The Messenger

October 9, 2015
Vol. III, No.7

St. Michael's Academy

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St. Michael's Academy

Your children may have been dressed down today for their individual pictures, but they were still students! As I visited classrooms and walked the halls I saw students actively engaged in classroom lessons, sitting at their desks grappling over math problems, waving their hands in the air in the hopes of being called upon to answer the question.

Free dress days can be pretty distracting. But whether it was because the teacher was encouraging good focus or the student was already demonstrating it, our students practiced good character formation today working on their self-discipline. Not an easy skill, but a very important one for future success.

I was pretty proud of them. You should be too! Why don't you have some fun with them and go apple picking?

Enjoy your long Columbus Day weekend!

Peace,

Ms. Ann Dougal

Important Dates To Remember!
Please make note of these important upcoming dates: Monday, October 12th Columbus Day NO SCHOOL Tuesday, October 13th Violin Wednesday, October 14th Banking Friday, October 16th Kindergarten Field Trip McCray's Farm

News from the Admissions Department

Admissions

Invest in a child's education AND their FUTURE!

Communication between home and school is crucial in the education process. Are parents aware that each teacher has a page on the St. Michael's website (smaspringfield.org) and you are able to send them email? This is a convenient way to ask questions or keep up with the classroom happenings. If you haven't been to our website lately - check it out!

Speaking of communication, this newsletter is an excellent way to receive updates and find out what has happened at school during the week. The next time you are chatting with another SMA parent, ask them if they read The Messenger. They might be missing out!

And, as always, we invite all our families to "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. Keep in touch.

Spread the word...It Starts Here.

News from Miss Enderlin - Gr. PreK-4C

Something Went Clomp Clomp in PreK-4C!

Here in Pre-K 4C, the children love to listen to stories, especially interactive ones! So they were especially excited when we read The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams because they were all given the opportunity to actually play a role in the story as it was being read.

Students were able to make "Two shoes go CLOMP, CLOMP, One pair of pants go WIGGLE, WIGGLE, One shirt go SHAKE, SHAKE, Two gloves go CLAP, CLAP, One hat go NOD, NOD, And One scary pumpkin head go BOO, BOO!"

This really helped to make the story come to life for the children and they loved when the lights were turned down to help create a "scary" atmosphere!

Classroom Happenings

Firemen Visit PreK-4

The PreK-4 students had some special visitors this week! Springfield Firefighters Hudak and Cournoyer who are also parents of PreK-4 students, volunteered their time to educate the students about how to be safe in the case of a fire. They brought all their gear and showed the children what a firefighter would look like so they wouldn't be afraid if they ever had to come to their house. They stressed the importance of never going back into your house once you are out and having a "safe place" to meet other members of the family.

The Firefighters also brought coloring books and hats for everyone!

Grade 5 Students Create Arms

Did you ever wonder how the muscles in your arm work? How are we able to bend our arms and bring our hands up to our face? Well Mrs. McQuade's 5th grade students created arm models that mimicked how the arms muscles work. The models demonstrated the functioning of the biceps and tricep muscles. Neat!

Creativity in the Art Room

There are quite a few creative projects going on in the Art Room! The 7th grade students have been busy adding to their sketch portfolios by sketching a self portrait of themselves, as if they were a Simpson's character!

And the PreK-4 students have been learning about impressionism painting and creating their own Monets!

Perfect Attendance!
Congratulations to our perfect attendance dress-down winners! In order to qualify for the weekly drawing, a student must have no absences, tardiness or early dismissals the previous week of school. We will select one from PreK - 2nd grade, 3rd - 5th grade and 6th - 8th grade. Congrats to this week's winners! Jackson - 1B Vyan - 4A Bryce - 8A

Catholicity
The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary and students have been beginning each day with a decade of the rosary. To learn more about the history of the rosary, visit the Student Life section on the SMA website, "What a Great Way To Start The Day" or click here.

Drumming and Violin Update
This week our 2nd grade students began their violin lessons while our 3rd grade students continue their drumming. It is such an exciting time for both students and parents! This week we have drumming pictures. When the 2nd grade students are at the point where they receive their violins, we will showcase their talents as well!

Help SMA Every Time You Shop!

Stop and Shop will continue its A+ school rewards program. St. Michael's will earn A+ School Rewards points every time you shop.

Sign-up begins on September 14th - It's simple and easy - just click here and register your card. St. Michael's school ID is 06566. Previously registered cards will automatically be renewed. Now every time you shop, you will be earning reward dollars for our school!

Parish News

The Holy Cross Knights of Columbus invites you to its second annual Family Fun Night on Saturday, October 10 at 5 p.m. at Westview Farms Creamery located at 111 E Hill Road, Monson, MA 01057. Tickets are $10 per person and include a Hay Ride, Pumpkin Picking, and a Bonfire with S'mores. Join us for an Outdoor Mass celebrated by Father Darcy at approx. 6:15 PM. There is a limited amount of seating, so please bring your own lawn chairs and a picnic meal.

Tickets may be purchased after Masses, or using credit, debit, or paypal through the Holy Cross K of C website -

www.holycrosskofc15864.groupspaces.com

St Catherine of Siena Church

Radio City Bus Trip!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Bus departs at 7:30 a.m.

and arrives back by 8 p.m.

Tickets are $159 pp and includes motor coach, driver gratuity and Mezzanine ticket for 2 p.m Radio City show.

($75 deposit required ASAP)

Dinner at Blue Colony Diner on the way home-not included in ticket price

Please call Betty at 896-8801

Prayer Corner

St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us!

We pray for all St. Michael's Academy students, families, faculty, and staff, and their special intentions.

This week we pray in a special way for:

Peter Rakouskas

Alice Ford

James and Margaret Baldyga

Geraldine Schilling-Nordal

Anne Whalen

Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Garrity

Norman Harnois

Bill Collins

Arcadio Rodriguez

And we pray for all our recently departed.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Our prayers continue to be with Mr. Rancitelli, who is undergoing treatment for a cancer recurrence. Each week, a different homeroom sends him cards. If your family would like to send a card, please send it to school with your child, clearly marked for Mr. Rancitelli. His family has set up a blog to write about this experience.Click here to read the blog.


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