Please view the video above for Mr. Anderson’s welcome to Curriculum Night!
Curriculum Night
Curriculum Night will be tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 15th) at 6:30 pm through Zoom. You will receive a Zoom invite from each of your child’s classroom teachers directly, but we’ve also put them into this attached schedule below.
There will be three presentations for each of the homeroom grade levels (grades K-5) so that if you can’t make the first one (because you have multiple siblings), you can join a later one. The middle school schedule is a little bit different based on teacher availability and the fact that homeroom teachers teach multiple grade levels and subjects. Please review the complete attached schedule and contact the office or the teachers directly if there are any questions.
K- 5 families in homeroom classrooms
6:30 pm– First presentation by homeroom teacher in his/her Zoom link
6:55 pm– Same presentation done a second time for parents with multiple children
7:20 pm– Same presentation, done a third time for parents with multiple children
Middle School
6:30 pm– First presentation by homeroom teacher (Mr. Costanza for sixth grade, Mrs. Ernest for seventh grade, and Mrs. Eusebio for eighth grade); Mrs. VonFeldt and Mrs. Evans are available for middle school math.
6:55 pm– Same presentation for sixth and eighth done a second time for parents with multiple children; Mrs. Ernest available for science questions (all of 6th-8th); Mrs. VonFeldt and Mrs. Evans are available for middle school math.
7:20 to 7:40 pm Mr. Costanza is available for seventh grade social studies. Mrs. Demry is available for seventh grade literature and language arts. Mrs. Ernest available for eighth grade math; Mrs. VonFeldt and Mrs. Evans are available for middle school math. Please find the link to their Zoom calls below and log in to their screens by 7:20 pm.
Specialists
Teachers for art, music, and Spanish will have a Zoom call open from 6:30 pm to 7:50 pm for any parents would like to join one of these calls. Please click the link below to enter their Zoom call and learn more about their programs.
For your convenience, here are the Zoom links by teacher:
Kindergarten (Mrs. Whelan/Ms. Nguyen)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82167509605?pwd=ZzZyUzczYVlEc2dxRndvUmhFQktWUT09
First Grade (Mrs. McClurg)
https://zoom.us/j/93514500841?pwd=NlpNR0x4RkJhS2xnanc4VG1xU3M2QT09
Second Grade
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83575253842?pwd=S3VobmUrVE8zRGpsczdkYjFXSGF0QT09
Third Grade (Mrs. Martin-Zender/Mrs. Williams/Ms. Kingma)
https://zoom.us/j/97170491607?pwd=Zm5KS3RoOXYwdjltdjA0YUhLeUVsdz09
Passcode: Gn6xbG
Fourth Grade (Mrs. Thomas)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9513508387?pwd=cm11TzhTeFJqWmhVK0huN0lOWkg1Zz09
Fifth Grade (Mrs. Blas)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89624106831?pwd=Zm9rS2JtNWgyZUkrcVQrY0xKQ1AyQT09
Mr. Costanza (Sixth Grade and Seventh Grade History)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89879621022?pwd=cGNJVkUvSDNzelNOaDRUeUpyZHFUdz09
Mrs. Ernest (Seventh Grade, MS Science, Eighth Grade Math)
https://zoom.us/j/91537016680?pwd=Qmhhd002ZkNmd25Db0RuTDlVTlh6UT09
Mrs. Eusebio (Eighth Grade Homeroom, US History, Language Arts, Literature)
https://zoom.us/j/7967417550?pwd=ME95MWd5QWFTNUJhSjJ2ejVieEpQZz09
Mrs. Demry (Seventh Grade Lit/LA)
https://zoom.us/j/93943855428?pwd=TkZkKytSdUVENXdoY1NXSHR5bFJ0UT09
Mrs. Evans (Fifth, Sixth, Seventh Grade Math)
https://zoom.us/j/99289082805?pwd=UUkyRVpqcnZHMFdtN0RCcmVQc2UrUT09
Mrs. VonFeldt (8th Grade Algebra, Seventh Grade Math)
https://zoom.us/j/94500574784?pwd=RXpuL1NZWlZtb2dCSXVIdXNnK3lqZz09
Mrs. Santos (Art, Spanish 4-8)
https://zoom.us/j/95274860909?pwd=TTZUczVsRjFLZnRpOUhBQjJGUU9nUT09
Mr. Armando Mendoza (Spanish K-3)
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/86901181515?pwd=SU4ydzZIVTY0d0JIbFRaRjgzRzRyUT09
Mrs. Liza Beshara (Music, Orchestra)
https://zoom.us/j/5702065553?pwd=dlovc3RWVmxNZXRFejBTWFZOTWVXZz09
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Welcome, Ms. Caulfield!
Please click on the attached letter to see a welcome message from our new school counselor, Ms. Ezster Caulfield, and learn a little more about how the counseling program will work at Assumption this year.
Picture Days are September 23rd and September 24th
Individual pictures will be taken on Thursday, September 23rd for Preschool and K-8 students. Pictures for PreK are on Friday, September 24th (and for those absent on Wednesday). Students may come in free dress for pictures, but all current free dress expectations apply on picture day.
Personal Information in FACTS SIS
If you haven’t already done so, please create a FACTS Family Portal account (instructions) and check your personal information. Any updates you make yourself will be saved in the database for office use. If you move, change a phone number or need to make an emergency contact change for your child in the future, you’ll be able to make those changes at your convenience.
Please complete changes by Friday, Sept. 24th as the information will be used to create our Family Directory, going out around the end of the month. Thank you!
Media
If you subscribe to Facebook or Instagram, please follow the school’s pages so that we can grow our reach and share with our community the wonderful things happening on our campus. Thank you to Beverly Williams (also a third grade teacher) for managing our social media pages and collecting photos daily for frequent posts. Do you know an alumnus of Assumption? Click on the Facebook link on Thursdays for “TBT” (Throwback Thursdays) to see pictures from the past…
Bellingham Coding & Robotics Club
We are excited to announce two opportunities for our school this fall. Both opportunities are for our students at Assumption Catholic School only! Please see the flyer that came home in your Wednesday envelope.
8 SPACES AVAILABLE: Middle School Robotics Team (5th-8th Grade): Mondays 5-6:15 beginning September 20th. Hands on, minds on! The middle school robotics team starts with the basics of building and programming robots. The teams of students are then tasked with designing and building a robot to compete against other teams in a game-based engineering challenge around the Pacific Northwest (and beyond if they go on!). Classroom STEM concepts are put to the test as students learn lifelong skills in teamwork, leadership, communications, and more.
12 SPACES AVAILABLE: 3rd-5th Grade Coding and STEM Classes: Mondays 5-6:15 beginning September 20th. Our unique fall 2021 group classes balances screen time with hands-on activities and opportunities to create and explore with 3D printing, makerspace and basic robots in addition to our signature coding curriculum.
Our program provides social interaction so that students can make new friends, all while experiencing a 5:1 student to teacher ratio ensuring personalized attention when they need it. We’re on a mission to help kids develop creative thinking skills, confidence, and have fun with their peers while learning to code.
If you are interested, please sign up online using the links below. Please reach out to the Club with questions: info@bellinghamcodingclub.com
Logistics and links to sign up:
- Please first purchase an Assumption only monthly membership by going to our “Join Now” page. Monthly membership is $199, but it will be discounted to $160 per month if we have enough students for a full Assumption 5th-8thgrade team. Scholarships are available by contacting the school.https://www.bellinghamcodingclub.com/join-now-1
- After completing your Assumption School membership purchase, go back in and sign up for the class you want (middle school or elementary school) to secure your space. Below are private links specific to Assumption classes:
Assumption Middle School Robotics (5th through 8th grades): link
Elementary School Coding (3rd through 5th grades): link
Playground Angels
We have an ongoing need to keep these safety positions filled. Thank you for your help in keeping recess fun and safe!
Health Protocols- Minor change in the language for masks outdoors
Please see the old language highlighted in yellow and the new language in green below.
Current language:
- Face coverings are required indoors for all students and staff, ages 2 and older. Acceptable masks are cloth masks, disposable masks and KN-95 masks. Masks with one-way valves, gaiters/bandanas or face shields are not permitted. Exceptions to this may be made for students with special needs or with a medical condition. Masks are not required outside during morning recess or lunch recess 1.) but will be required at drop-off and pick-up due to the close congregation of students and adults coming onto the campus. Masks are required for physical education classes in the gym, but not while students are outside. Physical education is considered curricular and has a different requirement than after-school sports where mask use varies based on low, moderate, and high-contact sports. 2.) Playground Angels will be required to wear a mask while volunteering inside the school or on the playground. Required by WA Department of Health 820-105, Guidance published on August 11, 2021(p. 1 of Health Protocols All Revisions DA 9.13.2021)
Here’s what we’re changing it to:
1.) Masks are not required outside during recess, “but will be required for students and teachers/staff standing near the signs and near to each other at drop-off and pick-up at the end of the day due to the close congregation of students and adults coming onto the campus.” This is only a 10-minute period at the end of the day, and it’s a way for us to show solidarity with the students. Thanks for following this. Parents may or may not wear masks, but they are encouraged if anyone asks. (Deciding what “battles” to fight…)
2.) Based on Governor Inslee’s new requirement for outdoor masks in groups of 500 or more, we want some leniency for parents (and staff) who need to be outside for an hour with students. Instead of “Playground Angels will be required…” we’re changing it this week to “Playground Angels and staff on recess duty will be encouraged to wear masks outside, especially when close to children. When caring for a child or managing a conflict with a group, please put on a mask.”
Daily volunteer need
Now that health screenings are being done at home, we’ve lost our morning gate attendants! We’re looking for a volunteer to do the following every morning at 8:10:
- When the bell rings, close all the gates that lead to the playground and traffic loop
- Move the orange traffic posts to the grass by the sidewalk
- This position will earn one weekly school volunteer hour- they add up fast!
If you’re interested in filling this need, please contact Mrs. Sidhu: jsidhu@school.assumption.org. We will honor the first two volunteers to alternate weeks of service. Thank you!
MAP Testing: September 20 – October 15
Starting the week of September 20th, all 2nd through 8th Graders will participate in the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) bi-annual testing. Please don’t make appointments or schedule vacations through which your child will miss school during these important three weeks of testing. Most tests, approximately one hour in length, will be administered between 8:15 am and 11:30 am, but some days might have an afternoon test.
All students in grades 3-8 take four tests: science, language, reading, and math. Second graders take three tests (all but science). Make-up testing, if needed, will be done the week of October 11th. This test is not meant to rank students or compare them to the national average, but it is used for students to set their own academic goals for the school year in the form of a RIT score. Teachers also use this important data to inform instruction and collaborate with each other on school-wide essential standards.
EDP Staff Needed!
We are looking for qualified college students or other child care professionals who want to work with children and have the flexibility in their schedules to work from 3 pm to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Miss McIntosh and Ms. Brumfield will be our permanent EDP staff this year, but we need at least two more employees to make it run. Please get the word out and let people know that Assumption is hiring for these positions. Thank you!
Small Group Leader Training
Assumption Parish is looking for a few school parents who would like to be trained in how to create and run small faith sharing groups. This is a formation program, not a parish program; that is, the parish provides training to individual Catholics, with the expectation that these Catholics will use this training to start and maintain their own small faith sharing groups. The training is 12 weeks of weekly, 1.5 – 2 hour meetings. Please contact Fr. Moore (frmoore@assumption.org) if you are interested.
This Friday, Sept. 17th, grades K, 1, 6, 7 and 8 will go to the church for Mass. Seventh graders will be leading the Mass and will be the lectors and gift bearers. Parents are welcome to attend the weeks that their children are attending, and community members are also welcome to Friday School Masses. We ask that visitors sit in the north and south transepts instead of with the students. Masks are required of everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
Note: Starting this week, there will be a hold on congregational singing at in the church, following the recent announcement by Fr. Moore for Church of the Assumption. The choir will continue to practice and rehearse in their elective classes, but will not be performing at the Mass until congregational singing returns to the church. Dr. Mabalot will be the accompanist and cantor at school Masses.
PTC News
Italian Night – Thank you in advance to all who have signed up to help with this big event! The kitchen work has begun in order to make 200+ meals for our school and church communities! Dinner orders are now closed as preparations have begun, but we’re still accepting wine donations and it’s not too late to get your raffle tickets! One amazing basket from Drizzle and one full of Fall Flavors and activities! Fill out an order form for raffle tickets only and leave it in the office by Friday. The raffle drawing will take place after Mass on Saturday. https://school.assumption.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Italian-Night-2021-Order-form.pdf Remember to pick up your meal this Saturday between 4 and 6:30 pm!
Are you the parent of a 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th grader? Each class only has one Room Parent so far. Middle school classes have less in-class demands for room parents, so please consider joining the team! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ca5aa23a1fec25-room
There’s always room for more Playground Angels! Please check the signup regularly if you are able to help at midday. Cancellations can often leave openings and leave the playground short handed. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ca5aa23a1fec25-september1
The school year may have just begun, but we’ll soon be taking orders for Yearbooks. Keep an eye out for an order form in next week’s newsletter and get your orders in before September 30th for the best price.
Selling SCRIP counts as fundraising hours! Please sign up here if you are interested. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080f45aba723a6fe3-scrip
Upcoming calendar items:
September 15th– Curriculum Night via ZOOM at 6 pm (see above for ZOOM info by class)
September 18th– Italian Night To-Go!
September 20th– MAP testing begins (2nd-8th)
September 23rd– Individual Picture Day, Preschool & K-8
September 24th– Individual Picture Day, PreK
October 15th– NO SCHOOL, Staff Retreat
