Principal's Weekly Newsletter

A Message from Dr. Enrique, Assistant Principal

Dear St. Mary’s families and friends,

As you can see below, academics are in full swing here at St. Mary’s School! Students from our early childhood classrooms up through middle school are investigating the world around them, asking questions, and making connections to their own lives. Our faculty have been designing creative and engaging lessons and activities which come to life at school and at home. The home and school partnership is an essential aspect of academic and social emotional growth and development. Making the time to ask your student(s) about what they are learning only strengthens this partnership with school, and the familial bond with your child(ren) at home. Teachers inform families regularly about their lessons through the Procare and Class Dojo applications, emailed newsletters, and emailed messages. Having regular conversations about learning is a great way to close out the day and reconnect over the weekend.

On Tuesday there is no school for our faculty and staff to come together for professional development sessions and team meetings. The day will consist of multiple sessions. One initiative we are implementing this year is Learning Walks. Teachers will be observing their peers, offering feedback, and learning from each other throughout the year. These Learning Walks will be launched on Tuesday then occur year long with facilitators from Cor Creative Partners. Another session on Tuesday will be led by Dr. Christine Nadjarian entitled, “Building Brains - The Science Behind Neurodevelopment.” A third workshop will be led by myself on supporting Multilingual Learners in the classroom. I am very excited for these days together with our faculty and staff and appreciate the time we will have to delve deeper into pedagogy and theory around best practices in education.

Looking Ahead

October 13
- No School - Christopher Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Infant - Grade 8)
October 14
- No School - Staff Meeting Day (Infant - Grade 8)
October 17
- Discovery Day at 9 a.m.
October 21
- Parent Volunteer Council Meeting at 8 a.m.
October 24
- Trimester 1 Progress Reports Released (Grades K2-8)
- Infant/Toddler and EDP Close at 3:30 p.m.
- Trunk or Treat 4 - 6 p.m.
October 31
- Progress Reports Released (Grades PreK-K1)
- Halloween Costume Parade (Infant - Grade 8) at 8:15 a.m.
November 1
- All Saints’ Day Family Party at the Parish at 5 p.m.
November 2
- Daylight Savings Time Ends
November 4
- No Brookline Food Services - Bring lunch from Home
November 7
- Online Info Session at 9 a.m.
November 10
- No School (Infant-Grade 8) - Professional Development Day
November 11
- No School (Infant-Grade 8) - Veterans’ Day
November 18
- Parent Volunteer Council Meeting at 8 a.m.
Novermber 21
- Trimester 1 Grades Close (Grades K2-8)
November 25
- No EDP
November 26 - November 28
- No School (Infant - Grade 8) - Thanksgiving Holiday

Discovery Day Coming Up!

Interested in learning more about our school? Join us for a Discovery Day, Friday October 17th! St. Mary of the Assumption School is a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School devoted to academic excellence. With rigorous educational programs and a heavy focus on community, we invite you to learn more about how your child would thrive at St. Mary’s! At Discovery Day you’ll hear from school administration and current students and parents, and receive a tour of the school. We hope to see you there! Use the QR code to register.

Eco Club

Ms. Johnson's Eco club is making bird houses using recycled milk cartons! The first steps were cleaning the cartons and painting them. After they dry, we’ll add a window for the birds and fill them with bird seed!

School Assembly

This morning PreK-8 gathered in the auditorium for an overview of the new PBIS, S.T.A.R.S System. If students showcase S.T.A.R.S values (service, truth, academic excellence, respect, and spiritual growth), they will have the opportunity to earn a star token. They will be working with their assigned cohort to earn as many stars as they can throughout the month. Once a month, there will be a raffle for a prize experience such as lunch with the Dean, movie day, dress down day, etc!

Blessing of the Pets

On Monday, students welcomed Father David during a special Parking Lot Prayers to bless St. Mary’s family and classroom pets in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of animals. There were dogs, cats and even a frog! Grade five students led the school community in the Prayer of Saint Francis, also known as the Prayer for Peace, and they asked for examples of how we can all demonstrate peace in our lives. Lastly, Dean of Students Nicole Kfoury introduced the Bible verse of the week from the Gospel of Luke: "Take nothing for the journey - no bag for your provisions, or extra tunic, or sandals, or a staff.” Students are encouraged to reflect on this verse all week long both at school and at home. How beautiful it was to see so many of our students’ family pets on this day!

Infants

Our youngest St. Mary’s students went on a leaf hunt after reading the book “We’re going on a leaf hunt” by Steve Metzger. They strolled around outside with their teachers observing fall leaves then continued their learning with a lesson inside which consisted of a sensory activity involving autumnal colored paint in a Ziploc baggie. Students in this classroom are gaining so many skills in a nurturing environment!

Toddlers

Students in Ms. Bryna’s Toddler classroom have been enjoying gross motor skill-building outside on the playground while also identifying leaves on the trees and mulch. Students practiced saying their colors such as yellow, brown, green, and orange. They looked high and low to find leaves above them and below them. Great work observing your autumnal world, toddlers!

Toddler Music

Our toddler students have been loving their music classes with Ms. Pereyra! They have learned so many new songs and dance moves already this year. These lessons help to keep them active and engaged in learning. They especially love when Ms. Pereyra brings in her ukulele to guide the music class!

PreK

As Mrs. Porcello’s PreK class worked on completing their Family Unit this week, they were treated to a special visit from her parents: Mrs. Judy and Mr. Paul! Mrs. Judy read “Clifford’s Family” by Norman Bridwell. She chose this book because Mrs. Porcello loved Clifford the Big Red Dog as a child. The book showed Clifford visiting his family and reinforced vocabulary words such as mother, father, brother, sister, and home. The students were able to choose center activities around families such as building houses with magnatiles, working with sorting family small figurines, and creating a family tree of all the classroom families while naming each student’s family members. What a wonderful way to close out their Family Unit!

K1

This week in Mrs. Curley’s K1 classroom, students continued investigating apples in small groups. Each table activity center was focused on a different content area such as science, math and language. Students experimented with apples to see if they would sink or float. They observed apples closely and labeled their different parts while learning vocabulary words such as seeds, flesh, stem, and leaf. They measured apples using unifix cubes to represent their heights using non-standard units. Our K1 students are so observant and thorough in their investigations!

Early Childhood Spanish

After their usual song, prayer, weather/calendar check and greetings in Spanish, the K1 students in Senoritas practiced their colors in Spanish starting off with a book “Oso café, oso café, qué ves ahí?”. They practiced repeating after Señorita and they did a worksheet coloring in the right pictures. They finished with a coloring page, where they colored in matching the colors in Spanish.

K2

In Ms. Tiney’s K2 class did their first write the room! First, students had to walk around the classroom and find the 10-frame cards. Next, they had to count the picture counters and write the number on their clipboard. Great work!

K2 Physical Education

Students in Mr. Holmes’ Kindergarten Physical Education class, students were working on teams to earn points into different sized and shaped containers in the middle of the Gymnasium. Each team consisted of 3-4 students. They cheered on their teammates as each took turns scoring using a circular ring. Each container would earn a different number of points, so students were able to reinforce their math foundational addition skills by keeping track and adding their scores. Mr. Holmes supported students as they dealt with frustration when their ring did not make it into a container, supporting their self-awareness and social-emotional development. Students adjusted their technique when tossing the rings, while some students chose to utilize a frisbee technique and others preferred a vertical toss. Great work, athletes, showing great sportsmanship and patience!

Grade 1

The first grade students in Ms. Johnson’s class invited Fr. David to join them for a religion class! Fr. David told the students about his upcoming walking pilgrimage across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, and the first graders made prayer intentions for him to take with him on his trip!

Grade 2 Spanish

Students in Ms. Lopez’ Grade 2 Spanish class students began with a Spanish welcome song then jumped into checking the weather. They are continuing their study of colors in spanish and they reviewed the colors together and learned some differences between light and dark colors such as azul and celeste. Students practiced their oral spanish at table groups by cutting out animals and matching them to the correct corresponding colors on their worksheets. ¡Muy buen trabajo, estudiantes!

Grade 3

This week in Ms. Kousidis’ grade three class, students launched into their new science unit, ecosystems and biomes! Scientists began by reading about the marine ecosystem and the desert biome as a class, and then they answered comprehension questions all together. They paid particular attention to the short-answer questions and were sure to restate the question each time for each question. Students will continue through their work on each biome and ecosystem... be sure to check back in for their final project!

Grade 4

This week fourth grade families came together to welcome and meet St. Mary’s new 4th grade teacher, Ms. Mary Kate Carr. Ms. Carr joined the school just three weeks ago and has transitioned into the classroom beautifully working alongside Ms. Casey Jackson, Assistant Teacher.

Grade 5

This week, in Mrs. Palmer’s fifth-grade class, students started planning out their first major writing piece. To outline their ideas, they used a story arc to support them in making sure they had all the major elements of a narrative. Students will continue the writing process with these stories until they are in final draft form.

Grade 6 Science

Over the past several days, sixth-grade students in Mr. O’Connor’s Science class explored the distribution of the planet's water and the scarcity of fresh water. They also considered the moral significance of water, drawing on the words of Pope Francis, who spoke and wrote extensively on the subject. In class this past Tuesday, students set up simple simulations that they will observe over the course of the next several days to deepen their understanding of the water cycle.

Grade 6 Social Studies

The 6th Graders will be learning about what an archaeologist does by using a chocolate chip cookie as their "dig site" to carefully remove and study artifacts (chocolate chips) without destroying the site.

Grade 8 Science

Students in Mr. O’Connor’s eighth-grade science class, students conducted a lab investigation to reinforce their learning about the physical and chemical properties of matter. After observing and recording the characteristics of various substances, they combined them and looked for signs of a chemical reaction to help them determine whether they had formed a mixture or created a new substance

Band at St. Mary's

This year’s Paul Effman band lessons are in full force! A very high number of students have enrolled in band and the halls are alive with music. Beginners are trying an instrument for the first time and our more experienced Honor Band students are returning to their ensembles. Kindergarteners are eager to join for the first time with their ukuleles as well. Please don’t forget to send your student with their instrument to school each Friday. It should be clearly labeled with their name and grade.

Girl Scout Troop welcomes Daises this year!

We had our first Girl Scout meeting of the year this week! Troop 63347 is so excited to welcome Daisy Girl Scouts (K2 & 1st grade) for the very first time! Our girls went over the Girl Scout Promise and Law, learned about the parts of the uniform and what they mean, and learned some Girl Scout songs. It was so lovely to have our troop back together to welcome our newest scouts across all levels!

Follow us on Social Media

Please find the links below to our social media pages. We are constantly uploading posts and stories so if you are interested in seeing more of our day-to-day happenings, please follow us!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/st-mary-of-the-assumption-school

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmaryschoolbrooklinema

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stmaryschoolbrookline/