Month: November 2025

November 21, 2025

Wow! What a fabulous Grandparent Day! Your children loved to see and be with their grandparents/friends! Thank you for sending them our way! It was a delight! Below are a few pictures!

When we get back on Monday, December 1st, our class is responsible for the Advent prayer service at 8:05 in the church! We have practiced in our classroom and in the church. What is the most important is to have them show up by 8:00 in the church so we are ready to go!

On Thursday, December 4th at 1:15, we will be having our salmon dissection and salmon art prints! We love our volunteers (link)! The next week will be our Salmon Feast (link) on December 11th at 11:30 for set up and eating at 12:00! Please come and join us!

The infamous retired teacher, Mrs. Mura, (who taught my own kids when they and she were much younger… and is Emma’s grandmother) will be spending time with us with several projects. Primarily, she will be teaching your children to be ready for the variety show set for the evening of January 30th. Please see the message from her:

I am looking forward to meeting with each of you next week. Please remember to bring your child! They are going to be speaking to the areas they are most proud of and areas they want to work on. If you haven’t had a chance, please fill out this a Forms survey here for you to give me feedback before the conference. The link is here.

Sign up for a weekend with Hammy here: Click on this link to sign up!

Please sign up to help for Math stations on Tuesdays here.

Please keep working on those multiplication facts!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians finished their Saint Power Point presentation and many have presented them.
Language – We worked on vocabulary and read more of our class book, My Father’s Dragon. Students are enjoying having good discussions about character developments, settings and plot! In Spelling, students learned about /ur/ and /ir/ word sounds in Unit 11. For writing, they planning a Salmon story
Math – Fourth grade mathematicians continued learning how to multiply and problem solve. Please continue to review with your children on their facts!

Science – These scientists learned about the salmon life-cycle and what are indicators of Clean, Clear and Cold water for a salmon to thrive in.

Social Studies – The historians learned about the five geographical and geological regions in Washington.

Specialists

Art – Fourth graders are learning how to create balance in a composition by carefully arranging the foreground, middle ground, and background to capture the viewer’s eye.

Spanish –  We played a game named “El Lobo” through this game they used verbs in present progressive tense.
Music – This week in music, we are improvising rhythms in a drum circle to build steady beat, ensemble awareness, and creative expression with musical turn taking. Students had fun playing Pass the Beat to practice rhythmic accuracy and group timing too.

Physical Education – This week in PE we learned the pivot, give and go and how to defend another player.  We practiced putting dribbling, passing and shooting and being on defense together by playing games like lightening and round robin 4 vs 4 scrimmage.

Library – Book Fair

Monday, Tuesday November 24 & 25 – No school – Conferences!

Wednesday, November 26 – No school – Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, December 1 – 8:00 Advent prayer service in the church – We are in charge!!!

Thursday, December 4 – Salmon Dissection

Friday, December 5 – 8:15 – All school Mass – Dress uniform

Monday, December 8 – Feast of the Immaculate Conception – Holy day of obligation – Dress uniform!

Thursday, December 11 – Salmon/Christmas Feast Celebration!

November 14, 2025

Dear Families,

Thank you to the parents that walked and chaperoned us on our field trip! We had a blast learning about what indicators show Clean, Clear and Cold water for wild salmon to thrive in. Finally we had time to work on our service project of restoration when we pulled out the invasive species of ivy in the park near the stream that we were studying about.

On Thursday, we also had a guest speaker a Lummi tribal elder, Clarence Bob. He is a parishioner of St. Joachim and helped set up and work in the Lummi Nation hatchery. Your children are learning so much!

We are so happy that we have our new hamster named Hammy! Your children are so excited to take him home. I promised them a SignUpGenius to reserve weekends with him. Click on this link to sign up!

Conferences are around the corner. I will not be sending home the normal Friday Folder this week or next week because I am collecting data to share with you at the conferences. I will give you all the work then. Speaking of conferences, a few of you still need to sign up. Please sign up here for Fourth Grade Conferences. Yes, your child will be leading the conference. Therefore, they must be here.

I also have a Forms survey here for you to give me feedback before the conference. The link is here.

Please sign up to help for Math stations on Tuesdays here.

Please keep working on those multiplication facts!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians are researching and preparing a Power Point presentation about a Saint.
Language – We worked on vocabulary and read more of our class book, My Father’s Dragon. Students are enjoying having good discussions about character developments, settings and plot! In Spelling, students learned about ou and au sounds in Unit 10. For writing, they are group writing about their mythological creatures they created in Science as well as the Saints Power Points
Math – Fourth grade mathematicians continued learning how to multiply and problem solve. Please continue to review with your children on their facts!

Science – These scientists learned about the salmon life-cycle and what are indicators of Clean, Clear and Cold water for a salmon to thrive in. We also had a guest speaker.

Social Studies – The historians learned about the five geographical and geological regions in Washington.

Specialists

Art – In art class, students created a Pet Shop Foldable, designing their own building and inventing imaginative animals to live inside. Through this project, they combined creativity, design, and spatial awareness to bring their 3D pet shops to life.

Spanish – We started to practice singing La Guadalupana for Our Lady of Guadalupe. We practiced using verbs in the -ing form, wich express an action that is happening, like: cenanado, vistiendo, bañando -having dinner, getting dressed, taking a shower-.
Music – This week in music, we are reviewing note names by playing the game Cut the Cake, learning about the Woodwind Family — the different instruments, their characteristics, and their roles in the orchestra and completing a listening log for a woodwind ensemble and writing a response.

Physical Education – This week in PE we practiced dribbling, passing and shooting while playing Spot Shot, Basketball Noodle Tag and Round Robin Lightening.

Library – Come see us in the book fair next week!

Friday, November 21 – Mass and Grandparents/Grandfriends Day – Early release at 11:45 too! – dress uniform!

Monday, Tuesday November 24 & 25 – No school – Conferences!

Wednesday, November 26 – No school – Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, December 4 – Salmon Dissection

Thursday, December 11 – Salmon/Christmas Feast Celebration!

November 6, 2025

Dear Families,

What a fabulous Vocations Week! We had two Sisters of Mercy from Shaw Island visit us on Tuesday. (They have a convent there in the San Juan Islands) On Wednesday, Sr. Rose of Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus came to us via ZOOM. Finally, today we had Fr. Justin Ryan who is the Vicar of Vocations at the Archdiocese of Seattle visit us in person. There was a common theme: the JOY of their vocation and their calling to dedicate their entire life to serving God. What a blessing!

Your children are very excited for their field trip set for Wednesday, November 12th… next week! Students can wear jeans and their casual dress uniform. We will be outside all day long, rain or shine! We will be walking there so make sure they wear appropriate shoes for that and warm clothing. According to my app right now, the weather looks decent. However, we are in the PNW, so that can change! Those that signed up to chaperone: I will send an email to you on Monday or Tuesday with the details.

Your children are SO excited!!! If you haven’t heard, they have earned a classroom pet! I will be getting a hamster this weekend. I have a family already set for taking care of him or her next weekend. I will be setting up a SignUpGenius for the weekends for families to take the critter home, clean the cage and have fun with it. More information to come!

Please sign up here for Fourth Grade Conferences set for the end of November. We have eleven more families that need to sign up. Yes, your child will be leading the conference. Therefore, they must be here. I have a Forms survey here for you to give me feedback before the conference. The link is here.

Please sign up to help for Math stations on Tuesdays here.

Please keep working on those multiplication facts!

Blessings,

Paula A. Martin-Zender

Religion – Fourth Grade Theologians are researching and preparing a Power Point presentation about a Saint. We also had guest speakers this week for Vocations Week!
Language – We worked on vocabulary and read more of our class book, My Father’s Dragon. Students are enjoying having good discussions about character developments, settings and plot! In Spelling, students learned about /oi/ and /ou/ sounds in Unit 9. For writing, they are group writing about their mythological creatures they created in Science as well as the Saints Power Points
Math – Fourth grade mathematicians continued learning how to multiply and problem solve. Please continue to review with your children on their facts!

Science – These scientists learned about the salmon life-cycle and compared to other animals’ and plants’ life cycles.

Social Studies – The historians learned about the five geographical and geological regions in Washington. We discovered that every region has salmon living in it as some stage of their lives!

Specialists

Art – Inspired by “We Love Fishing!” by Ariel Bernstein, students are creating scenes that depict the fisherman above the water and the underwater world of fish. They are exploring movement, repetition, unity, and variety to bring their artwork to life!

Spanish –    We talked about the celebration that takes place in México every year on November 1st and 2nd: El Día de Muertos. They learned about all the elements that should be on EL ALTAR or OFRENDA and the meaning of each one. We reflected on how death is part of the cycle of life, and we prayed for our faithful departed.
Music – This week in music, we are reviewing note names by playing the game Cut the Cake, learning about the Woodwind Family — the different instruments, their characteristics, and their roles in the orchestra and completing a listening log for a woodwind ensemble and writing a response.

Physical Education – This week in PE we practiced our ball handling routine and learned the chest, bounce and overhead pass to a partner and the acronym B.E.E.F (Balance, Eyes, Elbow, Follow through) to shoot the ball into the basketball hoop.  We practiced these while playing Spaceship Passing and Smack Ball. 

Library – This week we read  A Crocodile Should Never Skip Breakfast.  We talked about family traditions and how that can look different; as an example, we shared our favorite breakfasts.  To look at the story or other library activities, check out library page.

This Saturday and Sunday Mass times: Spirit Week

Friday, November 7 – No School – Teachers are working on Accreditation all day!

Monday, November 10 – Veteran’s Day prayer service – invite any Veterans you know of! Please see note below.

Tuesday, November 11 – No School – Veteran’s Day

Wednesday, November 12 – Field trip – Cornwall Park – Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association – sign up here to chaperone! Make sure you have cleared Virtus training!

Friday, November 14 – All school Mass – dress uniform

Friday, November 21 – Grandparents/Grandfriends Day – Early release at 11:45 too!

Thursday, December 4 – Salmon Dissection

Thursday, December 11 – Salmon/Christmas Feast Celebration!

From Mrs. Creech: ACS Veterans Day Prayer Service and Assembly

The students and staff of Assumption Catholic School cordially invite you to join us for a special Prayer Service and Assembly honoring your service to our country.
We are deeply grateful for the sacrifices you have made to protect our freedoms. This event is our way of expressing our sincere appreciation and providing our students with the opportunity to learn from and honor our nation’s heroes.

Event Details:

• What: Veterans Day Prayer Service and Assembly
• When: Monday, November 10th, 2025, at 8:15 am
  • Doors open for guests at 8 am
• Where: Assumption Catholic School Gymnasium
• Address: 2116 Cornwall Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225

The event will include:

• A special prayer service for all veterans.
• Musical tributes from our students.
• Readings and reflections on the importance of Veterans Day.
• A guest speaker.

Following the assembly, we would be honored if you would stay for a reception where we will serve light refreshments, coffee and pastries.

RSVP:

To help us plan for your attendance, please RSVP by Friday, October 31st. The RSVP form is available here: https://forms.office.com/r/zKp7AdkX5r

We hope you can join us for this meaningful event. Your presence would make this tribute truly special for our students and our entire school community.

With sincere gratitude,
The students and staff of Assumption Catholic School
School Phone Number: 360-733-6133
Staff Contact: Mrs. Caitlin Creech (ccreech@assumption.school)