St. Mary's School
Thursday, October 21, 2021
In This Issue
Important Upcoming Dates
Halloweek (presented by SMS Student Council)
MAAV Walk & Candlelight Vigil
SMS Trunk or Treat
November Lunch Orders
November Before School/After School Calendars
Warm Weather Uniform
COVID-19 Testing Program
Important Upcoming Dates
Sunday, October 24: MAAV Walk & Candlelight Vigil, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Wednesday, October 27: Wacky Wednesday (crazy socks, crazy hats, crazy protective masks)
Thursday, October 28: Before/After School Calendars due
Thursday, October 28: Lunch orders due by 11:59 pm
Thursday, October 28: Signed progress reports due
Friday, October 29: Out of Uniform Day
Friday, October 29: Last day of warm weather uniform
Saturday, October 30: SMS Trunk or Treat, 12:00 - 2:00 pm
Monday, November 1: All Saints Day
Friday, November 5: Early Dismissal Day
Thursday, November 11: NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day
In addition to a candy jar guessing game on Monday and Halloween-themed activities in individual classrooms, our Student Council is pleased to announce the following three events for Halloweek:
Wednesday, October 27 - Wacky Wednesday
Students may wear crazy socks, crazy hats, and/or crazy face masks (the protective type of mask, not the decorative type) to school.
Thursday, October 28 - Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Our classes have already been hard at work creating their class pumpkin (one big pumpkin per class) for our pumpkin decorating contest. On Thursday, October 28 a select group of judges will vote to determine the winner of the contest. The winning class will receive a special surprise on Friday, October 29.
Friday, October 29 - Out of Uniform Day
All students may come to school out of uniform next Friday. There is no cost for this out of uniform day. Students on the first floor (PreKA, PreKB, K, 1) may wear their Halloween costume to school if they choose. If your child is wearing a costume, please be sure your child will be able to take it off and put it on independently when using the bathroom. Students in grades 2-8 are not permitted to wear costumes.
MAAV Walk & Candlelight Vigil
St. Mary's School is proud to once again support the work of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence (MAAV) by participating in MAAV's 26th Annual Walk and Candlelight Vigil. This year's event will be held on Sunday, October 24 at 4:00 pm. Because of the pandemic, the event will be held entirely outside this year. The Candlelight Vigil will be held in the courtyard between Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School and Melrose High School. The walk (just under 2 miles round trip) begins and ends at MVMMS/MHS.
Please consider joining us on the walk or supporting the cause by making a donation. Click here to support the outstanding work of MAAV.
Please click here to let us know you'll be participating in support of this great cause.
SMS Trunk or Treat
Saturday, October 30 from 12:00 - 2:00 pm in Church parking lot
Join us for a safe and fun event for the whole family. Decorate your trunk, pass out treats, and enjoy some pizza. Prizes awarded for Best Dressed, Best Dressed Family and Best Decorated
Car (nothing too scary, please). Complete the registration form below and send it in with payment with your child by Wednesday, October 27. Parking is not assigned and spots are based upon arrival time. First come, first to park! Spaces are limited, so register now to secure your spot.
Cost
Adults: $10 Kids: $5 Max: $20 per family
What to Bring
Chairs and plenty of candy to hand out to all the Trunk or Treaters! Sorry, no pets allowed.
Schedule
11:00 am - 12:00 pm Arrivals and set-up
12:30 pm Pizza and Treat
1:00 pm Parade, Trunk or Treating
1:45 pm Costume Contest winners announced
2:00 pm Dismissal and clean up
November Lunch Orders
Lunch orders for the month of November can now be placed online at orsgonline.com. The deadline for submitting the November order is Thursday, October 28 at 11:59 pm.
If you already have an account with OrgsOnline, click here.
To create a new account, click here and use school code 442SMOTASMA when registering.
All students in PreK - grade 8 may place orders for lunch or milk.
November Before School/After School Calendars
Before School Program Prepay Calendar (due Thursday, October 28)
After School Program Prepay Calendar (due Thursday, October 28)
** Please remember to send an extra snack for your child on days he/she is attending the After School Program.
Warm Weather Uniform
We would like to remind everyone that per the Student/Parent Handbook the warm weather uniform may be worn in September and October in the fall, and after April vacation until the end of the school year in the spring. There are still a few warm days ahead of us, so students may feel free to continue to wear the warm weather uniform. The last day of the warm weather uniform this fall is Friday, October 29.
COVID-19 Testing Program
The program consists of three components including the following:
1. Weekly COVID-19 Safety checks (formerly referred to as pooled testing), which will help us to identify asymptomatic cases of COVID-19.
2. Point of Care Testing with Binax-NOW Rapid Antigen Tests - if a student or faculty member develops symptoms of COVID-19 at school, a rapid test is performed and resulted in 15 minutes. If negative the student may return to class if feeling well enough - a huge improvement over the required dismissal and testing protocol which usually involves a 1-2 day waiting period and associated remote learning while waiting for test results.
3. Test & Stay - Students who have been identified as close contacts of a positive case of COVID-19 as a result of an exposure at school, may attend school and school based extracurricular activities during their close contact quarantine, by having daily BinaxNOW rapid antigen testing performed at school for a period of 7 days after exposure. A daily negative result eliminates the need for the minimum 7-day at home quarantine, testing, and associated remote learning.
Contact Us
Email: mr.beza@stmaryschoolmelrose.org
Website: stmaryschoolmelrose.org
Location: 4 Myrtle Street, Melrose, MA, USA
Phone: (781)665-5037
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmaryschoolmelrose/