Middle School Newsletter

Dear Middle School Families,

We’re well into November, and the halls of St. Mary's are buzzing with energy and accomplishment. Our students have been hard at work, tackling essay assignments, and preparing for and taking exams. We also held student council elections, giving our students a chance to step up as leaders.

We are incredibly proud to be apart of a Blue Ribbon School. Our principal, Dr. Christine Nadjarian, accepted the Blue Ribbon Award on behalf of St. Mary's in Washington, D.C. last week. This honor reflects our commitment to excellence in academics, character, and community. Thank you for your support as we continue working together toward a successful school year.

Warm regards,

The Middle School Team

St. Mary's just wrapped up its 2024 Student Council Elections! Last Tuesday, on Election Day, we heard passionate speeches from students across grades six to eight. Students competed for president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and student representative positions. The atmosphere was lively and intelligent as students made their cases to their classmates. Those elected will serve their classmates through event planning, problem-solving, and communicating the thoughts and desires of the student body with school staff. We are excited for our students to experience working together to solve common problems and serve the common good of St. Mary of the Assumption School! Special thanks to Mr. Ahmad for organizing this event!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Veterans Day! All the middle school students focused on Honoring our Heroes last week in Social Studies, and studied the history of Veterans Day and why we celebrate it. All students wrote thank you letters to the men and women at the VA Hospital in Jamaica Plain. In each of their classes, the students researched the different branches of the United States Armed Forces, created slideshows and posters to present to the class to teach about that particular branch.

November 18 – Monday

• 6th grade leads Parking Lot Prayers – Virtue of Charity at 8 AM

November 18-22

• Thanksgiving Food Drive

November 22 – Friday

• Trimester 1 Grades Close

November 26 – Tuesday

• Thanksgiving Liturgy of the Word (All Families Welcome!)

• No EDP/Clubs

November 27 - 29

• NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

December 2 – Monday

• Last week of Fall Clubs

• First Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM

  Winter Book Fair at Brookline Booksmith from 5-7 PM

December 3 – Tuesday

• Touring Tuesday

• St. Mary’s Tree Lighting at 4 PM – EDP ends at 3:30 PM

December 4 – Wednesday

• Trimester 1 Report Cards Released

December 5 – Thursday

• Parent Teacher Conferences from 2:30-5:30 PM

December 6 – Friday

• NO SCHOOL - Parent Teacher Conferences

December 9 – Monday

• Second Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM

• Mass of the Immaculate Conception at 12:10 PM (All Families Welcome)

December 10 – Tuesday

• No EDP

December 13 – Friday

• St. Mary’s Christmas Concert and Pageant at 9 AM in the Church (All Families Welcome)

December 16 – Monday

• Third Week of Advent - Parking Lot Prayers at 8 AM

December 18 – Wednesday

• EDP ends at 4:30 PM

December 19 - January 5

• NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break

All teens from Grade 6-8 are invited to our next Middle School Social on Sunday, November 17th from 12:00-1:30pm in the Lower Church Hall. We’ll have a scavenger hunt, games and a pizza cooking competition! A $5 donation is appreciated to cover the costs, but not required! Please RSVP to jferrari@stmarybrookline.com by Saturday, November 16th. We’re excited to see you!

In 6th grade ELA with Miss Allen, students recently completed their final reading comprehension exam on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and wrote their first essays, selecting prompts based on the novel’s themes and key points. They also participated in their first official Socratic Seminar, where they debated ideas and analyzed characters in depth. We have now begun our new unit on Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, exploring the setting in the Ozarks during the Great Depression, reading the first few chapters, and learning about the author’s background. Students have also completed Wordly Wise lessons three and four and are currently studying types of nouns in grammar.

In 6th grade Math with Mr. Pritchett, students finished up chapter three, and are mid-way through chapter four. This means that we will soon be taking the unit test for the trimester which will cover all the information we have learned thus far. Students spent most of chapter three learning how to properly use operations on fractions and mixed numbers. This included learning about greatest common factors, least common denominators, and how to easily find them. Beyond fractions, we reviewed how to convert units in the Imperial system and how to best think about precision in mathematical and scientific contexts.

In 6th grade Social Studies with Miss Falcone, the students learned about the tools that make up The Geographer’s World in Chapter 2, including the basic tools and skills geographers use to study the Earth. The key concepts included understanding the different types of maps, how maps differ from globes, lines of latitude and longitude, the Equator and Prime Meridian, how a GPS works, and the difference between relative and absolute location. To cap off the chapter, the sixth graders worked on creating maps from their houses to St. Mary’s School while using the technology tools, Google Earth and Google Maps.

In 6th grade Science with Miss Falcone, the students worked in teams to create a “Bone Bridge” STEM Challenge for Halloween, using craft sticks, q-tips, chenille sticks and candy pumpkins. The challenge was to create a bridge made out of “bones” (q-tips) that was a foot in length that would hold the pumpkins during a simulated earthquake. While emphasizing teamwork, the students brainstormed and collaborated to solve the design challenges together. After a few tries, and when the bridges could hold the weight of the pumpkins, the students were challenged to create suspension bridges and one group even designed a drawer bridge. It was a great project for the sixth graders!

In 6th Grade Religion with Miss Allen, students began their second unit on what makes the Bible unique among all other books. We discussed how to read the Bible with an eye for foreshadowing, noticing how events in the Old Testament point forward to fulfillments in the New Testament. Students learned that all Scripture is inspired by God—just as God’s Spirit was present at the beginning of Creation, it is present within the words of Scripture. They discovered that the Bible teaches truth for our salvation with absolute faithfulness and accuracy. To understand the depth of God’s message, students are also learning to consider the intentions, circumstances, and literary techniques used by the human authors God inspired.

On All Saint's Day, the 6th graders enjoyed their time reading to their 1st grade buddies about the lives of the saints!

In 7th grade ELA with Miss Allen, students recently completed their persuasive essays on which character undergoes the most change in Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game. We have now started our second unit, focusing on Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, a powerful novel set during World War II, narrated uniquely by Death. After watching interviews with the author, students read the prologue and discussed Zusak's intentions with this unusual narrative perspective, comparing it to other poems and films that use similar techniques. Students then completed a short writing assignment on the significance of The Gravedigger's Handbook for Liesel. In vocabulary, they have completed lessons three and four of Wordly Wise. In grammar, they are learning about transitive and intransitive verbs, verbs with indirect objects, linking verbs, and predicate words.

In 7th grade Math with Mr. Pritchett, students finished up chapter three, and are mid-way through chapter four. This means that we will soon be taking the unit test for the trimester which will cover all the information we have learned thus far. In chapter three, students learned the fundamentals of graphing and transforming shapes on a coordinate plane. They practiced moving between equations, tables, and graphs to conceptualize the same data. Beyond just representing shapes on a coordinate plane, students learned how to square and square root numbers and solve for a missing side of a right triangle.

In 7th grade Social Studies with Miss Falcone, the students are now studying the Countries of Central Asia in Chapter 2. The focus has been on Siberia and the Caucasus Mountain region. The students are studying the geography of the region, the people and settlements in those areas, including the climate and environment, the history of the region, the cultural diversity, and the economy such as the natural resources of oil, gas and minerals. The students researched the major waterways in the area and their importance to the land and the people who live there.

In 7th grade Science with Mr. Ahmad, students learned about the parts of a cell and how they function. Students worked on creating their own models of plant and animal cells and presented them to the class today. We will use our knowledge of cell biology to continue into genetics and DNA, which will complete our unit on life science.

In 7th & 8th Grade Religion with Miss Allen, students began Unit 2 on Jesus and the Gospel message. This unit explores the profound truth that God is love, and that Jesus calls us to love both God and our neighbors. Students are learning that Jesus embodies the fullness of God’s truth, making faith both a precious gift and a virtue requiring our response. Through Divine Revelation, passed down in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, God reveals essential truths for our lives. Students also discussed the role of the Magisterium, which has the vital responsibility of preserving and faithfully transmitting Divine Revelation within the Catholic Church.

In 8th grade ELA with Miss Allen, students recently completed their argumentative court case essays on S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, taking on the role of either prosecutor or defense attorney for Johnny Cade and using textual evidence to support their arguments. We have now begun our new unit on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, where students have explored the purpose of literature and completed activities on the novel’s background and author. We watched videos on Jim Crow laws, life during the Great Depression, and a short biography of Harper Lee before diving into the first few chapters. Our discussions have since focused on the significance of Scout, a six-year-old girl, as the first-person narrator, along with the novel's themes of education, prejudice, femininity, and growing up. In vocabulary, students have completed their third and fourth lessons of Wordly Wise. In grammar, they are studying appositives, parts of speech, and transitive and intransitive verbs.

In 8th grade Math with Mr. Pritchett, students finished up chapter three, and are mid-way through chapter four. This means that we will soon be taking the unit test for the trimester which will cover all the information we have learned thus far. In chapter three, students learned how to work with inequalities in various ways. They practiced treating the inequalities like equations and the rules needed to solve them. Special focus was given to learning how to model inequalities on a number line. In addition, we covered ways to represent lists of data including Venn diagrams, set notation and more.

In 8th grade US History with Miss Falcone, the students learned the path to citizenship, the steps to becoming a citizen, the rights of citizens and the duties and responsibilities of being a United States Citizen. Included in that lesson was learning about the rich diversity and shared values of the citizens of the United States, and the importance of the history of citizenship throughout the years. The 8th graders have been learning about the importance of voting and how elections are essential parts of democracy, allowing citizens to choose leaders and shape government decisions. They learned about the founding principles of the United States, how voting rights changed over time, the election process and the Electoral College.

In 8th grade Science with Mr. Pritchett, students are well into their unit on Earth and Space. Students have created multiple models so far, representing the relationship between the earth and the sun, the tilt of the earth’s axis, the position and rotation of the moon around the earth, and more. We have also had time to utilize astronomical software like Stellarium which has been useful when tracking the height of the sun in the sky throughout the year. We have paid special attention in this unit to modeling the changes of the seasons and how to compare the climates of various regions.

In 7th & 8th Grade Religion with Miss Allen, students began Unit 2 on Jesus and the Gospel message. This unit explores the profound truth that God is love, and that Jesus calls us to love both God and our neighbors. Students are learning that Jesus embodies the fullness of God’s truth, making faith both a precious gift and a virtue requiring our response. Through Divine Revelation, passed down in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, God reveals essential truths for our lives. Students also discussed the role of the Magisterium, which has the vital responsibility of preserving and faithfully transmitting Divine Revelation within the Catholic Church.

The 8th grade students have been excited every week to begin their interviews at the high schools where they are applying! We are wishing the best of luck to all of the eighth graders at this time of exams and interviews!

The 7th and 8th grade students enjoyed spending time with their Kindergarten buddies reading books, playing games on the playground and enjoying the beautiful weather! We are all looking forward to some upcoming holiday Buddy Time with our new friends!

In Spanish with Ms. Bognet, middle school students celebrated Día de los Muertos by creating a small ofrenda, where they attached a picture or name of a loved one, crafted a flower, and decorated calaveras (sugar skulls). They also shared one or two sentences about their loved ones. The students are wrapping up the unit on “¿Qué te gusta hacer?” with degrees of likes and dislikes. They graphed information on likes and dislikes from Spanish students in the text, presented their findings orally to the class, and wrote their own like/dislike paragraphs, which they will also present. The culminating project will be an interview—either of themselves, a classmate, or another person. Students will have the option to dress up for their interview.

In French with Mr. Awad, the middle school students have been learning to introduce themselves and others, wish someone a happy birthday, share their age, ask others about theirs, and count from 1 to 100 in French. They’ve also practiced essential vocabulary to build stronger communication skills. We've incorporated subject and possessive pronouns in our discussions, and we continue to enjoy practicing the French song Je dis Jésus!

In Latin with Mr. Pritchett, students have completed their first major test which included the prayers they use every day, the vocab we have studied together, the declension charts they have memorized so far, and translating sentences they have seen in their weekly readings. Students are currently working on their culture project which includes a brief research paper on their chosen interest in Roman history or culture and a brief presentation to the class on what they learned. As we finish the culture project, students will resume their study of the language and will be introduced to a now familiar prayer, the Pater Noster (Our Father).

6th grade: Why do you think it might be very beneficial to have multiple literary techniques in Sacred Scripture? What must we must we try to keep in mind when reading specific books in the Old Testament? And the New Testament?

7th & 8th grade: What are some examples of family traditions? What about civic (or community) traditions? What is it that they transmit? Do you have a special family tradition?