St. Mary School Swormville -

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Laderer (Grade 5) & all SMS students celebrating May birthdays! #happybirthday #SMStheplacetoBEE #May

The #ClassOf2025 completed their last service project of the year before leaving on their trip to Philadelphia this week! 8th graders organized a project to collect snacks & individual drinks as a thank you to the members of the Amherst Police Department who do such a wonderful job keeping our community safe. When they dropped off the goodies, the students were even treated to a tour of the police station! #SERVICE #police #safe #serviceproject #grade8 #snacksforeveryone

🎓🐝 Don't forget to order 2024-5 yearbooks by this Thursday, May 22 - click the link to order & commemorate a great year! https://www.stmaryschoolswormville.org/yearbook

🐝 In honor of #WorldBeeDay we thought we’d play a little game and see if you can guess where these bees are living around our campus. The first person to guess all their locations correctly will win a prize! In the meantime, a little history on our 'bee-loved” mascot… Why is the BEE our school mascot? Is it because we’re located in Swormville?  No - it was a nickname adopted by Sister Sheila when she was principal because of the bee’s many symbolic Christian meanings, including: • Community - the hive represents a perfect community where each bee has a role and they work together to achieve goals. • Perseverance - bees are hardworking and can survive environmental pressures, making them a symbol of overcoming obstacles
. • Nature - bees represent the power and mystery of nature, and are sometimes considered guardians of the natural world. •Other meanings - bees can also symbolize focus, teamwork, generosity, fertility, prosperity, friendship, brightness, joy, beauty, celebration, wisdom, birth and rebirth.
 •Many Catholic Saints have bees as a symbol, due to their sweet eloquence in preaching, St. Ambrose is the patron saint of bees, beekeepers and even candle makers. He is often depicted with bees or a beehive – symbols that also indicate wisdom. • Honey is viewed as a blessing of abundance and is used within the context of goodness. There are frequent references to "a land flowing with milk and honey" throughout the Bible. ... and now you know! #SMStheplacetoBEE #goBEES #schoolmascot #schoolspirit

🥚 🐣 🐥 There's just 9 more days until the chicks hatch in our Montessori classroom! Today students used an egg model to see what the chick looks like at this stage of it's growth. Students also learned about candling. Candling is a technique that uses a bright light to examine the development of an embryo inside a chicken egg by shining it through the shell. #science #hatching #chicks #montessorilearning #montessori #knowledge

🐝⚽️ The JV Bees brought the nectar back to the hive, beating St. Christopher's Cougars 9-2 this past Sunday. The game featured fewer Bees than normal, with many on the field almost a full 60 minutes! Braden placed a top bin penalty kick early in the first half. Grayson had his first goal of the season after being moved into an offensive position after halftime. Gabe, Luca, Jackson, Dawit, and Nico had seven goals combined. A big thank you to Ryan Parisi for filling in as referee! This Thursday the Bees will face the St. Greg's Cougars at home for a highly anticipated match-up.

🏒 🐝💙 SMS Middle School students were excited to participate in the Buffalo Sabres intramural ball hockey program: Ball Hockey Battle! 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th graders competed during their "recess regular season” for several weeks to choose a winning team that would participate in the championship tournament, held over the weekend at Key Bank Center! SMS was the only Catholic School that participated. The SMS Bees won their first game against Pembroke Intermediate with a score of 8-4, but lost their second game to Frontier Middle. After the two games they were seeded 7th out of 13, making it to the quarter finals, where they lost to Casey Middle. Thank you Mr. Dolan, Mr. Kelly & Mr. Reeds for organizing this amazing experience for our students! Click the link below for more photos of the fun: https://tinyurl.com/uw6rcts9

⚽️ Grade 3/4 Soccer (Team Rivera) extended their record to 3-1 with a win over St. John the Baptist this weekend with a final score of 10-1. Jack, Xavier, Weston, Elyse, Julia , Logan, and Emma all registered goals for SMS. The rest of the team contributed on offense and defense, led by Luke, Cora, Hudson, Hannah, and Sloane who all played well to help their team to victory.

🌸🌼🌺 Get your yard looking great with hanging baskets & flats from the HSA flower sale! Tomorrow is the LAST DAY to order vouchers from Weeks Nursery, click the link to support SMS & beautify your yard at the same time! stmaryschoolswormville.org/flowers

🧪 It was cold as ice in Mrs. Witkowski's Science Lab this week... dry ice that is! Thank you to the Papke family who bid on and won this thrilling after school party in our recent #SpringforSuccess Silent Auction. Students had a blast doing various experiments in the lab, then parading through the school with their "dry ice torches"! Thank you Mrs. Witkowski for donating this chilling experience! #science #sciencelab #dryice #carbondioxide #sublimation #partytime

⚽️🍦It was a great night for soccer! Last night our JV Bees & grades 1/2 & 3/4 teams all had games... & fun! Our Grade 1/2 Bees gave their all in a 5-2 loss, but fun was had by all including post game ice cream! Goals were scored by Jackson S. and Bella C. Grade 3/4 Team Terrill played hard as well but lost to Park School. Our JV Bees celebrated a big win against the St Mark’s Lions. An unstoppable offensive swarm culminated in a 10-1 final score. Eli started the game off with a hat trick, while David, Nico, Gabe, & Parker M. also had great goals & performances. Dawit & Ryan set up great plays to ensure the BEE-autiful win. Jack lost the sole of his shoe, but a little electrical tape put him back in action for a fierce defensive showing to assist Parker P. & David in net. After the game the Bees celebrated with some well deserved ice cream! #Soccer #JuniorVarsity #HatTrick #youthsports #catholicschoolsports #grade1 #grade2 #grade3 #grade4

After school Mass today we recognized our Virtue Award winners for the month of April who exemplified #justice - including two of our staff members, Mr. Reeds & Mrs. Terrill! We also recognized the1st grade and Kindergarten Diocesan Character Award winners for April & May for showing #problemsolving and #optimism. Lastly, Mrs. Whipple was awarded a certificate for five years of service to Catholic Schools. Congratulations to all! #Service #Character #Virtue #SMStheplacetoBEE #WNYCatholicSchools

Mrs. Baker's 4th graders were ready to take on a challenge this Friday am... if they could successfully "limbo" into class they didn't have to do any morning work! We love keeping our students on their toes during these last several weeks of school! #grade4 #limbo #almost summer #morningwork

🇺🇸 2nd grade is working on #MemorialDay projects. They're learning the importance of honoring those who've given their lives in service to our country from all branches of the military. They even sang some patriotic songs while they worked! #GodBlesstheUSA #DecorationDay

🔦📚 Miss Gon's Kindergartners are shining a light on #Reading! As part of their "ABC Countdown" to the last day of school, students worked together to do some reading by flashlight today for letter "F" in their countdown, & they had a blast! Did you know that many of our Kindergarten students score well above grade level for reading? Our Kindergarten class has shown higher growth & achievement this year than 92% of their peers at other schools. Contact us today at 716-689-8424 if you're interested in enrolling your child at SMS for Kindergarten this Fall - we still have limited seats available! Click below to learn more... See what Kindergarten has been up to this year: https://www.stmaryschoolswormville.org/kindergarten Meet Miss Gon, Kindergarten Teacher: https://www.stmaryschoolswormville.org/missgon Learn about our Catholic Values: https://www.stmaryschoolswormville.org/o/school/page/our-mission-and-values Submit an Application: https://www.stmaryschoolswormville.org/o/school/page/registration #kindergarten #flashlightreading #Knowledge #ELA #literacy #CatholicValues #TomorrowsLeaders #SMStheplacetoBEE

⚽️ SMS SOCCER UPDATES: 5/9/25: Our Varsity Bees lost 5-4 last Weds. to CCA but battled back from a 2 goal deficit to tie them before the final goal was scored. Andy Z. scored twice for our Varsity squad, Bruk T. had 2 assists and 1 goal, and Adam F. had 1 goal. ==================== 5/8/25: Our JV Bees put up a valiant effort against the CTK Knights , but the clock ran out shortly before the Bees were able to finish their furious comeback. Parker P. played a stellar second half in goal. Goals were scored by Luca, Braden , Eli , and Jackson. 5/11/25: JV Soccer advanced to a winning record of 2-1. Parker P. showed grit & determination in goal, while Jackson, Eli & Gabe were goal scorers. And who can forget about the SMS defense? The fiercest, yet most polite defenders of the day were Michaela and Francesca. Great game team! Rumor has it another win Thursday could lead to ice cream at Uncle G’s after the game. ==================== 5/8/25: The "Team Rivera" 3rd/4th grade Bees are now 2-1 on the year. Our Bees played well to come out with the win against Christian Central Academy, 3-1. Goals were scored by Jack H. & Julia C., with strong goalie play by Luke C. and Weston R. A great overall team effort on both sides of the ball led to the win! ==================== 5/12/25: The "Team Terrill" 3rd/4th grade Bees played valiantly against Saint Christopher's. A goal from Elliott T. had the Bees taking an early 1-0 lead, however they fell behind before tallying two more goals in the latter part of the game from Elliott and Senay to come up short, 6-3. #youthsports #soccer #varsity #juniorvarsity #catholicschoolsports #coedsports

Thank you to the Moleski family for bidding on & winning the Montessori "Disney & Ice Cream Day" in our recent #SpringforSuccess Silent Auction! Students watched "Tangled", made a craft, dressed up Disney, & enjoyed ice cream! #silentauction #Tangled #DisneyDay #Montessori

🎨 Congratulations to our students whose work was selected for the Diocesan Art Show! It will be displayed this week at Notre Dame Academy, 260 Okell Street in South Buffalo. The show is open to the public May 14 & 15, 6-8pm, stop by! For more info: notredamebuffalo.org/art

Spring is inching towards Summer, & our K & 1 classes are bringing the energy of the season inside! Check out the colorful Math, Science & ELA work currently hanging in their hallway. #VeryHungryCaterpillar #PartsofaFlower #Knowledge #grade1 #kindergarten #spring

Our teachers are still enjoying the snacks, gifts, cards & more that they were given last week! In addition to the goodies, many shared "Virtual High-Fives" with our teachers and staff, click the link below to read a few: facebook.com/share/r/16Xo3kXpre/ #TeacherAppreciationWeek