Hello 7S!
Merry Christmas! Thank you all for the generous class gift you gave me and for your help with our super fun class party! Mrs. Sherwood and I have been snacking on the treats you gifted me throughout the break. I pray you all had a restful and festive break and that in some way celebrating Christmas this year brought you and your family closer to Christ.
Winter Ride begins this week on Tuesday, hopefully making the transition back to school a little sweeter for the kids. Please make sure you have read the instructions for winter ride carefully, and that your child brings everything he or she needs on Tuesday.
The Portland Trip is happening in May. Please reach out soon if you are able to chaperone and/or drive for this very exciting trip. We currently have enough parent volunteers to accommodate for only half of our 7th grade students. Please let Mrs. Ernest or I know if you can help.
Important Upcoming Dates:
Monday, January 19 – MLK Day, no school
Friday, January 23 – Teacher workday, no school
Monday-Friday, January 26-30 – Catholic Schools Week
Friday, January 30 – ACS got talent show
Subject Check-ins:
Math (Mr. Sherwood)
Last week in Math, we took a test on solving equations and inequalities. When we come back from break, we will review this topic and then move on to percent change. Please find more here.
Social Studies (Ms. Zech)
Last week in social studies, students read non-fiction articles to locate specific text features, completed research on Washington State inventions, and shared a post-1970s invention with the class. When we return from the break, we explore governance within Washington State as well as read about the Contemporary Era. There will be no social studies quiz in January, so please make sure your middle schooler completes the weekly questions on time for full credit.
PE (Coach Eager)
This week in PE we practiced our stick handling and passing skills while playing sideline hockey. We celebrated the upcoming Christmas break by playing in the Winter Olympic games which included the bob sled and ice skating.
Orchestra (Mrs. Varon)
- Learning Christmas carols for fun: The First Noel and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- In Banuwa, working on the key change section and practicing syncopated rhythms without slowing the tempo, listening across sections to play as a unified ensemble
- Working on Joy to the World and practicing keeping a steady tempo each time we take the repeat
Choir (Mrs. Morton)
This week in choir we are focusing entirely on the music for the Christmas program. The following students will be featured as soloists during the Christmas program:
O Holy Night: Anneliese Twining, Evelyn White, Will Chen
The Journey to Bethlehem: Solomon Dinwiddie and Maddie Dechert
Breath of Heaven: Marcella Montiel
Band (Mrs. Creech)
The ACS Band members put on a wonderful performance at the 2025 Veterans Day Prayer Service and Assembly! Check out the video of this performance in the upcoming band newsletter.
ACS Band students will continue work on their next project: music for the Christmas Program! Band students will be performing carols for a pre-show (in the foyer) as well as music at the opening of the program (in the church). Please read the band newsletter sent later today for more information!”
ELA/Literature (Ms. Zech)
Last week in ELA/lit., students tested their understanding of types of sentences through a color-by-number, game of Trashketball, and pop quiz. They also finished writing the good copies of their informational essays and reinforced vocabulary through Jensen’s lesson 5 practice. This week in ELA/lit., students wrap up Jensen’s lesson 5, use logic/inferencing to complete a Nativity Escape Room activity, and enjoy some “snowball” creative writing.
Spanish Elective (Maestra Esquivel)
They learned vocabulary related to this season of the year , such as: Virgen María, pesebre, dulces, niño Jesús, piñata, nieve, regalos, luces, and more. They spelled this vocabulary and wrote the words that I spelled for them.
Engineering Elective (Mr. Sherwood)
Before the break, the students finished implementing their airplane designs and found out that the simplest designs worked the best. We only have 4 more meeting times. This week we will do a little reflection on the last unit and then with our last 3 class periods, we will work on introductory coding and circuits.
Art Elective (Mrs. Santos)
Students finished applying the papier-mache mixture and added final details to enhance texture and form. The next step in the process will be painting their sculptures.
The art room wishes all families a Merry Christmas and a joyful holiday season!
Photography Elective (Mrs. Evans)
Students will be working on their final project for the rest of the semester.
Academic Decathlon (Mrs. Evans)
We are moving full speed ahead in our Academic Decathlon preparations. Students know what individual topics they will be studying and which they will study for the Super Quiz. They will begin reading their books and studying over the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a logic quiz last week and it went terrific!
Drama (Mrs. Blas)
Still working on the new play. It is finalized with the input of the students. Now, we will rehearse and hopefully be able to perform in front of an audience when finished.
Have a great week!
-Mr. Sherwood