Catholic Academy of Sunnyvale week ending 3.24.16
A Letter from the Principal...
Upcoming Events
Friday, March 25th-NO SCHOOL
Sunday, March 27th-Easter Sunday Easter
Monday, March 28th-Friday April 1st-Easter Break
Wednesday, April 6th-Family Night Out at P.F. Changs
Saturday, April 16th-Spring Forward Run
Easter Break
Please take note of the following closure dates for Preschool through Eighth Grade:
No Extended Care: Thursday, March 24th (Holy Thursday)
No School: Friday, March 25th (Good Friday)
Easter Break: Monday, March 28th-Friday, April 1st
Spring Forward Run
Dear Catholic Academy of Sunnyvale Community,
My name is Jennifer Baran, Wellness Champion for Catholic Academy of Sunnyvale (and Director of Admissions for the Drexel School System). I fell in love with your school the moment I first stepped on campus and want all of Silicon Valley to know how incredible your community is.
One way to share our CAS pride and attract new families is to participate in high visibility events in our local community, such as the upcoming Spring Forward 5K/10K on Saturday, April 16, 2016.
The Spring Forward 5K/10K is a local race, benefitting Catholic Charities and in memory of Joseph Harold LaScola, a long time supporter of Catholic organizations. Sponsored by SanDisk and 5 other major Silicon Valley companies, the race is expected to bring in thousands of runners, walkers and most important families.
In collaboration with the event organizers, we are offering $5 off registration for any member of the CAS community who wishes to participate. Click on the “register” tab at http://springforward5k10k.com/ and enter the code SCY16 on the registration form to receive the $5 off registration. You can also choose to register using the form included and write “SCY16” in the box, to receive the discount.
The first 25 members of the CAS community to register by April 1, 2016 will be entered in a drawing to win a FitBit Zip!
If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to contact me at jbaran@drexel.dsj.org. I look forward to see you there!
God bless and GO CAS, a Drexel School!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Baran
Wellness Champion, Catholic Academy of Sunnyvale
Director of Admissions, Drexel School System
Auction Update
Thank you to all who joined us at our 4th Annual Catholic Academy of Sunnyvale Spring Auction. Fun was had by all!
We need to celebrate the fact that our community collected over $25,000.00! In addition to that we collected $5,540.00 in Fund-a-Need which will be generously matched and turn our total into a whopping $11,080.00! Big round of applause to Catholic Academy!
Your generosity and continuous support of our wonderful school is greatly appreciated. Together we can achieve greatness.
This week in the classroom...
Preschool
This week in Preschool we prepared the children for Easter. We enjoyed our Preschool Easter Egg Hunt. Thank you to all the parent volunteers for helping us make this a great success!!
Kindergarten
Spring is in the air, and flowers are in bloom! To reinforce their skills with counting on, the Kindergarteners did Flower Petal Addition. One of the Kindergarten Math standards is to be able to count forward from any given number without having to start at 1, and with their adding, they practiced counting forward to find each sum.
First Grade
As we enter the third trimester of this academic year, students are excited about reading! This week, 1st graders enjoyed reading library books individually and with a partner at times. Enjoy a books at home with your family this week!
Second Grade
Second graders are all abuzz about the new Language Arts application! Designed to develop and enhance foundational reading, analysis, and comprehension skills, each student works with material specific to him/her. Mrs. Pierron loves what she sees and that the application is very user friendly. (It pops up the keyboard, when needed, instead of the students needing to find it and bring it up themselves!) We began to use it on Monday and every day the students ask, "When can we...?" When we return from Easter Break, this is going to be an exciting part of our language arts rotation.
Third Grade
It's about time! This week in math, the 3rd graders learn how to tell time. On the clock's face, there are 2 hands. The shorter hand tells the hour while the longer one tells the minute. If the hour hand is between two numbers, the previous number tells the hour. The students count the number of minutes from the 12 o'clock until where the minute hand is to tell the minutes. With this skill, students will be able to keep track of how much time they use and manage it properly. After all, tempus fugit.
Fourth Grade
Students worked on a Biography project researching famous people such as Clara Barton, Nikola Tesla, etc. This week students presented their separate projects to the class including presentations, board games, and wanted posters. Students used their creativity to select different presentation modes for their projects.
Fifth Grade
Charity of the Heart:
One of the virtues Fifth Grade has focused on this Lenten Season is Charity of the Heart. This is the idea that charity is so much more than donating money. Sometimes the best charity comes from the heart. This last Monday, Fifth Grade students met with the Fourth Grade and Pre-K classes to stuff 2000 plastic Easter eggs for the annual Easter Egg hunts to be held this Easter Sunday. Everyone had a good time working with Pre-K buddies and the Fourth Graders. Students also felt good knowing that they were helping other people.
Social Studies
This week the sixth grade is studying the Persian Wars during the Greek City-State period. This was one of the rare times in history when the city-states united to defeat a vastly superior foe and an event that shaped the world. The seventh grade is studying the Aztecs and their fabulous city of Tenochtitlan, a city that was mostly built on a lake and had a population of 200,00-300,000. The eighth grade is studying the dichotomy of the Northern and Southern United States during the antebellum period, with the two parts of the country drifting apart socially, economically, and politically until the inevitable outbreak of war.
Math
This week, Algebra I students have been learning to apply their previously learned polynomial factoring skills toward solving quadratic equations, and they learned how quadratic functions are used to solve real-world problems like functions that describe behaviors of golf ball when hitting, the diving patterns of divers when diving off cliffs, rockets, fire works, basketballs, and many more.
Math8 students learned to perform transformations on polygon objects by apply properties of reflections, translations, and rotations using hands-on activities and algebraic manipulatives.
7th grade math students learned to compare data shown in dot plots and box plots visually and numerically by comparing values of means, ranges, medians, interquartiles, and outliers. then they learned to represent real-world data using dot plots and box plots.
Science
The 6th grade class is exploring weather fronts and global winds.
In 7th grade, we are discovering the complexities of intelligent design versus evolution.
The 8th grade science class is studying the carbon cycle and how our world is influenced by hydrocarbons.
K-5 is working on the concept of equilibrium and trying to create structures that are balanced.
Language Arts
“But this is your hour to act, when the power of darkness rules.” Luke 22:53
The 8th grade was privileged to be leaders during our Triumph of the Cross this year. The students guided their FAITH Friends groups through the 4 holy days, allowing their peers to reflect on the significance of the events of the Easter season. It was such a wonder to experience. Happy Easter!
Art
"In living color"
Students are enjoying color theory and letting their creative minds go wild. 6th and 7th graders were finally introduced to color theory and are making by unique color wheels using silhouettes as part of their compositions. The techniques they have learned with contour lines helped them create silhouettes/outlines.
"Happy Easter"
Easter was the inspiration for the art project for the Kindergarten class. They made stained glass crosses.
Physical Education
Before setting out for our holiday break, PE has gone through a transitional phase. Yes, we still continued with our daily workout and run, but due to weather, we kept inside, opting for some indoor fun. Social coordination games like 'hula-hoop rescue' and 'secret agent tag' kept the kids moving. Students are looking forward to the the installation of the outdoor volleyball net after the break. Please have a fun and healthy Spring Break!
Extended Care
This has been a very fast week in Extended Care indeed. Color has been a big theme as we have made polygons, tulips, and cool geometric name shapes. More fun is coming up in the month of April which you can preview on SchoolSpeak.
PARENTS: Please note that as this month ends early, the Extended Care totals for March will be submitted early as well. This change, however, should not effect the automatic FACTS system as these should take effect as soon as April officially begins.
Do you need Extended Care usage data for work compensation? Tax purposes? Please let Mr. Lee know and we can help provide you with the helpful information you need. Contact the director at: 'glee@catholicacademysun.org'.
Have a Happy and Safe Easter Break!
-CAS Faculty and Staff