Principal's Weekly Newsletter

Dear Families,

As we enter this blessed Christmas season, we pray that our entire St. Mary’s community, from our youngest infants all the way to our 8th graders, feels the joy and excitement in the air! Our Christmas Pageant preparations are well underway, and we are especially delighted to share that our very own infant room will be providing this year’s Baby Jesus. What a beautiful reminder of the heart and the reason for this season.

A special shout out to Mrs. Palmer’s Grade 5 class, who have been preparing for our beautiful nativity scene!

Our Summer Program sign-ups are thriving, and we are thrilled to see so many families eager to join us once again. We also ended the week with some wonderful growth for our team: we secured Mrs. Elizabeth Kelly, a Coach from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development program who joined us this Friday for a dynamic professional development session on Making Ethical Decisions. Additionally, our Dean of Students, Ms. Kfoury, led an inspiring PD on professionalism and personal branding. We’ll continue to spend this intentional time together as a learning community. A special shout-out to Mrs. Porcello, who is leading our teacher-mentor initiative for early childhood teachers, an initiative that continues to strengthen collaboration, support, and excellence across our school.

We are grateful for the unity and spirit that make St. Mary’s such a special place. Wishing all our families a joyful start to this beautiful season!

• December 5

• No School (Infant - Grade 8)

• Parent Teacher Conferences (Grades K2-8)

• Professional Development Day (Infant - K1)

• December 9

• Infant/Toddler and EDP Close at 4:30

• Christmas Pageant and Tree Lighting Ceremony at 5 p.m.

• December 11

• EDP ends at 4:30

• Infant/Toddler Classrooms close at 4:30

• December 12

• Paul Effman Band Concert at 8:30 a.m.

• December 17

• Coffee with the Principal at 8:00 a.m.

• December 19

• No EDP

• December 22 - January 2

• No School - Christmas Vacation

• January 5

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

If you are interested in purchasing Spa Pizza from January to June, please send a cash payment by 12/12/2025. Label the envelope with your child's name, grade, and number of slices.

We have 16 Fridays plus 3 Thursdays (02/05, 03/19 and 05/21) which total 19 days.

1 slice = $65

2 slices = $130

If you do not wish to purchase pizza please send a lunch from home. There will not be a hot lunch option on these days.

We are so excited for the Christmas Tree Lighting on Tuesday, which will follow the Pageant and Concert! We are still in need of some volunteers and donations for this event to make it possible. If you are interested, click the link below to sign up!

This week during Parking Lot Prayers, students in grades K2-8 gathered together to welcome the season of Advent, which began on Sunday. They shared that the word "advent" comes from the Latin meaning "coming," and that this season is a time of waiting and preparation for the celebration of the coming of Jesus. Grade 7 students with Mr. O'Connor shared a beautiful reflection on the theme of the first week of Advent: hope. They then lit the first candle on the Advent wreath, symbolizing the light of hope that grows as we patiently and joyfully wait for Jesus. It was a beautiful way to begin this important season together as a school community.

A huge thank-you to our amazing Facilities team for salting the parking lot on this week’s icy morning. Their quick response and behind-the-scenes hard work kept our students and staff safe and helped the day start smoothly. We’re grateful for their dedication, especially on those cold, early mornings when they are the first to arrive at school. Thank you for everything you do for the St. Mary's community!

St. Mary's had a great time participating in the Brookline Chamber of Commerce's First Light Event! It was so much fun to kickoff the holiday season with the Brookline community. Thank you to everyone who stopped by St. Mary's to decorate ornaments for their Christmas trees! We enjoyed sharing about our school with new members of the community as well as catching up with current families and alumni.

Our “Remember the Titans” film series activity this past week was a worksheet reflection activity called “Identity Circles.” Students filled out fun and/or identifying facts about themselves that make them special and unique, and then shared them with their classmates. We have some amazingly wonderful students in our Middle School cohort! Regarding SGA: due to some scheduling adjustments in Ms. Kfoury’s day, our first official SGA meeting will take place next Monday. We’re excited to kick off the year with a two-part format: a lunch meeting for all elected officers, followed by a Town Hall–style meeting during our Leadership Seminar class block, with all of middle school. This structure gives our student leaders the opportunity to prepare, collaborate, and then bring their voices and ideas directly to their peers. We are thrilled to begin this important work and can’t wait to see the leadership, enthusiasm, and school spirit our SGA brings to the community!

We have many Middle School students and chaperones signed up for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Sound of Music Middle School Theatre Night on Sunday, January 11th! We are so excited to kick off this new calendar year with this community event. Before we commute downtown, we will have a small reception in the cafeteria where we will discuss theatre etiquette, talk a little bit about the show, and share a meal together.

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/