St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School Newsletter, November 17, 2021

Mission Statement:

St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School is a community that proclaims the gospel by our dedication to quality instruction while fostering our commitment to the needs of others.

A Message from Mr. Mihalyo

Dear StMM Families,

One week from today, families will be eagerly preparing for Thanksgiving Day and all that comes with it. Whether it is the Thanksgiving parades, turkey dinner, or time with family and friends, I pray the break next week will provide you with a wonderful opportunity to reconnect and be thankful for all of our blessings.

With the Thanksgiving break beginning next Tuesday, there will be no newsletter next week. Our normal “Sunday Night Communication” will take place on Monday evening, November 29th with all the information for the coming week at approximately 5:00pm.

Please extend a warm welcome to Mrs. Tara Laurita as the new PK4 teaching assistant. Mrs. Laurita holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with specializations in education and counseling for those with disabilities. In addition to working for 15 years helping others as a social worker, Mrs. Laurita has worked as both a teaching assistant and a substitute teacher in Kindergarten through grade 5 since 2017. Mrs. Laurita and her husband are StMM parents to triplets, Norah, Ben, and Charlie, who are in 5th grade.

On Tuesday, November 23rd, our school will have an early release. The dismissal schedule will be as follows:

11:15am - PK students

11:30am - Grades K-4 (through the inner circle of carpool as normal)

11:45am - Grades 5-8 (through the outer circle of carpool as normal)

For our 5-8 families, we ask you please come as close to 11:45am as possible to allow the earlier traffic to clear the parking lots. By coming too soon, it will back up the line onto Apex Barbecue and delay carpool being completed on time.

If you have children in multiple grades, the youngest sibling will be dismissed with the oldest child. A reminder for PreK: BOTH morning and full-day preschool families should enter the parking lot from Town Side Drive and come down the third parking bay as the full-day families normally do to pick up your children. All preschool students must be picked up at 11:15am. If a family has a preschooler, as well as students in grades 5-8, they should use their normal routine of picking up and waiting for the older sibling to be picked up in the parking area. Grades K-4 siblings of preschoolers will be dismissed at the earlier time with the preschooler.

Friday is a School Spirit Day for our Monarchs! We look forward to seeing our school pride in our students on this day. A reminder to all students about our dress down day dress code. A PDF of the dress code can be found by clicking here. If you have questions about what can or cannot be worn that is not included in this, please contact the school.

On behalf of the faculty and staff of St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School, I would like to wish all of you a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.

God Bless.

John Mihalyo, Principal

@StMMPrincipal

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, November 19th - Spirit Day

Monday, November 22nd - Monarch Monday

Tuesday, November 23rd - Early Dismissal

Wednesday, November 24th - Monday, November 29th - Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, November 30th - Friday, December 10th - Santa's Secret Workshop

Monday, December 6th - Monarch Monday

Thursday, December 9th - PSO Faculty Cookie Exchange

Click here to view our online school calendar.

LUNCH MENU

Thursday, November 18th - Thanksgiving Feast

Friday, November 19th - Quesadillas

Monday, November 22nd - Pizza

Tuesday, November 30th - Hot Dogs

PSO NEWS

Santa's Secret Workshop is Back!

One of StMM's best-loved holiday traditions is back! Santa's Secret Workshop returns November 30th - December 10th. The Activity Building will be transformed into a workshop worthy of the North Pole where our Monarch students can purchase fun and thoughtful gifts for the whole family! The gifts are wrapped by PSO elves so they can stay secret until Christmas day. Purchasing gifts is optional; all students may browse and have fun!

You should have received a digital flyer and printable shopping list from your room parent. Younger students, in particular, benefit from having at-home guidance on who to shop for and how much to spend. Your room parent will also tell you your class' shopping day so students may bring in their lists and money on that day, or in advance. Questions? Contact Linda Miller (lhmiller7@gmail.com).

Can you help set up SSW on Monday, November 29th, or help our students shop any day between November 30th - December 10th? Please note that main event volunteers must be C-Level, but all volunteers (including Middle Schoolers) are welcome for set up. SSW takes many hands to put on, and we would love to see you on campus!

Christmastime at StMM

The PSO's other holiday event this year is a family evening out to ride a sleigh (with real horses!) and enjoy food, treats, hot chocolate, crafts and music on Wednesday, December 15th. Our band and chorus elective students will perform holiday music. Jingle Bell Sleigh Ride reservations and volunteer sign-ups will be circulated in the Wednesday, December 1st newsletter. If your student is in band or chorus, more information will come from their teacher.

After Thanksgiving, room parents will work with the PSO to organize a Christmas collection for teachers and staff. More information will come from your room parent(s) in early December.

Monarch Mondays

This past Monday, we thanked our many Gold level sponsors who supported Monarch Mondays. Next week, look for a spotlight on returning sponsor, the Bannister Family. Thank you! Keep wearing your Monarch Mondays gear on every Monday with the bottoms of your choice, but please be mindful of the school's guidelines on appropriate bottoms, which can be found on pg. 28 of the Handbook.

Still need a shirt, or need a hoodie now that the weather has cooled down? Order here from Ink'd Threads: the first 4 black options on the website labelled "Monarch Monday" may all be worn on Mondays. If you're still waiting on your shirt to arrive or choose not to participate, please wear your uniform on Mondays. Remember, Monarch Mondays hoodies may not be worn on other days with the uniform. Contact Molly Pryzwansky (mollypryz@hotmail.com) with any Monarch Mondays questions.

Spirit Day This Friday, November 19th

Because of Thanksgiving break, Spirit Day falls early in November: this Friday, November 19th. Students are invited to wear a spirit shirt with the bottoms of their choice, following the school's guidelines. If your student doesn't have a spirit shirt, please wear your uniform on Friday instead.

Thank Yous

The PSO thanks Khristine Dunne and Joanne Krieger for chairing the Mother Son event this past weekend. The weather was beautiful, and around 150 moms and Monarchs attended this fun carnival-themed event. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped put it on and manned booths.

It was great to see old and new friends at Brüeprint's Cary Taproom for trivia on Monday night! Thank you to Monarch dad and Brüeprint owner Eric Wagner for hosting (and giving trivia hints to the tables...)! Brüeprint kindly donated keychains, growlers, t-shirts and pint glasses to the winning team. Hope to see you next time. Dads' event at Southern Peak Brewery coming soon!

FROM THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE

Re-Enrollment for Current Families Opens January 1st

Families with children currently enrolled in grades PK3-7 will be invited to re-enroll their children for the 2022-23 school year beginning January 1, 2022. Please note the date and be on the lookout for more information regarding re-enrollment in future newsletters.

New student applications, including preschool applications, are available here:

https://stmm-nc.client.renweb.com/oa/index.cfm?memberid=130

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/selfsched?sstoken=UUFUOU80THF5d09rfGRlZmF1bHR8OTQ5YTJmMjdmNWVmMGE4MDIyNjQzZTEwY2RmN2ZkODM