www.saintmarystarofthesea.com

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER

Dear Parents of Saint Mary Star of the Sea School, Jesus said: As the Father loves me so I also love you. (Jn. 15:9)

Thank you to the families who were able to participate in the Inaugural Peninsula Eucharistic Procession on Ft. Monroe this past Saturday. It was a wonderful experience of praying as a family and a community, expressing our faith in Our Lord Jesus in prayer, song and public witness. We prayed for all of our SMSS families.

Please keep the family of Mrs. Teresa Bunting, our business manager, in your prayers. Mrs. Bunting’s mother died this past Saturday.

We look forward to seeing you at our annual Chili Cook-off and Trunk-or-Treat event. Which chili recipe will be the prize winning chili?! Which trunk will have the prize win-ning decorations?

Next week brings us to November already! Instead of having our weekly Mass here on Tuesday, we will celebrate All Saints Holy Day on Wednesday, Nov. 1 by going to our local parishes for Mass. Grades 2-4 will take the bus to St. Joseph Church for the 9:00am Mass and grades 5-8 will take the bus to St. Mary Star of the Sea Church on Ft. Monroe for the 12Noon Mass. You are welcome to join us!

In Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Sr. Mary John, O.P., Principal

October 25, 2017

Writing in Colonial America!

Mrs. Heather Potchatek brought to life the process of writing in Colonial America with a fun and educa-tional activity for our 5th grade students. Students were given the opportunity to use a quill pen and liquid ink to write their name and draw pictures. The first few tries were a little scratchy, but after a minute or two they got the hang of it!

Check your email and click on the live links to access documents, sign up sheets, schedules, lunch order forms & more!

All Star Raffle Update!

ONLY 6 DAYS LEFT TO GET IN ON THIS GREAT RAFFLE OPPORTUNITY!!!

There are only 6 days left to sell our raffle tickets and reach our goal to raise $25,000. If you have a book at home that you have not sold, please try to sell it and turn it in by October 31. We do have books left to sell so please contact the office if you would like one. All tickets and money must be in the office by October 31, 2017, no exceptions! The raffle will begin on

November 1, 2017.

There will be Dippin’ Dots for all children who sells two books of tickets

Reminder!! This raffle replaces Bingo and the Great American Fundraiser. With your help, we can achieve our goal!

Eighth Grade Team Building Day Fosters Class Unity

Tuesday, Octo-ber 17 was Team-building Day for our 8th grade students! This year Mrs. Potchatek and the students did something new! They hiked the Noland Trail in Newport News and did team-building games along the way. They played Pass On the Banana (they only got to use their feet!), Team Crush (popping balloons), and Untie the Hu-man Knot. They also hiked six miles in total and followed it up with lunch in the Mariner's Museum Park. It was a great day to foster class unity and to work on team building skills. Thank you to Mrs. Kohler who thoughtfully provided ice-cream treats for all of the students!

NEWS & INFORMATION!

Special Trips for All Saints Day Mass Students in grades 2-8 will be going to Mass at St. Joseph (9 a.m.) and St. Mary Star of the Sea (Noon) on November 1st for All Saints Day. Please sign the permission form that was sent home last week and return it in your child’s folder. Parents are invited to join us for All Saints Day Mass! Due to this Mass, there will be no Mass at school on Tuesday, October 31st.

Parent/Teacher Conferences are Coming Up! Conferences will be held on Thursday afternoon, November 9 and Friday, November 10. Schedules are coming home today in your youngest child’s folder for grades PK through 4. Please be sure to return the form to notify teachers if you are able to attend. Parents of students in grades 5-8 will be sent a link to sign up to meet with various teachers.

Help us with Thanksgiving Items for Little Sisters of the Poor The 8th grade is collecting items for the Little Sisters of the Poor so that they may pro-vide Thanksgiving dinner for the St. Joseph Home in Richmond. Please see the flyer coming home today for the list of donations. Also, November 16th will be an out-of-uniform day to raise money to purchase turkeys. On November 21st the 8th graders will go to Richmond to deliver our donations and visit with the residents of the Home.

Need Parent Volunteers to Represent Saint Mary’s at Bodacious Bazaar! Saint Mary’s will have a booth at the Bodacious Bazaar to take place at the Hampton Roads Convention Center on November 10, 11 and 12, The Bodacious Bazaar is a three day shopping event which brings hundreds of people to the Convention Center; a great place to showcase our school! We need parents who may be able to volunteer a few hours of their day to represent Saint Mary's. There are several shifts available.

Sign up to help us at: Live Link: Bodacious Bazaar Sign Up Sheet!

UPCOMING!

October 27: Chili Cook Off & Trunk or Treat! Reservation Form: Live Link Chili Night Reservation Form

October 30: Volleyball Home vs. Trinity, 4 p.m.

October 31:

Halloween Parade, Pre-K - 2nd Grade in Costume, 8 a.m.

No Mass at School

November 1:

Holy Day, All Saints Day

Report Cards Go Home

Mass at St. Joseph and St. Mary Star of the Sea

Coming Home TodayToday: November Calendar, Parent/Teacher Conference Schedules, Little Sisters of the Poor Flyer, Lifetouch Pictures.

Grandparents Enjoyed a Fun, Delicious and Musical Day at Saint Mary´s !

We thank all the grandparents and special guests who joined us last Friday to share some special moments with their grandchildren. The children worked hard to prepare the mu-sical show, Music by the Bay, which will forever remain in our grandpar-ents’ hearts!

We also thank our parent volunteers Omar Hernandez, Andrea and Charles Brown, Selena Glenn, Shawn Roberts, Karen Cruz, Rhonda Saun-ders, Calvin Morris, Kenneth Surita and Rebecca Chandler who helped set up, served during the event and cleaned up. We also thank Ritchie Fierros for his demonstrations in the Waterfront Classroom. Our appreciation goes to all the parents who brought the delicious breakfast treats for our grandparents to enjoy! We couldn’t have done it without all of your help!

Friday, October 27, 2017 Chili Night: 6:00 - 7 p.m. & Trunk or Treat: 7 p.m.

School Cafeteria & Water Street Cul-de-Sac Kids: Wear Your Halloween Costume! $5/person or $25/family of 5 or more!

Live Link Chili Night Reservation Form

Park your car in the open lot on Water St.

JOIN US FOR CHILI !!

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Lifetouch to Re-take Pictures on Nov. 8 Picture re-takes will be on Wednesday, November 8 for any student who was absent or would like to have their picture re-taken. If having a re-take, the original picture must be returned to school before Nov. 8. Order forms are available at the office.

November Lunch Order Form is now Online! The November lunch form is now online at Live Link: Lunch Order Form. Please submit it to the office with exact change or check.