The Trojan Times
St. Maria Goretti Catholic School August 30, 2020
Mission Statement
St. Maria Goretti is a living testament to our Lord's work in His youngest disciples, exemplified by academic excellence, spiritual formation, and compassionate service to others.
St. Maria Goretti Catholic School aims to form what is True, Good, and Beautiful in the souls of our young disciples of Christ.
Principal's Message
Dear St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Families,
Happy Sunday! I hope you all are staying cool as we endure these days of extreme temperatures and heat advisories!
Rain is in the forecast for the week ahead. In an effort to limit the number of people in the school building, we can not follow our normal Rainy Day Dismissal procedure as outlined in the Family Handbook. Therefore, we will follow the same procedure we followed a couple weeks ago when we had a plumbing issue in the west parking lot -- we will move students into the gym and ask parents to please park in the back (west) lot and walk up to the breezeway area gate near the gym door. Please bring your carline card with your last name on it to show faculty and staff. That will make the process much easier as we do not always recognize every parent, especially as we're all wearing masks. Text alerts will be sent if this alternate Rainy Day dismissal procedure will take place.
Last week our annual Back to School Night would have taken place, a night when we invite parents to the school to welcome you back and articulate our plans and expectations for the new school year. Though we were unable to host the event live on campus, administration and faculty have put together a YouTube video presentation that includes links with information from all teachers regarding classroom expectations, routines, contact information, and happenings. Please find the video link below under Back to School Night Video. Please be sure to "Like" and comment on the video if you enjoy it, as well as subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications to see future videos.
Our lunch service, Food for Life, has changed the procedure for placing lunch orders and is now requiring that all lunch orders be placed at least the day before. Therefore, we are no longer able to accept lunch orders for the day each morning. Please be sure to check out the link listed below (see New Lunch Order Procedure) to place your lunch orders. The link is also on the school website at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfR9IEn2hFKzTGM1ATmQsrtzsL6V-F7_fwop8Zb8rwtGO2HPw/viewform
The Catholic schools in the Diocese of Fort Worth will no longer be using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) or the Cognitive Abilities (CogAt)Assessment. Instead, we are transitioning to the ACT Aspire Assessment for 3rd - 8th Grade students. This year, SMG 3rd - 8th Grade teachers will administer the ACT Aspire Periodic (Benchmark) assessment in September and again in January, and will administer the ACT Aspire Summative assessment in the spring. Both the periodic and summative assessments will give us data that will help teachers monitor progress and identify areas where students may need extra support. The summative assessment in the spring will also serve as a baseline when we reassess in the fall, 2021. Students will complete the assessments online - not on paper - and because the subtests are only about 45 minutes each, they will be completed in much less time than the ITBS and CogAt assessment- over the course of about 3 days. More information on testing dates for the periodic assessments will be coming soon.
We are hoping to start the many clubs and activities we offer students each year very soon. Information about participation in the Private School Interscholastic Association (PSIA) academic competiton group will be sent to parents of all 2nd - 8th Grade students in the next couple weeks. The Rubik's Cube club (see details below) will begin on Tuesday, September 8th, and information on the start of many other clubs and actvities will be available soon. As well, please see the information (below) on the start of Athletics in the Diocese of Fort Worth.
Reminder: No School next Monday, 9/7 Labor Day. No Trojan Times next week.
St. Maria Goretti, Pray for Us!
Blessings,
Laura Behee, M.Ed.
Principal
SEPTEMBER VIRTUE: Charity
Charity: Loving God with all Your Heart, Mind, Strength and Your Neighbor as Yourself
Charity is one of the theological virtues that God gives us in baptism. It comes from Him, allows Him to dwell within us, and leads us to Him in Heaven. Charity is another word for love. Saint John tells us that God IS love. The best way to know how much we love God is to look at how we treat our neighbor. If our hearts are truly open to God, they will be open to everyone.
Saint Gertrude: Feast Day - November 16 - Saint Gertrude was a very talented student. She gave her life to God as a nun, and wore the black habit of Saint Benedict. When she was 25 years old, Jesus appeared to her and taught her about His Sacred heart. She had many talks with Jesus about how to love Him and her neighbor.
Saint Vincent de Paul: Feast Day - September 27 - As a boy, Saint Vincent was a simple shepherd in a poor family. His father sent him to school to study for the priesthood, and about five years after he became a priest, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in North Africa!
Years later he escaped to Rome, where he became a tutor to rich noble families. After some time, he realized that he had become proud and superficial. He gave up his position, and began to serve the poor, giving special attention to the poor rowers in the galleys of wealthy ships. With the help of Saint Louise de Marillac, he founded the Ladies of Charity, groups of women who took care of the sick and poor in parishes. Later the Ladies of Charity developed into a religious order named the Daughters of Charity.
Venerable Laura Vicuna: Feast Day - January 22 - When Blessed Laura Vicuna was only three years old, her father died. His parents were nobility, but had rejected him when he married a peasant. After that, he had worked as a soldier, so his death left his wife and two daughters terribly poor. A wealthy ranch owner, Manuel, offered to support Laura’s mother and to pay for her two daughters to attend a boarding school is she would agree to live with him. He did not ask her to marry him, but expected her to act like his wife. Desperate for money to support the girls, she agreed.
Laura loved the Salesian Sisters who ran her school and took to heart all that she learned. On the day of her First Communion, she noticed that her mother did not receive Communion, and did not seem truly happy. She began to pray often to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, asking for her mother to grow closer to God and to be happy. That year, she enrolled in the Solality of the Children of Mary, and always wore a medal of Our Lady on a wide ribbon, thinking of it as a sort of protective shield.
Back To School Night Video!
In an effort to keep everyone safe and to adhere to the protocols we have put in place related to COVID-19, we were unable to welcome parents to campus this year for the annual Back to School Night. Instead, we have put together a Back to School Night video on YouTube, which includes links from each teacher with information about their classes. Please follow the link below to view the video. Be sure to "Like" and comment on the video if you enjoy it, as well as subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications to see upcoming videos. Welcome Back!
Athletics Update!
Thank you for your patience as we navigate what Athletics will look like this semester. We now have more information about starting dates for sports and wanted to pass that along to you.
Practices for all Diocesan athletics have been delayed until September 21. On this date Football, Cheerleading and Soccer will be allowed to begin practices. Please read about each specific sport below if your child is interested in participating.
Football:
- We offer 2 levels of Football. In 5thand 6thgrade, students may play Flag Football and in 7thand 8thgrade they can play Tackle Football.
- The flag football team plays at Nolan Catholic High School on Saturdays Oct 3 – Oct 31, also at Nolan Catholic High School.
- The tackle football team is made up of students throughout the diocese. Practices take place at Nolan Catholic High School. Games potentially begin Oct 1 (subject to change) through Oct 29.
- If your student is interested in playing please sign them up at: https://teamsideline.com/sites/fwdioc/home
- Equipment will be handed out at Nolan Catholic on Sept 26.
- If you have more questions, please let me know!
Soccer
- Soccer will be the first diocesan sport this year, which is a change. But this should hopefully allow us to play a full season before the weather becomes an issue.
- Practices can begin Sept 21 with games starting Sept 28 through Oct 24.
- IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COACHING PLEASE LET MS. SEYER KNOW ASAP!
Volleyball
- Volleyball will be played after soccer, because we can play inside!
- Practices can begin Oct 12 with games starting Oct 26 through Dec 5 on Thursdays and Saturdays.
- IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COACHING PLEASE LET MS. SEYER KNOW ASAP!
Sign-ups for sports will take place in the coming weeks, as soon as we receive the paperwork from the Diocese. Please let Ms. Seyer know if you would like to get involved with Coaching any of our athletes this year, we are always in need. Ms. Seyer can be contacted at eseyer@smgschool.org.
Thank you so much!
Rubik's Cube Club Begins September 8th!
The 2019-2020 Yearbooks have Arrived!
Arrival & Dismissal Procedures
School Day Schedule and Arrival/Dismissal Procedures
Morning Arrival and Afternoon Dismissal moved along fairly well last week, considering all of the protocols and procedures we have put in place related to COVID-19. Please remember: 1.) ALL students (PK - 8th) must be dropped off in the morning using the morning carline in the back (west) parking lot; 2.) Parents/guardians may not enter the building to walk their students to the classroom. We will again have our Junior High Safety Patrol students and plenty of faculty/staff in the back lot during carline to walk little ones to their classrooms. Please understand, this is in an effort to limit the number of people entering and moving through the building for the safety of all our students, faculty, and staff; and 3.) Parents/guardians must download the Healthy Together app on their cell phone. Parents/guardians must show the completed screening to car line personnel each morning before their children will be allowed out of the car to enter the school.
The entire arrival and dismissal procedures can be found on the link below and is also outlined in the SMG Family Handbook, which is now available on the school website. Please Note: There may be changes to the Arrival/Dismissal procedures as we begin the school year and adjust to the safety protocols we must adhere to due to COVID-19. Any necessary changes to the Arrival/Dismissal procedures will of course be communicated to parents.
Arrival/Dismissal Procedures: https://smgschool.org/documents/2020/8/Arrival%20%20Dismissal%20During%20COVID%20%20Addendum.pdf
Healthy Together App
By now, most have downloaded the free Healthy Together app (found in the App Store). Please continue to complete the app before arriving in carline and be ready to show the completed screening to a faculty/staff member on duty in carline each morning. Multiple students can conveniently be added to one app. Please call the front office if you have any questions about how to install the app.
New Lunch Order Procedure
Our lunch service, Food for Life, has changed the procedure for placing lunch orders and is now requiring that all lunch orders be placed at least the day before. Therefore, we are no longer able to accept lunch orders for the day each morning. For example, lunch orders for Mondays need to be placed by Friday, etc. As a result, we have created a lunch order form that will be texted on Thursday afternoon/evening each week, which will allow parents/students to place lunch orders for the upcoming week. It is also be on the school website and will continue in the weekly Trojan Times. The form has a link with the menu attached as well.
Click below for the order form:
New School Mass Time on Wednesdays: 9:30AM
Until further notice, students will be attending Mass on Wednesday mornings at 9:30AM, instead of 8:00AM. The mandated social distancing requires more pews than are available at the 8:00AM Mass. The Mass will continued to be live-streamed on the school Facebook page (facebook@StMariaGorettiArlington), or can be accessed on the the church website (smgparish.org).
Student Email Accounts and Google Classroom
All students, whether learning On-Campus or via Distance Learning, have school email accounts that they generally access during computer class, and will also need to access Google Classroom. Parents of students in Grades 4th - 8th who are attending classes On-Campus were sent information and instructions for their student(s) to access their email accounts, log-in to Google Classroom, and create a bookmark on their home devices. Students have also be given this information during computer class, as many 4th-8th Grade teachers provide feedback on assignments, etc. to students via Google Classroom. As well, being familiar with logging in to Google Classroom will be helpful should we ever need to move to distance learning during the school year. If you did not receive your student's log-in information or have questions, please contact Mrs. Daly (jdaly@smgschool.org).
As well, please check out the following tutorial for detailed instructions on signing into Google Classroom.
SMG 2020-2021Family Handbook
The 2020-2021 Family Handbook has been updated and has been posted on the school website (http://smgschool.org). Please note, there was an addendum related to COVID-19 placed at the end of the handbook, before the acknowledgement page. Please be sure to read the handbook then print, sign, and return the acknowledgement form at the back of the handbook indicating that you have read and understand the handbook. A signed acknowledgement form from each family was due back to the school last Friday, August 28th. If you have not yet returned your signed acknowledgement form, please do so as soon as possible.
2020-2021 Academic Calendar
Please click on the following link to view the 2020-2021 Academic Calendar. It can also be found on the school website at smgschool.org.
https://smgschool.org/documents/2020/5/SMG%202020-2021%20Academic%20Calendar%202.pdf
Kountry Karnival 2020 Raffle Tickets on Sale
COVID-19: Safety Procedures and Protocols
Please see the SMG Safe Return to School plan that was sent to all school families last week, by clicking the following link.
Virtus Training
VIRTUS Safe Environment training for volunteers will begin to expire in September 2020. Parent volunteers will need to renew their VIRTUS training in order to continue volunteering. The VIRTUS renewal program is called "Keeping the Promise Alive" and must be attended in order to keep Safe Environment status current. Our school Safe Environment coordinator will email parents with information for how to register for a renewal session. Please email smalloy@smgschool.org with any questions.
Mark Your Calendar-Spirit (Dine Out) Night at Danielita's!
Please mark your calendar to join us at Danielita's for our first Spirit (Dine-Out) Night of the school year, Wednesday, September 16th!
Box Tops - Earn Money for SMG!
Box Tops makes it easy for families to earn cash for schools and help teachers get the supplies they need. Traditional Box Tops clips are being phased out of production, but may continue to be found on many products throughout the store. Although you may still clip coupons, there is a NEW and EASY method:
- Create a Box Tops for Education account via the Box Tops app or website - View the video: How it Works, Join For Free
- Buy Box Top Products
- Use your app to scan the store receipt within 14 days of purchase -View the video: How to Scan
2020-2021 Enrollment & Registration
Registration & Enrollment for the 2020-2021 school year can be found on our school website. There are still spots available at most grade-levels. As a reminder, tuition assistance is available and we are committed to making a Catholic education a reality for any family who wishes one for their child(ren). Please contact Mrs. Behee (lbehee@smgschool) or our Registrar, Mrs. de la Pena (jdelapena@smgschool.org) with any questions or concerns.
Last Week at SMG.....
Art Class
Spanish Class
Sixth through eighth grade discussed the Duck and Duckling painting by John Frederick Herring, then wrote a description. Learn more about JF Herring at this web site: https://www.john-frederick-herring.org/
Fifth through eighth grade students wrote and illustrated useful phrases in Spanish.
PreK 3/4
Mrs. Hill read the book Too Much Glue. Although Matty's art teacher has warned him that too much glue never dries, Matty loves glue. After all, he and his dad make oodles of glue projects at home. One day during art class, Matty finds the fullest bottles of glue, and the fun begins. With a squeeze and a plop, Matty pours a lake of glue before belly-flopping right in the middle and finds himself stuck to the desk. When Matty's dad arrives at the school, instead of being mad, he celebrates his son's creativity and calls him a work of art.
http://readingtokids.org/Books/BookView.php?pag=4&bookID=00001213
SMG PK students retold the main idea of the story after which they used glue to create their own works of art, just like Matty!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten partitions have arrived! They are in place and personalized for each student. We continue to take precautions to protect SMG students from the Covid Virus.
First Grade
Looking for ways to make your math learning a little more interesting? First grade used a card game to practice their math lesson. Visit this web site for some math card games you can play at home. https://www.weareteachers.com/math-card-games/
Mrs. Watson introduced balances to her math class to help students with math equations.
Second Grade
Third Grade
Third grade students looked at the works of Classical artist Mary Cassat, which goes along with their novel Little House on the Prairie. Distance Learners and in class students all participated in the interactive activity related to the novel. Visit this web site for information on Mary Cassat: https://www.marycassatt.org/
SMG Hallway Happenings
4th Grade - Reviewing Parts of Speech
Religion Class
Fourth, fifth and sixth grade students shared words of encouragement and hope with their posters.
Music Class
Calendar Notes
- Tuesday, 9/1: Early Giving for North Texas Giving Day begins!
- Friday, 9/4: 2019-2020 Yearbooks Distributed in Households
- Monday, 9/7: Labor Day - No School
- Wednesday, 9/16: SMG Spirit (Dine-Out) Night at Danielita's
- Thursday, 9/17: North Texas Giving Day!
- Friday, 9/18: Early Dismissal at 12:10PM - No Lunch Service - Progress Reports Emailed
- Sunday, 10/4: Kountry Karnival 2020 Raffle Drawing
- Friday, 10/9: 1st Quarter Ends
- Wednesday, 10/14: Picture Make-Up Day (individual yearbook pictures)
- Thursday, 10/15: Early Dismissal at 12:10PM - No Lunch Service - Parent Teacher Conferences 1:30-7:00PM (1st Qtr. report cards distributed at conference)
- Friday, 10/16: No School, Diocesan In-Service
Need Prayers?
We all do!! The St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Community would love to pray for you and your intentions. Please send all prayer requests to: smgprays4u@smgschool.org.
Meet Our Priests!
St. Maria Goretti Parish Website: https://www.smgparish.org/
Fr. Jim Angert, T.O.R.
Fr. Mike Ciski, T.O.R.
Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth
Serving the North Texas Catholic community by providing the faithful opportunities to grow in Christian discipleship and strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Like Us on Face Book!
We are hoping to update our official Facebook page with some more recent, positive reviews, likes, and shares. Please visit our official Facebook page (Facebook@StMariaGorettiArlington) and help us spread the word about our great Catholic school!
St. Maria Goretti Catholic School
Email: development@smgschool.org
Website: https://smgschool.org
Location: 1200 South Davis Drive, Arlington, TX, USA
Phone: (817)275-5081
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StMariaGorettiArlington/