February was a snowy month resulting in more than a few snow days! In response, our first available “Topic Tuesday” for all English classes, 6-8, was; “What if we had a “snow-in” day? So much snow we had to stay in school overnight….with no pizza delivery?” Students shared some of their journal responses. Check out some writing consistency I noticed: “Somehow, the teachers would get locked into the Teacher’s Lounge. Ice cream from the lunchroom would be the main staple for dinner, unless they could take the tunnel to the social hall, where most writers were sure there was enough food to stay for a week, if necessary. Hallway sports, music over the PA, game rooms, reading rooms, and movie rooms were proposed, along with taking care of Little Buddies. After parents rescued them by morning using skis, snowblowers, bulldozers or snow tunnels (that worked like waterslides?) the whole school would get to go home… for another snow day! There is no shortage of creative thinking or writing in the Junior High at St. Clare.
We are well into the third quarter and the fifth grade students are working hard to get their Accelerated Reading points. This is a reading program where the students read a book and take a computer quiz on that book. They will need to get 13 points by the end of the quarter to meet their goal. In reading, we are starting the novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. As we read the book, the students will take quizzes, reenact some scenes, and rewrite parts of the book in their own words.
It is time for our parents to complete the 2nd Annual Catholic Schools Program Effectiveness Survey. The results of this survey are used at the AOD to make data-driven decisions for our strategic planning process. The survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. Your feedback is vital to our continued improvement. The survey link is located at...
Beginning January 26, 2019 Catholic Schools across our nation will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week, an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. Catholic Schools Week is sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). The observance of this annual tradition began in 1974. You will find that Catholic schools typically observe this week with Masses, open houses, service projects and other fun activities for students. These events, center on the value Catholic education provides to children.
It is hard to believe that it is January, 2019! The Kindergarten children are waiting for more snow! We cut, glued, and painted Snowmen in hopes of the fun to come! We celebrated the Feast of the Three Kings with cupcakes. We are learning about the Holy Family and ways to show love and kindness to our friends. We recognized the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Kindergarten students did their best coloring and made a tribute to Dr. King, which is displayed outside of our Kindergarten classroom. Catholic Schools Week begins Sunday, January 27th. Our school will have an Open House from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. It would be wonderful if you could stop by and take a look at what’s happening in our school! We continue our celebration of Catholic Schools with a variety of activities planned through the end of January. On behalf of everyone at St. Clare of Montefalco School, I would like to thank you for your support and prayers.
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and was able to relax and spend some quality time with your families. It is so hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that we are now welcoming in 2019!
“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Dear St. Clare of Montefalco School Families and Parishioners, During this Advent Season, the students and staff in our school have been enthusiastically preparing for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our faith helps us to think about Jesus’ humble birth in a manger, and for our school community, a wonderful opportunity to reflect together on the true meaning of Christmas. We are reminded to keep Christ close in our hearts for He is our strength throughout our lives.
St. Clare School Auction News Save the Date! St. Clare School Auction is on Saturday, April 6th! Auction items and sponsorship are still needed. Please reach out to Satyra Johnson at satjohn@msn.com or (313) 231-1631. Mary Poppins and friends are looking forward to seeing you!
We are now into the 2nd quarter in fifth grade. The students are learning many new things this year. Our lizard Brownie, and our tree frog Garfunkel are doing well. We continue to watch our bean plants grow that were planted during an investigation on what plants need in Science class. In Religion the students are learning about living as Jesus would live. They recently did skits together showing ways that they could live as Jesus did.
Hello to St. Clare Parish from the St. Clare School Sixth Grade. We are having a great year in Room 13! We welcomed 4 new students in September; then, in October we had a fun time at YMCA Camp Storer where we rode the Little Red Wagon, went on a Night Hike, and mostly realized how well we all get along. Every year 6th grade is responsible for raising and lowering the American Flag, along with our school flag, at the pole on Charlevoix. To learn about the proper way to care for the flag and how to raise, lower and fold it the right way, Officers Murphy and Gunther of the Detroit Mounted Police came to teach Kayla and Lilly how to be our flag team. They also taught us to have reverence for the flag and when to put it at half-mast as we did when President Bush died. When we were done they took Ivan and Andre, their two male Percheron horses, out of the trailer for the whole...
In Religion class, we are preparing for confirmation. (Please keep us in your prayers). As part of our preparation, we will be going on retreat to the Subiaco Retreat House on December 5th. This is always an enjoyable and spiritual experience for the students. In Literature class, we are reading non-fiction stories such as Mark Twain’s “Cub Pilot of the Mississippi” as well as working on our Accelerated Reading (AR) points. The 8th graders are writing their personal Michigan Hero papers. They will be...
Middle School has been a very busy time this year. Take a peek at what has been happening in each class. MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE Grade 6 - In 6th grade science we are wrapping up mapping and moving on to looking at the structure of the interior of Earth! Grade 7 - In 7th grade science we learned about the characteristics of life and have just finished learning about what makes up cells. We will be diving into cell division starting this week!
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the parishioners who graciously gave their time and effort towards making this year’s Used Book Sale an awesome success. Without your help, the job would be so much more difficult and overwhelming. I consider you our special “stars” in supporting St. Clare School. We look forward to continuing a special relationship with all the parishioners of St. Clare. The importance of the relationship between school, families, and the parish is vital to a successful school. With many thanks and blessings, Ann Tonissen, Principal
Last year, St. Clare School, went through the Archdiocese of Detroit Accreditation process. It was a long and tedious process as we wrote a report and collected evidence showing we continue to meet the requirements for accreditation. The accreditation process involved addressing 13 standards and 70 benchmarks that correspond to those standards, compiling a report of our findings and attaching evidence that supports what our report stated. Each of the standard falls under the one of the following areas: Mission and Catholic Identity, Governance and Leadership, Academic Excellence and Operational Vitality. This was a very comprehensive self-study of our school and involved a great deal of time and effort by the faculty, staff and our supporting school committees of PTO, School Commission, and Finance. In May, the Accreditation Site Team came together at St. Clare to discuss and score our self-study report and evidence.
Last school year, we were assigned the task of developing a Strategic Plan for St. Clare School, as were all the schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit. With the dedication and help of our fantastic team members, many who are members of the parish, we successfully completed and submitted our new Strategic Plan to the AOD in August. Now, looking towards the future, I am coming back to the parish in search of volunteers to offer their time and talents to our school. We are looking for...
In fifth-grade class, the year is off and running. We have two new members in our classroom, a Crested Gecko, and a green Tree Frog. The students are enjoying science with our animal project. The students brought in an insect or spider and are taking care of its needs for two weeks when they will present their project paper and poster board. We recently did a science lab on turning food into energy to show how an animal gets its energy. The students have also dissected...
Along with a new school year, we have a new teacher joining us at St. Clare teaching our 3rd and 4th grade blended classroom. The students in room 12 are such a great team and are forming a close bond! They love working together and are also learning how to be independent learners. In Math, both sections have been reviewing place value and learning strategies to compare numbers. In Language Arts, they are reading many stories to determine the author’s purpose and sequencing the main events. We have also discussed major events in our history such as The Constitution and...
If you like to eat something cold and sweet then join St. Clare at our Community Crawl fundraiser on Tuesday, October 2nd from 3:30 – 10 PM. This event will be held at TCBY located at 17045 Kercheval, in the Village. Remember to place your receipt in the “Fundraiser Receipt” jar so that 20% of your purchase will be donated back to the school. Your support is greatly appreciated.
“Make new friends but keep the old” has become the first and second grade motto as several new students have joined our class this year. We have talked about being members of our school family as well as our families of origin, and how we are all called to be part of God’s family! In Social Studies, the second graders read about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, which included following school rules and how to be a citizen of the world. In Language Arts, both the first and second graders are reviewing short and long vowel sounds through songs/rhymes like “Miss Mary Mack” and “The Ants Go Marching” while also reviewing math concepts like...