Friday, April 4 - Middle School Field Trip

                           Bay Area Renaissance Festival      

13th Annual Spring Auction

 Saturday, April 5, 6:30 pm

St. Mary's Hall

See Office Notes below for the Auction Update

Friday, April 18 - Parent-Teacher Conferences

                              School Closed

Gift baskets and over 200 other items will be up for bidding on Saturday night!   Stuff for kids, vacation getaways, food and dining, home decor, artisan jewelry from Simple Graces, fine jewelry and gifts from Anna Perrott Jewelers, gifts and glass from The Silver Queen, tickets to museums and events, sports items,  fabulous class projects from the students,  & more!

This week, we continued our studies of famous black historical figures.  The children loved learning all about Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington and C.J. Walker, just to name a few.  Did you know that C.J. Walker was the first African American to become a millionaire?  She created and manufactured her own hair care products that were specifically designed for African American women.  Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play for a major League baseball team, the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Please note:  Keep an eye out for the book report assignment that is due April 24th.  This report is to be on a famous black historical figure that has made an impression on your child or one that your child wants to know more about.  If your child wishes, they may dress up as their figure for an oral presentation on April 24th.

Don't forget to check out the Lower Elementary auction item.  It is almost finished and it is spectacular!  We will have it here in the class later next week, so be sure to stop by and check it out.

Reminder to 3rd grade families:  The Annual St. Augustine trip is scheduled for April 25 - 26th.  It is a fabulous trip and one that your child will never forget!  Make sure to let Ms. Jan or Ms. Patti know if you have any questions.

We've had a very busy week. Our class is working on some fabulous art for the school auction. Please plan to come or bid via proxy. Our beautiful work will be on display for a preview sometime next week.

We have continued reading the book of Greek myths and "The Story of the World." We learned about ancient times in North America and now we're ready to learn about Ancient Roman times.

Next week everyone will pick a mythological figure from our reading and begin a writing project. In addition to writing about the character, they will be able to choose from several projects to present to the class about their chosen character. We will learn more about editing and revising our written work during this experience.

(Right: Painted gumball machine donated for the auction)

Tina Rice, Ms. Summer & Avery on tour at the Hindu temple

Lots of interesting activities went on in Middle School this past week! As usual we kicked off our week on Monday with our visit to Hubert Art Studio where we created clay masks as well as teacups inspired from Alice in Wonderland. There was no science held on Tuesday due to our work on auction projects. On Wednesday morning we took a vocabulary test on Greek roots followed by another smooth meeting about the yearbook which is coming along great. Thursday and Friday were usual work days.

Last Sunday the Middle School took a cultural field trip to the Hindu Temple of Tampa. There we embraced the Hindu ritual of yoga. Also, we attended a tour of the Temple where we explored the Hindu religion and its beliefs. After the tour we enjoyed some tasty South Indian food at the Temple's canteen. Additionally, the Middle School is working on art projects for the upcoming auction on the fifth of April. Be sure to attend and bet on it!  

by Maya Gonzalez

LOWER ELEMENTARY:  This week we had a fun time reading "The Adventures of Mrs. Bigudi, Zozo the Clown, and Whiskers the Cat". We all enjoyed the book with its whimsical pictures, the bright colors, and the very entertaining story. We also acted out some of the scenes, had time for true or false statements as well as for a question/answer period.  We then reviewed Spanish words beginning with the letter "P" and completed a worksheet with related vocabulary.

UPPER ELEMENTARY:  Numbers and their meaning was our main topic for the week. Some of the chosen numbers were 1, 13, 24, 50, 60, and 100 among others. We began reading a chapter book about "Kocuyo", or the messenger of the sun. It has to do with legends about South America. "The Bat" was selected as our week's reading. Students were very attentive and intrigued with the fate of our winged mammal. The vocabulary in the story was stimulating as was the description of the bat and the task he had to accomplish!

MIDDLE SCHOOL:  Descriptive paragraphs and sentences were the bulk of our menu for the week. Students cut out pictures from magazines and described them in Spanish. We had myriad subjects; flowers for sale, nail polishes and lipsticks, bags and shoes, jewelry, toys, desserts and drinks were some of the objects described. It was an enjoyable assignment and a lot of grammar was incorporated in this project

TRIVIA FACT: Argentina boasts of having the highest number of psychiatrists per capita on earth. Buenos Aires has its own psycho analytic district -the appropriately named "VILLE FREUD".