
Principal's Weekly Update
January 12th, 2024
A Message from Dr. Nadjarian
Dear Families,
It has been a great first full week back at school. Winter clubs began this week and students participated in clubs such as coding, Italian, tennis, crochet, and film.
Thank you to our parent volunteers who took time out of their busy schedules to meet this morning and to begin planning our School Gala (please see more details below).
Good luck to our girls and boys basketball teams as they have their first games of the 2024 year this weekend.
Have a wonderful and restful long weekend commemerating Martin Luther King Jr. We look forward to seeing our students back on Tuesday, January 16th!
Looking Ahead
January 15th
- No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 16-25th
- Grades 2-8 Winter MAP Testing
January 19th
- Discovery Day: 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
January 24th
- Coffee with the Principal
- Re-enrollment period ends
January 25th
- Progress Reports Released (K2 - 8)
- Report Cards Released (PreK - K1)
January 26th
- No School - Parent-Teacher Conferences (PreK - K1) and Professional Development (K2 - 8)
January 28th
- Catholic Schools Week Kick-Off Mass
January 28th-February 2nd
- Catholic Schools Week (See below for details)
February 14th
- Ash Wednesday Mass at 12:10 (PreK-8)
February 19th - February 23rd
- February School Break
Admissions Update
Early Re-enrollment Period
The early re-enrollment period for the 2024-2025 academic year has opened and will end on January 24th. St. Mary's families will receive an email from the FACTS Family Portal with instructions on how to re-enroll. All families that re-enroll between January 10 and January 24 will be eligible to be entered into a drawing to receive a $500 credit towards their 2024-2025 tuition. On January 31st, three families will be randomly selected to receive the tuition credit.
All families have until April 1st to complete the re-enrollment packet using the FACTS Family Portal. If the re-enrollment packet is not submitted by April 1st, your family's enrollment status will be considered withdrawn for the 2023-2024 academic year. If there are any extenuating circumstances regarding your family's decision to re-enroll, please make us aware as soon as you are able.
If you have any further questions about the re-enrollment process, please feel free to contact Ms. DeLuca at ddeluca@stmarys-brookline.org.
A Message from Nurse Catherine
Emergency Contact Information:
Please make sure that your student's emergency contact information is up to date in our system. I am missing emergency contact information for many students. In the event of an emergency or if your student needs to be picked up because of illness or injury we always call parents first; however, if we cannot reach the parents, we must have at least two people listed we can contact to pick up your student. The emergency contacts should be trusted adults that your student knows and feels comfortable with to leave school. Your emergency contact person should be someone who can pick up your student within 30 minutes after the school calls for pickup. You can change or add emergency contact information in FACTS or you can call the main office to update your contact information.
Enjoy your weekend,
Nurse Catherine
Catholic Schools Week
St. Mary's School is excited to celebrate Catholic Schools Week (CSW) from January 28th - February 2nd. CSW is an annual initiative to celebrate the impact Catholic schools have on the education and formation of children around the world. Many activities that involve parents, community, faculty, and students are scheduled during that week to emphasize and celebrate the role of Catholic schools. Please familiarize yourself with the schedule for our school below for information on the various events that will take place and the corresponding dress-down days for students.
A Message from Mrs. Salic, Director of Development
A huge thanks to this wonderful community for the contributions you have made towards this past Christmas Appeal. As promised, I am in the process of ordering our Epiphany tokens of appreciation to be sent to those who donated accordingly in the next few weeks.
Save the date for our St. Mary of the Assumption Gala: April 6th, 2024
Get ready for a night of elegant entertainment, food and drink to raise awareness and funds for our beloved school. This year’s theme: Black and White Ball. Dust off your black and white party attire and join us!
Please sign up below to volunteer for the many different aspects that are necessary to hold this event. Our volunteers are necessary to make this event a success. Thank you in advance!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0E4EAEA72FA1F94-47211769-black
School Mass: Baptism of Our Lord
To begin the school week, students and staff gathered together in prayer at Mass to celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. Fr. Jonathan emphasized in his homily that we should learn the date of our own baptism and celebrate the anniversary! In addition, he helped us understand how much joy God is filled with at the sight of each of our baptisms -- the moment when we became children of God.
Student Council's First Meeting of the Year
This Friday marked the inaugural student council meeting of the year. Council members are coordinating a school-wide clothing drive with Healthcare for the Homeless and a food drive with Brookline Food Pantry. Please mark your calendars for the week of January 22-25. The school will be collecting socks, gloves, hats, hand warmers, and rain ponchos for Healthcare for the Homeless, and non-perishables for the Brookline Food Pantry. These items will be distributed to those in need during Catholic Schools Week. In addition, the student-council discussed volunteer opportunities for middle school students to serve the elderly community nearby.
Student-President, Skyler, Leading The First Meeting
Student-Council Member, Kennedy, Collaborating With Staff
PE Update
Although winter can be a time when sicknesses are running around, exercise is a great strategy to keep the students' bodies and minds healthy. Mr. Holmes is beginning the year with physical fitness tests, such as the shuttle run, to track the students' progress and set goals. Students are also learning how to play Pickleball. This fun game gives the kids an opportunity to relieve some stress and work on their coordination at the same time!
Italia Club with Signora Braga
Students in Signora Braga’s Italian Club started their Winter Trimester by traveling to Italy! They used penne pasta to create a collage map on construction paper. Bravi, studenti!
Pre-K
Students in Ms. Porcello’s class read the story "A Snowy Day." In the story, the main character tries to save a snowball in his pocket and it melts overnight. They had a great conversation about what happened to the snowball and why. During small groups, they learned about the letter E and built it with their wood pieces. Students enjoyed a snowman shape matching game with Miss Katie, decorated snowflakes on the light table, and acted out The Snowy Day with blocks, doll house characters, and fake snow.
K1
K2
Students jumped into their first story drama of the year, The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. The class had a blast making narrative predictions and acting our way throughout the story. Students stretched their design muscles as they designed a costume that would keep them warm for the next snowy day!
Grade 1
In Ms. Reitnour's class, students are reading nonfiction texts in their reading unit. They practiced retelling books and including the most important facts someone would need to know when teaching about that topic. For writing, the kids are writing nonfiction teaching books where they are picking topics they know a lot about to teach their classmates. They are using graphic organizers to organize their ideas and think about questions their readers might have about the topic.
In Drama class, students are hard at work preparing for their reader's theatre debut in The Gruffalo, which includes dialogue, puppetry, and performances by every 1st grader! They had a puppet workshop in the gym where students separated into small groups to operate the puppets that they designed and decorated in December. These puppets will be the characters in the play, giving everyone a chance to join in on the fun!
Grade 2
Students in Ms. Fragola’s class participated in a snow globe craft and writing activity. They read “The Snow Globe Family” and created their own snow globe families. Within the snow globe, students used their imaginations to apply details such as characters and homes. They then wrote all about their snow globe families.
Grades 2-5 Drama
2nd-5th grades revisited their values quilt from September, updating it with their goals, values, and ideas for drama class this semester. These quilts are helping us celebrate both the upcoming Catholic schools week, when we join all of the class quilts together, and Black History Month in February, as we learn about Faith Ringgold, an important multimedia artist from the Civil Rights Movement made famous by her story quilts. All grades practiced visual mapping and teamwork to "quilt" their squares together in a way that was meaningful to them! You will find the 4th grade students visually mapping their quilt squares in the picture!
Grade 4
On Tuesday, 4th grader Lola guided her fellow students through a number corner activity. She recorded her classmates' predictions for the week’s mathematical patterns. This is one of the many leadership opportunities that students are offered in Ms. DeLuca's classroom.
Grade 5
Students in Grade 5 began their plain milk vs. chocolate milk writing/research project. Students in Mrs. Palmer’s class were tasked with writing their initial letters to Dr. Nadjarian, explaining whether chocolate milk should or should not be served at St. Mary’s. Dr. Nadjarian paid Grade 5 a visit to discuss the letters and to encourage them to further research their claims. Students will apply all that they learn through their research into an essay as well as a class debate.
Middle School
Grade 6
6th grade math students are beginning their unit on ratios and proportional relationships, which is one of the most important concepts of the year. Ratios are used more often than you might think; for example, you can use them to compare various deals (e.g. Which is the better deal: 5 apples for $12 or $3 apples for $7?). Students worked on understanding this concept with real snacks in the classroom!
Grade 8's Socratic Seminar
Grade 8 students came prepared to participate, think critically, communicate, and engage in a socratic seminar on symbolism in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This socratic seminar was student-led led and it challenged students to facilitate effective communication by articulating and building off textual evidence and ideas from their peers.
Middle Schoolers Take on Graffiti Fences in Art
In Ms. M’s Art class, Grade 7 students created graffiti fences inspired by street artists such as Banksy and Basquiat. They designed inspiring messages in graffiti-style typography.
Drama Class with Ms. Whitten
6-8th graders jumped into the 5 major elements of theatrical design: props, scenic, costume, sound, and lighting. They were given the design challenge to imagine their 2024 as a play, and to create digital inspiration boards to envision what their 2024 plays would look, sound, and feel like. Students practiced their audience and presentation skills as they presented their concepts to Ms Whitten and their fellow artists.
Follow us on Social Media
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