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St. Mary’s School is a Catholic community working together to provide a nurturing Christian education.  We will develop the potential of our students to be active witnesses of God’s love.

Monthly Newsletter

St. Mary’s School

May 1, 2008

From Linda Johnson, Principal

Calendar – Enclosed is this month’s calendar.  A short summary is listed below.

Graduation Wednesday, May 28

With the closing of another school year, we must say good-bye to our 8^th graders. This year 12

terrific young students will graduate and move on to High School.  All of us here at St. Mary’s School have been involved in their education both academically and spiritually and we are very proud of them.  We know that they will continue to be successful and that the Holy Spirit will guide them to remain steadfast in their faith.  With each graduation, it also means that for some families it is their last child to attend St. Mary’s School and so we wish to thank the following parents and let them know that we deeply appreciate all of the support they have given throughout the years:  Tim Mohs & Joni Biel, Doyle & Melissa Nordick and Brad & Sharon Vold.  We also wish to extend a fond farewell to the Geoffrey & Dorothy Lauinger family who will be moving at the end of the school year.  We wish Geoffrey, Dorothy and their children, Amanda, Jacob, Emily and Joseph all the best in this new chapter in their lives.

The Graduation Class of 2008 – St. Mary’s School

                                                Chloe Bergmann         Turner Blaufuss

                                                Brooke Friederichs      Jacob Lauinger

                                                Casey Materi               Hannah Mergens

                                                Sawyer Mohs               Jordan Nordick

                                    Hollie Rick                  Sierra Steckler

                                    Amber Vold                  Lauren Yaggie           

“Walk His Way”

 The “Walk His Way” 5K walk/run start time is between 5:00 - 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 8 at St. John’s School .  If you have not preregistered, you can still register on the day of the race, you just will not be guaranteed a t-shirt.  A light meal of BBQs will be served at the St. Mary’s School stop.  Come out and enjoy an evening of fitness, fun and fellowship!

Iowa Test of Basic Skills – Throughout the week of May 5 – 9, students in grades 2 – 8 will be tested on basic skills in Reading , Math, Social Studies and Science. The Iowa Basic Skills testing is comparable to the MCA- II testing done in the public school. Testing will be scheduled for short periods of time mostly in the mornings.  Please be sure your child is well rested and starts the day with a good breakfast which includes some protein. Please avoid scheduling any appointments during this week.  Likewise, check in the office about actual testing times before visiting any of the classrooms on these days.  The results of these tests will help us as educators to plan for curriculum and review instruction to better meet the needs of all of the students at St. Mary’s School. 

First Communion – The second graders will have their First Communion practice on Saturday, May 3 @ 1:00 at the church.  First Communion Mass will be on Sunday, May 4 @ 2:00pm .  Please keep them in your prayers.  Students making their First Holy Communion from St. Mary’s School are:  Brooke Busse, Claire Conzemius, Jared Conzemius, Alyssa Hasbargen, Madison King and Abby Steckler.

Math Masters

The Math Masters of Minnesota competition is designed to promote excellence in thinking skills pertaining to mathematics.  The purpose of the program is to challenge students and schools to use higher-order thinking skills and problem solving abilities and to give recognition for academic effort and achievement.  Over 4000 students will gather at up to 32 sites around Minnesota as teams and individuals, in a wide range of math areas to permit students with many interests and backgrounds to excel.  All students who participate in Math Masters are to be congratulated and all are winners.

Learning that math can be fun and receiving recognition and rewards for excellence in math is an exciting experience for students. Janet Yaggie will be taking our 5^th grade team to Moorhead on

Friday, May 2.  We are very proud of our team and we know that in doing their best they will always be successful!  Our congratulations go out to Chelsea Bergmann, Annie Dohman, Isabel Johnson, Nate Lorenz, and Adam Friederichs.

Enrollment for next year       

A Pre-registration form is included with this newsletter.  Please fill in the information and return to

the office by Friday, May 16^th.  This gives us an idea of the number of textbooks and supplies to order for next year based on the number of students enrolled.  We hope to see everyone back in the fall.  If you personally know of any one who is interested in coming to SMS for the first time please invite them to come and visit the school at any time.  Kindergarten open house is Wed. May 21.

Tuition/Volunteer Hours

Please be sure to submit your volunteer hours to the office.  A form has been included with this newsletter.  This is a good time to reflect upon your stewardship efforts to help offset the church subsidy for tuition.  We sincerely appreciate all of the volunteer work that goes on at the school. Together we make St. Mary’s strong and an excellent place to educate children!  Please remember to pay the balance of your tuition by the end of May.  If you have any questions regarding tuition or volunteer hours please feel free to contact the school office.  

Tuition pledges for the 2008 – 2009 school year

The Education Committee has finalized the budget for next year and not surprisingly, the actual cost to educate a child at St. Mary’s School has gone up. If tuition pledges do not increase from last year, we will be short $8,000.00. The committee is asking that all families consider a 10% increase in their pledges from last year to reach our tuition obligation for the operating budget for the upcoming school year.   This year instead of waiting until next August, a new pledge sheet will be sent out on May 15 with the last billing statement.  Please fill out your pledge agreement form for next year and if you are able to please include the 10% increase and return to the office by May 30.  Please remember to sign your pledge agreement.

Last Day of School.  Yippee!

A decision was made at the last Education Committee Meeting to have an early dismissal on the last day of school, Thursday May 29.  Therefore, students will be dismissed at 1:00 p.m.   Since the Public School will not be dismissing early, bus service will not be available except at the regular time.  We are asking that you make other arrangements to pick up your child/ren @ 1:00 p.m.   If this creates a hardship for anyone, please call the office to make arrangements.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Openings on the Education Committee

I want to take this time to thank Sharon Vold and Peggy Materi for their many years of service on the Education Committee .  Their terms are up after this school year.  Both of these women have served the needs of our school by faithfully attending meetings and participating in committee work outside of the regular meeting times.  They were always guided by the spirit and their decisions were based on what is best for the students. We will miss them on the committee.  We need people to step up and fill these vacancies.  Please consider serving our school in this way.  You will find that it is a rewarding experience. 

Enjoy your summer together as a family.  Pray often and stay close to Jesus.