The Spirit - May 2024
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Kindergarten
As this school year comes to an end, we reflect on how quickly the months have passed and gratefully acknowledge what a privilege it has been to teach these very special children. The boys and girls have worked very hard this year in Kindergarten, we are proud of each and every one of them! The students have diligently remembered so many of the SFDS Life Skills; effort-in trying their best, initiative, by doing what needed to be done, as well as growing in their commitment to, and understanding of the St. Francis de Sales School-wide Learning Expectations.
Our year working with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd religion studies has been joyfully rewarding and continues to leave us humbled by the profound influence this invaluable curriculum has on the boys and girls. As the children work in the Atrium each week, we witness the building of their personal relationship with God and each child forming their own way of expressing their faith.
The boys and girls enjoyed a close and fulfilling relationship with each other. Truly living the St. Francis Life Skill of friendship, making and keeping friends through mutual trust and caring; we know the children will forever remember the many special times spent together.
This yearβs May Crowning was truly beautiful; the singing and prayerful reverence is always an inspiration. The boysβ and girlsβ hearts are always filled with love for our Mother Mary. We know she continues to intercede and watch over us all.
Field Day was so much fun! The snacks were so yummy, and the games were great fun. The Kindergartenerβs enthusiastically spent the day happily playing together, enjoying each otherβs company, and cheering each other on.
Special thanks to our room parents for helping at all events and activities throughout the year! Many thanks, also, to all of our Kindergarten parents for their willingness to help whenever we asked throughout this yearβmost importantly by supporting their childβs learning with conscientious reinforcement at home.
Our sincere good wishes for a happy, relaxing summer; and until we gratefully gather again in the fall, rest in the comfort and peace of Godβs ever present love.
Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Wilske
First Grade
Itβs amazing how quickly this year has flown by! In The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium, we are learning about Jesusβ resurrection, the parables, the Paschal candle, and Pentecost. Our May altar is beautiful! Many of our Life Skill and Ethics lessons remind us of the examples that Jesus and the saints have given us. We are almost finished writing and illustrating our Life Skills. Bible stories, literature books, and classroom discussions have helped teach the importance of putting these character traits into action. Conflict Resolution lessons continue to assist us in reviewing appropriate, kind behavior and following The Golden Rule. We had such wonderful time learning about Argentina! Additionally, everyone worked extremely hard on their stories and illustrations for PBS Young Writers and Illustrators contest.
Scripture and literature stories are some of the ways we make connections to our Life Skills. Some of our favorite books that make life skills real to us are: The Last One In is a Rotten Egg! (Patience), Paca and the Beetle (Sense of Humor and Common Sense), Chicken Sunday (Perseverance, Problem Solving, and Friendship).
We are having such a great time exploring IPad activities! We love Freckle, IXL, and Seesaw! Our Math skills are expanding our knowledge of 2-digit addition and subtraction, geometry, fractions, money, and time. Social Studies lessons taught us about cultures and traditions. We learned a lot about Earth and creation in Science. Our class loves our explorations in the STREAM Lab. We made anemometers while learning about the weather. We also explored magnets. It was amazing exploring Life Cycles in Science. Our butterflies came out of their chrysalis and flew away to find a new home.
As we continue to practice the writing process with the Jane Schaffer method, our skills continue to increase. First Graders are awesome readers, as well! The Accelerated Reading Program helped us improve comprehension and fluency! During the spring AR points continue to soar as we work toward meeting our new reading goals. Our class has taken over 1500 AR quizzes with an average reading level of 2.2 (Second Grade month 2). Congratulations!
The month of May is filled with educational lessons, community events, and traditions that we all treasure! We shared Mass booklets written by our Prayer Pals and bid them farewell. They have been an inspiration to us. Field Day activities are anxiously anticipated and enjoyed by all of us! The May Crowning is a custom we all look forward to. It is truly a joyous way to honor our Blessed Mother. We also enjoyed the Spring Music Concert and Field Day.
Additionally, it is a blessing teaching each and every one of my students. I am so proud of all of you. Many thanks to our spectacular room parents, Mrs. Porucznik and Mrs. Salazar, and all the dedicated First Grade parents, for helping us make this a terrific year. I am grateful to have such a tremendous amount of parental participation and support in all our activities!
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support this year. May God bless you all. Have a wonderful summer!
Please remember to practice those math facts and read this summer.
Mrs. Kelly Thomas
Second Grade
The end of the year is here, and I cannot believe how fast the time flew! This year has been filled with so much learning, good memories to cherish, and friendships that will continue to blossom. Each child in my classroom has worked so hard and I could not be any prouder of them. Thank you parents for your role as the primary educator in your childβs life and continuing to show positivity for education. It has been a wonderful year and I truly thank you all for your support and kind words of appreciation. We are finishing Second Grade strong to be ever more prepared for Third Grade in the fall!
Here is what we have been working on in the last two months of school!
In Math, we just finished our chapter on counting money! We really enjoyed making change and finding out who in class had the most money. In Reading, we just finished Unit 16 of Superkids. Currently, our Superkids are getting ready for the parade float from the contest they had won, with a special visit from Golly! We knew he couldnβt be lost forever! We are very sad to know that this is our last year having the Superkids series. But, we know that we are ready for the challenging reading texts in Third Grade! We enjoyed singing the βSuperkids Songβ from our readers, over and over and over again! In Writing, we have been busy Decoding the Prompt in our Jane Schaffer Writing Program. We know and understand that the prompt is the direction for the paragraph. Our current writing prompt is explaining the rules to our favorite outdoor game, like Hide and Seek or Duck, Duck, Goose and explaining why the rules are important. We really enjoyed Writing this year, especially with our colored pencils and fun chants!
In Science, we just finished our chapter on sound and how it travels. It has been fascinating to learn about the different pitches and tones different objects can have. Soon, weβll be learning about technology in the real world. In Social Studies, we just finished our unit on Economics. We learned about what a producer and consumer are, as well as how to budget money. We have loved our Classroom Economy and being responsible for our own money! It is fun learning about money this way and earning money to spend later in the classroom!
We have finally received the Sacrament of Communion! We have been preparing our hearts, soul, mind, and body for this blessed day. We know that Jesus is with us now and will continue to be with us forever. We are feeling beyond excited because we get to join our school family in receiving the Body of Jesus. Our lights are glowing brightly and our hearts are lifted high! Our favorite song is a tie between βBeholdβ and βThe Butterfly Songβ because we know that each song talks about how much Jesus is with us.
We are loving our novel, βThe Wild Robotβ in which the main character Roz has many situations that she must overcome. We like to predict and help solve her situation before the end of the chapter. This has made reading the book so enjoyable for us! It is the best way to end our day.
The Accelerated Reading program in my class this year has truly been a wonderful experience. The students are avid readers and truly have a passion for reading! To date, we have taken and passed 2,141 AR quizzes and gained a classroom total of 1,139.7 AR points! Amazing!! Below are the students who have earned their award:
Parents, thank you so much for the opportunity to trust me in teaching your child each day. I have enjoyed each and every one of my students. They each hold a special place in my heart. I appreciate all of your continued support throughout the year and wish that you and your families have a wonderful summer break. I look forward to seeing you all in August!
Always with lots of love,
Mrs. Banksβ€οΈ
Third Grade
Thank you to those students that participated in this yearβs Earth Day contest. The designs were all very creative and well thought out. Please remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle every day. Especially when it comes to Earth Day. Congratulations to our winners!
Our school family came together in a touching ceremony to honor Mary, Our Blessed Mother, through the tradition of the May Crowning. It was a touching reminder of our shared devotion and the powerful intercession of Our Lady in our lives. May this tradition continue to deepen our connection to Mary and strengthen our faith as a community.
We have found solace and inspiration in the practice of praying the Rosary as a school family. As we unite in prayer, we hold our Blessed Mother close to our hearts acknowledging her perpetual guidance and protection in our daily lives. Thank you to those who offered a thoughtful gesture of bringing beautiful flowers in for our May altar. Let us continue to turn to Mary in prayer, seeking her intercession and finding comfort in her loving presence.
Students learned about the significance of the monstrance in Catholic worship and its role in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We crafted intricate designs to learn about the symbolism behind each element, our students embraced this hands-on experience, deepening their understanding of the Eucharist and expressing their devotion through art.
A big thank you to Mrs. Villanueva for making Track and Field Day an absolute blast! Your dedication and hard work in organizing such a fun and memorable day for everyone is truly appreciated by all of us.
The Third Grade wishes the 8th Graders a bright, happy, and blessed future. May God bless you in all you do. Congratulations on your accomplishments here at St. Francis de Sales School!
We wish you a wonderful and safe summer vacation. May God bless everyone. Please continue to pray for peace in our world throughout the summer.
-Mrs. Cline
Fourth Grade
What a wonderful year we have had! As the summer approaches we are looking back over the year and remembering all the great lessons we have shared. Our faith has grown as we learned more about Jesus and the traditions of the Catholic Church. Learning about Adoration and making our own Monstrances was a very special activity. We are learning to recognize the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we shall continue to focus on our gifts as the church moves into the season of Ordinary Time this summer.
As we have been zipping through our final month of the school year, we have had many exciting lessons and celebrations. We are looking forward to our Drama Ministry performance on the 14th and Field Day on the 17th. Both events promise to be memorable! Our May Crowning ceremony was as moving as ever. It is wonderful to watch the whole school come together to honor our Blessed Mother in such a beautiful and reverent way. Thank you to all our participants for making us proud!
It is such a blessing to be a part of a school that celebrates family, community, and excellence together with such joy. The children love having their parents participate in school traditions and these special days enrich our lives by making us proud of each other and St. Francis de Sales School.
In Math we are working hard on changing fractions into decimals. It has actually turned out to be one of our favorite chapters this year. Please remember to practice math skills over the summer!
We wrapped up our study of Nevada History by learning about how our government works. It was interesting to compare how the government works at both the national, state, and local levels. We learned about the many services provided by our government as well as the rights and responsibilities we have as citizens of the United States. It makes us proud to be Americans. Now we are learning about the East Coast of our country. It is very different from our desert habitat in many ways.
Social Studies has us learning the names and locations of all 50 states and many of our students can also name the capitals of each state!!! βTour of the Statesβ is a really fun song to sing, and it is certainly helping everyone learn names and locations of states as well as something each state is famous for because of the art being drawn as we sing along with the song.
Finally, in our novel, Summer of Riley, we are finding a wonderful example of why tolerance is so important for our world! Additionally, the novel offers us a good example of problem solving, caring, perseverance, and many other life skills throughout this emotional adventure. There are so many awesome books to read that I hope you will make a trip to the library or bookstore to stock your bookcases for the summer. A good novel can make a car or plane trip much more enjoyable, and the family can share a good story together. Reading every day over the summer is very important, so have fun with it.
It has been my pleasure to get to know each of you this year and I look forward to seeing you all next year to hear about the adventures you are sure to have over the break.
I wish everyone a summer vacation filled with all the things you love.
Mrs. Tully
Fifth Grade
In Religion, we learned that after Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, he instructed his Apostles to continue his work through the church he founded. Jesus gave his Apostles the Holy Spirit and instituted the Sacrament of Penance before his Ascension into Heaven. We were amazed to learn that after receiving the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spoke in tongues to a crowd of three thousand people. They were so moved by Peterβs words, that they were all Baptized that same day.
In Reading, we completed all the stories in the Journeys hardcover book, and are now reading fun stories from the Journeys magazine. We love taking spelling tests and canβt wait to see how much easier these review tests will be. At least, we hope they will be easier. All of us are excited to write our own Tall Tale. We enjoyed reading some and watching the Disney cartoon about Paul Bunyan for ideas and inspiration. In Math, we completed all the chapters on fractions. We have begun the chapter on multiplying decimals. Many of us find this so easy, we hope to all achieve a 100 on the test, so we get the extra recess Mrs. Taubert promised us.
Every morning, there are a few new math examples on the board that arenβt in the book. They are helping us be ready for 6th Grade Math. We love enriching our Math skills using IXL as a fun supplement. After completing the chapter on the Original Thirteen Colonies, we are learning about the American Revolution. We are amazed at how courageous our forefathers were. They fought for our freedom both in the field and on paper, creating the Declaration of Independence. We will be learning about βtaxation without representationβ using an interactive activity. When we complete the chapter, weβll be playing, βCould You Survive the American Revolution?β.
Now in Science, we just completed a unit on sound and light energy. The fact that grasshoppers have their βearsβ on their stomach was astonishing! We watched a video on the loudest sound believed to be in human history. The volcano eruption on the island of Krakatoa in 1883 that was felt over 2000 miles away, and changed the weather around the world for more than a year. Nature is awesome, and scary at the same time. We love all the STREAM labs weβre doing in the lab and in class. Our latest is trying to recreate a famous artwork with Skittles. Hope there are some leftovers for us to eat!
We continue practicing our Life Skills everyday, especially Patience, Common Sense, and Initiative.
We hope everyone has a safe and happy Summer. Keep Reading and practicing Math facts everyday. See you in August!
Mrs. Taubert
Sixth Grade
In Religion class, we continue to celebrate the Easter season that ends with the Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. In our curriculum, we have been focusing on the Feast of God, the Holy Eucharist. Students are reflecting on how at Mass we celebrate in a Sacred meal the death and resurrection of Jesus. Communion is this holy meal that unites us with God. We continue to study the promise and fulfillment of Jesus and how the Eucharist is a Mystery of Faith. We have also been studying the items that make up the Table of the Lord. Through the month of May we celebrate Mary by praying the Rosary every morning and coming together for the May Crowning of our Blessed Mother.
Our lessons in Social Studies are taking us to Rome. The students have been working, very diligently might I add, on a project presentation that covers a decade and its historical contributions. Many students have decided to further the challenge by adding a slideshow, PowerPoint, or Kahoot to enhance their Decades presentations. Great skill building all around!
The students are working very hard in their other subjects as well. They just finished reading The Giver and have been working very hard on Vocabulary Workshop. They have been focused working on the writing process in English. In Math, they continue to work on equations, fractions, and prime and composite numbers.
PE has been busy as well. Track and Field and Basketball have been the primary focus. Now we have moved on to Flag Football. Go Spirits!
We have been working with the following life skills in the classroom as well as on the playground with our peer friendships β perseverance, problem solving, initiative, and friendship.
Thank you for the great year!
- Mrs. Colucci
Seventh Grade
So, another year has come and gone; the past month for the seventh grade has been very exciting. We appreciate all of your support. We enjoyed a wonderful field day, thank you, Mrs. V for setting up a exciting Field Day for us this year.
In Reading we just finished our story on the βTriangle Factory Fireβ which was a devastating tragedy in the history of New York City, but as a result laws were formed and the foundation of New York Stateβs Industrial Code, is the finest in the nation. Soon other states enacted protective labor laws as well.
In English we finished learning about verbal. Some of the areas were transitive and intransitive verbs, along with infinitives, participles, and gerunds.
Our Life Skills have helped the class to grow into more informed and thoughtful students this year. Being challenged to display traits such as tolerance, and initiative, among many others, can be difficult. Through many of our discussions, the students were provoked into thinking about how using those skills can help them on a daily basis.
We are all looking forward to summer vacation and returning as Eighth Graders. As the Seventh Graders travel onto the final stage of their journey here at St. Francis de Sales, they will become the leaders of SFDS! I wish each of you a wonderful and safe summer!
-Mrs. Antos
Eighth Grade
Our eighth-grade year is rapidly coming to an end. We have so much to be thankful for during our time at St. Francis de Sales. We have been blessed to have had Mrs. Wilson as our principal since third grade. Her kindness, sense of humor, and love of the Catholic faith will be forever in our hearts. Throughout the years, we have always had caring teachers and support staff. It is hard to believe that in 2020 we found ourselves in a full-blown pandemic and learned a new word- βzooming.β But, as always, we rallied and found ourselves back in school in August of 2020 as fourth graders. After that, the years just seemed to fly by, and we found ourselves in eighth grade.
Our eighth grade was filled with a multitude of events. We welcomed four new students throughout the year as well as Mrs. Colucci back to grade six. We did seemingly endless art projects, but we are most proud of our Monstrance art project. We endured the Jane Schaeffer writing process with our excellent teacher, Mrs. Antos. Math was challenging from time to time, but we always had a good laugh when things werenβt going well with the FOIL method. Social Studies and religion were intriguing with Mrs. Colucci, and science kept us busy especially with the science fair. Music and technology were our specials with Mr. Cruz and Mr. βCβ.
Our very short version of Mulan was well received during the multi-cultural week production. We had fun practicing for it and breaking our wooden dowls as we practiced. Ms. Studdard thought she worked at Loweβs as she spent so much time going back there weekly for dowls. We poured our hearts into the Last Supper and Passion and truly brought our faith to life.
As the year ends, we will always remember our class trip. We are thankful we had the opportunity to spend time together outside of the classroom. We will always remember Mrs. V for her hard work to make the trip so memorable.
β The Eighth Grade Class of 2024.
Middle School Science
It has been an exciting year for 6th grade as they explored plant life, the microscopic world of bacteria and viruses, and of course, animal life! We were very fortunate to have an exciting presentation for Freddyβs Reptiles! Mr. Freddy and his assistant brought in many types of animal, from giant iguanas to even a GIGANTIC python! The students were able to interact and touch many of the animals. We canβt wait to see what next year brings!
It has been an exciting year for both 7th and 8th as they finished up May learning about our solar system grade. Our classes were pleased to have a guest speaker on Wednesday the 8th from the Las Vegas Astronomical Society. Francisco Silva is a VIP-EOP for the Las Vegas Astronomical Society and a Solor System Ambassador for NASA. Mr. Silva gave an awesome presentation on upcoming space technology and the 7th and 8th grade even went outside to view the sun through a specialized, high power telescope. We had so much fun and I look forward to next year!
-Ms. Cogan
Music
May is the last month of school year 2023-2024. We are almost to the finish line!
May crowning is one of the highlights in this Marian month so I teach my classes songs for the Blessed Virgin Mary. I continue to sing Easter mass songs since we are still in the Easter season until Pentecost Sunday. At this time, students should be able to apply lessons on the elements of music by reading and interpreting all the musical symbols they see on the pages of their song books. We continue our music listening activity, learning about lives of great composers and their styles. We study Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin and more.
Kindergarten thru Grade 5 classes are busy preparing for the Spring Concert. Be surprised with how students begin to perform like a pro! Looking forward to present them to you.
The most awaited events this month are the Gr. 8 last Prayer and Flag and graduations of Kindergarten and Grade 8. They have been so busy rehearsing their songs.
As we end the school year, I would like to congratulate everybody for a job well done!
PE
The month of May is finally here. We have had a great year. I am so proud of all our students and how they have performed. We continue to learn how to stay active. Students have been working hard in all areas.
In PE we continued to do cardio and endurance. We worked on different stations, jumping rope, playing various games, and learning new games. We continue to do workouts, which involve some challenges.
We also have field day this month. Students always look forward to all the games and really enjoy themselves with the many games that are planned. We had water games again this year. It was a great time for all.
Stay active and stay safe!!
Mrs. Villanueva
National Junior Honor Society
The 2023-2024 members of NJHS would like to thank you for your support over the past school year. We hope you enjoyed the ice cream sandwich and bar sales, the Pop Tart sales, and the mini pie sales. We look forward to another successful year beginning in August of 2024. We wish all the outgoing members of NJHS much success in high school over the next four years. Your dedication to NJHS has been appreciated by all. Wishing our SFDS family a safe and relaxing summer! See you in August!
Principal
Dear Parents,
I hope you have enjoyed reading this monthβs issue of The Spirit! As this month comes to an end, it is hard to believe that another school year is almost over. Yet here we are once again - wondering where the time has gone! The month of May has been filled with so many special events: Field Day, May Crowning, our Final Prayer and Flag Ceremony, and our upcoming 8th Grade and Kindergarten Graduations.
This week, we say good-bye to the Class of 2024 at our Eighth Grade Graduation Mass which will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 23rd. We are extremely proud of our Graduates. They have worked very hard this year and we wish them much happiness and success! We will also look forward to our Kindergarten Graduation on Thursday, May 24th, where our Kindergarteners will cross the bridge and become βBig First Graders!β
As we come to the end of this school year, I wish to extend my appreciation to all of our St. Francis families for the support, cooperation, patience, kindness, and friendship that you have graciously shared with our school community. Your generosity in helping in whatever way you could to make things better for our students is greatly appreciated. You are valued in ways that can never be diminished.
In addition, I would especially like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our DEDICATED teachers and staff. They are truly dedicated professionals who are an endless source of inspiration! I am extremely grateful for their selfless service on behalf of the children of St. Francis.
At this time, plans for the next school year are in process. We are working on a variety of projects as we look forward to the 2024-2025 school year. Please note next week we will be adding the 2024-2025 School Calendar, Student Supply Lists, and Reading Logs to our home page. All families who registered for the 2024-2025 school year will receive a packet of information in July. This mailing will contain back to school information as well as various school forms for the new school year. If you do not receive this mailing by the third week of July, please call the School Office at 702-647-2828.
Please remember, our School Year will end on Friday, May 31st. The Trimester Awards Ceremony will take place at in the Church 9:30 AM. All students will be dismissed at 10:30 AM. Please note: The After-School Program will be available through Thursday, May 30th.
Wishing you all a safe and fun-filled summer!
Respectfully,
Carol Wilson
Principal