|
Dear School of St. Mary Families,
It's been another busy week at the School of St. Mary!
A number of our School of St. Mary eighth grade students, several chaperones and I recently returned from an outstanding field trip to Washington, D.C.! We had a fast-paced, interactive journey, experiencing "first-hand" what has been taught in the classroom and studied by our students. Our trip departed by bus early on the morning of May third from the UGC to O'Hare Airport, from where we flew to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. We returned to Lake Forest on the evening of May sixth. Our students were able to visit the White House, Supreme Court, and several of the Smithsonian Museums, including the new African American Museum, the American History Museum, the Natural History Museum, as well as the National Air and Space Museum. In addition to visiting many shrines, monuments, and museums, our students were able to witness the changing of the guard and unique wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Highlights included attending Sunday Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and a tour of the U.S. Capitol. Our trip concluded with visits to the Memorials for Jefferson, FDR, and MLK on Monday, followed by a tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. For those of you that have been to the Holocaust Museum, you know what an incredible, moving experience it can be. Even after studying this subject, our students were still blown away by the sights and sounds. The field trip would not have been possible without the time and talent of Heather Fowler, who was in charge of planning and arranging the tour. She went above and beyond. Thanks, Heather! Thank you also to our chaperones, Jeff and Jennifer Arch and Heather Kotlarz, along with our teacher chaperones, Amy Baniewicz and Rob Zeinz. This was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students (and chaperones as well). We hope to make this trip an annual tradition for our eighth-grade students for years to come!
On Tuesday, we wrapped up the coding lessons with the Ozobot robots for our students at the PGC. It's interesting to note that the vast majority of people aren't even aware of its existence, let alone what coding is. Coding is the computer language used to develop apps, websites, and software. Without it, we'd have none of the significant technology we've come to rely on such as Facebook, smartphones, the browser we choose to view our favorite website or even the sites themselves. It all runs on code. Mrs. Spevacek and several of our seventh-graders spent the morning teaching our first-graders how to code. Students began their learning of coding by using the Color Specific Coding strategy. Be sure to ask your PGC student what they have learned. They enjoyed the experience!
Under the direction of Ms. Lydia Jeon, our School of St. Mary third graders offered two performances of the musical, The Principal and the Pea, to Primary Grade Center students and parents on Thursday. The plot finds the cast searching for the perfect principal with seven hip, rhyming songs. Unlike the famous Hans Christian Anderson tale, which inspired the composer, this story takes place in the school cafeteria. The smiles and energy of our students immediately connected the audiences to the action. As part of the performance, our students also demonstrated their musical training on their recorders. Thank you to PGC Music Teacher, Lydia Jeon, for all of her hard work in preparing our students for their performances. Thanks, also to our third-grade teachers, Marcy Haubner, Ashley Rylander, and Maria Stolzman, for putting in all of the extra time necessary for performances such as these. Great job everyone!
Today we opened the doors at both the PGC and UGC campuses to all those special people in our student's lives. We welcomed these special guests to our school and allowed them to see how the School of St. Mary helps our students grow and learn. We loved having all of the special guests visit our school, and hope they enjoyed seeing a part of what makes the School of St. Mary so unique.
Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 21 at 6:30 pm. The School of St. Mary will be hosting its first-ever Preview Night and Volunteer Fair in the PGC gym. Go to learn all about the many volunteer opportunities we have available for the next school year. It will also be a night to learn more about the exciting events that are planned throughout the summer and next school year. We will have refreshments and drinks available as well. I hope to see everyone there.
David Wieters
Principal
|
|
2019-2020 School of St. Mary Outline Calendar
|
|
New Family Referral Program: Click Here for the Form
|
|
Crusader Challenge Week 2 Update
|
On Thursday, May 9 our seventh graders participated in a retreat led by Father
Mark Augustine at the Church of St. Mary Parish Center. The retreat ran from 9:00-11:15 am and focused on helping to build companionship, listening to the voice of God and responding to him. The retreat began with the students having to work together to untangle a human knot, ensuring that they started the day working together to achieve a common goal. The students then focused on their connection to God by participating in some skits that drew attention to building a strong relationship by listening to what God is asking of every person. The day was full of laughter and bonding and truly helped our seventh graders grow together as a class. Thank you to Father Augustine for planning and presenting such a fun morning for our students.
|
|
Primary Grade Center "Get Ready for Next Year" Coffee
|
On Thursday morning, many Primary Grade Center parents attended an informational coffee entitled, "Get Ready for Next Year." A teacher from each grade level shared a brief summary of their curriculum as well as expectations. Parents asked questions and offered comments about their experiences at the PGC. In addition to specific grade level details, the group discussed the necessity of play, ways to build independence, critical thinking, as well as resilience in children, and the importance of more physical activity and less screen time for our young learners.
|
|
Save the Date: Preview Date and Volunteer Open House
|
|
School of St. Mary Football Spring Training Session
|
|
School of St. Mary Summer Parade Floats
|
|
We're back on the parade circuit! The School of St. Mary will have a float in the Lake Bluff 4th of July Parade and the Lake Forest Days Parade!
We need your help! If you are skilled in designing or have construction/ crafting abilities and want to assist with the float, please join the float committee!
For more information, please contact
Kim Egan: (312) 720-9614 or
Kelly Rynes: (847) 987-6296
We love our Crusader community! Mark your calendars!
JOIN US and show your CRUSADER PRIDE!
June 28 and 29: Float Creation Days! It's a family affair! Come out to the UGC parking lot and have some fun while constructing the float!
July 4 and August 7 - Ride or walk the route with us! More details to come!
|
The Book Fair is coming to the PGC May 13-16. PGC students will be previewing the Book Fair on Monday, May 13 and Tuesday, May 14. They will come back on Wednesday and Thursday to make purchases.
New this year...The Book Fair will be open late on Wednesday, May 15 so that UGC students have a chance to come browse. There will be lots of great books for them too! That Wednesday is an early dismissal day so plan on stopping by until 5:00 pm to check it out!!!
Another new feature is Scholastic now has eWallet - a digital payment method for students.
Here is a brief commercial about it -- more to come next week about how to set up your account. It's Super Easy!
Thanks for supporting your library!
|
|
Good Afternoon!
This past weekend, Music Education Services held it's annual Honors Band Festival in Elmhurst, Illinois, and SOSM was proudly represented! A little information about the event is provided below:
Honors Band is an annual event hosted by Music Education Services, bringing some of the most advanced students together to play challenging music. Two bands performed, a Symphonic Honors Band and a Concert Honors Band. As the name implies, being part of either band is truly an honor! Students in Symphonic Band were chosen through an audition process, and students in the Concert Band were nominated by their director (me) through a specific selection process. Selected students participated in a full day event with various conductors, sectionals, rehearsals and a final concert for families and loved ones.
Leading up to this day, the students put in lots of extra practice time, as this was in addition to any of our normal class work It was the most playing these children have probably ever done in one day. At the same time, it was one of the largest, and most rewarding, groups for all who participated. Honors Band gave students the idea of what it is like to be in a high school band program.
From SOSM, the following student(s) participated:
- Will Boyle- Clarinet in Concert Honors Band (nominated position)
- *Special recognition to Bernadette Petty, who was nominated for Concert Honors Band (on clarinet) and attending rehearsals leading up to the event, but had a conflict arise on the day.
I am very proud of the hard work and extra effort that both Will and Bernadette put in for this event, and I encourage you to include their names in the next set of school announcements/newsletters.
Thanks!
Kyle Anderson
Director of Bands
|
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.
|
REMINDER: KIDDOS LUNCH IS ONLY SERVED THROUGH MAY 31st
Please make sure you are placing your orders for hot lunch by clicking
here
. We are happy to again be working with Kiddos Catering to bring our students hot lunches. For more information on our hot lunch program please read this
story
from the AP about how they are changing school lunches.
If you need assistance with the Kiddos Catering program, please contact them at support@kiddoscatering.com.
|
|
Community Events for School of St. Mary Families
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, June 24, 2019
Chicago Highlands Golf Club, Westchester, Illinois
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools Golf Outing
$300 per golfer
$1,200 per foursome
|
|
|
|
Registration open now click here
For questions or additional information, please contact Teresa Battaglia at tbattaglia@archchicago.org
Proceeds from Fore the Kids benefit emergency tuition assistance and academic innovation. Emergency tuition assistance provides scholarships to economically challenged students, enabling them to continue their pursuit of academic excellence through Catholic education. Academic innovation includes updated classroom technology and equipment, dual language immersion, and resources to serve students with defined learning needs.
|
|
|
|
|
May 13 - May 24
Monday, May 13
- PGC Bookfair
- School Advisory Council Meeting at 6:45 pm at the UGC
Tuesday, May 14
- UGC Mass at 9:00 am at St. Mary Catholic Church
- 8th Grade Ribbon Ceremony immediately following Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church
- Good Bye, God Bless immediately following 8th Grade Ribbon Ceremony in UGC Multipurpose Room
- PGC Bookfair
Wednesday, May 15
- Early Dismissal Day. PGC at 2:00 pm and UGC at 2:20 pm
- PGC Mass at 9:00 am at St. Patrick Catholic Church
- PGC Bookfair open till 5:00 pm
Thursday, May 16
Friday, May 17
- 8th Grade May Crowning at St. Mary Catholic Church at 9:00 am
- May Crowning at the PGC at St. Patrick Catholic Church at 11:15 am
- Preschool 4's and Junior Kindergarten Field Trip 12:45-3:00 pm
Sunday, May 19
- PGC Choir sings at 10:00 am Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church
- Preschool and Kindergarten attend 10:00 am Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church
Monday, May 20
- Teacher Appreciation Week
Tuesday, May 21
- Teacher Appreciation Week
- UGC Mass at 9:00 am at St. Mary Catholic Church
- 8th Grade Field Trip to Holocaust Museum 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
- Preview Day and Volunteer Open House at the PGC at 6:30 pm
Wednesday, May 22
- Teacher Appreciation Week
- PGC Mass at 9:00 am at St. Patrick Catholic Church
- Band Concert at 7:00 pm at St. Mary Catholic Church
Thursday, May 23
- Teacher Appreciation Week
- 4th Grade Living Wax Museum 2:10-3:40 pm at the UGC
Friday, May 24
- Teacher Appreciation Week
- Casual Dress Day at UGC and PGC
- Early Dismissal Day: PGC at 2:00 and UGC at 2:20
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
