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Weekly Newsletter
December 4-December 8, 2023
FROM THE DESK OF…
Mrs. Terri O’Daniel, Executive Director
OH, HOLY KNIGHTS!
OUR STARS ARE BRIGHTLY SHINING!
The Knights of Columbus from St. Clements were met with a joyful group of Academy Christmas Carolers on Thursday evening. We dropped by their annual Christmas party to wish them a Merry Christmas. Much happiness and joy were shared with everyone attending the dinner as our students serenaded them. The St. Clement’s Knights of Columbus Council donated $2000 from their Tootsie Roll Drive to the Academy. We were delighted to be the “Surprise” entertainment for the evening. Thank you, St. Clements, for this year’s donation, as well as all the previous year’s donations.
Join Zoom Meeting
CLICK HERE FOR THE ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 881 8911 9983
Passcode: 658419
An Academy Community Opportunity
During this time of year, our Academy family reaches out to a family in need. This Christmas season, our Academy community has a chance to reach out to one of our school families facing challenging circumstances. Their child, one of our students, is grappling with serious medical issues and trauma and could benefit from our collective support. We’re starting a collection of various gift cards — including those for gas, groceries, Amazon, etc. — to assist them during this challenging period. Please send your gift cards to the office in an envelope labeled “Christmas Blessings.”
Participation is entirely voluntary. We understand that despite its beauty, Christmas can bring its own stresses and financial challenges. Above all, we ask that you keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.
Academy of St. Louis Clubs
Yearbook Club– We are seeing the yearbook come together more and more! We enjoyed getting a sneak peek of how it’s coming along.
Drama Club: We had a great rehearsal for our upcoming performance on December 14th at 2:00. It has been so much fun learning how you can play multiple roles in drama and how you can tell a story through song and motions this semester! We have learned the basics of choreography, vocal variations, facial expressions, and body language on stage. We are all looking forward to some Christmas music fun and putting some of our skills to use!
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, December 12– Parent Resource Night via Zoom -Robin Diehl, Variety Club at 6:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 12- Skyhawks Sports 2:45 p.m.
- Wednesday, December 13– Yearbook Club 2:45 p.m.
- Thursday, December 14– Drama Club 2:45 p.m.
- Wednesday, December 20– Early Release for Christmas Break 11:30 a.m.
- December 21- January 2– Christmas Break
- Wednesday, January 3- Classes Resume
2024 Family Auction Contributions
OCTOBER-
Goal: Sign up for (3) bottles of liquor (Bring Liquor in January to Ann Dunn’s house)
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0548A8AF29A4FA7-44421570-2024
NOVEMBER–
Goal: Obtain $250 in gift cards.
Please send gift cards to the office marked “Auction.”
DECEMBER–
Goal: Sell 25 $10 Raffle Tickets
All tickets are online at the link below. Please have your friends and families note your family name in the box when they purchase the raffle tickets. This will give your family “credit” for the tickets sold.
https://Acadstl24.givesmart.com
JANUARY:
Goal: Obtain 3 Ads/Sponsorships (See Donation Form)
FEBRUARY:
Goal: Obtain items for 5 Silent Auction Baskets
($150 min/basket) and 1 Extraordinary Item (>$250)
Click below to purchase items off the Amazon Wish List
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/OCL1222TGWW4?ref_=wl_share
MARCH:
Goal: Sell (2) $100 “Best of Live” Raffle Tickets
https://Acadstl24.givesmart.com
This year please note that ALL Silent Auction Baskets and Extraordinary items MUST be turned in by February 28 or you will be asked to purchase $1000 worth of items on the Amazon list to fulfill the February Auction Expectations.
Learning to identify and regulate our emotions is not an easy task, especially for young children. These skills are essential to be successful in school and life.
In our classroom, we talk about the Zones of Regulation. This week, the children noticed that I had placed my picture in the yellow zone, indicating my disappointment and frustration. This was a good learning opportunity for the children to realize that even teachers sometimes find themselves in the yellow zone. After all, we are human too. After explaining that I was frustrated because I felt like no one was listening or paying attention, we discussed emotional regulation and being able to calm down and healthily handle feelings. This was an excellent opportunity for the children to consider how their actions can impact those around them. Teaching our children how to identify and manage their zones will improve emotional control, self-awareness, and problem-solving skills.
You might be asking yourself the question. Did she make it back to the green zone? Thankfully, with the help of my students, I quickly made it back!
We spend time talking about being kind and learning how to be a good friend to others. It can be difficult to put ourselves in another person’s shoes to understand their perspective of the situation, but it is an important social skill to develop. We’ve been practicing reading facial expressions to help us interpret what others may be feeling or thinking, and determining how we can respond in the situation.
We have continued our practice with money this week. The students are learning how to use a variation of coins to make different amounts, and how to add multiple prices together to find the total. They have been working very hard and love to think of creative ways to practice their money skills. In religion, we made advent wreaths to help us discuss what each candle represents. This week was about hope, so we talked about what hope means and why it is an important piece of our faith.
Groups 1 and 2 started writing their character Analysis essays on our novel study in ELA and began researching different ecosystems for their ecology presentations next week in Science. We talked about the importance of good study habits for our upcoming exams and reviewed our 2nd quarter grades so far!
This week in history, we worked on our study guide for the first semester and did multiple review games to help students remember the content. We have our final in history on Monday, December 11.
Upper group 2 went on a field trip to the Arch to learn more about westward expansion and about St. Louis’s role in the process.
This week we had the opportunity to tour Manchester City Hall. We’ve been studying about the community we live in and government, so this was a perfect place to visit!
We enjoyed meeting Mayor Mike Clement!
LUNCH ACCOUNTS
Each day, the entree includes fruit and chips.
You can select additional items a la carte.
Please be sure to place your order by midnight the night before.
Please call Mrs. Cantareira with any questions at 636-534-5099.
SNACKS
DON’T FORGET SNACKS!