December 9, 2022

Dear St. Mary’s Families:

Thank you for another successful shopping experience! The students were so excited and the event is very well organized and well planned. Thank you to all volunteers for all of their time, donations, and kindness to all.

As we head into the final full week of December, we will have ND Key Club students teaching short, brief lessons on drug awareness to our students in grades 1-6. Tuesday, December 13, is a Dress Down in Red Day. The red signifies our support for the battle against drug use. Thursday, December 15, all of our students will be treated with a presentation by the Harrison County Drug Task Force Dog.

Students in grades 3-6 will be attending Penance Service on Thursday, December 15, at noon. Regular uniforms will be sufficient.

Mass will be Friday, December 16, at our regular 8:00 am time. All students are to wear Formal Uniforms.

Sprinkled throughout out week will be various practices for our Christmas Concert being held Sunday, December 18, at Immaculate Conception Church at 3:00pm. Students are to wear all black and arrive by 2:00 pm. See emailed attachment. The event is open to all.

The final week of school in December has a few added fun events!

Monday, December 19, we will have an Ugly Sweater Day.

Tuesday, December 20, we will have a Christmas Pajama Day.

On Wednesday, December 21, we will celebrate Lessons and Carols with Notre Dame at 11:00 am. Families are once again invited to this special event. All students are dismissed at noon following Lessons and Carols and will return to school on Tuesday, January 3, 2023!

Happy Holidays!

Notes of Interest:

Thank you SMS families for supporting this year’s Santa Shop! The students seemed to really enjoy shopping for their loved ones.

HandS is very grateful for the leadership of chair persons Krista Arnold, Lynn Lane, and Trisha Carter. Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped with organizing, shopping, wrapping, and donations , including:

Erin Bowen

Beth Gregg

Jessica Leech

Pam and Kevin Leonard

Irene Malfregeot

Sammy Matthey

Melissa Minigh

Rosie Morris

Christina Nielson

Rochelle Plywaczynski

Whitney Policano

Aleigha Priano

Susan Ricketts

Rachel Romano

Heidi Seamon

Casey Stanton

Katrina Szarko

Erikka Wilson

Kary Yates

Natalie Gigliotti

Congratulations to Izzy Fittro for being selected as St. Mary’s Thomas Aquino’s Medal recipient. Izzy exemplifies the true qualities of thoughtfulness and service.

Shoe Drive: Week One Update

Our Shoe Drive is underway and as of this morning we have collected 164 pairs of shoes! That is a great start, but we need everyone to join in if we are going to hit our goals. What can you do? Here are some opportunities:

· Go through the closets in your home and collect any unwanted, new, or used shoes. As long as they don’t have any holes or tears – we will take them! Put them in a bag and send them to school to be placed in the black bins by the front door.

· Are you hosting a holiday party? Ask each of your guests to bring shoes they would like to donate to the party. It is a nice way to add service to holiday festivities!

· Make it a neighborhood thing! See the school email for a flyer template that can be personalized and placed in mailboxes in your HOA, street, neighborhood, apartment building, etc. The flyer outlines how neighbors can place their shoe donations on their porches and you can pick them up at a specific time that fits your schedule. It is a great way to add a family service project to Advent or to get community service hours for high school or confirmation students.

However you can help with our Shoe Drive, it is greatly appreciated. We would love to be announcing hitting our first mini goal of 250 pairs of shoes collected by next Friday. AND when we do, Ms. Lori will wear her clothes backwards for a full day at school the following week. Who doesn’t want to see that?!? Thank you in advance for your time and generosity! Have questions or need help with a large pick up? Text Pam Leonard at 740.525.2846.

See attachment.

******CALENDAR ******

Watch for changes each week!

Upcoming Dates and Events:

December 18: Christmas Program, 3:00pm, Immaculate Conception Church

December 19: Pk3 and Pk4 Christmas Parties at 9:30 am

Ugly Christmas Sweater Day

December 20: K-6 Christmas Parties at 1:15 pm

Christmas Pajama Day

December 21: Lessons and Carols at IC Church at 11:00 am, families invited

Early Dismissal at 12:00 pm

***No Extended Care for PK