St. Mark School
A National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence
St. Mark School is a Christ-centered learning environment that teaches Gospel values and fosters academic excellence. Aware of the dignity and uniqueness of all students, we are committed to the spiritual, intellectual, moral, social, and physical development of each child.

October 8, 2021
Dear St. Mark Families,

On Thursday afternoon, our school community gathered in our church as students in Grades 5 through 8 participated in the Living Rosary prayer service; a beloved St. Mark tradition in honor of our Lady who is celebrated in the month of October. Each decade of the Rosary was announced before students lit their candles and recited the coinciding prayer. Our students did an exceptional job. It was a beautiful, solemn, and reverent ceremony that reminds us all that we are grounded in and connected to each other in our shared faith and devotion to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'd like to express sincere gratitude to our faculty and parent volunteers who helped us to make this truly cherished tradition possible.

Looking ahead, progress or skills reports will be issued to families of students in grades 1 thru 8 next week. I encourage all parents to contact your child's teacher if you feel your child is in need of extra academic help. Each classroom teacher (K through 8) has designated 1 day in the week for "academic extra help" office hours for 1 hour after school.

Finally, there are many fun and exciting traditions and fundraisers scheduled for October. Our Home School Association leadership and event chairpersons are working together to ensure these events can be held, some with modifications, for the safety of all. Be sure to stay up to date on events like the Cut-A-Thon, Monster Mash, Trunk-or-Treat, Snack Shop, Yankee Candle Fundraiser, and pie fundraiser by frequently checking our social media pages, Home School Association email updates, and school website. If you do not use social media, our school Facebook page feed can be viewed from our school website www.stmarkschool.org

Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Warner 

If you are a room parent for your child's classroom, kindly forward communication to your fellow grade level parents, ensuring all St. Mark families have the most up to date information.

Please do not reply to this email. If you have questions, comments or concerns please email me directly.
From the Nurse's Office

As a reminder, The State of Connecticut Department of Public Health advises families continue to follow the CDC’s guidance for travel. Any family traveling outside of Connecticut for a period of 24hrs or longer will be asked to follow
a quarantine period of 10 days without a test. A family may choose a COVID test on day 3-5 of the quarantine period. A student may return to in-person instruction on day 8 after quarantining for a period of 7 days with a negative test result.

Please click here to read the Connecticut COVID-19 travel guidance.
Lost and Found

Parents are reminded to please label your child's name on ALL of his or her belongings-especially sweatshirts, sweaters, fleeces, and coats/jackets. Our school Lost and Found has accumulated many items thus far. If your child is missing an item, please contact his or her teacher to arrange a time to check the Lost and Found.
Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic Schools
Media Release

The Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic Schools and all diocesan entities, have active marketing programs. Students and their work may appear in diocesan newsletters, newspapers, brochures, videos, websites, and official social media pages as well as other promotional material. Such productions may be used for educational or marketing purposes and may be copied or copyrighted with the diocese retaining all rights.

Parents and guardians reserve the right to object to the use of their child’s image by completing this form no later than Friday, October 15, 2021, and returning it directly to your school.
Morning Drop Off Reminders

We ask that the follow protocols be followed by our school community for the safety of our students.

Please pay close attention to which driveway you use to enter the parking lot. Using the wrong entrance creates a risk for an accident!

  • Parents utilizing the Drop and Go Car Line are to enter using the driveway adjacent to the Blessed Mother Statue.

  • Parents utilizing Parish Center entrance for Preschool and Goodbye Zone are to enter using the driveway across the street from the farm.

  • Doors will close promptly at 7:45am in order for classes to be on time for 8am daily mass.

  • Speed limit is 5 mph in the parking lot.

  • The Nemergut Drive entrance is the ONLY EXIT during arrival and dismissal times. Do not use any other driveway to exit the parking lot.

Please note: If someone other than yourself is dropping off, please relay this important information.
Faculty Update

Join me in welcoming Ms. Ashley Skipp, Catapult Social Worker to St. Mark School. Ms. Ashley is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Social Worker. She went on to graduate from Fordham University, earning a Master's Degree in Social Work.

Ms. Ashley's experience as a social worker began with working with children and families for the State of CT. She transitioned to school social work and has been blessed being a school social worker in Catholic Schools for the past 2 years in a PreK-8 setting. 

As a school social worker at St. Mark School, Ms. Ashely will be working with K-8 students on self-esteem, self-regulation, and advocating for the students & families of St. Mark in regard to academic supports and services, as well as providing community resources.

Ms. Ashely looks forward to joining the team and bringing her expertise and Catholic School experience to provide support to the families of St. Mark!
Athletic Association

Cross Country
We're excited to announce that our Cross Country Team is in full swing. A special thanks to our coaches: Sean Mallon, Amy Pagano, and Sean Auten. We have 11 students on the team and we're open to welcoming any 5th-8th graders interested in joining. With just 3 practices underway, the team will be competing in their first diocesan meet next Saturday, October 16th at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull. Go St. Mark! 

Basketball
We have six teams with 63 players (39 St. Mark students) ranging from Grades 3 - 8. A special thanks to our St Mark parent coaches: Jim Markland, Maureen Kery, Robert Rosati, Lenny Gonzalez, Lucy Gonzalez, Jermaine Harmon, Matt Bennett, and Peter Baird. All our teams have been practicing twice a week and preparing for their first tournament beginning November 4th at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Fairfield.
In Our Classrooms

Each week, we will be featuring exciting and creative things happening in a chosen classroom. This week, we highlight our Grade 8 students. In math this week, the Class of 2022 prepared for their first Unit Test of the year.
Our 8th Grade students led our school community in our traditional Living Rosary prayer service on Thursday.
Using Second Step Social/Emotional curriculum program, Grade 8 students used their time for self-reflection. They identified aspects of their idenity that that is most important to them including their interests, values, abilities, culture, and personality.
For Parish information, visit: https://www.saintmarkchurchstratford.org/

For important information and updates on COVID-19, visit the
Please visit our school website regularly at www.stmarkschool.org. Important school updates including copies of notices, newsletters, HSA links, and school calendars can all be accessed on the website.

Visit our social media pages for updates on our school community.

Don't use social media? Not to worry...Our social media posts feed to our school website home page!
  • Monday, October 11th: No School, Columbus Day

  • Thursday, October 14th: $1 Dress Down Day new date

  • Tuesday, October 19th: HSA Meeting (open to all) Church Hall, 7pm new date

  • Thursday, October 21st: BCA Cut-A-Thon, $5 Dress Down new date

  • Saturday, October 23rd: HSA Trunk or Treat, 4:00-5:00pm

  • Wednesday, October 27th: HSA $1 Snack Shop

  • Thursday, October 28th: Halloween Theme Dress Down, $1 no costumes

  • Friday, October 29th: HSA Monster Mash, outside, 6:00-8:00pm

  • Saturday, October 30th: HSA Monster Mash Rain Date

  • Sunday, October 31st: Happy Halloween!

  • Monday, November 1st: Winter Uniform begins
St. Mark School | 203-375-4291 | www.stmarkschool.org
500 Wigwam Lane, Stratford, CT 06614
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.
Helen Keller