Dear St. Mark Families,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Luke 16:1-13, Jesus tells a parable about a dishonest steward who is commended for his prudence; one cannot serve both God and money.   

The passage concludes with three morals for the listeners. The first exhorts the listener to be prudent about the use of wealth. Like the steward in the parable, those who would follow Jesus should handle the affairs of temporal life with an eye toward eternal life. Secondly, Jesus tells his listeners that no one can serve two masters simultaneously. God must be put ahead of all else.

The final moral concerns trustworthiness. Those who can be trusted in small things can also be trusted in great things. I want to thank every one of our St. Mark families for trusting us with your children each and every day.

 © Loyola Press Sunday Connection

I wish you all continued good health and God's blessings.

Yours in Christ,

Mrs. Warner 

Enrollment 

I’m thrilled to share that we welcomed 58 new families and 79 new students this school year.  To date, we are at a record breaking enrollment of 234 students in PK3 through Grade 8.  St. Mark School has not seen an enrollment this high in the past 16 years!

PlusPortals

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.

For our new families and Kindergarten families, you should have received an email this week from PlusPortals with an activation link to the primary email address provided on your child's emergency contact form. 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.

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.

Scholastic Book Fair

St. Mark School's Fall Scholastic Book Fair is in need of volunteers. All volunteers must have current Virtus certification.

To sign up for a volunteer shift please visit our Book Fair webpage: 

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stmarkschool2 

The Fall Book Fair will be held in school beginning on October 3rd and run through October 7th. Online shopping will be available from October 3rd through October 16th.  To create an E-wallet for your child to shop at the book fair, visit our book fair webpage at the address above or click here.

If you have any questions, please contact our Scholastic Book Fair Chairperson, Mrs. Catherine Thiery at catherine.schulze@gmail.com 

Important Reminders 

Demographics

Has your family moved? Have you changed your email address or phone number? Please contact the Main Office with any changes. It is very important that we have your most current contact information. 

Attendance

Attendance is taken daily. Diocesan and school policy requires that parents inform the school when a student is absent and a specific reason for the absence. Please be aware that students arriving after 7:45A will be marked tardy. Students who miss school due to family vacations will not have any work sent with them ahead of time. All work will be made up upon return to school.

Change in Dismissal Plan

If you have to change your child’s dismissal plan during the school day, please call or email Mrs. Mannino cmannino@stmarkschool.org. If you email your child’s teacher during class time, they may not see the email if they are in the middle of instruction. To ensure your child dismisses the way you need them to, it is imperative that you contact the office with last minute changes.

Communication

Stay up to date with what’s happening around our school! Please be sure to check your email and our social media pages regularly! For those without social media, our Facebook page feeds directly to the school website. The St. Mark website is full of great information and we urge you to check the website often for news and updates.

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.

Dismissal

I have received some concerns from our faculty, parishioners and parents regarding parents/visitors leaning against cars in the parking lot during dismissal. Please make an effort to not lean against vehicles in the parking lot that do not belong to you.  

Allowing children to run down the parking lot to their adult waiting between cars poses a significant safety risk to all. Therefore, teachers will not dismiss a student until they feel it is safe to do so.  

Parents of students in Grades K-4 are asked to not take your child out of the class dismissal line until he or she is released by the teacher. It is imperative that the teacher see you and you make eye contact with the teacher and wave before your child is dismissed. We appreciate your patience as each child is safely released individually by the teacher to his or her parent or grandparent.

Please keep in mind, the area is an active parking lot, with cars arriving and leaving. Adults are asked to keep your children close to you, especially our youngest students, and not allow them to run through the parking lot.

To ensure the safety of our students and staff, pets and non-service trained domestic animals are not permitted on school grounds during school hours and/or during school events, except when in a vehicle. They are not permitted to leave a vehicle without prior permission of school administration or parish officials.

From the Nurse's Office

As you are all aware, we are still working to restore our full-time nurse. This is a fluid situation and we are hoping things will change soon. In the meantime, Nurse Frate's schedule is as follows:

Mondays 11A-2:30P

Wednesdays All Day

Fridays All Day

When Nurse Frate is not on site, I have a strict set of protocols to follow, put in place by the Stratford Director of Nurses. There are also on-call nurses that are available to come to our school if the need arises.

Thank You

Thank you to our K through 8 parents who joined us for our Meet the Teacher Nights this week. The faculty and I are looking forward to a happy, healthy and successful school year. May God continue to Bless St. Mark School.

Mrs. Pelazza’s Counselor Corner 

Dear K through Parents,

My name is Jennifer Pelazza and I am the School Counselor from Catapult Learning at St. Mark School. I will be leading classroom guidance lessons in your child’s classroom periodically throughout the 2022-23 academic school year.

Classroom guidance lessons for students in Grades K through 8 are designed to help students learn about themselves, interact in a positive manner with peers, and develop skills to succeed in their academic environment.  

Topics of the classroom guidance lessons may include:

• Models in Christ Themes – respect, kindness, perseverance, citizenship, integrity, leadership, trustworthiness, responsibility
• Friendship and communication skills
• Organization, time management, study skills
• Goal Setting
• Empathy
• Conflict Resolution
• Coping skills
• Self-esteem/ self- confidence

Catapult Learning services are provided to students with parental permission to participate. If you DO NOT wish for your child to participate in this classroom guidance service, please send a notification via e-mail by Friday, September 23rd to my email, jennifer.pelazza@catapultlearning.com in order to opt out.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.

Kind regards, 

Mrs. Pelazza

Athletics Update

Cross Country (Grades 5 through)

Twenty+ students signed up for this year’s St. Mark Cross Country Team! Special thanks to Mrs. Amy Pagano for coaching. 

We are looking for a few Virtus-trained parents who are willing to volunteer their time to supervise and support our student athletes while they practice. No experience necessary. Your time commitment would be one-hour after school practices (in and around school), once or twice per week subject to your availability. Please email coach Amy Pagano pagano0909@gmail.com.

Girls and Boys Basketball (Grades 3 through 8)

Basketball try-outs will be held in the Parish Center on Saturday, September 24, 2022. In order to try-out for a team, students must either attend St. Mark School or be current active registered parishioners at St. Mark Church. Please be advised that St. Mark Basketball is a competitive program designed to prepare athletes for the next level of play in high school. Spaces are limited on each team. Try-out times will be listed on the school website, http://www.stmarkschool.org/for_students/athletics, early next week.

Please contact michael.sciallo@stmarkschool.org with any questions.

We need coaches! If any parent is interested in coaching the Girls JJV (grades 3/4) or Girls JV (grades 5/6), please contact Michael Sciallo, Athletic Director, ASAP at michael.sciallo@stmarkschool.org.

Higher Education Opportunity

The CHET Dream Big! Competition is an exciting program offered by Connecticut’s Office of the Treasurer. And this year’s competition features more prizes than ever before, with $300,000 in awards—including three grand prizes of $25,000 toward future education.  Competition is open to any legal U.S. resident of Connecticut who is at least 18 years or older and is the parent or legal guardian of a K–12 grade child enrolled in a public, private, parochial, charter or home-based Connecticut school as of September 7, 2022.  For Official Rules and eligibility, visit chetdreambig.com.

Parish News

St. Mark Parish Family Picnic

Sunday, Sept. 25tth following the 12P Mass until 4P.  Enjoy music, entertainment, games, crafts and more.  Food by St. Mark ‘Kitchen Magicians’ and the ‘Grill Masters’ (hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, Kielbasa, meatball grinders, and sides)

St. Mark Parish ‘Team Social’ will be outside after all masses this weekend taking reservations. Checks payable to St. Mark $12/person - $25/ family. For more information, email Picnic2022@stmarkstfd.org or call  203-377-1530.

Gift Cards Needed

Deacon Paul has asked us to reach out to the parish for the purchase of food gifts cards, either Stop & Shop or ShopRite, in denominations of $25 (but we accept anything!). The need for the poor in our area has increased greatly and we go through the gift cards quicker than you think! God bless St. Mark parish for its continued generosity to help the needy in our community.  You can drop the gift cards in the collection basket at any Mass or bring to the rectory office during business hours.  

Knights of Columbus Recruitment

Please welcome members of the Knights of Columbus, St. John Paul II, Council #8, as they commence on their recruitment campaign for calendar year 2023. Invite a Catholic Man to become a Knight! We welcome them for recruitment weekend October 15 and 16. Please feel free to stop by and speak with a Knight after any of the weekend Masses.  

• Wednesday, September 21st: HSA Snack Shop, $1

• Friday, September 23rd: Jim's Ice Cream Truck visit

• Thursday, September 29th: Safe Environments Think First, Stay Safe presentation, Grades K through 8

• Saturday, October 1st: HSA Bottles & Cans Drive, 10A-2P

• Friday, October 7th: Early Dismissal, 11:25A, Teacher PD

• Monday, October 10th: No School, Columbus Day

God gives each one of us sufficient grace ever to know His holy will, and to do it fully

St. Ignatius of Loyola