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The Mission of St. Mary School is to Educate, Inspire &
Energize children with an emphasis on
Catholic Faith, Academic Excellence,
a Commitment to Serve and Lead,
and the Acceptance of Others.
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Dear Parents,
Sunday kicks off Catholic School’s Week. I look forward to seeing our families at mass and Open House. Our teachers and students have been working hard. Please stop by and see all the spectacular projects on display. You will have a chance to meet the teachers and visit the classrooms. Make sure to STEP UP and check out the next grade level.
Enjoy the evening, and count the blessings God has given you!
Jen Reker-Murphy
Principal
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2022-2023
Annual Fund
A very gracious Thank You to our school families, faculty, grandparents, past parents, alums, and friends that remember the St. Mary School Annual Fund in their charitable giving.
The 2022-23 Annual Fund supports the school operating budget (helps to keep the lights on!), continues the work of replacing the school building windows, and will support social and emotional programs for students.
Thank you to the following school families who gave a gift to the 2022-2023 Annual Fund this past week: Comello, Manning
We will periodically recognize school family gifts to date. The AF runs July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023. You can learn more here. You can also monitor our AF progress from the icon below!
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Moving SMS Forward
Look for periodic updates in the weekly School Newsletter as we highlight how we strive to serve our students and families.
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Over the past week, in the afternoons and late into the evening, we had a dedicated group of volunteers that worked tirelessly to set up and deploy brand-new Ipads and classroom carts for Grades K-4. These volunteers helped us save big money on tech set-up fees! Thank you to:
Lisa Habel (project coordinator!), Linda Strietmann, Kathleen Daly, Kristin St Clair, Taylor Lindsay, Abigail Isbell, Meme Habel, Ellen Habel, Suzanne Doyle, Emily Davis, Emily Shulte, Claire Taylor, and Jeanne Wilkens. We also thank Demario for having the space cleaned and ready in the cafeteria to do this work.
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Cafeteria Lunch Service
PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHILD'S
LUNCH BALANCE
St. Mary School receives a bill for all lunch accounts that carry a negative balance. Please ensure that your child's lunch account is current and has funds for future lunch purchases. Thank you!
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Lunch Menu
Week of Jan 23-27
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Lunch Menu
Week of Jan 30-Feb 3
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Junior High Mixer
Saturday, February 4
7:00 - 10:00 pm
SMS Gym
Theme: Hawaiian
Cost: $20 CASH
Come out for a fun night of food, fun, and dancing! Dinner, dessert, and drinks will be provided. Parent chaperones will be present. This mixer is for SMS students only. Students MUST arrive by 7:30 pm and are not permitted to leave until the mixer is over.
Give your song requests to Mr. Geeding over the next few weeks!
Please return your $20 CASH and this permission slip in an envelope to your homeroom teacher by Friday, February 3. *No cash or permission slips will be taken the night of the mixer*
Email Monica Bowen with any questions at hildy492002@yahoo.com
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Cougar/Bengal
Spiritwear!
Special order for Cougar/Bengal Spiritwear is available NOW.
- All orders must be in by THIS Friday at 5 pm.
- All sales final (win or lose!)
- Shirts are $18, with a portion of sales benefitting our school.
- Shirts will be received before the Super Bowl!
- ORDER HERE
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Playground Project
We hope you have read or heard about the effort to raise funds for a new playground for our school and our community. The Playground Project team, made up of dedicated volunteers, has been busy securing the best vendors, communicating with school parents, and now actively raising funds to meet their initial $220,000 total goal.
In the first few weeks the WeShare has been live, the team has collected $131,061 (with an additional $31,380 committed). But we still need your support!
The Playground Project committee will have renderings and be ready to answer any questions and even take donations at this weekend’s open house! We invite you to talk to them and learn more about this exciting opportunity to help our community thrive and give our kids a fun and safe place to play at recess and beyond.
Sharing this playground with our church and neighborhood communities is a gift. We can’t wait to show you the vision and, more importantly, see it come to life. The goal is to have the $220,000 raised by the end of February and break ground THIS SUMMER! By the start of school next year, our SMS students could be playing on the new fenced-in turf field and amazing play structure.
This project will leave a lasting impact on the St. Mary community, both recreationally and educationally. Now is the time to be a part of this groundbreaking opportunity - knowing that your contribution will leave a legacy at St. Mary School for years to come.
You can contribute from our secure WeShare link HERE.
*If you have any friends or family who would like to contribute, please forward this information to them!
Please send any questions to SMSplaygroundproject@gmail.com or call 513-207-3702.
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SPRING SOCCER
Soccer - Grades K-7 / Boys and Girls
- Early Bird Registration runs now through January 31st: $85
- Late Registration runs February 1 - February 6: $110
- SIGN UP HERE
SPRING SOFTBALL
Softball - Grades K-8 Girls
SPRING BASEBALL
Grades K-8
- K-3rd grade – $95 fee with $25 late fee beginning February 6th (which would make the late registration $120)
- 4th – 8th grade – $120 fee with $25 late beginning February 6th (which would make the late registration $145).
- REGISTER HERE
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Track & Field is
around the corner!
St. Gertrude Parish invites students in neighboring parishes to join their Track & Field Program.
- To register, go to: http://sgsbulldogs.org/
- Please go to Online Registration on the left of the page. Please choose 2023 Track - Other Parishes.
Practices will be two evenings a week for all and some Saturdays for 5th - 8th grade. We cannot confirm the location, days of the week, and times yet.
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Parish Discipleship Survey
I Need Your Help!
I am very excited to announce that we will be participating in a "family"-wide survey about discipleship conducted by the Catholic Leadership Institute. This non-profit Catholic apostolate does leadership training and development.
But I need your help.
We want as many parishioners as possible to complete a 10-minute survey. The survey will only be available from January 20 (starting at 2 PM) - February 26 and will ask you to reflect on your spiritual growth and enable you to provide feedback on what efforts the parish is making to help you grow. All responses will be confidential, and the parishes will only receive information about the parish communities in our family of parishes and our family as a whole.
Please take 10 minutes to complete the survey linked below. The results will be invaluable to me, the staff, and our many volunteers as we seek ways to best support everyone in their discipleship journey.
I look forward to sharing the findings with you when the project is finished. Thank you for helping with this important project!
Fr. Jamie
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What is a
Dream Committee?
Our Eastside Family of Parishes (St. Mary, St. Cecilia, and the oratory at St. Anthony) has members from each location participating on the Dream Committee. This committee will help develop the short and long-term facility needs of our churches, schools, athletics, and parish life.
The "dream" discussions will include the following...but are not limited to:
- Assessing the life span of HVAC and roofs
- Analyzing school classroom needs, parish meeting, and staff office space
- Determining any building upgrades needed
- Parking
- Prioritizing needs and timelines of projects
A pressing task of this committee is to determine the future of St. Margaret/St. John's property located on Murray Road in Fairfax. (This parish closed in 2022.)
If you have questions or suggestions for the Dream Committee, please send them to: jgrote@eastsideregion.org.
Please pray for the Dream Committee as they explore how our family of parishes can function more efficiently to serve the needs of our current and future Eastside Family Community.
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Save the Date
Lenten Mission 2023
- Speaker: Fr. Larry Richards
- Date: February 27, 28, March 1, 2
- Time: 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
- Location: St. Cecilia Church
A gifted and captivating speaker, preacher, retreat master, and author, Father Larry Richards holds the answer to some of life’s most profound questions. He speaks from experience as a pastor of an inner-city parish, a high school chaplain, a counselor, and an evangelist. Father Larry Richards has directed hundreds of Retreats, Parish Missions, and Conferences for young and old alike. His inspirational talks and presentations, always authentic and enthusiastic, have changed the hearts, minds, and lives of millions of listeners worldwide. Some of his most popular talks are The Truth, Confession, The Mass Explained, Knowing God’s will, Prayer, Living in the Holy Spirit, and Be a Man. We pray you will join us for this life-changing Lenten mission.
Hear from and learn more about Fr. Larry Richards...click below...
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Parenting Reflection - January 25, 2023
Children Ask Many Questions - - Today, as never before, children bring home questions about themselves, their friends, and about events they have observed in the world around them and in the media. It can be overwhelming at times. As a parent, you are continually challenged to find words that will answer their questions simply and wisely. It is not unusual that we don't have all the answers to all our children's questions. If they do not understand something, they typically turn to a parent. If it is a tough question, don't push it for later or say they will learn about it when they are older. If you need time, be honest and tell them you have to think about it. Then be sure that you get back to them about it. Here are some additional tips: Be Simple. Don't answer more than they are asking. Be Direct. Don't hesitate. Be as forthright as possible. Be Ready. Be sure your information is accurate and up-to-date. -- Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life. Proverbs 22:6
Submitted by St. Mary Parishioner,
Stephanie Jenemann
Former Director of the Family Life Office
for the Diocese of Columbus
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