Dear Parents/Guardians,                                                       

Homecoming week is underway.  It’s an exciting time for everyone associated with SMSA.  From the big game on our new turf on October 9th to all the fun activities and dress up days.  Please click here to support the events and enter into the opportunity to participate in all the fun and celebrations of our SMSA community.

Parent teacher conferences will be held on October 13th and 14th, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m..  We will be offering virtual and in person conferences.   Please look for communication coming out soon regarding signing up for a conference time through Skyward.  SMSA is excited to build partnerships with each and everyone of you through the parent/teacher conference experience. It’s a valuable experience to build relationships from P3 – grade 8.  Looking forward to seeing you on campus. 

Please help us as you wait to pick up your child(ren) at the end of the school day by being thoughtful of the back playground and school is still in session.  Classes may be using the back playground to end their day.  Classes inside the windows are engaged in learning as well.  We ask you to partner with us and  keep these areas clear until the end of the school day.  Thank you for supporting SMSA and keeping our school areas safe and the learning moving until the end of the day.  I appreciate our partnership. 

Thank you for your continued partnership with SMSA .  Together we will create a path for tomorrow’s children to achieve amazing dreams. 

God Bless,

Steven Kelnhofer

skelnhofer@smsacademy.org

Elementary Principal, SMSA

Homecoming Week 2021!

Homecoming Week 2021 will begin unconventionally on today, Thursday, September 30th, and continue through Wednesday, October 6th.  This is due to the teacher in-service Day and Archdiocesan Teachers Convention scheduled for Thursday and Friday October 7th and 8th.  We are working to finalize themes, but to get us started, see below for the first two days of homecoming celebration!  A final plan will be published and shared with students and parents via Skyward Message Center in the next few days.  The Homecoming football game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 9th on campus on our new turf field!   We hope to see you all there for the big event! 

Homecoming Dress up/Activities and Information on Homecoming Football Game

We are so excited to celebrate Homecoming 2021!  Theme days will begin today Thursday, September 30th.  Please click here for full information on dress up days and activities.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 9th, as the varsity football team will be returning to the Ledge to play the homecoming game on the new turf field!  Please click here for an FAQ on the upcoming game!

Go Ledgers!

Standards Based Grading

As I have mentioned in previous eLedgers, St. Mary’s Spring Academy is excited to introduce Standards Based Grading in grades kindergarten through third grade for the 2021-22 school year! Standards Based Grading is a best practice initiative the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is leading all of its schools towards implementing in the coming school year.  

The objective of the video series is to educate parents in short videos to unpack Standard Based Grading.  The series intends to deliver an education and mindshift to understand Standards Based Grading, why Standards Based Grading is best practice, and how Standards Based Grading functions with the parent and teacher supporting the student’s journey.  

Please select the following six links to see the box set of SBG at SMSA.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC85kS-z_Mk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tecnwN4dXLU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ejwOMhkAg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7jww2J7RJs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQO1AVjoMJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1jIyS7wso0

I will be starting a 7th and 8th Grade Honors Choir. We will meet on Thursday mornings from 7:15 to 7:35 a.m. in the choir room. We will begin Thursday, October 14th. This choir will be for those that want to move at a quicker pace in music and already have basic singing skills.

Please, only students who are serious about advancing chorally and preparing for high school should sign up.

You may sign up by MONDAY, OCTOBER 4th. This way I can have the correct amount of sheet music ready for our first rehearsal. Happy singing!

Mrs. Lewis

Those interested in playing JLBC this year, please log on to the zoom meeting, by clicking here, for information.  The Zoom meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 6th at 7:30 p.m. 

Meeting ID: 827 4692 6172

Passcode: NQHrn8

Please click here for registration and uniform orders.

Please click here to view the flyer.

Please note, there will be no school October 7th and 8th due to faculty in-service.

St. Mary’s Springs and Holy Family have partnered up to help promote and celebrate two great events happening on Saturday, October 9th.

Holy Family has extended a part of their parking lot to Ledger Nation to use for extra spaces for the homecoming football game taking place on the Ledge.  Holiday Automotive will be providing shuttles to and from the homecoming football game.

After the game, stick around at Holy Family to enjoy their Octoberfest celebration.  Click here to visit their Facebook page for more information!

Click here to view the flyer!

More information will be coming on Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Scholastic Book Fair is returning to the campus library on October 12th to the 15th!

Come show your support as this allows our school to earn money that helps our teachers boost their classroom libraries, add requested books to the campus library, as well as provide classroom material in general.

Teachers will be creating their own personal wish lists that will all be available at the fair by October 13th. Students will be visiting the book fair on October 12th-13th to create a “wish list” of books that interest them. Great time to start that Christmas shopping!

Don’t forget to come visit as we will also have pumpkins with a story twist on display created by our very own K – 5th grades. Cast your vote for $1 donation; the winning class will receive a pizza party! All funds raised will be used to purchase books for our school as well as Scholastic will match our donation to a school in need. In 2019 we raised over $600!

We will be open for sales on Tuesday, October 12th from  2:30 to 4:00 p.m.; Wednesday, October 13th and Thursday, October 14th from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. (during parent/teacher conferences) and Friday, October 15th from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.. Cash/Check/Credit accepted. Book offerings for all ages! This year we will have more middle school offerings than before!

Did you get one of SCHOLASTIC’s Blue Reusable Bags at our last fair?  If you did, AND you can find it, AND you BRING IT ALONG TO THE FAIR to use…you can pick a pumpkin for an added surprise at checkout!

Care to help and have completed SEE Training? Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/jusZaRg

Trunk or Treat is back! We are very excited to celebrate Halloween with our SMSA family in a safe and fun way! Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 28th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. This event will take place in the upper green parking lot. Students will dress up in their Halloween costumes and trick or treat to each car. Make sure to bring lots of candy and decorating your car is encouraged.

Click here to view the flyer.

Please watch for more information on this fun dress up day!

Students nominated for The Ledger Way Principal’s Pen Breakfast will have breakfast with Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kelnhofer, receive a special certificate with their Ledger Way contributions listed, and listen to a guest speaker. 

The guest speaker for the October celebration will be SMSA systems president, Stacey Akey. Mr. Kelnhofer and I look forward to recognizing students for supporting a positive, faith-based climate here at SMSA!

None at this time.

No news at this time.

Would you like to get more involved as a parent at SMSA? On supply drop off day, you will be receiving a Parent Connectors Volunteer Form. Please fill out this form with the ways you would be interested in helping and return it to school by Friday, September 17th. You will then receive emails regarding upcoming events and ways to assist throughout the year. Thank you so much! We couldn’t do this without our amazing volunteers. If you have any questions, please reach out to Andrea Nuss, alnuss@charter.net.

We are looking for an individual(s) who are interested in helping co-chair our book fairs (fall/spring) as well as oversee our summer reading program.  If you are interested in knowing more about this volunteer position and have any questions, please contact our current chair, Lisa Serovy at serovy@charter.net.