February 23, 2023

Parent Memo

From Ms. Lorie

St. Mary’s Grade School

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Friday, February 24

Dear Parents:

All parents that are signed up in Virtus to be volunteers need to check the Virtusonline.org site and your account. Many of you are in need of updated Background Checks and training updates. If your account is not compliant, then you will not be able to volunteer in the building. We are also missing accounts for many volunteers! If you are volunteering – assisting with parties or other events – please make sure you have created an account on the Virtus site. Check your account quickly and update your needs. We have an audit at the end of March and need all volunteers to have up- to – date and compliant information. If you need help with this, please contact Maria Ammons, our counselor.

Notes of Interest:

Bridgeport Bus Students: Harrison County Schools will not be open on March 6; therefore, there will not be any bus to Bridgeport.

NDMS Football: There will be a Parent Meeting for ND Middle School Football on February 28 at 5:30 pm in the ND cafeteria. All interested students and parents are invited to attend.

Applications are now open to the general public at www.stmaryswv.org.

If you know a family who has expressed interest in our schools, please refer them to us for a tour and one on one conversation to answer questions and concerns.

Weather Delay/Snow Days: We follow Harrison County Schools. In the event of a 3 hour delay, St. Mary’s and Notre Dame operate a Tech/Remote Day. In the event of a 2 hour delay, Preschool will operate for 1 hour. Extended Care will be available for Preschool students on Delay Days.

TAPs: Phase 1 of the Tuition Assistance Program application opens on Feb 1 for all Catholic families and closes on April 30. Awards will be announced in May. Phase 11 is now open to Catholics and Non-Catholics and closes on August 31. This application should be submitted during Phase 1 and will not need to be resubmitted for Phase 2 awards. See attached information page.

HandS Meeting: The HandS Meeting has been moved to MARCH 1 at 6 PM in the SMS Auditorium.

PK4 Meeting: March 1 at 5:00 pm in the school auditorium. Bring a device to complete the HOPE Application and school application.

SAVE THE DATE

*Easter Party

April 2^nd from 2-4pm (Sunday)

Clarksburg City Park at Nutter Fort

Lion’s Shelter

Bring the entire family and join us for an afternoon of fun including an Easter Egg hunt (bring your own basket), face painting, and more! Sign-ups for drinks, snacks, and eggs will be available soon.

Read Aloud WV

Are you or someone you know (relative, alumni, or community member) interested in reading aloud to one of our classrooms every week? If so, you would need to complete a 1-hour virtual training found at readaloudwv.org (two sessions are currently available – March 7^th and 8^th, sign up on the website) as well as complete the required volunteer background paperwork from the school. The commitment is once per week for about 15-20 minutes. You would also bring a book to read (a good place to search is at the ARbookfind.com, so they also could take an AR quiz afterward on the book). Please contact Christina Nielson at 304-541-6372 if you have any additional questions. This would be in preparation for next school year.

Shoe Drive Results

Thank you to everyone that donated and collected shoes for our drive! We ended the drive today with 2,275 pairs of shoes collected. The generosity and support of the St. Mary’s School family is humbling, especially now as we enter the season of Lent. A special thank you to the HandS Fundraising Committee: Sarah Ford, Ashley Vernon, Melissa Spatafore, Pam Leonard, Kate Kosydar, Jen Randall Reyes, Stasia Shaffer, Shannon Cunningham-Snead and Mason Malone. Many hands make light work – THANK YOU!

Congratulations to Lucia Scalise for winning 1^st Place in the WV Young Writer’s Contest for Harrison County! Lucia will advance to the state competition in Charleston. Good luck, Lucia!

Catholic Daughter of America’s Contest Winners:

Congratulations to the following St. Mary’s students for winning places in this contest!

Art I – 1^st Place: Blaire Moore 2^nd Place: Audrey Karakiozia 3^rd Place: August Leonette

Art II – 3^rd Place: Caroline Cullen

Poetry I – 1^st Place: Anthony Morris

Essay I – 1^st Place: Michel Gigliotti 2^nd Place: Maria Plywaczynski 3^rd Place: Ryker Leonard

Essay II – 2^nd Place: Emma Yates 3^rd Place Grazia Pishner

Computer Art I – 1^st Place: Silas Malfregeot 2^nd Place: Jacob Szarko 3^rd Place: Tom Armstrong

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

Watch for changes each week!

Upcoming Dates and Events:

Feb 28: ND Middle School Football Parent Meeting at 5:30, ND Gym