01/15/2025

Good afternoon, SMG Families,

It's hard to believe that we're already planning for the 25-26 School Year... but the time is here! As you have seen in the emails from our Admissions Officer, Mrs. Bell, SMG's In-House Enrollment is underway and will conclude tomorrow. If you have not already, please be sure to submit your family's online enrollment forms today! You can complete your online enrollment at https://smgonline.org/inhouse.

Along the lines of enrollment, I would also like to emphasize that we have shifted our Book Bill timeline a bit for next summer in order to help streamline our internal processes as we start the 25-26 school year. All family book bills and PTO fees will be due by June 30 rather than July 31 as they have been in the past. Please be mindful of this date for your family's budgeting purposes!

On a more celebratory note, we would like to highlight and celebrate the participants and champions of our 2025 Spelling Bee! We are immensely proud of all of our participants and would like to offer a very special congratulations to our runner-up, Mikey Bubalo, and our champion, Jack Castillo-Giddings!

Blessings,

Mrs. Kissel

• NWEA Winter Testing- 1/13 - 1/17 (Grades K - 8)
• Thursday, January 16 - Charity Day benefiting the Paige Schemanske Scholarship. For minimum donation of $1 students may dress out of uniform in school appropriate attire.
• Thursday, January 16 - 8am PTO Meeting in Parish Narthex
• Thursday, January 16 - 8:30am - 9:30 PreSchool Informational Meeting.
• Thursday, January 16 - In House Enrollment closes. Be sure to complete your enrollment at https://smgonline.org/inhouse
• Friday, January 17 -Semester 1 Awards
• Kindergarten: 8:00-8:45am in the School Narthex
• 1st Grade: 9:15 - 9:45am in the Teacher's Classrooms
• 2nd & 3rd Grade: 9:15 - 9:45am in the Parish Narthex
• 4th & 5th Grade: 10:00 - 10:30am in the Parish Narthex

• Monday, January 20 - No SCHOOL for MLK Day. School Offices will be closed
• Thursday, January 23 - Dress Down Day for In-House Enrollment Incentive if we reach our goal; please be sure to complete your registration today at https://smgonline.org/inhouse
• Friday, January 24 - 9am Winter Open House
• Friday, January 24 - Mother/Son Evening Event

Testing Windows - Please avoid appointments during these weeks

• IREAD - 3/3/25 thru 3/14/25 (Grade 3 & Grade 2)
• ILEARN - 4/14/25 thru 4/25/25 (Grade 3 thru Grade 8)

Catholic Schools Week

• Sunday, January 26 - Friday, January 31 (see below)

The complete 25-26 School Calendar will be released later this spring once we've completed our Parish master-scheduling for the next year. In the meantime, we would like to share the "big" dates for next year to assist you with your planning needs.

*Please note that in conjunction with our fellow Hamilton County Catholic Schools, we are starting a week later next year, so it will shift some of our dates a bit.

• Monday, August 11 - Back to School Ice Cream Social
• Wednesday, August 13 - First Day of School for 1st - 8th
• Thursday, August 14 - First Day of School for JK/K
• Monday, October 13 - Friday, October 15 - Fall Break
• Wednesday, November 26 - Friday, November 28 - Thanksgiving Break
• Monday, December 22 - Monday, January 5 - Christmas Break
  (*Monday, January 5 is a staff development day for our teachers, but a day off for our students)
• Monday, March 23 - Friday, March 27 - Spring Break
• Wednesday, June 3 - Last Day

Again, a complete schedule with greater details will be published at a later date. This is a preliminary glimpse at the most important dates.

We would like to recognize and celebrate our 2025 Spelling Bee participants! The individuals who participated last Thursday were each the champions from within their own grade leves (4th - 8th Grade), so we would like to recognize each of them and celebrate their outstanding performance!

We would especially like to extend our congratulations to our Runner Up, Mikey Bubalo, and our 2025 Champion, Jack Castillo-Giddings!

The current month Lunch Menu is attached below. The monthly lunch calendar will be communicated through the Angel News, but will also be posted on the school website at https://www.smgonline.org/monthly-school-lunch-calendar.

To volunteer in lunchroom use the following sign up link: Lunch Room Volunteer Sign-Up

Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is a beloved tradition amongst Catholic Schools. SMG is excited to participate in CSW this year and wanted to take a moment to provide you with an overview of the theme days and activities in advance so that families may plan ahead, as needed. We would like to thank our SMG Student Council for their help in selecting the theme days for this year!

Sunday, January 26 - Catholic Schools Day Mass at 10am

• All SMG students are invited and encouraged to attend the 10am mass in their school uniform to begin Catholic Schools Week together in prayer as a faith family. Students who attend in uniform (or who are serving/singing at other masses that weekend) will receive a ticket for a dress down day.

Monday, January 27

• Theme: SMG Superfan Day (wear school colors, spirit wear, etc.)
• Activity: CSW Pep Rally at 2:15pm to kick off Catholic Schools Week!

Tuesday, January 28

• Theme: Favorite Sweatshirt Day (uniform bottoms since it is a mass day)

Wednesday, January 29

• Theme: Wacky Wednesday
• Activity: 5th Grade will attend the Vocations Mass at Guerin Catholic High School

Thursday, January 30

• Theme: Old vs Young Day (K-4 dress like they are older / 5-8 dress like they are younger)
• Activity: 7:00am Pastries with Parents before School

Friday, January 31

• Theme: Favorite Sports/Team Sweatshirt (uniform bottoms since it is a mass day)
• Activity: Pizza Party for Students/Luncheon for Teachers at 11:30am
• Activity: Teachers vs 8th Grade Volleyball Match at 1:30pm.

*Stay tuned for details on our 2025 CSW Service Project!

FISH Hour Opportunity

It is now time to start thinking about our upcoming Mother/Son Night! This fun event will be held at SMG on Friday, January 24th from 6pm-8pm. Please consider volunteering or donating from our Amazon Wishlist! Links below.

Volunteer Link - https://signup.com/go/VyqsAkV

Amazon Wishlist: Amazon.com

Venmo for donations for raffle items: Natalie-Deason

Reach out to Natalie Deason or Tracey Traub with questions.

Thanks for supporting Mom/Son Evening!

We are getting low on Kleenex. If you have extra and can send some into your student's teacher, they would appreciate it!

Catholic Schools week pizza party Friday Jan. 31. Our PTO will sponsor a pizza lunch in the classroom: Hot Box pizza pepperoni and/or cheese and “nut-free” Oreo cookies. Drinks will NOT be provided. Remind your student to bring a full water bottle. If your student does NOT want the pizza lunch, please bring a lunch from home to eat in the classroom.

Hot Box Cheese and pepperoni pizza ingredients:

Nut Free….Enriched Flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate (Bl), riboflavin (B2), folic acid), Water, Semolina Flour, Corn Flour, Wheat Starch, Salt, Soybean Oil, Yeast, Dough Improver (Wheat Flour, Monocalcium Phosphate, Corn Starch, Salt, Mono- and Diglycerides, Contains 2% or Less of Potassium Iodate, Enzyme), Dry Malt, Sugar.Vine-ripened fresh tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, salt, and naturally derived citric acid.Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Black Pepper, Oregano, Basil, < 2% Canola Oil. Mozzarella.Salt, Sugar, Spices, and herbs (Including Oregano, Basil, Black Pepper, Red Pepper), Onion, Garlic, Less than 2% Canola Oil. Carbs approx: 35/slice Allergens: NO NUTS, NO EGG..contains soybean oil and gluten

Pepperoni: All of the same ingredients as above. Pork, beef, salt, spices, sugar, lactic acid starter culture, extract of paprika, garlic powder, spice extractives, sodium nitrate, BHA, BHT, citric acid. Carbs approx: 35/slice

Oreo cookie: Flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamine), sugar, palm and/or canola or soy oil, cocoa, corn syrup, wheat, soy, chocolate, leavening, corn starch, vanilla artificial flavors. Contains wheat and soy. Carbs: 25 carbs in 3 cookies

The CDC recommends 3 immunizations for preteens. Please see the information sheet at the end of the Angel News for immunization details. The meningitis and Tdap (see below) are required for 6th grade students in Indiana. The HPV immunization is recommended.

Immunization notice for 5th grade parents:

11 year olds entering 6th grade in Indiana are required to receive the meningitis vaccine, and an updated tetanus/pertussis vaccine known as “Tdap” . The “tetanus booster” cannot be received until after the 10th or 11th birthday (depending on the drug manufacturer). This vaccine has dramatically lowered the number of pertussis cases in middle school and high school students in Indiana. The meningitis vaccine has reduced incidents of this serious disease in our adolescent and young adult group. Make sure all vaccines are received before entering 6th grade. For Questions regarding the above, call the nurse’s office @ (317) 896-5582 ext 1204.

Super Bowl pizzas for sale for our annual fundraiser. All proceeds go to St. Maria Goretti Youth Ministry programs, allowing us to continually improve the scope of our ministry—catechetical resources, game equipment, and supplies. Whether it’s for yourself or others, these pizza sales support our youth! Feel free to buy extras as they can be stored in the freezer! Scan the QR code to place an order or you may contact Annaliese Budd, a.budd@smgonline.org.

Orders are due by February 2. ALL PIZZAS ARE 14 INCHES.

• One-topping pizzas: $13.75 each (cheese, pepperoni, or sausage)
• Two-topping pizzas: $14.75 each (sausage & pepperoni)
• Three-topping pizzas: $15.50 each (sausage, pepperoni, and mushroom)
• Supreme & Specialty Pizzas: $16 (veggie, Hawaiian, or Italian Super Sub)

PICKUP INFO: Pizzas must be picked up on Friday, February 7, Parish Hall, 6:15-7:30pm. (If you are not able to pay online, come prepared with cash or a check made out to SMG with Youth Ministry pizza in the memo line)."

SMG Youth Ministry Instagram

We have created an SMG Youth ministry Instagram. Be sure to give it a follow at @smgyouthministry to stay up to date on all the faith, fellowship and fun!

St. Maria Goretti 7th-12th Grade Tubing Trip

Register HERE

All Jr High & High School teens are invited to go on our Youth Group Tubing Trip to Valley's Edge in New Paris, OH on February 8th. Please arrive to SMG at 9:00am and pick up at 6:30pm in the Parish Hall. As the date gets closer, we will share a GPS route for the bus for you to follow along to.

The cost is $65. This includes 4 hours of tubing and bus transportation. If you are not able to pay for the trip, please contact Annaliese Budd at a.bud@smgonline.org or text (317)910-5822. We do not want finances to prevent your teen from coming. All teens should bring $10-20 in cash for lunch. A menu is provided below.

https://valleysedgesnowtubing.com/food-and-drinks/

We need Safe & Sacred Trained adults for this event. The first 3 chaperones to register will be free, from there it depends on the ratio of adults to teens whether chaperone spots will be free of charge.

All attendees MUST sign the waiver at the link below to be able to tube.

https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/w/61b79cef4b9e8/web/

Please contact Sean Bird, s.bird@smgonline.org if you have any questions about upcoming Sports.

As we turn our thoughts and prayers to the thousands of people affected by devastating fires in the city of Los Angeles, the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana offers some guidance on fiscal ways to support them. Numerous houses of worship, including Catholic parishes and schools, have been destroyed in the wildfires. The archdiocese has opened the doors of its parishes as a haven for those displaced by the wildfires and to provide care for the first responders.⁣

⁣

Catholic Charities USA, the official domestic relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S., is accepting donations to its Los Angeles Wildfire Relief initiative, which can be directly accessed by this direct link or by the donate button on Catholic Charities USA home page of www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has also created a dedicated relief fund in response to the fires, which can be accessed directly at this link or by the Give Today button on the Archdiocese page at lacatholics.org/cali.

4-H is an informal educational program where youth “learn by doing.” Anyone in grades 3-12 can learn

life skills such as cooperation, leadership, decision-making, responsibility, and more through hands-on

projects in more than 60 different subject areas.

Youth in grades K-2 may enroll in Mini 4-H. The 4-H Program is a great opportunity to develop a hobby,

experience camp, make new friends, and promote family togetherness.

The target date to enroll is January 15. Participants must re-enroll every year. For more information,

contact the Purdue Extension Hamilton County Office at 317-776-0854 or visit puext.in/hamco4h.

Enroll online at in.4honline.com. There is a $25.00 fee per child.

UPCOMING EVENTS

WINTER SOFTBALL CAMP

Monday, January 20th, 2025

2-4 pm

Cost: $85

Spend the afternoon with the Golden Eagles improving your offensive and defensive skills.

Campers will receive instruction by Guerin Catholic players and coaches on mechanics of hitting, throwing, defense, base running, and bunting along with many other skills and many different drills. Register here.

SPORTS CAMP WITH JOE REITZ

Saturday, March 1, 2025

1-4:30 pm
Family Mass at 4:30 pm - parents and siblings welcome!
Boys in grades 1-5 are invited to the annual Sports Camp with former Indianapolis Colt Joe Reitz at Guerin Catholic High School.
Cost is $30 ($50 family max), and includes a camp t-shirt.

Visit GuerinCatholic.org for more information and to register.

All parents who wish to volunteer within the school (classroom parties, field trips, etc.) must be Safe & Sacred certified. This program includes both an online training and a background check. If your Safe 7 Sacred has lapsed or if you are new to SMG and hoping to volunteer, please use the button below to complete your Safe & Sacred certification.