St. Mary's School

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

In This Issue

Back to School Night

Physical Education

Saint Mary Church Youth Choir

SMS Band

Daily Symptom Check Reminder

Volunteer Background Screening Process

2021-2022 Academic Calendar

2021-2022 Uniform Price List

2021-2022 Supply Lists

Back to School Night

* Please note that Back to School Night for grades 1-8 has been rescheduled for next Thursday, September 16. This will be a virtual event and teachers will be sharing their presentations and answering your questions via Zoom. There will be two sessions (6:30 - 7:00 pm & 7:00 - 7:30 pm) to accommodate families with children in multiple grade levels. Parents will receive Zoom invitations for their child's class early next week.

Physical Education

We are thrilled to welcome back Mr. Peter Seibel as our physical education teacher. Mr. Seibel is excited to be working with all classes from PreK through grade 8. Please remember to send your child to school in his/her gym uniform on their scheduled physical education day.

Mondays: Grades 1-5

Wednesdays: PreKA, PreKA/B, PreKB, Kindergarten

Friday: Grades 6-8

Saint Mary Church Youth Choir

If you enjoy singing, come join our parish youth choir for students in grades 2-8. The parish youth choir sings at Sunday 9:30 am Masses.

REHEARSALS: Friday afternoons from 4:30 - 5:30 pm

FIRST REHEARSAL: Friday, September 17

To sign up, please contact Paula Lowell, Director of Music by phone at (978)658-0161 or by email at plowell88@gmail.com.

SMS Band

We are pleased to be partnering with Paul Effman Music to offer instrumental band lessons once again this year. The program will be held in person on Thursdays after school in the cafeteria. Students in grades 3-8 have the opportunity to learn how to play instruments like the clarinet, drums. flute, trumpet, trombone, and more. Students in grades 1 & 2 are eligible to join the band and learn how to play either the violin or the ukulele. If you're interested in learning more about the program, including how to register, please visit https://pemusic.com/register.

Daily Symptom Check Reminder

We would like to remind everyone that all students who are attending in-person instruction must have a completed symptom check form on file prior to entering the school building each morning. The form must be completed no later than 7:30 am each day. The form is managed through the FACTS student information system.

To access the daily symptom check webform, please log into the FACTS Family Portal (https://logins2.renweb.com/Logins/ParentsWeb-Login.aspx?, school code SMA-MA). Once you have logged in, under "School", please select "Web Forms." Please select the "COVID Response Form - Family" web form.

Volunteer Background Screening Process

Per mandate by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, anyone who volunteers in a Catholic school in any capacity (lunch assistants, field trips, classroom readers, etc.) must complete the following two requirements:

1) Complete a CORI background check annually

2) Participate in child safety training (to be completed only once - see below for more info)

The child safety training program approved by the archdiocese is Protecting God's Children (Virtus Online). In the past, this training has only been offered in person. However, due to the pandemic volunteers may opt to complete the training online. Please go to www.virtusonline.org and click on "First Time Registrant" Select" Boston Archdiocese." After you complete the initial class, you will be directed to a link to register for a second class in mandated reporting in MA. Both classes must be completed in order to be in compliance with our child protection requirements. The mandated reporting class can be found at http://51a.middlesexcac.org. When completed, please send a copy of the certificate to mrs.mobilia@stmaryschoolmelrose.org and keep a copy for your records.