Good Morning SMS Families,
Although it has been a disappointing week here, missing school with so much planned for Catholic Schools Week, I hope you have enjoyed the extra time spent with family. There are many factors that go in to determining whether or not to cancel school for any reason, and having families from 9 different school districts, reliance on public busing, and the unique layout of our campus, certainly creates considerations that have to be made to ensure safety and accessibility to our school in hazardous weather conditions.
Having said that, we do take our mission here seriously, and understand that we are providing an important service for our students. So thank you all for bearing with us this week, your support, especially to so many of you who reached out this week has been appreciated. The walkways between classes and to and from the Church and Parish Hall are clear. Thank you to Mr. Frebis for working on those the past few days. It is a BIG job.
Tomorrow are planning to be in school on a regular schedule, (provided it doesn't snow) regardless of what the other schools decide to do. I bring that up, because there is the possibility that there will be no bus service other than the SMS bus. If Georgetown is closed, those who are in need of bus service, are welcome to use the SMS bus, as we did in this circumstance a few weeks ago, please just let me know if you plan to do so. Also, if there is no bus service, there will likely be more vehicles dropping students off and picking them up.
Drop off: Although Market and 4th Streets have been cleared, there is even less space than normal. You will not be able to park on the side of the church and walk students in, so we ask that if you are dropping off, please do so in front of school with Mr. Hyde. It will also be difficult to park below the church and walk up, as the sidewalks are not clear and due to vehicles snowed in on Market St, there is a very narrow path to the school. You should expect that there will be no street parking available at all and no one should walk on the street.
Pick up: I can help with that. Instead of gathering on the hill as normal, we ask that all car rider parents park at the Methodist and Church of Christ at the bottom of the hill. I will take all car riders to the bottom of the hill on the bus and drop them off to their parents. Then, I will circle back around and pick up the bus riders to take home.
It is likely that the snow on the streets will not be cleared up by next week, so I will let you know if we will have to continue the above procedure.
If you have any questions about these procedures, feel free to call me at the school and I will walk you through it.
Please make sure your child wears a coat. Outdoor time will be limited to walking to class, Church and lunch, but they should still have coats.
I have heard from a few of you who are still having difficulty getting out of your own driveway. Of course, if you do not feel it is safe for you to bring your child to school, just call the office and it will be an excused absence.
Our schedule tomorrow will not be the exact same as we had planned for this week, but we will try to get some of our Catholic Schools Week activities in. Normally we don't have out of uniform days on Mass days, but tomorrow students may dress in either their favorite team gear or SMS spiritwear with school appropriate jeans or uniform pants. For all the volunteers who were planning to help with teacher appreciation tomorrow, I will see you in the Hall around 10-10:30. We are looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow!
Some have reached out about the community soup supper at the Methodist Church tonight. That is still on. Thanks to all who are planning to bring desserts. Please drop those off at the Methodist Church by noon. Huge thank you to Mrs. Wallace for making all the soup despite us being out all week. Thanks also to Mrs. K for helping organize everything. If you would like to get out of the house tonight, all are welcome.
Tomorrow night, the SMS Mother/Son Night at the YMCA in Maysville is still on from 7:30-9:30pm. We will have food and fun! It was a big hit last year, so we are running it back. If you plan to come please make sure to sign up so we can figure how much pizza to get! Also, if you have not yet, please send in $5 per family to help with the cost of the evening.
Finally, this Sunday, February 1, we will make up our annual Open House. The school will be open from 10:30-12:30 for new and current families to tour the school, talk with teachers and turn in registration forms, scholarship applications, etc.
I will have another newsletter for next week coming on Sunday. I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with too much info. Hope to see all my friends tomorrow! Have a great day!