Dear Families,

It was a memorable day here at St. Mary's! Our entire school community came together for our cherished tradition, the St. Mary’s Christmas Concert and Pageant. Our Band Director, Mrs. Jen Hawes, has been preparing with our band students for months. Thank you to parents and families for supporting practice at home and bringing in instruments for extra rehearsals. Our Music Team, Mr. Ryan Lynch and Ms. Emily Tigges have worked continuously with our PreK through Grade 8 classes on arranging their songs ranging from “Silent Night” to “Jingle Bells” to “Jesus Be Born in Us.” Some classes included sign language along with the lyrics. Ms. Bognet and Mr. Raymond, two of our World Language teachers, introduced Spanish and French into the middle schoolers’ performance of “I Speak Jesus.” Thank you to our student musicians, Justo, Diego, David, and Lola for their instrumental accompaniments throughout the Concert and Pageant. Finally, thank you to our Fifth Grade teacher, Mrs. Kacie Palmer, for leading her class in the Nativity Pageant. Her students have been memorizing lines, practicing in the church, and learning about stage directions with props. Our amazing facilities team adorned the church both inside and out with wreaths, flowers, Nativity and manger scenes and Christmas trees. It was true a special event where students, families, faculty, and staff members came together for this very special event. Our talented students are so blessed to have the support of their caregivers both at home and at school!

Have a restful weekend.

Check out this week's Middle School newsletter!

On Monday, our school attended Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Father David. The reading from the Gospel of Luke recounted the Annunciation from Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary sharing the Good News with her that she would give birth to baby Jesus soon, something that was incomprehensible to her at the time. She said “yes” to Angel Gabriel like we are called to say “Yes” to God by serving His will in our lives. Students recalled the second week of Advent earlier in the day at Parking Lot Prayers as they lit the second purple candle for the week of Peace. Fifth grade students led Parking Lot Prayers for Grades K2 through Grade 8. Many students remembered last week’s Bible Verse: "The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world" from the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Please join us for the third week of Advent to light the Gaudette rose-colored candle representing Joy on Monday December 16th at 8 AM in the Parking Lot.

This weekend, St. Mary’s Girl Scout Troop 63347 hosted their very first Investiture Ceremony! 5 Brownies and 4 Juniors are the first members of our troop and are so excited to be starting their Girl Scout adventures. Girls promised to serve God and their country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law. After the ceremony, the girls designed their Cookie Booth posters, including posters inviting customers to donate to St. Teresa of Calcutta in Dorchester. Be on the lookout for troop cookie sales in the coming weeks!

Troop 63347 is open to girls in grades 2-4 and is accepting new members for January. Please email stmarysbrooklinegirlscouts@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our troop!

After reading Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You See?, students made their own polar bears! They practiced using their fine motor skills to glue and stick white cotton balls on an outline of a polar bear.

Mrs. Creamer’s K1 classroom prepared for the feast of St. Nicolas on December 6th. They learned that he is the patron saint of Greece and more about his life, and then students made candy canes out of beads. They also made and decorated their own miters after learning that St. Nicolas was an early bishop of the Church.

Grade 2 has been practicing writing Stop & Jot notes while reading! As students read their books, they identify key points in the text and "jot" down a quick note. Students then use these notes to provide evidence from the text in their reading summaries. Some notes include plot developments, character traits, setting changes, and answers to the key questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

Fourth graders acted as detectives using their inferencing skills to solve cases! Students have been working on finding text evidence to make an inference in their book club books and in other short stories. In this lesson, they had to look for clues in short passages to help them solve each mystery. Way to go fourth grade readers!

Last week St. Mary’s welcomed Will Spears, Senior Architect at MDS Architects. He is the Principal in Charge for the Pierce School renovation across the street, which our middle school students have been closely observing from Miss Allen’s classroom. Will shared the process and research that went into the project from the early phases of design, community impact, and construction by showing many floorplans and three dimensional renderings. Students were able to ask questions about Will’s experience, about the construction, and the final proposed design. Thank you to Board member Kitty Boles, who introduced Will to St. Mary’s, and thank you to Will for taking the time to visit our school!

In Miss Allen's 7th-grade ELA class, as they read Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, students analyzed WWII-era poetry to explore themes, tone, and imagery. During class, they worked on annotating their chosen poems, identifying connections to the novel's themes of war, loss, and the power of words. This activity helped students deepen their understanding of the historical context and key ideas in both the poems and the novel.

8th graders worked together to decorate their classroom for Christmas!

In Miss Allen's 8th grade ELA class, students are reading To Kill a Mockingbird and engaging with its complex themes through thoughtful discussions. This week, they participated in an activity called “Exploring the Trial,” where each student took on the role of a court reporter. They documented notes and opinions about the trial, summarized witness testimonies, and analyzed Atticus Finch’s defense strategy. This activity sparked rich conversations about the novel’s key themes.

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/