SAINTS TODAY!

This newsletter highlights what students and staff have done during the first trimester at Watertown Catholic School! We want to take this opportunity to recognize the outstanding contributions of our teachers, staff, and families who support our students every day.

Please take a moment to read through the newsletter and celebrate with us!

We are looking forward to an awesome second trimester!

As I reflect on all that our school community has accomplished so far this school year, I am so proud of our students, staff, and families. It has been a busy and exciting start to the academic year, with students diving into their studies, participating in extracurricular activities, and demonstrating an exceptional commitment to personal growth.

This trimester has been an opportunity to establish strong foundations for learning, and we’ve seen remarkable progress across the board. From academic achievements to creative endeavors, our students have been engaged, and we are grateful for the support of our dedicated staff and the involvement of our families.

Looking ahead, we have many exciting events and initiatives planned for the upcoming months. Catholic Schools Week is coming up at the end of January. Our goal remains to provide a nurturing and challenging environment where every student can thrive. We will continue to focus on academic excellence, character development, and creating a positive school culture.

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Together, we will continue to foster an environment of learning and growth for all of our students.

Our 3K/4K classroom has been off to an amazing start this school year! We have been learning our classroom routines, making new friends, and learning about God’s love for us and how he wants us to be loving to others. In 3K and 4K hands-on learning helps this age learn by allowing us to actively explore, experiment, and discover concepts through physical interaction. It helps this age to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills in a fun and engaging way.

We have been working on a new letter and letter sound per week. We also have been working hard to learn our numbers, especially our teen numbers which are difficult for some of us. We have been playing some beginning sounds and rhyming games. This month we started learning a few sight words and plan to learn around eight new ones per month, till the end of the year.

We have had many fun experiences already this school year! In September our class was invited by Mrs. Beltz’s 5Kers and we did some apple tasting together. We joined 5K-2nd grade and went to Ebert's Pumpkin Patch and we dressed up and celebrated Halloween with 5K in October. In November we planned and made decorations and hats for a Thanksgiving Feast with 5K and shared what we were thankful for most. This month, we learned about Saint Nicholas, our classroom Saint and laced our own stockings to hang. We also invited 5K to make gingerbread houses with us and watch the movie, The Star. A wonderful film for children about the birth of Jesus. This first trimester we have had so many wonderful experiences and activities to grow and build our faith, friendships, and knowledge, that we are excited to see what the rest of our year will bring!

Kindergarten has been off to a busy start of the year, adjusting to many new routines both in and out of the classroom! Students are learning to play together, work in small groups, and engage in meaningful learning activities. Kindergarten is a time to learn, to share, take turns, and play cooperatively together. It’s delightful to meet new friends and be in school!

Many kindergarteners are attending Mass for their first time. They are enjoying this special time to learn and practice their faith. Students are learning about Jesus and how He calls us to treat others with loving and giving hearts. Each morning we pray and give thanks for the many blessings God provides for us. Since Mary is our classroom saint, we celebrated her birthday with cupcakes and songs. God teaches us to be grateful, thankful, and joyful in all circumstances!

Our Superkids reading and writing program is a truly engaging experience for students. Children are eager to meet each character, sing their catchy rhyming songs, and learn new letters and sounds.

Our days are also filled with math, science, social studies and religion. Students love playing interactive games on the smart board that extend their learning experience.

This fall we learned about the life cycle of pumpkins and apples. Students participated in many activities from sorting, counting, graphing, and tasting delicious fall treats! We also learned about the first Thanksgiving and had a feast with our 4K friends!

We also do learning outside the classroom on our numerous adventures, such as to Ebert’s Garden and the Watertown Public Library! Students love new experiences and opportunities to build friendships and knowledge. This year promises to be filled with joy, hope, laughter and fun!

The first graders are growing in their knowledge and love of God as we begin each day with prayer and learning about our faith. Each day we read a few pages from the children’s Bible. Religion homework is fun and paperless when we complete chapter reviews on the internet and email the results to school. We learned about our classroom patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, and celebrated his feast day on October 4th. Each student also selected a special saint to research, constructed a diorama, and gave a presentation to the class. We learned many interesting facts about the saints.

On a crisp, sunny October day we went on a field trip to Ebert’s Greenhouse Village along with the other primary students. We enjoyed the bumpy tractor ride to the pumpkin patch, selecting the perfect pumpkin, listening to a story about a scarecrow, and completing a craft activity. What a great way to spend a marvelous fall day!

Our math classes involve learning different addition and subtraction strategies. We are learning about number bonds, double facts, ten frames, number lines, and etc. Happy Numbers is an internet site that enriches our math experience.

In social studies class we located objects and places on different kinds of maps and identified the directions north, east, south, and west. After learning about Columbus and his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, each student constructed a seaworthy ship. We read about the Pilgrims and their long journey on the Mayflower where even the children had to drink beer because the water was bad. To celebrate Thanksgiving we dressed up like Pilgrims and gave thanks for all our blessings and God’s gifts to us.

As we complete our first trimester of the school year we look forward to many more

enjoyable and exciting learning activities in first grade. WE are grateful for our parents, our grandparents, and all those who help us. We ask God to bless them and keep them safe.

What blessings we have had this school year! Second graders have adjusted well to a new school year and have started accomplishing so much already. We started discussing some basic truths of our Catholic faith and are now working on our sacrament prep for Reconciliation. We are learning about the Ten Commandments and the truths that God has given us. We will be learning about the role the priest will play in our sacrament and how the priest and God work together to give us forgiveness and strengthen our relationship with Him.

We also have had the great opportunity to learn about Adoration and how we can create our personal prayer life with God during this time. It has taken a little time to develop and understand, but I feel the students are enjoying just being in church and having time with Jesus.

We have reviewed basic math concepts and will now take that to the next level in this new trimester. Our basic understanding of place value and addition/subtraction facts will allow us to move successfully to adding multi digit numbers together. These skills will also help us to work on measurement, time, and fractions. Students will soon see how much their knowledge will unlock for them.

Second graders are working on our skills of consonant blends, vowel pairs and sounds, and rules that we need to follow when spelling and sounding out words in reading class. They are now going to get into book groups and continue to develop skills. We are also going to deepen our understanding of characters and parts of the story to help us with our comprehension skills and see how these parts of a story will work together. Quiet reading time around the room is also a hit. This group loves reading around the room with flexible seating choices.

In social studies, students are working on map skills and direction words/clues to find where we need to go. During our science time, we are using our knowledge to figure out different problem solving strategies with hands-on learning. The second graders love their Friday afternoon building challenge times. We are also working on how we communicate with each other and listen.

Blessings to you and may you have a wonderful Advent.

The first trimester of third grade has been filled with many fun adventures and opportunities to learn new things! It is hard to believe that we have already completed three months of this school year!

In reading and writing this trimester, students have been developing their literacy skills through a mix of fiction and non-fiction texts. They have explored a number of stories and read books that challenge their comprehension and vocabulary. Writing activities have included personal narratives, opinion pieces, and friendly letters, which we got to mail to family and friends. Additionally, students have been practicing their phonics skills, which include how to use letter-sound relationships to identify words in reading or approximate spelling. They are becoming phonics rockstars!

In science and social studies, third graders have engaged in hands-on activities that foster critical thinking and curiosity. They’ve learned about the natural world, studying topics like matter and habitats, while also talking about how each of the science topics we learn how God’s presence is interwoven. In social studies, they’ve learned about communities and the different cultures represented in each community, reinforcing the idea of living as members of both local and global communities. Recently, students created passports and we have been traveling all around the world to learn about the countries that their families are from!

Academically, third graders have made significant strides in math, focusing on key concepts such as place value, addition, subtraction, and the beginnings of multiplication. These skills are reinforced through both individual work and collaborative group activities, where students are encouraged to help one another. The third graders have had lots of fun practicing multiplication facts with their friends!

I am so proud of the growth the students have shown in the first three months of the school year! As we move into the second trimester, we will continue to build on the skills we've learned so far. We will explore even more in-depth topics in math, reading, and writing, and dive into exciting new science and social studies units.

The fourth grade class has had a busy start to the year! They’ve already learned all 50 states and capitals of the United States of America. They’ll continue learning more about the different regions of our country throughout the year. They’re also learning about Wisconsin history and economy this year.

The fourth graders have also finished two novels together in reading class. We started the year with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. The students enjoyed reading about Peter and his little brother, Fudge. Then we read Fish in a Tree, a story about a student with learning differences and how she overcomes obstacles. The class had a lot of great discussions about perseverance, kindness, friendship, and using your gifts to help people around you.

In math class the students have reviewed skills for addition and subtraction. They’ve practiced multiplication and division, and they’ve put those skills to work finding equivalent fractions. They’ll tackle fractions again later in the year and learn more skills using them. Right now they’re working on multiplying larger numbers by one digit, and then they’ll do two-digit multiplication.

Religion class has covered a wide variety of topics! The class is learning about a different virtue each month. They’re also learning more in depth about the Mass and what this beautiful prayer means. They’ve learned about several feast days that we’ve celebrated throughout the year, and they really enjoy learning about saints! Each day they students take turns leading a litany of saints during our morning and afternoon prayer times. One of the highlights of each week is Bible Story Friday! So far they’ve reviewed several stories from Salvation History, and they’ll continue to learn more about God’s people throughout the Old Testament. The class loves going to Mass twice each week, and they look forward to Adoration every week as well!

Soon, 2024 will be over. It seems like yesterday we were having our first day of fifth grade. We are so happy to be back in school and have a routine. The first trimester of fifth grade has been lots of fun, but challenging. They have proven that they are up for that challenge!

During language and reading, we have been talking about the importance of the writing process and how to write grammatically correct sentences. This helps the students expand their writing skills and think outside of the box when writing good complete sentences. They just finished writing and working on their “How To” project using Google Slides. Of course, they did an awesome job!

In math, the students are learning about place value, multiplication and division concepts. Also, we continue to learn problem solving skills and strategies, such as, finding a pattern and using relevant information. Soon we will be concentrating on fractions.

During Social Studies, we have been learning about the early settlers and the importance of learning other cultures and the geography of the United States.

In science, we’ve been studying life science and how things survive throughout the world. Recently, the fifth graders created their own biome out of a shoebox. They were very creative and inventive in constructing their project.

Religion has us focusing on specific parts of the Bible and the different liturgical seasons. Throughout the year, we will also be learning several prayers that are important in our Catholic faith. What a great way for our families to pray together!

New this year is DARE class, with Officer Stacy. She is teaching us about the importance of staying drug free and ways to make positive choices. We will graduate from DARE in December.

There are actual field trips and there are reading field trips. In October, the fifth grade class joined us on a visit to the Milton House in Milton and the Lincoln Tallmann House in Janesville. History came alive as they toured the house to witness how people lived in the early 1800’s. Students were presented with information about slavery and the brave actions of the Miltons and other abolitionists in guiding slaves to freedom. A memorable event was walking through a secret passageway that ushered slaves to shelter on the Underground Railroad. Touring the Lincoln Tallmann House gave students many insights and knowledge about life during the time period from the Civil War to the early 1900’s. The Tallmanns were hosts to Abraham Lincoln before he was elected president. The best field trips are those you take while reading. “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” For several weeks the sixth grade was transported to Ember within the confines of the classroom walls as they read The City of Ember. Imagine living in an underground city where the only light is powered by a failing generator. Its inhabitants are long overdue to leave the city due to missing instructions for egress. Comprehension strategies, vocabulary development, and written responses were practiced as the class experienced the escalating plot in their mind’s eye. Watching the movie while eating popcorn was the culminating reward for their successful trip.

Autumn was an opportune time to implement fun and educational activities. Did you know that wild turkeys sleep in trees or that the song “Jingle Bells” was originally written as a Thanksgiving song to commemorate the annual sleigh races happening at that time of year? In 2 Corinthians 9:11, we hear how generosity leads others to give thanks to God. Acorns are just one example of the many symbols of fall. Students enjoyed painting them and hanging them on a lighted tree to decorate the hallway. What a wonderful way to display a part of God's creation! “Oh, what fun it is to learn in a sixth-grade class today, hey”

What can you learn with pumpkin candy corn, the very popular October sweet treat? Well, if you use it to engage in a STEM catapult project, probably a lot! First students worked in groups to assemble a wooden catapult from a kit. Following step-by-step directions and practicing cooperation skills were necessary. Points were awarded by catapulting the pumpkins into pumpkin buckets. This endeavor focused on accuracy. After each team member had seven attempts, the points were tallied. Students calculated their individual percent of success as well as their group’s average percent. Their own catapult creation was used in the distance competition which was held outside. In addition to math and engineering, the activity was linked to social studies since it was learned that catapults were used by the ancient Greeks, Chinese, and Romans as military weapons.

Since you can’t have too many STEM projects to enhance thinking skills, students work in groups during various work times and indoor recesses to design and build a marble maze. The National Geographic Magnetic Marble Run allows students to create astonishing chain reactions and paths. They thoroughly enjoy this Rube Goldberg-like machine!

Science in the middle school setting is focused on different areas unlike the general science of elementary school. The middle school students (grades 6-8) have the opportunity to switch classrooms and visit different teachers throughout their day.

Sixth grade science is centered on the area of Earth science. The curriculum includes the interior earth, earth’s changing surface, weather and climate, and space. Currently the class is focused on plate tectonics after studying rocks, rock cycles, weathering, erosion, and deposition.

The seventh grade curriculum is life science and covers human biology, life processes, and animals. Students are creating a life sized paper skeleton and adding organs as they discover the workings of their bodies. Dissecting chicken wings gave them a hands-on experience to see muscles, tendons, and ligaments in action. Other dissections are planned in the future as the students continue their studies. They include cow eyes, worms, sea stars, crawfish, fish, and frogs. In the spring the students will travel to the Mackenzie Environmental Center for an overnight field trip to experience many areas of study in the natural world.

Physical science is the topic for eighth grade. Already this year the students had fun creating balloon cars, marble runs, and Rube Goldberg machines while studying motion. Pringle rings were attempted as a STEM activity while studying friction. Students will continue with studying waves and light, physical and chemical changes, balancing equations, and the periodic table.

The eighth graders are realizing how quickly time flies during their final year at WCS. These fine students have successfully completed the first trimester of the school year while showing a great amount of perseverance and effort in their class work.

Eighth grade religion class has students learning about being made in God’s image and likeness, which means that we are like God in that we possess an intellect, free will, and the capacity for love. We are called to love God and love our neighbor. By doing this, we build the Kingdom of God. Students have also been exploring the Catechism of the Catholic Church as it is often referenced in their religion book.

Our eighth grade novel study for the first trimester was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Students engaged with the themes and characters of this classic novel, fostering rich discussions and insights. After completing the novel, they enjoyed an “Outsiders Day” which included watching the movie, eating snacks related to the story, and dressing up as characters from the book.

While the eighth graders worked on an argumentative unit in English class, they enjoyed practicing their debating skills. Students read and annotated articles, noting evidence that supported their claims. A serious debate ensued as classmates tried to persuade each other to change their thinking. Each student was able to present their thoughts while the rest of the class practiced their listening skills. Students then researched a different topic and composed argumentative essays using what they learned about claims and counterclaims from the debate.

Now that the second trimester is here, students are starting to work on a huge autobiography project which will be completed by the end of the school year. This is a wonderful opportunity for them to reflect on their lives and share their unique stories.

As we continue to learn and grow, we wish you a very happy 2025, full of God’s love and special blessings!

This trimester, the art room has been alive with creativity as students explored a variety of festive and inspiring projects. The school-wide Keep Christ in Christmas poster contest encouraged students to reflect on the true meaning of the season through their artwork.

The younger grades worked on heartwarming projects like the Star of Bethlehem featuring baby Jesus, glittering snowflakes, and colorful Kandinsky Circles. They also studied Aboriginal animal paintings, showcasing bold designs and intricate patterns. Their exploration of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers brought bright and cheerful energy to their work.

Older students delved into more complex pieces, including mixed-media weaving projects, detailed watercolor feather studies in 5th grade, and illuminated manuscripts inspired by the Book of Kells. They also studied Georgia O’Keeffe and recreated her vibrant poppy paintings, capturing her iconic style. Middle schoolers created striking pointillism landscapes and ceramics inspired by the architectural beauty of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Other unique projects included Shel Silverstein-inspired funny illustrations, paper maché angels, paper collages, drawing exterior facade of St. Henry’s Church and boro-style hand sewing that showcased the students’ creativity and attention to detail.

These incredible works will be featured in our upcoming spring art show, where the students’ talent and artistic growth will shine. We’re so proud of their hard work and look forward to sharing their accomplishments with the school community.

Music classes have been full of holiday fun these past few months! The students especially had fun playing with Boomwhackers to some familiar tunes for Halloween and Christmas. Currently we are ramping up our Christmas program practice. The students are sounding very good. We have also been learning about the production of The Nutcracker, including listening to examples of the songs in The Nutcracker, and learning about how actual Nutcrackers are made out of wood. Some of the classes have been exploring tuning forks and trying to match the pitches with their voices. We have also been exploring dances from other cultures. All in all we have been staying musical!

Our band concert is coming up on Thursday, January 16 at 6:30 pm in the St. Henry Gym. There will be an afternoon performance at 1:30 pm. We hope to see you there!

The Advent season is upon us, and there's no better way to celebrate than with the joy of live music! We are delighted to invite you to our Christmas Celebration: Christmas Around the World next Thursday, December 19 at 1:30 pm and 6:30 pm.

Physical education is an important class at WCS. We know that physical education plays a critical role in helping children establish healthy habits from a young age. These classes teach students not only how to play games but also how to value the importance of staying active, sportsmanship, and taking care of their bodies.

Physical education classes always begin with student led warm-up exercises. Doing this allows the students to show leadership while getting ready for class time.

In this trimester, our units have included football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and badminton. Younger students have used the parachute, hoola hoops, and scooters recently.

Students in grades four through eight run the mile three times during the school year. My hope in having the kids run the mile three times is to see what improvements they made from each run. I would love to see running and exercise become a lifelong habit for these kids.

The top three female mile runners were Arany Ortiz, Amelia Getz, and Stella Schliewe. The top three male mile runners were Joey Mudler, Leo Getz, and Tyler Kruesel.

Watertown Catholic Athletics just finished the coed volleyball season. The A league team which consisted of students from seventh and eighth grade had a great season. They finished second at the league tournament at the beginning of the month. The B league team of fifth and sixth graders also did quite well. They took first at their league tournament. We would like to thank Kari Kaufmann, Amber Schliewe and Stacy Schroeder for coaching the teams this season. An assembly recognizing the athletes will be held at St. Henry.

Basketball practice has begun with games starting in January. This year there is only one B league boys’ team. This team is made up of fifth and sixth graders. WCS will host the B League Boys’ Basketball Tournament here in March. Volunteers are needed to make this event a success.

Watertown Catholic Athletic Board is always looking for members. New members are always welcome. Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 6:00 pm at Watertown Catholic-St. Henry Campus in the meeting room/teacher’s lounge.

Watertown Catholic School student council is busy planning the school year. Meetings are held at least once a month traditionally with two representatives from each class. At these meetings ideas are discussed for spirit theme days and service projects.

Since the beginning of the school year the students have been able to dress up for numerous themed days. Packer Day, Red, White, and Blue Day (Veterans Day), Camouflage/Blaze Orange Day, Halloween Costume Day, and Gosling Day have already been held. Classes with at least 75% participation receive a spirit point and the class with the most points at the end of the year receives a special treat. Currently fifth and eighth grade are in the lead with the most points. Theme days the week before break will be Jingle Bell Rock (wear bells), Long Winter’s Nap (cozy pj, slipper, and stuffed animal day), Santa’s Little Helpers (dress the part), and Let’s Build a Snowman (wear scarves, hats, gloves) . Ugly Sweater/Christmas Sweater Day will be celebrated on the early release day before break. Top ugly sweater will get a sweet surprise.

Students planned for Red Ribbon Week which is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. All classrooms voted on the red ribbon that was worn during the week. The Student Council held a very successful “Socktober” campaign in October with 137 pairs of socks donated.

School Office Hours:

The school office will have set hours of 7:40 am to 3:30 pm each week, except for Wednesdays since it's our early release day. The office is open from 7:40 am to 2:30 pm that day.

Phone Numbers:

School Office: 920-261-2586

Parish Office: 920-261-7273

Emails:

• Sherry Harms, principal: sharms@watertowncatholic.org
• School Secretary: secretarysth@watertowncatholic.org

Address:

St. Henry School

300 E. Cady Street

Watertown, WI 53094