AQUINAS ACADEMY a Pennsylvania Charitable Trust 340 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601 Phone: 724-834-7940 Fax: 724-836-0497

AQUINAS ACADEMY A Pennsylvania Charitable Trust 340 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601 Phone: 724-834-7940 Fax: 724-836-0497

NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2017

choosing. There are many options and ways to My Dear Aquinas Family, help you manage tuition. Please be sure to talk

As we return from the Christmas break, we begin with our business manager (Mrs. Maria to look towards next year’s enrollment. Catholic Cochenour) if you have questions. 2. Tuition Schools Week is typically the beginning of this Assistance. In an effort to keep our local process. I wanted to take a few minutes to explain administrators out of family finances as much as the process. There are many facets of possible, FACTS is used to assess the needs of enrollment. Application, registration, paperwork each family that applies. FACTS, then determines packet, and financial information are just a need and passes this information along to the few. So, allow me to shed some light on some of Diocese and the local administration. FACTS these. does not have money to give. The financial aid is given from two pools of funds. The first is the If you are already enrolled at Aquinas Academy, school’s own budget. Funds are given to the you do not need to apply. You are reserved a spot school from the parishes to run the school and aid for next year. Any new students must apply prior can be given from this funding. The second is PA to acceptance and registration. We do ask for State tax in the form of EITC. Look for more siblings not yet registered to apply, but they will information about this in another newsletter, but I have first consideration based on family legacy. will say that both of these funds are extremely limited. Once a student is accepted, there is a registration packet that is needed. This allows the school to The next action step for you is to register. We keep current information on file. This registration would like to have all registrations returned very places the student in a specific grade in Aquinas quickly and this will allow for us to focus on new Academy. enrollment and next year’s budget. We thank you for your attention to this detail, and we remind you Much of the paperwork that is needed is assigned that we are here to help throughout the by either the state or the diocese and the school process. Our office is equipped to assist and must maintain those forms in files in the event of looking forward to doing so. We hope you had a an audit. We truly appreciate your compliance wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward with these forms. to an exciting Catholic Schools Week!

Financial information takes on two parts. Both are I can do all things through Christ who strengthens managed by FACTS. Here is how it me. Philippians 4: 13 works. FACTS handles: 1. Tuition Management and 2. Tuition Assistance. 1. Tuition Yours in Christ, Management. This is the billing and collection of the tuition throughout the year. All families are required to have a FACTS account for this Mr. Joseph J. Rice purpose. If you pay monthly, the funds are Principal withdrawn directly from the account of your CHRISTMAS SHOP decorate a Christmas tree with a certain number of The Christmas Shop was a big hit! It was great to ornaments that are labeled on the tree. Christmas see the smiling faces of the children as they time sure does make for fun counting activities! bought surprise gifts for their loved ones. After a higher than expected demand on the first day, the Both preschool classes had wonderful Christmas entire store was restocked for the second day of parties this year. They had such a wonderful time shopping. In addition to giving the children an celebrating Jesus’ birthday and enjoying fun opportunity to shop on their own, the Christmas games and crafts with their friends. A special Shop netted a profit of $2,525 for the school. thank you to all of the preschool parents for all that they do for each class! We would like to thank all the parents who volunteered their time to come in and help. With this first year of running the shop under our belt, we learned a lot, and we have already begun planning for next year!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make the Christmas Shop a success!

- Nikki Zubaty and Keira Bonomo

PRESCHOOL NEWS

Both of the preschool classes have been very busy learning about Advent. The classes made their own advent wreaths and have been lighting one candle each week throughout the season. Each week the children light their candle and sing along to our Advent song about waiting for Christmas day and the birth of Jesus.

The PreK 4 class has been working very hard learning letter sounds and recognizing new letters.

During the Christmas season, the children learned all about letter C which brought us upon Candy Cane Day. The children made candy canes by rolling golf balls in red paint and rolling them in a pan all over a white candy cane to give it stripes. They also graphed their preferences on who likes peppermint candy canes better or who likes cherry candy canes better, cherry candy canes came in with the win! Of course, we had to end our day with taking home a very special candy cane that was delivered to us by Saint Nicholas!

The PreK 3 class has been focusing on counting numbers. The children in this class can count all the way to 20 with ease! They have been practicing their counting and number skills during Christmas math centers where they have to

KINDERGARTEN NEWS What do YOU do on Tuesday? Why eat spaghetti of course! At least, that’s one of the silly parts of Kindergarten will end the month of December the song, “TODAY IS MONDAY’ by Eric Carle. with a birthday celebration for Jesus. Merry Learning this song is helping the kindergarten Christmas wishes go to all of our families and children with learning the days of the week. friends.

The children are also busy organizing FIRST GRADE NEWS mathematical manipulatives into groups of tens. Before Thanksgiving, the students were busy The children think “what a great way to get all the working on special projects and photographs for way to one hundred.” Two hundred, three the Gala. Thank you to Mrs. Tiedeman, Mrs. hundred.... Szakos, Mrs. Denis, Mrs. Kerr, and Mrs. Bossert. We appreciate you sharing your time The students learned about another famous saint and talents with us! In addition to helping with this month by watching Nicholas, the Boy Who the Gala projects, Mrs. Bossert helped send the Became Santa. With some assistance by our students off on their Thanksgiving break by fourth grade prayer partners, the children made reading a wonderful story. She read, Balloons small paper shoes. A big surprise awaited them Over Broadway, which tells the true story of the the next day when they discovered golden puppeteer Tony Sarg and his helium balloons that tangerines and candy canes in their shoe. would become the trademark of Macy’s Day Parade. After the fun story, the students were able Our activity room became a glorious mess as we to create their own balloon that they would carry worked on special Christmas ornaments, gifts for in this special parade. Thank you, Mrs. Bossert! parents and friends, and even gingerbread people. But nothing could beat the day kindergarten took The students worked on a lesson with Mr. an imaginary trip to the North Pole on the Polar Dombrowski, our school guidance counselor and Express in our pajamas! The students shared his grandfather to Max and Beau Bossert. Mr. or her favorite bedtime book and stuffed animal, Dombrowski read the story, I Can't Believe You learned about reindeer, made cottony Santa Said That! to the class. This story is about a boy Clauses, and drank hot cocoa with cookies. named RJ who says what he thinks… no matter how it sounds or makes others feel. With help from his parents, he learns he doesn't have to verbalize every thought that pops into his head. In fact, sometimes the less said the better!

Mr. Dombrowski had a nice discussion with the students about how words can cause hurt feelings and how the students can use a social filter to 3 avoid speaking hurtfully or disrespectfully. With Mr. Dombrowski's guidance, the students constructed a diagram showing their Thinking Bubble, Social Filter, and Talking Bubble. The students learned how to use their Thinking Bubble and Social Filter before they speak the words in their Talking Bubble. Thank you, Mr. Dombrowski for teaching us this valuable lesson!

Now presenting…The Student of the Week! Congratulations to Ava Richards who did a fabulous job as our Student of the Week! The students enjoyed seeing Ava's special Care Bear as well as all the books she made.

The first graders have once again scored the team of the week in First in Math throughout the whole school during the first week of December. Not only did the whole class earn team of the week, but Beau Bossert scored the ultimate honor--top player of the week in the whole school! First graders are definitely working up their sticker count on the board outside of the office! First graders have also learned new strategies to subtract numbers. The children can now make a ten to subtract, use doubles to subtract, find missing addends, and can relate addition and subtraction. This all comes into play when the children are working on fact families and the The first grade students had a fun-filled Christmas number sentences that make them up. celebration. The morning began with a bountiful

breakfast and the students really enjoyed starting The first graders also spent time on a gingerbread the day with lots of delicious food! After math scavenger hunt. They traveled around the breakfast, the students made a festive Christmas classroom finding different number sentences to ornament and played a Frosty the Snowman left- solve. It was a challenge but in the end everyone right game which ended with each student was rewarded with a prize!! receiving a special present…an adorable emoji hat!! Many thanks go to Mrs. Polomoscanik, Mrs. Tiedeman, Mrs. Bossert, Mrs. Hutchins, and Mr. Snively for spending time with us and creating cherished memories of our First Grade Christmas party.

different stories. They also learned about illustrating, author’s style, and author’s craft. To sharpen their comprehension skills, students charted the beginning, middle and end of selected stories, identified the main ideas and combined them into a summary. A big thank you to Mrs. Finoli for providing most of the books that the class enjoyed in this author study! Check them out in the school library.

SECOND GRADE NEWS In math class, second grade was busy working on place value. They now can write a number three ways in number form, word form, and expanded form. The alligators were a big help in deciding greater than, less, than, or equal to. Graphing was introduced using Christmas decorations as the data. The excitement of holiday shopping was in the air in early December. Students eagerly gathered The month of December began with a visit their lists and visited the Aquinas Christmas Shop. Around the Stable. During this Advent lesson, Shoppers excitedly picked those just right gifts for students listened intently as Mr. Rice presented a the special people in their lives. They also story about the Christmas stable and explained the practiced money management as they worked symbolism of the items placed by Kindergarten within a budget to find that special item. Students and First Grade. At the conclusion of the story, look forward to the Christmas Shop every year second grade added their symbol, stones, to the and always enjoy this Aquinas tradition. manger scene.

In reading class, students completed an author In social studies, students traveled around the study of Tomie dePaola. Through readings of The world and explored Christmas customs and Art Lesson, Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs, traditions celebrated in Canada, Mexico, Tom, The Baby Sister, Oliver Button is a Sissy, Philippines, United Kingdom, Germany, and The Legend of the Poinsettia, The Night of Las Sweden. They learned that our Catholic faith is an Posadas, and Strega Nona students learned about important part of celebrations in Mexico, Canada, the themes of family, faith, and love. Students and Sweden. Students learned about Los Posadas were excited to find that Tomie DePaola portrayed and the origin of the Christmas poinsettia, which his family stories, stories about his life, and stories also tied into the Tomie dePaola story, The about his Irish and Italian cultures in these books Legend of the Poinsettia. Students created their and that many of the characters reappeared in the 5 own Christmas poinsettias to display in the compared facts from the video to the hallway. Second grade was amazed to find that brainstorming lists and prior knowledge of French Canadians attend Midnight Mass and fictional reindeer. Our unit of study will continue afterwards eat dinner and exchange gifts, in the in January and different topics will be explored: middle of the night! Students were also surprised predators, habitat, migration, caribou babies, food to find out that Swedes begin their Christmas sources and interesting facts. Season on December 13, St. Lucia Day, which honors St. Lucy, the patron saint of light. During the lesson about Germany, Emma Hrbek shared an authentic wooden Santa and ornament that her family bought when they visited Germany.

Did you ever wonder how Santa got his job? Second grade learned all about it when they listened to the book called How Santa Got His Job. This story tells how Santa had many different, unsuccessful jobs in his life but used his strengths and skills from each experience to become the Santa that we know today. After

listening to the story, students completed an elf application and had to explain why Santa should choose them to be an elf at the North Pole. The class discussed what skills would be needed to be a successful elf. After reading the applications, it would be hard to choose just one! The second graders had a range of skills from gift wrapping expertise, to cookie baking, to being kind and caring to others. After the workers completed their applications, they created an elf version of themselves to display their work.

Students also completed a booklet that described the foods, traditions and Santa of each country. They also watched educational videos on You Tube that showed clips of Christmas celebrations in the various countries. Second grade soon realized that even if the meal is different or Santa is called by another name, people all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ in very special ways.

During the month of December, the children listened to magical stories about reindeer like The Great Reindeer Rebellion and Mooseltoe. They used their knowledge of fictional reindeers as the opening to a nonfiction unit of study about Caribou. First, they listed their prior knowledge in a graphic organizer and then viewed a video called “4 Interesting Facts about Reindeer.” They 6

Mrs. Sigut and the students would like to thank completed using mean, median, and mode. Tables Mrs. Fisher, Dr. Lim, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Joensen, and graphs were completed using a Christmas and Mr. Sam and Mrs. Genevieve Snively for theme. planning the Christmas Breakfast festivities. The students enjoyed a delicious breakfast, made a Saint Nicholas day was on December 6. The third lovely tree ornament and played a jolly game of grade students made St. Nicholas shoes, and Build A Snowman. The students and Mrs. Sigut placed them on their desks the night before his wish you a Blessed 2017! feast day. The following morning, they saw oranges and candy canes in their shoes. It was very exciting! Everyone enjoyed their treat.

During Advent, the class has been lighting their candles weekly, learning the symbolism of the wreath, and placing ornaments on The Jesse Tree. The students have been reacquainting themselves with the Old Testament readings. Also, we love to walk by the “Around the Stable” (in the breezeway) where Mr. Rice places another figure in the manger scene each week. It reminds us of the anticipation of the Christmas season and the birth of Jesus Christ.

In social studies class, third grade is studying Jobs in the Communities. They have been discussing how to run a business, and why making good money choices are important for everyone.

In addition to the importance of communities, the students made Time Lines of their lives. These time lines showcased special events that happened throughout their life. Each student chose different events that he or she thinks are most important to them. They shared them with each other, and are now on display in our classroom. Great job everyone!

THIRD GRADE NEWS In math class, multiplication tables up to five including their properties were mastered. The ice One of our third grade students, Stella Bossert, cream cones are getting bigger and more colorful. wanted to help out a needy family for Christmas A Christmas activity to find the “typical tree” was this season. Her mother, Andrea Bossert, heard about a family whose house burned down in the 7

Greensburg area, and everything was lost. Stella and her mother decided to make it a classroom effort for all the third grade students to get involved as well. So, the class painted Chirstmas ornaments to help brighten up this family’s holiday. The students were so eager and excited to help with this service project. What a wonderful way to give from the heart!

FOURTH GRADE NEWS After completing the chapter on Division, fourth grade will be moving on to fractions. Students had fun using a block coordinate plane to plot ordered pairs. The surprise as they finished was a picture of Rudolph. In Advent, student started each week with a prayer and lit the classroom advent candle and their own In science, students learned all about water and the paper candle. In religion class, the students water cycle and the difference between weather learned about the heritage of Jesus in stories and and climate. They learned that without water symbols of Advent and placed them daily on the there would be almost no weather on Earth. The classroom Jesse tree. Students also went to the water cycle provides us with fresh water or Sacrament of Reconciliation to prepare their hearts recycled moisture through evaporation and for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. condensation. The students learned that the water cycle is influenced by temperature and land features. Students also learned about the many tools or instruments that a meteorologist uses to predict weather. The next chapter in science will explain how weather can produce nature’s most powerful storms – hurricanes and tornadoes.

Caleb shows his anemometer to the class and demonstrates how it works outside.

In social studies, students learned about another region of the United States – the Northeast Region. Students learned the history, the environment and all the states, their abbreviations 8 and the capitals as well as where they are on a was a decorated Christmas tree to which they were U.S. map. Students also practiced identifying the able to add ornaments. location of the states by using the Mimio. Fifth grade social studies students just finished plotting exploration routes on a world map. They were given a list of explorers and then followed each explorers journey to China, Africa and the New World. After learning about The Lost Colony, Jamestown, and the Plymouth Colony, the students will create a “foldable” study guide. Next, the students will learn about the “Thirteen

Original Colonies.” Fourth graders participated in the Christmas Concert – either by playing an instrument, the Reading class has found the fifth graders finishing bells or singing in the choir, or even all three. It theme two with an interesting activity. They read was lovely night of Christmas songs to remind all a short story on unusual animals that live in the of us of the true meaning of Christmas. water. They were than challenged to “create” their own animals. The students were asked to be as creative and inventive as their imaginations would let them be! In their paragraphs, the rest of their classmates learned many characteristics of their creations: what animals went together to make it, the name, where it lived, and what it ate or if it was eaten by another organism. The class had a few laughs as they listened to the stories!

FIFTH GRADE NEWS In English, adjectives were the theme of this month. As a culminating event, students brought in a theme based Christmas card. With this card they had to describe the events using as many adjectives as possible. They were instructed to use sentences that described the five senses.

Fifth grade is learning to subtract fractions using mixed numbers and will be moving on to multiplying and dividing fractions. A fun Christmas activity was having students plot ordered pairs on a coordinate plane. The result 9

The FOSS kit has come to an end for science in On December 12, 2016 the fifth grade did a the fifth grade. Our last investigation concentrated reenactment of Las Posadas when Mary and on conduction, convection and radiation as types Joseph walked to Bethlehem. The students left of energy transfer. They experimented with soil, school and headed to Mary’s Grotto at Seton Hill hot, room temperature and ice water to see how University. They started with a short Bible verse each reacted to the elements. The experiments at the bottom of the hill then progressed to nine were quite successful! “inns” with each turning Mary and Joseph away as they had no room. This helped the students to remember how Mary and Joseph followed God’s directives to fulfill the prophecies according to His plans. The students sang three Christmas hymns, including the Las Posadas song in Spanish, before concluding our visit with the recitation of the Consecration prayer to Mary as a group.

The students enjoyed their visit to the stable with Mr. Rice on December 6, 2016. He shared all of the previous additions to the stable and then the class heard the story about our addition which was the lantern. The class looks each time as they pass the stable to see the new additions. They especially watch to see how close the three kings SIXTH GRADE NEWS are getting to the stable! Students in sixth grade are finishing up ratios, proportions, and percents in math class. They will begin to work on Data Analysis in the new year. In language arts, students continue to learn about different types of adjectives. They learned about three types of figurative language: similes, personification, and onomatopoeia. They enjoyed watching the original “Batman” show and its use of onomatopoeia. The students have finally completed their saint research report. They were introduced to the note card method for taking

notes and MLA citations. In history, students 10 have just completed their Egyptian cartouches. They used hieroglyphics to draw their names on an identification plate like those used in Egyptian burial tombs. They will continue to work on other Egyptian projects such as building a pyramid and deciphering “secret messages.”

For the Advent season, sixth grade is learning about the meaning of the Jesse tree symbols as they await the birth of Christ. Students also wrote their personal goals on four candles which represent the four weeks of Advent. The students will work on these goals to bring them closer to Christmas cards and treats were made for our sixth God during this holy season. Students made a grade prayer partners. Sixth grade looks forward shiny, golden “spider” ornament to hang on their to meeting with them soon. Sixth grade wishes all trees at home and learned how this tradition of our families and friends a very Merry Christmas began. and a Happy New Year!

SPANISH GRADES 4-6 Sixth grade is in the middle of presenting their animal collages. They also did research on the Christmas customs in Spanish speaking countries. They were amazed to find that the feast of the Epiphany was very important to these cultures.

The fourth grade learned about Spanish songs,

customs, and traditions of the Christmas season. An opportunity was given to the sixth grade Fifth grade reenacted the journey of Mary and students to learn about some unique items placed Joseph to Bethlehem as part of Las Posadas. They in and around the “stable” in the breezeway. As walked to the grotto at Seton Hill College stopping part of this project, homeroom 203 got to place the at inns along the way only to be turned away. cow in the scene while homeroom 205 got to place Spanish and English songs were sung as part of the lamb in it. Thank you Mr. Rice for sharing the play. this Christmas tradition with us! ART NEWS All student Square 1 Art orders were received in time for Christmas. Thank you to all parents who participated in this Art fundraiser. The school will receive a check very soon for our share of the total sales. December brought many religious and holiday themed projects to the Art room. Kindergarten students made “gingerbread men” and “little angels” based on the story The Littlest Angel. Grade one made Christmas “quilt squares” using religious symbols. Second graders made “Nativity” drawings. Third graders made beautiful, colorful “stained glass” window

designs. Grade four students made “strings of lights” for their parents with a message “You

11 make my life merry and bright.” Grade five MEMORIAL BOOKS students made a “peppermint” project that made Kite Day: A Bear and Mole Story donated by the Art room smell wonderful. Grade six students Lucy Firment in loving memory of Harry C. completed their perspective “cityscape” drawings Luttner and are looking forward to starting their plaster masks after the Christmas break. SWAT Team Member, Farmers, and Do Tornadoes Really Twist? donated by the Morris LIBRARY NEWS family in loving memory of Joseph Balaban, Sr. January Birthdays Billy and Mike Erdely Away UPCOMING BOOK FAIR Jake Hall Star Wars: The Original Trilogy: A The annual Scholastic Book Fair is scheduled to Graphic Novel kick off with our Family Event on Sunday, Ryan Skowronek Roberto Clemente: Pride of January 29, 2017. Shopping will take place in the Pittsburgh Pirates Room 206 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Hope to see you there!

ATHLETIC NEWS The third and fourth grade boys’ basketball team is busy practicing and attending games in the CYO league.

Third Grade Basketball Team Riley Riddle Adrian Gauna Andrew Mikan Cole Zubaty Jackson Boscarino Lukas Czegan Samuel Degre Jacob Petnuch Dane Willis Wil Bateson Joey Bonomo Nicolas Degre Coach: Mr. Kerm Bateson

Fourth Grade Basketball Team Braden Riley Roman Agostoni Liam Gallagher Mike Erdely Sean Walker Ben Tropeano Jonah Schneider Jacob Kratzenberg Ryan Skowronek Coach: Mr. Greg Riley