Principal's Weekly Update

Hello families!

What a warm welcome I have felt this first month of school! Thank you so much for speaking with me at drop-off or dismissal, at Parents Night, at Coffee with the Principal, and through email. It has been a joy meeting families and students! I have visited classrooms and seen so much engagement in academic student learning, cooperation, and social-emotional development. Seeing students’ work up in the hallways reiterates the strong curriculum standards we are achieving, and the high expectations our teachers are reinforcing. Collaborating with teachers and staff is my passion and I have loved working with teachers during our PLC meetings, staff meetings and 1:1. Their dedication to our students is visible in everything they do!

In this week’s Newsletter, you will notice many Special Subject areas highlighted. Our Special Subject teachers are a vital part of your children’s well-rounded education. I also want to invite you to our Virtual Meet the Special Subject Teacher Night on Tuesday, October 18th at 6:30 via Zoom. There will be a presentation on curriculum and lessons, a time to meet teachers and ask any questions you may have. Again, thank you so much for your welcome and collaboration this month! I look forward to working together the rest of the year!

Covid update: We had no positive cases the last 2 weeks.

Flu shots: St. Mary’s is not having a flu clinic this year. I was not able to book one before December. Flu shots are available at all pharmacies and at target stores and supermarkets with pharmacies located inside the store. All pediatric offices have been issued their flu vaccines by the state.

I have seen an uptick in cough and colds, runny noses and sore throats. Of course this is expected this time of year. Keep in mind the following information below and that DPH suggests that even people with mild symptoms test for Covid. If anyone needs Covid-19 test kits please let me know.

As we head into the fall season, this is a quick reminder to be mindful of the beginning of cold and flu season. It is important that we work together to keep our children healthy.

Viruses/Common Colds spread easily among children in schools, and families with school-age children have more infections than others. By keeping our children flu-free, we benefit the community as a whole. You can help prevent the spread of flu and the common cold or help your child get better if he/she does get sick by following a few simple steps:

• If possible, you and your child should get a flu shot to help prevent infection with the flu.

• Remind your child to cover his/her nose and mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing and dispose of the tissue immediately.

• We teach them to cough or sneeze into the bend of their elbow, or to cough down into the front of their own shirt to help keep as many germs as possible off of their hands.

• Have your child wash his/her hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.

• Use hand sanitizer if soap and water is not available.

• Always follow with soap and water as soon as it is available.

• Disinfect frequently-touched surfaces and shared items at least once a day.

• Teach your child not to touch his/her mouth, nose and eyes.

• If your child is sick and has a fever, keep him/her at home to prevent the spread of illness to others.

• Your child should be naturally fever free (temp below 100 degrees, per DPH guidelines, without Tylenol or Motrin) for at least 24 hours before returning to school. This is very important!

A good rule of thumb is to keep your child at home if he or she has a fever of 100 degrees or more. When temperature is present in the morning prior to school (99.0 or greater) it will only climb higher as the day progresses.

If your child has cold or flu symptoms as well, please do not give Tylenol or Motrin to cover the fever and send them to school. As soon as the medicine wears off, the fever will return and you will have exposed your child’s classmates and teachers to your child’s illness. Also, when your child has fever, he/she is even more at risk for other illnesses/ viral infections. There are many reasons why it is best to keep a sick child at home.

Flu is a serious illness and children with the flu should not come to school. Flu symptoms include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, headache, and muscle aches. You must contact the doctor with these symptoms. If you are unsure about the symptoms, contact your doctor early.

Cold symptoms include stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, and hacking cough. Colds often come on gradually, and are usually not serious. However, symptoms can become severe and you may need to keep your child at home to get rest and plenty of fluids to prevent worsening of symptoms. If you are treating the symptoms with “cold medicines” at home prior to school, please be sure that they are the non-drowsy type medicines so that your child will be able to stay awake. Save the “night time” medicines for bedtime. Again, if your child has a fever (100 degrees or more) he/she should stay at home until fever free for at least 24 hours. If your child does develop a fever along with cold symptoms, you will want to contact the child’s doctor.

Please remember our morning Arrival Procedures. Only students in grades K2-8 enter the Cafeteria and find their class tables. PreK-K1 students are dropped off at the blue front doors on Harvard Street. At 8 am all doors are locked and parents must drop off students in the Main Office to receive a pass. Parents do not bring students to classrooms. Office staff and teacher’s aides will bring students to their classrooms if they need assistance after 8 am from the Main Office. Parents do not go through the school to bring students to classrooms. This is to help foster independence in students and ease the transition from home to school each day. Thank you for your cooperation with this procedure.

October 10th:

• No School: Columbus Day/ Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 11th:

• Picture Makeup day from 10-11a.m (only for students who were absent on Picture Day)

October 12th:

• First Parent Volunteer Council meeting 3 p.m. (lower hall at church)

October 14th:

• 9-11:30 Admissions Open House
  
• First Day of Band
  
• Progress Reports K2-8
  
• Grade 1 only- Visit from Fire Department at 10a.m.

October 19th:

• School Mass at 8a.m.

October 28th:

• Halloween Celebration 4-6p.m.
  
• EDP ends at 4
• PreK-K1 Progress Reports

Thank you to all the families that joined us for Movie Night on Friday night and our Alumni and student volunteers that joined us for our Alumni Luncheon on Saturday. We appreciate your enthusiasm for our community!

Thank you Father Jonathan for blessing our students' pets during Monday's Parking Lot Prayers!

Thank you to our students, families, faculty, staff, school volunteers, and parishioners for joining on Monday's Red Sox Game. It was a memorable evening!

The school came together to cheer on our hard working custodians. Thank you to our excellent custodial and maintenance staff! You exemplify servant leadership to our students and community everyday! Salamat!

Check out this video we made for our custodians!

If your child was absent for picture day, please make sure they come to school in their full uniform for our picture make up day on October, 11th.

Thank you to all our parents who attended our Protecting God's Children Training. If you could not attend, please click the link below to sign up for a session:

https://www.virtusonline.org/virtus/reg_list.cfm?theme=0

This week students learned about big and small “grande y pequeño “ with leaves and fall fruits. They played with leaves, danced and sang. They also classified leaves by size and colors. They discovered the different colors of the leaves and even made their own fall trees. They loved it!

On the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Ms. Crapo’s PreK class celebrated their class saint! They invited Father Jonathan to bless their animal pets and he told them the story of St. Francis of Assisi. Students colored pictures of St. Francis, built homes out of magnetic tiles for their animal pets, and discussed their favorite animals.

This was an important week for our early childhood team! They launched their new curriculum which includes:

Preschool-OWL Literacy (Opening the World of Learning)

K1 literacy program, Focus on Pre-K

Learning without Tears

Building Blocks Math

K1 went on a leaf hunt with Ms. Julia! While listening to the We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt book, Mrs. Creamer’s students used their imagination to enthusiastically recreate scenes from the book, like traveling down a stream in their canoes and gathering fall colored “leaves” to toss.

K2 explored chemical reactions by conducting an apple volcano experiment! Students began their investigation by asking questions and forming predictions.

In Ms. Malonowsky's Visual Art class, K2 students learned about shapes through recognition while creating shape train collages. They read Donald Crew’s classic, Freight Train, on the Interactive Board and brainstormed where their trains would go! Students practiced fine motor skills such as cutting and gluing while arranging shapes on the page.

Miss Chambrelli’s grade 1 students were pumpkin scientists today. They read the story Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie by Jill Esbaumard and created an “All About Pumpkins” chart. They took this knowledge and made diagrams representing all the parts. To conclude this lesson, the students will carve a real pumpkin on Friday to explore the different parts. Great job grade 1!

Mrs. Fragola’s Grade 1 Math Ghosts lesson. Each student was given their own set of numbers to make addition and subtraction equations. Great job students for helping each other. Afterwards they decorated their ghosts with Halloween colors. What BOO-tiful creations!

In Ms. Whitten’s Grade 1 Drama class, students discussed the parts of a story: the character, problem, and solution. They read the book “Chrysanthemum” by Kevin Henkes together. Students identified the characters from the narrative then acted out their character traits using emotions and their whole bodies.

In Library, Ms. Broley read “The Creepy Crayon” by Aaron Reynolds to first graders from Ms. Fragola’s class. The students created library cards and discussed the procedure on how to check a book out of the library to take it home. Our Librarian Ms. Broley has also added a seasonal section to the library: Halloween BOOOOOOKs! Students can also check out the new World Language section.

Grade 2 started their October Number Corner where they identified pinnate and palmate leaves, worked with multiples of 3 and 4 in their Daily Rectangle, and played Make 10 in Pairs.

In Ms. Smith’s Grade 2 Music class, students began with movement and stretches. They discussed why stretching was important to prepare the lungs and vocal chords for singing. They warmed up with tongue twisters: Mommy made me mash my M&Ms and On my farm I grow potatoes, radishes and red tomatoes, cabbages and watermelons too! The students sang faster and higher with each stanza. Students sang along with the keyboard and the ukelele. Ms. Smith introduced the song “Everybody” by Ingrid Michaelson and students read along with the lyrics on the Interactive Board. They discussed the scale with notes 1-8 and the 5 chord that gives a hint when the next verse begins.

Ms. Cafferky brought fractions alive using apples! She cut the apple into 8 slices and students were asked to work in groups and create their own fractions.

Students in Madame Montagut’s Grade 3 French class discussed ingredients in French cookies such as apples, sugar, salt, flour, and eggs. Students translated the words from English to French and copied them in their notebooks. Students also watched a video showing a conversation between friends, introducing one another and greeting each other. They watched first without subtitles, then again with subtitles to see the written French. The third time watching the video, students discussed phrases from the conversation and practiced the dialogue in class.

Fourth grade Earth scientists in May. DeLuca’s class learned about sedimentary rock formations in their lab on Friday. Students worked in groups defining content vocabulary words, and creating miniature ecosystems using sand, flour, small gravel, and medium rocks. They added water to watch how the materials settled.

Grade four played Go Tag during Physical Education with Mr. Holmes. Three teams rotated play. The goal was to tag members of an opposing team. If two players tagged each other at the same time they would break the tie with Rock Paper Scissors. Players who lost had to sit down and could only be freed by their teammates.

The Two Penny Flip Lab aims to help students understand percentages and learn to use the scientific method. Students began by making observations and hypotheses of what the likelihood would be for each possibility. Following this, each team worked together to accumulate data and analyze their own personal results. Finally, they collected all the class data and noticed that Heads-Tails was the most common result. Overall, this class experiment also allowed the students to understand and apply the scientific method to everyday life.

Students were tasked to translate passages from old poetic language to modern day English. Ms Stroia did a wonderful job guiding them through translations. Here is a sample of some of their work:

Original:

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Student translation:

The raven sat lonely perched on the door. The raven then spoke only one word. Then the raven flapped its wings. The narrator muttered, “Other friends have flown before- on the morrow he will leave me.” Then the raven said “Nevermore.”

Mr. Suriawinata began his lesson going through the history of the microscope. Today, students practiced using a microscopes for the first time learning how to focus on a lens.

This week we finished the Introduction block with 6th graders. We played "Mano, Palma, Agarra" and danced to awaken our senses and be ready to listen first thing in the morning! We also started talking about hobbies and favorite activities and the students realized they have similarities they didn't even know about!

Our 7th and 8th graders are reviewing last year's material to make sure we have a good base to move forward! We are working on conjugations and differentiating the use of verbs SER/ESTAR (both "to be" in English). We went both through writing and speaking practice in these two topics.

We moved forward to celebrating "Hispanic Heritage Month," playing "Guess Who" with Hispanic personalities in the US, and also talking about MÉXICO. Here we have introduced the story of César Chávez, a Mexican-American Labor leader and Latino Civil Rights activist.

In his own words: "Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures".

All middle schoolers got to know Ávila, a medieval Spanish city known for being the hometown of Santa Teresa de Jesús. We learned one of her prayers: "Nada te turbe" (Let nothing disturb you) which is my favorite from her. I presented them with new vocabulary while learning about her virtues and accomplishments, during the anniversary of her death this week.

Students had a wonderful first class of Cooking Club! They made Sunbutter and Jelly Spiders! They followed the steps and wrote down the ingredients, so that they can make it again.

Chess Wizards met for the first time on Wednesday afternoon. Students from all levels practiced playing full games or Pawn Wars. Their instructor Joy Shah has taught at St. Mary’s before and we are so glad to have him back!

Hip Hop Dance Club met with Ms. Porcello on Wednesday! For their first session, dancers practiced dance moves using their whole bodies, sequencing and choreography.

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/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stmarybrookline