Shelby St. Mary

December 2012

2012 St. Mary's Christmas Bazaar Photo Shop Link Click Here. Log in "Bazaar2012

November 2012

 

October 2012

September 2012

There are future dates where public schools have early dismissal but St. Mary's does not*:

March 6, 2013

May 8, 2013

*On these days, no p.m. bus transportation will be available and there will be no CCD classes through 6th grade on early dismissal at public school days. Please make arrangements to pick your students up at normal dismissal time which is 3:15.

Our school is WiFi now! Please feel free to enjoy the benefits of the wireless network when you are visiting St. Mary's school for an event. Simply stop by the office to get the password.

 

We have completed the review of the 2012 1st Annual Excel Beyond the Basics Pledge Drive results to determine how it will impact family contributions toward tuition for PreK as well as K through 7th grade. Scholarship applications for Preschool and for K-7 are available in the school office and on the "Forms" page of our school website. We are also happy to email the forms, just give us a call at 419-342-2626 with your email address. Please return completed forms to the office at your earliest convenience.

Thanks to the generosity of many contributions toward the drive, we are able to reduce tuition as follows:

Prek - Tuition is reduced for 2012-13 by 10% and we will refund or waive supply fees. Parents will receive the application for the 2012-13 Millie Cline Scholarship to receive the 10% off.

K-7th grade tuition will be reduced by $304 per student (12%), making the revised parent contribution $2,191/student. Each additional student from the same family will still be eligible to receive a 10% discount. Parents will receive the Most Pure Heart of Mary Excel Beyond the Basics Scholarship application to apply for the reduction.

The enrollment is a huge factor in allocating Scholarship money. As enrollment and the pledge continue to grow, we will be able to follow-up and provide parents additional tuition credit.

2012 1st Annual Excel Beyond the Basics Scholarship Drive
Pledge Total as of 8/8/2012	$71,350
Preschool	-$5,000
Apple Project (Lease)	-$5,700
Phone Project	-$600
Available Balance Toward Tuition	$60,050
Tuition Budget Needed*	-$42,415
- Not, Covered by Enrollment (equivalent enrollment to 78)
Enrollment based balance available to parents toward tuition per student	$17,635
Per student scholarship now available	$304
Revised 2012-13 Tuition per student (was $2495)	$2,191

*Tuition budget needed - The sliding scale for tuition was intended to reduce parent/family contribution. However, the contribution is build based in the average of 78 students. The sliding scale begins to provide parents with tuition credit as we climb to 96 students. This reduction in tuition is made possible because operating costs are defrayed when enrollment is higher.

August 4th School Newsletter/Bulletin Insert

Notice to parents: The state requires the chicken pox vaccine for Kindergarten and Preschool students for the 2012-13 school year.

SAVE THE DATE! AUGUST 19th, 2012 - St. Mary's School Open House

On 8/19, following 10:30 a.m. Mass, we will have our St. Mary's School 2012-13 Open House. There will be a free-will  donation Pasta Bar Lunch* open to all. We will allow 1-hr for the lunch and begin the open house with school families at approximately 12:30. An agenda will be placed at the table settings. We will go over the highlights of the school year and have some guest speakers. The the school will be open for a tour. We have an AMAZING year ahead! You will love what you see!

*The free-will lunch proceeds will go to the Mohican fund for the annual 6^th grade trip. PTO is donating the main course. Sixth-grade parents and PTO members are baking cookies for dessert. If anyone would like to contribute to donating cookies are more than welcome to do so.

Clothing Exchange: We are still accepting donations of khakis and St. Mary’s polo shirts! If you have St. Mary’s polo shirts or khaki’s your students have grown out of and no longer need, please drop them by the school or parish office at your convenience. We will offer these items free to our school families to help keep school-year costs to a minimum. Thank you for considering this as a way to help others!

2012-13 School Supply List - All Grades

Dear Parents,

We have extended the payment in full option windows to September 1st for 2% discount and October 1st for the 1% discount. We understand that the FACTS system was unavailable and apologize for any extra time you have had to spend on this process. The system is up and running now, please contact the school office if you find any discrepancies.

FACTS Payment Plan Options:

Annual Payments

• Payment in full due August 1, 2012 September 1, 2012. Those who make payments by this date will receive a 2% discount to their total current year tuition
  • ACH Option – No FACTS fee assessed.
  • Invoice Option – No FACTS fee assessed
  • If payment is not received by August 1, 2012 September 1, 2012 the discount will be adjusted on the total tuition due and a FACTS fee will be assessed if not paid by September 1, 2012 October 1, 2012.
• Payment in full due September 1, 2012. October 1, 2012. Those who make payments by this date will receive a 1% discount to their total current year tuition.
  • ACH Option – No FACTS fee assessed.
  • Invoice Option – No FACTS fee assessed.
  • If payment is not received by September 1, 2012 October 1st the discount will be added back to the total tuition due, other payment arrangements will need to be made and a FACTS fee will be assessed.

Organizational Announcements:

After 30 years of supporting our school, Mrs. Yetzer has announced her retirement. Mrs. Yetzer requests not to have a reception in her honor. Please join me in thanking her for her time, care and compassion over the years!

St. Mary’s is proud to announce that has Judy Caporini has accepted the position of Administrative Assistant/Technology Coordinator. Judy has extensive experience in office administration and management. Her expertise in coordinating and facilitating training, as well as writing and maintaining procedure manuals will be a huge asset for our staff and students as we continue to grow!

Judy and her family are parishioners of Most Pure Heart of Mary. Please join me in welcoming Judy to St. Mary’s School; I know she will be a valuable addition to our team.

We have been blessed with adding the talents of 3 new faculty members to our small but mighty team.

Mrs. Christa Swanger has accepted our 2^nd/3^rd grade faculty position. She brings a great deal of experience to St. Mary’s in creating a student-centered learning environment where she infuses hands-on activities that encourage students to reach their greatest academic potential. Christa holds a Master’s degree in Education from Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU), a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from The Ohio State University, and a Graphics Art degree from Terra Technical Community College.

Christa holds a Prek-3 license with a concentration in Math, a 4/5 Endorsement and she is only 2 classes away from a Science concentration. Christa has 5 years of experience working at Auburn Elementary as a Multiple Disabilities Educational Aide. She also has a long history of success in our parish; she taught CCD for 7 years for us!

Christa has a strong background in technology. She has created and published websites that included video footage, a parent survey, a blog, and a questionnaire! She has experience with MimioTeach® interactive whiteboards and in both Apple & PC formats.

Christa is excited to bring her expertise in teaching Catholic religious education into her classroom! She and her family are parishioners of Most Pure Heart of Mary.

Mrs. Alysha Littlehas accepted our Enrichment Teacher role. Alysha brings expertise in a wide variety of areas including experience in integrating technology into lesson plans, strong pre/post assessment evaluation, facilitating small groups with Math/Literacy stations as well as writing and phonics workshops.

Alysha earned her Master’s degree in Education at MVNU. She holds a license in Early Childhood Education (PreK-3). She earned her BA in Early Childhood Education with a Reading/Language Arts concentration at The Ohio State University.

Alysha is passionate about education! She and her family are Parishioners of Most Pure Heart of Mary.

Please join me in welcoming Christa and Alysha to St. Mary’s School; I know they will be dynamic additions to our team!

Summer School Hours Schedule Update - We will have very limited access to the school 7/9 thru 7/20. If you need immediate assistance, please contact the parish office at 419-347-2381.

Newsletter Weekend of July 7 & 8, 2012

Greetings from St. Mary’s!

I hope your summer is going well! We are very busy here at St. Mary’s with planning, building schedules, professional development, and getting updates prepared to keep everyone in the loop! We will start the year with blending done better! Our students, while attending blended classes in their home rooms of K/1, 2/3, 4/5, & 6/7, will have grade-level specific core classes. Our team of innovative teachers and Educational Aides has truly worked miracles and I am certain you will be impressed!

We are blessed to have so many wonderful and talented individuals willing to donate time to our students! This year, we have a new volunteer, Ms. Kerr. Ms. Kerr will be teaching Spanish to our 6^th & 7^thgraders. She taught Spanish in Crestline Public Schools for over 30 years! Now Ms. Kerr is generously donating her time to enrich the academic experience of our students.

Ms. Lowe has volunteered to return this year as our Art teacher, infusing the topics and ideas of the core classes into her Art lessons. Last year, she was amazing in creating continuity across the curriculum into her Art projects! Ms. Lowe even brought a religious flair into our Girl Scout program!

Our “Excel Beyond the Basics” Scholarship Drive has raised $71k to date. While some of the dollars have been earmarked for Preschool, projects that will improve our school’s safety and the educational experience of our students, our parents will also benefit from drive’s success in that we will be able to lower tuition for the 2012-13 school-year as a result of the drive’s success. We are blessed to have had 72 families pledge to our 1^st Annual “Excel Beyond the Basics” Scholarship Drive so far!

I have been researching corporate matches and am finding corporations like ArcelorMittal, Sutton Bank, Pepsico, National City Bank, PPG Industries Foundation, PNC Financial Services, Mechanics Bank, and many others will match an employee’s charitable donation up to a certain amount. What a great way to increase our donations, by allowing the corporations to help! If you need help determining if your corporation provides a match, please contact me at 419-342-2626 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

When we reach $100k in our drive, we could lower tuition to $1,630 which is where we were for the last 2 years! When we reach $200 tuition could drop to $350. At $300k, our tuition would be free for up to 152 students and we would have to hire teachers.

Did you know that St. Mary’s, Shelby is now an approved provider for the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program? The Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program will provide scholarships to students who, for the 2012-2013 school year, are eligible to attend kindergarten through 12th grade and have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) from their district of residence.

The amount of each scholarship awarded is based on the disability identified on the student’s IEP. Scholarships are intended to cover the cost of services necessary to implement the ISP as well as the tuition for students who wish to attend a private school.

We have been able to add Educational Aides and a part-time Intervention Specialist as a result of the participation in the scholarship program! Parents wishing to learn more about whether or not St. Mary’s can meet their students educational needs as well as the possibilities for enrolling students in K through 7th grade for the 2012-13 school year at St. Mary’s School can contact the school office at 419-342-2626 to schedule an appointment.

2012-13 St. Mary’s School Dress Code: Our school dress code has been tweaked a bit for 2012-13, based on parent feedback. It is simplified and is intended to save parents a lot of expense as it relates to clothing. Every day, students will wear St. Mary’s polo shirts and either Khakis or jeans (with the exception of Wednesday’s, no jeans are permitted for Mass).  Friday will still be dress down day. The polo shirts are only $12/shirt and come in black or red. Shoes and socks are required (no sandals).

Clothing Exchange: Thank you for the donations of khakis! We are still accepting donations of khakis and St. Mary’s polo shirts! If you have St. Mary’s polo shirts or khaki’s your students have grown out of and no longer need, please drop them by the school or parish office at your convenience. We will offer these items free to our school families to help keep school-year costs to a minimum. Thank you for considering this as a way to help others!

In closing, I wanted to share some of insights from the 3 week on-line Catechesis class I completed this week and also to thank you all for the wonderful support you continue to bless our school and parish ministries with!

An Excerpt from

The Catholic School:
The Challenge, The Culture, The Charism

Sr. M. Brendon Zajac, SND, D.Min.

The Catholic identity of the Catholic School as a charism of the Catholic Church. The word charism has its root in the Greek kharisma, meaning favor or divine gift. When applied to a person, a charism often suggests personal magnetism or charm, or the ability to influence large groups of people. In the Catholic theological tradition, however, charisms “are graces of the Holy spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world” (CCC #799). Charisms contribute to the apostolic vitality of the Church and promote the holiness of the Body of Christ (cf. CCC #800).

The Catechism goes on to speak of a “communion of charisms,” that is, the specific gifts of the Spirit to individuals contributing to the unity of the Body of Christ, fostering the communion of heart and mind of the members of the Church, and promoting the common good. It is in this sense of a specific gift of the Holy Spirit that the term charism can be applied to the Catholic school. In one sense it is the communion of charisms given to persons who contribute their individual gifts to the corporate and ecclesial mission of the Catholic school.  In another sense, the Catholic school itself is a charism, a gift to the Church and through the Church. It is a gift to the Church, the fruit of the generous response to the gift of the Spirit conferred on countless individuals whose dedication shaped the Catholic school as place of shared vision and Catholic culture, gifts that continue to this day to sustain and strengthen the Catholic school in the face of contemporary challenges.  It is a gift given through the Church, not only to those within its educational community, but to all those who will benefit directly or indirectly from the Catholic school through the contributions of its students in lives of service and social consciousness and the witness of its educators, and its vital presence in local dioceses, parishes, and neighborhoods.

Electronics Recycling: Thank you for your generous donations to the Electronics Fund Raiser. We filled a 26’ box truck! We will know in about 2 weeks how the fund raiser went. I look forward to publishing the results in the bulletin. We learned that if you wanted to donate, but could not make it up to the drive we can continue to take drop offs at the school or schedule a pick up through ACME and the school will get the credit! For more details on the types of electronics we can take, please contact the school. You would be surprised!

I know we are interested in knowing how Spring Fling went. Those results will be out soon too! Thank you for your patience!

Tractor Pulls July 7^th: Our 6^thgraders will be selling popcorn, peanuts and ice cold water at the tractor pulls this weekend! Please stop by and get some refreshments. The proceeds go toward their Mohican trip in the spring.

Pledge donations toward the school can be made anytime. Please clearly mark envelops entered in the weekly collections that are for the scholarship drive with “Scholarship Drive”, so we can account for the donations appropriately.

We are truly blessed,

Lisa M. Rhodes, MSM

St. Mary’s School – Principal

419-342-2626

www.stmaryshelby.org

“In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6

Electronics Recycling Event Flyer

We are searching to fill 3 staff positions for the 2012-13 school year. If you are

interested in being considered for either position, please send your resume to:

St. Mary's School, 26 West Street, Shelby, Ohio 44875

 

 

Our Most Pure Heart of MaryPledge campaign is going well! So far, we have raised

$70,670 in our pledge donations. If you would like to make a pledge or donation

to our school, please feel free to download the form, or contact the office at 419-342-

2626.

 

Congratulations to our Most Pure Heart of Mary 2nd graders who received the 1st Holy Communion on May 6th!

 

 

April 16th, 2012

Our first annual Most Pure Heart of Mary Scholarship“Excel Beyond the Basics”

pledge campaign launched at Saturday Mass on April 4th.The drive is scheduled to

run from April 14^th until May 14^th. Our 2012 1st year goal is to raise $300k to offer

tuition-free seats to 152 students for the 2012-13 school year.

 

The purpose of establishing the annual drive is to position our parish’s school for

continued success, year over year. If you would like to give to the Most Pure Heart

of Mary "Excel Beyond the Basics" Scholarship Drive, the Pledge card can be

downloaded by selecting the link below. Corporate and Foundation matches are

welcome, please contact the parish office at 419-347-2381 or the

school at 419-342-2626.

2012-13 First Annual "Excel Beyond the Basics" MPHM Scholarship Pledge Card

St. Mary's School - The Heart of Learning

Since 1880, St. Mary's has been a tradition in the community of Shelby, offering a Christ-centered education for students where faith, academics and service are the cornerstones.

Defining the Elements of a Christ-Centered School:

• Deeply rooted in the belief and teachings of Jesus Christ
• Committed to holistic efforts toward being a deeply reverent community
• Actively promotes dignity for all
• Leadership clearly  occurs as influence, not as power over
• Honest, open, and transactional communication
• A high level of support is visible among peers
• Performance expectations are high for self and others
• School norms support academic excellence and maximize students' strengths
• Student conflicts are dealt with constructively and peacefully
• Student discipline is based on teachable moments and meaningful growth opportunities

Our school's operation is funded by the generosity of our Most Pure Heart of Mary

parish and the added financial contributions of  our school families through tuition.

For information on how you can help to support St. Mary's School, please contact the

school 419-342-2626 or Most Pure Heart of Mary parish office 419-347-2381.

Enjoy ...

St. Teresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within….
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you....
May you be content knowing you are a child of God....
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Rainbow over Most Pure Heart of Mary Church on Friday, March

2nd during the St. Mary's Fish Fry! Thank you all for making

the event AWESOME!

About St. Mary's Elementary School

 

St. Mary’s School is celebrating its 131st year of providing quality education to our community! Our school first opened on December 8, 1880. We are located at 26 West Street in Shelby, Ohio.

Maintaining our school’s Catholic identity is paramount. We are able to do so through our curriculum as well as our service to others. Our students take active roles in mass weekly. Participating in service projects is another means by which we help our students not only develop a sense of global awareness, but also a desire to make a difference in the world.

Through the continued cooperative efforts of Father Nick, our school & parish staff, students, parents and parishioners it is our mission at St. Mary’s to work together to share faith and foster a passion for learning.

St. Mary’s Elementary School is proud to offer:

• Full accreditation by the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association.
• Courses of study are fully aligned with the Ohio Department of Education Academic Content Standards.
• A Preschool Program for ages 3 through 5 (housed in the lower level of the Parish Center), providing an excellent academic and social program with many enrichment opportunities.
• An all day kindergartenprogram is offered, also. Teachers enjoy the benefits of this program as the students move into first grade andbeyond.
• Our children enrichment activities through Grade 6, including a strong music program, the Children’s Choir, Physical education and computer classes in an excellent computer lab equipped with the latest technology.
• A school library.
• Title I reading, speech, nursing and guidance counseling services.
• Admission to students from any religious denomination.

Our expert teaching staff brings our students a carefully planned focus on our academic goals throughout the year while at the same time, nurturing their spirits, developing positive self-esteem, and fostering a love of learning they will carry into the future. This year the staff is working hard on writing a new continuous improvement plan in order to renew our accreditation.

The students in grades 2-6 participate in web based achievement testing that provides immediate results to teachers so that they may plan instruction according to the individual needs of the students.

We are blessed to have the support of our School Advisory Council and the Parent Teacher Organization to help keep our school flourishing.

A special thank you to all of you who make our school what it is today!

Verfiy