april newsletter...
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APRIL NEWSLETTER 2020
St. Mary Catholic School
Challenging the Mind—Living the Faith www.stmarycatholicschool.org
Dear SMCS Parents:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. (John 3:16) Hopefully, during these unprecendented times when we are unable to attend Mass and receive the Eucharist, we can find comfort in those words that God sent his Son to save humanity. Continuing to pray daily as a family and asking for God’s protection will help our children understand the importance of remaining strong in our faith. The local Catholic parishes are livestreaming Mass and will continue to do so until it is safe to resume celebrating Mass with congregations. Although we are not together, let us continue through prayer to prepare our hearts for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We are about to complete our third week of distance learning. I want to thank our teachers for all their time, effort, and creativity in adapting to online learning. Their willingness to try new platforms and stretch out of their comfort zones in some areas of technology shows their commitment to our students. Parents, your patience, support, and cooperation as our distance learning strategies continue to evolve speaks volumes to your commitment to the partnership that exists between home and school. However, the true shining stars of distance learning are the students. Their ability to adapt to a new learning situation, cooperate with their teachers, demonstrate patience when the technology doesn’t always work as planned, and continue to strive for academic excellence shows that SMCS students are the best! St. Mary Catholic School is blessed to be comprised of such a special community of students, parents, and teachers!
During Easter Break I hope everyone has an opportunity to enjoy their family time without having to be plugged into the computer waiting for the next assignment to be posted in Google Classroom. Teachers and staff will be focusing on their families and will allow their computer screens to rest. They will also spend some of their time preparing lessons for the next round of distance learning to begin on April 16. If all goes as planned, school will resume on April 27. SMCS was scheduled to be closed on April 27 with an Open House event on April 26. Our Open House will now be virtual on April 26 and if schools are allowed to re-open on April 27, SMCS will welcome students back on campus for a regular school day. Please continue to pray for the health of everyone in our school community and in the world and for SMCS to re-open its doors for students on April 27.
On behalf of Father Cibelli and the Faculty & Staff, I want to wish you a very blessed Easter! As always, I ask for your prayers to the Holy Spirit to give me the guidance and wisdom needed to serve as principal of St. Mary Catholic School.
May God Bless you! Patricia A. McDermott
MISSION STATEMENT
St. Mary Catholic School empowers children in their faith journey and
promotes academic excellence and life-long service inspired by the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in a nurturing community.
SMCS SCHOOL BOARD
Mrs. Patricia Jones, President Mrs. Annie Alencherry Mr. Wayne Ambush Mr. Kevin Beck Mr. David Moats Mrs. Rhonda O’Malley Mrs. Alex Rice Mrs. Mo Tedeschi
HSA EXECUTIVE BOARD
Co-Presidents: Mrs. Jennifer Carbaugh Mrs. Cassie Kinna Vice-President: Ms. Aggie Cantave Corresponding Secretary: Mrs. Kelly Byrne Recording Secretary: Mrs. Sarah Warner Bookkeeper: Mrs. Crystal Strother Treasurer: Ms. Jennifer Prosa
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FAITH
AN UPLIFTING MESSAGE
Great Outdoor Advertising partnered with SMCS in sharing this message with the Hagerstown community. The digital billboards are located on Dual Highway and in the North End.
MORNING PRAYER
In an effort to stay connected with my students, I am enjoying sharing a video
of our morning offering prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and birthday wishes.
Although we cannot be together, we can still pray together each day.
YEAR TO LEAD— I HAVE CALLED YOU BY NAME
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine. Isaiah 43:1 Eighth graders took turns reading for the Stations of the Cross before school was closed for distance learning.
Our National Junior Honor Society continues to show their leadership skills through serving our school and our community even in this time of quarantine. NJHS members have written encouraging emails to the students we serve in our after-school Homework Help program. These messages were filled with words of motivation to keep up the good work at home, words expressing how much they were missed, and wishes to stay healthy and wash hands!
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 3 Last Day of Distance Learning
until April 16
April 6-15 Easter Break
April 16-April 24 Distance Learning
April 27 Tentative Date to Return to
School
Dates for 2020-2021
First Day of School: August 31, 2020
Thanksgiving Break: November 25-27 Christmas Break:
December 23-January 1 Easter Break:
April 1-9 Last Day of School:
June 10, 2021 Rummage Sale:
October 16, 2020
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NJHS members also wrote cards and messages of gratitude and prayer to workers in the medical field. These will be distributed to area urgent cares. A big thank you is extended to Laura Carpenter who will distribute these cards to our medical heroes!
TRIMESTER NEWS
ACADEMICS
The second trimester of the 2019-2020 school year ended on March 6. Students who
demonstrate high academic achievement and who positively impact the learning environment
are placed on Honor Roll based on the following criteria:
Principal’s Honor Roll – All A’s and Satisfactory or better in all special classes,
standards, effort, and conduct, including unstructured time
Second Honors – all A’s and B’s (more A’s than B’s) and Satisfactory or better in all
special classes, standards, effort, and conduct, including unstructured time
PRINCIPAL’S HONOR ROLL
8th Grade: Zachary Kumar, Brynn Lietuvnikas, Sullivan McGreevy
7th Grade: Diego Cabezas, Brooks Carpenter, Louis Maciulla, Leah McCafferty, Sonia Qaum, Neekie Rahimian, Lauren Stine
6th Grade: Murray Brauner, Miles Campbell, Olivia Kocevar, Johan Michael
SECOND HONORS
8th Grade Isabelle Becker, Cardin Dang, Katelyn Hubbard
7th Grade: Grace Hollingsworth, Madeline Mercurio-Vitulli, Madelynn Renken
6th Grade: Ella Blanco, Ella Britton, Ayush Patel
Upon our return to school, Honor Roll students will be extended an invitation to an Honors Breakfast with the Principal in recognition of their pursuit of
academic excellence.
ACADEMIC NEWS
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE
Congratulations is extended to the SMCS Geographic Bee Winner, Nicholas Knode, for being I of only 100 School Winners across Maryland who qualified to advance to the State Geographic Bee. Unfortunately, National Geography had to release the following statement: After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 National
Geographic GeoBee and GeoChallenge competitions. Although there will not be
STAND FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
The Archdiocese of Baltimore and St. Mary Catholic School are committed to providing a safe environment for children. Our procedures for volunteering in schools require that a volunteer who will have substantial contact with children must complete screening and training procedures that are outlined on the www.archbalt.org website.
The current and effective version of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Child and Youth Protection Policies and Procedures, including the Statement of Policy for the Protection of Children &Youth and the Code of Conduct for Church Personnel of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which incorporates any revisions to the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Child and Youth Protection Policies and Procedures that may be made from time to time, is available on the Child and Youth Protection page of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s website and on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s online compliance management system, VIRTUS.
Please register as a St. Mary Catholic School Volunteer, at http://www.virtusonline.org/. All new volunteers should complete the process as soon as possible. Please contact Jan McCarter, our screening coordinator, at [email protected], or (301)739-0390, ext. 129, with any questions or concerns.
Virtus training IS NOT complete until all parts of the process are fulfilled including the background check. Just completing the online training itself DOES NOT fulfill the requirements for volunteering.
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future competitions for Nick, Mrs. Bowers and I want him to know how proud we are of him and thank him for his academic excellence in Geography.
AMERICAN LEGION ESSAY WINNERS
Each year the American Legion Auxiliary, Morris Frock Unit 42, sponsors the Americanism Essay Contest. This year’s topic was “How can we address the health and well-being of our veterans, military, and their families?” SMCS students received all of the nine awards given! The awards ceremony has been postponed for now, but we would like to recognize the winners. And the winners are: Class I: Grades 3 & 4 1st Place: Conor Buckley; 2nd Place: Leona Alexander; 3rd Place: Lauren Lewis Class II: Grades 5 & 6 1st Place: Murray Brauner; 2nd Place: Mia Nitzell; 3rd Place: Hailie Pryor Class III: Grades 7 & 8 1st Place: Nicholas Knode; 2nd Place: Katie Hubbard; 3rd Place: Chloe Dellaposta
INTERMEDIATE SPELLING BEE
Students from the third, fourth, and fifth grades participated in the classroom qualifying competition for the St. Mary Catholic School Intermediate Spelling Bee. Students in these grades took a written test to compete for a spot in the Bee that will be scheduled when we return to school. Congratulations to the following students who will be our spelling bee contestants: Third Grade: Jillian Byrne, Cecilya Pryor, Leona Alexander, Isabella Martir-Lugo, Santiago Yanez, Vincent DiFonzo, Chloe Kershner, and Landon Hudson Fourth Grade: Dominic Corsi, Conor Buckley, Julia Mele, Charlotte Harman, Nina Rahimian, and Eli Rodriguez Fifth Grade: Corrina Byrne, Kaitlyn O’Berry, Louisa Poffenberger, Hailie Pryor, Lucy Zuspan, and Jennette Nguyen
NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY INVITES
Invitations to apply for membership in the Reverend George Limmer Chapter of the
National Junior Honor Society of St. Mary Catholic School were extended to middle
school students on March 16. However, in light of the extended school closure, the
due date to return the application for induction into the NJHS has been extended. The
new date to return items is May 1. A new date will be announced for the induction
ceremony. We will re-evaluate if school continues to be closed after April 27. (Prayers
for SMCS to re-open on April 27!)
HSA NEWS
HSA EXECUTIVE BOARD FOR 2020-2021
In planning for the 2020-2021 school year, the offices of Co-President and Corresponding
Secretary will need to be filled by parents who are willing to take an active role as a leader
ST. MARY PARISH NEWS
FLOCKNOTE
Father Cibelli is sharing updates about St. Mary Parish through Flocknote. To sign up to receive your choice of text messages or emails, text STMARYCC to 84576 or go online to saintmarysonline.flocknote.com
PRAYER FROM POPE FRANCIS
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of good health and peace that we have enjoyed for so many years. As we find ourselves in this time of crisis today, we ask for your divine intervention and mercy to be upon each of us.
Come and guide the minds of those working to discover a treatment to the COVID-19 virus. Grant them wisdom, knowledge, and clarity of mind, so that all peoples will be free from the threat of this ailment.
We also pray for the healthcare workers that are standing in the front line of this battle. Father, we thank you for their hearts of service, putting the needs of society before their own, generously responding to the cry of Your people. We ask that You will grant them strength and protection. As they give of themselves in selfless service, may You fill them with your Holy Spirit as they work to be Your healing hands and feet!
Father, we also surrender to You all those who have been afflicted with the virus. Grant them Your healing grace, merciful Father, so that they may recover swiftly and continue to be witnesses of Your love in their lives.
Mother Mary, we ask for your intercession in this great time of need. Cover each of us with your blue mantle of protection, so that we may be preserved in good health to continue to glorify your son, Jesus Christ. We make this prayer through Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Amen.
Amen.
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on the HSA executive board. Returning members of the HSA Board include Jennifer
Carbaugh (Co-President), Ms. Aggie Cantave (Vice-President), Mrs. Sarah Warner
(Recording Secretary), Crystal Strother (Bookkeeper), and Ms. Jennifer Prosa (Treasurer).
Please prayerfully consider becoming an HSA officer for the 2020-2021 school year. The
term commitment is two years. Please email your nominations to me,
[email protected], by April 20. This deadline was extended since
school was closed before nominations could be returned to school via kid-mail.
GERTRUDE HAWK CANDY
The HSA appreciates all the families who participated in the Gertrude Hawk candy
sale. Unfortunately, due to the statewide quarantine in Maryland, the candy is not
able to be delivered at this time. As soon as the quarantine is lifted, a delivery date
will be arranged and families will be notified.
STUDENT COUNCIL
STUDENT COUNCIL OFFICERS
President: Collin Ambush Vice-President: Leah McCafferty
Secretary: Annabella Kenny Treasurer: Sullivan McGreevy Parliamentarian: Brynn Lietuvnikas
TAG DAY
Student Council will resume sponsoring TAG days when students return to school!
STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR 2020-2021
Information regarding the election of Student Council officers for the 2020-2021 school year will be made available to sixth and seventh graders upon their return to school. The President must be an upcoming eighth grader and the Vice-President must be an upcoming seventh grader. All other officers may be either an upcoming seventh or eighth grader. All candidates must be in good academic standing, have a good disciplinary record, and must have been an active member of the Student Council for the 2019-2020 school year.
OTHER NEWSWORTHY ITEMS
SMCS OPEN HOUSE
Each family received a set of postcards with the progress report before we left school a few weeks ago. These postcards had information on our upcoming Open House. Please note this event will now be held as a...
VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE. SAME DATE! SAME TIME! Facebook Live Event
April 26, 2020, from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Please help us share the event with family and friends.
GOOD SAMS
But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. Luke 10:33
Each month teachers select a student who exemplifies our SMCS Keys for Success by being kind and gentle, respectful, and responsible, just as the Good Samaritan demonstrated on his journey. Teachers tie the SMCS Keys for Success back to the Bible verses that reflect these attributes.
I want to congratulate our Good S.A.M.s from February:
Pre-K – Jack Dill
Kindergarten – Quinton Pryor
First Grade – Bailey Barbitta
Second Grade – Sean Buckley
Third Grade – Charles Haren
Fourth Grade – Eli Rodriguez
Fifth Grade – Isabella Maciulla
Sixth Grade – Olivia Kocevar
Seventh Grade – Neekie Rahimian
Eighth Grade – Emmalee Shives
Thanks for your Service, Attitude, and Manners!
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RACE 4 TECHNOLOGY
This year's Race 4 Technology is being postponed. Please look for a future date during the Fall of the 2020-2021 school year. We would like to thank our Student Ambassador team for their hard work in planning the event. These students include Kate Hubbard, Ethan Knipple, Miles Campbell, Samantha Ellis, Emma Karn, and Ava Stumpf. Even though some of the team members will be graduating, we cannot wait to showcase them in the introduction video next Fall.
VIRTUAL SPIRIT WEEK
All SMCS students are encouraged to participate in our Virtual Spirit Week starting April 20, 2020. A flyer with details on how to show your SMCS spirit from home will be coming soon. Be sure to upload photos and videos on the SMCS social media pages. facebook.com/stmarycatholicschoolhagerstown https://twitter.com/SMCSHagerstown smcs_hagerstown
HEALTH NEWS
If you have any health-related questions, please contact Ms. Paula Radley
by email, [email protected]. Please keep the school
informed of any updates to your child’s immunization record.
EIGHTH GRADE RECOGNITION
Eighth graders continue to wear their special class t-shirts on Fridays as recognition
of their years of hard work as St. Mary Catholic School students. The Class of 2020
includes Collin Ambush, Isabelle Becker, Caroline Carpenter, Cardin Dang, Katelyn
Hubbard, Annabella Kenny, Ethan Knipple, Nicholas Knode, Zachary Kumar, Brynn
Lietuvnikas, Dominic McCormick, Sullivan McGreevy, Mackenzie O’Berry, Henry
Ortiz, Savannah Perez, Juliana Rodriguez, and Emmalee Shives. Please keep them in
your prayers as they complete their final weeks as SMCS students.
IN YOUR PRAYERS
Please remember Pawby (relative of Jack, Henry, and Isla Rawlett)
and Debbie Anthony (sister of Ms. Paula Radley, School Nurse) who
passed away this past month.
May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God
rest in peace. Amen
NEW STUDENT REFERRAL PROGRAM
SMCS is implementing a New Student
Referral Program for the 2020-2021
school year. Current SMCS families can
earn a $300 tuition credit ($100 tuition
credit per trimester for enrolled status)
for each new student who is referred
and actually enrolls in grades Pre-K full
day through grade eight and attends
SMCS during the 2020-2021 school
year. (Refer a family that enrolls two
students and receive a $600 tuition
credit. Refer a family that enrolls three
students and earn a $900 tuition
credit. Maximum tuition credit amount
annually is $900.) The tuition credit
amount for referring a family who
enrolls a student in the Pre-K half day
program is $150 ($50 tuition credit per
trimester for enrolled status.) Details
about the Referral Program were
included in the re-registration packet,
or email Mrs. Stumpf,
BOOST
Maryland’s BOOST Scholarship
Program is in its fifth year of providing
scholarships for the upcoming school
year to eligible students. Follow the
directions on the link,
http://marylandpublicschools.org/Page
s/boost/index.apx and apply before
midnight on April 24, 2020.
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Spotlight on Distance Learning
PRE-KINDERGARTEN—MRS. ABE
St. Mary Pre-K students are making the most of our distance learning. They are exploring signs of spring, writing letters to each other and doing lots of reading. And their favorite part—they can do it all in their pajamas!
KINDERGARTEN—MRS. BARGER & MRS. FLANAGAN
The kindergarten children have been using resources from home to learn about the
weather, the water cycle, signs of spring, patterning, counting, addition and mapping
skills.
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FIRST GRADE—MRS. FORSYTHE & MRS. HARBERT
First graders participated in a zoom gathering. The kids enjoyed seeing each other, as did Mrs. Forsythe and Mrs. Harbert. Mrs. Forsythe is using Screeencastify for her math lessons
and Mrs. Harbert is charting lost teeth among the first graders.
SECOND GRADE—MRS. POFFENBERGER & MISS MCNEIL
We have gone from classroom greetings to front porch morning meetings. Life has certainly changed in the past few weeks. Second graders have successfully embraced the challenges
of online learning. Miss McNeil and I are very proud of them.
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THIRD GRADE—MRS. LEGGETT & MRS. KOCEVAR
Mrs. Leggett's class just completed a Third Grade Favorite, Charlotte's Web. We are
now continuing with our read-a-loud activities for Wayside School. We also completed
our Khan Academy Multiplication Challenge with some students logging in over 200 minutes
or completing over 40 challenges. Way to Go Third Grade!
FOURTH GRADE—MISS POFFENBERGER
Fourth grade has been busy with distance learning. We have had
daily assignments in Math--some with Khan Academy, and our
ELA lessons have included using Quizlet Live and Quizizz. We were
excited to have a Zoom session where we discussed our current
novel, Riding Freedom. We made a slideshow for Maryland Day
on March 25 to highlight what we love about our state, and we
made a very special slideshow to share with our Pre-K friends to
let them know we are thinking about them.
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FIFTH GRADE—MRS. NITZELL
Mrs. Nitzell uses Screencastify to record a lesson for her math students. Fifth graders are creating their own primary sources of what life is like during the coronavirus pandemic. This will
be an important event in history and we are living it!
ELA—MIDDLE SCHOOL—MRS. KARN
Mrs. Karn uses Zoom to video conference with her ELA students. Sixth graders reviewed vocabulary words by playing Quizlet Live. Seventh and eighth graders played GimKit to
review their words. We can still have fun in ELA while learning online.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES—MRS. BOWERS
Social studies in the middle school classes hasn’t changed too much, since we were already mostly
digital. We are working with new programs to enhance our learning such as Flippity, Zoom, and Khan Academy. All middle school social studies
classes are zooming this week.
.
MIDDLE SCHOOL RELIGION & MATH 5-7—MS. WARD
Ms. Ward’s kitchen table has been converted into her virtual classroom! It is complete with a Chromebook, various
math and religion textbooks and resources, and a reminder of Jesus’ presence with her treasured Last Supper print on
the wall. Ms. Ward enjoys ‘calling on students’ by name during her virtual lessons, taking a quick break to do jumping
jacks with her students, and always beginning and ending each lesson with prayer. She is quite pleased with her
students engaging from afar and appreciates all of her students’ comments and feedback.
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SCIENCE 4-8 & MATH 8—MRS. DILL
Seventh grade played a
Gimkit Live Game on Ecology—such a cool
game! Sixth and seventh graders
enjoyed Zoom sessions. Learning, even online,
can still be fun!
MATH 6-8—MRS. MENTZER
Mrs. Mentzer is embracing the world of technology and appreciates the patience of her math classes as she becomes more familiar with using a Chromebook to utilize Google Classroom and Zoom meetings.
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SPECIALS
Our team of Specials Teachers also have set up a
place to work remotely from home.
THE SMCS STAFF IS WORKING REMOTELY FROM HOME TO ASSIST YOU
Please email your questions: Admissions & Enrollment: Jenny Beck [email protected] Finances: Cheryl Hammond: [email protected] Marketing and Development: Carrie Stumpf [email protected] Health: Paula Radley [email protected] Guidance: Cindy Petter [email protected]
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CAFETERIA STAFF
Mrs. Shultz and Mrs.
Brooks are keeping busy in their own kitchens, so they
will be ready to serve all our hungry students upon
their return to Sister Corda’s Kitchen and the Monsignor Passarelli
Dining Hall!
PRINCIPAL—MRS. MCDERMOTT
St. Mary Catholic School has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. It is ready to house the
wonderful sounds of happy children once we receive the word that it is safe for students to return to school. I am looking forward to the
teachers returning to their classrooms and to my daily interactions with parents. But most of all, I can’t wait to see the smiles of our students and hear their laughter in our hallways again. Please
join me in praying that we are together soon!
Have a blessed Easter! [email protected]