Principal's Weekly Update

October 4th, 2024

A Message from Assistant Principal, Mrs. Enrique

Happy October! Autumn has arrived on campus, leaves are changing colors and falling, and students are enjoying the cooler temperatures at recess!

Congratulations again to all in our learning community on the 2024 National Blue Ribbon Award achievement. This is a huge honor for our school, especially our students, who have been working diligently on their MAP Growth testing this week. One aspect of this recognition as a high-performing school was due to consistently attaining higher than average scores on these tests. Students in Grades K2 and 1 are tested in Math and Reading. Students in Grades 2 through 8 are tested in Math, Reading, and Language Usage. St. Mary’s conducts these tests in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. They are computer-based tests which adapt to students’ answers in real time. Teachers receive the scores much sooner than public school standardized tests, allowing for our academic team to make adjustments to instruction during the current school year. Families will receive the Family Report with their child’s Report Card in early December. The Family Report displays your child’s achievement and growth in each subject area tested and provides discussion questions for your parent/teacher conference. Please be sure to attend the conference. Our faculty offer many times to work with your schedule, including Friday, December 6th when there is no school. Great work students and families!

Lastly, a happy World Teachers Day to all teachers, both from our school to our parents, board members, families and friends who are educators! On Friday, our faculty was treated to pastries from Lakon Paris Patisserie!

St. Mary of the Assumption wins national award for academic excellence - Brookline.News

Only two private schools in Massachusetts received national recognition for academic excellence this year - and one of them was in Brookline. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona named St. Mary of the Assumption School a National Blue Ribbon School for academic excellence on Sept. 23. St.

brookline.news

Needham, Brookline Catholic schools receive National Blue Ribbon Award

BRAINTREE -- Two Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education, the department announced on Sept. 23. St. Mary of the

thebostonpilot.com

Looking Ahead

October 6

Protecting God's Children VIRTUS Training in the School Cafeteria

Register Online before

October 8

Make-Up Picture Day

October 11

First Day of Paul Effman Music Band Practice

October 14

NO SCHOOL - Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 18

Discovery Day 9:00-11:00 AM

October 25

Trimester 1 Progress Reports Released (Grades K2-8)
Halloween Costume Dress Down Day and Parade (Grades PreK-8) at 8:15
EDP Ends at 3:30 PM
Trunk or Treat from 4-6 PM

October 31

Progress Reports Released (Grades PreK-K1)
Halloween Dress Down Day (classroom-specific)

November 1

Dress up as a Saint (Grades PreK-8)
All Saints Day Mass at 12:10 (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome

November 3

Daylight Savings Time Ends, Turn Clocks back 1 hour

November 5

No Brookline Lunch Program - Bring Lunch from Home

November 11

NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

November 22

Trimester 1 Grades Close (Grades K2-8)

November 26

Thanksgiving Liturgy of the Word (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome at 10 AM
No EDP/Clubs

November 27-29

NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

December 2

Last week of Fall Clubs
First Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM (Grades K2-8)

December 3

Touring Tuesday
St. Mary’s Tree Lighting at 4 PM

December 4

Trimester 1 Report Cards Released (Grades K2-8)

December 5

Parent Teacher Conferences (Grades K2-8) from 2:30-5:30 PM

December 6

NO SCHOOL - Parent Teacher Conferences (Grades K2-8) and PD Day (Grades PreK-K1)

December 9

Second Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM (Grades K2-8)
Mass of the Immaculate Conception (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome at 12:10

December 10

No EDP

December 13

St. Mary’s Christmas Concert and Pageant (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome at 9 AM in the Church

December 16

Third Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM (Grades K2-8)

December 18

EDP ends at 4:30

December 19 - January 5

NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break

8th Grade lead Parking Lot Prayers on the virtue of faith!

4th Grade French students played a game to practice counting to 20!

Sports Club students played basketball this week!

St. Mary's Cookbooks

Last year, many members of our St. Mary's community contributed their family recipes to create an amazing blend of delicious dinners, desserts, snacks, and more wrapped into one recipe book! Not only will this cookbook provide incredible meals to try, but it will also serve as a memorable keepsake for your child's time at St. Mary's. Cookbooks are available for purchase for just $25. If you would like to try all of these wonderful recipes, please fill out the order form below!

Recipe Book Order Form

Damien Leigh, St. Mary's School Board Chair Presents to Staff

We had a special guest speaker at our faculty meeting on Tuesday morning! Board Chair, Damien Leigh spoke to faculty and staff about the important role that the Board of Specified Jurisdiction plays at St. Mary's School. He shared the long process of the creation and implementation of the strategic plan. Thank you for sharing your vision for St. Mary's and for your inspiring leadership!

Building Partnerships

Director of Admissions and Advancement Ms. Domenica DeLuca, School Counselor Nisreen Bayazid, and Apprentice Principal Hassan Ahmad attended the Partners in Catholic Education Leadership Reception at Xavarian Brothers High School and Ursuline Academy. The reception focused on forging strong connections between Catholic primary/middle schools and high schools. Our team was given a guided tour of both schools. The reception also discussed the best ways to prepare students for high school and creating an admissions process that is both rigorous and equitable.

Cross Country

The St. Mary's cross-country season begins on Monday, October 7th! Cross-country team signups are open to all 5th-8th graders. The team will practice on Mondays and hopes to compete in three races this year. Middle school cross-country races are just about 2 miles and are a great opportunity for students to get active, build teamwork skills, and have fun! If you are interested in joining the team, please email Mr. Ahmad at hahmad@stmarys-brookline.org.

Memorial of the Guardian Angels Mass

Grades K2-Grade 8 attended Mass on Thursday for the Memorial of the Guardian Angels. Father David celebrated a beautiful Mass. Thank you to Mr. Pritchett, Ellis, and Nicole for altar serving!

PreK

Students in Miss Crapo’s PreK class were excited to build in the block center which opened this week! They made towers, castles and other creations. Students also stamped their fingerprints to make artwork. Nice job, PreK!

PreK and Grade 5

Students in Miss Porcello's PreK and Mrs. Palmer's 5th grade classes joined together for their first session of buddies. During this time, the 5th grade read a book that they wrote for the PreK on how to treat school supplies correctly. Each student prepared a page about a different school supply such as markers and paint brushes. These students will come together throughout the year to read and complete activities together.

K1

Students in Mrs. Curley’s K1 class practiced their fine motor skills all week! They learned about the letter f, how to write it, and some words that start with f. They also continued to practice their scissor skills! Great work, K1!

Grade 2

Second graders in Mrs. Sterge's class had the opportunity to meet with two seminarians who are studying to be priests at St. John's Seminary in Brighton. Seminarians Nick and Joe shared stories about how God called them to priesthood, what they were doing before they entered seminary, and things they've learned about the Catholic faith. Second graders asked thoughtful questions and shared a little about they've learned in religion class as well!

Grade 3

On Friday, student architects in Grade 3 participated in an interdisciplinary community design challenge encompassing reading, math, writing, visual art, and social studies. Student architects were given a budget, a menu of options for their communities, a grid map to lay out their new civic project, and questions to ask and answer about their new community. Excellent work, architects!

Grade 4

Fourth graders have been diving deeper into the elements of prose both in reading and writing. Students were introduced to theme and we read Mr. Peabody's Apples. They made observations about the characters, setting and mood of the story in order to help them figure out the theme. We will continue to practice identifying the theme using various texts and our class novel, Because of Winn Dixie!

Middle School

7th graders had a party this week commemorating their classroom patron saint, Therese of Lisieux. Students learned about the life of St. Therese from an informative video by Bishop Robert Barron. They all got roses as they learned about why she is called the “Little Flower.” They heard excerpts from her famous work, The Little Way, focusing on offering little things in our lives to God. Finally, they enjoyed a feast of festive snacks and took home the roses they had received.

In 7th grade science, students have been continuing to build scientific models based on their computer simulation data. 7th graders are studying the distribution of food in orangutan habitats and its influence on the population. They will collect and analyze their data and use it to make recommendations for future protected habitat construction. Looking forward, students will be learning about the resource needs of different organisms and how that impacts the populations of different organisms, especially endangered species.

In 6th grade Science last week, the students had their first lab! The Skittles Lab was an engaging and tasty way to put the steps of the Scientific Method into practice while reviewing sorting, graphing and data percentages!

Check out the Middle School Newsletter for more!

Follow Us on Social Media

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

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