Dear First Graders and First Grade Parents, 

THURSDAY IS FIELD DAY!!!  ALL STUDENTS WILL NEED TO HAVE SUNSCREEN APPLIED AT HOME BEFORE COMING TO SCHOOL.  FACULTY MEMBERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO APPLY SUNSCREEN TO THE CHILDREN.  PLEASE BE SURE YOUR CHILD HAS A WATER BOTTLE AND A HAT TO HELP WITH THE SUN AND THE HEAT.  THE UNIFORM FOR THURSDAY IS THE CATHOLIC IDENTITY T-SHIRT (OR P.E. TSHIRT IF YOUR CHILD DOESN'T OWN A CATH. ID T-SHIRT), P.E. SHORTS, WHITE SOCKS, AND WHITE SHOES. 

First grade enjoyed their special pizza party/movie celebration on Wednesday!  It was Mrs. Ross' mother's birthday and, since she provided us with a gift on her birthday, we called her to sing "Happy Birthday" during our celebration!  She was elated and the first graders had so much fun :).

All work, supplies, etc. are yours to keep forever and ever!  PLEASE BE CERTAIN THAT YOUR CHILD BRINGS HIS/HER HOMEWORK FOLDER AND BACKPACK TO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND THURSDAY.  He/she will not need a backpack or folder on Friday.  All first graders should be in full dress uniform on Friday for Mass (white polo, shorts/skort/pants, etc. ).

In packing up our classroom for the year, we are in need of newspaper ~ if you have any newspaper at home and wouldn't mind "recycling" it in our classroom, please send it in with your child ASAP.  Thank you, in advance, for your generosity!

This week is a 12:30 dismissal week - there will be NO aftercare on Friday - please be prompt in picking your child up from school.  There WILL be aftercare on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY AT THE AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM on Thursday!!!! We got a bit of a late start when one of our buses had transmission issues before we boarded and we waited for another one to arrive, but once we finally got there, we had a blast!  Thank you SO very much to our wonderful chaperones!  Maya's mommy, Sydni's daddy, Jasmine R.'s mommy, Nora's mommy, Justin's mommy, and Elizabeth's mommy, as well as a few 7th grade parents all joined us for the fun and made sure we all stayed together. We did a wonderful job for them!

NO HOMEWORK PACKETS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!  Please continue to read with your child daily.

Please begin planning now to attend our final Mass of the school year on Friday, June 10, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.  Every year, the first grade is responsible for hosting this Mass and it is a very special event for all.  Since dismissal is immediately following Mass, it's a perfect opportunity to park in the carline before Mass and be there to support your wonderful first grader! PARENTS AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE NOT ST. JOHN'S STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO SIT IN THE BACK OF THE CHURCH, AS ALWAYS FOR SCHOOL MASSES, IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE NECESSARY ROOM FOR THE FACULTY AND THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY.

Happy Birthday to our newest 7-year old- Adaeze!!  She turned 7 over the holiday weekend.  She will be celebrating with her classmates on Tuesday!! 

Maya was St. John's top Box Top contributor for March!!! AND First Graders were the top Box Top winners in March as well!!!  Way to go!  Keep it up, first grade!!!!

MESSENGERS OF GOD FOR THE THIRD QUARTER ARE AIDEN AND ARLYNA!!! WONDERFUL JOB SETTING AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF LIVING YOUR FAITH!!

Monday, March 21st, was the first day for summer uniforms!  Please refer to the handbook for guidelines.  Students are welcome to wear pants with their polo shirt during chilly weather and may also wear sweat pants with the P.E. uniform while the weather is on the cooler side.  With the P.E. uniform, please have your child wear his/her shorts underneath the pants if he/she chooses to wear sweatpants. 

Catholic Identity t-shirts should be worn on Fridays with the dress uniform The children participate in a Catholic Identity activity each Friday (except Missions Dress Down Days, of course)! Girls have several options ~ the shirt must be worn so that the logo can be seen, so the girls can wear the shirt with the uniform dress pants OR with the warm weather uniform skort. These two options are preferable, however, they may also wear the shirt on the outside of the jumper.

With the weather warming, it is very important that each of our first graders have a water bottle with them in school - especially on P.E. days!!  Mr. Ogle has requested that each student has a water bottle during P.E. class AND after so that a trip to the water fountain is not necessary.  It is equally important for the students to have water bottles during the regular school day.  Thank you for putting your child's name/number on his/her bottle daily!

******Special Classroom Alerts*******

For the week of June 6-10, 2011: 

Tuesday's terrific ones were tables 3 and 5!  Wonderful work,  Nicholas, Mayerlie, Wesley, Luis, and Adaeze;  Nora, Dominique, Elizabeth, Aysia, and Logan! On Tuesday, tables 3 and 4 were victorious!  Way to go, Nora, Dominique, Elizabeth, Aysia, and Logan; Yeabsira, Sydni, Maya, Mia, and Jasmine R.! Wednesday's wonderful ones were tables 1 and 2!!  Way to rock and roll, Brandon, Jasmine M., Arlyna, Jonathan, and Michael; Aiden, Justin, and Jack!

First grade earned 10 extra recess minutes last week and this week, which we enjoyed on the playground on Tuesday afternoon.

Wonderful job on our latest spelling test, first grade!!! 100% of all words were spelled correctly on these students' tests on May 31st:  AIDEN, MICHAEL, LOGAN, MIGUEL, MIA, ARLYNA, NORA, AYSIA, DOMINIQUE, WESLEY, ELIZABETH, LUIS, JUSTIN,  ADAEZE, BRANDON, JASMINE R., JONATHAN, MAYERLIE, SYDNI, MAYA, and NICHOLAS!!! Spectacular work, boys and girls!!

This week's classroom helpers are: 

Prayer ~ Michael

Restroom Helpers ~ Mia and Nicholas

Hallway Monitor ~ Nora

Classroom donations ~ Thank you so very much to Michael for his generous donation of tissues, paper towels, and hand sanitizer; Jasmine R. for bags of Twizzlers and Life Saver Gummies for our candy jars; Mia for pennies to use in the candy/bear machines; Wesley for lots and lots of post-it notes (we use these all the time!!!) and a big container of Lysol wipes; Brandon for two boxes of Kleenex; Maya for a whole bag full of goodies ~ dry erase markers, lots of Crayola washable markers, Starburst, M&M's, Post-It notes, bookmarks and awards ~ WOW!!!! It feels like Christmas!!!; Thank you to Nicholas for contributing Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish candy packets for the candy jar; Miguel for two boxes of Kleenex, Gummi Bears, and Sponge Bob Krabby Patties for the candy jar!; Justin for marvelous goodies for our treat jar ~ Smarties, Starburst, and Twizzlers; Maya for lots and lots of lollipops; Michael for a BIG bag of Skittles for the candy machine, as well as M&Ms; Luis for M&Ms, Twizzlers, Candy Kisses, hand sanitizer, and Kleenex; Miguel for AAA batteries and Lysol Wipes; Brandon for Lysol Wipes and AA batteries; Justin for lots and lots of AAA batteries; Maya for AAA batteries; Elizabeth for lots of colorful drawing paper; Aysia for LOTS of yummy candy for the treat jar and LOTS of water bottles for the classroom - Wowie, Wow, WOW; Jasmine R. and Jonathan for the Halloween goodie bags they distributed to their classmates; Maya for the delectable donut holes that we will enjoy for snack time; Luis for lots of Post-It Notes in bright colors, batteries for the listening center, and Brownie Bites for snack time; Elizabeth for LOTS of candy for the candy jar; Miguel for Laffy Taffy and Starburst to add to the treat jar; Nicholas for awesome colorful lined Post-Its and pennies; Miguel for lots of Kleenex and Lysol Wipes; Elizabeth for lots of fun paper; Nicholas for snack time napkins; Luis for two giant bags of candy ~ Smarties and Wonka candies; Aiden, Justin, Luis, Nora, Jasmine R., Aysia, and Maya for delicious candy treats for our candy jar!

A Peek Into the Classroom:

On Wednesday, we enjoyed recess after prayers, we had fun in "moving up" day ~ look for your child's summer assignment in his/her folder, and had a blast during our celebration today!

PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOUR CHILD KNOWS DAILY WHETHER HE/SHE IS TO ATTEND AFTERCARE!  WE HAD SOME CONFUSION THIS PAST WEEK, WHICH COULD BE AVOIDED IF YOUR CHILD IS INFORMED AND A NOTE IS SENT TO THE TEACHERS IF THERE IS ANY QUESTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOUR CHILD WILL KNOW IF HE/SHE IS TO ATTEND AFTERCARE FOR THE AFTERNOON. THANK YOU :)!!

Please feel free to email Mrs. Ross directly from this page using the link at the top if you have any questions or concerns at any time ~ now and throughout the school  year.  Enjoy the suggested reading list below, as well as practicing the Dolch Word Lists with  your child.  Your new first grader can also enjoy the links provided at the bottom of this page to practice lots of first grade skills and have fun exploring great websites!

Have a blessed June!

Hugs and Prayers,

Mrs. Sheri Ross and Mrs. Gina Lyle