St. Margaret Mary Newsletter
11.1.2023
St. Margaret Mary Newsletter
November 1, 2023
SMCS Mission
Preparing and inspiring students to lead meaningful lives, rooted in the teachings of Christ and our Catholic tradition.
Greetings from the Principal
Dear St. Margaret Mary families,
Our 5th grade students did a beautiful job leading our All Saints' Day Mass. This special day commemorates those who have died and now are in Heaven. November is an excellent time for us all to remember the call to holiness. We were all made to become saints!
A big thank you to Meghan Teeling and Kathleen Osland for all their hard work and efforts in making our Halloween Carnival a great success! Also, thank you to all our volunteers who helped make this event a fun day for all! The proceeds of $2,000.48 will go to the parish for the Living our Family in Haiti. We appreciate your support!
Picture retakes will be Wednesday, November 15. If your child is getting retakes, he/she may be out of uniform on this day.
I am happy to welcome James Wille to St. Margaret Mary School! He will be joining Ms. Rivas' 4K classroom. We are happy to have him join our SMM family!
We do not have school on Friday, November 3. Our teachers will be participating in professional development and preparing for the end of the quarter.
Please save the date, Tuesday, December 5, for our Christmas Concert. The concert will be at 6:30 p.m. in the church for our 4K - 5th grade students. More information will be coming!
Blessings,
Mrs. Jackie Lutz
Associate Principal ~ St. Margaret Mary Elementary
Spotlight Classroom - Mrs. Zelinski, 2nd grade Classroom
On Halloween, Mrs. Zelinski's second grade class participated in the reading of The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd. This is a thrilling Halloween story where the students participated in the choral reading parts and acted out the parts. After reading and discussing the story, they wrote about what they are and are not afraid of!
5th grade Retreat to Camp Tekakwitha
Our 5th grade students enjoyed a wonderful day at Camp Tekakwitha with the other 5th grade students from St. Mary's and St. Gabriel's! They participated in faith-based team building activities and enjoyed many outdoor activities.
Halloween Parade
Our preschool and 4K students parading around the school in their costumes on Monday. Please click Here if you would like to watch a short clip of our parade.
Meet Ashley Ortscheid, 3rd grade Student Teacher
Welcome Miss Ortscheid! We are happy to have you working in Mrs. Oneacre's classroom starting November 13.
Celebrate Fr. Nonito
Help celebrate Fr. Nonito's 30th ordination anniversary! Sign up here.
Wall of Glory
During the month of November, we would like to honor our Veterans. If you would like to send a picture for our wall, please send your photo (4x6) including the name on your photo.
Thank you, Veterans, for your service and all that you do for our country! You are very much honored and very much appreciated for all that you have done. Thank you for your courage and for putting your country first.
Thank You Shout Out!
Thank you to FACES for providing dinner and lunch for our teachers during parent-teacher conferences. It was much appreciated and was very delicious! Thank you for taking care of our wonderful teachers!
October H.A.L.O. Wall
Harvest of Plenty
Once again, the students of SMM will be partnering with the parish for the annual Food drive for St. Joseph's food pantry. Each student will be sent home with a paper bag to fill with items for the hungry. The bags will be sent home the first week in November and we ask that the students return them by Thursday, Nov. 9th as they will bring them to the gathering space before Mass. Thank you for being the heart and hands of Jesus!
Winter Weather
Winter weather has once again arrived! Please remember to send coats, hats, waterproof gloves/mittens, snowpants and boots to school.
Speech Services Update
I am happy to introduce Jane Hart Stingle to St. Margaret Mary School! Ms. Stingle recently retired from the district as a speech therapist and has graciously offered to come back to help with speech services until NJSD is able to hire someone. She will be working with the 4K-1 grade students
Upcoming Field Trips
3rd grade - Monday, November 13 going to Neenah City Hall
4K - Thursday, November 16 going to P.A.C.
Teacher Wish List
If you would like to support your child's classroom and teacher, please check out how you can donate to our teacher wish lists here.
Upcoming Masses
November 9 - Mrs. Backman's 1st grade class
November 16 - Miss Ebert's 1st grade class
November 30 - Mrs. Oneacre's 3rd grade class
Staff Birthdays
11/01 - Mrs. Simon
11/29 - Ms. Stuber
FACES Update
FACES (Faith and Community Enriching St. Margaret Mary Elementary) is our school’s official PTO group. We meet monthly and host many events throughout the school year. This year our officers are: President Gretchen Cogswell, VP Kiki McMillan, Treasurer Jen Hildahl, Secretary Kali Sawyer and Parish Liaison Deborah Scott. Please feel free to contact us at our email address: faces@smcatholicschools.org with any questions you may have.
- FACES Meeting - Thursday, November 2nd at 8am (please note the time change as there is no Mass this Thursday) - All parents are invited, as well as little siblings. Please sign in at the office and then head downstairs to the cafeteria. Our meeting will start at after Mass, and meetings usually last about one hour. We hope to see you there!
- FACES volunteering - We are always looking for parent volunteers! If you would like to help FACES with any of the fabulous events FACES sponsors, please sign up using the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C44AAAE22A0FF2-202324
- Lunchroom volunteers - Our school lunch program cannot run without the help of parent volunteers! Remember, you must be current with your VIRTUS documents to volunteer, and every three times you volunteer in a month you’ll get an out of dress code pass for one of your students! Please contact Justine Semrow at 920-209-5209 with questions about helping in the lunchroom, or sign up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C44AAAE22A0FF2-20232024
To stay up to date on all FACES events, and other important school updates, please follow and like the SMM FB group named “St. Margaret Mary Elementary”.
St. Margaret Mary Parish News
Christmas Giving: As we begin planning for Christmas Giving, we are wondering if there are any persons or families in our parish who feel they could use a little help during this time of year. If you have previously had a meeting with someone from the Human Concerns committee, then you are already included. All information is confidential. Please call Debra Scott at the Parish Center (920-729-4560, x4113) by November 6 if we can help in any way. From, The Human Concerns Committee
Click here to see upcoming parish events and to share the word with others.
Elementary Breakfast & Lunch Menu for November
Upcoming Events
- Friday, November 3 - No school (end of quarter 1)
- Saturday, November 11 - All Aboard for Christmas
- Thursday, November 16 - FACES coffee social
- Monday, November 20 - Friday, November 24: Thanksgiving Break
Helpful Links
Contact Information
Phone: 920-729-4565
Associate Principal: Mrs. Lutz, jlutz@smcatholicschools.org
Elementary Principal: Mrs. Cihlar, acihlar@smcatholicschools.org