* 9/28 Dress Down Day for Students whose parents attended 8/29 H&S MTG
* 10/3 School Liturgy 8:30
* 10/4 1st Trimester Progress Reports
* 10/8 No School
* 10/10 Pro-Life Cupcake Day
* 10/12 Parent/Teacher Conferences
             (No School for Elementary Students)

Hi Parents!

We had a great introduction and first visit with one of our Seminarians, Mr. Ron, this week. He spent time getting to know a little about each student and shared some information about himself as well. His favorite food is "sour spaghetti"! Have you ever heard of this? The students were very intrigued! He shared some of his background as well let the students ask questions about his life in seminary and fun things like what he likes to do, watch, and eat. We will look forward to his visits!

We also had our first Guidance class with Mrs. Wentz. She is on a new schedule this year, so she'll be with 5-8th for a 6 wk program, then switch to K-4 for a 6 wk program and continue this pattern through the school year. Our first lesson was on goal-setting.

Yesterday, we had our first prayer test for Religion. I explained the following to the students: Each prayer test can be administered as a written test or orally. If the student chooses to do it orally - only to myself, not in front of the class - they will automatically be rewarded with a free bonus point.

If you have returned your conference form to school this week, I have already either been in email contact with you or there is a slip stapled into your child's assignment book. You may remove this slip for your own records. There are a few forms I am still waiting to receive.

Next week:
Monday:
Tuesday: SS Ch 3 Less 1-2 Quiz
Wednesday:
Thursday: Rdg - WLT (Weekly Lesson Test) #3
Friday: Spelling Lesson 4 Test
           Math Ch 2 Less 1-5 Quiz

Have a great weekend!

God Bless You

Hi Parents!

We will soon begin our study of the Sacrament of Baptism. In preparation for this, I will soon be asking for your child to bring in a photo either from his/her baptism, a photo from a baptism that you have attended, or perhaps another photo you could locate of the sacrament. Ideally, it would be of someone in your family, but if not, worst case scenario, a nice Google image would be sufficient. This will be be a HW assignment in about another week and a half and I wanted to give you a heads up.

Test packets will be coming home every Friday from now on. Please make sure to inquire with your student if they do not present them to you at the end of the week. I know we all have busy Friday nights and weekend plans, so from time to time these can be overlooked while we are busy preparing for another week to start. This is why I ask the students to fill in the due date of 2 school days later. Most weeks, this is a Tuesday, unless we don't have school on Monday, then the due date would be Wednesday.

We had our student council election this week. The kids were super excited to have a chance to vote for their choices!

Next Friday, we have School Picture Day. Students should wear what you would like them to be photographed in, meaning students do not need to wear their regular uniform this day.

Next week:

Monday:
Tuesday: Religion Ch 2 Test
              Reading Weekly Lesson Test 2 (WLT)
Wednesday: SS Current Event (CE) Due
Thursday: Religion AM Offering Prayer Test
               SS Ch 3 Less 1-2 Quiz
Friday: Spelling Lesson 2 Test
           English Unit 1 Test

** Notes:

* WLT are ALWAYS open book.

* CEs are written HW assignments. Not tests.

* Prayer tests can be oral or written. If students choose to do the test orally, they automatically get a free bonus point.

* Everyone has a SS Study Guide to use as a review reference. This is completed mostly at school, unless finishing a page is for a HW assignment. This is collected as a CW grade the day of a SS Test.

Have a great weekend!

God Bless You!

Hi Parents!

We've had some assessments this week that are the first few grades of the school year. I was pleased to see so many nice Current Events (CEs) assignments coming in on Wednesday and they students enjoyed discussing them. We did some further research together with some of the article for some extra spontaneous learning.

We will be having regular seminarian visits again this year, approximately every other week on Wednesdays. Our seminarians, Mr. Ron and Mr. Vic, came by to say hi to our class this week. We are looking forward to their visits.

Our first test packet is coming home today! Things included in the test packet are part of your child's grade. Please sign and return these to school within the next 2 school operating days.

We are started off our Shambucks program which will reward students for following rules and good behavior. Students are aware that they lose a shambuck for 3 missed HWs, 3 minor infractions, or 1 serious infraction. Most of us are doing quite well, but I have had to take a few dollars this week. I hang them by the HW board as a helpful reminder.

Just some reminders:

- Students should wear gym uniforms on Thursdays.
- Art bags are for art class and are not the same as our classroom pencil case supplies.
- CE assignments include: locating an article, completing the form with information in the article, and returning these completed to school on due dates. These forms are always available in the classroom and students are encouraged to keep a few on hand at all times.

Next week:

Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: NO SCHOOL
Thursday:
Friday: Spelling Lesson 2 Test

Have a great weekend!

God Bless You!

Hi Parents!

We enjoyed our 1st school liturgy yesterday. Mrs. Pugliese had asked students in grades 4-8 about interest in the choir and I was impressed to see so many 5th graders wanting to participate! We had a beautiful liturgy celebrated by Fr. Morelli. He even taught us some Italian "sign language."

Today we had our Shambucks assembly where kids learned of incentives they can work towards through the trimester. There will be more information coming home to parents about this next week. Perhaps your child can fill you in until that letter comes home.

We spent time this week discussing and practicing Current Events for Social Studies. There are 6 in each trimester and due dates are listed in your child's SS copybook. These will all be compiled into 1 grade for the grade report. Your child is bringing home the one we practiced in class so you can see the feedback I wrote on their assignment. (This 1st one was NOT graded.) By next the end of next week, I'll have a few things to begin to enter into the portal and will let you know good times to check.

Next Week:

Monday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday -
Wednesday - SS Current Event (CE) Due
                    Math Ch 1 Less 1-4 Quiz
Thursday - Reading Test Lesson 1
               (We will call these Weekly Lesson Tests - WLT)
                Religion Ch 1 Test
Friday - Eng Less 1.1-1.5 Quiz

Have a great long weekend!

God Bless You!

Hi Parents!

We've had a great first week of school and are ready to come back on Monday ready to roll with our regular schedule of studies! We've been busy with classroom and school rules, procedures, getting to know each other, setting up our copybooks, practicing drills, and previewing texts. We've shared our book reports and projects about each other. We even snuck in a few real lessons this week. 

Today the students were surprised with a new book on their desks! I asked friends and family to sponsor a 5th grader to start off the school year and these people chose and purchased books from either a list that I suggested or a book that had special meaning for them. Each donor was asked to include a short message inside. Some messages are inside the front cover, some were separate cards or note paper. I encouraged the students to check the books out and read some of them today. Some were pleasantly surprised that they enjoyed what they perhaps wouldn't normally choose for themselves. This is not a book of required reading, but could be used for free reading at school or perhaps an upcoming book report. The sponsors care about students being more active, engaged learner so I hope the class enjoys these books. We'll be following up in the next week or two with a writing assignment of a thank you note that I will mail for each student. 

Next week:

Monday -
Tuesday -
Wednesday -
Thursday - Rel: 7 Sacraments Test
                Spelling: Less 1 Test

Have a great weekend!

God Bless You!