The St. Mary Parish School Board will meet in Special Session on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, at 4:00 P.M., in the Evans Medine Meeting Room at the Central Office Complex in Centerville, Louisiana, with the following items on the agenda:

1. Announce upcoming adoption of millage rates for 2018 at the regularly scheduled boardmeeting to be held on the 10th day of May, 2018 at 5:00 P.M., at the Central Office Complexof the St. Mary Parish School Board, 474 Hwy. 317, Centerville, Louisiana 70522, as required by Act 267 (R.S. 42:19.1); 
2. 2018-2019 budget update;
3. Other business as allowed by Act 131.

Printable: Press Release (PDF)

St. Mary Parish Student Art Show chairperson Ms. Lori Buteau has invited the public to join St. Mary Parish art teachers in honoring this year's winners at a reception held on Thursday, March 22, at 6:00 PM at the Artists Guild Unlimited Art Gallery at 201 Everett Street in Morgan City. 

Student art will remain on display at the gallery until April 18. 

Update:  Congratulations to Matison Leblanc (MCHS) for winning the "Best in Show" award.  A complete list of art show winners can be found on the Departments | Fine Arts page.

Ms. Gidget Everitt, the district's At-Risk Interventionist, has released the slogan adopted for this year's Red Ribbon Campaign. Congratulations to BJHS student Mia Crooks for submitting the winning slogan:

"The future is BRIGHT when you are doing things RIGHT!  Be Drug Free!"

The selection of the slogan officially begins the Red Ribbon Drawing Contest, which is open to all students, family members, and community members. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 20, 2018. 

Red Ribbon Drawing Contest Flyer (Word)

Red Ribbon Drawing Contest Flyer (PDF)

Help us celebrate the 30th anniversary of Red Ribbon Week in St. Mary Parish by submitting an entry.

The St. Mary Parish School Board adopted the 2018-2019 school calendar at its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, March 8. 

District calendars can be found in the following locations on this website:

• Employees | Calendars (PDF)
• Parents/Students | Basic Information | Calendar for Schools (PDF)

The calendar is also available in Word format. 

At its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2018, the St. Mary Parish School Board approved the following proclamations of honor for the months of April and May:

• Week of the Young Child (April 16-20, 2018): Presented by Ms. Suzanne Bergeron
• National Library Week (April 8-14, 2018): Presented by Ms. Sarah Broussard
• Secretaries Week (April 23-27, 2018): Presented by Mr. Pete Boudreaux
• Teachers Appreciation Week (May 7-11, 2018): Presented by Mr. Pete Boudreaux

As part of its regular meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2018, the St. Mary Parish School Board recognized and congratulated the following individuals:

• Student of the Month: Noah Lange, 5th Grade (Wyandotte Elementary School)
• Student of the Month: J'Michael Gray, 8th Grade (Franklin Junior High School)
• Student of the Month: Bailee Hoggatt, 12th Grade (Morgan City High School)
  
  

• Employee of the Month: Ms. Melanie Askew, Secretary (Wyandotte Elementary School)
• Employee of the Month: Ms. Shawanna Hamilton, 8th Grade Math Teacher (Franklin Junior High School)
• Employee of the Month: Ms. Christina Mancuso,  Math Teacher (Morgan City High School)

Congratulations to these outstanding St. Mary Parish students and employees.

St. Mary Parish Public Schools will begin registration for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade students at area elementary schools. 

In accordance with the age guidelines set by the Louisiana Department of Education, all pre-kindergarten students must be four (4) years old and all kindergarten students must be five (5) years old on or before September 30, 2018, for the 2018-2019 school session.  Any student entering first grade in the fall and not currently enrolled in a public school kindergarten should register on the designated registration days.

Parents and guardians are asked to attend registration at the school in their attendance zone. Registration for in St. Mary Parish will be held from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM on Wednesday, March 21, and Thursday, March 22, for all elementary schools except Hattie Watts. Hattie Watts Elementary will have pre-kindergarten registration on Wednesday, March 21^st from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM while kindergarten registration will be held on Thursday, March 22, from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

NEW this year for PreK registration: The deadline for the first round of registrations will be May 22, 2018.

• Additional information regarding Pre-K can be found on our website under District | Schools and Programs | Early Childhood Network (Pre-K)
• Attendance Zone Maps are available under Parents/Students | Basic Information | Attendance Zones.

Press Release (Word document)

St. Mary Parish was included in a list of the ten safest districts in Louisiana for 2018, according to a report from niche.com, a website that leverages data sets to produce rankings, report cards, and profiles of schools and neighborhoods.

The results, which were also reported in the Daily Advertiser, were determined based on data including parent and student surveys, expenses per student, absenteeism, suspensions and expulsions, law enforcement referrals, and arrests for school-related incidents. 

The 10 safest districts in Louisiana, according to the report, are:

1. Central Community Public Schools
2. Zachary Community Public Schools
3. Community School for Apprenticeship Learning
4. DeSoto Parish Public Schools
5. Friends of King in New Orleans
6. Bienville Parish Public Schools
7. St. Charles Parish Public Schools
8. Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy Foundation
9. Monroe City Public Schools
10. St. Mary Parish Public Schools

The St. Mary Parish School Board approved adjustments to the school calendar that resulted from weather-related closures throughout the 2017-2018 school year. The loss of instructional time will primarily be reinstated through the inclusion of emergency days annually identified as part of the school calendar. Severe weather conditions including Hurricane Harvey and extreme winter temperatures caused the district to close all schools for six days.

In an effort to restore instructional time, the district will add the following days to the remaining school year:

• February 14-16, 2018
• March 15, 2018

Additionally, Raintree Elementary will adjust its daily schedule by 20 minutes to resolve school days missed due to an interruption of the school’s water service. The revised schedule will mean that Raintree Elementary students will attend school from 8:00 AM to 3:20 PM beginning Monday, February 5th and ending Friday, April 27th. The extra minutes will help mitigate the additional three days Raintree was unable to hold classes.

Superintendent Leonard Armato expressed his concern for the interruption of instruction and empathizes with issues raised regarding needed adjustments to the school calendar. “The school district is deeply mindful of the need to meet state instructional guidelines and ensure that students have every opportunity to receive classroom instruction that will adequately prepare them to attain promotional standards. Ongoing weather conditions have made it necessary to periodically close schools in order to maintain student safety as they travel to school each day. Our main priority is to offer students a safe and comprehensive education and the reinstatement of instructional time will support that endeavor.” 

Full press release (Word) 

The district's  "A Guide for St. Mary Parish Public Schools" is now available on our website. This digital version, which also contains PDF options for printing, allows the use of our website's Translate option to make the information accessible to a wider audience.

The complete newspaper, including recent updates and additions, can be found in the Parents/Students channel or by using this link: A Guide to St. Mary Parish Schools.