Principal's Weekly Update

Dear Families,

I hope you are having a happy and healthy start to 2023!

We are thrilled to have our faculty and students back. The school feels so alive as we hear the students' laughter in the hallways!

Parking Lot Prayers will resume in the Spring. Please be sure to get your children (K2-8 only) on time to school for Mass at 8 am for the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.

Have a wonderful and restful weekend.

January 9th:

• Mass for the Baptism of the Lord at 8 am (Grades K2-8)
  
• Parent Volunteer Council Meeting on Zoom from 6-7 p.m.

• Early Re-Enrollment Begins

January 11th:

• Walk Around Wednesday at 9 a.m.

January 16th:

• No School/ Martin Luther King Day

January 17th-February 13th:

• Winter MAP testing window

January 19th:

• Progress Reports Released (Grades K2-8)
  
• Friends of St. Mary's Lunch

January 20th:

• Early Re-Enrollments Concludes
  

January 23rd:

• Report Cards Released (Grades PreK-K1)
  
• Winter MAPS make-up testing begins (optional)
  

January 26th

• Pub Trivia Night

January 27th:

• Professional Development/ No School

January 29th:

• Catholic Schools Mass Kickoff

January 29th-February 4th:

• Catholic Schools Week (details to follow)

Hi St. Mary's families

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas break.

We had 1 reported case of Covid-19.

Please continue to monitor your student/s for symptoms of Covid-19 or the flu before school and keep them home if they are not feeling well.

Thank you and enjoy your weekend

Nurse Wu

As the weather gets cooler we have a few important reminders about our dress code and uniform policy. If you need assistance in acquiring any items please let us know. This is the link to the Land’s End website. Our preferred school code is 900167206. Please see this link for some important areas highlighted in our Student-Parent Handbook.

We appreciate your efforts in following the school policy for arriving and departing from St. Mary's.

It is important for everyone's safety that cars do not pull into the parking lot between the times of 2:00pm to 2:30pm. Please park on the street. There are available parking spaces, with no meters on Homer St, Hurd St. and Linden Pl. Our procedure for dropping off and picking up students at the school ensures the safety of your children. Feel free to park in the lot when picking up from Clubs and EDP

This week Ms. Garcia introduced los Reyes Magos, la estrella de Oriente, presents for baby Jesus, and special desserts for the holiday “Roscón de Reyes”

Here is a link if you would like to learn more:

https://devourtours.com/blog/los-reyes-magos-the-spanish-christmas-tradition/

Students in Ms. Chambrelli and Mrs. Fragola’s first grade classes celebrated the Epiphany today! They ate homemade Galette de Rois (King’s Cake) baked by the Room Parents and homeroom teachers. Students listened to Mrs. Enrique read “The Wise Men Who Found Christmas” by Raymond Arroyo, a story telling of the Three Wise Men’s search for the newborn baby Jesus. They also discussed traditions of the Epiphany from around the world including la befana in Italy and Los Reyes Magos in Spain. Students created crowns to be kings and queens for the day while enjoying their Galette des Rois. It was a special day!

In social studies, Grade 3 has been working with the five regions (The Southwest, The Southeast, The Northeast, The West, and The Midwest). The students brought recyclable items from home and in groups built their region. They also made facts about it and presented it in class.

4th Grade worked hard on learning about how to write thesis statements.

Grade 4 also worked in pairs to study and ponder the Beatitudes. They examined the meaning of Jesus’ words and thought about how they could apply them to scenarios in their own lives. The pairs designed posters and presentations to teach the rest of the class about their Beatitudes and how to live them out! Great job, fourth graders in Ms. DeLuca’s class!

Grade 5 worked on Wanted Posters to share whether or not they felt that the explorer they researched was a villain or a hero. They were required to provide information about the explorer's life and facts that proved if they were virtuous or not.

This week we started with a language learning technique called Story Asking, which is part of a method called TPRS (Teaching Proficiency with Reading and Storytelling).

With this technique, students and teacher co-created a story through questions, suggestions and statements. After the story was complete, we used it to keep practicing our writing with dictation. Students got really creative with the story. They engaged so much with this activity!

They also learned about "Los Reyes Magos" and the Spanish tradition around The Three Wise Men: It's origins, the symbolism and festivities in Spain during the last day of the Christmas season celebrations, the Epiphany of the Lord.

Basketball began this week, we are so excited for the season. Some impressive skills began to appear!

There is still space in the Speech and Debate Club offered by Rose Debate! The club is open to students in grades 4-8 and meets on Tuesdays from 2:30-3:30. The club costs $325 and needs more students enrolled in order to run. Here is a link to register. See below for more information.

ABOUT ROSE DEBATE:

Rose Institute specializes in connecting speakers with their audiences. Since 2011, we have proudly provided our students with a platform to practice speech and debate. Complete with tailored lessons, exercises, games, speeches, in-class presentations, and inter-school competitions, our programs are an absolute blast! Strengthen your confidence, find your voice, and prepare for success. Sign up today!

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stmaryschoolbrookline/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stmarybrookline