Dear Parents,
For our school’s re-accreditation, our 3-day visit for the Western Catholic Educational Association / Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WCEA / WASC) is drawing near—on March 10-12. The process of preparing for this visit has given both teachers and students opportunities to reflect--to identify our accomplishments as well as our areas for growth. Throughout the process we’ve reflected upon and examined evidence for each part of our school’s philosophy:
At St. Peter’s School, we believe that…
· All students and educators will learn and grow academically, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and socially.
· Every child is capable of success.
· God is in all things and calls each of us to grow in His love.
· We are called to serve others and our world.
· We are a family--somos una familia--with parents, students and educators working together.
In these last few weeks of preparation before our visit, please keep the school in your prayers! And of course, if you have any questions about the process, or would like to see the Improving Student Learning document required for accreditation (written by the teachers), please stop by the office.
--Mrs. Sandra Jimenez
AZTEC TREK
Please remember that the due date to submit the mandatory $100 Aztec Trek collection is this Friday, February 21. The more money a student collects, the more prizes and class points can be earned! Thank you in advance for your support!
FAMILY DINNER AND DANCE
Our annual Family Dinner and Dance is this Saturday, February 22. In addition, to dinner and dancing, raffle tickets will be on sale for various prizes. Dance tickets are limited, so purchase your tickets now! Order forms are available in the office, and payments by Venmo are accepted. Volunteers to help prepare food are also needed, so stop by the office if you’d like to volunteer.
LIFETOUCH PANORAMIC PHOTO
Our school panoramic photo will be taken TOMORROW, February 20. All students must be in complete uniform for this school-wide picture.
FAMILY MASS
This Sunday, February 23 is our Sunday Family Mass at 11:00 AM. Students who attend mass in full uniforms will receive a free dress pass for the following Monday.
ARCHDIOCESE ELEMENTARY FAMILY GRANT
The application process for the Archdiocese Family Grant for the 2020-2021 school year has now begun. Please go on to mytads.comto begin the application process. Be sure you have your 2019 income tax information or 2019 income information (Calworks, social security, food stamps, etc.). Please be sure you have completed the total process by the Archdiocese deadline—April 15, 2020
BASIC FUND
New students entering for the 2020-2021 school year must go online to the by visiting www.basicfund.org and completing a NEW BASIC Fund Application no later than March 18, 2020.
Renewal families will be renewing their BASIC Fund scholarship online in March All student tuition accounts must be current with no past due balances. Please be sure you have your 2019 income tax information or 2019 income information (Calworks, social security, food stamps, etc.).
UNIFORM CHECK-IN
Let’s remember to stay UNITED as we wear our school uniform. All undershirts, even long sleeve undershirts, must be white. If girls wear tights, they must be solid black or white and extend to the ankle. Continue to wear solid black or solid white school shoes, no boots. Thank you for your cooperation!
IN THE CLASSROOM
KINDER - I hope you all enjoyed a nice long weekend! And thank you for all of the love you shared with me and the class for Valentine's day. It was such a treat to celebrate in so many ways. Now let's celebrate learning! In this week's homework, I have included the alphabet as we really need to be able to read, write and use together all of the letters. Thank you so much!
1A - This week, we are reading and learning about how animals survive in nature. We are working on the long o sound with the o, oa, ow, and oe spellings in words like no, boat, low, and toe. In religion, we are continuing to work on our prayer books. In math, we are working on subtraction word problems. In science, we are looking at inclined planes and how we use them to help us.
2A – We are reading poetry this week from Langston Hughes. This is a challenge, but a lot of fun! We are continuing our work with comparing 3-digit numbers as well as finding 1, 10, and 100 more or less than a number. We have been talking about Reconciliation in the classroom. Please talk with your child so they are not nervous about receiving this sacrament.
3A – This week, students are continuing to learn about arrays as they relate to multiplication. We are also practicing related facts by skip-counting objects in array models. We are beginning our Lincoln log cabins in art. We will make them from pretzel sticks, 4-ounce milk cartons, and construction paper. We continue practicing our Mass responses. PARENTS: Please help the kiddos out by practicing with them. I am sending the responses home for more studying.
4A - Welcome back from a long weekend! In Religion, we will begin to focus on the season of Lent. Next Wednesday begins our Lenten journey with Ash Wednesday! In Reading, we will be reading Frindle and working on locating answers with the text. We will continue to focus on our skills of summarizing and identifying character traits. In Math, we will be focusing on multiplying in a partial product form and in a standard form. In Social Studies, we will complete our online program. We will be starting to discuss our Missions project! In Science, we will investigate weathering on mountains.
5A - This week, 5th graders are expanding their long division practice to even larger dividends and getting ready to tackle division problems with decimals. We're focusing on informational text structures in ELA. 5th graders will be presenting their books talks and finishing their biography reports this week.
6A Religion and Social Studies - Students will make connections this week as we learn about the Ancient Hebrews and Judaism in history class. We will study the traditions and core beliefs of Judaism and will then compare and contrast Christianity and Judaism in a short essay by the end of this week. Language Arts – Students completed their first novel study and now we move on to an in-depth look at non-fiction text. We'll be focusing primarily in persuasive writing and the rhetorical techniques writers use to sway their audiences. We'll study the nuances between biased and neutral writing to become more mindful readers and consumers! Math – Students are reviewing various decimal concepts this week. Science - Scientists will complete learning about large weather patterns worldwide, assess their learning, and have some time at the end of the week to work on their STEAM fair projects.
7A Religion – Students will begin to prepare for the season of Lent. Language Arts - Students are continuing to read Freak the Mighty. In addition to their reading, students are also responding to a series of comprehension questions to ensure understanding of the overall content. Math – Students are reviewing multiplying and dividing fraction this week. Social Studies – Students will be studying the different levels of Japanese Society and Feudalism in the Middle Ages. Science – Students continue to set the groundwork to begin researching about genetics and genetic disorders.
8A Religion - Students will continue to look into the ACRE Test Preparation and complete the test this week. Language Arts - Students are finalizing their Poetry Unit by creating a Poetry Portfolio of all the poems they have composed over the last few weeks. They will move on to the introduction of their next text, Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez. They will participate in a series of pre-reading activities: Gallery Walk and Culture Research. Math - Students will be exploring various concepts in geometry, including parallel lines and vertically opposite angles. Social Studies – Students will begin an amendment art project and will begin to prepare a two-minute amendment speech to present next week. Science - Students continue to learn about energy and motion as they prepare to learn the mechanics around the mousetrap car.
REMINDERS
Feb. 19 5:45 PM, Parent First Communion Meeting
Feb. 20 School Panoramic Photo (Complete uniform!)
Feb. 21 AZTEC Trek Money Due
Feb. 22 5:00-8:00 PM, Family Dinner & Dance
Feb. 23 11:00 AM Sunday Family Mass
Feb. 24 12:30 Dismissal
Feb. 25 4A Field trip to Creativity Museum
Feb. 26 9:30 AM, Ash Wednesday Mass
