January Newsletter

St. Mary’s School
January Newsletter

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the school there was a buzz of such activity as can only be produced by a school full of excited children. On Tuesday, Dec. 18, after much hard work at rehearsals, the students presented an excellent Christmas program. Immediately following the program both audience and performers enjoyed decorating and eating cookies, and drinking hot cocoa. Santa Claus stopped by and the children were able to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. The next day the first through fourth graders sang the songs they had practiced for the program plus some other favorite carols for the residents of Heartland and the Village Green Retirement Communities. Parties and movies were planned for Friday’s festivities; however Mother Nature had other ideas. Due to the high wind and snow, school was cancelled. Now I have to admit that I was rather conflicted when I got the news. The teacher in me was all ready for the children to enjoy their parties. The teacher was also ready to come back in January and get down to business, so to speak. On the other hand, as the holiday coordinator and event planner for the Ayette family I was very happy to have an extra day!

Classes resumed on January 3. Since we had been unable to celebrate Christmas with the classroom parties, the parties were transformed into Epiphany parties and held on Friday January 4. Since then, we are back to our regular schedules. My second graders are quite excited because they have arrived at two milestones of second grade. First they now know enough cursive letters that on Monday, each child will learn to write his/her name and they might even be able to write some of their spelling words in cursive. Trust me; this is heady stuff when you are a second grader. The second milestone, which frankly impresses me, is that the children now have fact practice papers with 100 facts. The impressive part is that the papers are to be finished in five minutes or less. The children are doing a terrific job. (As their teacher I may be slightly prejudiced.)

The district spelling bee was held Wednesday at the Elks. Our school representatives were Athan Whitney and Haley Maher. Haley finished in 11th place and Athan in 4th place. We are very proud of them for all their hard work.

Also Wednesday was the date for the parent meeting for those parents of children who will be receiving their First Holy Communion this spring. It just seems as if we were preparing for First Reconciliation. Time certainly does fly.

Speaking of time flying, the second quarter ended Friday. It is really hard to believe that we are half way through the school year. Report cards go out next Friday.

Catholic Schools Week begins the last weekend in January, (Jan. 26 & 27) and runs through Friday, February 1. This week is a national celebration of Catholic schools and their contribution to society. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools Raise the Standards”. Although our primary mission as Catholic educators is to help form our students as Catholics, our schools have always been known for the excellent education offered to not only the children in our parishes, but to all children. There are many activities planned for Catholic Schools Week. Check the schedule in today’s bulletin. You are more than welcome to come and visit.

We are in desperate need of volunteers for the school library. The Reading Renaissance program is an important part of our curriculum. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the program, the children read books and then take tests on computer. Every child reads books that are in his/her reading level. The program allows us to meet the individual needs of the students. For example the reading levels in my classroom range from early first grade to sixth grade. Without librarians the children have limited access to the books. So if you could spare a few hours one morning a week, please consider helping the children have access to the books they need. Also, if you cannot come weekly, perhaps you would consider being a substitute librarian?