St. Mary’s Catholic School February & March 2020 Newsletter

St. Mary’s Catholic Independent School

stmary@shaw.ca / www.stmarysschool.ca

St. Mary’s needs your help increasing enrollment! If you refer a friend who enrols in our school, you will receive December’s tuition free! *If you refer two families, you will receive two months of tuition free! And on and on! If you do not have children currently enrolled at St. Mary’s and you refer a family who enrols, we will grant another family a month’s free tuition! All children welcome! (Catholic and Non-Catholic) *This is assuming the family stays enrolled.

St. Mary’s School

✓ Academic Excellence ✓ Extensive Student

Supports ✓ Athletic Programs ✓ Public Speaking ✓ Outdoor Education ✓ Charming, Connected

School Atmosphere ✓ Excellent Teachers ✓ Excellent Longstanding

Reputation ✓ On site After School &

Daycare Programs

2020 - 2021 School Year

If you or someone you know has a child who will be 5 years of age on or before December 31, 2020, he/she is eligible to begin kindergarten when school opens in the fall. We are now accepting the names of students who will be attending kindergarten in the fall of 2020. Please contact the school office (250) 426-5017 to ensure that your child is placed on the kindergarten list. St. Mary’s School will send you further information regarding Kindergarten Orientation date scheduled: Tuesday, April 28th. Time: TBA at a later date.

Please pass on this information to neighbours, friends or relatives who are new to Cranbrook or will be enrolling their first child in St. Mary’s School.

We are now accepting students in Grades 1 to 6 for 2020-2021!

Council Message:

Pancake Tuesday

(Family supper the day before

Lent begins)

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Christ the Servant Church Hall - 1100 14th Ave South

Time: 4:30 – 7:00 P.M. (Drop In)

Tickets: $7.00 - adult

Children under 6 - free

Pancakes with whipping cream, Hashbrowns & Sausages

Cake Walk at 5:30 P.M.

(St. Mary’s School Council Fundraiser)

** Tickets can be purchased at the school office or at the churches after mass.

to the Knights of Columbus for

their generous donation to St. Mary’s

School. This will help us purchase

school sports equipment, etc.

Learning about Lent

The word Lent comes from the Latin word Quadragesima which means fortieth. The celebration of Lent begins on February 26th which is known as Ash Wednesday

and ends 40 days later on Easter Sunday. During Lent, Catholics observe this

time as one of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus through prayer, fasting,

self-reflection, repentance, and almsgiving. Catholics purposefully ‘give something

up’ during this time in recognition of the sacrifice that our savior made on the cross for us.

St. Mary’s School will celebrate the start of Lent with our school Ash Wednesday mass on

Wednesday, February 26th at 9:00 AM. All present are blessed with ashes, derived from the palms

that are blessed on Palm Sunday. Each person receives a blessing in the form of a cross on their

forehead that serves as a reminder to turn away from sin. We encourage families to discuss Lent and

together decide what to ‘give up’ or sacrifice during this time. Also, some families decide to include

a good deed for another throughout this time. Either way, the value lies in thinking of others. Keep

in mind that the best lessons are taught through actions not words.

On Ash Wednesday at 11:35 AM, in symbolism of the commencement of Lent, we will serve

students a bread and water lunch in the gym. Each student will receive at least 2 pieces of bread. We

also initiate this activity with a prayer service lead by our students. It is quite a special time in the

gym and we are happy for anyone to join us to watch or sit with a class. Students will get their

regular snack at recess on this day. We ask all families to respectfully support this symbolic practice.

Please be reassured that no one will starve on this day!

Blessings,

Jerelynn MacNeil,

Principal

RE-REGISTRATION for

2020-2021:

Re-Registration forms will be sent home and are due back Tuesday, February 18th.

Please let the office know if you may not be attending our school next September 2020.

Thank you!

Link to: Novel Coronavirus Q&A from HealthLinkBC: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-feature/coronavirus

A hundred years from now,

it will not matter the

sort of house I lived in,

what my bank account was,

or the kind of car I drove . . .

but the world might be a better

place because I was important

to the life of a child.

Anonymous

Family pizza , & cake walk NIGHT Fundraiser

Thanks to everyone who attended

our Family Pizza, Bingo & Cake Walk

Night. It was a huge success!

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

February 9th - 14th

Monday:

10:00 AM - Opening Prayer Service hosted by Grade 2/3 class.

Wednesday: ‘A Night at the Museum’

• 6:00 – 7:15 PM. Student project displays local vendors,

and Sam Steele Sweethearts!

• ‘A celebration of student learning’

• PSG Meat Draw 7:00 PM

Thursday:

• Dress in pick or red like a Valentine!

• Fun Lunch: Subway/Domino’s Pizza

• Dance – buddy walk – 1:40 PM

Friday:

• NI DAY – NO SCHOOL

A Night at the Museum Projects Wednesday, February 12th

Kindergarten: - (Mrs. Quinn/Ms. Carmelo)

– Dragons theme.

Grade 1/2 – (Mrs. Barrie) –

Water conservation theme.

Grade 2/3 – (Mrs. Merz/Mrs. McIntosh) –

This class is doing a variety of individual

projects of student’s choice.

Grade 4 – (Mrs. Organ/Mrs. Veldman) –

This class is doing individual projects on

theme on change.

Grade 5/6 – (Mrs. Gallina) – Wax museum

bibliography on a famous person.

Perseverance theme.

to Parents:

NO SCHOOL:

Non-Instructional Day:

Friday, February 14th

Family Day:

Monday, February 17th

********************

Parent/Teacher interview

day in lieu no school

for students

Friday, March 13th

(The school office

will be closed.)

SPRING BREAK:

March 16 – 27th

SCHOOL RESUMES:

Monday, March 30th

Ash Wednesday, February 26th 9:00 AM at the school

Mass hosted by: Grade 5/6

Everyone is welcome to join Father Aaron de Dios

Students are being asked to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the

Cranbrook Food Bank and the Food Banks of Christ the Servant and

St. Mary’s Parishes.

THANK YOU!

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday,

February 26th

at 11:35 AM

Lent begins….

‘ASHES’ prayer service

and Bread & H2O Lunch

for all students!

Did you know you could call 8-1-1

or check on the web:

www.HealthLinkBC.ca to access

non-emergency health information?

Health advice you can trust 24/7!

\ PSG News:

Our meeting in January was great. Thank you everyone who was able to come out for your participation! Our next meeting will be after Fun Lunch again on February 13th. We are super excited about upcoming always super successful Meat Draw from Cutters Ranch. Thank you so much Jessica Niedermayer. All tickets (sold or not sold) must be returned to the school Friday, February 7th. Winners will be drawn at the Night of the Museum. We will also be selling Spring Flower Baskets in March for May delivery. Thank you everyone for helping make the fundraisers so successful.

Moneys raised pay for: ✓ Skating ✓ School Shirts ✓ New Computers ✓ Field Trips ✓ Playground equipment ✓ Extra curricular activities for our children’s enriched education ✓

Michelle Ewers, PSG Chair

Join us on our St. Mary’s School PSG Facebook page:

St Mary's PSG Info Board

Imminent school info and reminders are posted on this site first!

Canadian National

Mathematics League:

Grades 4 to 6 will be registering for

this contest.

Grade 6’s in February and Grades

4/5’s in April….

stay tuned for more info!

Term Two Parent/Teacher Interviews

NO SCHOOL: Friday, March 13th

Monday March 9th to Thursday, March 12th

Parent/Teacher interviews as requested.

Report Card distribution: Friday, March 6th

Term 3 Starts: Monday, March 9th

Save-On Foods

If you buy your groceries at Save-

On Foods please tell the cashier

that you are from St. Mary’s School

and they will record your total sales

in a binder. The school receives a

percentage of all sales quarterly!

Thanks for supporting our school!

St. Mary’s

Hours of service – 3:00 - 5:30 P.M.

NI / PRO-D Days - 8:30 A.M. – 5:30 P.M. (Drop-ins welcome – rate: $40.00 full day)

Full-time monthly rate: $300.00 Part-time monthly rate: $225.00 (any 3 days per week)

Please call the school office to register.

MARY KAY® DONNA HOGG

Independent Beauty Consultant

250-426-5944 dmghogg@gmail.com www.marykay.ca/dhogg order online

Cranbrook Bottle Depot

The only FULL REFUND bottle depot in the entire East Kootenay

Monday to Friday 9 am – 5 pm, Saturday 9 am – 4 pm Closed Sundays and Holidays

Ph: (250) 417-0306

1125 Industrial Road #3, Cranbrook BC www.return-it.ca

Traditional Irish

Blessing

May you have

…….leprechauns,

castles, good luck and

laughter; lullabies,

dreams and love ever

after. Poems and songs

with pipes and drums; a

thousand welcomes

when anyone comes.

Always pray to have eyes that see the best

in people. A heart that forgives the worst.

A mind that forgets the bad, and a soul that

never loses faith in God.