Principal's Weekly Update

Dear Families,

Welcome back from April break! Seeing so many smiling faces as our students returned to school was great!

Congratulations to Dr. Nadjarian on the birth of her and her husband's son, Matteo! We wish you all well, and hope you enjoy this time with your family!

This week we celebrated Administrative Professional's Appreciation Day. Our school is blessed to have the most caring administrative team. Thank you so much to Mrs. Gloria Reyes and Mrs. Maureen McKenna for their dedication to our students, families, faculty, and staff. Their unwavering support and stewardship day in and day out make St. Mary's School the special place we know and love. Thank you to Mrs. Patricia Salic and Ms. Domenica DeLuca for their leadership and guidance in development, marketing, and admissions. Their work with neighborhood partners, donors, and prospective and current families makes our St. Mary's School community flourish. Thank you to Mrs. Susan Crapo and Mr. Bert Almeida from the Parish Office. Their collaboration and diligence make our school and parish connection stronger! Thank you to Mr. Nick Antonacci our apprentice principal, who has been an influential addition to our team this year!

Next week our K2-8 students will be taking their Spring MAPs tests. Please be sure your child arrives on time each day to help them transition smoothly to school.

Lastly, please be on the lookout for information regarding our many end-of-year events. We look forward to celebrating our students' and teachers' accomplishments and hard work! Thank you so much for your participation, attendance, and support at home! Their success would not be possible without you!

April 27th

• 5th Annual Southern Massachusetts Catholic School Honor Band Concert: 1 p.m. at Quincy Catholic Academy

May 3rd

• Progress Reports Released (K2 - Grade 8)

May 7th

• World Language Celebration (Grades 3-8): 1:45 p.m.

May 9th

• School Mass: Ascension of the Lord: 12:10 p.m. (PreK - Grade 8)

May 10th

• Family: The First School Talk & Discussion (Session 4): 8 a.m. in the cafeteria

May 11th

• First Communion Mass: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

May 13th

• Crowning of Mary Procession: 8 a.m. (PreK - Grade 8)

May 17th

• No School (PreK - Grade 8): Professional Development Day for Staff

May 21st

• Spring Concert (PreK - Grade 8): 8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. in School Auditorium

May 27th

• No School (PreK - Grade 8): Memorial Day

May 31st

• International Family Festival: 4:30 - 6 p.m.
• EDP ends at 4:30 p.m. (Dismissal at Harvard St.)

June 3rd

• Field Day
• No EDP
• Trimester 3 Grades Close (K2 - Grade 8)

June 4th

• Rain Date for International Family Festival: 4:30 - 6 p.m.

June 5th

• Commencement Mass for 8th Grade Students: 10 - 11 a.m.
• Reception to follow for students and their families
• Report Cards Released for Grade 8 only

June 7th

• Paul Effman Band Concert: 8:30 - 9:15 a.m.

June 10th

• Science Fair (Grades 6-7)

June 13th

• Report Cards Released (PreK - Grade 8)
• Social Studies Fair (Grades 3-7)
• Last day of EDP (Ends at 6 p.m.)

June 14th

• Last Day of School and Early Dismissal at 11 a.m. (PreK - Grade 7)
• No EDP

Dear Families,

I want to reiterate my never ending thanks for all the support our community has given our St. Mary's students, faculty and staff. Let's continue the tradition of giving and collaboration as we approach the end of this school year. Your generosity has enriched our school and the lives of our students tremendously.

Although I will be leaving my official role at the end of this month, due to a family move abroad, I will continue to support and attend all our events and look forward to seeing each of you soon.

With gratitude and blessings,

Patricia

Please consider supporting the 8th grade fundraiser by purchasing tasty treats next Tuesday through Thursday at dismissal!

Tomorrow, we have 15 students from St. Mary's were hand-selected by Paul Effman Music Service who will represent the school at the 5th Annual Southern Massachusetts Catholic School Honor Band Concert. The concert will take place on April 27th at 1 p.m. at Quincy Catholic Academy. They will rehearse for over 12 hours and perform an amazing concert, so we invite you to support them and congratulate them! Below you will find a picture of a few of our students practicing!

Hand-Selected Students:

• Stella Belculfine
• Alexandria Clement
• Willow Davies
• Grace Do
• Samuel Elwood
• Paloma Gaglia
• Ava Holley
• Adira Jones
• Cleio Kellis
• Emilia Maciejuk
• Kennedy McConnell
• Griffin Miller
• Vivienne Skelly
• Tripp Strahm
• Max Vianello

We can't wait to host our Annual International Family Festival on FRIDAY, MAY 31st from 4:30-6. This event features you, our families, and your cultures! The RAIN DATE will be TUESDAY, JUNE 4th from 4:30-6. Please see the email and registration form sent earlier in the week to participate and for more details.

Our young athletes in Soccer Club are off to a great start! They are especially excited to have a few older students with them as Soccer Club Counselors. Thank you, counselors, for your community service!

On Monday, students, staff, and families felt the crisp, spring air outside for the first Parking Lot Prayers outside since the Fall! Our 1st grade class taught us all about what it means to be generous to God and to others by giving many examples of moments of generosity in their own lives. We learned through their examples that generosity is encouraging the best in each other, sharing time and talents, and inviting someone to join in. Stay tuned for next week!

After learning about how shadows are formed and what they look like, Ms. P’s class took their knowledge outside to gain real-life experience with shadows! They looked at many shadows, analyzing where they come from and observing the various shapes. Ms. P took many pictures along the way, which will come together to form a big shadow book for the class!

This week, Grade 1 students gathered with their Grade 6 buddies! They enjoyed the sunshine as they read books together. What a wonderful group of friends and mentors here at St. Mary's. Events like this help students young and old see the bigger picture of education.

First Communion is right around the corner - May 11th! To prepare, students experienced a First Communion retreat with the entire 2nd grade, consisting of activities, crafts, and lessons to prepare their hearts for the Blessed Sacrament.

In addition, Mrs. Fragola's class celebrated Earth Day this week through a variety of centers. Students experimented a variety of different ways to try and remove oil from water, planted their own seeds, and completed their own Earth Day booklets.

This week in 3rd grade, students began their geometry unit. Students were given a shape and asked to create an anchor chart with examples, non-examples, and definitions of the shape. The posters will now be displayed in the classroom for students to reference when necessary!

Grade 4 is testing out their wind turbine designs by seeing how much energy they can produce. A cup is attached to each wind turbine, and energy can be measured by the amount of weight the turbine can pick up as it rotates to the top. Students were shocked to see some of the turbines working as planned. For others, they will go back to the drawing board for the next attempt!

5th graders created posters on different pollutants and presented them to the class this week. Each group will extend their knowledge by creating a solution of the pollution they researched and then adding it to their eco-column. Students will then observe the effects their solution has on both their terrarium and aquarium in their eco-column!

Below is a glimpse of the middle school experience at St. Mary's. To see more, reach out to Ms. Allen (gallen@stmarys-brookline.org) to be included in the Middle School Newsletter mailing list!

Our first Middle School Guest Speaker this month, Julia Roso Mares, from Treehouse Design in Rockport, visited students on Monday. She spoke about her career in architecture and interior design in Spain, Austria, and the United States. She highlighted how her career in different cities has evolved and taught her how many cultures live around the world. Middle school students asked thoughtful questions about the differences between the construction and design phases of projects, how long a project takes from start to finish, and her most memorable experiences. Thank you, Julia, for taking the time to inspire our students!

Our second Middle School Guest Speaker this month, Jill Pavlovich spoke to students about her role as Senior Vice President of Digital Shopping Experiences at Albertsons Companies. Students learned about the team of professionals Jill leads: Product Managers, UX/UI designers, engineers, and Program Managers. They each play a role in bringing online applications to life to improve customer’s digital shopping experiences. She discussed one of her favorite parts of each day: reading customer feedback and reviews from the previous day. Jill answered student questions and shared products. Thank you so much for coming in and for your dedication to our students as a guest speaker and St. Mary’s parent!

Our middle school students practicing diligently with Mr. Lynch for the Spring Concert, scheduled for May 21st. Mark your calendars!

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/