ST. MARY’S SCHOOL APRIL Faith-Based Hope-Filled Gospel-Driven

As a significant ministry of St. Mary’s Parish, St. Mary’s School exists to aid in the development of the whole child; spiritually, academically, socially and physically.

As part of a Catholic community living out the Gospel message, the school and family collaborate to nurture

self-worth, respect, and an appreciation of the pursuit of knowledge.

Message from the Principal Sister Carol Ann Smith, S.N.D.

ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! It’s great to be able to utter these words again. Our students know that we don’t use this phrase during the season of Lent. On the windowsill in my office I have a small ce-ramic angel holding a placard with the word “ALLELUIA” on it. At the beginning of Lent students who were in my office turned the statue around so I couldn’t see the word, let-ting me know that we don’t use that word during Lent. Alleluia! One lesson stuck!

Our seventh graders received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday, April 11th at Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo. What a beautiful celebration. We were joined by students from the three parishes in Fremont, St. Catherine in Toledo, St. Richard in Swanton, and Mother of Sorrows on Put-in-Bay. Don’t miss the large display in the back of church -- meet our newly confirmed young men and women.

May the risen Savior shower you with many blessings of love, peace, and joy this Easter season. God bless you for all you do for St. Mary’s School, its staff and students. We appreciate it abundantly.

SCHOOL WIDE RETREAT - APRIL 2, 2015

Each year the oldest students in the school plan a school wide retreat for the whole student body at the

end of the Lenten season. This year our seventh graders did a superb job of leading the younger students

into a deeper meaning of the happenings of Holy Week and Easter. It was a very solemn, holy day for our

students. Not pictured above were the Living Stations performed by our very own fifth and sixth graders,

the washing of hands, and the breaking and sharing of bread (which they had baked earlier in the day) and

the drinking of the wine (grape juice) while the Scripture story of the Last Supper was being read. The bot-

tom right picture above is still in the process stage. During the Easter season students will draw the leaves

on our growing flower garden. It will become a permanent reminder of the Easter blessings that are ours.

Bells of st. mary’s !

Slow and steady wins the race. As of this printing, we have collected 331.79 pounds of pennies. The Sixth Graders are now in the lead with 89.37 pounds. We are 41% of the way to our goal of 800 pounds. Each month we will give you an update of our progress.

On March 12th a generous gentleman stopped by the first grade with “a whole bunch of pennies!” The eyes of the first graders were wide open with surprise. They soon discovered, with the help of their teacher, Mrs. Lauf, that they were the proud recipients of al-most fifteen pounds of pennies. They immediately sat down to count the pennies and discovered that they had 2,712. Then they wanted to know how many would make one pound. It didn’t take them long to figure out that it would be about 182 pennies.

DID YOU HEAR? On Wednesday, April 29, we are

expecting thirteen young children

to attend St. Mary’s Kindergarten

Screening. We look forward to

having them in our building every

day next year. This would be the

largest Kindergarten class that St.

Mary’s School has had since the

2010-2011 (15) school year. We

are already planning ahead for a

possible third grade class not be-

ing a combined grade this coming

year.

CELEBRATING ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

St. Patrick’s Day was a big day in our Kinder-

garten -- anything green was the way to go. It’s

amazing how many “green” snacks they could

find. They went around the building to find the

leprechaun and had no luck. Upon arrival back

in their classroom they found he had been

there and left them a pot of gold! Oh, yum!

FEATURING OUR STUDENTS

Each month we will try to feature one or two

students and let them share with you why they like

coming to St. Mary’s School . . .

St. Mary’s Panthers are here to serve you! They are always look-ing for ways to increase their “corporal acts of mercy” activities.

Peyton Heitmeyer (Grade 5) likes St. Mary’s School

because the teachers and the principal are very nice and fun.

They give us time to work on our homework and also time to

have some fun. I also like how we get to practice our religion

by going to church on Wednesdays and in religion class. I

like having the Field Day at the end of the year. We have fun

and know it is safe to play outside.

Trey Schroeder (Grade 6) says he likes St. Mary’s School

because it has good teachers and all the kids are nice. We get

to do a lot of fun things. We learn a lot about God and our reli-

gion and we go to Mass every Wednesday. My favorite subject

is Science because we get to do a lot of experiments like making

circuits, studying all about electricity and the water cycle. We

also went to the Tin Caps baseball game and the Walleye ice

hockey games. St. Mary’s School is a fun place to be.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Call the school office @ 419.943.2801 hours

Monday through Friday. 7:30—4:00.

UPCOMING EVENTS May 1 -- First Communion Retreat

May 3 -- First Communion Sunday

May 8 -- May Crowning after Mass

May 9 -- Pick up Hanging Baskets

May 10 - Happy Mother’s Day

May 10 -- Pork Loin Dinner

May 11 - K-2 go to Toledo Zoo

May 15 - 7th Graders to Cedar Point

May 19 - Field Day

May 21 - Kindergarten Graduation

May 22 - Last Day of School

May 25 - Memorial Day

May 26 - Teacher Work Day

May 29 - Report Cards Mailed Home

St. Mary’s Staff and Students thank you for your continued prayerful and monetary support.

May the good Lord bless you abundantly.

MOTHER’S DAY

PLANT SALE

Don’t forget! Your hanging plants

will be ready to pick up at Do-it-

Best-Hardware Store on Saturday

morning, May 9th. We are grate-

ful to the Evers

family for helping us

with this fundraiser.

The plants are al-

ways very beautiful.

Great Mother’s Day

Gift!

HAPPY EASTER May the peace and joy of the

Risen Savior be yours!

REGISTRATION, TUITION AND FEES INFORMATION FOR 2015-2016

It is hard to believe that a new school year is just around the corner. We are already

planning the class configurations, subject matter, and staffing for next year. After

carefully studying our numbers and the financial aide available to us we are happy to

announce that there will be no increase in fees (registration, book, technology, or

playground) for the 2015-2016 school year.

In studying the physical condition of the total school property we discovered that we

need a new roof on the far east addition of the school, brighter lighting in the first hall-

way and new floor runners at the entranceways. We are fortunate to have an Endow-

ment Fund that was started years ago that can help us in these three areas. This,

then, allows us to use tuition monies and fees for salaries and general operating costs.

Tuition for the 2015-2016 school year will increase $100. We are still the lowest tui-

tion in the area and we receive substantial assistance from the parish. We are grate-

ful to be part of a parish whose members strongly believe in the benefits of a Catholic

education and are willing to sacrifice to see that that education takes place. Registra-

tion forms and fee schedules are available in the school office. If you have any ques-

tions, please call the school office during school hours @ 419-943-2801.

PORK LOIN DINNER sponsored by the Athletic Department will

be held on Sunday, May 10th in the Parish Life Center. Tickets are

on sale now. The school children have been selling tickets so they

can go to a Mud Hens game on May 20th. Can you help them?

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

On Sunday, May 3rd our second

graders will be receiving their First

Holy Communion at the 10:00 AM

Mass. They thank you for your

prayerful support and encouragement

over these past months.