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Mt. Saint Mary's Newsline 8-30-2010

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:42:58 +0100

August 30, 2010

Mount St. Mary Academy

REMINDERS: Sept. 3: Minimum Day; 12:00 dismissal; Extension open until 6pm

Sept. 6: NO SCHOOL; Labor Day Holiday

Sept. 9: Back to School Night – 6pm St. Patrick’s Church

Sept. 29: Picture Day

SPORTS CORNER: Welcome back to school and welcome to the 2010-2011 Sports Season. We start off the year with Girls' Basketball, Cross Country and Flag Football. Flag Football practice will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursday s from 3:15 to 5:00 at Condon Park. Be sure to meet Mr. Thibodeau or Mrs. Lima as soon as school gets out in the back parking lot before heading over for practice, and bring plenty of water. Forms went out last week for all sports. Please return the signed forms and fees ASAP as we need the information for the league to set up the calendar and the start of practices. Please return Basketball and football forms to Mr. Ellis and Cross Country to Mrs. Ridens. Remember to write two checks: one for the player’s fee and one for the uniform deposit. -Tim Blaney/Barbara Hurley

Girls’ basketball season gets underway this week, so Mr. Ellis will not be available after school for help. He arrives at school at 7:30 promptly, so please come in and see him in the morning if help is needed. Girls’ basketball update: practice will go from 3:15-4:30 Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. No practice on Tuesday (this week only). Mr. Ellis will put together a complete game and practice schedule once he receives a game schedule from the league. There will be a parent meeting following practice on Thursday.

Sacrament Preparation for the Entire Family!

Celebrating Jesus in the sacraments is the foundation of the Catholic Faith. Sacrament preparation is a wonderful process for families to learn more about what it means to be a member of God’s church, as brothers and sisters of Jesus. To serve our families, religious and sacramental needs, we ask that ALL families fill out the sacrament form that is located on the web site and return it to school office as soon as possible. The sacrament process if for all members of your family—Parents and children of all ages who needing sacraments of baptism, first Holy Communion or confirmation. If you or your children have sacrament needs you will be contacted. More information will be provided at our back to school night.

Root Beer Floats are back! This Friday, September 3^rd, teachers will be selling Root Beer Floats for $2.00 in the back parking lot after school. Come and enjoy this yummy and refreshing treat.

Mt. St. Mary Choraleers: This is an audition performance choir of students in grades 4 – 8. We meet once per week on Thursdays at 6:50 a.m. in the music room at school. Our performances include entertaining at parish events and parent club events, singing at Cornish Christmas, occasional nursing home activities and senior center events. Auditions for new participants will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, August 31, immediately after school in the music room. They are only 2-3 minutes long per student. There is a monthly fee of $15.00 per student for this activity. If this fee poses a hardship, please see me privately and I will attempt to find scholarship monies for your child.

We begin practices this week, Thursday, Sept 2 at 6:50 a.m. Students should arrive between 6:40 and 6:48 so that we can begin promptly at 6:50. I will see any interested students tomorrow afternoon. I’m looking forward to a great performance year. Please call me with any questions. -Colleen Deneen 530-559-5507

YEARBOOKS!! Order early and save 20% off the price. Complete the attached flyer and return to the school office with payment.

CLASS NEWS

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Welcome Pre-Kindergarten parents! This week the children will continue to learn about school rules and classroom routine! We will be working on some fun activities with apples this week also! In Religion the children will be learning about creation. Please return “All about me” papers by Tuesday, September 7^th with a photo of your child attached! Reminder that this Friday is a half day and extension will be available. No school on Monday, September 6^th. Also back to school night will be on Thursday, September 9^th at 6:00! Hope to see everyone there!

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: Welcome all parents and students. We had a great first week. Your children are eager to learn and step up to the tasks. We are talking about being a friend and the Golden Rule. We will be reviewing the letters D,E,F,G, & H this week. It is important for students to form their letters correctly. That will be a main focus. I expect each student to write their name with a capital and lower case letters. Please help me to establish this as well as the other good habits of being a super student. If you haven’t sent a pillow and blanket with your child, please try to do so. When the weather changes it is more comforting during rest time. Thank you, God’s peace and joy this week.

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Hello First Grade families- Welcome to a great year together! I think we had a good first week. You will notice that Homework starts today. Your child will be bringing home his/her folder. On one side is all the corrected work we did last week. This is yours to keep. On the other side of the folder is tonight's homework. I try to make homework relate to something taught that same day or the day before (review). Give your child a quiet place to work, and they should be able to do it on their own. The only thing you need to do is look it over when finished for any obvious errors and help your child correct if necessary. Then put the paper back in the folder and send it back to school. You'll see it again tomorrow with more homework. Don't forget that this Friday is a half day, with dismissal at noon. Have a good week!

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: Welcome to 2^nd Grade! I am so happy you are all here! Our first week of school was delightful as we got to know one another. We will continue to ease on in to the coming weeks, with minimal home practice (the hardest part being to cover books!) and lots of in-class review. We begin Atrium this week and welcome our catechist, Mrs. Valvo, and her sons Christopher and Matthew! I will let you know all about our policies and procedures in 2^nd grade at our Back to School Night on Thursday, September 9^th which begins at 6:00pm in St. Patrick’s Church. See you then!

3^RD and 4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: Welcome back! We have had a wonderful 1st week, getting to know each other and learning daily procedures. We welcome our new 3rd and 4th grade students, Rion Bindewald, Maria Skoblar, and Miranda Hauke! We will continue learning classroom procedures this week, as well as, adding a few new things. This year the 3rd and 4th grade students will be blessed to be a part of the Atrium program, with Mrs. Valvo! We will begin this on Thursday. Parents: please expect your children to have 30-45 minutes of homework each night. Daily assignments in Spelling, Math, and Reading will be given, starting today. Please check your child's agenda book every day, to see what their homework is, and sign the bottom of each day.

My Blog should be up and running by next week, so keep an eye out for the address to be sent home. You may check daily assignments on my Blog, as well as, long term assignments. We will be starting our Reading Logs today. Both grades must read, outside of class, 40 minutes each week. These logs are due every Monday and need to be signed by a parent or guardian. The Friday Folders are sent home every Friday, with your child's graded work. Please sign the front and return with your child on Mondays. If you have any questions, please email me at kreynolds@mtstmarys.org. Have a great week!

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: Greetings! We’ve had a great beginning to our school year! This week we will begin the first spelling packet which is due on Friday. There will be a lot of training time spent on creating it so not to fret! We will continue looking at tips for keeping assignments on track and being organized. Thank you for all the classroom supplies! We are off to a very happy and productive start! Have a fabulous week!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Welcome to school! We’ve had a fine beginning! The first lesson plans were handed out last week and everyone is catching on to our schedule! Unit 1 vocab cards are due on Thursday this week. The test will be Friday. Keep up the great attitude and have a wonderful week!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS: Math: All grades will be introduced to their textbooks this week.

5^th grade will begin the week in chapter one by recognizing the value of a digit to the billions place. They will also compare and order numbers throughout the week. Weekly concepts will be reviewed on Friday.

6^th grade will start by estimating with whole numbers. Basic concepts with estimation will be analyzed through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division throughout the week. Students will be asked to prepare for a chapter one quiz on Friday following a review session on Thursday.

Pre-Algebra students will begin the week by looking at expressions and variables. On Tuesday we will practice with powers and exponents followed by order of operations. Students should also prepare for a quiz on Friday.

Algebra students will begin chapter one with variables in Algebra. Exponents and powers and order of operations coincidentally will be analyzed as well. Students must understand these basic concepts of Algebra in order to be prepared for Quiz #1 slated for Friday.

Social Studies: 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th will continue to work on their current event summaries on Monday and prepare to give their oral presentation on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 6^th and 7^th grade will turn their attention towards geography and begin mapping the world. 8^th grade will start mapping the U.S. By Friday, all grades should expect a geography quiz.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL:

Welcome back to another exciting year of science. I have enjoyed hearing about all of the summer adventures that your children took part in the last few months. This year I have a bulletin board in my classroom titled “Snapshots of Science.” If you have a picture of something you think our science classes would enjoy seeing or hearing about please send it in with your child. Thank you to all of the students that turned out and helped out at the Parish Picnic yesterday. We will keep you posted on the results of our Zero Waste Picnic. This week 8^th grade will be busy playing with Hot wheels and learning about acceleration. 6^th/7^th grade will continue learning about what lies beneath the surface of our earth and work together to decipher Wegener’s Puzzle. 5^th grade will continue learning about the cell, receive details about an “Edible Cell” assignment on Thursday, and have a short quiz on the parts of the cell on Friday. Finally, in 4^th grade we will be learning about the basic needs of animals through working with Earthworms in the lab.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SPANISH – MRS. McDANIEL:

This week 6^th-8^th grade Spanish will be practicing the phonetic sounds and mastering the vowel sounds through jingles, games, and vocabulary exercises. 5^th grade will be working with the “a” sound and receiving a short spelling and vocabulary list for practicing at home. 3^rd/4^th will continue their work on learning the entire alphabet and challenging each other in Alphabet Tic/Tac/Toe. In 1^st and 2^nd grade we will be listening to Spanish stories, picking out the words we know, and practicing our greetings. Finally our Kindergarten class will also listen to stories and practice what they learned last year in a game of Color Bingo.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON: 4^th Grade: This week we will read “The Pumpkin Runner” by Marsha Arnold. We will be using this reading to review our many reading strategies we will be using this year. This past week the students have been writing about the events in their summer. We have been taking a closer look at what makes a good paragraph. The students have showed great improvement already. Keep up the great work! We will revise the rough drafts and finish the final drafts this week. 4^th Grade Math: The students will begin our study of rule and place value up to ten thousand. We will be using the textbook and in class activities to gain a better understanding of each topic. The students have showed good progress in their pre testing and various math activities last week.

6^thLiterature and Writing: This week we will begin by looking at two of my favorite questions for students. What is writing and what is reading? We will do two different class activities in which students will look further into their understanding of what is writing and reading to them. At the end of the week, we will begin looking at our entry theme of Mystery. We will look at four different types of literature which all have the theme of Mystery within them.

7^th and 8^th Grade Literature and Writing: After our class discussion of what is reading, we will begin this week looking into literature. The 7^th grade students will begin reading and discussing the story of “ Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” The 8^th grade students will take a close look at how characters communicate in three different writings, “A Days Wait,” “A Time to Talk,” “Growing Up,” and “The Miracle Worker.”

6^th, 7^th, and 8^th Spelling: This year, we will complete our spelling class work/homework in a spiral notebook. In this notebook, students will be able to keep assignments organized, grades and test scores in one place. I ask that you continue to check in with your students about their spelling homework and homework/test grades. With your support we can continue to make great progress.

MSM Sacrament Letter

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:40:53 +0100

Dear Mount Saint Mary Families,

We hope that you had a wonderful summer vacation. We look forward to the beginning of the new school year and building community life with you!

As a Catholic school, our goal is to provide opportunities for our families to grow closer to Jesus and His Church. During the summer, I have consulted with Edee Wood, the school principal and Karen Burford, the parish director of faith formation, to plan ways by which we can better serve our families religious and sacramental needs. As a diocesan and parish school we recognize that parents are the primary educators of their children. Our goal is to have the parish and school staff work closely together to assist parents with the on-going faith development of their entire family—parents and children. We will provide weekly information on opportunities to grow in understanding our Catholic Faith as well as to grow spiritually. These opportunities will include bible studies, days and evening of prayer, and various topics scheduled at the Wednesday Night’s “Faith and Fellowship.”

Celebrating Jesus in the sacraments is the foundation of the Catholic Faith. Karen Burford, following diocesan guidelines, works closely with the teachers of the school and catechists to develop meaningful and faith-filled preparation for families preparing children to receive the sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation in our parish. Pam Anderson coordinates RCIA, (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) also works with our staff in providing information for older children and adults on the process of becoming Catholic. Sacrament preparation is a wonderful process of learning more about our Catholic Faith. The process helps the entire family prepare for the sacrament they are receiving and as well as growing in a deeper understanding the life-long commitment of the sacramental life of our Church.

To serve our families, religious and sacramental needs, we ask that you fill out the form below and return it to the faith formation office in the envelope provided. If you or your child needs to prepare to receive sacraments, you will be contacted. More information will be provided at our back to school night.

In the peace of Christ,

Father Sylvester Kwiatkowski - Pastor
Edee Wood - Principal
Karen Burford - Director of Faith Formation

Saint Patrick Church

235 Chapel Street

Grass Valley, CA 95945

(530) 273-2347

Mt. Saint Mary's Academy Newsline 6-1-2010

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:04:56 +0100

All outstanding balances for this school year– tuition, extension, etc., are due and payable by June 9, 2010

REMINDERS:

June 2: Pre-K Growing Up Ceremony 10:30am in Rose Garden

June 4: 8^th grade graduation. Minimum day; 12:00 dismissal;

Extension open until 6pm.

June 8: Lake Wildwood Pool Party 1^st – 7^th grade

June 9: Last day of school for 1^st–7^th grade; 12:00 dismissal

Extension closed.

Golf Tournament: Reminder: Our Golf Tournament originally scheduled for this Saturday, June 5^th, has been postponed to a yet-to-be-announced date in the fall.

SPORTS CORNER: This week concludes the MSM sports year. We were able to put forth teams in all the major sports. Good job Eagles! Again we wish to thank all the coaches and parent helpers throughout the year. We could not have done it without you. We will again be back in business in mid August with Football, Girls' Basketball, Cross Country and Cheerleading. We do need a football coach so please let Mrs. Wood, Mr. Blaney or Mrs. Hurley know if you are interested.

Track uniforms must be turned in by Thursday in order for you to receive your uniform deposit. We much prefer to have the uniform than your money. Happy Summer!

CLASS NEWS

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Welcome parents to the last two days of Pre-K! Please send your child dressed in his/her Sunday best for tomorrows growing up ceremony. The ceremony will be held in the Rose Garden at 10:30. After the ceremony we will come back to the classroom to change clothes for the park so please send in a set of play clothes. We will be walking down to little Condon Park around 11:15 or so. Please pack a lunch for your child and yourself if you are joining us. We will be at the park until 2:30ish and then will head back to school!! Please remember to cover your child with sun block for the park it will be sunny. Thank you to all the parents who have helped with school activities and in the classroom. It has been a pleasure to have your children in my class this year!

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: Congratulations, Kindergarteners!

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Hello First Grade families~ It's hard to believe this our last Newsline of the year!. This week I am finishing Reading Assessments while the kids make a Memory book. We also will review counting money and play "store". We will walk over to the Grass Valley Museum at the St. Joseph's Cultural Center on Wednesday afternoon. I've received many of the permission slips for next week's picnic at Lake Wildwood (Tues.), but not much of the money. We will also have to say "good-bye" to Dejana and Drezani on Friday. Next week looks like this: Mon.- Spelling Bee, clean desks, take everything home, Tues.- LWW , Wed.- Mass, get Report Cards. Have a good week!

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: Greetings~ Thank you 2^nd grade for all your help at the Community Meal. Your help was so appreciated by the workers! It just shows that we can all give in some way! Since we are finished with all the stories in our Anthology, we are reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. Please listen to your child read this week. Thank you. In math we are learning about fractions. In religion we are talking about ways of prayer. Our science lesson is about forces. This Friday we will have a substitute as I will be celebrating Parker’s Graduation and Mass! Thank you for all your help in your child’s education—keep up the diligent work!

3^RD and 4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: Welcome to the month of June everyone! What a fun and educational year we have had. I have loved being your teacher and look forward to seeing you all next year, in your new classes, as 4th and 5th graders! Just a couple of housekeeping items: please have your child take home their mission projects. The absolute last day is this Friday to pick them up. I will also be sending home the student's portfolios this week. During the year, I have placed various assignments into it, it is yours to keep!

I am putting together a "Summer Reading List" for both grades. Please have your child read books from this list to help them keep up their reading skills. This Friday is a minimum day. Have a great week!

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: Greetings! This week has the excitement of graduations! Today we congratulate our Kinders, tomorrow is Pre-K, and on Friday we honor and bless our 8^th graders and wish them all the best! In our class we are finishing our saint reports. The book will be a wonderful keepsake of our 5^th grade writing! We are building the newly-formed United States in social studies and finishing up the parts of speech in grammar. There is a spelling packet this week, along with the last of the vocab study for this year. Our end-of-year party permission slips and $ need to be in by Friday. It will be such fun! Have a happy week!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Welcome to Graduation Week! We send our best wishes to our graduating 8^th graders. May their next four years of school be filled with wonderful experiences, great friendships, and guiding faith! We thank them for all they have shared with us, and we wish them the best in this new and exciting chapter of their lives. God bless you and your families!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS: Math: 4th-6th grade will work on "Math Mysteries," activities followed by assorted math games this week. Pre=Algebra and Algebra will exchange self-created tests early this week and work on problem solving activities.

Social Studies: 6/7th grade will receive their graded Country Report research papers and PowerPoint presentations back this week. I was very pleased with the overall effort and time the students put into these reports. They were all a tremendous delight to read!

8th grade will recap most of what they learned this year in U.S. history by analyzing events through film and activities.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL. It is hard to believe that we are in our last full week of school. As the school year draws to a close we will be spending our week in a variety of science activities. I hope that the weather will cooperate and allow us to get back to work in the garden. I am still looking for several families that are interested in "tending" to the garden for a week this summer. Thank you to those that have already volunteered. In addition to gardening we will be performing a variety of other outdoor activities including experimenting with a 50 foot solar bag, a "diet coke and mentos geyser", paper airplanes, as well as other adventures.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON: 3^rd Grade: This week we will read the play version of Ramona Quimby Age 8. There will be no spelling homework this week. This week we’ll review the spelling words from prior weeks. We’ll continue our study of adverbs, antonyms and vocabulary. We’ll continue to practice our fluency reading with each student’s partner. We are also close to finishing our in class reading of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dhal.

6^thand 7^th Grade Literature / Writing: This week we’ll finish our friendship essays in class and type them in lab.

8^th Grade Literature and Writing: This week we’ll finish our Robot Dreams essays. We will also be getting ready for our graduation mass. Please bring all class textbooks to turn in by Wednesday.

Mt. Saint Mary's Newsline 5-24-2010

Wed, 26 May 2010 17:40:52 +0100

All outstanding balances for this school year– tuition, extension, etc., are due and payable by June 9, 2010

REMINDERS: May 31: NO SCHOOL – Memorial Day Holiday

June 1: Kindergarten Growing Up Ceremony

June 2: Pre-K Growing Up Ceremony 10:30am in Rose Garden

June 4: 8^th grade graduation. Minimum day; 12:00 dismissal;

Extension open until 6pm.

June 9: Last day of school for 1^st–7^th grade; min. day; Extension closed

SPIRIT WEEK:

Monday May 24: Wacky Day (but keep it modest – no hair dyes.) Free dress OK.

Tuesday May 25: Team Shirt/Jersey Day or uniform. Jeans OK w/team shirt only.

Wednesday May 26: Twin Day or uniform.

Thursday May 27: Hippie Day or uniform.

Friday May 28: Fancy Day or uniform. No jeans.

Variety Show - Variety participants have been posted. If you child is in the Variety Show please remind them to practice, to be the best that they can be. Rehearsals will be Thursday from 1:00 to 3:00 with the main showing Friday, May 28th at 1:30 PM.

Summer Faith Camp is going to be a Blast! ..A Baobab Blast--celebrating God's great get together! We are gathering under the Baobab tree in the savannah of Africa to learn to build community with our church friends! Kids will celebrate sharing the good news of God's love through games, songs, stories, activities and more! Then they can go out in the world to share what they have learned with others: to Trust, Follow, Love, Care, and Share the faith! Don't miss out!! And don't forget to sign up early to get a t-shirt and CD!! Forms are available in the office.

SPORTS CORNER: Last weeks’ track meet was quite a success for MSM. Many of our athletes qualified for the Northern CA State Meet. This meet will be on Wednesday, May 26th at 3 P.M. at NU. Local athletes as well as ones from Roseville and Rocklin will participate. The qualifying athletes are as follows: Shot put: Nicole Blaney and Brianna Sobraske. One mile relay: Grace Fowler, Emily O'Neill, Maddy Lima, and Brie Parker. 1x400 Relay: Brittney Close, Macy Wood, Maddy Lima, and Brie Parker. Well done Eagles!

Choraleers: Our final early morning class is this Thursday, May 27 at 6:50 a.m. I will provide breakfast treats - coffee cake/doughnuts, fruit, and juice. Choraleers will sing at the graduation Mass on June 4 - our final commitment. See you all Thursday morning.

Congratulations to the Hennessey family who on Saturday welcomed Baby Lanie (another girl)!

CLASS NEWS

ATRIUM – MRS. VALVO: This morning our Atrium year came to a close with our celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of Holy Mother Church, when the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Good News of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Pre K and Kindergarten hosted fourth grade buddies and the first grade joined us today as well. Even dressed for wacky day the children were reverent, peaceful and solemn yet joyful as, they processed, listened to scripture, prayed for their special gift from the Holy Spirit. Their beautiful chant "Veni Sancte Spiritu" became their meditation. I was struck at how deeply God speaks to His little ones and how much enjoyment they get from being in the Atrium where they are free to pray in a way that meets their developmental needs. My heart was full of joy and admiration at their ability to be so fully present to God's word. It has been my great privilege to listen to God with your children in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament this past year. We truly have a chapel for little ones. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me" and they do come into the Atrium with great joy! Have a very blessed summer and please give your child some quiet time to talk with Jesus every day.

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Welcome to the last full week of Pre-K! The pre-k children will be reviewing all their letters, numbers, shapes and colors this week. We will continue to discuss how we have grown and changed since the beginning of the year. The children will also be learning about Flamingo's this week. Reminder that this week is Spirit Week. Please see me if you do not know what each day is! At the end of the week is the Variety Show. It starts at 1:30 in the St. Joesph's Hall. Please bring your child's costume in by Thursday! Next week the Pre-K students will be growing up in the Rose Garden at 10:30. Please dress your child in his/her Sunday best! Afterwards we will be walking down to Little Condon Park for a picnic lunch. Please pack a lunch for your child and send clothes for your child to change into for the park. If you are interested in walking with us please let me know!

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: Welcome to our final week of Kindergarten, we will finish wrapping things up with a vowel book, and memory book of our year together. We will be entertaining in the Variety Show on Friday. We are in need of 4 extra white and blue uniform shirts so if anyone can spare an extra shirt we will be ready to go. I am asking for all children to wear a pair of blue jeans for the Variety Show with their respective colored shirt. If you could remember to send blue jeans, we would sure appreciate it. Don't forget our Growing Up Ceremony and picnic is Tuesday, June 1st. Come to school in your best dress. Our ceremony is at 10:30 in the church. Have a fun week.

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Hello First Grade Families: Although this is Spirit Week, we’ll pack in a lot of learning. In Math we’ll continue learning about Geometry. We also will take the Diocesan Math Assessment. This week we’ll talk and learn about the “olden days” in social studies. How did you like the whale report and project that came home last week?

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: Greetings~ This is the day we are going to help set up at the Community Meal at 2pm today. You and your family may come and share the meal from 5-6pm. We have made the decorations and set the tables! Come and eat! We are on our last story in our Anthology. This week it is The School Mural. Please listen to your child read this week. Thank you. In math we are learning about fractions. In religion we are talking about ways of prayer.. Our science lesson is about forces. It seems that the children like our assignment book so we are going to use it again this week, even though my computer is feeling well again!! (Thank you Ms. Dresbach!!) Thank you for all your help in your child’s education—keep up the diligent work!

3^RD and 4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: 3^rd Grade: Thank you to all the parents that drove us to our fieldtrip last week to Bridgeport. The students had so much fun and learned a lot! Please have your child take home their mission projects this week, as we need to clean up the 4th grade room for the summer. Also, if anyone can help clean up the gold mine this week, it would be most appreciated! Please let me know when you can help. Thank you and have a great week!

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: We are busy this week – but what happened to our weather? Tomorrow we will be working in the Virtus Safety Program that was outlined in the material that came home in the office brown envelope. There are two lessons which we will cover during this week and next. On Thursday the record album book report is due. We are continuing to type and edit our saint reports. They will be published in a 5^th grade book which students will receive on Monday, June 7^th. Have a happy week!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Hello! Welcome back to school and to the last of our grammar/vocab activities in these next few days! Unit 14 activities will finish up this week and Unit 15 cards are due next Tuesday. Everyone has been conscientious with due dates and their good sense of responsibility is shining! Keep up the great attitude! You are very nearly alumni!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS: Math: 4th,5th, and 6th grade will complete each of their current chapters with a test this week. Each grade will have their test on Wednesday. During the rest of the week the students will work on their problem solving skills with various individual and group activities. Pre-Algebra will complete the second half of chapter 9 with a quiz on Thursday. Algebra will work on developing a cumulative self-test this week.

Social Studies: 6th/7th world history will finish reading chapter 15 on Tuesday followed by a test on Wednesday. 8th grade will wrap up their civil war unit this week. The students will be designated in to two teams "The South vs. The North." The assimilation will demonstrate advantages and disadvantages that each side had during the war.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL. In 8th grade we will be taking a closer look at Carbon and the Chemistry of Living Things. We will also spend time reviewing the key concepts that we covered this year. 6th & 7th grade will finish their study of Darwin's theory of Evolution and will have a Quiz on Chapter 5 on Friday. In 5th grade students will be given class time to work on their "Out of This World" travel advertisements. Students have chosen a solar system destination and their task is to make an attractive advertisement that would make a traveler chose their destination. The final project is due on Friday. Finally, in 4th grade we will spend this week taking a closer look at rockets.

SPANISH – MRS. McDANIEL: Spanish concluded for the year as of last week!

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON: 3^rd Grade: This week we will read the play version of Ramona Quimby Age 8. This week’s spelling homework packet will be sent home TODAY. Please return the spelling homework on Friday. Please practice spelling and reading each night with your child. We’ll continue our study of adverbs, antonyms and vocabulary. We’ll continue to practice our fluency reading with each student’s partner. We are also moving along in reading a chapter a day from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dhal.

6^thand 7^th Grade Literature and Writing: This week we’ll finish reading Robot Dreams in class. The students will be taking notes to complete a writing assignment at a later date.

8^th Grade Literature and Writing: This week we’ll finish our Robot Dreams essays. We will also be practicing our variety show act.

Mt. Saint Mary's Newsline 5-17-2010

Mon, 17 May 2010 23:51:26 +0100

All outstanding balances for this school year– tuition, extension, etc., are due and payable by June 9, 2010

REMINDERS:

May 18 – 22: 7^th / 8^th Grade to Washington DC

May 19: 3^rd / 4^th grade fieldtrip to Bridgeport

May 24 – 28: Spirit Week – details to follow

May 31: NO SCHOOL – Memorial Day Holiday

June 1: Kindergarten Growing Up Ceremony

June 2: Pre-K Growing Up Ceremony 10:30am in Rose Garden

June 4: Minimum day; 12:00 dismissal; Extension open until 6pm

June 9: Last day of school for 1^st–7^th grade; min. day; Extension closed

SPIRIT WEEK:

Monday May 24: Wacky Day (but keep it modest – no hair dyes.) Free dress OK.

Tuesday May 25: Team Shirt/Jersey Day or uniform. Jeans OK w/team shirt only.

Wednesday May 26: Twin Day or uniform.

Thursday May 27: Hippie Day or uniform.

Friday May 28: Fancy Day or uniform. No jeans.

Student Council News: Today we mailed a check in the amount of $960.00 to Food for the Poor – WOW! Thank you to all MSM students and families for your Lenten sacrifices. We truly made a difference! - Mrs. Kent

SPORTS CORNER: Last Tuesday evening was the Spring Sports' Award dinner. It was great to see all the athletes, siblings and parents there to honor their coaches and receive their awards. Special thanks to Mr. Ellis, Devin Blaney, Mrs. Hennessy and Mrs. Arnoldi for coaching the various sports. Also thanks to the parent and student helpers. And a special thanks to Mrs. Rubino for helping with the Award Dinner. This Thursday on May 20 there is a track meet at Bear River High School at 3:30 P.M. It is sponsored by Magnolia. Times and distances will determine who advances to the Nevada Union meet the following week. Please remember to leave early in order to warm up. It also takes a bit longer to drive to Bear River High School. Good luck and GO EAGLES!!!!!

CLASS NEWS

ATRIUM – MRS. VALVO: It is hard to believe that the Atrium year is drawing to a close. The First and Second graders will have a combined Pentecost Celebration on Thursday (a few days early ) which will include a procession, prayer service and meditation on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This will conclude the Atrium year. for the 1st and 2nd Grades The Pre- K and Kindergarten students will have a regular Atrium session Monday with a presentation focused on the "Our Father". We will celebrate Pentecost on the following Monday in a combined celebration followed by a "feast", a special snack. Spend some time with your child looking at his or her atrium art. Folders for Pre-K and K will be sent home this week. First and second grade art went home last week.

I am grateful for the support and assistance I have received in the Atrium this year from Mrs. Clawson, Mrs. Ridens, Mrs. Kent and Mrs. Keane-Stein, and Sr. Wendy and to Mrs. Wood and Fr. Sylvester for providing the space to offer CGS. It has been my privilege to spend time with your children listening to God in the Atrium. Next year it is our hope to have Atrium for Pre-K - 3rd Grade. If you have interest in supporting the Atrium with your talent or treasure this summer please leave a message for me in the office. Mrs. Keane-Stein and I will be making additional material for use by grades 2 and 3. Donations of 1/4 inch cabinet grade plywood would especially be helpful. If you have a talent for lettering posters, carpentry, mat cutting we would welcome your assistance on a project specific basis.

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Greetings! This week the children will be finishing up Gorillas and will begin to learn about Alligators and Giraffes. We will begin to discuss growing and changing in Religion for the next two weeks. Also reminder that next week is the Variety Show. Please practice the song with your children at home. There is a sign up list on the bulletin board for costumes. Reminder that our Pre-K Growing Up Ceremony will be on Wednesday, June 2nd at 10:30 in the Rose Garden. After the ceremony we will be heading out to Little Condon Park to have a picnic lunch and play time.

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: We are slamming to the end of the year and it has been a wonderful adventure. Our Growing Up Ceremony will be Tuesday, June 1 at 10:30AM in the church, we will proceed to change and head to a special place for fun, relaxation and a picnic. Your students will be entertaining us in the Variety Show, Friday, May 28th at 1:30 PM. Everyone is invited to see what a variety of entertainment MSM can create. We will continue with addition in Math and finish our alphabet with the short sound of Uu. Time is flying but we are having fun. We are in need of 6 red shirts for the Variety Show. They need to be solid, with no decorations on the front. The other children will be wearing their white or blue uniform shirt, so we only need 6 red. If your child has a plain red shirt that would be wonderful. They are on sale for $5.98 at Kmart, but if we can come up with 6 between us, no one needs to invest any money. Thanks.

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Hello First Grade families! I hope you had a good weekend. This week our main focus will be on writing our Whale Report. It will also be our last unit in Reading and Spelling: we'll learn about the superlative endings for words: "er" and "est". In Math we'll relax and learn about Geometry. We've also been counting a lot of money to help Student Council. I'm trying to arrange a trip to the Del Oro theater to view the movie, "Oceans". I'll keep you posted. Next week will be Spirit Week. Please see above for what theme is each day. We'll be doing lots of learning next week, as well. Have a good week!

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: In second grade, we are learning to find ways we can go in peace to love and serve the Lord. One way to do that is to help at the St. Patrick’s Community Meal. For almost 5 years people of our parish get together and feed about 150 people who gather to meet new friends on first and third Monday of the month. We would like to help by setting up the small hall and making decorations for the tables. So from 2-3pm on Monday, May 24^th, we will walk over to set up and decorate. You are invited to help. On Friday, May 21^st, we will present the Friday Mass. Please join us. Our Anthology story is Moses Goes to a Concert. In math we are learning about 100’s and multiplication. As usual, if you have any questions please call me at 273-4694. Thank you.

3^RD and 4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: 3^rd Grade: We're heading into the home stretch! We have a fun and educational week ahead. On Wed., we will be going on a fieldtrip to Bridgeport. We will be learning about the history of our region and do some gold panning! If you have signed-up to drive, please be at school by 9 AM. We will be returning to school by 2 PM. All students are allowed to wear a Mt. St. Mary's tee shirt, with "dress code" length shorts and tennis shoes. Jeans may also be worn and no sandals please. Also, please send your child with a bag lunch that day.

4^th Grade: We're heading into the home stretch! We have a fun and educational week ahead. On Wed., we will be going on a fieldtrip to Bridgeport. We will be learning about the history of our region and do some gold panning! If you have signed-up to drive, please be at school by 9 AM. We will be returning to school by 2 PM.

All students are allowed to wear a Mt. St. Mary's tee shirt, with "dress code" length shorts and tennis shoes. Jeans may also be worn.

Also, please send your child with a bag lunch that day. In Reading, we have a "Fantasy" book report due this Friday.

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: Hello! Our calendar is flying by, but the days are full of activity! Tomorrow the Newbery book report will be handed out – it’s a record album - do we still remember what those are??? The Unit 6 vocab words will be studies this week. The schedule is on everyone’s calendar. Our saint reports are taking shape – the stories of these blessed people are inspiring! Have a great week!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Greetings! We bid safe travel to our 7^th and 8^th graders as they embark on their D.C adventures. This week the 6^th will continue with grammar and vocab. The 7^th and 8^th graders will finish up Unit 14 and take the test. Did you see the bike race yesterday? Wow!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS: In Washington DC this week.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL. All classes were busy in the garden last week and have been a tremendous help in getting things in order. A big thank you to Mrs. Rubino and Mrs. Parker for the time and energy they have contributed to this school project. I would also like to thank parishioner Vern Gross who has been very generous in providing us with great soil for our beds, hauling debris away from the site, and who will be doing some tractor work for us this week. If you would like to help I have several opportunities. 1. We have a lot of anxious hands and often time limited tools- if you have extra garden tools that you would like to donate to the cause it would be greatly appreciated. 2. As we come to the end of our school year it is necessary to come up with a game plan to keep our garden thriving during the summer months. I would like to divide the 8 or so weeks of summer break amongst families. If you and your family would like to sign up for a week of lending a hand to supervise the garden please let me know a week that would work for your family. 3. If you would like to spend some time in the garden with our classes you are welcome to stop by. We are typically at the garden on Wednesdays from about 10-12:15. Regarding classroom curriculum this week: 8th grade- we will continue with astronomy by building sky spheres and building astrolabes and solar quadrants to calculate latitude and explore celestial navigation. In 6th/7th grade we will working on a Young Scientist Challenge sponsored by Discovery Education. To learn more about the challenge you may visit http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com. (All students will complete the assignment but it is optional to enter the contest.) In 5th grade we will study our solar systems and in 4th grade we will spend some time on simple machines and additional labs to reinforce concepts learned throughout the year.

SPANISH – MRS. McDANIEL: 6th-8th grade will be "playing" games that reinforce the vocabulary learned this year. 5th grade will use the stories they composed to create coordinating worksheets. 4th grade will share their stories with the younger grades. 2nd/3rd grade will work on composing their own stories, 1st grade will create a story as a class, and Kindergarten will use pictures to put together a story.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON: 3^rd Grade: This week we will continue our story, Ramona Quimby Age 8. This week we’ll read the story in a variety of different group readings. This week’s spelling homework packet will be sent home Tuesday. Please return the spelling homework on Friday. Please practice spelling and reading each night with your child. We’ll continue our study of adverbs, antonyms and vocabulary. We’ll continue to practice our fluency reading with each student’s partner. We are also moving along in reading a chapter a day from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dhal. Have a great time on your field trip!

6^thand 7^th Grade Literature and Writing: Great job to 6^th and 7^th grades for completing their book and country reports. I’m very proud of the work the students have completed. Great job and keep up the great work! This week we’ll continue reading Robot Dreams in class. The students will be taking notes to complete a writing assignment at a later date.

8^th Grade Literature and Writing: This week we’ll finish our Robot Dreams essays. For those not going to Washington D.C., these students will be doing a special Art in class project related to Robot Dreams. For the students who are going to Washington D.C., they will have a journal in, which the teachers have created, that will allow them to write their feeling and ideas to a variety of thought provoking questions per day/activity. The journal will be turned in at the end of the trip and graded. They will be then returned after grading.

I hope that all who are traveling this week will have a wonderful and safe trip. Have a great time and remember to represent MSM and show Washington D.C. eagle pride!

150th 5k Run Results Congratulations to everyone!

Mon, 10 May 2010 23:22:14 +0100

MSM 150^th 5K Run Results

Year: 2010

Female Category

0-10 age group Time

1. Madeline Lima 31.06

2. Anna O’Neill 32.06

3. Isabella O’Neill 33.01

11-14 age group Time

1. Meg Anderson 27.18

2. Gabrielle Parker 31.08

3. Julia Gallelli 32.04

4. Emily O’Neill 32.57

5. Macy Wood 34.18

6. Josephine Damiano 35.22

15-18 age group Time

1. Hailey Knight 40.13

19-29 age group Time

1. Adeline Harris 35.24

2. Kayla Wengryn 40.41

3. Natalie Wengryn 46.11

4. Trish Crone 46.14

30-39 age group Time

1. Holly Cabral 37.39

40-49 age group Time

1. Janelle Reuter 27.37

50-59 age group Time

1. Eileen Rodriguez 44.19

70 + age group Time

1. Lynne Hurrell 32.09

2. Joan Jacobs 60.53

3. Jean Sutton 1.07.56

Male Category

11-14 age group Time

1. Sam Reese 26.03

2. Will Butler 32.55

3. Dominic Gallelli 46.16

15-18 age group Time

1. Joe Rodrigues 21.24

19-29 age group Time

1. Kyle Magin 32.40

30-39 age group Time

1. Jason Crone 34.32

40-49 age group Time

1. Machen MacDonald 24.38

2. John Rodrigues 29.24

3. David Anderson 34.03

4. Gary Gallelli 38.00

5. Sylvester Kwiatkowski 44.51

50-59 age group Time

1. Robert Warner 22.10

2. Larry Reese 29.11

3. Brian Dowling 34.23

70 + age group Time

1. Vince Alcantar 35.46

2. Tom Jacobs 60.55

Mt. Saint Mary's Newsline 5-3-2010

Mon, 17 May 2010 22:48:43 +0100

May 3, 2010

Mount St. Mary's Academy

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We had a wonderful 150th celebration!

We will remember it for years to come. May the run, kids’ fun zone, and the vendors continue to grow and become a main fundraiser for our school. Cheers to all of us!

REMINDERS: Friday, May 7: Minimum day, 12:00 dismissal. Extension open until 6pm.

Tuesday, May 11: Sports Banquet 5:30pm in Small Hall.

VARIETY SHOW! Can you believe it? It is May and the Variety Show is just around the corner on Friday, May 28^th. Auditions will be held during lunch these next two weeks. This already has the beginnings of a great show. Good luck to all!

Choraleers: Wonderful job at the 150th!! You were great! Thanks for ALL your hard work preparing for the May 1 show and the 9am Mass. Both were exceptional!
We're getting down to the end of the year...only a few things left to do. We WILL meet this Thursday, May 6, at regular time, 6:50am.

The 7th grade class will be selling Root Beer Floats after school this Wednesday for $2.00. The proceeds will be used towards the purchase of their class sweatshirts for next year.

8^th Grade Graduation: Parents, please remember the date is Friday, June 4^th, not May 28^th as originally noted on the school calendar at the beginning of the year. Details regarding time, etc. will be announced this week. Stay tuned!

SPORTS CORNER: The Spring Awards Dinner is next Tuesday, May 11th at 5:30 P.M. Please turn in your reservations as soon as possible so we can have a head count for ordering the pizza. Remember the honored are those who played Boys' Basketball, Girls' Volleyball, Track and Cheerleading. Track will continue after the Awards Dinner until the end of May. If you have lost your reservation form just jot your name on a piece of paper and indicate how many are coming and return it to the office or Mr. Ellis. This week there are two track meets. On Tuesday, May 4th there is a meet at Weimer/Colfax at 3:30.The 4th and 5th grades will be at Weimer Elementary and 6th-8th at the Colfax High School. On Thursday, May 6th, there is a meet at Chicago Park at 3:30 for 4th and 5th only. It is important that the students be at the meet forty-five minutes before the meet starts in order to warm up. Make arrangements with your teacher to be released early from school. GO EAGLES! Tim Blaney/Barbara Hurley

CLASS NEWS

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Hello parents! A big thank you to all the parents that helped with the 150th celebration! It was a fun weekend. The children will be starting our zoo unit off with elephants this week! Also we will be working hard on some Mother's Day crafts in the classroom. I will be sending home the May newsletter by the end of today so please check your child's folder. Reminder this Friday is a half day! Extension is available.

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: This week we will be working on a special project. In the Atrium we will finish up the signs and symbols of Baptism. We will introduce the word 'she' in our reading and writing. In math we will continue learning about time and calendars. Magnets will be our study for science. Have a great week!

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Dear First Grade families, Hello! Wasn't it a special weekend? This week will be busy as usual, and packed with learning. In Reading and Spelling, we'll be learning about the "or" sound. In Math, your kids will be excited to tell you we're adding two digit numbers! Of course, we're still talking about Whales, as well. Have a good week!

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: Greetings~ We definitely gave Mt. St. Mary’s a wonderful birthday celebration! I saw so many laughing faces and people having a great time and am so thankful that we have a school that is 150 years old. We are a part of history!! We turned our classroom into “A Day in the Life of Sr. Agnes, mother to over 100 orphan boys.” (1878-1932) and we met a man who actually knew Sr. Agnes!! Thank you to all who helped make the celebration a special day!

So this week we continue loving our school: Those who celebrated their First Holy Communion are invited to wear the white garment for the Marian Mass on Friday, May 7^th. On May 5^th, please join us at the Mystagogy celebration at Faith Formation at 5pm-supper--6pm workshops. In math we are learning about measurements while in reading we are working on the story Thunder Cake. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please talk with me or call 273-4694. Thank you.

3^RD and 4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: Thank you to all the wonderful parents who helped make our Gold Panning room a success! We will be going on a field trip to Bridgeport on May 19^th from 9:00am – 2:00pm. Drivers are needed, so please contact me as soon as possible if you’d like to drive.

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: Hello my friends! What a glorious weekend! Our classroom was absolutely charming and very Victorian! Thank you to everyone for everything! I want to give special thanks to our room decorators Maddy, Josie, Brie, Macy, Brittney, and Therese. Also, thank you to Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Meagher for helping our students hostess the classroom on Saturday. This is a memory that will be with us forever! God bless you!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Greetings! We’re recovering today from a fabulous weekend! Tomorrow we’ll score Unit 13 cards, Wednesday the exercises are due, and Thursday will be the test. Thank you for all your help with everything for the 150^th. You are the best! Have a great week!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS Math: This week the 4th grade will continue to work on their division skills and learn how to use 'zeros' in division and divide by greater numbers. We will finish the week by reviewing chapter concepts and prepare for a test scheduled Friday. 5th grade will learn how to change a fraction into a division problem and then prepare for a chapter 13 test on Thursday. 6th grade will continue multiplying and dividing mixed numbers and conclude with a test on Thursday. Pre-Algebra will work with real numbers and solve inequalities in chapter 9 and prepare for a mid chapter quiz on Friday. Algebra will also continue working in chapter 9 by simplifying radicals and graph quadratic functions. A mid chapter quiz is scheduled for Thursday for Algebra students.

Social Studies: 8th grade will begin chapter 11, "The Civil War." This week the student will learn about the early years of the war. 6th/7th grade will conclude their PowerPoint presentation during the start of the school week and on Wednesday should begin Chapter 15, "Medieval Conflicts and Crusades."

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL. I hope you had a chance to view the science fair projects during the 150th festivities on Saturday. Thank you to everyone, especially the students, who where a tremendous help in getting the classrooms ready for the event on Saturday. Students will be bringing their science fair project boards home this week. Please remind your student to take their project home. In 8th grade we will continue to work with our catapults. 6th/7th grade will be wrapping up the chapter on infectious diseases. 4th/5th grade will hopefully get outside and work in the garden this week and start doing some additional planting. 5th grade will be learning about hurricanes and tornadoes along with the causes of other severe weather. 4th grade will continue with their study of electricity and move into a brief study of magnetism.

SPANISH – MRS. McDANIEL: In Spanish this week we will learn about the Cinco de Mayo celebration along with some "fiesta" vocabulary. 5th grade stories are due on Friday of this week and 4th grade will have their stories due next Tuesday.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON:

3^rd Grade: This week we will further discuss our story, Poppa’s New Pants. This week’s spelling homework packet will be sent home Tuesday. Please return the spelling homework on Friday. Please practice spelling and reading each night with your child. We will begin our new study of helping verbs and antonyms. We will also continue to practice our fluency reading with each student’s partner. We will also begin a new classroom read aloud book. We will be reading a Mr. Peterson favorite, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dhal.

6^thand 7^th Grade Literature and Writing: Everyone can take now relax for an evening now since the book reports have been turned in. I was excited to see all the different projects that the students had created. Great job! Now it’s time to tackle the country reports. This week will continue to look at how to make a strong thesis statement and the important parts that make the body of a research paper. We will also take a closer look at MLA format during the week for those who had many questions about citation within their paper.

8^th Grade Literature and Writing: Everyone can take now relax for an evening now since the book reports have been turned in. I was excited to see all the different projects that the students had created. Great job! This week will continue to read and take notes on our classroom book, Robot Dreams by Sarah Varon.

I hope everyone was able to finally get some rest now that the 150^th celebration is now history! I want to say thank you to everyone who was able to make the day a special one. It took the hard work, talent and skill of many teachers, parents and volunteers to make that special day happen. I received many compliments from parishioners and visitors who enjoyed our celebration. Thank you to everyone who made this celebration one for the history books.

I also wanted to say thank you to all the students that helped throughout the school to prepare classrooms, run games, and help clean up after the event was done. You helped to make the event run smoothly. Thank you.

Mt.Saint Mary's Newsline 4-26-2010

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:57:34 +0100

April 26, 2010

Mount St. Mary Academy

6 more days until our 150^th celebration!

Please check the 150^th volunteer sign up sheets just outside the office for your volunteering times. We need everyone’s help to make this a success. Thank you all for your hard work. Any questions? Please contact Brandy Self at 432-7563.

The 150th Yearbook will be available starting Tuesday of this week for purchase in the school office. This is a separate yearbook from the annual yearbook that students purchase. The 150th yearbook is a compilation of the past 150 years with a pictorial presentation of the people and events that have shaped Mount Saint Mary's Academy. Stop by and purchase your copy this week for $20, a savings of $5. The yearbook will be for sale this weekend during our 150th celebration for $25.

ALSO ON SALE NOW: Tickets for Saturday night’s dance - $15.00 per person

REMINDERS: Friday, April 30: Minimum day 12:00 dismissal, to set up for 150^th.

Extension will be open until 6:00pm.

RAFFLE TICKETS: All tickets, sold or not, are due in to the office by the end of the day Thursday, April 29^th, in a sealed baggie or envelope with the family name on it. Sold ticket stubs must have corresponding cash/checks with them.

Choraleers: there will be practice Tuesday AND Thursday mornings this week at 6:50am - please be on time. These are final preparations for our performance at the 150th on Saturday.

SPORTS CORNER: This week is the beginning of the Track Season. Practice today will be at Condon Park. If the weather is bad, practice will be in the gym on the other days. On Thursday there is a meet at NU. The event is sponsored by Lyman Gilmore. The starting time is 3:30 P.M. for grades 4-8th. Our head coach is Shara Arnoldi. For further information you can call her on her cell-263 7092 or gandsarnoldiA@yahoo.com. Because we have a meet this Thursday all forms and fees must be in by Wednesday in order to be issued a uniform. There are still a couple of volleyball uniforms that need to be turned in. Please do so immediately. Uniform deposits will be returned this week. Thank you! GO EAGLES Tim Blaney/Barbara Hurley

CLASS NEWS

ATRIUM - MRS. VALVO: Many blessings to the children and their families who have recently celebrated the sacraments of Baptism, First Reconciliation and First Eucharist!

This week in the Atrium the Pre-K and Kindergarten students will continue learning about the signs of the sacrament of Baptism. Their presentation will focus signs of water and oils- Oil of Catechumens and Sacred Chrism. The First and Second graders will continue with Baptism materials which synthesize the gestures, objects and ordering of the conferring of the sacrament. How wonderful that some of the children, more recently baptized, will be able to share their experiences. First communicants will also be directed to Origin of the Eucharist material (last week's presentation) and Synthesis of the Mass.

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Greetings! Thank you to all the parents who were able to make it to the train museum. The children had so much fun! The children will be getting outside this week to watch for signs of spring on the school campus! . Also the children will begin to review the sounds of the alphabet with different poems throughout the week. All week the students will be getting our classroom ready for the 150th celebration this Saturday! Volunteer sign up list for the 150th is upstairs. The children will also be playing in the sandbox and gardening throughout the rest of the year. Please send them in clothes that are fine to get dirty. Reminder Friday is a half day and extension is available. If you need extension please let me know.

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: Thanks for all who drove to the train museum, it was fun and very educational, your student's “thank you's” are amazing. This week we will begin our next theme - Spring is Here. We will continue to review our letter sounds and fine tune our ear to develop our phonemic awareness. We are working on striking in PE and pushing and pulling in science. We are so excited about Saturday's festivities, See you all there!

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Hello First Grade Families! This will be a busy week, but we'll still be learning a lot. In Math we'll be adding and subtracting from 20. In Reading we'll be learning about how to form words with suffixes such as -ful and -ly, and what they mean. We'll also learn about the "oy" and "aw" sounds and their spellings. Of course we'll still be learing about whales-this week we'll concentrate on the bulleting board in our room, and learn about how whales' blow patterns are different. Of course I'll look for you at the 150th celebration!

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: Greetings~ To our seven students who celebrated First Holy Communion on Sunday, welcome to the table of the Lord! From the day of their baptism, we have prepared a place for them at the table, and now they are called to come to the feast, to taste and see the goodness of the Lord! Welcome Isabella, Ali, Travis, Kimberly, Grace, Samantha, and London! Please join us at the Mystagogy celebration on Wednesday, May 5th as we reflect on this experience. In addition, we have been invited to wear our white garment for the Marian Mass on Friday, May 7^th. In math, we continue to learn about measurement. Our social studies unit is tied to our 150^th celebration when we will turn our classroom into “A Day in the Life of Sr. Agnes, mother to over 100 orphan boys.” (1878-1932) We will be learning about how she lived back then. We need some objects to help us. See the wish list below and bring in what you can. Thanks. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please talk with me or call 273-4694. Thank you.

Wish List: holey sox, darning eggs (thanks, Ali, for bringing one!), washboard, 18” dolls, doll bed for 18” dolls, doll clothes that we can wash. Thank you! Bring them in this week!!

We need Socks!

White socks, light brown socks, pink knee-high socks.

Light blue socks, dark blue socks, brown or black socks.

Yellow baby socks, green socks, any striped socks… as long as they are “HOLE”-EY!!!

3^RD GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: 150th Classroom Projects: In our old classroom, my class has built a mine shaft, and will have gold panning on May 1st for the Open House. We still don’t have enough parents to help on this day in my room. Please email me if you can help at: kreynolds@mtstmarys.org. Also, please send $3 to cover the expenses for these projects. We will display our “Mission Projects” in our current classroom on this day too. In Math, 3rd grade has been working on division. There will be a test this week. Our class will be doing Mass this Friday. Please come and see us do our last Mass this year!

4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: 150th Classroom Projects: In our old classroom, my class has built a mine shaft, and will have gold panning on May 1st for the Open House. We still don’t have enough parents to help on this day in my room. Please email me if you can help at: kreynolds@mtstmarys.org. Also, please send $3 to cover the expenses for these projects. We will display our “Mission Projects” in our current classroom on this day too. In Reading, the requirements for the students’ “Fantasy” Book Report will be coming home. Please sign and return. This report will be due May 21st. Our class will be doing Mass this Friday. Please come and see us do our last Mass this year!

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: Greetings! What a week this is! Tomorrow we will be going to Old Town Sacramento and the forecast is one of rain. Please dress appropriately for being outdoors a good part of the day. Hopefully we can miss the raindrops! The pop-up book report is due on Wednesday. Unit 4 vocab test will be Thursday and the cards are due on Friday. Thank you for volunteering for all the activities of the weekend. Our Select School in the classroom will be lots of fun! Sunday’s 9:00 Mass will be all the better for everyone’s eagerness to participate. Thank you! Enjoy the weekend!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Good Day! We are working on sentences and clauses, pronouns and vocab cards this week! Thank you for volunteering for the weekend’s activities! Enjoy!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS Math: Chapter 13 helped the students in 4th grade "understand
division." This week we turn our attention to the next chapter which will require the students to use those same
tools to "Divide by 1-digit Divisors," and larger numbers. 5th grade will also begin a new chapter (ch. 13) where
students will find themselves exploring patterns in decimal division. After we worked on adding and subtracting
fractions, 6th grade now starts chapter 10 which forces students to develop multiplying and dividing fractions and mixed number skills. Pre-Algebra will begin chapter 8 and analyze, "Geometry Concepts." Algebra turns their attention towards understanding "Square Root" concepts.

Social Studies: 6/7th will continue to work on their PowerPoint presentations early in the week. Students will begin
presenting by Friday. Presentations should be accompanied by a piece of clothing from the students selected country as well as a sample of the countries food. Parents should also review Country Report guideline regarding food sampler with their children. 8th grade should wrap up chapter 10, which focused on tensions leading up to the Civil War, on Wednesday with a chapter test. Next week the students will start learning about the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL. Welcome to an exciting week and we anxiously prepare and await MSM's 150th celebration. Towards the end of the week all classes will be working to prepare for this event by finishing up our 150 years of science timeline and learning about the science behind making root beer. During the 150th celebration on Saturday, my classroom will be celebrating by making homemade root beer, a tradition that was introduced to MSM by a 3rd grade teacher, Sister Mary Felicitas. Thank you to parents that have already signed up to help staff this project. If you are able to help by spending some time in the classroom on Saturday, or by donating some of the necessary supplies please let me know. The basic ingredients that we will need in sizeable quantities are sugar and seltzer water. In regards to individual classes the plan for this week is as follows: 8th grade- we will be using our catapults that we built last week at Nevada Union for further study. 6th/7th- Infectious Disease stories/game ideas are due in their final form on Friday. 5th- we will review how wind is created, look at local winds and global winds, and how these concept affect weather systems. 4th grade- we will practice building some circuits and look at the difference between a circuit that is in series and one that is in parallel.

SPANISH – MRS. McDANIEL: In kindergarten and first grade we will be playing alphabet bingo. Students will have to listen to the words spoken in Spanish and identify the correct letter that the word either starts or ends with depending on the directions given. In 2nd/3rd grade we will be working with the alphabet in Spanish and learning how to pronounce its letters and thinking of words in Spanish that begin with the specific letters. In 4th-5th grade we will be finishing our short stories. In 6th-8th grade we will be working on listening/reading comprehension with both verbal and written activities that enforce the topic of possessive adjectives. Students will also receive their quizzes back and review necessary concepts.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON: 3^rd Grade: This week we will begin our new story, Poppa’s New Pants. This week’s spelling homework packet will be sent home Tuesday. Please return the spelling homework on Friday. Please practice spelling and reading each night with your child. Please do not return the homework before Friday. We will continue our practice with being verbs. We will begin our new vocabulary books this week with words pertaining to our story, Poppa’s New Pants. We will be finishing our final drafts to our persuasive pet writing.

6^thand 7^th Grade Literature and Writing: Book reports are due Friday!! Please bring your completed project and book to class on Friday. No late work accepted!

6^th Grade Literature and Writing: This week we will continue to read and discuss The Circuit. We will continue to look at the theme of poverty and character creation. 7^th Grade Literature and Writing: This week will continue our reading of Greek gods and goddesses. This week we will continue to read and discuss two different stories: Arachne and Atalanta.

8^th Grade Literature and Writing: Book reports are due Friday!! Please bring your completed project and book to class on Friday. No late work accepted! Students will finish their T-Note writing to give their opinion about which Greek story was their favorite or least favorite. They will be asked to give examples based on the stories theme, characters, and plot. The students’ writing has continued to improve. Keep up the great effort.

I also want to say thank you to all of those students and parents who made it out to the 8^th grades Food for the Poor movie afternoon. I would also like to give a big Thank You to Mrs. Lima, Mrs. Blaney, Mrs. Rubino and Mrs. Gallelli for helping with the set up, take down, and making the afternoon run smoothly. The afternoon was a success and the children had a great time. The movie afternoon raised $153.80 for the charity. I hope to have more movie afternoons in the future.

Message from Principal Edee Wood - Parent Night April 15th

Mon, 17 May 2010 22:45:03 +0100

Dear Mt. St. Mary Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed Easter. We welcome Travis and Samantha Martinez and John Kee into our Catholic Community. This Sunday at 11:00am is the Mt. St. Mary’s Mass. If your child would like to participate, please let Mrs. Doerr know. We appreciate having your children participate in Mass.

Parent Night / Registration is tomorrow evening, April 15th at 6:00 pm in St. Patrick’s Hall. At this meeting I will be giving everyone an update on the school, discuss upcoming events, register students for next school year, and parents will be asked to sign up for their service hours. Please bring completed registration packets to the meeting. Every parent attending will be entered into a drawing, and students will receive a gift after the registration process is complete. If you are unable to attend the meeting or if you have not received a registration packet, please contact the school office. If you have any questions regarding the registration process, please feel free to contact me.

Also, on April 15th at 5:15 in the small hall Cindy Boone, our School Nurse, will be providing information to parents who have 5th and 6th grade students regarding family life material that will be discussed in class on April 22nd and 23rd. This meeting with Cindy will give parents the opportunity to see the video and materials that will be covered with the students and allow for questions and clarifications. Contact me if you have questions or concerns.

The 150th Anniversary celebration is May 1st. It is coming up quickly and we are very excited about this event. We start the day with the 5K Run/Walk at 8:30am. We would like parents, students, friends, and family members to participate. Registration forms for the 5K are on the website or in the school office. An Opening Ceremony will take place at 11:00 at the flag pole. Those attending will include Bishop Garcia, Fr. Sylvester, Dom Puglisi, Superintendent of Schools, a representative from Congressman McClintock’s office, and the Sisters of Mercy. The day will continue with living history, live entertainment, food, an awesome Kids Fun Zone, and activities for the entire family! Then, at 7:00pm, dance to Aunt B and the Hula Dogs at Saint Patrick’s Hall! Tickets for the dance can be purchase for $15.00 in the school office.

The raffle drawing will also be held on May 1st. By now each family has been given 20 booklets of raffle tickets. We only have a few more weeks left to sell raffle tickets. It is crucial to our budget that everyone sells the tickets that were given to them. We balanced the budget with the expectation that we would profit $25,000 from ticket sales. So, it cannot be emphasized enough that every family needs to sell all of their tickets. We need 100% participation. If you are having a difficult time selling your tickets, please sign up to sell them in front of Safeway after school this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Many families have been successful in selling all their tickets this way. There is a sign up sheet in the office and there will be a sign up sheet at the Parent Club Meeting on Thursday. Thank you for your help!

Thank you all for your help and continued support.

In Christ,

Edee Wood

Principal

3/29/2010 MSM Newsline

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:55:06 +0100

March 29, 2010

Mount St. Mary Academy

33 days until our 150^th celebration!

Please be assured that this will be a grand event and will take all hands on deck to make it a smooth, fun, and successful event. The live band during the day will be Road Test. The Hula Dogs will be entertaining us at the dance in the evening. The kid's zone will be awesome!

150^th Yearbook URGENT: Please read the attachment to this Newsline that gives details about sponsoring a page of history. The deadline for submissions has been extended until this Wednesday, March 31^st. The 150^th yearbook will be a pictorial history of our school and will be on sale during our May 1^st celebration.

RAFFLE TICKETS: Everyone, please turn in all of your sold ticket stubs with the corresponding money before Easter vacation. Any questions, please contact Mrs. Wood. Thank You – and keep up the good work!

REMINDER: Thursday, April 1: Holy Thursday; 12:00 dismissal – Extension open

Friday, April 2: Good Friday, No School

Mon. April 5 – Friday April 9: Easter vacation

Wed. April 14: 3^rd Trimester progress reports go home

Thursday April 15: Registration Night for 2010 – 2011 school year

SPORTS CORNER: This week is a marathon of Volleyball games. We have games Monday through Thursday. All are at MSM and at 4 P.M. On Monday we play Ready Springs. Tuesday follows with a game against Cross Roads. On Wednesday we host a game with Yuba River Charter. And finally on Thursday we end up the week with Grass Valley Charter. It should be fun and we hope to see you there. There will be no games next week as it is Easter Break but when school resumes we have another week of games and tournaments. Last Friday forms went home for track. Please send in fees and forms as soon as possible as we will start track after the Easter Break. Give the fees and forms to the office or Mr. Ellis. Thank you and have a blessed Easter. GO EAGLES!! -Tim Blaney/Barbara Hurley

CLASS NEWS

PRE-K – MRS. QUENTMEYER: Hello Parents! This week there will be no letter of the week. The children will be working hard getting ready for Easter and learning about the Stations of the Cross. Also this week the children will be reviewing letters all the way up to x. Reminder, the ice cream party is tomorrow at 1:00 in the Pre-K class. If your child does not attend on this day you are more than welcome to bring him/her in! Also this is the last week we are collecting spare change for Food for the Poor! Let’s fill that jar up! Permission slips for the upcoming field trip to the Nevada County Train Museum will be sent home when we get back from break. Have a safe and happy Easter vacation.

KINDERGARTEN – MRS. RIDENS: Welcome to the holiest week of the year. We will working on the letter Xx and continue to review H,F, and S. We will be making a simple Easter basket and hunt for eggs on Thursday with our 3/4th buddies. We will use the Resurrection eggs to help us remember all that Jesus did for us. May you be blessed as you walk the last of our Lenten journey to Easter.

1^ST GRADE – MRS. KENT: Hello First Grade families- Although it's a somewhat shortened week, we're going to cram a week's worth of learning into it! In Math we'll be adding numbers to the sum of 20. In Reading, we'll focus on base words where the final consonant is doubled, or the final "e" is dropped before adding a suffix. We will continue learning how to write a paragraph. This is also our last week to gather pennies. We're at $23.50 (yea for us!), but would love to send in more, so please help if you can. Don't forget Thursday is a minimum day, with dismissal at noon. Have a blessed Easter and restful vacation!

2^ND GRADE – MRS. KEANE-STEIN: Greetings~ thank you to the 3 students who participated in our Food for the Poor bake sale, Ali, Alex, and Paige! You are awesome! We raised $30. Thank you! Stay tuned for project #2! We are hoping for 100% participation! Our 2^nd graders participated in the Mass on Friday in a superb way! Good job everyone! This Wednesday at 2pm we will present the Living Stations of the Cross so plan on joining us! (Rain will move us to St. Joseph’s Hall) Most importantly, on Sunday, April 11^th at 1pm Mass, Samantha and Travis Martinez will be baptized into the Catholic Church. All are invited so put it on the calendar as it is the end of Easter Break and this is our last reminder! We are so excited to welcome them to our church community as we have been working hard to help them to prepare! Also for the calendar: April 19^th, at 6pm is Reconciliation. April 25^th at 11am is First Holy Communion.

3^RD GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: Thank you Mrs. Britton for all the hard work you put into the 3rd Grade Gala Project! Please come and see the Live Stations of the Cross this Wed. at 2 PM. Many of my students have a part in this reenactment of the passion of Christ. This will be a live portrayal of the 14 events that lead up to the Crucifixion. Please note all Mission Projects and Reports are due April 14th, the week we return to school after the break. I hope you all have a fun and restful Easter Break!

4^TH GRADE – MRS. REYNOLDS: Thank you Mrs. Lake for the wonderful 4th Grade Gala Project! Please come and see the Live Stations of the Cross this Wed. at 2 PM. Many of my students have a part in this reenactment of the passion of Christ. This will be a live portrayal of the 14 events that lead up to the Crucifixion.

Our Mystery Book Reports are due this Wednesday and please note all Mission Projects and Reports are due April 14th, the week we return to school after the break. I hope you all have a fun and restful Easter Break!

5^TH GRADE – MRS. DOERR: It’s Holy Week, the most sacred week of our year where our focus is wholly on Christ and the Paschal Mystery about to unfold. We will experience the Living Stations of the Cross on Wednesday, and we’ll begin the Triduum on Holy Thursday with a Seder Meal. Thank you for contributing to that. Tomorrow the biography box is due, and we’ll finish up Unit 2 of vocabulary with the test on Wednesday. Coming home today is a letter about Holy Week and family prayers for each day of the Sacred Triduum. I wish you all a most holy and meaningful Easter with your family and have a happy vacation!

JUNIOR HIGH GRAMMAR – MRS. DOERR: Greetings in this Holy Week. We will finish Unit 11 in vocab on Wednesday with the book work due and the test. I wish you all a most sacred and meaningful Triduum and a joyous Easter. Have a super vacation!

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE – MR. ELLIS Math: 4th and 5th grade will both complete the last section in their texts Monday followed by review, and complete chapter 12 with a test on Wednesday. 6th grade will continue working with fractions, decimals, and percents and will prepare for a chapter test on Wednesday. Pre-Algebra will continue with chapter 7 and look at Ratios, proportions, and compare scale drawing and models. Algebra will continue to examine linear systems and problem solving. A quiz for Algebra should be anticipated for Wednesday.

Social Studies: 6/7th will be working on finishing their fact sheets and maps for their country report. Before leaving for Spring Break, students will receive further information regarding the power point oral report that they will be required to construct as well as their research paper regarding the history of their country. 8th grade will finish chapter 5 by looking at the presidency of James Madison and the War of 1812. For this chapter, the students will not be tested with an exam, but rather through the use of an oral report. In pairs, student will be asked to perform a simulated newscast where they will be asked to report on an event in the current chapter. In addition, they will also report on a "What if," event. This will allow the students to critically think about causes and effects of certain outcomes in U.S. history.

4^TH – 8^TH GRADE SCIENCE – MRS. McDANIEL. Science Fair Projects will be on display in the Science Lab this week. Everyone is invited to stop by and see the hard work put in by MSM students. Projects will be judged on Monday and Tuesday. We will be choosing 3-4 projects to represent MSM at the Nevada County Science Fair later in April. All classes will be working to finish up their current chapters this week. 6^th/7^th grade will have a quiz on the Nervous System on Wednesday. 8^th grade will also be having a quiz on Wednesday that will cover what they have covered on the Periodic Table of Elements. The textbook website www.phschool.com has some good review activities for 6^th-8^th grade science. 5^th grade will continue their study of weather. All students should have functioning rain gauges at their houses. This week in 4^thgrade we will be looking at some space topics.

SPANISH – MRS. McDANIEL: Due to schedule changes last week we were unable to spend enough time on the topic of Holy Week in Latin American countries. We will be using our Spanish class time to expand on this topic.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MR. PETERSON: 3^rd Grade: This week we will not have spelling/study homework do to the shortened week and extra activities for Holy Week. We will review past spelling words through various in class activities. We will continue our study of analogies. We will also begin a new fable “The Lion and the Mouse” and begin our study on action verbs.

Junior High Language Arts: This week we will continue our practice with T-Note writing. We will finish our rough drafts of our in class writing topic and move into peer editing and final drafts. After last weeks review-spelling test, 6^th/7^th/8^th grades will not have a spelling test/homework do to the Stations of the Cross on Wednesday afternoon and the Good Friday holiday. Have a wonderful Easter Break and may God be with you and your family as you are together and as you are traveling. Be safe and get ready for the month of April!