Dear Parents,
As parents, we strive to be role models of open hearts and open minds for our children. Here at school, we encourage each other to develop a growth mindset and live our St. Peter’s School KEYS so that we can open our hearts and minds. Lent pushes us to dig out of our souls all the things that have clogged our hearts, the little sins that we clench in our fists, keeping us from opening our hands, hearts, and minds freely. God is offering to not only lift the burden from our shoulders, but also to help in rebalancing our load in the future. Tossing those small bad habits, pushing aside bitterness and resentment so that we might love God with our whole heart, and with all our strength.
Such reflections during Lent are closely connected to our five core values to Grow, Accomplish, Love, Serve, and Unite. Similarly, they tie in with our upcoming WCEA/WASC Accreditation 3-day visit next week, from Tuesday through Thursday. Throughout our preparation process, our school community has identified not only our academic, social, and spiritual accomplishments, but also areas where we can grow and improve. As we hope and pray that our Lenten journey brings us closer to Jesus, we hope that our accreditation journey brings our school community to continued success and overall growth—spiritually, academically, socially—so that we can continue our Mission: 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.
Please keep the faculty, staff, and students in your prayers during these last few days of preparation of the 3-day visit We thank you, parents, for your participation and support!
--Mrs. Sandra Jimenez
AZTEC TREK
If your child has not yet turned in the minimum $100 collection for the Aztec Trek fundraiser, please submit this collection to the office immediately. This money is now overdue. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter!
The field trip permission form (for the off-campus Aztec Trek walk-a-thon) is being sent home with this Que Pasa. Please return this completed form by Thursday, March 12.
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
Going home with each child today is a Parent-Teacher Conference time request. Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences are mandatory for all students and are being held from Tuesday, March 17 through Friday, March 20. These days are all 12:30 dismissals to accommodate conferences.
RE-REGISTRATION FOR 2020-2021
The yellow re-registration form for the upcoming school year, along with the new tuition rates for 2020-2021, were sent home with Que Pasa. Extras are available in the office. Please return the re-registration form by March 12, 2020 in order to help plan for the new school year.
ARCHDIOCESE ELEMENTARY FAMILY GRANT
Please complete the application process for the Archdiocese Family Grant on mytads.com by APRIL 15. Be sure you have your 2019 income tax information or 2019 income information (Calworks, social security, food stamps, etc.).
BASIC FUND
New and returning students for the 2020-2021 school year must go online to www.basicfund.org and complete a NEW BASIC Fund Application no later than March 18, 2020. All student tuition accounts must be current with no past due balances.
IN THE CLASSROOM
KINDER - Happy March! During this first week of Lent and as we honor Dr. Seuss, I have a good way for us to continue our Lenten Promise. Let's get Epic! on our phones or tablets. It's free, easy and provides a world of books to read or books that will read to you! We are already using this in the classroom, but you can use it at home too. It is free for everyone! Go to www.getepic.com or download the Epic! App from the App Store. The more you read, the more you'll know! The more you'll learn, the more places you'll go!
1A - This week, we are reading, writing, and learning about how people work with animals. We are working on the long e sound, with the ey and y spellings (as in key and funny). In religion, we are learning about the importance of the Lenten season. In math, we are continuing our work with place value. In science, we are continuing our study of light and translucency. In social studies, we are continuing our study of American symbols.
2A – We are reading “Once Upon a Baby Brother.” We are learning some new strategies for solving word problems (adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers). We have been visiting the garden with this beautiful weather. We are really practicing our prayers! We are talking about our small acts of kindness during the Lenten season. What are some Lenten activities your family does together?
3A – This week, 3A will continue to focus on Lent and our Lenten promises. We are challenging ourselves to see who can donate the most money to the MCA (Missionary Childhood Association). We know that our donations will go to help poor schools and orphanages in Nigeria, India and the Philippines. This week in Social Studies, we will begin a unit on American symbols and monuments. Please help your child find pictures and explanations of our famous monuments and American symbols on the internet. 3A continues to practice language, reading, and math by using STMath and Lexia on our tablets to improve critical skills needed in future grades. Thank you for having your children practice these skills on their home devices.
4A - Welcome to March! Thank you for all your help and support during our busy February month. During the season of Lent, 4th grade will be praying for one classmate each day. This is a way for us to ask God to guide our friends closer to Jesus and to grow in faith during this season. In Reading, we will finish our novel study of Frindle. After we have concluded this novel study, we will move into our next novel BFG. In Math, we will continue to focus on multiplication and division. We will be taking our mid-module assessment this week. In Social Studies, we will learn about our Missions project! In Science, we will continue with our unit on Energy. Thank you!
5A - 5th graders are beginning our first fractions unit in math this week. We'll start by learning about equivalent fractions. In reading, we're using close reading skills to dig deeper into informational texts. In religion, we're thinking about how we can show kindness to others throughout this Lenten season.
6A Religion – 6th grade is continuing their Lenten Journal Reflections each day and will be comparing different stories in the Gospels that are related to the Lenten season. This week, they will compare: Jesus is tempted in the desert in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Language Arts – Students have completed their advertising Shoe Posters and they are quite persuasive. This week, we'll have a gallery walk to identify all of the techniques students used and to vote for our favorites. We'll also dive into the art of debate and the best strategies to win an argument. Math – Students have been working with decimals, had an assessment on Tuesday (March 3), and will have a test to be signed this week by a guardian and returned. Please review with your students when you are counting money with change at home so they can practice their adding and subtracting with decimals. Social Studies – Students will end their Ancient Hebrews Unit with their comparison of Christianity and Judaism. Science – Scientists will continue landforms and rocks learning and explore various Earth systems (geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere).
7A Religion – 7th grade will continue reflecting in their Lenten Journal with the four types of prayer: Praise, Thanks, Sorrow, and Petition. Students will also complete the Schoolwide Learning Expectations Test and explore St. Peter's for an SPS scavenger hunt! Language Arts - Students are finalizing their reading of Freak the Mighty. They will continue to respond to a series of comprehension questions to ensure understanding of the overall content. They will also participate in post-reading activities to end the novel. Math - Students have been busy working with integers, converting fractions to decimals by long division or by making equivalent fractions with a base ten number. They had an assessment on Tuesday, March 3rd and will be getting those back soon to be signed by a guardian. Social Studies – Students will complete a Document Based Question assignment. They will use documents from Medieval Europe as evidence to answer the question: How did the Black Plague change life in Europe? Science – Students review genetics and heredity as we look forward to show our growth in knowledge around these topics. Next up: genetic disorder research!
8A Religion - Students will continue to identify the meaning and importance of Lent. Language Arts - Students are well into Zoot Suit--they have completed Act 1 and will begin Act 2 next week. Will the Pachucos win the appeal or continue to suffer unfair punishment? Students will also interpret the role of Pachuco, is he real or an imaginary character to Henry Reyna? Math –Students have been working with angles and triangles and finding missing angles and lengths. They have been busy working with the Pythagorean Theorem and solving multi-step equations and will be getting tests passed back soon that will need to be signed by a guardian. Social Studies – Students will end Trimester 2 by giving their 2-minute amendment speech to the class, convincing Congress to pass their amendment into law. They will also have a special lesson about immigration history taught by Ms. Hanley, our USF Partner who supports 8th grade history class. Science - After studying the mechanics of mousetrap cars, students begin engineering their machines! Tentative race date: March 12.
REMINDERS
Mar. 6 END OF TRIMESTER 2
Mar. 10-12 WCEA/WASC 3-day School Accreditation Visit
Mar. 11 Report Cards sent home
Mar. 13 NO SCHOOL, Faculty Retreat
Mar. 17-20 12:30 Dismissal days for Parent-Teacher Conferences
Mar. 18 5:45 PM First Communion Parent Meeting in Church
Mar. 19 8:30 AM Lenten Reconciliation for Grades 3-4
Mar. 20 Aztec Trek Walk-a-Thon and Game Day
