Mother of Sorrows School: 3264 Evergreen Drive, Murrysville, PA 15668

Phone: 724-733-8840 Website: www.mosschool.org

A Message from Mrs. Szmed Dear MOSS Families,

It is so hard to believe it is November already! We

have already begun receiving phone and online

inquiries about the 2020-2021 school year. I am so

excited that I have started conducting tours for many

new families ready to register now.

Early re-registration has begun for Preschool. All

preschool families are encouraged to return their re-

registration forms as soon as possible. New Preschool and Kindergarten

registrations will be accepted as of January 2020.

Re-registrations for all other grades will begin after the Thanksgiving holiday. I

am hopeful that all our families will be returning. This early re-registration is

necessary because I must begin working on the 2020-2021 school year budget

in January and knowing the numbers assists me in developing a balanced

budget. New family registrations will be accepted in January, 2020.

Congratulation to our MOSS Girls Varsity Basketball Team for taking First

Place in the Diocese of Greensburg CYO Basketball Tournament. Thank you

for all of your hard work and we are looking forward to seeing our team in the

State Diocesan Championship in 2020.

In preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday and the beginning of the Advent

Season, I would like to share the prayer for families from Pope Francis:

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love, to

you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth, grant our families too, may be

places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of Gospel and small

domestic Churches. Holy Family of Nazareth may families never again

experience violence, rejection, and division: may all who have been hurt or

scandalized find ready comfort and healing. Holy Family of Nazareth make us

once more mindful of the sacredness of the family and it’s beauty in God’s plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer.

Our school has an excellent future, thank you for your commitment to Catholic

education. Please be a positive Mother of Sorrows School supporter so we can

educate many children for years to come.

Faithfully yours, Theresa A. Szmed

Theresa A. Szmed

Principal

Important Dates:

Nov. 27th: Early Dismissal (11:30 am)

Free Dress Down Day

Nov. 28th to Dec. 2nd: Thanksgiving Break

No School

Dec. 4th: Save Day Deposit Day

Dec. 5th and Dec 6th: Santa Shoppe

Dec. 10th: Elves R Us (K to 5th)

All School Red/Green Dress Down Day

Dec. 12th: Junior High Dance

Dec. 14th: Light Up Night

Dec. 20th: Christmas Concert

9:00 am Prayer Service

Half Day

Dec. 23rd to Jan. 3rd: Christmas Break

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Makerspace Grant

Technology Upgrades

Great News! Over the summer, MOSS purchased 60 new DELL Latitude 3190 Education Laptops for students (in grades Kindergarten through 7th grade) to use in the classroom. The 8th grade students are already one-to-one with their own DELL Latitude 3190’s that were purchased, last year. Additionally, 10 teachers received

new DELL Latitude 5590 Laptops to use for instruction and administrative purposes.

The $60,000.00 purchase of this state-of-the-art technology was crucial because all existing student laptops and many teachers’ computers could not be upgraded to

Windows 10. Now, all computers in the building are running Windows 10.

The 4 iBoards purchased through the Day of Giving, that took place during Catholic Schools Week last year, are being utilized in many of our classrooms. Also, this summer, 9 Smartboards were purchased and installed in classrooms that did not

have any technology yet. Many teachers attended Smartboard professional development training to assist them in using the Smartboards for lesson planning.

These upgrades will create an environment that keeps our students not only engaged but, more importantly, enhances their overall learning experience.

We are thrilled to announce that Mother of Sorrows school recently received a $10,000 grant, from the Diocese of Greensburg, for their innovative idea of the “Makerspace”. Mrs. Smart, who wrote the application for the grant, has been working hard getting the classroom ready for our

young learners. The “Makerspace” will help instill a maker mindset while allowing our students to find ways to creatively work together to solve problems using STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Math). The overall goal of the “Makerspace” is for students to

become innovators and leaders who will be ready to tackle the challenges of the future as they work together to solve real-life problems as a team. Congratulations to Mother of Sorrows School

for receiving this wonderful grant and bringing the “Makerspace” to MOSS!

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

SAVE THE DATE

#IGIVE O MOSS

Help us reach this year’s goal of $18,000!

MOSS WANTS ALL STUDENTS TO HAVE ONE-TO-ONE

TECHNOLOGY! I HOPE WE CAN COUNT ON YOUR SUPPORT!

Donate online at www.mosschool.giving.factsmgt.com

Please help us

reach our goal:

$18,000

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Olweus Bullying Program Kick-Off

The MOSS Olweus Anti-Bullying Kick-Off Day was a huge success! Students enjoyed fun activities after signing paper pledges promising to create a Bully-Free environment here at

MOSS. The pledges are on display in each classroom. Students painted their hands on the Café walls to represent their pledge. They also created an “8 Bead Friendship Bracelet” for a buddy. The 8 beads represent the student following the 4 Olweus rules and their buddy following the 4 Olweus rules as well. In the gym, students were entertained by the “I’ve Got Your Back” scooter

game in which the little kids had the “big kids’ backs”. Thank you to the 6th grade class for creating colorful posters throughout the school. The MOSS school community will now work

together to be kind and “have each other’s backs” through the guidance of the Olweus program!

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Christian Art Show

MOSS students were invited to participate in the 44th Annual Christian Art Show at Calvary Lutheran Church, in Murrysville. We are thrilled to announce that many of our students won the “Honorable Mention Award” and the “Judge’s Award”. We would like to congratulate 8th grader,

Alonie Ashley, for winning the “Best of the Show Award”. We’d also like to congratulate the following MOSS students who had their beautiful artwork on display at this year’s Art Show!

PreK-3: Adriana Yezovich PreK-4: Talei Sparrow PreK-5: Madelyn Miller Kindergarten: Charlie Smart, Archie Donald and Luca Mateya 1st Grade: Simon Elomba, Scarlett Zemba and Jonathan Penrod 2nd Grade: Elle Favela, and Jeremy Harmon 3rd Grade: Zoe Funari and Maggie Thompson 4th Grade: Skylar Davis and K.C. Yaniga 5th Grade: Samantha Schork and Xavier Miller 6th Grade: Elijah Pecorari and Rylie Loughran 7th Grade: Benny Hails 8th Grade: Alonie Ashley

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Spotlight on Sports

Cross Country The Mother of Sorrows Cross Country team had a lot to celebrate, this season! This year’s team included 19 runners, in grades 1st through 8th grade, who trained and competed together since August. Both new and returning members demonstrated dramatic improvements in speed and

stamina after logging many miles running the trails and fields at local parks. The team competed in four regular season meets through the Diocese of Greensburg CYO program, winning 36 individual awards and 7 team awards, including one 1st place and two 3rd place team awards for the Junior Varsity team and two 1st place and two 2nd place awards for the Varsity team.

On October 6th, the team competed in the Diocese of Greensburg Championship Meet at

Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School in Connellsville. During this time, the team won 8 individual medals and a Varsity 3rd place team award. In the Novice division (kindergarten

through 2nd grade), Sophia Dos Santos won 1st place for the girls and Simon Elomba earned 6th place for the boys. In the Junior Varsity division (grades 3rd though 6th), Landon Morley

earned 2nd place for the boys and Hannah George finished 3rd place for the girls. In the Varsity division (grades 7th and 8th), Benny Hails earned 3rd place and Gabe Tomko earned 5th place

for the boys; Cate Clarke earned 5th place and Adelaide Kreutel won 6th place for the girls.

We would like to congratulate the entire Cross Country team for a wonderful season and thank the following coaches for taking time out of their busy schedules to train our young

runners, this year: Lucas Dos Santos, Laurel Lopez and Kristen Thompson.

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Girls Basketball The MOS Girls JV and Varsity Basketball teams participated in the Diocesan

Championship Tournament at Greensburg Central Catholic High School on November 16th. The MOS JV teams advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals. The MOS Varsity team won the championship with a thrilling last second victory. The Girls Varsity team will now move on to represent the Diocese of Greensburg in the CYO State Girls Basketball

Tournament March 6th through the 8th at Greensburg Central Catholic High School. Congratulations to both teams for a job well done. We’d also like to congratulate the

following coaches: Korie Morton Rozier, Kristen Thompson, Erin Salas, Steve Yaniga, Wendy Koval, Quinn Matz, Frank Zoracki, Paul Beadle, Brent Wilson and Mike Clarke.

Boys Basketball The Boys Basketball season is underway. Boys in grades 3rd through 8th grade are still eligible to participate. Team practices began in November, the CYO league season will begin on December

7th, and the season ends with a tournament at GCC on February 22nd and 23rd. MOS will have teams at three levels: Junior JV (3rd and 4th Grade), JV (5th and 6th Grade), Varsity (7th and 8th

Grade). Anyone interested, in participating in MOS Boys Basketball or would like more information on the upcoming Basketball season, should contact the MOS Athletic Director (John Koury) at jfk001@comcast.net for information on how to register. Parents interested in coaching the Boys Basketball teams should also contact the MOS Athletic Director for more information.

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

.

Boys Basketball and Cheerleading Schedule The Mother of Sorrows Boys Basketball and Girls Cheerleading teams have been practicing for the Diocese of Greensburg CYO season which begins on December

7th. MOS has two JJV Boys Basketball teams, 3 JV Basketball teams and one Varsity Basketball team. In addition, the Cheerleaders have 33 girls participating, this year!

The MOS December Basketball schedule is listed below. Please feel free to stop by

one of the games and watch our young athletes have fun playing basketball. You can also expect to see our favorite cheerleaders at many of the games as well.

December 7th:

• MOS JV Blue (10:00 am)

• MOS Varsity (11:00 am)

• MOS JJV White (12:00 pm) December 10th:

• MOS JV Blue (6:00 pm)

• MOS JV Gold (7:00 pm) December 11th:

• MOS JV Blue (6:00 pm) December 16th:

• MOS JV White (6:00 pm)

• MOS JV Varsity (7:00 pm) December 17th:

• MOS JJV Blue (6:00 pm)

• MOS JV Blue (7:00 pm) December 18th:

• MOS JJV Blue (5:45 pm)

• MOS JJV White (6:46 pm)

• MOSJV Gold (7:45 pm)

Save the Date Please “Save the Date” for the “Mother of Sorrows All Sports Banquet” which will take place on Friday, April 24, 2020, from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm. We will recognize participants in the following sports: Cross Country, Girls Basketball, Cheerleading, Boys Basketball, Jump Rope Club, Girls Volleyball, Track and Field and Soccer. All of our hard-working athletes will be honored with a

special recognition to our graduating 8th grade athletes. We hope to see you there!

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

FIRST LEGO League Robotics Team

Help Needed

We would like to congratulate “The MOSS Eagles Robotics Team” for earning 1st place at the Shadyside Open on Saturday, November 16th at Shadyside Academy in Fox Chapel. The team designed their own LEGO EV3 robot and programmed it to successfully complete a series of challenging missions. Their “Frogbot” robot scored 385 points at the competition,

taking home the 1st place trophy in the Open Division.

Team members pictured above include: (standing) Victor Ezaru, Daniel Bracken, Michael Christlieb, Matthew Jordan, and (kneeling) Luke Nuzzo, Milan Seminatore and John Beeson.

Do you enjoy computer programming, building robots or completing science projects? If so, MOSS needs you! The coaches of the MOSS FIRST LEGO League Team are

enjoying their final year, at MOSS, with their 8th grade students. New coaches are needed! FIRST provides meeting guides to the coaches, making it easier to fuel your child’s interest in robotics. If you would like to see what the team does and learn if this is a good fit for you, please contact Kim Bracken at kimberly.c.bracken@comcast.net. We would love to invite

you to one of our meetings so you can learn more about our amazing Robotics Team!

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

The whole school had an opportunity to learn all about our Catholic Saints during

the 3rd Grade All Saints Program on October 24th. We would like to congratulate

the 3rd grade class on a job well done during this beautiful prayer service.

All Saints Program

Did You Know?

Did you know the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has authorized the use of Flexible Instructional Days for both public and nonpublic schools? As a result of this

authorization, Catholic schools, in the Diocese of Greensburg, were given the opportunity to develop an instructional plan that would meet specific requirements outlined by the Department of Education for the use of instructional days. Mother of Sorrows School has been approved to

offer a maximum of five (5) instructional days, per year, beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. These days are intended to be used, to support the school, in the following circumstances:

• A disease epidemic

• Hazardous weather

• Law enforcement emergency

• Inoperability of school transportation

• Damage to the school building

• Circumstances rendering any portion of a school building unfit or unsafe for use

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Fundraising Update

Marathon The 2019 MOSS Marathon was a huge success! Thank you to all the teachers,

parents, and grandparents for making this day so special for our MOSS students. We are so excited to announce that we raised $17,860!

Here is a breakdown of all our Marathon winners:

Mrs Bartifay:

• Homeroom Teacher with the Most Pledges 8th Grade:

• Highest per Student Average

• Winners of the Kona Ice Truck Malley Family:

• Winner of the Light Up Night “Flip the Switch” and “VIP Tour”

• Front Row Seats to the “Peter Pan, Jr. Musical” We also handed out 200 “Dress Down Passes” and nearly 100 “A-La-Carte Passes”!

Thank you for all YOUR help in making this fundraiser so successful!

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Super Cash Bingo The Super Cash Bingo fundraiser took place on November 3rd and it was a HUGE SUCCESS!

This fundraiser SOLD OUT weeks before the event and made a profit of $26,500! Like the Marathon, this money will go towards our annual “Fundraising Goal” of $110,000!

The Super Cash Bingo Committee would like to thank all of our wonderful MOSS families that helped support this event. We also would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to the following

individuals and businesses that helped make this fundraiser a great success!!!

Committee Members 1. Darlene Kallen (Event Chairperson) 2. Jennifer Farberow (Event Chairperson) 3. Amy Balla (Basket Raffle Chairperson) 4. Sandy Bonidie (Basket Raffle Chairperson) 5. Crystal Favela 6. Jackie Glosser 7. Ashley Petrucci 8. Erin Salas

Event Volunteers 1. Amy Balla 2. Jennifer Bayer 3. Wayne Bayer 4. Angalee Beall 5. Jodi Beall 6. Kristen Bell 7. Jim Bonidie 8. Sandy Bonidie 9. Amy Danko 10. Emily Danko 11. Jim Danko 12. Jennifer Farberow 13. Crystal Favela 14. Jackie Glosser 15. Darlene Kallen 16. Joe Kallen 17. Stephanie Kiss 18. Dylan Lee 19. Ashley Petrucci 20. Shanon Phaneuf 21. Erin Salas 22. John Szmed 23. Theresa Szmed 24. Mikala Testa 25. Greg Thatcher 25. Patricia Visnick

Set Up/Clean Up 1. Amy Balla 2. Jodi Beall 3. Jim Bonidie 4. Sandy Bonidie 5. Jennifer Farberow 6. Noah Farberow 7. Crystal Favela 8. Jackie Glosser 9. Darlene Kallen 10. Joe Kallen 11. Theresa Morgan 12. Ashley Petrucci 13. Mark Phaneuf 14. Shanon Phaneuf 15. Amy Radkowski 16. Erin Salas 17. Ed Szmed 18. John Szmed 19. Theresa Szmed 20. Mikala Testa 21. Michael Visnick

Special Thanks 1. Stacy Amandola (Ticket Sales) 2. Chef Amy (Food Preparation) 3. Jodi Beall & Elisa Capozoli (Social Media) 4. Cris Coleman (Ticket Sales/Accounting) 5. Ed Szmed (Building Preparation) 6. Theresa Szmed (Planning/Advisement) 7. Michael Visnick (Media Set Up)

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

380 Auction D & V Nails Oakmont Olive Oil Company Alluring Designs - A Salon Eat’n Park Oriental Trading Company

Altoona Curve Embassy Suites by Hilton Philly Pretzel Factory ASCEND Pittsburgh Farberow Family Pittsburgh Pirates

Atria’s Funari Family Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Balla Family Hails Family Radkowski Family

Beacom Family H & R Block Rena Altman

Bonidie Family Juniper Grill Rob’s Pizza Boulevard Sweet Shoppe Lamplighter Salas Family

Bruster’s of New Stanton Longwood Gardens Salute Beer Distributor B-Three Solutions Lopez/Draper Family Seven Springs Mountain Resort

Capital Grille Lowe’s of Pittsburgh Mills Speranza Family Carrie Malley Miller Family Step Up Styles Salon

Community Market Nature Nails Spa Subway Donald & Joan Haas

(Proud MOSS Grandparents)

Nguyen Family

Oakmont Bakery

Walmart of Delmont

West Penn Diesel

Super Cash Bingo Event Sponsors Platinum Donors:

• PPG

• Enterprise Bank

• Busy Beaver Building Centers Bronze Donors:

• Steel City NDT

• Bowser Chevrolet

• Country Farms Garden Center

• Comfort Inn, Connellsville, PA

• Beall’s Nursery and Landscaping

• Jodi Petrarca – Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services

• David S. Duncan and Frank S. Zoracki – Duncan Financial Premier Wealth Management Individual/Business Donations:

Upcoming Fundraisers We would like to thank everyone that participated in our first 2 fundraisers of the year!

We are so thankful for your generosity and support. We still have 2 more major fundraisers to go. First, we will have our annual Fish Fry which will take place on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent (except April 3rd and 10th). Please consider volunteering your time during the Fish Fry. We need a lot of helping hands to make this fundraiser a great success! We also will be hosting a Designer Purse Bingo on Sunday, May 3rd. Believe it or not, several people have already called

the office for tickets. These tickets will be ready to purchase after Christmas Break! This fundraiser has sold out every year! If you are planning on attending, please get your tickets in advance. Stay tuned for more information on both of these fundraisers in the coming months!

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

6th grade explores math with pumpkins!

2nd grade spends time learning all about the human skull!

1st grade students show off their creative costumes at the Literacy Parade.

Kindergarten’s theme this Halloween was: “What We Want to Be When We Grow Up”.

Fall Fun

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

4th grade took a field trip to “The Frick Pittsburgh”.

8th grade took their annual field trip to “Gettysburg”!

7th grade uses microscopes to study animal and plant cells.

5th grade explores the “Makerspace”.

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Bishop Malesic recently spent the day at Mother of Sorrows School! During his visit, he toured the school and stopped by each classroom to meet our wonderful MOSS students!

We are proud to announce that seven of our 4th grade students were selected for publication in the “Spooky Sagas 2019 Pennsylvania Mysteries” by the Young Writers

Association. Congratulations to Quinn Keller, Avni Vasudeva, Haley Kallen, Noel Ninemire, Ary Kelly, Noah Simone and Dominic Schork for receiving this great honor!

A Visit from the Bishop Malesic

Student Spotlight

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Santa Shoppe

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Santa Shoppe Schedule

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Gingerbread House Contest

MOSS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2019

Light Up Night