Principal's Weekly Update

Dear Families,

I hope you had a wonderful February vacation. Then Lenten Season is upon us! Classes will be attending 8 a.m Mass 2-3 times during the Lenten Season. We will also hold a schoolwide Stations of the Cross on March 24th, all are parents and students are invited to attend. Additionally, our Student Council is planning a schoolwide service project, more details to follow!

Thank you to Avory and Cameron from Grade 5 in leading the school in morning announcements. While walking into Grade 5's class during morning announcements, I was impressed to see the students were synchronously signing the Pledge of Allegiance. Not only did they know how to recite it using words but also by using their hands! Mrs. Palmer has been teaching her students how to sign the Pledge of Allegiance, Happy Birthday, and words that are used frequently. I am so proud of what Grade 5 has accomplished!

Thank you to Ms. Nancy Chang (support teacher) for leading our faculty and staff in a Bar Method class on Thursday morning. Ms. Nancy Chang is an instructor at the Bar Method. The Bar Method is a method of exercise created under the guidance of physical therapists to ensure it is safe and effective for every body, spanning a wide range of abilities including those with physical limitations and injuries. Ms. Chang is currently looking to open a Bar Method studio in the near future. Thank you for the great workout Ms. Chang!

Have a great weekend!

March 8th:

• Parent Volunteer Council and Room Parent Meeting 8 am in Cafeteria and Zoom

March 10th:

• Discovery Day Admissions Open House 9 am

March 13th:

• Extra Band Day, Band students in K2-8 must bring their instruments

March 15th:

• Extra Band Day, Violins only in K2-8 must bring their instruments

March 16th:

• Pizza Thursday or Home Lunch, no Brookline Lunches Served

March 17th:

• No School - Pastor’s Day

March 20th:

• Mass for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph at 8 am (K2-8)

March 22nd:

• Walk Around Wednesday 9 am

March 24th:

• Stations of the Cross at 1:15 (K2-8) Parents are invited!

• Parish All Night Eucharistic Adoration

March 27th:

• Second Trimester Report Cards Released (K2-8)

• Parent Teacher Conferences begin (K2-8)

April 6th:

• Holy Thursday - Early Release at 11 am

• No EDP or after-school activities

April 7th:

• Good Friday - No School

April 10th:

• Easter Monday - No School

April 13th:

• Admissions Online Info Session 9 am

April 14th:

• No EDP

April 17th - April 21st:

• April Vacation - No School

April 24th:

• Welcome Back!

• Spring Clubs Begin

I hope everyone enjoyed the February vacation.

St. Mary's had 1 Covid-19 case reported to us this week.

Believe it or not, we are headed into allergy season. Seasonal allergies can be really tough on kids. Now is a good time to speak with their doctor about medications that can help with symptoms. Ideally, all seasonal allergy medication should be given at home before coming to school.

Enjoy your weekend!

Thank you to all families who have already completed their 2023-2024 re-enrollment packets. Please note that if the re-enrollment packet is not submitted by April 1st, your family's enrollment status will be considered withdrawn for the 2023-2024 academic year. If there are any extenuating circumstances regarding your family's decision to re-enroll, please make us aware as soon as you are able.

Call for Parent Volunteers! We are building an alumni database and we need your help. We need assistance with data entry and sorting transcript cards. If you have a few hours in the mornings to spare, please reach out to Dan Griffin, dgriffin@stmarys-brookline.org. Coffee and treats will be provided!

This week students in middle school Spanish practiced a lot of speaking with different activities such as sharing about their February vacation activities, or playing a game called "CITAS CORTAS." In this game, they needed to work in pairs asking each other questions about the topic of food. The goal was to ask as many questions as possible, hearing the answer of the partner. The game intends to reproduce quick casual conversations that can take place in the real world. After completing the activity, they did a self-evaluation, reflecting on which questions they had chosen and why, which ones were easy, and which ones were more difficult to understand and pronounce.

We are introducing 6th graders to their new unit: the human body and the visit to the doctor. It can be a lifesaver to know how to communicate with your doctor in Spanish if traveling or living abroad in the future!

All middle schoolers are participating in "LOCURA DE MARZO" (March Madness), a music tournament followed by many Middle and High Schools World Language students in the United States. During every Spanish class, they listen to two Hispanic Songs and vote for their favorite. At the end of the month, we'll have a winner! This is a fun way to keep students in touch with contemporary Hispanic culture, their sounds, and rhythms while exploring some of the lyrics and doing activities around the artists' biographies and songs. It is a very engaging listening activity!

The 7th grade continues their study of heredity, learning how physical traits are passed down from parents to offspring. In their monster genetics activity, students created their own monster, each with different traits from dominant and recessive alleles. Afterward, students partnered up and predicted the genotypes of the offspring of their monsters in a Punnett square.

In 5th grade the students are learning about erosion and deposition. They completed a fun and interactive lab which tested how the incline of a mountain affects the degree to which it erodes. Students then wrote up their steps and conclusion using the scientific method and found some fascinating results.

It was a busy week for Grade 4!

Grade 4 has been learning how energy and fuel that humans use is derived from natural resources and that some of these resources are renewable and some are not. The posters below show fossil fuels that are not renewable, as evidenced by the length of time their formation takes. Students illustrated each step of the process of the formation of petroleum, natural gas, and coal.

Grade 4 also reviewed and practiced liquid measurement, conversion, and addition.

Ms. DeLuca also led her students through a daily Lenten check-in. This check-in consists of a Lenten Tracker as well as alms-giving, fasting, and prayer goals. Students have a daily opportunity to reflect on their lenten goals and support one another achieve those goals whether it’s through acts of service and prayer life. Some of their goals consists of:

• Donating their toys
  
• Making their bed
  
• Helping their parents clean
  
• Giving up something sweets or video games
  
• Being nicer to siblings
  
• Praying for the poor and hungry
  

Grade 3 has read-aloud three times a week, and the book they are reading now is “Matilda”. While reading the book, Ms. Cafferky asks questions that include challenging vocabulary, making predictions, and creating their own individual images about the characters and the different environment. After each read chapter, the students answer questions related to the specific chapters either in pairs, the class together or by themselves.

Grade 1 worked on opinion writing. Students were tasked with using the OREO model (opinion, reason, example and opinion again) to write a paragraph. They took a "visit" to a Food Truck Park and had the opportunity to use the OREO model to write which food truck would be the best to eat at. Each food truck had its own menu to help students decide and formulate their opinion. Students are beginning their final copy of writing, and then they will begin to type their opinion paragraph!

Thank you to Ms. Chambrelli and Mrs. Fragola for taking coordinating and taking their students on a field trip to the Museum of Science! Students and chaperones had a blast. Students were so tired from all the excitement that most of them fell asleep on the bus ride back!

In Mrs. Curley’s K1 class, students worked on a Building Blocks Math activity in a whole group describing shapes. They reviewed shapes and “built them” with their bodies and friends. Three classmates worked together to create a triangle. Then students discovered the work of artist, Henri Matisse. They “drew” with scissors to cut out organic shapes such as geometric shapes. Students will continue working on this interdisciplinary project next week!

In Mrs. Creamer's centers, students also explored artists! One of the artists they focused on today was Piet Mondrian. Mondrian is famous for his compositions of black lines and closing up rectangles of primary colors. Students colored a heart using the same patterns and colors that Mondrian would have used.

Ms. Porcello began today's lesson by reading a book called “On the Construction Site.” While reading out loud to her class, she used “tapping” strategies, engaging her students in the literature and phonics. Students then transitioned to small group centers in which they participated in construction related activities, building, counting, sensory, and phonics exercises. Great job PreK!

Please find the links below to our social media pages. We have been constantly uploading posts and stories so if you are interested in seeing more of our day-to-day happenings, please follow us!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/st-mary-of-the-assumption-school

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmaryschoolbrooklinema

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stmaryschoolbrookline/