Principal – Mr. Tush

We have a lot of rescheduling to do with school and athletic events. I will inform students through announcements and notes as soon as we get everything worked out. Our "Reds' Night" parent meeting will be this Thursday, February 11th, at 6:30 in the Activity Center. This meeting is for parents of students in grades 5 - 8.

I am very excited about all of our students who are participating in "Young Authors" this year. Our students created very well written and illustrated books last year, and I can't wait to see what they do this year.

Our athletic team and individual picture night has been changed to March 4th, at 6:30 p.m. in the Activity Center.

Have a great week!

Kindergarten – Mrs. Denning

Midterm letters for the 3rd grading period are being sent home today, 2/9. They should be in your child's purple, pocket folder. If you did not get one, let me know. Please continue to review all skills listed in the letter.

In phonics this week we will be focusing on letter Vv; keyword-vest. We will also work with syllables, and listen for ending sounds in words. We are reading our "pop-up" words on a regular basis in class, extra help at home would be appreciated.

In math we will be estimating and measuring the length and width of items, using non-standard units. We will also be graphing.

Our Valentine celebration and the Mission Festival are this Friday, Feb. 12. We are looking forward to both activities. Please remember to send money with your child on Friday for the Mission Festival.

Grade 1 – Mrs. Hurst

In Phonics this week the students will learn syllable division v/cv with a, i, and e. Our sight words this week are: early; bush; push.

Reminders: Our Valentine's Party is this Friday from 10:00-10:45am. Please remind your child to bring his/her Valentines to school that day. Also, the Mission Festival is Friday afternoon!

Grade 2 – Mrs. Grove

Catholic Schools Week was a blast! Thanks to STO for organizing it. Thanks to the 3^rd and 8^th grades for the Mini Solar System Lab. We also want to thank each class for being an audience for our four plays last week. Please keep practicing adding two-digit numbers with regrouping. We are having a terrible time remembering to add the regrouped (carried) ten!

Grade 3 – Mrs. Rector

Our Solar System mini lab last week was a huge success! The third and eighth grade students did a wonderful job with their projects. They were also very good teachers for the rest of the school. The individual projects completed by the third graders were also excellent. They will be on display for a few more days.

The Young Authors contest began last Monday. We have been writing stories at school that may be used for the contest. Students may also use a completely different story written at home. The stories must be turned into books at home and turned in by February 26 to be entered into the contest. Remember there are prizes awarded for the story and the illustrations, with the overall first place winners’ books going into the Aurora Public Library.

Grade 4 – Mrs. Meyer

Students received their midterms today. Please look at them with your student and return them to school with the envelope as soon as possible.

This week we have another fun event planned- Mission Festival, which is Friday, February 12. Students do need to bring money if they want to play games. Just a few dollars will last them a while playing games.

Students will be having a spelling test this week. The words were introduced today. The pretest will be tomorrow, Wednesday and the final test will be Friday like normal. Students will also be having a religion test over the Beatitudes. Finally, we have been learning more about the flag through a comic book offered by the American Legion. Students will be tested over the material, and the top scores will be recognized. Have a great week!

Grade 5 – Mrs. Baker

Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend! Even though it is a short week we will have spelling. Our pretest will be Wednesday and the final test will be on Friday. We will also have a math test on Wednesday of this week. We reviewed for this test in class today.

We have been working very hard on our longhouse projects that go along with our novel, The Indian in the Cupboard. The students have done a wonderful job and their projects look great. These will be on display, for a while, on the tables in the hallway if you want to stop and take a look! Midterms went home today, please sign and return these as soon as possible! Have a great short week!

Grade 6 – Mrs. Rice

The winter Olympics begin on February 12. We will be tracking which country wins the most medals.

Candy grams are being sold each day by the 6^th and 7^th graders for Valentine’s Day. They cost $0.50 and are a simple way to send someone a valentine and candy. The mission festival is Friday. Remember some money for games and snacks. The money helps with various missions.

Grade 7 – Mrs. Powell

We had a great time last week celebrating Catholic Schools Week. The Mission Festival will be Friday afternoon. Students only need to bring in a few dollars to spend at the festival.

This week there will be no vocabulary; 6^th grade will have spelling. We are continuing with writing activities in both the 7^th and 8^th grades including working with various writing techniques to improve our writing skills. In science we are studying respiration and excretion.

Reminders: The meeting for the Reds game is Thursday at 7:00 p.m., and 3^rd quarter midterms went home today.

Grade 8 – Mrs. Birkholtz

We hope everyone had a great time celebrating Catholic Schools Week! We are still counting the money that was raised for Haiti and will have the amount and winning class next week. Thanks to everyone for supporting our current mission.

The 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade social studies classes are working on their Civil Rights projects. We are working on our presentations of various civil rights groups and will use the information to debate ways we can continue to carry out civil rights for everyone. The 6^th grade is also continuing to work with writing prompts and adjectives. They are also reading Rascal.

The Mission Festival will be on Friday! We hope everyone can join us for an afternoon of fun and games while raising money to help various missions.

Also, the 8^th grade will be going to Rising Sun on Thursday morning to work on their art project for the PTO auction in April. Thanks to the parents and Mr. Waldon for driving. The evening of the 11^th, Mrs. Rechtin will be here for a parent meeting for grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 at 7:00 in the Activity Center.

Most importantly, midterms come home today!

Special Thanks

Thank you to the parents who baked cookies for the Parish Mission last week. We had lots of great cookies to offer after each night of the mission.

5th/6th Grade Academic Practice:

Please note the switch: THIS WEEK ONLY, the general knowledge team will meet on Wednesday and the language arts team will meet on Thursday.

Thank you. Mrs. Alley and Mrs. Hill

7th - 8th Grade Academic Team

The 7th and 8th grade teams will participate in a mock academic competition against St. Lawrence on Sat., Feb. 13th. Time and location to be determined.

Young Authors

The Young Authors and Illustrators competition is under way! All 1st through 8th grade students are eligible to participate; the kindergarten students will not enter the contest but will participate in the program by writing a story together. Rules for the contest were sent home this past week. The contest will run until Friday, Feb. 26th.

Cafeteria Volunteers:

2/9 – Tina Weber, 2/10 – Marge Waldon, 2/11 – Pat Titkemeyer, 2/12 – Jennifer Taylor, 2/15 – Quinn Moeller, 2/16 – Cathy Hill, 2/17 – Marge Waldon, 2/18 – Laurie Gray, 2/19 – Debbie Harrell, 2/22 – Chris Kent, 2/23 – Tina Weber, 2/24 – Marge Waldon, 2/25 – Pat Titkemeyer, 2/26 – Katie Lynch Lewis

Playground Volunteers:

2/9 – Marianne Weir, 2/10 – Moe Roessler, 2/11 – Anna Townsend, 2/12 – Chris Simon, 2/15 – Help Needed, 2/16 – John Hill, 2/17 – Kristy Murray, 2/18 – Anna Townsend, 2/19 – Deb Lischkge, 2/22 – Bruce Beckman, 2/23 – Marianne Weir, 2/24 – Moe Roessler, 2/25 – Bruce Beckman, 2/26 – Beth Daugherty