Dear St. Mary School Families,

ST. MARY SCHOOL ACCREDITATION – IMPORTANT!

Every 5 years the state asks Catholic schools to conduct a self-evaluation process to determine goals for improvement. This process requires schools to follow certain procedures such as making sure background checks are completed, fire drills and crisis procedures are in place along with making sure teachers have appropriate licensure to name a few. One of those is making sure we receive a signature from parents acknowledging they read the school handbook. Additionally, schools evaluate their current goals and collect data to make informed decisions on new goals for improvement. This is a two-year process. The school staff has already begun to research and analyze certain data. As the stakeholders of the school, it is vital that we have school family input. A survey is attached to this email for parents or school families to complete. Only 1 survey needs to be completed per family. To complete the survey, CLICK on “FILL OUT ON GOOGLE FORMS”. When you are finished, CLICK “Submit”. The results of the information collected will be published. **Every family who submits a completed survey will receive a “DRESS DOWN” Pass for their child/children. We would like all surveys to be completed by Nov. 9th. If you have any further questions, please contact the school office.

OCTOBER – MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY

The month of October is the month of the Holy Rosary. The school will pray a decade each morning throughout the month of October. Students may bring a rosary to school. A Living Rosary will be prayed on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 2:15 in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima outside, weather permitting. For those not familiar with the Fatima story, I have included a brief summary of the story below from Our Sunday Visitor. More information may be found at:

The year 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, where the Blessed Mother appeared once each month from May 13 until Oct. 13, 1917.

The message of Fatima highlights many central truths and devotions of the Catholic faith: the Trinity, the Eucharist, penance, the Rosary and sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. There is special emphasis on the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is a refuge of maternal love for us all and a sure path that leads us to God. In the end, Mary’s Immaculate Heart will triumph because Mary is full of God’s grace and is all pure. She has the heart of a mother who cares for her children and wishes them to be saved by her divine Son, Jesus.

Fatima is one of the most significant of all Marian apparitions. Along with Guadalupe (Dec. 12) and Lourdes (Feb. 11), it is one of three Marian apparitions honored with a feast day. In 2002, Pope St. John Paul II added the May 13 feast of Our Lady of Fatima to the general Roman calendar. May 13 was the day of the first Fatima apparition of 1917, and May 13, 1981, was the day when St. John Paul II survived an attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square. John Paul II credited his survival to the intervention of Our Lady of Fatima. The assassin’s bullet that narrowly missed killing the pope now is inserted in a crown of Our Lady housed at the Fatima shrine. Fatima is also linked with the collapse of Russian communism more than 25 years ago. By Robert Fastiggi from Our Sunday Visitor

Mrs. Barb Bialko

Mrs. Barb Bialko

Principal

STORYTELLING – next storytelling will be held tomorrow, Thursday, October 5th from 3:15-4:15/4:30 in the Library. Please send in a note if your child is attending.

Mass – Friday, October 6th – Grade 2/3 – Please join us!

KIDSART – will be held on Tuesday, 10, 17, 24, 31 and November 7th from 3:15-4:30. Please send a weekly note stating they will be staying or call the office if they are not going to stay. Thank you!

NO SCHOOL – Friday, October 13, 2017

PRESCHOOL – No Preschool on November 8th for the 4 year old Preschool and December 7th for the 3 year old Preschool. We will be having conferences