Principal's Weekly Newsletter

Dear Families,

We are so proud of our K2-8 students for all their focus and patience as they participated in MAP testing this week. They were fantastic!

Join us in honoring St. Francis by bringing your pet(s) for a blessing to Parking Lot Prayers on Monday.

Please remember to have your child bring their lunch from home on Wednesday, October 5th since Brookline Public Schools will be closed for Yom Kippur.

Good luck to Lucas, Emilia, and Leo from our middle school, who will be attending and touring alumni at our alumni barbeque this weekend!

Thank you to Magnus, Ava, and Olivia for leading the school in this morning's announcements! All faculty and students were asked to reflect on the following questions with their families over the weekend:

• What would happen if nobody was ever patient?

• What would happen if more people were patient?

• How do you feel when you are impatient? Is it a feeling you like?

• Do we make good decisions when we are impatient with someone or something?

• How do you think others feel when we are impatient with them?

See you tonight for our Movie night and Monday night for the Red Sox Game!

October 1st:

• Alumni BBQ

October 3rd:

• Red Sox Game at 7 p.m.
  
• Blessing of the Pets (during Parking Lot Prayer)
  
• clubs begin

October 5th: Picture Day and Yom Kippur-Bring lunch from home

October 6th:

• Protecting God's Children Training 8-9:30am in cafeteria

October 10th:

• No School: Columbus Day/ Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 12th:

• First Parent Volunteer Council meeting 3 p.m. (lower hall at church)

October 14th:

• 9-11:30 Admissions Open House
  
• First Day of Band
  
• Progress Reports K2-8
  
• Grade 1 only- Visit from Fire Department at 10a.m.

October 19th:

• School Mass at 8a.m.

October 28th:

• Halloween Celebration 4-6p.m.
  
• EDP ends at 4
• PreK-K1 Progress Reports

In response to parent input at Coffee with the Principal, we have created a Google Calendar for all school events. In order to integrate this calendar, click the link and the plus sign on the bottom right-hand side of the page. Please click here to access the School Events Calendar.

This is a working calendar. Events are subject to change so please check the calendar periodically.

Thank you for your patience as we updated our Student-Parent Handbook. Here is the link to the Handbook. A few updates include additions to the school uniform such as shorts before Columbus Day and after the conclusion of April Vacation, light blue polos for grades K2-4, and navy skirts for girls in 5-8; and an update to the Birthday Policy. Please revise, sign, and return the last four documents to the Main Office at school at your earliest convenience.

Our Picture Day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 5th rain or shine! We ask that students come to school in full uniform. If your uniform has not arrived, please dress your child as closely as possible to our school colors (white, navy blue, light blue, light gray, and khaki depending on grade level).

Please click the link below to pre-order:

photocharm.org

Click on "pre-order photos"

The password: STMARYS2022

For students who are absent only on October 5th, there will be a scheduled make up day. We will let you know as the photographer confirms the make up day.

Each grade is finishing their first "ensemble" unit. The younger grades identified behaviors of being good drama students/artists, 2nd-4th created "Value Jars" based on the book The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi (to get ready for Korean Heritage Month), and the older students learned about Aristotle's 6 Elements of Drama with Google Jamboards.

PreK students explored fingerprinting and measuring their heights today!

Sra. Garcia introduced her students to new vocabulary on the fall season “el otoño” by singing songs, dancing, and participating in an activity. They will continue next week learning more about “el otoño y sus frutos” the fall and fall fruits.

All K2 students participated in an apple taste-testing experiment. They had the opportunity to taste Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Golden Delicious.

Students voted on their favorite apple and the favorite was the Golden Delicious!

Thursday was Saint Michael's Feast Day in Mrs. Fragola’s Grade 1 classroom. The students celebrated by creating shields that represent Saint Michael is the protector of police officers and our military. Thank you grade 1!

Father Bobby stopped by yesterday and distributed Rosary Beads that were made from scratch for many of our students. A generous parishioner named Susanne made them and prayed for each student while making the rosaries. Students in return made thank you cards and prayed together!

Grade 2 read the Day the Crayons Quit and the Day the Crayons Came Home. They discussed sequels and what makes a story. They created their own crayon stories that they were so proud to present them!

To aid in working with numbers in finding various ways to get to the number 20, students created their very own Number Racks. Students then played games with a partner so that they can practice their skills.

Students have been working closely in their book groups answering discussion questions and learning new vocabulary. One of the book groups is focusing on is "The Chocolate Touch." I had the pleasure of gaging this group's opinions by asking them "would you want to live a life where everything you touched turns into chocolate?" The common opinion was "no!"

Students played a game in which they took turns finding multiples of numbers they chose. A fact/equation was written and then solved.

Students played an interactive math game from their Bridges Math Curriculum

The game goes as follows:

Player 1 chooses a target number on the Multiple Game Board and circles it with their marker. Player 2 then identifies all the numbers on the game board for which the target number is a multiple and circles those numbers with their marker. Players alternate until the game board is filled, then find the sum of their circled numbers to determine a winner.

Grades 7+8 helped their K2 Buddies prepare and set up their MAP testing. Thank you for all your help Grades 7+8. You are excellent mentors and leaders!

In honor of St. Theresa of Lisieux's Feast Day, the 8th grade are coloring their own roses and writing ways in which they can grow closer to God on the leaves. When the roses are complete, they will decorate a path that symbolizes St. Theresa's Little Way to God.

Ms. Stroia grew up in Arizona before moving to Boston to go to college. She attended Suffolk University where she earned her BA in English Literature, and she is currently a parishioner at St. Mary’s. Ms. Stroia has spent the past two years teaching middle school English Language Arts at a local charter school. What she loves the most about teaching is fostering meaningful connections with students and helping them to grow through their middle school years. This upcoming school year at St. Mary’s, she is most looking forward to incorporating her Catholic faith into her teaching and relationships with her students. She is also very excited to foster and build a community with her students, families, and fellow teachers both inside the classroom and throughout the parish. Ms. Stroia believes that teaching is not just about delivering academic material but also about promoting a lifelong love of learning and encouraging students to strive for virtue and good character in their lives as well as in their academics. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys reading, baking, being outdoors, and spending quality time with friends and family.

We are so excited for the students as they begin these enriching experiences after school. Thank you to families for your patience with our new registration procedure as well! As a reminder, if we do not receive your payment on or before the first meeting day of the club, the spot will be given to a student on the waitlist. We still have open spots available in these two clubs hosted at St. Mary's starting next week. Please register directly through Voices Boston or Rose Debate to sign up your child(ren). Please see blurbs below

Voices Boston Registration Link

Voices Boston - Wednesdays Grades 2-3 Melody Ensemble 2:45-3:45 $425

Voices Boston - Thursdays Grades K2-1 Prep Ensemble 2:45-3:30 $375

Do you have a child that loves to sing and perform? Join VOICES Boston children’s choir for our 2022/2023 season, now expanding with programming at St. Mary's School in Brookline Village! VOICES Boston focuses primarily on singing and music literacy, with an added emphasis on dance technique and drama performance. VOICES Boston empowers the youth of the Boston area with a performing arts education that develops confidence, discipline, leadership, and a love of music that will last a lifetime.

At St. Mary's, VOICES Boston will be offering a Prep Ensemble (K2-1st Grade) on Thursdays from 2:45-3:30pm and a Melody Ensemble (2nd-3rd Grade) on Wednesdays from 2:45-3:45pm. VOICES Boston singers perform a wide range of repertoire, from classical to world music, musical theatre to pop, and even present an opera/musical each year. Rehearsals begin the week of October 3rd and run through the week of December 5th at Saint Mary's. Our dress rehearsal will be after school on December 8th and our annual Sounds of the Season Concert will be on December 9th at 7 pm. Both our dress rehearsal and concert will take place at First Parish in Brookline. *In addition, Voices Boston may have students from outside St. Mary's attending.

Thank you Charlie from Rose Speech & Debate for your coaching session on recall and body language while public speaking. Students from grades 4-8 played tongue twister and memory games to improve their oratory skills. Please see the link here: www.rosedebate.com/school/st-marys-brookline to sign your child up for the Speech & Debate class.

We are so excited for Trunk or Treat 2022! The St. Mary's campus will again transform on Friday, October 28. Festivities will run from 4-6 pm. EDP will close at 4 pm. Here is a link to Sign-Up Genius for volunteer opportunities. Room Parents will receive the link to sign up for their class car for Trunk or Treat. Below is a Google Form to submit theme ideas for the event. Thank you so much for all your planning and dedication to making this a fun night for our students!

Sign-Up for Volunteer Opportunities

Submit Theme Ideas for Trunk or Treat Halloween Party

Spread the word! We are excited to host several options for families to learn more about St. Mary's. To learn more or register to attend an event visit our Admissions Events page: https://stmarys-brookline.org/admissions-events/

Please find the links below to our social media pages. We have been 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/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stmarybrookline