Frequently Asked Questions

By perusing our website, you are already taking the first step in getting to know St. Mary of the Angels School! The next step would be to visit our school. You can RSVP for an upcoming Admissions Coffee by clicking here. If our scheduled dates don’t work for your family, please contact our Admissions Office to arrange a private tour. At your tour, you will receive an admissions packet with all of the necessary paperwork. If you’d like to apply prior to visiting, you can print and complete the 2024-2025 New Student Application and our Parent Questionnaire. Once completed, you can drop off these forms at our main office, along with your $150 non-refundable Application Fee. Or, you can mail in the forms and check to 1810 N. Hermitage Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, Attn: Admissions Office.

• The school day is from 7:45 am – 2:45 pm.
• Half-Day Preschool is from 7:45 am – 11:00am.
• The main office is open Monday – Friday, 7:00 am – 3:00 pm.
• After-School Care is offered Monday – Friday, 2:50pm – 6:00pm.
• The main office is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and all school holidays.
• The main office has reduced hours during the summer months. Please call 773.486.0119 before stopping by during the summer.

The beginning of school day drop-off begins at 7:35 am. There are separate procedures for Preschool/Kindergarten and 1st – 8th Grade.

• Preschool drop-off: Parents are to park in the school parking lot and walk their child(ren) to the school auditorium. If your Preschool or Kindergarten student has an older sibling, and you have given permission for this student to escort his/her sibling to the auditorium, this is also an acceptable drop-off procedure.
• Kindergarten – 4th Grade drop-off: Parents participate in the “Kiss & Fly” drop-off procedure. Driving south from Cortland, along Hermitage, wait in line to pull-up at the front entrance. Our drop-off volunteers will open the door and see your child(ren) to the school doors. Students then walk themselves into their classroom. Alternatively, parents may park in the school parking lot, or along Hermitage, and walk their child(ren) to the main entrance of the school.

Half-Day Preschool pick-up is at 11:00am. The teacher brings the Half-Day Preschool children to the main office. Parents should park in the parking lot, or along Hermitage, and then come to the main office to pick up their child.

End of school day pick-up is 3:00pm. Weather permitting, pick-up will occur in the gated area of the school parking lot. Parents park in the school lot, or along Hermitage, and then walk to the gated area of the parking lot. Classes are lined up according to grade. If your child(ren) aren’t picked up by 10 minutes after 3:00pm, they will automatically be sent to After-School Care and billed accordingly.

Rain/snow/ice/inclement weather pick-up: In case of inclement weather, pick up will occur indoors. Parents shall enter the main entrance and proceed to:

• Preschool – 1st Grade: Pick-up in the classroom.
• 2nd – 8th Grade: Pick-up in auditorium.

After-School Care pick-up: Enter through the side door and proceed to the Extended Day Program Office to sign-out and pick-up your child.

St. Mary of the Angels School utilizes the tuition payment & management system FACTS. Upon acceptance, all families must create a FACTS Family Account. Once created, all applicable school fees will be added to your account. These include tuition and Extended Day Program costs. If a tuition deposit has been made, this amount will be reflected in your family account.

Families can select from the available payment plans. A FACTS Family Account must be created regardless of payment method. For instance, if payment in full is made in the main office, your FACTS Family Account will be updated accordingly.

If your family qualifies for and has received a private scholarship, state or financial aid, this amount will be reflected in your FACTS family account.

All Extended Day Program charges will be added to your FACTS Family Account and must be paid on a monthly basis.

• Tuition Assistance: Our mission is to educate any child who desires a Catholic education. St. Mary of the Angels offers a variety of options to make a Catholic education accessible to all families. Tuition assistance is available for qualifying families with students in grades K-8. Families shall first apply through the FACTS Grant & Aid Application. Once the FACTS Application is complete, our application for tuition assistance will be distributed to the applicants by the school office. Applications will not be considered without all necessary paperwork and if not submitted by the stated due date. Late applications will be considered only to the extent scholarship funds are still available.
• Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship: In addition to Private Scholarship funding (see below) that is granted based on the FACTS Grant & Aid Application, this program is available to families who qualify. Private Scholarship Funding will not be considered unless the Applicant has first applied for the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship through Empower Illinois and/or Big Shoulders. Please contact the Admissions Office for more information.
• Private Scholarship: Families that qualify for available private scholarship funding will be notified by the Admissions office. Applications will be sent directly to these families. It is the responsibility of the family to complete all necessary paperwork for any available scholarship opportunity. Completed paperwork is then sent to Ms. Beth Dolack, our principal, and then forwarded to the scholarship committee for review. Failure to meet the necessary obligations of each scholarship may affect the recipient’s scholarship status and renewal. St. Mary of the Angels reserves the right to decline scholarship renewal and or rescind the scholarship at any time should the recipient not be a student in good academic and or disciplinary standing. The scholarship committee will host a hearing to discuss a scholarship standing if any issue or circumstance should arise that violates the student and or parent contract. This committee reserves the right to revoke a scholarship if deemed necessary.

We are grateful to all who give of their time, talents and treasure each year! Each family at St. Mary of the Angels School is expected to fully become a part of the SMA Family, which includes participating in school fundraisers and offering service to the community. Participation not only helps the school, but nurtures your own sense of belonging and models a service mindset to your children.

• Fundraising: We do not currently have a minimum required annual contribution. However, the expectation is that all families will participate in our Fun-Run in the fall, our Angels of Hope event in the Spring, as well as other smaller fundraisers that occur during the year. Please note: families who receive scholarship awards may be asked to make specific contributions of time/talents toward our fundraising efforts. This will be communicated during the scholarship awarding process.
• Service Hours: Each family is asked to volunteer 15 hours of their time to make St. Mary of the Angels a great school for their children. If unable to complete these service hours, families may choose to contribute $15 per hour in lieu of volunteering.

Often, after a semester at school, students are ready to attend our Early Childhood Program on a more full-time basis. Whenever possible, our teachers and staff will work to accommodate requests to alter a schedule mid-year, within their current classroom. Schedule change requests must be submitted in writing to the Admissions Office. The Admissions Office will notify the parent(s), teacher, and principal of approved schedule changes so that attendance and tuition information can be adjusted accordingly. Schedule change requests will be considered only if there is available space in the classroom for the extended days/times requested.

The application fee is a processing fee and guarantees that your application will be accepted and considered in the Admissions Process. All applications received along with the application fee will be reviewed. Following review, families will be sent official acceptance letters along with the New Student Fee information. Spots are guaranteed to families who have received an acceptance letter and who have submitted, within the specified time frame, their non-refundable New Student Fee for the upcoming school year.

All children, Preschool – 8th Grade must wear the official SMA school uniform. Our uniform is available for purchase through Dennis Uniform company. To learn more about purchasing uniforms, click here.

St. Mary of the Angels School offers a school lunch program through Food Service Program Chicago (FSP). Meals are offered at an additional cost to all Full-Day Preschool and K-8 students every school day. Families receive the lunch menu at the start of each month, and can choose between two daily options. If preferred, students are also welcome to bring their own lunch every day or on days when the school lunch choices are not appealing. There is also the option of choosing only milk to accompany a packed lunch. Breakfast is available for purchase for those students enrolled in Before-School Care.

A morning snack is offered to students in our Early Childhood Program, Kindergarten and 1st Grade. Parents take turns providing the daily snack for the entire classroom. Snack calendars are determined by the classroom teacher. Parents will be notified of the monthly snack calendar and will be given ample notice if they have been assigned to bring in snack on a designated day that month. All snack options adhere to the school’s Nut Allergy Policy, which can be found in the Family Handbook.

Students in our Full-Day Preschool and Kindergarten programs have a scheduled nap time each day. All children participate in nap time. If students are unable to sleep, they lay quietly on their mat, resting throughout the scheduled period. At the start of the year, children bring a pillow, blanket, and one sleep time “friend” to leave in their cubbies at school, which are used during nap time. We ask that children leave these items at school full-time (except during scheduled take-home washing periods), so that they are always available.

Kindergarten nap time is slowly shortened, then eliminated, throughout the 2nd semester so that the students are prepared for 1st grade.

Daily parking is available for all school families in the adjacent school lot. Families can park freely throughout every school day and for all weekend school events.