7/1/24 SMCS Summer Letter
Good Afternoon St. Mary Catholic School Families,
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and the beautiful weather we have been experiencing! There have been a lot of exciting things happening at school over the past few weeks. We have finished moving all of the items from Goretti, lockers are in the hallways on the middle school side, the old middle school science lab is being transformed into a STEM lab that all grades will be using, we are adding one new administrative office and the other offices are getting a face lift, the old aftercare room is under construction to be our new Pre-K 3 classroom, and the library is being freshened up and will have a whole new look.
Summer Reading Assignments
Now that everyone has had a few weeks off, I want to emphasize the importance of students continuing to read every day and practicing math facts, solving problems, etc. Just 20 minutes every day helps keep students on level and minimizes any slide in performance when school resumes in the Fall. Every summer St. Mary’s students are assigned a summer reading assignment/activity. Below are the assignments for this summer:
2024-2025 Staffing Update
One of the things that I am most excited to share is the staffing update for next school year. We have had many qualified candidates for our open positions. However, I was adamant to not rush to fill them, but instead to ensure that we filled them with the right people. As of last Friday, we have a full staff for next year and I am happy to be able to share this with you much sooner than I thought I would be. Thank you for all of your prayers and patience through this process. Below please find the St. Mary School Staffing for the 2024-2025 school year. Please be watching our Facebook page over the next few weeks as we begin to highlight our staff by “team”.
Principal - Dr. Amy Summers
Director of School Operations - Stephanie Roccograndi
Administrative Assistant - Theresa Falcone
Director of Enrollment and Marketing - Audi Lebedda
Nurse - Kristy Wentz
Tuition Coordinator- Jenny Beck
Student Support Specialist - Ryan Cascio
Facilities Manager - James Renken
Cafeteria Manager - Andrew Capobianco
PreK 3 Teacher - Zoe Mutchler
PreK 3 Aide - Alison Ortiz
PreK4 Teacher - Gretchen Mitchell
PreK4 Aide - Carly Jones
Kindergarten Teacher- Mary Barger
Kindergarten Aide - Jennifer Flanagan
1st Grade Teacher - Mary Poffenberger
1st Grade Aide - Charlee McNeill
2nd Grade Teacher - Emma Ortiz
3rd Grade Teacher - Lynn Kraje
4th Grade Teacher - Annikah Moaratty
5th Grade Teacher - April Nitzell
K-8 Spanish Teacher - Damaris Munoz
K-8 STEM Teacher - Brandi Farmer
MS Religion - Pam Ward
MS Social Studies Teacher - Warner (Jim) James
MS Math Teacher - Meghan Cordell
MS Language Arts - Stacey Renken
MS Science - Makayla Rajahpillay
Art Teacher - Jennifer Hoffman
Librarian - Leslie Kocevar
Music Teacher - Breton Abbondanzio
PE Teacher - Stacy Lowe
School Supplies List
School will be starting before you know it and I know there are lots of sales right now. You can find the 2024-2025 school supply list here. It will also be posted on our Facebook page and our website as well
School Hours
Our day will begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. Drop-off will still be at 7:55 a.m. and students must be in the classroom by 8:10. Students will be dismissed at 3:15 p.m.
School Uniforms
Our goal is to simplify the uniform, keep costs down for families, and have students look more uniform in their dress. For the winter uniform, students in grades K-5 may wear the blue or white polo or oxford, blue pants,or the new plaid skort from Flynn O’Hara. Current students may continue to wear the jumper but we will be phasing this out and transitioning to just the skort over the next two years. The jumper will no longer be available for purchase at Flynn O’Hara or our used uniform room.
The optional warm weather uniform for students in grades K-5 will be blue dress shorts or the plaid skort. By transitioning to the plaid skort from the blue skort, our hope is to keep costs down for families.
To help distinguish middle school students (grades 6-8) from other grade levels, they will have a separate red polo that they may purchase or they may wear the current blue polo, white oxford, or blue oxford. Girls may wear the blue pants or the plaid skirt and boys may wear blue dress pants. Over the next two years we will transition to just having the red polo for middle school. Middle school students may also wear the new ¾ zip pullover available at Flynn O’Hara. Students may wear blue shorts as the warm weather option.
The shoe guidelines will not change. Students in grades K-8 must wear solid black, brown, or navy dress shoes on non-PE days. On PE days students may wear sneakers as outlined in the handbook. When students are able to wear warm weather uniforms, they may wear sneakers.
There will no longer be a gym uniform. During PE class girls may wear shorts or navy sweatpants under their skirt/skort.
Pre-K 3 and 4 will have t-shirts that they will wear as part of their uniform top, with navy blue pants or skirt, white socks, and sneakers (no light ups please). More information will be emailed from the teachers in the next few weeks.
Implementation of Houses
We will be implementing “houses” this year, to help build community. Each student will belong to one of four houses. Houses will have monthly meetings, competitions, and activities to help build school culture and community. All students will be billed for a “house” t-shirt that we will be ordering for you. More information will come about sizes and an opportunity for families to purchase a shirt as well.
School Calendar
The first day of school will be August 26 for Kindergarten through 8th grades. It will be a full day of school. The school year calendar is available here and on the school website. The Google calendar on the website is updated and we will continue to add dates as events are planned. You can sync our calendar to your own calendar using the “+GoogleCalendar” button at the bottom right of the calendar on our website.
Pre-K 3/4 will begin a staggered start on August 27 and all PreK3/4 students will attend school on August 30. Pre-K 3/4 teachers will be emailing with more details about the staggered start.
Before and After Care
Students will be able to arrive at school at 7:30 a.m. and stay until 5:30 p.m. The cost of the extended day is $8 per hour. A separate email will follow in a few weeks for details on registration for before and after school care.
Thank you for choosing St. Mary Catholic School. I am looking forward to having students back in the classrooms again soon. I will send one more mid-summer communication at the end of July and my weekly newsletters will resume on August 11. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me (asummers@stmarycatholicschool.org) or call the school (301)733-1184. Our summer hours are Monday through Thursday from 9-2.
In Christ,
Dr. Amy Summers