Lower School News Feb and March 2016

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LS NEWS St. Catherine’s School

Grade 2 Hat Parade

Save the Date!

After School Enrichment Begins April 4th

Party through the Decades!

April 16th

Daisy Days!

April 23rd

LOWERLOOO Lower School

News

March 2016

Junior Kindergarten The JK girls have been working on a p lay/movie based on the song, "He's Got The Whole World In His H ands." It all began with a series of conversations in one group about the nature of God. At the end of one conversation, one of the children said "He's got the whole world in His hands," and everyone started to sing. However, we only knew three verses and the children thought there should be more. So they invented some, with an interesting nod to topics that have been important to the children recently: trees (the girls have been studying and making trees for various purposes), each other, birds (they have been studying birds and trying to lure them to our feeders), and so on. The children also invented motions to go with the verses. They shared their song and idea with the rest of the JKers, who liked the p lan and agreed to collaborate. The children choreographed the enactment of the verses and cast the roles via sign-­‐up sheet, having figured out how to divide the number of children (23!) by the number of roles. They have designed and made costumes and are now in the process of practicing the p lay.

Kindergarten February was filled with excitement in kindergarten! The girls made groundhog cupcakes for Groundhog Day and p ancakes for F at Tuesday. They enjoyed exchanging cards for Valentine's Day, and they recently celebrated the 100th day of school. The girls were thrilled to meet Zero the Hero, the super hero who surprised them with treats every tenth day of school. They also enjoyed visiting the 100th Day Museums in all the kindergarten classrooms.

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LOWERLOOO Lower School

News

March 2016

Grade 1 The grade 1 students were thrilled to showcase their talents in their very first school p lay. Mrs. Ivens and Mrs. Mason worked tirelessly to prepare them for their St. Catherine’s acting debut, and it was a hit! The girls are excited for the start of spring and will b e heading b ack to the garden in the coming weeks. They will also begin a unit on organisms that gives them more opportunities to develop their observational skills. At the end of the month, grade 1 will have a field trip to the VMFA to search for animals in art.

Grade 2 Our grade 2 classes have been working h ard on their study of the "50 Nifty" United States. They've learned to sing ALL 50 states in alphabetical order and were assigned a particular state to research. The girls made a hat representing each of their assigned states and then proudly wore the hats in the grade 2 hat parade! The girls sang the "50 Nifty" United States with absolute gusto!

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LOWERLOOO Lower School

News

March 2016

Grade 3 We had some cold days in February, but third grade warmed everyone’s hearts with their ‘Colors of Movement’ p erformance. Red balloons, white flags, blackbirds, blue eyes, even a pink Cadillac…it was a perfect polychromatic performance! The teachers are so proud of the girls for their positive attitudes and diligence preparing their dances. The smiles backstage just before the last dance and then after the applause were truly p riceless.

The big event in March was the trip to the State Capitol and St. John’s. The girls were impressed by the modern design of the underground entrance to the Capitol and how it blended in to the h istoric floors above. Our guides took them to the Old Hall of the House of Delegates where they heard stories of what went on in that room, where the silver mace came from, and what it means. The girls even got to peek into the chambers of the Senate and the House of Delegates.

Afterwards, they were transported back in time with an expert reenactment of the Second Virginia Convention at St. John’s Church, where the real event happened. Powerful speeches and debates brought history to life, and the girls were enthralled to get to meet and talk with the men as they left. If you ever get a chance to attend, we recommend it!

Grade 4 Creativity is everywhere in grade 4. The girls celebrated their powerful vocabulary and dressed up as a Wordly Wise word. Fourthies have been enjoying each other and celebrating their friendships. They designed a "Friendship Machine" and wrote about how the machine benefits society. They imagined the machine being produced by their company. The girls even made their own b usiness cards! Please follow our classroom adventures highlighted in our class blogs: http://mcfourthies.weebly.com/

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LOWERLOOO Lower School News

March 2016

ART Mrs. Minarik d elivered the final piece of student artwork to a nursing home in Norfolk before heading overseas for the second part of her sabbatical. Special thanks go to Mrs. Cockerham for making a necklace for M rs.

Minarik that holds a Saint Catherine pendant and her mom's spirit. Mrs. Minarik will wear the necklace throughout Europe and while hiking the Camino de Santiago in memory of her mother who passed away last March. If you'd like to see pictures of her travels you can follow her on Instagram@wheresourartteacher.

SCIENCE Grade 3 girls have been learning about rocks and minerals in science. They are conducting tests such as hardness and magnetism on sample rocks with their lab partner. After studying the rocks' properties, they will identify them and research how each one is used and where it is found.

Recommended Reading from guidance counselor, Rachen Sterling: Several picture books by Trudy Ludwig: a few titles, My Secret Bully, Sorry, Trouble Talk, Too Perfect.

Rosalind Wiseman's books: Mean Girls, Queen Bees and Wannabes and some great parenting segments for girls on the website www.kindsinthehouse.com Lisa Damour: Untangled 5

Lower School News

March 2016

Reminders about proper school attire: Spring has definitely peeked its head, and the girls have sprouted quite a bit through the year. Many have outgrown their clothes. As you begin to clear out your closets and make way for spring attires, please keep in mind the requirements for school attire, which is located in the handbook.

• One of the things the faculty and staff have noticed is the number of girls who are wearing leggings with short shirts. Leggings need to be accompanied by shirts that are the length of tunics. As a rule of thumb, if your daughter raises her hand, the bottom of the shirt needs to still hit her hip instead of her waist.

• Shorts need to be more like walking shorts and fall past the girls’ finger tips, not above them • Tank tops with spaghetti straps are not acceptable without a light sweater or shirt cover-up We appreciate your support in this matter.

Upcoming Dates….

April 6, 2016 – Grade 4 Musical for Parents, 2:30 – 3:15 pm, McVey Theater April 8, 2016 - LS Recital, 8:30 am – 9:00 am, Bannard Chapel April 14, 2016 – LS Conference Day – No school for students April 20, 2016 – All School Strings Concert at St. Christopher’s – 7:00 – 8:30 pm April 23, 2016 – Daisy Days – 10:00 am – 3:00 pm April 25, 2016 – All School Band Concert at St. Christopher’s – 7:00 – 8:00 pm April 28, 2016 – Late start for students – carpool begins at 9:30 am – 10:00 am start