St. Mark School E-Newsletter - October 22, 2021

St. Mark School

A 2009 National Blue Ribbon

School of Excellence

St. Mark School is a Christ-centered learning environment that teaches Gospel values and fosters academic excellence. Aware of the dignity and uniqueness of all students, we are committed to the spiritual, intellectual, moral, social, and physical development of each child.

October 22, 2021

Dear St. Mark Families,

On Thursday, St. Mark students and faculty participated in our 12th annual Cut-A-Thon event. Thanks to generous pledge donations, dress down participation, and pink hair extensions, our students raised $2,450 to support the Elizabeth PFriem Swim Cancer Center at St. Vincent's Hospital. This was our largest donation thus far! To date, St. Mark School has donated over $25,000 to support the Swim Cancer Center.

I am proud to announce our St. Mark Heroes who volunteered to cut their hair and shave their heads in support of this worthy cause:

Anderson, Grade 4

Will, Grade 4

Anna, Grade 6

Natasha, Grade 7

I would like extend a sincere thank you to CKC Salon of Fairfield for volunteering their time for a 5th year in a row to cut hair, shave heads, and apply over 60 pink hair extensions! I would also like to thank Mrs. Christine Flaig, Cut-A-Thon Chair, for organizing this event and our parent volunteers who donated their time to make our event happen.

Yours in Christ,

Mrs. Warner

If you are a room parent for your child's classroom, kindly forward communication to your fellow grade level parents, ensuring all St. Mark families have the most up to date information.

Please do not reply to this email. If you have questions, comments or concerns please email me directly.

PlusPortals and Progress Reports

PlusPortals is the Diocesan Student Information Web Portal System available to all parents grades K-8. PlusPortals provides parents access to student grades, attendance, announcements, and teacher emails.

A feature has been added to parent's PlusPortal dashboard this year: e-locker. Parents of students in Grades 1 through 8 can find a PDF copy of the 21-22 Quarter 1 Progress Reports sent home via backpack mail last week in the e-locker. Moving forward, all progress reports for each quarter will be shared with parents via PlusPortals. For Quarter 1, Report Cards will be sent home via backpack mail as well as uploaded to PlusPortals.

For our new families and Kindergarten families, you should have received an email from PlusPortals with an activation link to the primary email address provided on your child's emergency contact form in September. If you did not receive an activation link email from PlusPortals, please email Mrs. Mannino at cmannino@stmarkschool.org.

Any returning family that needs PlusPortals activation resent, please email Mrs. Mannino at the email address above.

Winter Uniforms

Winter uniforms begin on Monday, November 1, 2021. Boys in Grades 1-8 are requited to wear button down shirts and ties. As a friendly reminder, sweatshirts are not permitted to be worn in class. The only exception to this rule is for our Grade 8 students who may wear their Class and/or High School sweatshirts. Please click here to review the Winter Uniform Requirements. If you have any Dress Code questions, please contact Mrs. Mannino.

Thank you to those that have recently donated outgrown uniform items to Nurse Frate. At this time, we will not be accepting any further donations.

Emergency Contact Forms

Please be advised that Mrs. Mannino continues to contact families who have not yet returned the following forms:

Student Emergency Contact Form
Handbook Signature Page
COVID 19 Addendum Page
Media Release
Computer Usage

If you have not yet returned the required policy forms, please contact Mrs. Mannino cmannino@stmarkschool.org. Thank you for your diligence on this matter!

Lost and Found

Parents are reminded to please label your child's name on ALL of his or her belongings-especially sweatshirts, sweaters, fleeces, and coats/jackets. Our school Lost and Found has accumulated many items thus far. If your child is missing an item, please contact his or her teacher to arrange a time to check the Lost and Found.

St. Mark Campus Parking Lot

Please be advised that on Thursday, October 28th, 2021 movie production crews will be using our St. Mark campus parking lot between the hours of 2:00pm-4:00am the next morning.

Please be aware that the traffic flow may be disrupted and parking will be limited due to production use of the parish property.

As safety is our priority, we ask for everyone's patience and flexibility.

If you have questions or concerns please contact Paula Mollica in the Parish Office at email pmollica@stmarkstfd.org.

Morning Drop Off Reminders

We ask that the following protocols be followed by our school community for the safety of our students.

Please pay close attention to which driveway you use to enter the parking lot. Using the wrong entrance creates a risk for an accident!

Parents utilizing the Drop and Go Car Line are to enter using the driveway adjacent to the Blessed Mother Statue.

Parents utilizing Parish Center entrance for Preschool and Goodbye Zone are to enter using the driveway across the street from the farm.

Doors will close promptly at 7:45am in order for classes to be on time for 8am daily mass.

Speed limit is 5 mph in the parking lot.

The Nemergut Drive entrance is the ONLY EXIT during arrival and dismissal times. Do not use any other driveway to exit the parking lot.

Please note: If someone other than yourself is dropping off, please relay this important information.

In Our Classrooms

Each week, we will be featuring exciting and creative things happening in a chosen grade level. This week, we highlight our Grade 2 students. On Tuesday, the class began their 2021 CT State Council Knights of Columbus Vocation Poster Contest entries.

This week in Social Studies, our Seventh Graders presented artifact based projects that detail their studies of Native Americans and their culture.

During Writing class this week, 2nd Graders learned the steps of how to carve a pumpkin. Students were able to “carve” their own pumpkin with the directions inside.

In P.E. Class, Grade 2 students enjoyed a game of Long Ball!

For Parish information, visit: https://www.saintmarkchurchstratford.org/

For important information and updates on COVID-19, visit the

Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic Schools website

Please visit our school website regularly at www.stmarkschool.org. Important school updates including copies of notices, newsletters, HSA links, and school calendars can all be accessed on the website.

Visit our social media pages for updates on our school community.

Don't use social media? Not to worry...Our social media posts feed to our school website home page!