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St. Philip Neri Catholic School

Second Grade Update

Dear Second Grade Families,

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Christmas break with your loved ones! Wishing you all a safe and happy new year as we welcome 2022!

Thank you so much to our room parent, Mrs. Trujillo, and everyone who contributed treats or helped with our Christmas party and gingerbread house making! The special events were a big hit for students, and the hot chocolate warmed everyone up as they enjoyed an extra recess on the yard! 🙂

As we prepare for our return to school next week, please note the important message sent out today by Mrs. Schmitz on behalf of Principal Thomas, copied below for your reference:

Dear SPN Families and Staff,

The attached letter from the Superintendent of the Department of Catholic Schools, Dr. Andrew Currier, requests that all school students and staff provide a negative Covid-19 test result as close to two days prior to returning to school as possible due to the most recent surge of the Omicron variant. Both at-home antigen tests and lab-based PCR and rapid antigen tests are acceptable for testing purposes.

Please provide your test results to me and Mr. Carter (juthomas@csdo.org, mcarter@csdo.org). Thank you for your continued compliance with our safety protocols for the good of our whole community.

Best regards,
Julie Thomas

Below is our second grade update. Let’s get back into it! I’m excited to welcome your children back to our second grade classroom! 🙂

Focus Areas for Our Learning Next Week:

  • Reading – Students will start a new book club this week. We will focus on understanding characters and setting. Fluent reading (reading at an appropriate pace with accuracy and expression) is always a focus for all students. 
  • Grammar/Spelling – In Superkids, students will review synonyms and antonyms and practice using “while” to connect events in sentences.
  • Writing – The class begins a descriptive narrative writing assignment and students will develop their main characters. They will describe how the character looks and where it lives. They will also identify the likes, dislikes, and different traits of their character.
  • Math – Students will use their knowledge of place value to practice subtraction with regrouping. The class will also start our measurement unit, beginning with practice measuring in non-standard units and moving on to customary units such as inches, feet, and yards. Students will develop an understanding that measurements can vary depending on the size of the unit used.
  • Religion – In Family Life, we will start Unit 2 – God’s Gift of Self.
  • Science – The class will explore the states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases) and touch on how the states can undergo changes. 
  • Social Studies – Students will be assessed on their basic knowledge of using maps.

Other Updates for this Week:

  • Oratorical Fest – Reminder: please make sure your child turns in a copy of their selection by Friday, the 7th. It needs to be between 8-12 lines long (and cannot be longer than that). Children should be practicing at home. Thank you!
  • Dates to remember:
    • Monday, Jan. 3rd: No School, Staff Work Day
    • Friday, Jan. 14th: No School, Staff Development Day
    • Monday, Jan. 17th: No School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
    • Jan. 30th-Feb.4th: Catholic Schools Week

We look forward to welcoming our students back from break on Tuesday! 🙂 Please be sure to provide negative Covid tests to Ms. Thomas and Mr. Carter (emails above). Thank you for your partnership!

All the best,
Catherine

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What Our Families are Saying

"The supportive teachers at SPN played a big role in preparing me for high school and helping me understand what to expect. They encouraged me to ask questions and seek help when needed, which made me more confident in my learning. Thanks to them, I entered freshman year already familiar with many concepts and effective study habits that have helped me stay on top of my work. SPN also taught me valuable life skills that I still use today, helping me succeed academically, build strong friendships, and maintain my overall well-being."
— Tibby Horvath, SPN Class of 2022
"We are very satisfied with the SPN community, something that is important to our family. My children feel safe and comfortable with SPN. Our family feels connected with the SPN community from parents and families to the staff and faculty. My children and we as parents have made healthy and positive relationships with other families from school. We share time outside of school with other families which brings a level of connectedness I don't know if we would have elsewhere"
— SPN Parent
"My children are experiencing community in other ways than just friends and playdates. Faith Families is an example of community, interacting with students from all grade levels, and learning and creating for others outside of SPN. Field trips to Kids Against Hunger or the Alameda Food Bank where they work and see firsthand how their efforts help others less fortunate, for those who are in need of support. Community is not just our SPN ‘bubble,’ and that is what SPN demonstrates and provides– opportunity to explore a bigger community."
— SPN Parent since 2016

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