Dear Families,

We are thrilled to announce that our program is now officially licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)! With this milestone, we are looking forward to opening two new classrooms to provide high-quality care and learning opportunities for your little ones.

Infant Classroom
Our infant classroom will welcome babies from 3 months to 15 months, with a cozy and nurturing environment tailored for your child’s growth and development. The capacity is limited to 7 infants, ensuring personalized care and attention for each child.

Toddler Classroom
For children aged 15 months to 2 years and 9 months, our toddler room will offer a dynamic space for exploration, learning, and play. With a capacity of 9 students, this room will support their developmental milestones with age-appropriate activities and guidance.

We are now accepting enrollment! If you are interested in securing a spot or learning more about our program, please don't hesitate to contact the Principal Dr Christine Nadjarian, Director of Early Childhood Program Suzette Torres-Perrier, and Director of Admissions Domenica DeLuca for more information.

We can't wait to welcome your little ones to our family!

October 11

• First Day of Paul Effman Music Band Practice

October 14

• NO SCHOOL - Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 18

• Discovery Day 9:00-11:00 AM

October 22

• Parent Volunteer Council at 8 AM

October 23

• Coffee with the Principal at 8 AM

October 25

• Trimester 1 Progress Reports Released (Grades K2-8)

• Halloween Costume Dress Down Day and Parade (Grades PreK-8) at 8:15

• EDP Ends at 3:30 PM

• Trunk or Treat from 4-6 PM

October 31

• Progress Reports Released (Grades PreK-K1)

• Halloween Dress Down Day (classroom-specific)

November 1

• Dress up as a Saint (Grades PreK-8)

• All Saints Day Mass at 12:10 (Grades PreK-8) All Families Welcome

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

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

This week in Drama, Miss Tigges taught first-grade actors elements of delivering lines. They played a game in which students from teams had to guess which element was being used in an example acted out by Miss Tigges. Two elements they discussed were tone and movement.

This week kicked off band practice at St. Mary’s, with students eagerly diving into their instruments for the first time. The halls were filled with the exciting sounds of trumpets, flutes, clarinets, and more as the musicians began their journey toward creating harmonious music together. Their enthusiasm set a vibrant tone for what promises to be an exciting season of musical growth!

Trunk or Treat is coming up on October 25th from 4-6pm. We are in need of volunteers from each class to decorate their trunk to make this event possible. All families are asked to send in one bag of nut-free candy to contribute to their class trunk. These can be brought to the office anytime after Oct. 21st. There is still time to sign up to decorate your trunk and to help out at the event! See the link below for more details.

The St. Mary’s community gathered Monday morning for our annual Blessing of the Pets. Deacon Tommy Heyne blessed our students’ pets and gave a reflection on the importance of caring for all of creation in the model of St. Francis of Assisi.

The Cross Country team had its first practice this week! On Monday, students met in the school gym to learn the foundations of running. They also learned the importance of stretching before and after running. Big thank you to Coach Reyes and Coach McConnell for leading our cross country team!

Students in Miss Porcello's PreK completed an "All About My Family" page at home with their families. Then, they put them together and made a class book! PreK read their book together this week to learn more about each other. They also worked together to create a poster that includes the members of their families.

This week first grade has been working so hard with reading and spelling CVC words and words with digraphs. They practiced these skills during our reading centers and they also became digraph detectives and searched for words with these sounds in their poetry journals. They have been doing such a great job that we ended our week reading some Halloween themed stories together.

Second-grade students received their Tiny Topic Notebooks and used them to record small moments that they would like to expand on in their narrative writing. To gain inspiration for their writing, they took a walk around our school and took notes! Over the next few weeks, students will use their writing skills to describe and expand on what they have observed to create small moment stories!

On Thursday, students in Grade 3 started learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin. Building on what they’ve already learned about the life cycle of a plant, students watched a video that took them through the stages of pumpkin development: seed, sprout, flowering vine, green pumpkin, full-grown orange pumpkin. They practiced their note-taking skills on each of the stages and started their work on a flip book about pumpkin life cycles.

Fourth graders started their saint reports in preparation for All Saints Day. At the beginning of the week, they selected a saint that had meaning to them. They began using various texts to take notes on the saints' lives. They will take this research and turn it into a paragraph about their saint. Students will also present their saints to the class.

Students in 5th grade have been working on writing well about reading. They have been writing sticky notes on their thoughts while reading and then expanding on those thoughts in their reading notebooks. Students have been listening to the text, Out of My Mind, and will be making connections between it and their book club book, Wonder.

Dr. Albert Nadjarian, Principal Nadjarian's brother, gave a talk to our middle school students about his career as a Pulmonary Intensive Care Doctor. He shared his own journey into medicine and left students with this piece of advice: Passion, perseverance, and a genuine desire to help others are the keys to success in any field. He encouraged them keep learning, stay curious, and always remember that the work they do can make a difference in people’s lives. His inspiring words encouraged students to think about their own future paths and the impact they can have, regardless of the career they choose.

Students in Miss Falcone's 8th grade class celebrated the feast day of their class patron, Blessed Carlo Acutis. Students learned that Bl. Carlo was a young Italian website designer who documented Eucharistic miracles in an online catalogue. He had a strong devotion to the Eucharist until his death at age 15 in 2006. Students also learned about his love of prayer, soccer, video games, and nutella! 8th graders brought cookies and homemade cake to celebrate the occasion of Bl. Carlo's feast.

In 6th grade ELA, students listened to Ms. Allen's reading of chapters 11-12 of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and participated in an engaging speaking and listening activity. Each student practiced public speaking by reading aloud passages that describe the noble character Aslan. While one student presented, their classmates took detailed notes, focusing on the emotions and descriptions conveyed. These notes will serve as the foundation for writing a diamanté poem about Aslan, allowing students to creatively express their understanding of his character.

In 7th grade science, students wrapped up their work on the relationship between key resources and animal populations. They will now begin learning about how energy is transmitted through an ecosystem. The lesson begins with students learning about different types of energy producers and consumers, and decomposers.

7th and 8th graders began working on a clothing drive for those affected by Hurricane Helene. Students created groups to focus on different elements of the project. One group worked on creating posters, another on a list of necessary items, and others found charities to partner with. Students will continue to work on this service project over the next week or two and we hope to begin the clothing drive soon!

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/