The Weekly Witness

Please review this link for important drop off and pick up information: https://app.smore.com/n/8dh7r-bienvenidos-a-smms. These procedures are also posted on the MAC Google site: https://sites.google.com/stmmsa.org/mac/home/arrival-dismissal/

There are several updates to the uniform policy. Please read carefully. Please note that Mass Uniform is required on Whole School Celebration Mass days. For other masses, regular uniform is required.

Thank you to those that were able to make it to the SMMS Reflect & Connect this evening. It was a great event to kick off the school year and the childcare event helped raise $500 for the 8th grade class! Here are key changes that we discussed for the 2026-2027 school year; the full deck is saved here:

• School Mass Changes - The entire school will come together for mass once a month, plus special feast days. This is listed as Whole School Celebration Mass on the school calendar. Weekly Masses will be campus-specific: Primero will be on Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. (Pre-K3–2nd) and Segundo will be Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. (3rd–8th).

• Volunteer Requirements - As you know, SMMS is receiving TEFA funds from the State. These funds require the school to be in compliance with certain rules, one of which is background checks for volunteers that will be on campus or participate in school activities where they will come in contact with students/children. Review volunteer requirements here: https://canva.link/uc1907wmph4yn00

• Mavs Around Town - This year we are moving to a monthly cadence. Throughout the month of August, submit a picture to this form: https://www.tinyurl.com/mavstown. Students will be featured on the MAC site by the first Weekly Witness of the month, and are able to wear free dress the following Tuesday. Please monitor the Weekly Witness for the applicable submission and free dress dates.

• The MAC Board has been working hard to overhaul and refresh information hosted on the MAC Site. Please take a look, bookmark, and visit often! https://sites.google.com/stmmsa.org/mac/home

• It's time again for Crazy 8s, our favorite 8th grade fundraiser! Reduce your morning stress and help the 8th grade class raise money to support many extra activities during their last year at SMMS, including retreats and graduation. You can purchase a one day free dress pass or a year pass! The first one is coming up on Friday, August 28th so get yours now! https://25-26-8th-grade-fundraising-copy.cheddarup.com

• Interested in being a Class Parent? Sign up here! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSem62EQwcbv0xsjhsuX9-MpRHFIr-Yf24EFkVe3kZyI_EyaFg/viewform

Please note that, although the lunch calendar states that there is lunch on 8/28, there is actually NO Lunch on this day, as it's a noon dismissal.

SMMS is a Catholic, dual language, co-educational school of empowerment. Students engage in a dynamic academic experience preparing them for college and heaven. SMMS cultivates a growth mindset, biliteracy and strong virtue inspired by the Gospel and Church Tradition. SMMS offers opportunities to grow in excellence through myriad faith experiences, including mass multiple times per week, weekly adoration, daily Religion classes and hourly prayer, Christian service programs, as well as diverse extracurricular programs, including Athletics, Clubs, and academic excellence programs. SMMS embraces and supports students with highly diverse abilities and needs through our Counseling and Academic Intervention programs. The student learning experience is infused with the latest in outdoor learning as well as educational technology, including a 1:1 Chromebook program, Imagine Español, Accelerated Reader, MYON and SuccessMaker academic software. SMMS prepares and supports Pre-K3 through 8th grade students to excel in high school and college through the Graduate Support Program.

St. Mary Magdalen Dual Language Catholic School aims to form lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who is its foundation and center. Our education, therefore, works in concert with the Church’s mission of salvation and evangelization to offer robust opportunities to experience personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Ours is a counter-cultural education that prioritizes absolute truth and community, imbuing students with the physical, moral, intellectual and spiritual gifts necessary to build the Kingdom of God. These gifts are strengthened through abundant and myriad experiences of prayer, Sacred Scripture and liturgical and sacramental tradition. Our school prioritizes partnership with parents and families. We recognize and support parents as the primary educators, who have the responsibility to raise their children in a loving, moral and faithful manner. As educators, we seek to extend and deepen this upbringing through our witness and sharing of encounters with Christ. These relationships are rooted in and guided by Trinitarian love, whereby the students learn to trust in Jesus Christ through personal and communal prayer experiences, of which the most important is the mass, the source and summit of our faith. At St. Mary Magdalen Dual Language Catholic School, we develop each student in virtue, educating students to recognize and celebrate their own Dignity as children of God, as well as others. This education in virtue is part of a cultural heritage that cultivates a Christian worldview. In transmitting this heritage, we strive to ensure that our students can think critically and grow in human and divine wisdom, going on to lead lives rooted in virtue and commitment to building the Kingdom of God.