Principal's Weekly Newsletter
November 25th, 2025
A Message from the Principal
Dear Families,
I wanted to give a BIG shoutout to our Grade 6 students on their recent testing performances. All of our students participate in MAP testing three times per year to gauge the percentage of students meeting grade-level expectations. This fall, 88% of our Grade 6 students are meeting their grade-level expectations. This is more than double the Massachusetts average!
Our Grade 6 students also recently participated in the National Catholic Math League for the first time ever. They ranked 7th out of 88 schools in the country! Griffin Miller, one of our Grade 6 students, scored in the Top 25 out of 1,264 students! We are so proud to see our students performance reflecting academic excellence, one of our S.T.A.R.S. values here at St. Mary’s. In alignment with these values, our Grade 6 students have demonstrated curiosity, perseverance, and a desire to constantly grow their knowledge.
I hope you have a beautiful and safe Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones. We look forward to welcoming our students back on Monday, December 1st, as we will light the first candle on our Advent Wreath during Parking Lot Prayers.
Pizza Fridays: January-June
If you are interested in purchasing Spa Pizza from January to June please send a cash payment by 12/12/2025
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.
Infant and Toddler
Our Infant and Toddler students are getting ready for Thanksgiving with a variety of turkey themed art projects! Our infant students used their creativity to make beautiful hand turkeys, showing gratitude for their families! Our toddler students focused on team work and collaboration to create a giant classroom turkey! They also discussed gratitude and examples of things they may be grateful for. We love to see our youngest St. Mary’s students practicing these important skills!
PreK
Last week was very exciting for Mrs. Porcello's class: it was all about pizza! They started by decorating their very own aprons. They also mixed flour and water in the sensory table to make "pizza dough." They also enjoyed imaginative play by cooking in the pizzeria.
At circle time, they did a last read of Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. Then, they discussed the ingredients and directions for making pizza. Students learned that they would be making their very own English muffin pizzas. They put on our aprons and headed to the table to start cheffing it up!
Students received their own personal bowl with the ingredients needed to make the pizzas. They followed step by step, sneaking a few bites of cheese along the way! Once the pizzas were assembled, they took a trip down to the oven. We discussed oven safety, put the pizzas inside, and headed back upstairs.
After recess, the class took a trip back to the kitchen to pick up our pizzas. Students were so excited to taste them! After patiently waiting for Mrs. Porcello and Miss Yazmin to stop taking pictures, they DEVOURED the pizzas! Students felt just like Little Red Hen and all of her friends sitting together eating pizza.
K1
The K1 students in Mrs. Curley's class spent the week learning about the history of Thanksgiving and the early United States through stories, hands-on activities, and art. They explored the journey of the Mayflower, imagined what it was like to see Plymouth Rock for the first time, and learned how the Pilgrims built homes in their new land. They also discovered how Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive by teaching them to grow food. Throughout the unit, students recorded everything they learned in their Thanksgiving books and created colorful artwork to go along with their writing.
Grade 1
Ms. Johnson's class held a special show-and-tell day, where each student was encouraged to bring in a special item that represented their heritage! Students learned about each other's family traditions and celebrated the diverse first grade community. They added pins to a world map showcasing where each of their families are from.
Grade 2
Mrs. Sterge's class practiced their deductive reasoning skills with a mystery - Which Turkey Escaped Thanksgiving Dinner? After going undercover as their own disguised turkey, students worked individually and in groups on various challenges that revealed clues as to which Turkey it was.
Grade 5
This week was Miss Julia's take over week in the 5th grade, and she ended her mini science unit on changing matter with a fun science experiment! Students were given the opportunity to create Elephant Toothpaste. Students then reflected on what parts of the experiment were physical changes and which were chemical changes. Great job, scientists!
Grades 3-5 Field Trip
Grades 3-5 went on a field trip to the Boston Aquarium today! They took the T downtown and had an exciting, hands-on learning adventure that brought science to life. Students explored exhibits filled with colorful fish, graceful sea turtles, and playful penguins while discovering how different marine animals survive in their habitats. They got to experience the touch tank, where they got to touch rays. They also watched a video in the theater that gave them some great background information. It is wonderful to see experiential learning happening that connects to everything students have been learning in class!
