Dear Families,

We hope you have been enjoying the first couple of weeks of summer break. We just wanted to send out this "special edition" of the Virtual Backpack with some important updates, along with reminders about deadlines. Additionally, you should have received in the mail a letter with an updated tuition/fee schedule. Please let us know if you did not receive that. Tuition invoices for the 2024-25 school year will get mailed out from the Parish on July 1st, with payment due by August 1st.

Enjoy the rest of your break!

School Staffing Update

While a number of staffing announcements were sent out during the school year, there are a few recent updates we have to share.

Firstly, we welcome Mrs. Deanna Pilgreen as our new K4 Aide. She will be assisting in Mrs. Smrz's classroom. A familiar face to many, Deanna has two children currently attending SMV, and another who graduated from SMV in 2023. She has previous experience as an Aide in our K3 classroom. Welcome back, Deanna!

Secondly, as you are aware, we have a long-term substitute teaching position opening for our Middle School ELA role. As of right now we are still seeking applications from anyone who is interested in reading great books, guiding students through the writing process, and making an impact with our middle schoolers. Prior teaching experience or expertise with middle school level reading and writing are preferred, but not required. The position timeframe is mid-August - December 20th, with the potential for it to be half-day only. Please reach out to Mr. Spelter with any questions or to express your interest.

Due to the unique circumstances of the ELA position at this time, we are making the following adjustment to help with daily record keeping needs and continuity of scheduling. For the 2024-25 school year, we will have the following homerooms for Jr. High:

• 6th Grade - Mr. Falk and Mr. Voboril
• 7th Grade - Mrs. Heim
• 8th Grade - Mr. Newman

These homerooms will remain the same throughout the school year, to assist with the transition when Miss Anna Sobczak joins us in January.

Once again, we look forward to welcoming our new SMV staff members: Mrs. Deanna Pilgreen, Miss Grace Borchardt, Miss Jennifer Grajek, Miss Anna Sobczak, Mrs. Courtney Falk, and Mrs. Michelle Akel.

Congratulations to Miss Molly Cobb and Mr. Ben Felebrico on their wedding this past weekend!

CKLA Reading Curriculum Update

Staff completed their initial training for our new K-5th grade reading curriculum, Amplify CKLA. They completed this 6-hour training in separate pods consisting of K-2nd grade teachers and 3rd-5th grade teachers.

Throughout the school year, teachers will participate in strengthen and focus training sessions along with coaching sessions. These professional development opportunities will be helpful as we make adjustments during this first year with this new program.   

Volunteering at SMV

Parents who would like to volunteer in any capacity (classroom, recess/lunch duty, field trips, coaching, etc...) MUST take a Safe Environment Training session, pass a background check, and sign the Code of Ethical Standards before they may volunteer. 

Information about trainings and schedules can be found here . We encourage you to do this before the school year begins, if possible.

Messages are being sent to those with expiring background checks. Anyone with an expired status will not be able to volunteer.  If you are unsure as to whether you've done the training, have an expired status, or have any other questions, please contact Chris Kinzy, our parish Safeguarding Coordinator, at: ckinzy@stmaryeg.org

Clubs and Organizations

Our Parish and School host a number of meetings for various organizations, clubs, and athletic events in our buildings. We are in the early stages of revamping the process for space requests for such meetings. Stay tuned for more updates on developments related to clubs and organizations at SMV.

Back to School Reminders

The first Virtual Backpack of the new school year will be sent out on August 15th. That edition will have a great deal of information regarding Afterschool Care registration, lunch duty signups, bus information and more. Student homeroom assignments, emergency contact forms and the updated school handbook will also be sent out this day.