February 3, 2023 Volume IX, No. 22 |
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From The Desk Of The Principal |
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Greetings!
Our virtue of the month is cheerfulness (looking on the bright side). Perfect for this month filled with erratic weather and winter doldrums. No lack of opportunity to model for our students how to deliberately practice overcoming frustration, crabbiness, boredom and any other number of feelings. Of course, scheduling fun things to look forward to can help, such as student appreciation day next Friday!
Thank you to all of you for your generosity and kind words of gratitude to our faculty and staff on their Catholic Schools Week appreciation day. They enjoyed a delicious luncheon and a recess/lunch duty free day! Thank you parent volunteers! Needless to say, that made all of the faculty and staff VERY cheerful!
Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!
Peace and God's blessings.
Ms. Ann E. Dougal
Principal
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Please Make Note Of These
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.
"Virtual" Open House
Friday, February 10, 2023
Student Appreciation Day Rescheduled
Grades Preschool through 3rd - wear matching colors
Grades 4-8 - twin theme
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And we congratulate our January Virtue of the Month winners for Fidelity! |
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Front row left to right: Alivia, Olivia, Renee, Landon and Zaira. Back row left to right: Abby, Sophia, Grace and Steven. |
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Congratulations Winning 8th Grade Students!
We are thrilled to announce that two of our 8th grade students have earned a $1,000 scholarship to Pope Francis Preparatory High School! Congratulations to Rishit Ved and Mia Pham! How you ask? They were among the top five highest scoring students after taking the Pope Francis entrance exam. There were 105 students who took the exam and they were in the top five!
Their awards were presented by Head of School Dr. Paul Harrington and Director of Admissions Ms. Ann Rivers in a special ceremony this week. Even "Big Red" the school mascot came along and the entire 8th grade class joined in!
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From The Classroom of Mrs. Warbington - Gr. 2 |
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Grade 2 Has Been Busy, Busy, Busy!
Our second graders have been working hard and continue to show growth in many areas as we have now moved into the third quarter. They have been very busy learning new skills in reading and math. The students have adapted very well to our new reading series. We just finished Unit 4. They enjoyed listening to stories and having the opportunity to think and share their thinking with the class and with partners.
The past few weeks, the students have read, discussed, and shared their thinking on a variety of fiction stories. The students listened and discussed stories, made and confirmed predictions, explored problems and solutions, and made, discussed, and wrote inferences on a character in the story. As we look ahead to Unit 5, the focus will be on Wondering. Students will use a strategy that readers use to decipher story meaning. In reading, the students use wondering, or questioning to have a better understanding of fiction and nonfiction stories.
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In math, we finished adding and subtracting with regrouping two-digits and we will be moving onto adding and subtracting with regrouping into the hundreds. The students are very excited to be working with these big numbers. They will also learn to read and write numbers to 1,000, compare numbers, and count hundreds, tens, and ones. |
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Certainly not forgetting what makes us different from all other schools, is our Catholic Faith. Our students have a wonderful opportunity to attend daily Mass. Second graders attend the 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Cross Church every other Wednesday. What a wonderful way to start a day. We have finished learning about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and we are now learning how Jesus calls us to give ourselves in love. We will learn about the parts of the Mass that will lead us into learning all about the Eucharist and Holy Communion. |
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The true meaning of what it means to be a student attending St. Michael’s Academy was certainly evident this week as we celebrated Catholic Schools Week: Faith, Excellence, Service. The week was filled with all kinds of activities both school-wide and in our classroom. We started with our Open House and Curriculum Fair, followed by an all-school Mass, teacher appreciation day, Valentines for Soldiers, and a school wide service project just to name a few. Because today was a remote learning day, the "student appreciation" day has been rescheduled for next Friday which is always fun!
Our second graders welcomed their grandparents or special guest to “Our Warm Winter Wishes” reception. The students had a chance to spend some time socializing with their grandparent or guest and share a tasty snack. They entertained their guests of honor and showed their love and appreciation by singing, dancing, and even recited a poem on "We Give Thanks" in honor of them. It was an uplifting and a fun morning. What a perfect way to say Thank You to our grandparents for all their love and support and everything they do for us!
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Finally, we celebrated the 100th day of school! The students put their thinking skills and creativity together and created a project using a hundred objects. They certainly went over and beyond and created beautiful projects. I was very impressed with each and every one of them!
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So as you can see, the students have been busy and learning a lot, however, we are not done yet. There is still lots of learning to do in Grade 2! |
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Catholic Schools Week Mass
We started off Catholic Schools Week with a full school Mass. The Mass was hosted by our 7th grade students who did a great job. We thank Deacon John Miller and our Chaplain, Fr. David for celebrating the Mass with us. Fr. David spoke about St. John Bosco, a saint whose feast day we celebrate this month, who was a teacher himself along with many other talents like juggling, being an acrobat and performing magic tricks!
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And The Winners Are....
The judges were faced with a difficult decision when trying to award first through third place for the SchoolsNEXT projects. Without further ado, here are the 2022-2023 winners:
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There was a Tie for 3rd Place!
"Great Whites”
Steven, Briana, Jenna, Ethan
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and
“Cardinals”
Garrett, Thomas, Nicholas, Andrew
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2nd Place Winners!
“Realm Travelers”
Giana, Mia, Anthony, Ben
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And the 1st Place Winners!
“The Weeping Willows”
Ella, Avery, Stefania, Abby and Natalia
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Open House and Curriculum Fair |
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What A Great School We Have!
It was a great day to show off our school! If you missed the Open House and Curriculum Fair last Sunday, you missed a great event!
All of the classrooms were open with teachers present which enabled students to share with their family what they have been working on in school. It's always fun to show off your hard work!
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We also held a special presentation for prospective students and their families. What a GREAT turn out we had! The gym was full with people wanting to learn more about our school. They left with lots of information and with their questions answered. Many of them have already submitted applications! |
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A special thanks go out to the many Student Ambassadors who attended and were on hand to give tours and fill the many jobs needed for Open House! We appreciate your dedication to our school! |
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And one more thank you goes out to the members of our panel during Open House: Parents - Mrs. Jeannie Ostrowsky, Mrs. Jenny Luppi, Mr. Marcos Rodriguez; Students - Gio, Mia and Kaelyn; and Teachers - Mrs. Katie Rowland, Mrs. Catherine Woods and Ms. Sylvia Kaimi. We couldn't have done it without you! |
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"Warm Winter Wishes"
Our 2nd grade students welcomed their grandparents this week for "Warm Winter Wishes." With the weather today, we need all the warm weather wishes we can get! The students did a fantastic job singing some wonderful songs to their grandparents donned in hats, scarves and mittens! They even had a special poem telling their special guest how much they love them! To view all the photos from the event, please click here.
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A Great BIG Thank You!
Our faculty and staff want to send a huge thank you to all of the parents who donated towards their special lunch on Thursday. And a thank you to the people who volunteered to cover lunch and recess duty for them as well.
Everyone truly appreciated your kindness!
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"Encanto" Is Coming To SMA!
Mark Your Calendars!
We are finally able to bring back our SMA Movie Night for grades preschool through 5th. Grab your sleep bag or blanket and your pillow, put on your PJs and head to the gymnasium on Friday, February 17th beginning at 6 p.m.
The featured movie will be Disney's Encanto - the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family living in a magical house in the Colombian mountains. But when Mirabel, the only ordinary family member, discovers the magic surrounding their home is in danger, she may be her family's last hope.
Join us for this fun and entertaining night! There will be popcorn and drinks available!
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Please join us for coffee and donuts after the Family Mass at 11 a.m. on Sunday, February 5th! |
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Teach us to give and not count the cost.
-St. Ignatius de Loyola
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St. Michael the Archangel,
Pray for us!
We pray for our brothers and sisters across our nation and across the world. May God give everyone strength during these especially stressful times.
We pray in a special way for all of our families and friends in need.
We pray for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and surrounding areas who are experiencing the pain and disruption of war. May God protect them.
We pray for our recently departed.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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St. Michael's Academy
153 Eddywood Street - Springfield, MA 01118
www.smaspringfield.org
413.782.5246 office
413.782.8137 fax
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