January 8, 2021 Volume VII, No. 18
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From The Desk Of The Principal |
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Greetings!
Next week, we look forward to welcoming back our students in grades 1-8. And we are so happy that we can welcome them back. No small feat! We’re able to continue our in school learning because we all work together and we’re all making sacrifices to make it happen. Again, we’re all working towards the common good. After watching the frightening events that took place in our nation’s capital this week, I am so grateful that we have a community of caring people who rely on the goodness of God for guidance.
As we welcome back all of our in school learners, please review the guidelines for returning to school here. If you have any concerns or questions, please e-mail the nurse before your child returns to school.
As always, our goal continues to be to maintain a safe environment for our students and staff. The holidays are over and we have a five week stretch before our next break, we’d like to make it without too many hiccups!
May God's blessings with you.
Ms. Ann E. Dougal
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May this new year be filled with peace, health and happiness. |
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Many Gifts, One Nation:
A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools
Mark Your Calendars for February 2nd-February 3rd!
From noon on Feb. 2, 2021, until noon on Feb. 3, 2021, St. Michael’s Academy will be participating in Many Gifts, One Nation: A Day of Giving to Catholic Schools, a national campaign focused on giving back to your local Catholic schools. This event is being sponsored by NCEA and FACTS Management. During this 24 hour period, you will have the opportunity to support St. Michael’s Academy online by making a gift by visiting our specially designed web page that day.
In addition, we are VERY excited to announce once again, we have a $3,000 MATCHING CHALLENGE DONOR. Once we reach $3,000 in gifts, that amount will be matched by our generous benefactor!!
Please mark this date on your calendar and check our website, smaspringfield.org for more information to follow in the next week!
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From the Classroom of Ms. Laporte - Computer Lab |
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The Computer Lab Is A Busy Place!
Since the beginning of the school year, the children have been working very hard in the computer lab!
Pre-K and kindergarten have been learning their numbers and letters using websites such as ABCmouse.com and sesamestreet.org. Grade 1 has been typing lessons using Microsoft Word and Google Classroom. They have also begun to work with www.typing.com. Grade 2 is working on improving their typing skills, also using typing.com. They have used Microsoft Word and Google Classroom to type short poems and stories.
Grades 3 and 4 are working on improving their keyboarding skills using Google Classroom to complete their assignments. Grade 5 has been working with Padlet.com, Google Sheets and Google Slides.
Grade 6 is working with Google Sheets to graph data. Grade 7 started working with Google Slides to complete a multimedia presentation. Grade 8 is working on creating a brochure highlighting apps they find useful for home and school.
All the remote students are completing the same assignments as our in school learners and meet with me during computer class via Google Meet and Zoom. As you can see we have been very busy!
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Delicious Math!
It was a Fun Friday in Mrs. Santos's Kindergarten class today! The students played M&M Math and discovered that 7+3 has the same sum as 3+7! The best part? You got to eat them afterwards! Way to go students!
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New Smartboards!
The school was thrilled to be able to purchase new smartboards for all the classrooms. While the previous boards were great, they really were just large whiteboards with images projected by a ceiling camera and they were controlled by an attached teacher laptop. These new smartboards have state-of-the-art technology, are a self contained computer and do not need to be connected to a separate laptop.
One of the biggest advancements is the ability for the smartboard to individually link to the student chromebooks. It assigns students into groups which allows the remote and in school students the ability to work together. The groups are then able to send their work back to the class via the smartboard with a touch of a button. Another great feature is its ability to connect with any computer, phone or tablet with internet access. This allows teachers to plan lessons from home and send them directly to the smartboard in real time. This can also be an advantage when a substitute teacher is required.
This technology is linked to our Google Educational Suite which includes
Google Classroom, Google Docs and Google Slides. This enhances the teachers ability to post lessons to the Google drive for both remote and in school students.
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New Air Purifiers In Every Room! |
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In addition to our previously upgraded full school ventilation system, we have placed air purifiers in every room in our building!
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We have been able to purchase a new copy machine specifically designed to handle large copy volumes at a reduced cost! Mrs. Dean is shown here using the new machine.
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"If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide those of the needy without waiting for them to ask you."
– St. Thomas of Villanova
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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:
Juan Hernandez
We pray for our recently departed.
We pray for all those lives that have been taken by the Covid-19 virus across the world.
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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