Principal's Weekly Update

Dear Families,

Happy All Saints Day! Fall is in full swing here at St. Mary’s, and we’re thrilled with all the memorable celebrations we’ve had in recent weeks. Our Halloween festivities were a great success and we want to extend a special thank you to everyone who contributed to making the Trunk or Treat such a joyful event. It was truly heartwarming to see our supportive and involved community come together for a whole day of fun. We’re grateful to our families, students, and staff for making it possible, and I know for a fact that every student had an amazing time.

I'd also like to spotlight a wonderful initiative led by our 7th and 8th-grade students: the Hurricane Hygiene Supplies Drive. In response to the devastating hurricanes that affected many communities earlier this fall, our students took the initiative to organize this drive, aimed at collecting personal hygiene items for those who remain displaced. Our students showed tremendous commitment by researching the hurricanes’ impacts, identifying reliable charities, and creating eye-catching posters to promote the drive. Please consider supporting this important cause by bringing donations to the front office.

Today, as we celebrate the solemnity of All Saints Day, we honor all the saints recognized by the Catholic Church. This feast offers us a beautiful reminder of the lives of holiness, virtue, and peace that the saints have modeled for us. We hope their examples inspire our students to live out these virtues every day. It was wonderful to see so many students dressed as saints for our school Mass today, each celebrating a life that reflects faith, hope, love, and devotion to God.

Thank you for everything you all do for our students and our community. Seeing the dedication of the entire St. Mary’s community has been an inspiring part of my time here so far. I wish you all a happy and festive November.

November 3

• Daylight Savings Time Ends, Turn Clocks back 1 hour

November 5

• No Brookline Lunch Program - Bring Lunch from Home

November 11

• NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

November 22

• Trimester 1 Grades Close (Grades K2-8)

November 26

• Thanksgiving Liturgy of the Word (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome at 10 AM

• No EDP/Clubs

November 27-29

• NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

December 2

• Last week of Fall Clubs

• First Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM (Grades K2-8)

December 3

• Touring Tuesday

• St. Mary’s Tree Lighting at 4 PM- EDP ends at 3:30

December 4

• Trimester 1 Report Cards Released (Grades K2-8)

December 5

• Parent Teacher Conferences (Grades K2-8) from 2:30-5:30 PM

December 6

• NO SCHOOL - Parent Teacher Conferences (Grades K2-8) and PD Day (Grades PreK-K1)

December 9

• Second Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM (Grades K2-8)

• Mass of the Immaculate Conception (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome at 12:10

December 10

• No EDP

December 13

• St. Mary’s Christmas Concert and Pageant (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome at 9 AM in the Church

December 16

• Third Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM (Grades K2-8)

December 18

• EDP ends at 4:30

December 19 - January 5

• NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break

On Friday, all students attended the All Saints' Day Mass at the Parish. Many children were dressed up as saints, or wearing saint crowns on their heads. Mrs. DeSimpliciis’ fourth grade class processed into the Church representing many saints with their shields. Some saints include Saint Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Anthony, Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Francis and St. Joan of Arc. During the Homily Father Jonathan showed a photograph of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which our middle school students immediately recognized as many were dressed as him! Our school choir, led by Mr. Ryan Lynch and accompanied by Ms. Emily Tigges, sang at the Mass. What a beautiful first Mass for our Early Childhood students as well!

St. Mary’s students, teachers, and families had SO much fun at Trunk or Treat last Friday! Check out the impressive costumes and creative trunks! A big thank you to the middle schoolers and parent volunteers for making the event possible through candy and snack donations, planning, running games, and decorating! Congratulations to our student costume contest winners: Adira, Mack, Maksim, and Olivia! Happy Halloween!

SAVE THE DATE

FREE COVID and FLU VACCINATIONS

FREE vaccine clinic:

Brookline Town Hall, 333 Washington St.

Room 103

11/6/2024 (Wednesday), 4:30PM-7:30PM

Registration: https://home.color.com/vaccine/register/cdrmaguire?site=brookline-dept-of-public-health

Ages 6 months and up. Indoors. Accessible doors and drop off/pick up location for persons with disabilities.

Walk-ins welcome!

COVID/flu vaccines will be provided at no cost (however, we respectfully ask individuals with insurance to present their plan info). Identification is NOT required for vaccination. No one will be turned away! Free Flu and COVID-19 Vaccines Available throughout Boston

Additionally, please notify anyone who could benefit that DPH is now offering FREE in-home vaccination for COVID and flu across the Commonwealth. Anyone (aged 6 months and up) who has difficulty getting a community vaccination location is eligible. Appointments will occur within seven days of a vaccination request. For more information, click here.

For a list of upcoming free COVID/flu clinics across Massachusetts, click here.

Ms. Rachelle is our newly hired infant teacher! Ms. Rachelle is currently in school at Mass Boston completing her degree in Early Childhood Education. For the past few years, she has worked closely with children ages 3 months to 2.9 years. This experience has taught her how to teach and nurture children's early development and foster a love for learning! As a teacher, she believes that every young child is a unique, capable learner, partnership with parents is essential for development, and cultural diversity should be respected. From an early age, Ms. Rachelle has made it her goal to be a teacher who allows students to grow and express themselves while learning. She recognizes that many students can grow independently in a rich learning environment, and others will need some support, and she will be there to provide any help they need as their teacher!

We are scheduling tours for all families interested in our new Infant and Toddler Programs. If you are interested in learning more information about our newest classrooms, please contact our principal Dr. Christine Nadjarian, Director of Early Childhood Education Suzette Torres-Perrier, and Director of Admissions Domenica DeLuca.

On Sunday, the St. Mary's Cross Country Team competed in the Mayor's Cup Cross Country Meet in Franklin Park! Runners participated in the 1.1 mile race with middle schoolers from all over Massachusetts. We are so proud of our runners for their hard work and great effort!

Last week, Ms. Gloria and Dr. Nadjarian attended the Catholic Schools Foundation reception in Downton Boston. We are very thankful for our partnership with CSF because it helps assist many of our families in receiving an excellent Catholic education. Catholic Schools Foundation is a Boston-based organization that has been providing support to students, families, and schools over the past thirty years. CSF works hard to help schools build and maintain sustainability, helping to guarantee a bright future for Catholic education. They also work to minimize the financial barrier that may stand in the way of families sending their children to Catholic schools. Over the last several years the Catholic Schools Foundation has been extremely generous to our school in particular. They have helped us to significantly increase the amount of financial aid that we are able to offer to our families, allowing our school to continue to grow and thrive.

Miss Rachelle's Infant class participated in mirror play! This kind of play helps infants start recognizing themselves, building self-awareness. It also encourages early social skills by letting them explore facial expressions and reactions.

To celebrate Halloween, Miss Tiffany's Toddler class practiced using fine motor skills to rip up orange construction paper. Then, they glued the ripped paper pieces onto the outline of a pumpkin.

This week the PreK and 5th grade came together to get to know each other in a fun and engaging way. Fifth grade took on the role of teacher assistants and role models and ran stations for their PreK buddies. Students were able to rotate through stations to get to know each other and learn through play.

Miss Porcello's PreK class participated in a variety of Halloween centers! Students got to try their hand at monster hair cutting, pin the heart on the skeleton, sensory table spaghetti, mummy wrap, paper mummy making, and Halloween bingo!

In Miss Debbie's K1 class this week, students participated in Halloween-themed centers! Students went on a ghost walk around the classroom to find different letters. They also dissected a pumpkin and practiced fine motor skills by using tweezers to separate seeds and fibrous strands and sort them on the mat.

Miss Tiney and Miss McAuliffe's K2 classes have been learning about their five senses! Last week, they learned about their sense of sight and how their eyes help them to see. After studying in the classroom, the classes took their learning outside to apply it on a sight walk! Students made observations using their sense of sight, and they pretended to take pictures along the way. When they got back to the classroom, students held a discussion about the things they saw.

K2 students also had a fun Halloween celebration! Thanks to the parent volunteers who helped run stations such as witch hat ring toss and mummy wrap for all the students!

Grade 6 students read all about the saints to their 1st grade buddies. We are so proud of our grade 6 leaders!

Second grade students have been learning about place value to the hundreds place and base-10 pieces. Using what they have learned, they created their own monsters to display for Halloween!

Second graders received a tour of the church from Fr. Jonathan and seminarians Joe and Nick. They were led to the sacristy where they saw the chalices and patens used during the Mass as well as the different vestments that priests and deacons wear during each liturgical season. The seminarians talked to the students about the Ten Commandments, and they learned that the tablets used to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle, and now, the tabernacle in the church houses the Body of Christ!

Second Grade students used their deductive reasoning skills to solve a Halloween mystery! By solving puzzles including a science vocabulary words scramble, identifying observable properties, deciphering a code, and adding/subtracting the volume of liquid in a graduated cylinder, students identified innocent suspects until they were left with the culprit!

Third graders have been reading the novel Stone Fox. This week, they were discussing character traits. Students identified character traits of different characters in the book, and they worked on looking back in the text to find evidence that shows the characters demonstrating the different traits the students identified. They've also been working on retelling the story focusing on small moments and sections.

Fourth graders have been working hard to learn all about the saints they selected at the beginning of the month. Students wrote a paragraph about their saint’s life and created a shield that tells information about their saint. We wrapped up our project on All Saints Day with presentations on our saints. Fourth graders loved sharing the important events from their saint’s life.

Fifth grade has been learning all about matter. In the last week they have been focusing on how matter can be changed both physically and chemically. They recently completed an experiment where they created elephant toothpaste and had to decide whether it was a chemical or physical change. They also got to celebrate Halloween with a fun class party!

In honor of their classroom saint, Pope St. John Paul II, the 6th grade class at St. Mary’s celebrated his feast day with a Polish-themed celebration. Students brought in a variety of Polish treats, with Sam providing delicious food from the Polish deli in Dorchester, and many others contributing as well. The celebration was extra special as it coincided with Miss Falcone's birthday, so the 8th grade class joined for a joint celebration—a fitting tribute to Pope St. John Paul II’s love for community! Students also watched a short video on the life of Pope St. John Paul II and explored Polish customs through another video and a special interview between Sam and former St. Mary’s student, John Maciejuk. It was a delightful day filled with learning and delicious treats!

In 6th grade ELA with Miss Allen, students participated in a Socratic Seminar discussing the themes, characters, and plot of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. They were provided with discussion prompts and questions, which they carefully prepared for, while also reviewing the guidelines and rubric for proper conduct in an official seminar. The students delved deeply into the material, asking thought-provoking questions and supporting their comments with textual evidence.

In 6th grade Science with Miss Falcone, students engaged in a STEM challenge in which they had to build a "Bone Bridge" out of popsicle sticks, cue tips, and pipe cleaners, and they had to balance pumpkins on top! Students used what they knew about bridge structures and shapes in order to build the strongest bridge possible. They even shook the desk to simulate an earthquake! Great job, engineers!

This week in Science, the 8th graders created a model using styrofoam balls, pushpins, string, and a light to show how light hits the earth across a day and over the course of an entire year. They applied what they've learned so far about the earth's tilt, the changing of the seasons, and the sun's height in the sky at different points in the year.

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/