

Principal's Weekly Update
October 30th, 2023
A Message from Dr. Nadjarian
Thank you to our Room Parents and Parent Volunteers for your help in planning, coordinating, setting up, and cleaning up. We received a lot of candy and treat donations, and our parking lot was filled with many beautifully and creatively decorated cars! Congratulations to our costume contest winners, Damian, Adrian, Julia, and Kaiden (please see pictures below featuring our winners posing with the judges)!
Happy Halloween, and we hope to see all our families at the All Saints Day Mass on Wednesday at 12:10!
Looking Ahead
October 30th
- Progress Reports Released PreK & K1
October 31st
- Halloween Dress-Down Day (follow teacher instructions)
November 1st
- All Saints' Day School Mass at 12:10 p.m. (All PreK-8 students and families invited)
November 6-8
- Middle School field trip to Nature's Classroom in Maine
November 9th
- Online Information Session
- Grades 2 and 3 community walk field trip
November 10th
- No School: Veteran's Day
November 16th
- No EDP
November 17th
- Trimester 1 grades close (K2-8)
November 22nd
- Thanksgiving Liturgy of the Word: 10:15 a.m. in the church for PreK-8
- Early Dismissal: 11 a.m.
- No EDP
November 23rd
- Happy Thanksgiving! No school
November 24th
- No school (Thanksgiving break)
November 27th
- Return to school from Thanksgiving break
Trunk or Treat Photo Highlight Reel
Parent Musical Interest in This Year's Christmas Pageant?
Any parents with musical talent?! We would love to have you be a part of this year's Christmas Pageant! If you are interested and would like more info please contact Dr. Nadjarian and Music Teacher, Ryan Lynch, by Friday, November 10. This will allow us to arrange for a rehearsal or two before December!
Great 1st Cross Country Meet
So proud of our Grade 6-8 cross-country runners for competing at the 2023 Mayer's Cup last Sunday at Franklin Park! For the very first race of the season, our athletes ran fast and persevered. They will only get faster with time to come!
Continued SEL
During the Grade 4 and 5 Kindness 101 class led by Mrs. Bayazid, the students were excited to brainstorm ideas for their Kindness Campaign. Grade 4 students shared their proposal (shown below) on a way to give back because of all the blessings in their lives. They also focused on the value of empathy. They learned that empathy is understanding and sharing in another person’s feelings and trying to “walk in their shoes”. They also reflected on the question “What if that were me? Stay tuned for updates as they embark on their campaign.
Staff Member Highlight: Ms. Carolina
We would like to highlight a very important staff member of ours who keeps our students fueled and nourished every single day - Ms. Carolina. Ms. Carolina is our new Cafeteria Worker, and she is dedicated to preparing, presenting, and delivering multiple different nutritious meal options to the students each day. If her cheerfulness alone doesn't already put a smile on students' faces, her food will! Be sure to give her a warm welcome when you see her in the cafeteria!
Two Exciting Field Trips This Week
Grades 4-6 listened to incredible music from the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday. They will take the inspiration with them to their music classes, band, and choir. Also, Grade 4 went to visit Catholic TV on Thursday with Fr. Bobby. They first toured the studio, which was filled with high-tech video and audio production operations. Then they enjoyed Cabot's ice cream to talk about the day and grow in friendship!
St. Thomas More Teaching Fellows Dinner
On Thursday, Dr. Nadjarian joined in a panel discussion and dinner to support the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellows. As you know, we currently have 3 St. Thomas More Fellows here at St. Mary's - Ms. Gracie Allen, Mr. Antonacci, and Mr. Suriawinata - and they have filled the school with immense joy, faith, and dedication to their teaching ever since they stepped foot in the door. The purpose of the dinner was to share about the amazing program with others for the program to continue!
PreK
Our young scientists in Ms. P’s class learned how to make observations using their sight and taste. After describing the different colors of apples and counting the number of apples Ms. P had, students tasted red, yellow, and green apples. They colored on their sheet which apple they enjoyed the most. Each student’s favorite apple was written on the board, which will be used for data collection to determine how many students picked the different apples as their favorite!
K2
Students in Ms. McAuliffe’s class also practiced their counting with a spooky twist. One of the students led the class in reviewing numbers 1-100 on the board. Then, they enjoyed a Halloween-themed number lesson with movement breaks in between rounds!
On Friday, our K2 teachers organized a fun Halloween Celebration including interactive centers! Our amazing parent volunteers facilitated mummy bowling, eyeball balancing on wooden spoons, witch hat ring toss, jack o' lantern Cornhole toss, and mummy wrapping! These activities allowed students to practice both their hand-eye coordination and gross and fine motor skills. Students rotated activities in the classrooms and hallway and got to cheer on their friends. What fun!
Grades 2 and 3
Students also combined classes to celebrate Halloween with interactive centers. In one center, scientists created a witch’s brew with mystery ingredients such as glitter, oil, vinegar, and baking soda. They observed changes in the mixture using their senses! Thank you to our parent volunteers who assisted and supervised during the festivities! Great work spooky scientists!
Grade 5
Middle School
This week, our Middle School students were the linchpin around which the Halloween decorations and Trunk or Treat revolved. When you notice the impressive spooky balloons, table setups, and cobwebs in front of the cafeteria entrance, be sure to recognize our dedicated students.
Grade 6
In ELA, our 6th graders recently put their grammar knowledge to the test and then journeyed with Bilbo through Smaug's lair in the thrilling pages of "The Hobbit." They've been honing their writing skills through various creative writing activities.
On a different note, their costumes were incredible: some spooky, others funny, and still others beautifully creative!
Grade 7
In 7th grade, students took a journey along the Silk Road in Mr. Febesh's class. Students pretended they were a merchant and competed a simulation that took them along the silk road. Along their travels they collected good from cities such as Rome, Samarkand, Turfan and Chang'an.
In addition, Ethan, one of our 7th graders, delivered the school's morning announcements over the intercom in French and English on Friday morning! He described the weather and the events in both languages.
Grade 8
In grade 8, students have been furthering their understanding of To Kill A Mockingbird. They analyzed the connection to the virtues of courage and justice in the recent chapters. On Thursday, they had a Socratic seminar to better understand themes presented through rigorous and thoughtful discussion. The last Socratic seminar was led by Ms. Allen, but this time the students completely took the lead. Their mature and detailed dialogue was very impressive.
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