St. Mary Catholic School

A Great Big Thank You for our Beautiful School Facilities

Patti Eggers — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:53:47 +0000

Click Here to read a a thank you

to the many families that helped with getting our school ready for the new school year.

We are so proud of the MANY folks that took time

to get our school and grounds looking beautiful.

Thanks so much!!!

September 2010 in 8th Grade

Mrs. Pink — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:30:35 +0000

Welcome to the 2010-2011 academic year! It was great to see so many of you at Open House last week. I love returning to the routine class provides. I am personally thrilled to start the year with my own son, Dylan, in kindergarten.

Teacher Rules written by 8^th grade students

Provide advance notice of test & quiz dates
Be aware of homework load from other teachers
Provide time in class for homework or questions
Be conscious of student commitments outside of school

Student Rules written by 8^th grade students

Respect others and their property
Speak aloud at appropriate times
- If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all!
- Offer something intelligent to discussions.
Use appropriate language
Be organized and prompt
LISTEN to others
Respect school property
Remember the Golden Rule

If a student chooses to break a rule, these are the consequences:

A verbal warning
Possibly a written warning in the assignment notebook for a repeated or warranted offense (remind student and inform parent)
Consequences beyond a verbal and written warning may result in a responsibility slip, conference and/or demerit

All test, quiz and larger project scores will be recorded in the assignment notebook. Perfect scores (100%) will be noted with a sticker. Random acts of kindness or behavior problems may also be documented. If a student has a parent signature on Monday there will be an additional sticker on Friday with a note and my signature. 21 stickers = homework pass for a class with Mrs. Pink. Good behavior pays!

Homework – Unfinished work is recorded daily on a responsibility slip. Failure to complete work by the next scheduled class period may result in loss of recess. Don’t forget that homework is docked 15% each day it is late/missing and on the third day becomes a 0%.

I realize there may be times an assignment is confusing to a student. It is unacceptable to arrive to class with incomplete/missing homework without giving me some notice. If I am aware, I can be more helpful.

As mentioned earlier, I will correspond with parents and students each Friday. I would ask that a parent/guardian sign the notebook over the weekend. Each week parent/teacher/student will communicate. It is the child’s responsibility to ask you to sign the notebook. Please take the time to read through the week’s notes from me and your child.

Acceptable writing practices in 8^th grade – Every student will be expected to:

write legibly in cursive
use complete sentences
exhibit age appropriate writing mechanics
practice organizational skills in his/her writing
write short answer essay responses that
- summarize instead of plagiarize
- learn and use new vocabulary
- seek out and use a variety of resources
- rewrite to an acceptable standard

PACE – We will begin with our new We Live Our Faith textbooks. There are TONS of extras on the website www.weliveourfaith.com. The first three prayer quizzes are the Glory Be, Hail Mary and the Our Father. These occur opposite the facts quizzes in Math every other Friday with the first being September 10^th.

8^th grade will plan and present the all-school mass on Sept. 10th. This is the first of many opportunities for the 8^th graders to show the underclassmen how things are done well! We love to see parents!

Picture Day is the 22^nd! Wear nice threads and a great smile to help us avoid retakes!

Math – We are well on our way in Math and Algebra; students have homework already! Our first Facts Quiz was Friday over 2’s. Both math texts offer on-line study tools, self-check quizzes, parent/student study guide pages and more.

Reading – We’ve started The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. “Lit Circle” with student choices should begin the last week of September. Ask your child what book(s) they added to the class list!

Technology & Spelling –We will be working on Technology and keyboarding TWTh of each week and Spelling MWF. We will begin with Type to Learn and a letter to shut-ins in the community (a lesson on fonts).

Mentoring with Kindergarten will begin the second week of September. We will be helping the kinders complete “All About Me” booklets. We have more 8^th graders than kinders so some students will have to sit out each time. We will try to rotate turns evenly.

Don’t worry – I will provide several reminders about the enclosed information for the students! Thanks for your support.

Kindergarten Class 2010

Mrs. Wodarz — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:56:42 +0000

We had a great two days. We start on Tuesday full days.

8th Grade Social Studies

Denise Olsen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:29:20 +0000

Welcome Back! This years course is Civics-American Government.

First Quarter Curriculum: Our studies will include geography review, The Atlantis Project, Democracy, The Constitution review and the Legislative Branch of Government. Current Events takes place daily with the reading of the newspaper. An article report is assigned weekly and an oral report on the article is due each Friday.

7th Grade Social Studies

Denise Olsen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:18:15 +0000

Welcome Back! This years course is American History Part II.

First Quarter Curriculum: Our studies will include Geography Review, Geography of the United States, Prehistoric Migrations through the Americas and The Atlantis Project. Current Events takes place daily with the reading of the newspaper. An article report is assigned weekly and an oral report on the article is due each Friday.

Middle School Math at S.M.S.

Mrs. Pink — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:53:07 +0000

Life long success depends on self-discipline and hard work. I have developed a Math program that affords every student the opportunity to manage his/her success while achieving curriculum standards. Together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

The 10 Commandments of Math – posted in blue in your child’s math notebook

Thou shalt not put other textbooks before thee in Math class.
Thou shalt not do thy Math homework in ink!
Thou shalt commit the facts of arithmetic to memory.
Thou shalt not divide by zero.
Thou shalt honor the correct order of operations.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy original problems; thou shalt copy the problems accurately and legibly.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s paper, or anything belonging to thy neighbor.
Thou shalt show thy work, check thy work and confirm that the results are reasonable.
Remember thy test days and prepare for them wholly.
Thou shalt do unto one side of an equation what thou doest to the other.

Homework – Students should take their math textbooks & notebooks home as needed to complete homework. The on-line resources are plentiful; extra examples, self-check quizzes, vocabulary review, chapter and standardized tests and MORE.

Tests – Students are notified of upcoming test dates at least 2 days prior and I try to send a parent e-mail as well. Students always complete a practice test prior to the test and are also given the vocabulary list to study. Vocabulary, chapter worksheets and the practice test should be used to prepare. Retakes will be determined on an individual basis and are not guaranteed. If a retake is appropriate, there will be a required re-teaching assignment to relearn the material.

Mini-Math – Each day class will begin with 10 review problems, used as bonus points towards a student’s grades. This provides a great incentive for students to arrive in a timely manner and encourages them to get on task immediately. It is never credited against a child.

Facts Quizzes – Every other Friday students have a “Facts Quiz” for the numbers 2- 15 and so on. These are easy to prepare for ahead of time. The quiz covers multiples of 1 through 12 (2 x 1, 2 x 2, 2 x 3, etc.). The first quiz is Friday, Sept. 3rd.

Friday Math Packet – Each Friday students will receive a packet that reviews basic math concepts, or current concepts from the text. Its goal is to improve student computation scores on standardized tests. Students are allowed and encouraged to work on this packet during any free time in Math class or homeroom study hall. It is due the following Friday.

Chapter Highlights

6^th Grade:

Chapter 1 Number Patterns & Algebra

Chapter 2 Statistics & Graphs

Chapter 3 Adding & Subtracting Decimals

Chapter 4 Multiplying & Dividing Decimals

Chapter 5 Fractions & Decimals

Chapter 6 Adding & Subtracting Fractions

Chapter 7 Multiplying & Dividing Fractions

Chapter 8 Algebra: Integers

Chapter 9 Algebra: Solving Equations

Chapter 10 Ratio, Proportions, & Percent

Chapter 11 Probability

Chapter 12 Measurement

Chapter 13 Geometry: Angles & Polygons

Chapter 14 Geometry: Measuring Area & Volumes

7^th Grade:

Chapter 1 Decimal Patterns & Algebra

Chapter 2 Statistics: Analyzing Data

Chapter 3 Algebra: Integers

Chapter 4 Algebra: Linear Equations & Functions

Chapter 5 Fractions, Decimals & Percents

Chapter 6 Applying Fractions

Chapter 7 Ratios & Proportions

Chapter 8 Applying Percent

Chapter 9 Probability

Chapter 10 Geometry

Chapter 11 Geometry: Measuring 2 Dimensional Figures

Chapter 12 Algebra: Measuring 3 Dimensional Figures

8^th Grade:

Chapter 1 Algebra: Integers

Chapter 2 Algebra: Rational Numbers

Chapter 3 Real Numbers & the Pythagorean Theorem

Chapter 4 Proportions, Algebra & Geometry

Chapter 5 Percents

Chapter 6 Geometry

Chapter 7 Geometry: Measuring Area & Volume

Chapter 8 Probability

Chapter 9 Statistics & Matrices

Chapter 10 Algebra: More Equations & Inequalities

Chapter 11 Algebra: Linear Functions

Chapter 12 Algebra: Non-linear Functions & Polynomials

Algebra:

Chapter 1 The Language of Algebra

Chapter 2 Real Numbers

Chapter 3 Solving Linear Equations

Chapter 4 Graphing Relations & Functions

Chapter 5 Analyzing Equations

Chapter 6 Solving Linear Inequalities

Chapter 7 Solving Systems of Linear Equations & Inequalities

Chapter 8 Polynomials

Chapter 9 Factoring

Chapter 10 Quadratic & Exponential Functions

Chapter 11 Radical Expressions & Triangles

Chapter 12 Rational Expressions & Equations

Chapter 13 Statistics

Chapter 14 Probability

Welcome to 2nd Grade

Mrs. Wedig — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:31:15 +0000

I look forward to seeing everyone at the open house on Tuesday evening from 6:00-7:00. Please bring your child’s school supplies at that time. I’m excited about the new school year! Mrs. Wedig

Join Cub Scouting

Mrs. Woolf — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:01:00 +0000

Pack 83 Cub Scouts of Saint Mary School will hold their first pack meeting on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the school gym. At this time any boys in grades one thru five that are interested in joining can come with their parents and fill out the forms. Our Pack will be marching in the September 11 Dairy Days Parade in Platteville. Our current cubmaster is Bob Schmitt and he can be reached at 348-5743. Other leaders are: Wolf Den (first graders)–Shane Drefcinski at 348-3937; Bear Den(Third Graders)–Ron Jentz at 348-3288;Webelos Leader( fourth and fifth graders–Greg Riley at 348-6498 and Tiger Cub Leader (First Graders) to be announced. For further details you may also contact Dee Woolf at St. Mary School.

Welcome to First Grade 2010-2011

Mrs. Woolf — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:55:37 +0000

Dear First Grade Parents, Welcome to a brand new school year for your children. We are most happy to have two additional students that have joined our class. They are Hannah Ricke and Andrea Kunz. We all look forward to forming a family and school community connection throughout the year. Various materials will be sent home with the children so parents can work with them on current classroom topics. After all it takes a village to raise a child. Hopefully many of you will take advantage of the Open House time on Tuesday, August 31 from 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. for you and your child to bring their classroom needs to school and get to view the classroom. At this time we can discuss any special arrangements for your child’s going home at the end of the school. For bus parents I will be riding the bus to the highschool from St. Mary’s during the first two weeks of school. The younger children will also have bus tags. If you have different arrangements for a specific day please let us know via note or e-mail. Delores (Dee) Woolf First Grade Teacher

Minutes from Meeting with Fr. John, Fr. Lope, and Mr. Hood

Patti Eggers — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:52:40 +0000

The minutes were taken at the recent meeting on August 17th with our priests and new principal, Mr. Hood.

Please feel free to stop by the school office to see a copy if interested.

Thanks, Home and School Association