Thursday, October 24, 2024

Weekly Update

 

 
I have really enjoyed meeting with so many of you to discuss your darling daughters! Thank you for taking the time to come in and meet with me.

The girls have worked hard this week with a different schedule due to swimming. Here are some important reminders:

Reminders:

  • Carpool helper next week: Hannah
  • Conference Schedule
  • Presentation from Technology Dialogue Night for Lower School Parents
  • Technology class updates from Mrs. Kortas
  • Swimming: October 28 -30, from 8:00 - 8:45; Details here 
  • Details for Halloween
  • Biking unit in PE: November 5 - 15; Details here
  • Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
  • Information about Gift Service:
    • Friday, December 20; 9-10 a.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for Grades 2-4 Students and Families
    • Endeavour Hall for Early Learners-Grade 1 Students and Families
    • Students in grades 2-4 will participate in the performance. Their families are welcome to join us at St. Stephen’s. 
    • Students in EL-Grade 1 will attend the service via a livestream in Endeavour Hall. Their families are welcome to join us in Endeavour Hall.
    • We will share the livestream link in advance of the service. 
    • Following the Gift Service, girls will return to their classrooms for dismissal 
    • Carpool will begin at 10 a.m.
    • Extended Day is available for those enrolled
    • There is no Early Learners aftercare on this day

Friday, October 18, 2024

Weekly Update

 

We had a picture perfect day for our field trip to Monticello on Wednesday. It was a great trip and we learned a lot about Thomas Jefferson and the way he lived. Thank you to Taylor Brannan for being a chaperone for our class.

As a reminder, our class begins swimming on Monday, October 21. The details about this PE are here.

Our first Wordly Wise Dress Up Day was a success. The girls did a fabulous job developing some creative costumes for their words. Here they are!

Here are some curriculum updates and reminders:

Reading: The girls are enjoying our novel study of James and the Giant Peach. After reading two to three chapters, they are responding in written form to some comprehension prompts. There is great descriptive vocabulary in this novel that leads to great discussions. We will hopefully finish the novel next week and complete a final project where they create a newspaper article on the story.

Language Arts: The girls are doing well with the new words they are learning through Wordly Wise. We are now working through list 4. For the last two weeks, we have worked through the spelling pattern of adding the suffix -ing to verbs. They had their first dictation test last week. In addition, we are continuing to review the parts of speech.

Math: We just completed unit 2 and will assess on the skills early next week. Our next unit is on multiplication and division. The girls are enjoying a challenge using number tiles and sheets like the one below. There are 20 in a set and their enthusiasm is great!

  
  
Social Studies: We finished learning about how to become president with our road to the White House unit. Our next mini unit will be on the women's suffrage movement before starting a unit on westward expansion.

Reminders:

  • Carpool helper next week: Ainsley
  • Conference Schedule
  • Technology Dialogue Night for Lower School Parents: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape - October 22 at 6:30
  • Swimming: October 21 - 24,  October 28 -30, from 8:00 - 8:45; Details here
  • Details for Halloween
  • Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
  • A Note from the Clinic

    • Since the start of the school year, we are aware of a handful of confirmed head lice cases throughout the Lower School.

    • The most effective measure to prevent the spread of lice is for parents to do regular head checks at home. A nit comb can be a helpful tool. This is supported by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics.

    • Ongoing communication regarding when lice is diagnosed is appreciated. Please notify your school nurse after discovering your child has lice. This communication will remain confidential. The school nurse can provide you with important resources and help guide you through the treatment process.

    • As with anything contagious, we will send a classroom notification when we are made aware of two or more reported cases in the classroom. 

    • This notice is not meant to urge any families to treat their children for lice without signs or symptoms present.


    If you have questions, contact Erin Hyde, Lower School Nurse (ehyde@st.catherines.org). 


     



Friday, October 11, 2024

Weekly Update

We had a productive week and I know everyone will enjoy the three day weekend! I look forward to starting my parent-teacher conferences next week. Here is the conference schedule in case you need a reminder!

DateFamily
Tuesday, 10/15/24Brannan @ 9:45
Raggi @ 1:00
Thursday, 10/17/24White @ 9:45
Clark @ 12:45
Friday, 10/18/24Joffe @ 1:00

Monday, 10/21/24Keeney @ 8:15
Barnard @ 9:45
Tuesday, 10/22/24Smith @ 8:15
Wednesday, 10/23/24Hershey @ 8:15
Benson @ 1:15
Thursday, 10/24/24Huffman @ 8:15
Monday, 10/28/24Towell @ 8:15
Boulais @ 9:45
Tuesday, 10/29/24Lacy @ 8:15

On Wednesday, October 16, the Fourthies will visit Monticello for our first field trip! All of the details for this trip are here. It should be a great day!

Our class will have swimming starting Monday, October 21. Here is a letter from the PE department.

Reminders:

  • Carpool helper next week: Sloane
  • Fall Break - no school Monday, October 14
  • Wear gold/white/navy to support a big St. Cat’s Game Day - Tuesday, October 15 
  • Wordly Wise Dress Up Day: October 18
  • Technology Dialogue Night for Lower School Parents: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape - October 22 at 6:30
  • Swimming: October 21 - 24,  October 28 -30, from 8:00 - 8:45; Details here
  • Details for Halloween
  • Scavenger hunt question - answer this!



Friday, October 4, 2024

Weekly Update

 

On Wednesday, October 16, the Fourthies will visit Monticello for our first field trip! All of the details for this trip are here. It should be a great day!

Here is a Creative Technology update from Mrs. Kortas. 

If you were unable to watch the Mathematics zoom call this week, you can access the video here.

Here are some curriculum updates and reminders.

Math: In today's Friday folder, the girls are bringing home their math test for unit 1. Please read the letter attached to the test carefully as it explains how we scored this assessment. Currently, we are working through unit two, which focuses on estimating sums and differences and adding and subtracting larger numbers.

Reading: The girls are enjoying our novel study of James and the Giant Peach. Today, we had our first Flashlight Friday. Please ask your daughter what this involved!

Social Studies: We have finished our study of the three branches of government. Our next mini unit is on what it takes to become president. We are using this slideshow as our guide.

Language Arts: Next week, we will begin spelling. The girls will all have the same spelling pattern but their word lists may differ. They will have some spelling homework as well. For this week's 3WT, we did it collaboratively. I will include the slideshow below but please know these have not been edited by me yet! 😉

 

Reminders:

  • Carpool helper next week: Lillian
  • Special week: AT
  • Fall BBQ Bash: Thursday, October 10 from 6:30-8:30 pm - tickets are still available for purchase through October 6
  • Fall Break - no school Monday, October 14
  • Wear gold/white/navy to support a big St. Cat’s Game Day) - Tuesday, October 15 
  • Wordly Wise Dress Up Day: October 18
  • Technology Dialogue Night for Lower School Parents: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape - October 22 at 6:30
  • Swimming: October 21 - 24,  October 28 -30, from 8:00 - 8:45
  • Details for Halloween; our fourth grade Halloween party will begin after the parade!
  • Scavenger hunt question - answer this!

 



Final Update

THANK YOU for a fabulous year!  Yesterday's Final Assembly was lovely, and I am so proud of each and every girl from our class. They gre...