and teachers. Thank you to our Band Director
Kyle Anderson
for arranging this, and to our talented Band students for their musical performance.
 The afternoon was a time of celebrating the season and preparing everyone for the Christmas holiday at both campuses. Our PGC students had their traditional holiday parties, filled with games and activities. At the UGC, our students participated in a modest version of the Latin American tradition of Las Posadas. Our eighth graders dressed as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels and animals, while the rest of the school participated as inn keepers, who would turn the holy family away until they were finally given a place to stay. Our Las Posadas festivity culminated with the entire school singing Silent Night. The rest of the afternoon revolved around five different mini celebrations: fiesta, craft, games, dancing and reading. It was a great way to introduce our students to a glimpse of some other Christmas traditions from around the world. Many thanks to Jenna Organ and Lauren Fairchild for planning the event and to all the parents who came out to help.
We hope that your Christmas was memorable and relaxing. As we all look forward to what the New Year brings us at the School of St. Mary, our Marketing and Development Director Julia Donohoe has put together a slideshow highlighting some of the many activities we have had so far during this school year.
Wishing you a Happy New Year with the hope that you will have many blessings in the year to come!
School resumes Monday, January 7
th
, 2019.
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| Click Here to watch the 2018 School of St. Mary Year in Review slideshow |
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Parents Association update: Year End Giving
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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.
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Tax Credit Scholarship Matching Program
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 Matching Gift Program
A group of generous donors have agreed to pool their resources and offer a 2-for-1 matching gift program to schools run by the Archdiocese of Chicago. For every dollar designated to a qualifying school through Empower Illinois between December 1, 2018 and February 28, 2019, the school will receive two dollars in matching funds. The donations are capped at $100,000 per school.
After April 1, 2019, any matching gift program funds that are not awarded at a designated school will be reallocated to low-income students at schools with unmet demand.
Donors who would like to receive the tax credit for their 2018 taxes should begin the process prior to December 14, 2018 to ensure that they have enough time to make their gift by December 31, 2018.
General Program
You can receive a 75 percent Illinois state income tax credit for donating to needs-based scholarships through the Illinois tax credit scholarship program. Visit
www.archchicago.org/tcs
to learn more, or contact
tcs@archchicago.org
and
312.534.2617.
Support low-income students at Archdiocesan schools while receiving a 75 percent state tax credit through
the Illinois tax credit scholarship program. Visit
www.archchicago.org/tcs
to learn more, or contact
tcs@archchicago.org
and
312.534.2617.
You can provide a Catholic school education to children from low-income families while also receiving a state tax credit yourself. The Invest in Kids Act is different from regular charitable giving to the School of St. Mary or another organization. Visit
archchicago.org/tcs
to learn why and to access a step-by-step guide to the program.
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 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.
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| Empower Illinois Scholarship Application |
The 2019-2020 application start date on January 15 is quickly approaching. We've crafted some helpful resources that you can use to assist families with the application process. Tips on what documents are needed to apply, frequently asked questions and details about the program can be found on our website. These resources are available in English and Spanish, and will soon be on your empowerXchange school portal.
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2019 School of St. Mary Football
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Crusader Cafe at Home Basketball Games
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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. We would love to thank Karen Mines, Aldona Janusz and Laura Trevino-Baumann for running it the first couple home games. If you would like to sign up to help us keep the cafe open please click
here.
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Save the Date for the Back to School Bash at Skyzone
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| Church of St. Mary Sacrament Schedule |
| Community Events and resources for School of St. Mary Families |
DePaul Blue Demons Basketball Free Tickets
In the spirit of the holiday season, the
DePaul
University Athletic Department i
s proud to announce the Annual Holiday Season Winter Break Ticket Special.
DePaul
Athletics is partnering again with Chicago Catholic Schools in a community outreach initiative that allows our local families the opportunity to experience the fun and excitement of college basketball free of cost.
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December 29 - January 11, 2019
Christmas Break from December 22
nd
through January 6
th
Sunday, January 6, 2019
- Second Grade First Reconciliation Retreat 1:15-2:15 pm at St. Mary Catholic Church
Monday, January 7, 2019
- School Resumes
- Second Grade First Reconciliation Retreat 6:30-7:30 pm at UGC
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
- UGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
- 8th grade boys basketball-White at Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 5:00pm
- 8th grade boys basketball-Blue at Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 6:00pm
- 7th grade boys basketball at Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 7:00pm
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
- PGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Thursday, January 10, 2019
- Math Matters Club grades 4-6 at 8:00am at UGC
- 8th grade girls basketball vs. Pope John at 5:00pm
- 6th grade boys basketball vs. Pope John at 6:00pm
- 8th grade boys basketball vs. Pope John at 7:00pm
Friday, January 11, 2019 - Casual Dress Day
- Dr. Rigg Superintendent of School Visit from 10-11:30am
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