MS. RACHEL GEMO,
HEAD OF PARISH SCHOOL
July 17, 2025 | VOLUME 23 | ISSUE 1
THE BUZZ FROM MS. GEMO | LOWER SCHOOL NEWS - GRADES PRESCHOOL-3
UPPER SCHOOL NEWS - GRADES 4-8 | WEEKLY CALENDAR | HSA
Greetings SBPS Parents and Friends:
I pray everyone’s summer has been going well! We are about one month away from the start of the new school year. Are you getting excited?
We welcome our teachers back on Tuesday, August 12 - please keep our teachers and staff in your prayers for a healthy and restful summer days.
We welcomed our new pastor, Father Robert Ryan, officially on July 1. He is so excited to be here and he can’t wait to get to meet all of you. I encourage our school families to attend a Mass he is celebrating and introduce yourselves to him and welcome him.
Hopefully, today, you have received an email directing you to the Back to School Forms that need to be completed and turned in my Thursday, July 31. If you didn’t get the email, you can access the forms above from the parent resources menu. Look for "2025-26 School Year Forms.” Please read through all the items carefully, download and complete the needed forms following the directions. Forms may be dropped off at school, or scanned and emailed to schoolforms@stbenedict.com by Thursday, July 31, 2025. Please reach out to Mrs. Moore (kmoore@stbenedict.com), Mrs. Dodovich (cdodovich@stbenedict.com) or Mrs. Nota (cnota@stbenedict.com) if you have any questions about the forms. For preschool families, as a courtesy, we will also be mailing the forms to the home addresses. You can use the printed forms sent you, or go ahead and get started with the electronic documents.
Our cleaning company and maintenance staff have been working hard to prepare the school facilities for the coming year. We’ve had teams of teachers and administrators working on projects over the summer to keep the academic excellence going. We are setting our goals for the coming school year, many of them supporting the long term goals in our strategic plan. As we get closer to the start of the school year, we’ll have more information on our ongoing initiatives: implementing mastery-based or standards-based learning, strengthening our diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and we are excited to roll our our SBPS Belief Statements and tell you all about them.
Next week, I join an amazing cohort of Catholic school leaders from across the nation in South Bend as we participate in the Notre Dame’s ACE Principals Academy. I’m excited to continue to grow as an educator and Catholic school leader as we engage in deep learning and strengthen our leadership practices. Please keep all of us in your prayers as we continue to build and sustain Catholic educational excellence in the US.
So for now, please focus on completing and submitting the back to school forms…and then enjoy the rest of these summer days. There’s more good things in store for us this year.
There’s a lot more important information below. Be sure to check out the following:
Bengal Cubs 2 1/2 Year Old Program - Sign Up Today
Garage Sale Drop Off and Volunteer Opportunities
Sign Up for Band Tryouts for August 11, 2025
Please find listed below important dates:
July 17, 2025 - 2025-26 New School Year Documents will be available online - please complete and return by July 31
July 17, 2025 Cross Country Practice at Horner Park 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
July 19th and 20th from 10am-12pm - Baby and Kids Garage Sale Drop off by courtyard door 5
July 21-25, 2025 - Summer Vacation Bible Camp - see below
July 31, 2025 - New School Year Forms are due today - along with physicals, sports physicals, eye and dental exams for required grades
August 7, 2025 - Ms. Gemo’s Middle School garden club from 9-10:30AM RSVP Here
August 7, 2025 Cross Country Practice at Horner Park 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
August 11, 2025 - Band Tryouts for Rising 4th grade and new/transferring grades 4-8 students (see below)
August 14, 2025 - New Family Tour (incoming Grade 1-8) at 4:30PM and Virtual Parent Orientation at 7:30PM
August 14, 2025 - Preschool Parent Orientation (In Person) at 5:30PM
August 14, 2025 - Middle School Parent Orientation (Virtual) 6:30PM
August 15, 2025 - Feast of the Assumption - Holy Mother of God, Pray for Us
‘August 17, 2025 - Back to School Mass and BBQ - 10AM Mass with BBQ in courtyard after the Mass
August 19, 2025 - Teacher Meet and Greet for Families of Students Grades 1-8 from 4 to 5PM
August 20, 2025 - First Day of School Grades 1-8
August 20, 2025 - Kindergarten Parent and Student Orientation 5PM
August 21, 2025 - First Day of Kindergarten and Preschool
August 26, 2025 Cross Country Practice at SBPS 2:15 PM–3:45 PM
May God be with us always!
Ms. Rachel Gemo, Head of School
Ms. Gemo’s Prayer Corner
Giving Thanks For Summer
Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer!
Thank you for the warmth of the sun
and the increased daylight.
Thank You for the beauty I see all around me
and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation.
Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family,
and for the more casual pace of the summer season.
Draw me closer to You this summer.
Teach me how I can pray
no matter where I am or what I am doing.
Warm my soul with the awareness of Your presence
and light my path with Your Word and Counsel.
As I enjoy Your creation, create in me
a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.