Principal’s Message for September 15, 2019

Dear Friends of Saint Mary School,

Where has the summer gone?  It seems that not too long ago, we were all enjoying ourselves at the St. Mary Great Fair!  And, although it’s not officially over until September 21^st, here we are already over a week into the 2019-2020 school year.  Time certainly has a way of passing quickly when you’re having fun!

The summer was one of abundant activity here at SMS.  We had the Vacation Bible School, Radiant Joy Summer CCD, Chess Camp, music lessons, middle school ILA/math prep courses, Pre-Algebra/Algebra I summer courses and hosted Camp Coconuts’ production of The Little Mermaid.  This is an awful lot of activity for a building that is “closed for the summer”!  The administrative and office staff spent the summer months preparing for the staff and students’ return by updating records, moving classrooms, putting together manuals, registering students, etc.  The maintenance crew did a splendid job of preparing the facility for opening day in spite of all the hustle and bustle in the building on a daily basis.  Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the summer was the amount of renovation that took place on the campus.  The “facelift” consisted of the following projects:

• The addition of three new classroom spaces in the preschool;
• Installation of a bottle-filling station in the Memorial Hall foyer;
• Replacement of glass hallway exit doors with solid security exit doors;
• The erecting of two new statues on school grounds-Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Family;
• Naming school wings as Holy Family Wing, Disciples’ Wing and Prophets’ Wing;
• Moving of trophy cases from front foyer to Memorial Hall foyer;
• Began renovation of Main Office; 
• Total renovation of the Faculty Lounge/Conference Room;
• Placement of two 55” Smart TVs in school foyer and Conference Room for communication with public;
• Replacement of all outside building lights with clean, white LEDs;
• Installation of 3M security film on all classroom emergency doors;
• Upgrading of technology capabilities by replacing outdated equipment, improving WiFi access, moving to eBooks in select disciplines, replacing all printers/copiers, and upgrading Smartboard technology; 
• Gutting, painting, installation of LED lighting, and continued prepping of two (2) classrooms to become the new Information Commons for research and presenting of material for grades Pre-K to 8; and,
• Building a Garden of Eatin’ where students, staff and parents will grow food to taste and donate to area soup kitchens.

Another exciting facet of the new school year is the number of new programs we now offer or will offer in the near future.  I am proud to announce that Saint Mary School will once again field a competitive Math Team, competing against other middle schools on a regular basis.  We have already begun to run our Chess Club, the SMS students in grades K-6 will again have the opportunity to participate in an afterschool science program known as Snapology where they will perform all sorts of STEM related activities geared to introduce them to the world of science, technology, engineering and math.  With the assistance of Mr. George Anthony, a teacher at Mater Dei Prep, we will introduce an Emerging Global Leadership Program for our 7^th and 8^th graders.  This program will introduce leadership skills and qualities to the participants who will then utilize them to identify global problems and work collaboratively to solve them.  This will entail communicating with students from around the globe and meeting them at the United Nations for conferences.

SMS staff members attended a week-long training session in the Orton-Gillingham literacy program and a new ILA series was purchased for the kindergarten teachers known as Superkids.  All kindergarten through grade 5 students will be using a new math program entitled Into Math with online resources available to both teachers and students.  Grades 4 through 8 now have the ability to practice math and ILA through the online IXL program that students can access anywhere they have internet access.

Finally, we have seen an uptick in our enrollment as we have 52 students in the preschool, 48 in the pre-k program and two classes in our kindergarten.  Combined with the 18 transfer students we received in grades 5 through 8, it seems as though people are recognizing what we’ve known for quite some time, that “Saint Mary School is a wonderful place to send your children for an education”!   

So, as we welcome our students back to school, I ask that you continue to pray for our school, its staff, students and families, and our clergy as we strive to provide an education that is unapologetically Catholic, family centered, caring to others and respectful to all. Please check our website, Facebook page and the Church bulletin for updates and upcoming events that you can enjoy with us.

God bless,

Craig Palmer
Principal