LETTER FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

MERCY PARENT NEWSLETTER

Dear Mercy Families;

As we begin the last quarter of the school year, spring sports have started successfully, and the weather is cooperating nicely. We will soon be approaching AP exams, final exams and graduation. It is always impor-tant to finish the year strong. Please work with your daughters to monitor their activities and levels of stress as we go into this active part of the school year.

We are always looking for ways to improve as a school. On Friday, April 27th we will be meeting with the other Mercy High Schools in the region to share best practices. The entire faculty and staffs from the other schools will be traveling here to Rochester. Participating schools include Notre Dame of Elmira, Mercyhurst Preparatory School in Erie, Pennsylvania and Mount Mercy Academy in Buffalo. The leadership from the Sis-ters of Mercy and Bishop Clark will be in attendance.

This is a busy time of year for many reasons. We are doing all the things we need to finish the year with plan-ning the Father-Daughter Dinner Dance, Junior Prom, Junior Ring Ceremony, Senior Ball, May Day, and Graduation for both the 8th graders and our seniors. We are also planning for next year as well. Currently, we are taking registrations for next year, planning our budget and staffing needs, and hiring new faculty for open positions and the new 6th grade.

You may already know that JoAnn Wawrzaszek, our Assistant Principal, is retiring at the end of the school year. She has done a terrific job over the last ten years at Our Lady of Mercy High School, as well as serving Catholic schools in the Rochester area for her entire career. This is an extremely important position for our school. We had over 90 applications for the position. We are happy to announce that Mrs. Dana Whipple has been hired to fill the position. She has worked in the private school sector for eight years, most recently as the Head of School at The Montessori School of Rochester, where she also served as Acting Director and Dean of Students. She will formally be taking over on July 1, 2012. Prior to the end of the year, she will be working informally with JoAnn and meeting the faculty and students. I want to thank everyone for your continued support of this great institution. We continue to support the mis-sion and vision of Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at tquinn@mercyhs.com or by phone at 585-288-7120 x303.

May God bless you,

Terry Quinn

APRIL 2012

CURRICULUM UPDATE

A few “spring house cleaning” notes and reminders from your Assistant Principal… Mercy’s June exam schedule can be found on our website. The link is accessible through our home page. You may forward any questions regarding June exams to me at jwawrzaszek@mercyhs.com, or 288-7120, ext. 318. We have received several favorable comments on our improved uniform policy and how much better our stu-dents look. We appreciate your efforts and support. We are not at 100 percent yet, but we’re getting there! Thank you! And one last reminder… the driveway off Blossom Road does double duty as our bus loop both before and after school. As a safety precaution, we ask drivers to use the Clover Street entrance between 7 and 9 am and 2 and 4 pm. The first driveway off Blossom Road (the one closest to the expressway) is also off limits to drivers as this is the Motherhouse driveway and parking area. Thank you for not dropping off your daughter in the Motherhouse Circle or waiting for her in the circle after school. Again, this is a safety issue for the Sisters who live in or visit the Motherhouse and their guests. JoAnn Wawrzaszek, Assistant Principal

This year, we have been focusing on what we teach. What should students know and be able to do as a re-sult of taking our courses? How do we insure that our students have the skills to compete and succeed in the world today? Current research supports the need to make a shift in our educational program, shifting from what we teach to what students learn. Discussing this shift to standards-based education has been the focus of many of our professional development opportunities this year. We have used our faculty meetings and cur-riculum council meetings to discuss and understand 21st Century Standards, so that we can infuse them into our curriculum. In addition, we have started to take a look at increasing our assessment literacy. How can we assure the quality and consistency of our assessments? How can we turn our learners into assessors, and how can we use assessment feedback to support our students and build their confidence? This summer we will have the opportunity to refine our practice based on these conversations. For the sec-ond summer in a row we will engage faculty in summer curriculum work where all of our teachers will meet in June, July and August to achieve two initiatives: to create a unit that targets a specific 21st Century Literacy Standard and infuse that unit into their curriculum for next year, and to analyze final summative assessments and form a SMART goal that focuses on strengthening a specific instructional strategy. We are grateful for the support of the Board and our administrators which gives us the opportunity to reflect on our work and plan the growth that will benefit our students. Colleen Bonar, Curriculum Coordinator

FROM MS. WAWRZASZEK

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Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival Nazareth College is hosting the highly anticipated, seventh annual Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival (TBF). The event brings thousands of teens with all kinds of literary tastes together to meet their favorite au-thors. TBF is Saturday, May 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Nazareth College, located at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y. 14618. This event is free and open to the public. For more information visit www.tbflive.org or contact Stephanie Squicciarini at the Fairport Public Library at (585) 223-9091. Many OLM students volunteer at the festival as author assistants, tour guides and putting together promotional material. TBF will bring teens face-to-face with thirty-one award-winning authors from across the nation. Attendees will be able to meet and ask questions of their favorite authors as well as introduce themselves to new ones. The festival opens with a panel with all authors together and then continues with special breakout sessions de-signed to promote interaction with readers and writers. Teens will also have the chance to attend an auto-graphing session. Featured authors include Laurie Halse Anderson, Charles Benoit, Svetlana Chmakova, Matt de la Pena, Jenny Han, Amy Holder, A.S. King, Brandon Mull, Susan Beth Pfeffer, and Terry Trueman. Books for all of the Festival authors are available at local public or school libraries and for purchase at local Barnes and No-ble stores. For more information about all of the TBF authors, visit www.tbflive.org. EBooks The Library Media Center is now circulating eight Sony eReaders and 18 Kindles to stu-dents and staff. Students must have an eReader permission slip on file with Mrs. Rouleau before they will be able to borrow the eReaders. Students may obtain the permission slips from Mrs. Rouleau. Kim Rouleau, Library Media Specialist

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER

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INFORMATION FOR PARENTS OF JUNIORS

JUNIOR RING CEREMONY

Friday, May 18th, 9am-10:30am in the Mercy Auditorium

Parents are welcome!

A reception will be held in the Gallery following the ceremony.

JUNIOR PROM

Friday, May 18th, 6pm-11pm*

The Rochester Club Ballroom, 120 East Avenue, Price: Couple $95, Single $61

(*Please be there by 6:45pm. Students may not leave before 10:30pm.)

Questions? Contact Miss Ciarletto @ 288-7120, ext. 605 or pciarletto@mercyhs.com.

During April, the 7th and 8th graders participated in their last Ministry Days of the year. They colored Easter eggs with the residents at Legacy, sorted clothing donations at Saints’ Place, helped prepare a meal for the homeless at St. Peter’s Kitchen and played outside with the children at Rochester Childfirst Network and Wil-son Commencement Park, to name a few of the locations they served. Thank you to all of the parent drivers for helping us to continue this important Mercy tradition - we couldn’t do it without you. The 8th graders were busy this month taking the NYS ELA and Math exams. To relieve a little stress after ex-ams, the Middle School students were treated to a Spring Egg Hunt. Six hundred plastic eggs were hidden around the fields behind the school and after finding them, the girls were able to turn them in for candy and prizes. A little surprise Spring time fun for everyone! The end of the year is fast approaching, so please keep updated with all of the Middle School events by checking the MS Wikispace regularly. There are a couple of Dress Down days left and a Middle School Dance coming up. We ask your support in assuring that your daughter dresses conservatively, is considerate of others and conducts herself in a respectful manner not only for these activities but at all times. MS - UPCOMING EVENTS:

Friday, May 4 – Game/Movie Night (6:00-9:00pm) – rescheduled from June 1st Friday, May 18 – MS Dance (7:00-9:00pm) Thursday, May 31 – Character Counts Award Winners Luncheon (10:30am) Friday, June 1 – 8th Grade Trip to Niagara Falls Wednesday, June 13 – 7

th grade “End of the Year Picnic” at Ellison Park (10:30am-2:30pm)

Friday, June 15 – 8th grade Commencement and reception (7:00-8:00pm) Note: Final Exam schedule is listed on the Mercy website Homepage. Nancy Wunder, Middle School Director

MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS

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MINISTRY DAY

PASSPORT PROGRAM MOVIE SCREENING

Mercy teachers Stephanie Barbero and Brian Matthews will be participating in a 100-mile bike ride, The Ride for Missing Children, on Friday, May 18, 2012. The mission of the Ride is to: * Remember all missing children * Spread awareness to the plight of all missing and exploited children * Raise funds to support prevention education programs and poster distribution Along the 100 mile route, the Riders, or Friends of Missing Children, will stop at targeted area schools to spread awareness on the plight of missing and exploited children. Staff and volunteers will reinforce the vital safety messages to the children the day of the Ride. The Riders will hand pencils with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children information to the eagerly awaiting children. We are hoping to raise awareness of this cause by having Mercy students/families/staff make a $1.00 dona-tion to the NCMEC/NY by purchasing "Bucks for Bikes," which will have donors’ names proudly displayed in the Mercy cafeteria. Please let us know if you are riding or if your daughter might want to ride with us. The Ride is quickly approaching, so let us know soon!

The "Passport" program event - co-sponsored by McQuaid's and Aquinas' service programs - is the screening of a documentary film entitled, "After I Pick the Fruit: The Lives of Migrant Women" on Thursday, May 3 at 6:30pm in Mercy's auditorium. Directed and filmed by Sodus filmmaker Nancy Ghertner, the film follows the lives of five area female farm workers from 2000 through 2010. While the women all share a profession - farm worker - their life stories and circumstances (e.g., country of origin, immigration status, number of chil-dren, etc.) are different. A discussion with the filmmaker will follow the screening. The event is free and open to the public.

MERCY TEACHERS RIDE FOR MISSING CHILDREN

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NEW NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBERS

Congratulations to the newest Mercy members of the National Honor Society:

Emily Armstrong, Tegan Ayers, Sarah Basta, Rachel Benjamin, Jesse Bennett, Katherine Brooker, Elizabeth Cavacos, Margaret Ciaccio, Emily Collins, Anna Crea-tura, Gina Crosby, Ariel Evans, Priscilla Files, Victoria Frankiewich, Erin Geen, Melissa Gerwitz, Emma Gordon, Emily Graham, Emily Hann, Taylor Howarth, Bridgette Klein, Sarah Kohlmeier, Jennifer LeBeau, Kathryn Lippa, Megumi Medura, Marissa Maenza, Clare Malone, Julee Martin, Grace Maxwell, Jennifer McInerney,

Margaret Miller, Jacqueline O’Flynn, Anna Palmer, Soyeon Park, Ariana Perez, Caitlin Purcell, Caroline Ried-man, Aubrey Roemer, Katharine Rubery, Lindsey Salvas, Kelly Smith, Molly Stanley, Christine Stemmer, Anne Stoklosa, Erin Trudeau, and Molly Verghese.

Spring Sports News: Amazing Weather Continues…

Remember last year, March 2011?? –Here was my opening paragraph last year:

“Practices, scrimmages cancelled, and more practices…March was utterly too long, too cold and miserable. The worst possible weather for preseason for our Spring sports teams. At last, in the second week of April, softball and lacrosse each have completed one game.”

This year, March 2012 was the warmest and driest in decades…Teams were outside practicing in the second week of March, and that weather has not stopped. We are enjoying such a gracious bounty of God’s good-ness…our teams have completed six or seven games and our modified teams have been outside for weeks, too.

Once again, the Falk Foundation and others have donated money and time generously to the overall goal of completing the softball stadium. Because of the expertise and labor of the parents of the softball program, tre-mendous changes have occurred once again. Dugouts have been constructed and outfitted with permanent, Trex-board benches, helmet racks, storage closets, etc. Permanent chain-link home run and out-of-bounds fences have been added. Umpires and opposing coaches are commenting on how awesome our facility is. I wish to extend many thanks to those who have contributed their money and time to making these improve-ments for our athletes.

Returning Varsity Softball Coach, Chuck Sciortino, is confident in his girls’ ability to be Sectional Champions this year. They have just returned from a 3-game trip to North Carolina where they competed well with some of NC’s state-ranked teams. They earned a victory over Wake Forest-Rolesville. Their record stands at 2 wins-3 losses. The JV squad, under returning coach, Nellie Coats, also opened their season with wins over Bishop Kearney and Penfield. The Modified softball program, led by Coach Judy Shelton, has opened up with 2 wins – 0 losses defeating Northstar and Eugenio Maria de Hostas Charter School.

Coach Anthony Yandek’s Varsity Lacrosse squad stands at 5 wins and 3 losses, returning from a successful Spring Break trip to Ohio. Mercy has defeated Aquinas, Pal-Mac and Section VI’s Lancaster along with two wins in Ohio. The JV team, under returning coaches, Mike Hanna and Kellah Alford ’09, have played very competitively and have earned 1 win – 4 losses – 2 ties. The Modified Program is under new Coach, Ana Zarbo, a PE Major at SUNY Brockport. Modified begins its competitive schedule on Thursday, April 19 versus Geneva.

Outdoor Track and Field has been training hard since March 12 on the new track minus its all-weather surfac-ing which is scheduled for installation the week of May 28. Coach Tim Jones looks once again, not only to produce great results, but also to provide leadership for a roster of 45 Varsity members as young as the sev-enth and eighth grade. Jones is assisted by Stacie May and Teresa Coon, along with his handsome grand-sons. The Varsity Track schedule is filled this year with at least two events weekly until Sectionals in mid-May. They open at the Brighton Relays this Friday, April 20. Kim McCracken has returned to coach the Modi-fied Track team through a full schedule of meets in the Finger Lakes’ League.

MERCY ATHLETICS

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MERCY MCQUAID SAILING TEAM DOMINATES

Mercy Crew has been busily preparing for the Spring Regatta season as they hope to win another New York State Scholastic Championship. They too have taken advantage of the beautiful March and have already been on the waters of the Genesee River for several weeks. The girls open up their competitive season on Saturday, April 21 with a scrimmage in Baldwinsville.

Senior Sam Sorge was recently named to the “All-Greater Rochester” Team for Girls Basketball. Congratula-tions, Sam!!

Two seniors have recently signed National Letters of Intent to pursue NCAA careers:

Nicole Rivera – University of the Sciences, Philadelphia – Division II Softball and Volleyball; Pre-Pharmacy Major

Melissa Ercoli – Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh – Division I Soccer; Physical Therapy/Sports Psychol-ogy Major

Congratulations, ladies!!

Dr. Nick Schlierf, Athletic Director

Saturday April 14th eleven teams competed for MASSA’s (Mid Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association) North West League’s Fleet Racing Championship. Mercy/McQuaid had 3 teams competing. Team 1 was Made up of Sophomore Skipper Nick Sertl and Junior Crew Anna Palmer sailing in A division and Junior Skipper Danny Lawless with Freshman Josh Kusmierz. They dominated the day’s racing, winning seven of the 10 races for the overall win, qualifying them for the MASSA championships this weekend in Tom’s River New Jersey.

Saturday’s sailing was trying, with near drifting conditions for the first three races and then shifty 10 to 15 knots with gusts up to 20 for the final two.

Close behind in 2nd overall was Mercy/McQuaid team 2 with Senior Skippers Brendan Cook and Katja Sertl and Freshman Crew Venice Aureli and Sophomore Maryn Cannon. Cannon and Sertl switched skipper and crew positions for the last two races winning race 4 by 20 boat lengths and roaring back to 3rd after being over early in race 5.

MERCY ATHLETICS (cont’d.)

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DATES TO REMEMBER

April 20 Praise & Worship

April 25 Communion Service

Grade 7 Ministry Day

7:30-8:15am Alumnae Assoc. Board Senior Breakfast

7pm—Senior Retreat Begins

April 26 Guided Meditation

MS Character Counts HR Assembly

Senior Retreat

April 27 NYPPAW Professional Day—No School

April 28 Incoming 9th Grade Prayer Service

May 1 Performing Arts Boosters Meeting

May 2 Communion Service

Children’s Theater Production of Peter Pan

May 3 Guided Meditation

Drama & Math Clubs Dress Down

7pm Parents’ Association Meeting

May 4 Praise & Worship

Arts Fest—No Classes

May 5 SAT— Off Site

May 7 AP Chemistry—AM

AP Psychology—PM

7pm Performing Arts Boosters Meeting

7pm Sports Boosters Meeting

May 8 AP Spanish—AM

May 9 Communion Service

AP Calculus—AM

May 10 Guided Meditation

AP English—AM

AP Latin—PM

www.mercyhs.com