November 1, 2024 Volume XI, No. 9 | |
From The Desk Of The Principal | |
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Hello Kristen:
The saints came marching in today at our annual All Saints Day Mass celebration. Our faith teaches us that saints are men and women who are very human and very real and, at the same time, very close to God. Saints can include members of our own families who have lived good lives. Our students are practicing every day to become saints. The best help we can give
them is to be good roles models ourselves!
Thank you for returning your conference confirmation slip. If you have not done so yet, or need to reschedule, please do so asap. Next Friday, parents and teachers will spend the day reviewing student report cards and sharing important information needed to help improve student progress. Conference time will pass quickly, so it will be important that we abide by the time schedule and come prepared with any information or questions that you would like to
discuss.
Finally, we held our Walk-a-thon awards assembly this afternoon. Once again we had much to celebrate! We surpassed our goal of $28,000 ($28,125.63) and raised our participation rate to 86% (up 2%). Thank you, parents, guardians, friends of SMA for your overwhelming support! Go SMA!!!
Peace and God's blessings,
Ann E. Dougal
Principal
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November 1-15
Food Drive for the Gray House
November 5-8
Scholastic Book Fair
November 5
Election Day- School is in SESSION
November 8
Parent/Teacher Conferences- NO SCHOOL
1st Quarter Report Cards Distributed
November 11
Veterans Day- NO SCHOOL
November 15
Food Drive Ends
1st Grade Field Trip CT Science Center
Grade 5 Grandparent Event 9:30 a.m.
November 19
Middle Level Living History Museum 6-7 p.m.
November 20
Pre-K Grandparent event 1:30 p.m.
November 22
Walk-A-Thon Dress Down Day
Picture Retake Day.
November 26
Walk-A-Thon Limo Ride
School Mass 1:30- Grade 4 Readers.
November 27-29
NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving Break
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Please remember to attend church as a family!
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- We will begin our Winter Uniforms on Monday, November 4th. This means no shorts are allowed until we move to our Spring Uniform in May. You may refer to the uniform policy by reading the Student Handbook HERE.
- We have been notified by First Student Transportation that there WILL BE bus transportation on Tuesday, November 5th. We were previously notified buses would not be provided.
- Reminder that our parent/teacher conferences are next week on Friday, November 8th. There is NO school on the conference day. While you are here for your conference, PLEASE check the cafeteria for lost items. We would love to return them to their rightful owners. The box is overflowing!!
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Payments to School: When sending in payments for Before/After school bills, Student Activities or other miscellaneous items, please do not send in one payment to cover all fees. This creates a bookkeeping nightmare! Please send check or exact cash for each fee.
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Virtue of the Month Winners: | |
The Reverence Virtue of the Month Winners are: | |
Left to right: Gr 2.- Ethan, Gr. K- Alec, Gr. PK- Harper, Gr. 5- Bri, Gr. 3. Zavian, Gr.4 Michelina
Back row: Gr. 7- Angela, Gr. 6- Bridget, Gr. 8- Samantha
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November Virtue of the Month | |
Dear God, long ago You told Moses,"The choicest first fruits of your soil shall bring to the house of the Lord, Your God" (Genesis 34:26). | |
Classroom Notes: Mrs. Morrill 3B | |
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Third Grade is Cruising Through Cursive!
The teaching and practice of cursive writing has long been a hallmark of Catholic education. In recent years when public schools eliminated it from their curriculum, we have been proud to keep the tradition going!
Cursive has many benefits for our students. While they are in school, it helps them to slow down and think more about their spelling and writing. Cursive helps with fine motor skills and paying attention to detail. Students can study primary resources for themselves when they are able to read cursive. As adults, they can confidently sign their name on documents, or maybe even as an autograph!
One of the keys to beautiful cursive is proper posture. Students sit straight but slant their paper, so they have to cross the midline of their body to write. Involving both halves of the brain develops more neural connections, improving children’s memory and logic. This also helps students who struggle with printing due to low motor skills or dyslexia, to be more successful in expressing their ideas.
We teach cursive by focusing on one letter at a time, but students are encouraged to practice writing in cursive as much as possible from the beginning. Once a letter is taught, however, they are expected to form it correctly. This takes a lot of time, practice, and patience! Each student has also been shown how to write their full name. Now, whenever they write their name for work, it should be in cursive!
Although it is in the distance, the third graders are preparing for the day when they return from Christmas break and everything will be completed in cursive. We want our students to have a strong basis for writing in cursive, without anxiety surrounding it. Their cursive handwriting, for schoolwork, should become as legible and second-nature as printing so they are prepared for the expectations in fourth grade and beyond.
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The Kindergarten students enjoyed a field trip to McCray's Farm this week. What a great time they had, going on a hayride, petting the animals and getting their very own pumpkins! | |
We celebrated All Saints Day with a full school Mass celebrated by our Chaplain, Fr. David Raymond. This special day is set aside to pay tribute to all of the saints that have come before us.
As part of the Mass, we had representatives from every grade either dressed as a saint or carrying a sign that identified the saint.
Thank you to our 5th grade students who did a fabulous job hosting the Mass.
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Wednesday evening our middle school students had fun in Costume at their Halloween Dance. The students were very creative this year and everyone had a great time! | |
Friday we celebrated the successful Walk-A-Thon at our awards ceremony.
We had 142 students who received medals, 166 students who were entered into the raffle for an VISA gift card, 346 students who earned a dress down day, and 22 students who earned two dress down days.
Top 4 Fundraisers for the Elementary Level (Gift Cards)
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Top 4 Fundraisers for the Middle Level (Limo Ride)
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Top Fundraisers School Wide (Trophy) | |
Students in 1A incorporated both math and ELA while having fun with a pumpkin. First they read the story How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin, by Margaret McNamara. Next they guessed how many seeds were in the pumpkin due to its size. Finally, they described the pumpkin using their senses.
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Pre-K4C also had sensory fun with their pumpkin. They enjoyed themselves while exploring the inside of a pumpkin. | |
Basketball Practice Schedule | |
Below is the practice days and times for the SMA teams. Basketball sign ups are closed as rosters have been submitted and uniforms have been ordered. | |
Book Fair- eWallet available! | |
The Scholastic Book Fair will be coming to SMA nest week. Your child will have the opportunity to shop for books during their allotted class time. You can pay with cash, card, check made payable to St. Michael's Academy or by setting up an ewallet for your student HERE.
The book fair will also be open during Parent Teacher conferences from 8:00-3:00. If you are able to help volunteer, please contact LaShaunda Pearson at l.pearson@smaspringfield.org
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PSAT 8/9
Ms. Wagner, the Diocesan Superintendent, has asked each school in the Springfield Diocese with 8th-grade classes to pilot the PSAT 8/9. St. Michael’s Academy was among the first to administer this test. After a few technical issues over a two-week period, students in classes 8A and 8B were finally able to take the PSAT 8/9. The test is divided into two sections: Reading & Writing and Mathematics. This trial run gives students insight into their personal strengths and areas for improvement, supporting their growth as lifelong learners. Information from this test, along with other assessments in the College Board Testing Suite, can also help students identify colleges that align with their skills and talents. The 8th graders look forward to learning more about themselves when the results are released later this fall.
Reverence - Deacon John Miller
Wednesday afternoon, Deacon John Miller spent time with our 8th graders discussing October’s virtue of reverence, showing your deepest respect for things of God. In small groups the students were guided to read Luke 19:28-40, Luke 1:39-56, Luke 7:1-10, and Philippians 2:1-11. As a whole class the students then discussed how each passage shared showed an example of reverence. Students learned that we can each pause a little more frequently to show respect to our creator and all he has blessed us with. Amen.
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The nurse will begin school screenings for preschool and kindergarten next week. We are grateful to have been able to receive the SPOT vision screener for November 4-6. This assists the nurse in vision screening our younger students!
Students in grades PreK-Kindergarten will be screened for vision, hearing, weight, height, and BMI.
If you choose to opt out of any screenings or want screening results you must email the school nurse Mrs. Penna at m.penna@smaspringfield.org.
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Pope Francis Preparatory Open House | |
Pope Francis Prep invites all prospective students and their families to learn more about them at their Fall Open House. This event is designed to welcome curious students and parents to their beautiful campus to learn more about their school. There will be opportunities to meet their administration, faculty, staff, coaches, tour the campus, and hear first-hand perspectives on a Pope Francis Prep education from their students. Click HERE to register for the Open House. | |
St. Michael the Archangel,
Pray for us!
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We pray for peace and harmony in our homes and in our hearts.
Lord, protect our nation from harm and guide us in times of uncertainty. Surround us with Your peace and shield us from danger. May Your presence be a constant source of strength and security. Amen.
We pray in a special way for all of our families and friends in need:
Paula Jeck
Thank you for your interest in St. Michael's Academy. To ensure receipt, please add k.dionne@smaspringfield.org to your address book.
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St. Michael's Academy
153 Eddywood Street - Springfield, MA 01118
www.smaspringfield.org
413.782.5246 office
413.782.8137 fax
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