Dear Parents,
Over these past few weeks, the teachers have been working together to update St. Peter’s Mission Statement and Schoolwide Learning Expectations (SLEs), which are based on our core values to Grow, Accomplish, Love, Serve, and Unite. Our school is in the beginning stages of the accreditation process, and analyzing our mission and SLEs is an important part of this process. In addition, this can guide how all members of St. Peter’s School continue to learn and grow in different areas while meeting the needs of our students.
Mission Statement
St. Peter’s Catholic School community nurtures the whole child to develop a lifelong passion for learning and to live out the Works of Mercy.
Schoolwide Learning Expectations
A St. Peter’s student has the KEYS to ...
GROW by...
• setting and evaluating individual goals to grow spiritually, socially, emotionally, academically, and physically.
• embracing new experiences with an open heart and open mind.
• facing challenges with optimism and faith in God.
ACCOMPLISH by...
• listening and communicating effectively in social and academic environments.
• demonstrating critical thinking skills and knowledge in all subject areas.
• using technology effectively and responsibly.
LOVE by…
• making choices based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
• nurturing a spiritual life through prayer, retreats, masses, and the sacraments.
• demonstrating an appreciation for what others have done for us.
SERVE by…
• living out the corporal and spiritual Works of Mercy.
• sharing their time, gifts, and joy within the school.
• participating in outreach to strengthen ties with those outside of our school community.
UNITE by…
• engaging in weekly school Mass and morning prayer assemblies.
• supporting and encouraging others in order to strengthen school community.
• welcoming people of all backgrounds as St. Peter’s community members.
--Mrs. Sandra Jimenez
HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION
Our school Halloween celebration will take place on Wednesday, October 31 from 1:00-3:00 PM. We will begin with a costume parade followed by games. Please see the attached flyers for ways that you can volunteer or donate items and the prices of tickets to purchase food and play games. Your help is appreciated!
IMPORTANT INCOME SURVEY
We are still collecting the Income Verification Survey. The information gathered from this survey is CONFIDENTIAL, and is necessary for our school to receive funding for useful services such as reading and math programs that help our children. If we don’t collect these surveys on time, we could lose this funding! Please help the school and return your completed survey right away.
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
Join us in our first St. Peter’s Athletics fundraiser of the year—Family Movie Night on Friday, November 2! There will be a movie presentation of COCO (in time for Dia de los Muertos) at 6:00 PM, and there will be a snack bar, too! Bring lawn chairs and blankets to stay comfortable as we watch the movie on the schoolyard on a 17-foot screen!
140th ANNIVERSARY
St. Peter School’s 140th Anniversary celebration is just a few weeks away! Join us for a special mass on Sunday, November 4 at 2:30 PM, which will be followed by a reception in the parish hall. If you are available to help with the set-up or clean-up of the event, please contact the school office.
IN THE CLASSROOM
KINDER - This week in Kindergarten, we will continue to work on letter recognition and sounds. We will also identify beginning, middle and ending sounds of words. In Math, we will learn and practice ordinal numbers.
1A - This week in first grade we are reading and learning about exercise and how we move our bodies. In religion, we are reading about how people in the Bible praised Jesus. In math, we are finishing our addition unit and beginning on subtraction. In science we are constructing parachutes and observing them drop through the air. In social studies, we are continuing to discuss the different rules we have for the different communities we are part of.
2A - 2nd Grade will be reading “Turtle Watch Out!” and subtracting 2-digit numbers with regrouping (practice!). We will talk about listening to God's word. REMINDER: First Communion Parent Meeting on Wednesday, October 24 at 5:45 p.m. in St. Peter's Church.
3A – This week in Religion, we will continue practicing the responses for Mass. We will focus on memorizing The Confiteor and our test will be on Thursday. In Math, we will finish our review of "greater than," "less than," and "equal to" as well as place value to the hundreds place. In Language Arts, we are writing the final draft of our letters to the residents at Sheffield Convalescent Hospital. On Halloween day we will walk to the hospital in our costumes and visit the residents once again.
4A – This week in 4th Grade, we will be focusing on Mary and the month of the Rosary. We will be making our own Rosaries to help us remember and follow along in prayer. In Math, we will be switching our focus to Subtraction and subtraction word problems. We want to continue using our critical thinking skills in all our work! In Reading, we will continue with our story, "How Tia Lola came to stay" and working on our strategy of cause and effect. In Social Studies, we will begin our first unit of California State history. In Science, we will be discussing the impact of weathering on earth's surface. We enjoyed our lab last week, and will continue to build off our recent lab. Keep up the great work, 4th Grade!
5A - This week, 5th graders will take a field trip to the Mission Branch Public Library to learn about all the helpful resources there. We will discuss subtracting with zeroes in the minuend in math. In English, 5th graders will learn about persuasive writing and create their own poster with persuasive text.
6A Religion – Students will be comparing the Bible Story of Joseph in the book of Genesis to the Film: Joseph King of Dreams. Language Arts – This week, the 6th graders will be tackling how to identify a story's theme or central message. We will be reading "The Monkey's Paw," a classic horror tale with an important moral. Students will need to cite textual evidence in order to support the themes they chose. Math - Students will find quotients of problems involving multi-digit divisors. Social Studies – Students will be studying the social hierarchy of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Science – This week students will take a science test.
7A Religion - Students will understand that Baptism gives us new life in Christ and unites us with community. Language Arts - Students are wrapping up their first novel, Walk Two Moons. They are discovering many plot twists as they reach the end! To close the novel, students will participate in a variety of lesson extensions that center on the plot, conflicts and themes. Math - Students will add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators. Social Studies – Students have completed their Arabia unit and will begin studying the physical geography of Africa. Science - Students have made their hypotheses about why a dead squid moves after getting splashed with soy sauce. Now it's time to dive into the cell and figure out why this happened.
8A/8B Religion – In eighth grade religion this week, students will continue comparing the liturgies of Eastern and Western churches and how they have developed over time. We will also begin to look at the connections between church and state in the early Church. Language Arts - Students are continuing to read Mockingbird and completing assignments related to their reading. They will also begin the introduction to the English High School Placement Test (HSPT), beginning with analogies. Math - Students will begin to solve equations with variables on both sides. Social Studies – Students are deciding which causes to the American Revolution caused the war to begin. Science - Students know about valence electrons and now it's time to start making molecules!
REMINDERS:
Oct. 21 Sunday Family Mass, 9:30 AM
Oct. 22-26 7th Grade Caritas Creek Camp Retreat in Occidental
Oct. 22 12:30 Dismissal
Oct. 23 School Mass, 8:10 AM
Oct. 24 First Communion Parent Meeting; 5:45 PM in Church
Oct. 26 End of the 1st Quarter
