SMHS Weekly Newsletter

October 18th

Principal Update

Dear Parents,

It has been a great homecoming week culminating with our pep rally this afternoon. The school spirit of the students has been wonderful every day with the different dress up themes, hall decorations, and competitions amongst the classes. Homecoming is such a great time of year which we have also been celebrating all week with homecoming games for all our fall sports teams. We are looking forward to the St. Michael’s community coming out to cheer on our football team at their homecoming game tomorrow. We will be promoting breast cancer awareness and recognizing our homecoming king, queen, and court at that game.

We want our students to have a safe and enjoyable time at the dance tomorrow evening, and to make good choices. We ask that you please review the policies and expectations for the dance with your child as all dance rules will be enforced.

As we begin the second nine week period of the first semester, we are seeing an uptick in student absences mainly due to illness. It is important to keep your child home if they have a fever and/or are displaying COVID or flu like symptoms. Students may keep up with missed work through Google Classroom. It is important that all missed assignments are completed.

The first nine weeks progress reports were available on OnBoard on October 9. I hope you have had an opportunity to review grades with your child. Please contact the teacher directly if you have any questions or concerns. I do have a concern with the number of students with a D or an F; missing assignments are the main reason for these low grades. Please consistently monitor your child’s progress on OnBoard. All grades should be up to date every Monday.

If your child is struggling academically, I encourage them to take advantage of individual teacher help either before school, at lunch, or after school. Students can also take advantage of peer tutoring as well as work with our college and career counselor, Alex Gallegos, on an academic support plan. If your child is experiencing high anxiety or stress, I encourage them to see our mental and behavioral health counselor, John Rich, for support. We have many resources to support your child and will do everything we can to help them be successful.

As always, we appreciate all your care and support for our school and the amazing students we serve. Go Horsemen!

Yours in Christ,

Martin C. Sandoval, Pincipal

ANNUAL RAFFLE LAST CALL FOR TICKETS!!

2024 Annual Raffle Parent Letter

2024 SMHS Annual Raffle

2024 SMHS Annual Raffle | RallyUp

This year our top three student sellers will take home a gross percentage amount of the tickets sold by their family.

#1 Top Student Seller: 50%

#2 Top Student Seller: 35%

#3 Top Student Seller: 20%

Example: #1 Top Student Seller; Sold 25 tickets at $30 a ticket totaling $750; Student Seller will take home $375

Academics

Coming up on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, Juniors will be taking the PSAT/NMSQT Assessment. The Juniors need to report to campus by 8:00 a.m. The testing will promptly begin at 8:30 a.m. Testing should be completed by 12 p.m. The Juniors will be allowed to leave campus following the completion of the assessment.

Juniors should begin their college research and asking themselves these questions:

o What do I want to study in college?

o What programs do the colleges I am interested in offer?

Talking about colleges! Some of our Seniors have shared great news about where they have been accepted! University of Arizona, Yale, The Naval Academy, Colorado State University, University of New Mexico are just a few of the many to come! Congratulations Seniors! We are so proud of you!

October 23rd we will have Santa Fe SWAT on campus to put our students through critical incident training. While we do our due diligence to create a safe and happy environment on campus, it is also our duty and obligation to help prepare our faculty, staff, and students in the event that such an occurrence should take place. This training will be for only faculty, staff, and students. Please be advised that there will be some sensitive material shared within this training, but the administration will be present for all presentations with the students. If you have any questions, please contact Gerard Garcia at ggarcia@smhs.me

As the weather changes and we approach flu and cold season, please make sure to contact the front office for any student absences. Please call or email Ms. Margie Baca to report absences.

Tardies are starting to increase again, please help us ensure that your students are here on time. Please refer to our handbook for acceptable excused tardies.

Don’t forget about our great tutoring resource:

Our National Honor Society students have committed themselves to tutoring other students who may need extra support in some of their classes.

Please contact the National Honor Society's Moderator, Ms. Aida Martinez at amartinezsuarez@smhs.me for more information.

Activities

Choral Arts

Oct. 18th at 6:30 pm at Cristo Rey Church, we will be having a Hispanic Heritage Month concert featuring works from the Hispanic diaspora (some Basque, Spanish, and Latin American pieces) in a concert called Raices y Ritmos!

Oct. 20th, at 6pm at the Cathedral, Choral Arts will be joining my Eastern New Mexico University's Chamber Choir on their tour of northern New Mexico. It will primarily be ENMU's concert, but SMHS will be joining them for a few songs and we will be singing our own repertoire as well.

HOMECOMING!

We have had a fun week of Homecoming activities, dress up days, and Mass. Today we had our pep assembly to hype up the school for our Homecoming game tomorrow. The theme for the dance is "Under the Lanterns"! Students must arrive at the dance no later than 9:30 (doors open at 8pm) to be let in and the dance will end at 11pm.

Homecoming Court 2024

King and Queen: Luis Talamantes and Jane Erickson

Senior Princes: Jordan Garcia and Jonathan Sanchez

Senior Princess: Jenna Lewandowski

Junior Prince: Ethyn Martinez

Junior Princess: Mariella Ruiz

Sophomore Prince: Horton Hannon

Sophomore Princess: Hayden Walker

Freshman Prince: Joshua Falance

Freshman Princess: Sophia Leal

Athletics

SWIM TEAM FUNDRAISER (NEW DATE)

St. Michael's Horsemen Movie Night

"Teen Wolf”

6:00PM - 8:00PM

October 25th on the Football Field

Free Admission

Benefit for SMHS Swimming Team

Concessions sold to raise funds!

Bring a blanket and have fun!

Boys soccer

Boys soccer defeated Robertson at its home field for the first time in three years to take sole possession of second place in the district.

Tennis

Varsity Tennis Fall Practices start November 5th.

If you are interested in joining us on the Varsity Boys or Girls team, please contact: Coach Matt at tennis@smhs.me or 505-239-4008

Watching our Horsemen Shine!

St. Michael’s High School is well-represented in the Major League Baseball National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets.

1983 Alumni, Ron Porterfield, is the current Director of Player Health with the LA Dodgers after serving 12 years as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Tampa Bay Rays, and 3 years as the Assistant Athletic Trainer before that.

1999 Alumni, Bryan Baca, enters his 3rd year as the Assistant Athletic Trainer with the NY Mets. Prior to joining the Mets, Bryan spent 15 seasons with the Houston Astros system.

Both Horsemen graduated from New Mexico State University and each have World Series Championship Rings.

One of the many ways in which the St. Mike's community marked Homecoming this week, was with our annual homecoming mass in the Tipton auditorium. The mass was celebrated by Fr. Frank Pretto, who is himself the product of a Lasallian education. In his homily, Fr. Pretto reminded us of the true meaning of "homecoming" -- that is, literally, coming home. He shared with us the story of his personal vocation journey: how he discerned his call to the priesthood while in college. Although he wasn't even Catholic at the time, the call felt to him like a call to return home -- home to his Lasallian roots and, of course, home to God, a home where everyone, no matter what, is welcome, respected, and loved. Thank you, Fr. Pretto, for all you do for the St. Mike's community.

We pray for a fun and safe homecoming weekend for everyone.

Live Jesus in our hearts.....

SPIRIT SHOP

WE MOVED!

We are excited to share that the Spirit Shop has moved to a new location in the school!

Grand Opening date coming soon!

SMHS Alumni Association

Alumni Association General Meeting: November 13th, 6:30pm SMHS Library

All Alumni and Parents/Guardians of Alumni are welcome! General Meetings will be held every other month on the 2nd Wednesday in the SMHS Library. Please see the school website under the Alumni Tab for further meeting dates.

Alumni Brick Patio Capital Campaign:

The Alumni Association has begun PHASE V of the Brick Project! Order your brick online at: https://www.bricksrus.com/donorsite/horsemenpatio. See the school website under the Alumni Tab for further details. Purchase a brick for the Alumni Patio overlooking the SMHS Football Field.

Alumni Reunions

St. Michael’s High School welcomes the Class of 1954, 1994, 1989 and the 1972 State Football Championship Team for their Class Reunions!

For information regarding the Alumni Association or to find out when your reunion is, please contact Annette Rivera-Legits, Alumni Relations Coordinator at 505-466-5088 or email at: alegits@smhs.me

“Once a Horsemen, Always a Horsemen!”