St. Catherine of Siena School October 2014 Dear St. Catherine of Siena School Families: It is hard to believe that we have just completed the first quarter of our school year. We began our fifty-third year of education with many positive changes. These included the upgrading of all computers throughout the computer lab, and individual classrooms, the acquisition of new textbooks with online resources, and the continuation of the gifted and talented certification program for our teachers. In addition, representatives from our school attended the Latino Enrollment Institute at Notre Dame University this summer. This program pairs schools with mentor principals, in an effort to increase Latino enrollment through the adoption of new marketing strategies and techniques. Our doors opened with the highest enrollment of students our school has seen in a number of years. Also, our home parish, St. Catherine of Siena Church, was recently recognized with the Bishop Curtis J. Guillory Parish award among all churches in the diocese. This award is given to the parish that shows the most significant strides in Stewardship during the 2013 year. One of the factors contributing to this award were the many positive initiatives implemented by our school. We have many activities planned during the second quarter and ask you to refer to the calendar on the right for more information. Peace and Blessings, Mrs. Haidee Todora, Principal, St. Catherine of Siena School Upcoming Activities & Events Friday, October 24, 2014 Fallscream Dance – 6:00 pm Grades 6-8 $5.00 – pizza & ice cream Sponsored by Student Council Friday, October 24, 2014 Msgr. Kelly High School Football Home – vs. St. Thomas – 7:00 pm (This is the last regular game of the season) Saturday, October 25, 2014 St. Catherine Fall/Halloween Fest 5:00 – 8:00 pm – cafeteria & gym Monday, October 27 – Friday, October 31, 2014 Red Ribbon Week Friday, October 31, 2014 Noon dismissal – staff development November 4 th – 7 th , 2014 5 th grade trip to Camp Kappe November 11, 2014 Veterans Day Program November 13, 2014 Msgr. Kelly High School Parent Awareness Meeting – 7:00 pm November 18 – 25 th , 2014 Scholastic Book Fair November 24, 2014 Thanksgiving Program & Lunch Reading Fair – grades 2 nd – 5 th (Following lunch) November 25, 2014 (Noon dismissal) - November 30, 2014 Thanksgiving Holiday Left: Bishop Curtis J. Guillory presents Fr. David Placette (center, pastor of St. Catherine Church) with the Diocesan Parish Stewardship Award. Also shown is Fr. Andy Moore.
Transcript
St. Catherine of Siena School
October 2014
Dear St. Catherine of Siena School Families:
It is hard to believe that we have just completed the first
quarter of our school year. We began our fifty-third
year of education with many positive changes. These
included the upgrading of all computers throughout
the computer lab, and individual classrooms, the
acquisition of new textbooks with online resources,
and the continuation of the gifted and talented
certification program for our teachers. In addition,
representatives from our school attended the Latino
Enrollment Institute at Notre Dame University this
summer. This program pairs schools with mentor
principals, in an effort to increase Latino enrollment
through the adoption of new marketing strategies
and techniques. Our doors opened with the highest
enrollment of students our school has seen in a number
of years. Also, our home parish, St. Catherine of Siena
Church, was recently recognized with the Bishop
Curtis J. Guillory Parish award among all churches
in the diocese. This award is given to the parish that
shows the most significant strides in Stewardship during
the 2013 year. One of the factors contributing to this
award were the many positive initiatives implemented
by our school. We have many activities planned during
the second quarter and ask you to refer to the calendar
on the right for more information.
Peace and Blessings,
Mrs. Haidee Todora,
Principal, St. Catherine of Siena School
Upcoming
Activities & Events
Friday, October 24, 2014 Fallscream Dance – 6:00 pm Grades 6-8 $5.00 – pizza & ice cream Sponsored by Student Council Friday, October 24, 2014 Msgr. Kelly High School Football Home – vs. St. Thomas – 7:00 pm (This is the last regular game of the season) Saturday, October 25, 2014 St. Catherine Fall/Halloween Fest 5:00 – 8:00 pm – cafeteria & gym Monday, October 27 – Friday, October 31, 2014 Red Ribbon Week Friday, October 31, 2014 Noon dismissal – staff development November 4th – 7th, 2014 5th grade trip to Camp Kappe November 11, 2014 Veterans Day Program November 13, 2014 Msgr. Kelly High School Parent Awareness Meeting – 7:00 pm November 18 – 25th, 2014 Scholastic Book Fair November 24, 2014 Thanksgiving Program & Lunch Reading Fair – grades 2nd – 5th (Following lunch) November 25, 2014 (Noon dismissal) - November 30, 2014 Thanksgiving Holiday
Rising to the Challenge St. Catherine of Siena School participated in the campaign to raise awareness for ALS.
During a recent pep rally, Mrs. Todora, principal, accepted the ice bucket challenge and
then asked students to participate by raising funds for the John Paul II Research Institute.
This organization conducts research and uses guidelines that are consistent with the
teachings of the Catholic Church. Our students gave generously for the cause. Over $1200
was raised through a loose change challenge. Winning grades were 5th and 8th grade.
Congratulations to our students, teachers, and parents on a great effort!
Below: Left: Mrs. Todora gets a soaking while right: 5th grade enjoys their victory
New Student Council Officers Elected
Student Council Officers for the
2014-2015 School Year include:
From front left:
Linh Hoang, President
Lilian Melgoza, Secretary
Collin Todora, Treasurer
and Adrian Medina,
Vice President
Faculty sponsor:
Mrs. Julie Gleinser
\
Celebrating Constitution Day With Special Friends
Students learned about our government and Constitution in a most unusual way recently. Justice Johnson and her puppet informed, and
entertained our students in a fun and educational presentation as part of a Constitution Day celebration. Judge John Stevens also contributed to the
success of this great program for our students.
HONORING OUR FIRST RESPONDERS St. Catherine of Siena School students had the opportunity to personally thank our local first responders with handmade cards as part of a celebration of National First Responders Day. Everyone enjoyed touring the fire trucks, police cars and SWAT tanks and visiting with our local heroes!
The PreK (3) class with Mrs. Crenshaw and Mrs. Espinosa learned about firetrucks during their special tour.
Left: Logan Owens and Emma Plessala present a card to local firemen.
LECTURE
Several eighth grade students recently had the opportunity to listen to
Astronaut Commander Mark Kelly speak at Lamar University, Port Arthur.
Allen DeLord, Joshua Lamb, James Cerf, and Marcus Gleinser learned
about the missions of Kelly and his experiences in the space program. He
was the last U.S. astronaut to walk in space.
Reading Success Recognized Over seventy students in grades second through eighth were recognized at a pep-rally marking the end of the first nine
weeks. Students achieveing 100% of their Accelerated Readers goal with a comprehension level of at least 85% were
invited to join in a friendly game of ships and sailors. Congratulations to the following students: 2nd grade: Hang Bui,
Haley Die, Aubree Elmore, Donald Fowler, Logan Owens, Alan Pham, Emma Plessala, and Nicholas Tran; 3rd graders:
Matthew Blanchard, L’Ashly DeLuna, Chelsea Fontenette, Jacob Hernandez, Madeline Nortman, Keyanni Overstreet,
Sean Pham, Garrett Plessala, Joliane Tran, and Jeannie Truong; 4th graders: Christopher Alvarez, Yizelle Alvarez, Rylee
Bacon, Olivia Bush, Kaden Lacour-Tanner, Mary Le, Joshua Mitchell, Vivanette Morciglio, Ethan Pham, Mack Schulze,
Tyson Sonnier, and Viet Tran; 5th grade: Sytu Bui, Ana Canales, Daniela Contreras, Quynn Dang Vo, Dayanna DeLuna,
Madison Goudeaux, Maggie Granger, Gabriel Hernandez, Tyler Lewis, Eddie Ly, Ryan McDaniel, Donovan Mennie,
Kenny Nguyen, Victoria Nguyen, Brady Owens, and Ivy Tran; 6th graders – Scot Die, Daniela Figueroa, Caleb Granger,
Andrew Holloman, Dominic Mennie, Alex Pham, Madison Plessala, Caasi Sleeman,Isaac Sleeman, Tuyet Tran, and
Rhionnon Weatherly; 7th grade – Brianna Bush, Maria Contreras, Caitlin Crenshaw, McKenna Cross, Jennifer DeLord,
Isaac Duerksen, Virginia Morciglio, Lily Newell, Alex Tran, Joanna Tran, and An Vu; 8th graders – John Barron, Linh
Hoang, Adrian Medina, Lilian Melgoza, and Collin Todora.
Great job students – keep reading!
FROM OUR CLASSROOMS:
PreK (3):
Mrs. Crenshaw’s Pre-K3 class had a special visitor, Father Sinclair. The children were very excited to meet him
and enjoyed the donuts, juice and coloring books that he brought for them.
PreK 4:
The PreK 4 class had the opportunity to enjoy watching the growth and development of
butterflies during a recent lesson. The students monitored the progress of their insects
daily and were excited when the time came for their release.
Kindergarten:
Left: Mrs. Heckaman
releases a butterfly as
the PreK 4 class cheers for them to fly.
Mrs. Campbell’s Kindergarten class received the most donations for the
Miracle Jeans fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. The class was happy
to receive their reward, an ice cream party.
1st Grade:
We are having a wonderful time in 1st grade! We have started our shopping center here in
the class and we are using our tickets as our money. We will go shopping every Friday. We
earn tickets for great behavior and for showing caring and respect for others. We welcome
prize donations to our shopping center. These donations can be slightly used books, toys,
small trinkets, peppermints, or really anything you have to share! Thank you to Ms. Blanchard
and Ms. Thompson for your donations so far this year – we are so thankful!
In reading, we are enjoying learning about the Superkids and we are also completing
author studies. Thank you to Peyton’s grandfather, Mr. Juarez who has been coming in to
work with children on their reading. We studied Eric Carle and Marc Brown so please look
for our Arthur the Anteater portraits in the next couple weeks. Photos can be viewed at
http://stcats.org/first-grade.
We have also started going to the computer lab every Wednesday. Thank you families
for sending in our headphones as we are learning to type and in the upcoming weeks, we will
be using the Superkids online portal to expand our reading. Our class has also begun
checking out books from our school library with Mrs. Sigur. We are treating our books with
respect and returning them every Tuesday on our library day. Happy Fall!
2ndGrade:
Johnny Appleseed was a hit with students in 2nd grade. After reading the book and learning
more about this legendary character, students participated in activities and created apple
