March 2012

Dear SJP Community,

As I told the children at Prayers one day last week, I sensed a “buzz” in the gym first thing in the morning.  As you can imagine, we often feel a “buzz” on atypical school days, days with holiday parties or the Pep Rally.  However, this particular morning was a typical school day.  The children were buzzing about their school work!   

Quite simply, they are excited about what they are learning. The 8th grade started their first cycle of electives last week.Mrs. DeMarco is holding an Art elective with half of the 8th graders.  They will  create a culminating project based on their nine years of Art Enrichment classes. “9 Squares for 9 Years” will be on display as the children celebrate their end of the year festivities. The other half of the class is taking a Creative Writing elective with Lena Roy from Writopia.  They, too, will publish an anthology to celebrate their work together.  The opportunity to publish student work makes the work more meaningful and celebratory.  

On that same morning, the 5th graders took a little extra time getting out of their cars at drop off time!  They were carrying tri-fold boards and hand-molded art projects displaying their work for International Day. This Tuesday, March 13th at 5:00 in the gym, the 5th graders will welcome their families, teachers and guests to share in months of interdisciplinary work on the 47 countries they have studied.

As Friday came to an end, I heard a visitor say, “I am here to read to my granddaughter’s Library class.” This gentleman was one of the many guest readers, silly guest readers, who have signed up to read Robert Munsch to our younger grades. We are celebrating reading, a funny author and the male readers in our lives in March!

The buzz about curriculum also takes the form of preparation and planning. Our 4th, 6th and 8th graders are preparing for the ELA and Math state exams coming in April and May. As a faculty, we will continue to collaborate and plan for the New York Common Core Standards that will be coming to all Archdiocesan schools next year. 

 

The curriculum in the classroom is garnished with the painting and planning in the hallways! I am so thankful to the many mothers who have given their time preparing the artwork for this year’s Fundraiser. I am so thankful to them and look forward to celebrating a lovely evening with all of you on March 23rd.

Respectfully,

Mrs. Pettus