St. Mary School News - February 3, 2021

St. Mary School Mission:

To Educate, Inspire & Energize Children with an

Emphasis on Catholic Faith,

Academic Excellence, and a Commitment to Service.

February 3, 2021

SCHOOL NEWS

Dear Parents,

A friend of mine reminded me of the plaque that hangs at the entrance of our school. “Be it know to all who enter here that CHRIST is the reason for this school. He is unseen, but ever-present teacher in its classes. He is the model of its faculty an inspiration of its students.” As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, I could not think of a more appropriate reminder. Thank you for making sacrifices to send your child(ren) to St. Mary School. It is families like you who make it possible for us to have CHRIST ever-present in our classes each day. We are blessed!

God bless all of you! Enjoy your evening and count the blessings God has given you!

Jen Reker-Murphy

Interim Principal

Annual Fund 2020-2021

A very gracious Thank You to our school families, faculty, grandparents, past parents, alumni, and friends that remember SMS in their charitable giving.

Thank you to the following school families that have given a gift this past week to the 2020-2021 Annual Fund:

Bonomo, Ellsworth, Olson, Singer

We will periodically recognize school family gifts to date...we are grateful! The AF runs July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021. Learn more here.

You can also monitor our AF progress from the link below!

Coming Up...

Wednesday, February 3-

Friday, February 5

We celebrate Catholic Schools Week - Details below!

Today, students brought in $400 which will be donated to the St. Mary School Annual Fund. Thank you SMS Students!

Monday, February 8

Regular school start time of 8:40 am. (An old, incorrect calendar indicates a late start. We apologize for any confusion.)

Friday, February 12

NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Development Day

Faculty will be involved in accreditation work with Sharon Willmes from the Catholic Schools Office of the AOC.

Monday, February 15

NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day

Wednesday, February 17

Ash Wednesday - Ashes will be distributed to all students during the school day

Friday, February 19

End of Second Trimester

Spirit Wear Day!

Friday, February 26

Report Cards distributed

What's happening around SMS...

Student Re-Registration

2021-22

We know that many of you have successfully completed your 2021-22 re-enrollment and payment of your tuition deposit. Thank you!

There are 45 families who have not started or completed their re-enrollment.

Please LOG IN to your FACTS account HERE. (FACTS has provided this new link to login into your account)

You will find the re-enrollment link in your FACTS account on the left-hand side drop-down menu (reference screenshot below)

RE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE

WAS FEBRUARY 1

If you are not able to re-register today, PLEASE let us know. Email lkoslovsky@smshp.com or call the office.

WE WILL CONTACT THOSE FAMILIES WHO HAVE NOT RE-ENROLLED BEGINNING TOMORROW, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4.

Please help us streamline our work by EITHER RE-REGISTERING OR CONTACTING US WITH YOUR INTENTIONS FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR.

Our reason for the firm re-enrollment date is that we have many new registrations for Grades 1-8. With some grade levels at or near capacity, we need to plan appropriately with families that await SMS admission.

We truly look forward to welcoming back all our K-Grade 7 Students for the 2021-2022 school year. Thank you for choosing St. Mary School as your partner in education!

2021-2022 Tuition

In Parish

Grades 1-8: $4,550

Kindergarten: $5,200

Out of Parish

Kindergarten- Grade 8: $6,600

Re-Registration Tuition Deposit: $250

Catholic Education

Foundation

Tuition Assistance

The Catholic Education Foundation for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is once again providing needs-based tuition assistance to elementary school students for the 2021-2022 school year.

Applications will be accepted through February 8, 2021. For more information and to apply, please visit catholicbestchoice.org. The application is done through your FACTS account...Access HERE

SMS CLASS OF 2021

HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS

$660,000 Offered!

The high school application and decision process come to a close for the Class of 2021. After completing applications, essays, securing teacher recommendations, and submitting grades, our current 8th-grade class has earned approximately $660,000 in scholarship money to attend local high schools. We celebrate their accomplishments and relish our last few months of their leadership in our school. WE ARE PROUD! Look out, world...the Class of 2021 is coming!

8th graders donned the sweatshirt of their High School choice for next year!

Catholic Schools Week

Educator Recognition

Milestone Years of Service

Five Years of Service:

Kristy Gertz, Zac Mills

Fifteen Years of Service:

Muffy Kadon

Twenty Years of Service:

Ellen Feely, Kathy Greiner

Congratulations and thank you for your service and commitment to Catholic Schools.

Upcoming

"Snow Day"

K-12 School Staff are part of Ohio's Phase 1B of the CoVid Immunization Plan. The State of Ohio Department of Health has informed us that schools might receive as little as 24 hours notice (or less) that their school is next up to receive the vaccination. It is most likely the school staff will be required to be off-campus to receive this immunization.

St. Mary School will close on the day our teachers and staff are to receive their vaccines.

We are slated for next week but have not been informed of the day. The day off will be called in the same manner as a "Snow Day," utilizing a school-wide email, push notification, website, and social media postings. This day off allows our dedicated faculty to receive the vaccination and recover from any side effects. Thank you in advance for your understanding and juggling of schedules.

Friendly Reminders...

As we prepare for our faculty and staff to receive the first round of vaccinations next week, we remind our entire community to stay vigilant and do those things which help keep school a safe place for our students, faculty, and staff, which include:

Wearing face coverings
Washing hands frequently
Staying home if you are sick
Please keep your student(s) home if anyone in your household is being Covid tested.* (posted on smshp.com and communicated in prior E-News editions)

*Updated protocol effective November 23, 2020: If anyone in your household is exposed to Covid and is being tested, please keep all students at home until you receive test results (an updated protocol). If your student or a parent is being tested, please continue to inform Nurse Mannix.

PTO

FAMILY

COOKING

NIGHT

FEB 21

Join our great SMS community through Zoom while Mr. Laudeman and Mr. Geeding guide kids and parents through the process of creating a fun, delicious dinner. Your family will receive a cooking night kit, a shopping list, and a few other surprises to make the night memorable. Kids can definitely help out, and we’ll have games and prizes to give away throughout the night. You’ll leave the virtual hang out ready to sit down and enjoy your Sunday dinner together.

WHEN: Sunday, February 21, 4:30 pm on Zoom

SIGNUP: Tickets $20 - REGISTER HERE via WeShare by February 12

NOTE: Cooking Night Kit Pickup will be Feb 19 & 20 at SMS

* All proceeds from the event will benefit Swoke Cincinnati, a non-profit organization started by Mr. Laudeman & Mr. Geeding, whose mission is guiding youth to find a path to being their best self.

CUPID

CORNER

THANK YOU!!!

The Amazon Wish List Cupid Corner Gifts for the faculty and staff are absolutely above and beyond. The Amazon driver today commented that he has never in his career delivered this many packages to one location at one time. We are grateful and humbled by the generosity of our families. You lift us up!! Thank you for your ongoing support.