Principal's Weekly Newsletter

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St. Mary of the Assumption School has been selected as a finalist in THREE categories of this year's Boston Parents' Family Favorite including: Best Faith-Based Preschool, Best Faith-Based Elementary School, and Best Faith-Based Middle School!

We need your help in the voting the process! In order for us to advance to the next round, please vote for St. Mary's in each of these categories using the link below!

Voting closes June 22nd!

Yohanan quickly became a valued member of our school community when he joined St. Mary’s in 7th grade. During his time here, he participated in basketball and especially enjoyed spending time and competing alongside his teammates. Next year he will attend Cathedral High School, where he is looking forward to exploring all the opportunities ahead, including clubs, sports, soccer, and engineering programs! One of his favorite St. Mary’s memories was the New York City overnight field trip, especially the fun of staying in the hotel and spending time with his peers. What Yohan says he will miss most are the teachers who made school feel welcoming and supportive each day. He is especially grateful to Mr. Eddie, whose daily smile always made a difference to him. One of Yohan’s proudest accomplishments was improving his math skills throughout 8th grade. His advice for incoming middle school students is simple but meaningful: “Don’t be shy…be welcoming!”

Paula joined St. Mary’s in 7th grade and quickly found community through both friendships and shared experiences. During her time at St. Mary’s, she participated in Girls Tea Club and especially enjoyed spending time with classmates. Next year, Paula will attend Boston Latin School, where she is looking forward to being with her best friend from first grade and exploring her interest in biology. One of her favorite memories at St. Mary’s was our Halloween Trunk-or-Treat and the opportunity to spend time with friends and her 8th grade classmates. What she will miss most is the people: everyone who made St. Mary’s feel like a community. Paula is especially grateful for Ms. Nis for her emotional support and guidance through graduation and high school preparation, and for Mr. Ronald, whose friendly greetings in the hallways always made a difference to her. When asked to describe the Class of 2026 in three words, she chose: “Cool, Funny, and Chaotic.” Her advice to incoming middle school students: “go with the flow.”

Although Lorenzo joined us St. Mary’s just this year, he quickly became an important and integral part of our community, building meaningful connections with classmates, friends, and faculty. He enjoyed spending time playing soccer, basketball, and volleyball during recess, and one of his favorite parts of the year was sharing time and connecting with others. Next year, Lorenzo will attend Brookline High School, where he is looking forward to reuniting with friends from his old school, staying connected with classmates, and sharing classes with people he knows. He is also excited about opportunities to participate in sports like basketball, volleyball, and football. Some of his favorite St. Mary’s memories include the East Hill Farm School overnight field trip (swimming in the pool, recreation time, and simply being with friends). Lorenzo says he will miss how welcomed he felt from the very beginning, especially during his shadow visit, when he immediately felt accepted and included. He is especially grateful to Mr. Holmes, whose positive attitude created a space where everyone felt comfortable being themselves. Lorenzo considers building strong connections one of his biggest accomplishments this year, and he leaves younger students with simple but meaningful advice: “Don’t be shy - just be yourself.”

Since joining St. Mary’s in 7th grade, Vibha has embraced every opportunity to grow, challenge herself, and discover new passions. During her time here, she participated in volleyball, the Fine Arts Festival, and the Catholic Math League, each event turning into a meaningful experience in different ways. Volleyball gave her the chance not only to strengthen her own skills but also to mentor younger students, including helping coach the K2–2 volleyball club. Through that experience, she learned how to balance being a player and a leader and discovered a passion that may someday lead her to become a coach herself. Fine Arts Night became another important milestone, giving Vibha the confidence to step outside her comfort zone. Performing a solo while singing and playing guitar helped her overcome fears and inspired her to think about writing and sharing her own music in the future. We are so lucky that she shares her many talents with our whole school community! The Catholic Math League allowed her to challenge herself academically and explore her growing interests in physics, chemistry, and advanced mathematics. Next year Vibha will attend Needham High School, where she is excited to take AP courses, explore science programs, join debate and extracurricular activities, and continue balancing her interests in STEM, humanities, music, and athletics. She also looks forward to reflecting on the values and lessons she has learned throughout her years in Catholic education and how they will shape her future. Her favorite St. Mary’s memory was performing at the Fine Arts Festival, and what she will miss most is the strong sense of community - especially the teachers who encouraged her growth. She is especially grateful to Ms. Falcone, Mrs. Beiter, Ms. Gaudet, and Ms. Pereyra, who each helped shape her journey by encouraging her ideas, supporting her interests, and helping her discover strengths she never knew she had. Vibha believes she has grown by expanding her interests beyond science and embracing new passions in humanities, music, drama, and languages. Her advice for future middle school students is thoughtful and wise: “middle school is a time to discover who you are, so don’t take every social challenge to heart. Use those years to find your passions and become comfortable with yourself before moving on to the next chapter!”

Ms. Jackson’s Creature Club welcomed special guests! Last Monday, Creature Club learned all about snakes: various snake species around the world, identifying venomous and nonvenomous snakes, and native snakes of Massachusetts. At the end of club they got to meet a real snake! Milo in second grade generously made a visit to Creature Club with his pet snake, Zipper the Ball Python, where he shared all about her life, habits, and their friendship!

Our infant classroom has been having so much fun exploring the exciting theme of “Things That Go!” Throughout the unit, the children discovered a variety of vehicles while learning about different colors, shapes, and sounds associated with them. The students enjoyed listening to engaging stories about cars, trucks, trains, and more, while also creating beautiful art projects inspired by the theme.

Our toddler students have been enjoying a wonderful exploration of The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Throughout the unit, the children learned about the life cycle of a caterpillar and how it transforms into a beautiful butterfly. They especially loved learning a fun dance that helped bring each stage of the process to life.The students also expressed their creativity through colorful art projects, painting butterflies and recreating some of the fruits the hungry caterpillar eats in the story. As part of the theme, the children explored different kinds of fruits, discussed their colors and textures, and even voted on their favorites!

Students in Ms. Porcello’s PreK class planted grass seeds! Students took turns shoveling soil into cups, sprinkling in seeds, and watering the seeds and soil. At circle time, they read the story "One Bean" and learned the process of growing beans. Students took turns putting beans, cotton balls, and water into a bag and then we taped them onto the windows! Over the coming weeks, students will continue observing their plants and tracking their growth.

During Fundations, K2 students practiced sentence dictation by listening to sentences and practicing how to independently write them. They focused on hearing each word, using letter-sound knowledge, spacing words, and adding capital letters and punctuation. This activity supported early writing skills as students worked to turn spoken sentences into written form with growing confidence.

The first graders are counting by 10s, to enhance their understanding of place value and practice adding sums to 100. The class learned the story of Hansel and Gretel, and used unifix cubes to walk throughout the school and leave a "breadcrumb" trail behind them. As they walked, they counted how many groups of 10 unifix cubes they left behind. The class loved this activity and it was a fun, interdisciplinary, hands-on learning experience!

This week, the second grade class explored the wonderful world of poetry by learning about different types of poems, including acrostic poems, haikus, and rhyming poems. After studying the unique features of each style, students had the opportunity to choose their favorite type and create an original poem of their own. Their creativity and imagination were on full display as they experimented with , rhyme and descriptive language while expressing their ideas through poetry.

Third grade recently celebrated Celiac Strong Day which was on Saturday, May 16th! Students spent time learning more about celiac disease through stories, discussions, and activities. We read The Magic Cookie by Jennifer Ritter and Violet and the Crumbs by Abigail Rayner, which helped students better understand the experiences of children living with celiac disease.

Our wonderful Nurse Katie also visited the classroom to share important information about celiac disease and answer students’ questions. To wrap up their learning, students completed questions and reflection activities connected to the books and lessons. It was a meaningful day full of learning, empathy, and community!

In grade 4, students have been learning about the Ten Commandments and are focusing this week on the 4th commandment. They have learned about the Holy Family and the importance of loving and respecting those around us. This week, students demonstrated this knowledge through skits. Each group mapped out a storyboard of their ideas and then performed them for the class.

The 5th grade class has been researching historical figures and writing biography pieces that highlight how their chosen figure demonstrated a specific value throughout their life. Students have now begun creating visual posters that will be displayed during the Social Studies Fair. To bring history to life, each student will also dress as their historical figure and share a famous quote from that person.

In science with Mr. O'Connor, 7th graders have been exploring the cardiovascular system, and they recently learned about the structure and function of the heart. To reinforce their learning, students worked in teams of two to complete a dissection of a pig heart, which is a bit larger than a human heart but otherwise very similar. Students located and identified each of the heart's four chambers, as well as the major arteries and veins. Using scalpels and dissecting scissors, students made precise cuts to expose and explore the heart's interior and further their understanding of this amazing organ.

Students in Ms. Falcone’s 8th Grade Social Studies class put their leadership and creativity on display as they taught our second grade class about the legislative process and how bills become laws. To make this important civics lesson engaging and easy to understand for younger learners, the students designed interactive board games specifically for elementary-aged children. Through teamwork, hands-on activities, and friendly competition, the second graders learned about the steps a bill takes from an idea to becoming a law. This cross-grade collaboration was a wonderful example of student leadership in action, helping younger students build an early understanding of government and citizenship in a fun, engaging, and memorable way.

In 7th grade math with Mr. Pritchett, students learned about how to properly display data using different modes of representation. They put these skills to use recently by surveying their fellow middle school classmates about a topic that they originated, such as favorite pizza topping and favorite specials subject, among others. After collecting all of their data, they had to represent it in three different ways. They finally had to write a paragraph explaining their question, their results, and why they chose the modes that they did.

Our Dean of Students, Ms. Kfoury, recently coordinated another incredible service trip for our Middle School students. This service trip helped satiate the requirements for her Leadership Seminar class she teaches weekly for the entire middle school cohort. One unique aspect of this class is that students receive a pass/fail grade based on completing 10 hours of community service each school year, reinforcing that leadership means serving others and making a difference in our S.T.A.R.S. community.

This visit was especially meaningful because it was highly requested by both our students and the residents at AABA after our first trip was such a tremendous success. Clearly, everyone was eager for round two! This time around, we shared lunch together and enjoyed Hoodsie cups and popsicles while spending quality time building connections and making memories. Students and residents spent the afternoon playing billiards, card games, and board games, while others enjoyed walks and conversations together. It was heartwarming to see friendships continue to grow, and a great time was truly had by all.

The impact of these visits extends far beyond one afternoon. Shortly after the trip, we received this wonderful feedback:

"I got a call from an AABA resident, Donna, a couple days ago who called to say how amazing the visit was on Monday and how much they loved having the students and were so impressed by them. She specifically shouted out Ms. Kfoury, Kenzie, Griffin, Lola, Esi, and Amdwin, amongst others. She was very happy and grateful!"

Moments like these remind us why these experiences matter so much.

We are incredibly grateful for our partnership with AABA and for everyone who helped make this day possible. Thank you to our amazing students, the wonderful residents, our AABA partners, our Middle School teachers, Dr. Nadjarian, and our incredible parent volunteers: who not only help drive students to the location but stay for the entire experience, spending time with residents, chatting with students, and encouraging them to do the right thing. They model kindness, compassion, and community in action. We are so proud of this partnership and the meaningful experiences it continues to create for everyone involved! Thank you, AABA!

The toddler class enjoyed a special activity with their 6th grade buddies as they worked together to create a Friendship Fruit Salad! The older students helped their younger partners prepare and mix a variety of fruits while building meaningful connections through conversation, teamwork, and shared smiles. This hands-on activity was a wonderful opportunity for students of different ages to learn from one another, strengthen friendships, and celebrate the caring community that makes St. Mary’s so special.

K2 students enjoyed a special afternoon with their 8th grade buddies, spending time together on the playground and making the most of the warm weather. The students shared plenty of laughs as they played together and strengthened the friendships they have built throughout the year. To cool off, everyone enjoyed a refreshing popsicle while spending quality time with one another!

This week, the middle school students enjoyed an exciting field trip to downtown Boston, where they explored the city’s rich history and iconic landmarks. The day began with time to play and relax in the Boston Common, the oldest public park in the United States. Students then walked portions of the Freedom Trail, where Ms. Kousidis shared stories and historical insights about many of Boston’s most significant sites such as Paul Revere's house and the site of the Boston Massacre. The group also enjoyed a ride on the famous Swan Boats in the Public Garden before heading to the North End for lunch at Pizzeria Regina. To top off a memorable day of learning and exploration, students enjoyed delicious cannolis while taking in the sights and atmosphere of one of Boston’s most historic neighborhoods.

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