Last Day of School!

Today's Final Assembly was lovely and I am so proud of each and every girl from our class. They grew so much this year physically, emotionally, socially, and academically. The girls are ready to cross the Green but I certainly will miss them! My door is always open and I look forward to staying in touch. Thank you families, for all of your support.

I added a page at the top of the blog called "Summer Learning" that includes the summer learning requirements for 5th grade. I also sent home a hard copy of the math packet for fifth grade.

Have an amazing summer and thank you for everything!

 Last Scavenger Hunt Question!

Weekly Update

On Monday, we have a special event. At 8:45, we will walk over to St. Christopher's to attend the 4th grade boy's Business Expo. This will be a great way for the boys and girls to interact in an academic environment. The girls do not need to wear field trip attire for this but their regular clothes.

With so few days left in school, the girls are working hard! They have enjoyed a pretend shopping project to practice adding and subtracting decimals. They had a $200 budget to work with and went "shopping" on several different websites. They have really enjoyed this project!

In their assigned groups, the girls are researching one of the five regions of the US and are choosing a way to share their research. We will finish this up next week.

Yesterday in pairs, the girls created videos using Flip.com for next year's Fourthies. The videos are precious so I want to share them with you.

Holloway and Anela

Amelia and Eleanor

Meriwether, Vivian, and Sanaa

Jane Randolph and Queen

Anna and Wallis

Virginia H. and Virginia M.

Hampton and Gabby

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Amelia
• Fourthie End of Year Party: Thursday, May 25 from 11:00 - 2:30. Girls will have a special pizza lunch and do not need to bring lunch if they normally do. They may bring a blanket for the movie.
  

• Final Assembly will take place on Thursday, June 1 from 11:00 - 12:00 for grades 2-4. The girls should wear nice clothes for this occasion. They may wear a dress, skirt, or nice pants. They do not need to wear white for this. There will be a special reception on the Kenny Center Patio for Fourthies and their guests after the program concludes.
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!

 

Weekly Update

I am so proud of the girls for their hard work and success on 101 Dalmatians. We spent much time preparing and it paid off. Thank you to all of the parent volunteers for helping to make the musical so spectacular. It meant very much to the senior girls! Here are a few pictures from the musical.

I look forward to next week getting back to a normal schedule as we approach the final weeks of school. The girls will have their final ERB Milestone tests next week. 

Our final Lower School Service Project runs from May 5-15 to support CARITAS as they help homeless families get set up in homes. We will help to provide basic cleaning supplies as they set up a new home. 4th grade should bring in a broom and dustpan. Thank you!

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Eleanor
• If you daughter is interested in applying for 5th grade robotics, the link is here. The application is due by Friday, May 19.
  
• Fourthie End of Year Party: Thursday, May 25 from 11:00 - 2:30. Details to follow.
  
• Final Assembly will take place on Thursday, June 1 from 11:00 - 12:00 for grades K-4. The girls should wear nice clothes for this occasion. They may wear a dress, skirt, or nice pants. They do not need to wear white for this.
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!

 

Weekly Update

The girls have had a great week! Our schedule has been all out of sorts with many rehearsals for the musical. It is really coming together and we are very excited to share it with you next week on Wednesday, May 10, at 9:30 in Endeavour Hall. Thank you to the parents who are helping with the make-up and costumes.

The girls have earned another round of 25 class compliments to bring us to a grand total of 125! Since the class will be gone next Friday to Busch Gardens, we will celebrate the following week.

Our final Lower School Service Project runs from May 5-15 to support CARITAS as they help homeless families get set up in homes. We will help to provide basic cleaning supplies as they set up a new home. 4th grade should bring in a broom and dustpan. Thank you!

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Virginia H. and Wallis
• Special Week: Amelia
  
• Rehearsals and performance schedule for musical - Click here
• Our class will visit the library for the Book Fair on Wednesday, May 10, from 12:10 - 12:30. Please join us in the library or send in money with your daughter.
• Fourthie End of Year Party: Thursday, May 25 from 11:00 - 2:30. Details to follow.
  
• Final Assembly will take place on Thursday, June 1 from 11:00 - 12:00 for grades K-4. The girls should wear nice clothes for this occasion. They may wear a dress, skirt, or nice pants. They do not need to wear white for this.
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
  

Weekly Update

This was a great week ending with Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day this morning. The girls were gracious hostesses and seemed proud to show off their skills and talents to their family and friends. 

Our next event is preparing for the 4th grade musical. We have many helpful parents organizing the costumes and make-up. Here is a list of what they need to bring in from home for their costume. They need to have the items in by Tuesday, May 2.

The girls have their orientation for Middle School next Wednesday, May 3 and the program begins promptly at 8:00 am. Please make sure your daughter arrives a few minutes early on Wednesday.

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Gabby and Anna
  
• Special Week: Virginia H. 
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
  

Weekly Update

 

Since I am meeting with all of you for conferences, this post will be full of reminders and important upcoming events. Things are busy around here!

Upcoming Events: 

1. Outdoor Adventure Day is Monday, April 24. Information is here from the PE department.
2. Rehearsals for the musical begin next week. Click here for the schedule.
3. Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day is next Friday, April 28. The timelines is as follows:
• 8:30 - 9:00: “Grandparent Carpool" Drop-off is in the Lower School Carpool Loop
• 9:00 - 9:50: Time in classroom
• 10:00 - 10:30: Performance in Endeavour Hall
• 10:30: Early Dismissal from Classroom
4. Information from the Middle School about Fifth Grade Orientation
5. Musical for Parents: Wednesday, May 10 at 9:30 in Endeavour Hall
6. Our class will visit the library for the Book Fair on Wednesday, May 10, from 12:10 - 12:30. Please join us in the library or send in money with your daughter.
7. Fourthie End of Year Party: Thursday, May 25 from 11:00 - 2:30. Details to follow.
   
8. Final Assembly will take place on Thursday, June 1 from 11:00 - 12:00 for grades K-4. The girls should wear nice clothes for this occasion. They may wear a dress, skirt, or nice pants. They do not need to wear white for this.
9. The Middle School Spanish classes are supporting the Pulsera Project. If your daughter would like to purchase a bracelet or purse please send in money next week. Bracelets are $7 each and purses are $15.

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Meriwether
• Special Week: Virginia M.
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this! 

Weekly Update

 

We had a fabulous trip in DC! The girls behaved so well and really impressed me with their attention at the Portrait Gallery. They listened so well to the docent and had such great answers to her questions. It was a great day and a memorable trip!

I look forward to meeting with most of you next week for our spring parent-teacher conferences.  

We have moved into the decimals unit in math. The girls will learn the concept of decimals, order and compare decimals, and add and subtract. We will tie in our unit on money into this chapter since they go hand in hand.

All of the students have now finished their animal research report. They wrote a report from the perspective of the animal they researched and then recorded themselves. Here are their videos.

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Amelia
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this! 
• Outdoor Adventure Day is Monday, April 24. Information is here from the PE department.
• If you have not yet completed the dismissal form for Grandparent's and Special Friends' Day on April 28, please do so here.
• For those of you that completed the Grandparent's and Special Friends' Day before it closed, your daughter should have brought home invitations that need to be mailed or delivered to their grandparents.
• Upcoming Dates:
  

• Conference Day: Friday, April 21 
  
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days
• May 10: 4th Grade Musical for Parents at 9:30 am

• Surveys to complete from the school:
• Lower School Survey Link
• Schoolwide Spring Survey

Weekly Update

Happy Easter! I hope you and your family are having a lovely Easter weekend. 

April is such a fun an exciting month but a busy one. This post is going to include lots of reminders and information about things going on this month.

1. The girls received their play parts for the grade level musical. They should be practicing in at home but need to bring their script back to school. The official practices in the theater will begin in May but they will need their scripts in music class. On the blog, there is a link to the songs they need to know as well. It is listed under helpful links on the right side of the blog.
2. Fourthies will be flowering the cross on Wednesday, April 12, so if you can send your daughter in with a flower, that would be great.
   
3. Outdoor Adventure Day is Monday, April 24. Information is here from the PE department.
4. If you have not yet completed the dismissal form for Grandparent's and Special Friends' Day on April 28, please do so here.
5. For those of you that completed the Grandparent's and Special Friends' Day before it closed, your daughter should have brought home invitations that need to be mailed or delivered to their grandparents.

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Queen
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this! 
• Future dates:

• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - Details here
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days
• May 10: 4th Grade Musical for Parents at 9:30 am

• Surveys to complete from the school:
• Lower School Survey Link
• Schoolwide Spring Survey

 

Weekly Update

On Tuesday the girls will have their last Growing Up Healthy class with Nurse Blanton. I hope you have been reading the emails she has been sending to recap her lessons. They are very informative and extremely funny! It shows the range of understanding the girls have of these topics. For Tuesday, they need to bring in a small bag to make a puberty kit.

For this week's, 3WT, the girls responded to prompt above and had to choose a sound from this website. For their response, they made a video with a partner the site Flipgrid, now known as Flip. Here are their videos:

Amelia and Ashby

Sanaa and Meriwether

Eleanor and Jane Randolph

Queen and Gabby

Virginia M. and Anna

Virginia H. and Anela

Vivian and Hampton

Wallis and Holloway

During our technology time, the girls started something new this week. For three classes, half of the class is talking with Mrs. Sterling about the transition to Middle School, while the other half does a robotics unit with Ms. Hamilton-Dixon. After three classes, they switch to complete the other group. This is a great opportunity for the girls to learn about the Middle School in a small group.

Reminders

• Carpool helper: Virginia M.
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 7: Half day for Good Friday; Dismissal at noon
• April 10: No school for Easter Monday
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - Details here
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days
• May 10: 4th Grade Musical for Parents at 9:30 am

 

 

Weekly Update

We are very excited about our fourth grade field trip to Washington DC on Thursday, April 13. All of the details to the trip are here and I am also sending home a hard copy in today's Friday folder. Please reach out to me with any questions.

In today's Friday folder, the girls have their fraction test from chapter 5. I did allow some corrections to be made before I checked it. We are still working with fractions and focusing on adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators.

In social studies, we learned an overview of the Midwest region this week and they have been studying the states and capitals within this region. We will have a quiz on that next Tuesday, March 28.  

We started a fun writing lab using a cool web site where they make digital sand art. Then, they write a descriptive paragraph about their illustration. The girls are also researching an animal and practicing taking notes in their own words. We have lots of ongoing projects happening.

The Gold/White Cheer Rally and it was very fun! Here are some pictures of the girls all dressed up and excited.

 Reminders

• Carpool helper: Anela
• Special Week: Sanaa 
• World Language Letter from the Middle School
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 7: Half day for Good Friday; Dismissal at noon
• April 9: No school for Easter Monday
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - Details here
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

We had a great week back from spring break. To share the best part of their week off from school, we used a site called Mentimeter where each girl shared something with the class about her break. Here are their results.

On Wednesday, all of the Fourthies helped to make birthday bags for Celebrate RVA. It was a great way to serve others and help this great non-profit. You may find some pictures here.

In PE, the girls will begin their bike unit on Monday. Please send in a bike helmet with your daughter on Monday since they have PE that day. 

The girls have earned 100 class compliments and we will celebrate on Monday. They may wear pajamas and bring in one stuffed animal that will fit into their backpack. I will have a treat for them as well.

Reminders:

• Carpool helper: Gabby
• Special Week: Gabby
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• Gold/White Cheer Rally Practices from 7:40 - 8:00 on 3/21 and 3/23
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - We will arrive back after dismissal so please plan to pick up your daughter at 4:15. More details to come.
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update - Happy Spring Break!

Happy Spring Break! We are all ready for a week off to rest, relax, and recharge. I wish you all a great week whatever you are doing.

As mentioned in our letter sent home in October about book clubs, they conclude at spring break. This will allow for more classroom time as the spring schedule gets busier with our fourth-grade musical and Grandparents' Day. Each class will continue reading instruction within their regular class.

Reminders:

• Carpool helper after break: Sanaa
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• Gold/White Cheer Rally Practices from 7:40 - 8:00 on 3/16, 3/21, and 3/23
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - We will arrive back after dismissal so please plan to pick up your daughter at 4:15. More details to come.
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

Our short week was full of lots of activities. The girls worked hard on the mid-year ERB assessment. On Tuesday, we celebrated Mardi Gras with beads and king cake, thanks to the Spillers.

It is hard to believe that we dismiss next Friday at noon, for Spring Break. The warmer weather we had this week brought out lots of excitement for the spring. 

The girls worked hard on comparing and ordering fractions, as well as reviewing equivalent fractions. They studied the states and capitals for the northeast region and took their first quiz today. For this week's 3WT, they were able to choose a unicorn name to include in the writing. Fun all around!

There are special dress up theme each day next week so please check this document for all of the information. A hard copy will be sent home in the Friday folders as well.

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Wallis
• Special Week: Anela
  
• Friday, March 3: Dismissal is at noon
  
• Reading Spirit Week: February 27 - March 3 - Information here
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - We will arrive back after dismissal so please plan to pick up your daughter at 4:15. More details to come.
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

 

Our next Lower School Outreach project is a really special one! For our Lenten project, we are supporting Celebrate! RVA, which was started by an alum of St. Catherine's, Julia Warren Mattingly. Her mission is amazing and really lives out our school motto, "What we keep we lose, and only what we give remains our own." Each grade level will collect a different item to help make birthday bags. Here is the information for the fourth grade. Our grade level is collecting paper plates and napkins without any characters. Thank you for your help in supporting this amazing cause!

 

 

After spring break, Nurse Blanton will begin the Growing Up Healthy class during their science class time. Next week, she will host a virtual parent meeting to discuss the curriculum. The meeting will be on Wednesdsay, February 22 at 7:00 pm. Here is the zoom link for the meeting.

The girls have been working hard on learning about important historic figures during Black History Month. They are charged with reading at least 10 articles from a Newsela text set about different and important people. We will continue this ongoing project through the end of the month.

 

On Tuesday, the girls visited the Middle School to hear from the world language teachers. They spent 15 minutes with the Spanish teacher and 15 minutes with the Chinese teacher. In the next week or so, you will receive a sign up form to choose their world language for Middle School.

 

Our second Wordly Wise Dress Up Day was a success. Here are the girls in their creative costumes.

 

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Holloway
• Mid Year ERB tests: February 21 and 22 (no preparation is needed)
• Reading Spirit Week: February 27 - March 3 - Information here
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - We will arrive back after dismissal so please plan to pick up your daughter at 4:15. More details to come.
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

 

Weekly Update

I hope everyone has a nice, long weekend. The girls have been working hard and are ready for a day off! 

 

We started a really fun writing lab this week where the girls design and describe a friendship machine. The only parameters I gave them was to involve teamwork and a prize at the end. Here is a description of this expository writing lab. 

 

 

In math, we began our fraction unit by reviewing basic fraction concepts. Next week, we will dig deeper into equivalent fractions and ordering and comparing fractions.

 

The girls are really enjoying our region study and are learning some interesting facts about others areas of our vast country.

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Vivian
• Special Week: Queen
  
• Scholastic book order due by 2/17/23. Shop Our Class Page!
  
• Wordly Wise Dress Up Day: Friday, February 17: Please click here for all of the details!
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - We will arrive back after dismissal so please plan to pick up your daughter at 4:15. More details to come.
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

 

 

 

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we will have a class celebration on Tuesday, February 14. The girls may start working on a mailbox to hold cards from their classmates. They may be as creative with this as they would like and it would be great to have the boxes and Valentine's in by Monday, February 13. They need to make a card for each student and here is a list of our classmates. They may also make a Valentine for friends in other classes that we will deliver.

 

Speaking of Valentine's Day, there is a Greg Tang Valentine challenge that the girls may complete. The link to the interactive game board is here and on the side of the blog. We did a quick mini unit on area and perimeter and will finish up early next week. Next, we move into fractions! The girls are enjoying the region study and we started with the Northeast region. To celebrate Groundhog Day, we did a few fun activities yesterday. There are lots of papers coming home today so please take a few minutes to go through the work. The geometry math test is included in it.

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Ashby
• Friday, February 10: Saints Take a Break Day
  
• Wordly Wise Dress Up Day: Friday, February 17: Please click here for all of the details!
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 13: Fourth Grade Field Trip to DC - We will arrive back after dismissal so please plan to pick up your daughter at 4:15. More details to come.
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

I want to begin by sending a reminder about an even being held in the Lower School next week.

Lower School Community Connection Event

Lower School families are invited to attend our latest Community Connection event, a faculty-led workshop about Project-Based Learning. 

 

This workshop will feature Lower School faculty members Maddy Hargis and Meg Zehmer, both of whom are trained in Project-Based Learning and have been instrumental in the success of this program in our Lower School. We hope you will join us for this informative event. 

• February 1, 6 -7 p.m., Lower School Assembly Room
• Click here to RSVP 

Here are some curriculum updates:

Math: We have finished our geometry chapter and I will give the girls an assessment on Tuesday.  Today, we did a fun culmination project where they had to apply their knowledge of the geometric skills. They are doing a great job with this project! Next, we will move quickly through our chapter on area and perimeter.

Writing: The girls really enjoyed interviewing a fellow Fourthie, writing a paragraph about them, and making a magazine cover. They did a great job asking deeper questions and learning more about girls in their grade.

 

Social Studies: Next week, we will begin our study of regions in the United States. We will learn about unique aspects to each part of our country as well as learn which states are included in each region.

It is hard to believe we are at the end of January! Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we will have a class celebration on Tuesday, February 14. The girls may start working on a mailbox to hold cards from their classmates. They may be as creative with this as they would like and it would be great to have the boxes and Valentine's in by Monday, February 13. They need to make a card for each student and here is a list of our classmates. They may also make a Valentine for friends in other classes that we will deliver.

 

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Anna
• Special Week: Vivian
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

The girls enjoyed the short week and the highlight seemed to be the writing lab project where they interviewed a fellow Fourthie. Here are some pictures of them in action.

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Eleanor
• Special Week: Hampton
  
• Monday, January 23: Wear red for Chinese Lunar New Year
  
• Homelinks for all math chapters
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days

Weekly Update

Everyone is excited for the long weekend! The girls and I began our discussion about Martin Luther King, Jr. to remember why Monday is a holiday. We began a collaborative mural of his portrait that we will assemble next week. We will continue studying his life and legacy next week.

 

The Fourthies had a special treat today when they helped with the ribbon cutting of a new Lower School playground. They then had a few minutes to play on it as a grade. This is an exciting addition to our campus!

 

Curriculum Updates:

Next week, we will begin a grade wide writing project that the girls are excited about. Each Fourthie will interview another Fourthie and will try to ask "big talk" questions. We learned the difference between small talk and deeper talk, "big talk." They will interview a fellow Fourthie and then write about what they learned. The project will end with each girl designing a magazine cover about their friend. The girls are extra engaged in a task that incorporates friends, pictures, and writing!

The president projects are just about finished. Next week, the girls will share their presidential portrait along with several interesting facts they learned.

In math, we are moving through the geometry unit. This week, we learned about equilateral, right, scalene, and isosceles triangles. Next, we will move on to quadrilaterals and lines of symmetry.

Thank your for partnership and support!

Reminders:

• Carpool helper next week: Jane Randolph
  
• Monday, January 23: Wear red for Chinese Lunar New Year
  
• Chat and Chew meetings with Mrs. Sterling
  
• Homelinks for all math chapters
  
• Remember to check SeeSaw for updates from Specials teacher
• Scavenger hunt question - answer this!
• Future dates:
• April 28: Grandparents' Day
• April 29: Daisy Days