Principal's Weekly Update

This week, we have the joy of celebrating two very special groups of people who make an incredible impact on our school community—our mothers and our teachers.

To all of our mothers: thank you. Your love, sacrifice, and constant support shape the lives of your children in ways both seen and unseen. Whether you're cheering them on in the classroom, guiding them through challenges, or simply showing up with a hug at just the right moment, your presence matters deeply. We offer our prayers of gratitude for you this Mother's Day and hope you feel just how appreciated you are—not only by your children, but by all of us here at school.

We also extend heartfelt thanks to our amazing teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. Our faculty and staff work tirelessly to nurture our students' growth—academically, emotionally, and spiritually. They model compassion, patience, and perseverance every day, and we are truly blessed by their commitment to our mission and to your children. Please join me in offering thanks and prayers for both our mothers and our teachers this week. May they feel surrounded by love and appreciation for all they give. A very special thank you to our dedicated parent volunteers who took time off of work and their busy schedules to come in everyday to surprise and shower our faculty with love! Thank you Bethany Rhodes for coordinating everything this week!

Lastly, please keep our First Communicants in your prayers as they prepare to receive the Eucharist for the first time tomorrow!

The Administrative Team surprised our St. Mary's mothers with roses and prayer card! We love our St. Mary's Mothers!

Tick Season is here! Please keep the following information in mind before and after enjoying time outside. Ticks are everywhere. They can carry diseases that can make you, your family or your pets very sick. Take steps to prevent tick bites. Check yourself, your children and your pets for ticks as soon as you come inside. Light-colored clothing makes ticks easier to spot. Wear long pants, long sleeves and socks to to reduce exposed skin outdoors. Call your doctor if you see a rash or feel like you have the flu, especially if you’ve been exposed to ticks. If you find a tick attached to your skin, remove it promptly using fine-tipped tweezers. Call your doctor for guidance after you remove the tick. For more information about each of these important steps, go to: www.mass.gov/MosquitoesAndTicks

May 5 - May 9

• Empowering God’s Children make-up lessons week

May 9

• Dads and Donuts at 8 am-8:45 am in the school cafeteria

May 10

• First Holy Communion at 11 am

May 12

• Crowning of Mary at 8 am (PreK-8)

May 15

• Pizza “Friday” - No Brookline Food Services Lunches served

May 16

• No School - Professional Development Day (Infant - Grade 8)

May 26

• No School - Memorial Day

May 28

• Spring Concert at 9 am

May 29

• Holy Day Mass of the Ascension of the Lord (PreK-8) at 12:10

May 30

• Trimester 3 Grades Close (Grade 8)

• Discovery Day at 9 am

• Snow White and the Seven Endings Performance (Grades 6-8) at 9 am

June 2

• Field Day at Larz Anderson Park (PreK-8)

June 4

• 8th Grade Commencement

June 6

• Band Concert

• 125th Anniversary Mass and Reception

June 10

• Grades 3-7 Social Studies Fair

June 13

• Last Day of School

Exciting news! The St. Mary's Swag Store by Airo Sports is open now! Place your order by May 16th to get your items by early June.

There is a wide variety of t-shirts, pants, hats, water bottles, and so much more, and there are items for all ages and sizes! Place your order here so when summer comes you have all your gear ready to wear.

We can't wait to see everyone rocking their new swag!

We have some exciting news! St. Mary's has been named a finalist in three of Boston Parent's Family Favorite categories! It is thanks to the support of our community in the first round of voting that we were able to move forward in all three of these categories for the first time ever!

St. Mary's has been named a finalist in the following Categories:

Best Faith-Based Preschool

Best Faith-Based Elementary School

Best Faith-Based Middle School

Please continue to support our school in the final round of voting through the link below

You can find us under 3 categories: Early Education, Schools - Elementary, and Schools - Middle Schools.

We appreciate your continued support in helping our school to be recognized!

Looking for a place to begin your child’s educational journey? St. Mary’s is now enrolling students in our infant program! Students must be 3 months old at the time of their enrollment. If you are interested in learning more, schedule a tour! Email admissions@stmarys-brookline.org to schedule a time to come visit the school.

On Thursday, our students paused to watch the election of Pope Leo XIV. Students and staff gathered together to watch the announcement with excitement, reverence and curiosity, reflecting on the importance of this new chapter in our faith. Moments like these allow us to connect classroom learning to living history and to experience the unity and tradition of the Church firsthand!

Last Friday, teachers, parents, and staff came together for Trivia Night—a fun-filled 80s themed evening with lots of laughter, friendly competition, and a strong sense of community. It was great to see so many familiar faces enjoying the night together. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped make it all happen—whether you planned, volunteered, or simply came out to enjoy. The care and effort behind every detail didn’t go unnoticed. It was a beautiful reminder of just how special our school community is!

We had a great turnout for our first Dads & Donuts gathering! It was a morning of coffee, donuts, and conversation as dads from across our school community came together to connect and get to know one another. This event marks the start of a monthly tradition designed to strengthen our dads' community and create more opportunities for fellowship. A special thank-you to Brendan Cochran for bringing this idea forward and helping make it a reality. We look forward to seeing even more of you at the next one!

St. Mary’s Girl Scout Troop went on a hike last Saturday in the Blue Hills. They go to see the animals that live at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum, including an otter and owl, a falcon, and a snack. The girls hiked up to the observation tower and got to enjoy the view of the Boston skyline. Then, they continued down to the weather observatory where they got to see all of the tools the weather observers use to determine the weather. They even took a picture of themselves using the instruments used at the observatory!

Our elementary students have been hard at work rehearsing for their upcoming school play, and the excitement is building! From memorizing lines to practicing songs and learning stage directions, they’ve shown creativity, teamwork, and lots of enthusiasm. We can’t wait for you to see their hard work come to life on stage—stay tuned for more details about the big performance!

Ms. Rachelle's infant students surprised their moms by making customized Mother's Day cards and gifts using their cute tiny feet! How special!

The appreciation continues this week as Ms. Tiffany's toddler students surprised Ms. Susan with an appreciation card! How thoughtful!

Ms. Porcello's Pre-K students went on a nature walk and were taken in searching for different spring objects, such as the sun, flowers, leaves, birds, etc. Great job investigators!

On Friday students in K1 ventured to Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline to watch a presentation of “The Doubtful Sprout” by Liz Joyce. The puppet show featured many characters and the protagonist, a sprout, who learned how to grow into a flower with the help of some friends along the way. The show reinforced the students’ science unit on plants and life cycles. Afterward, students enjoyed some time on the playground before returning to school for pizza Friday. Thank you to the K1 team and chaperones for making this fun field trip possible!

This week K2 learned about the four main types of clouds: cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and nimbus. Students created their own cloud models using cotton balls. They also went outside for a cloud observation walk and spotted a cirrus cloud in the sky!

Ms. Tiney’s K2 class worked really hard on their Pigeon books in Miss Silvia’s library class. During library class, they read a pigeon story to get ideas on the book they wanted to create. They developed their stories during library class, page by page. They worked on both their writing and illustration skills. Our K2 students are now authors and illustrators! We are very proud of them!

We started our ABC countdown! A was Art day, B was bubble day, and C was crazy hair day!

This week in third grade students began their research for the social studies fair! They learned about safe search websites and which ones give reliable information. They spent a while exploring these sights before they broke off into their groups to start answering questions and completing their worksheet for the first steps in their research.

Fourth graders worked on their end of unit project focusing on animal superpowers. They learned about biomimicry and brainstormed ideas of inventions based off of animal structures. Students were placed in groups to decide on an invention and then build a real life model. They had to present their model to the class and then share problems they encountered along the way.

With the help of Ms. Tigges, 5th grade is preparing for the Social Studies Fair. They will become a wax museum where students will do an action and say a quote from the historical figure they have been researching.

Following the death of Pope Francis, middle school learned about a papal conclave and the process of voting for a new pope. Then, they went to adoration in the church to pray for the cardinals in the conclave. They also watched attentively as the new Holy Father was announce: Pope Leo XIV!

As 7th graders concluded their reading of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, they spent a lesson identifying and analyzing its literary themes. In pairs, the students created posters (each with a designated theme) exploring themes such as the use of language as propaganda, power and corruption, the dangers of ignorance, rules and order, and the dynamic between leaders and followers. They will present their posters to their peers next week and learn from each other’s work.

ll of the middle school social studies students followed up their trip to NYC and the Anne Frank House Exhibition by learning a little more about Anne’s life through the 1959 film, and collaborated by putting a Timeline of events together that depicted world events and what was happening in Anne’s life simultaneously.

Grade 8 students are excited for the 2nd Graders who are receiving a such special sacrament. They wanted to share their congratulations to the 2nd Grade students and let them know they are proud of them and praying for them.

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/