March 2025

Preschool - Mrs. Malone, Ms. Onkka

We had so much fun celebrating Valentine’s Day! Students enjoyed exchanging valentines with each other and making valentines for their parents. ♥

Our 5-day students were excited to reach the 100th day of school. Ask your child to count to 100 by 10s and 1s.

Did you know that dinosaurs are extinct? We are spending the last two weeks of February learning and reading about dinosaurs. Ask your student what clues the dinosaurs left behind so that we could learn about them.

Kindergarten - Mrs. Guinan, Mrs. Millar, Mrs. Vaughan

In science, we studied the four seasons of the year. We can name different kinds of weather conditions and types of clothing we wear for each season.

Each kindergarten class learned about good dental hygiene and how to take care of our teeth from Dr. Mark McGuire.  

We have been talking about the season of Lent and how we can become closer to Jesus during the upcoming weeks before Easter.

Taking spelling tests has helped our students become more familiar with word families. Every day, they are becoming stronger readers and writers!

First Grade - Mrs. Kleffman, Mrs. Caito, Ms. Wright

During the past month, we were excited to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, the 100th day of school, our first field trip, and Valentine’s Day.

We continue to work on Gumball math and look forward to using these skills to help us with double-digit addition. Continued practice at home really helps! We are also studying about point of view, sequencing, and cause and effect in reading class.

Please try to expose your children to both fiction and nonfiction books, as they help these skills develop.

Second Grade - Ms. Hargens, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Truscott

First Communion will be here before we know it! Your date and time came home with your child a couple weeks ago. The children are anxiously awaiting to receive Jesus for the first time. Please remember to talk with your child about if they are receiving the Precious Blood of Christ. Continue working on your child’s First Eucharist garment and service project. Students will continue to be bringing their Blessed books home to work though. 

Spring Break is March 10-14. Continue to review time and money with your child, as this can be a difficult concept for children. Remember to be reading 15-20 minutes a night! It really helps students gain confidence with their reading. 

Scientists have been working hard on learning about habits of plants and animals and how animals help plants. In social studies, students learned about different kinds of environments that people live in. 

Third Grade - Ms. Ruelas, Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Schofield

The students will be applying their knowledge of cursive handwriting to weekly spelling and vocabulary assignments and tests. They are doing a great job mastering this newly acquired skill.

Our authors are continuing to work on personal narratives using Step Up to Writing and the five part writing process. Google Classroom will be used for the drafting, revising, and editing parts of this project.

The students have enjoyed learning about early explorers, what they were in search of, and how their presence impacted the Native Americans.

Third grade paleontologists are digging through a fossil unit. We are analyzing fossils to determine the types of organisms they represent and the environment in which the organisms lived.

Wishing you a blessed Lent! May your journey lead you closer to Jesus.

Fourth Grade - Mrs. Madison, Mrs. Thede, Ms. Geist

Fourth graders have finished the unit on plants and began the animals unit. We will explore various animal structures and their functions. We began with external structures and will end the five senses and the human body systems.

Thank you to all the volunteers who planned the Valentine parties. Everyone had a fun time.

Fifth Grade - Mrs. Dotzler, Mrs. Jones, Ms. Salerno

In science, we are having fun exploring different invasive species and how they affect their environments. In social studies, students will be tested over the 50 state capitals on Friday, March 7th. Finally, the State Fair is quickly approaching! This fun event is scheduled for Friday, March 28, from 1:45-2:45 P.M. in the Parish Center. Parents, grandparents, and special friends are all invited! Before this time, students will finish their five-paragraph research paper and display board, which needs to be competed at home. We look forward to seeing you all there! 

Sixth Grade - Mrs. Wane, Mrs. Bernt, Mrs. Guinotte

English - Students are learning about sentences and punctuation this month. They continue to learn vocabulary and practice spelling various grade-level words. Ask your child about editing paragraphs and how it is going. Are they able to find more mistakes?

Literature - We are on an adventure with the Logan family from the 1930s in the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Ask your child about what he/she is reading and what their thoughts are about events happening in the novel.

Math - Students are diving into the exciting world of geometry! They are learning how to calculate the area and perimeter of various shapes such as rectangles, triangles, and circles. They are building a solid foundation in geometry that will support their future math studies. 

Religion - Students will be preparing their hearts and minds for Lent. Students will learn how Moses helped set God’s people free, by reading “The book of Exodus”  from the Bible and learning how the ten plagues led to the Israelites freedom.

Science - Students will explore Earth’s history through plate tectonics and how they shape the continents on which we live. In this unit students will explore how earthquakes and volcanoes by building structures and researching volcanoes.

Social Studies - Students are exploring the fascinating history of Ancient China's Silk Road through a Canva project. They are researching the various goods, cultures, and ideas that traveled along this ancient trade route, highlighting its significance in connecting East and West. To wrap up the unit, they will write a reflective paper.

JUNIOR HIGH

English - Mr Leever

English 7

Students are learning about different types of pronouns, correct usage, and pronoun/antecedent agreement. Students are also currently working on a paragraph that describes a person they know well (personality traits, abilities, etc., rather than physical traits). Students will be assessed based on a strong, engaging topic sentence, at least three main points with compelling explanations, and specific examples in addition to skilled used of transitions, word choice, voice, and mechanics/conventions. We continue to focus on punctuation and capitalization by doing Daily Oral Language exercises to prepare for the spring editing assessment.

English 8

Students have been studying different types of phrases (prepositional and verbal phrases) that will not only add extra details to their writing but will also add variety to their writing. That knowledge will be put to use as they also write an expository piece that describes a person they know well. We continue to focus on punctuation and capitalization by doing Daily Oral Language exercises to prepare for the spring editing assessment.

Science - Ms. Kolberg

7th grade - 

Seventh graders are into the genetics unit full force! We have learned about DNA and seen our own DNA! We have discussed Gregor Mendel and Punnett squares and will go into how we inherit the traits we have. We also look at genetic engineering.

8th grade - 

Eighth graders are differentiating between chemical and physical reactions and how to speed up or slow down the reactions. To finish our chemistry unit, we will balance chemical equations, learn about the pH of substances, and review the periodic table characteristics (but stop short of blowing up the lab this year!).

Math - Mr. Polacek

March Madness has arrived to the Jr. High math classes, and it is looking like a fantastic time.

The algebra classes will be well into the quadratics chapter where we will be thrown some curves as we attempt to graph parabolas. We will then be solving quadratics by completing the square, using square roots, and ending the chapter with the quadratic equation song! This is a very challenging algebra chapter, so it will be  great test to see if we have what it takes to get to the next round.

The competition will really ramp for for the pre-algebra classes. We will have to work hard to stay on the straight and narrow path as we fast break into algebra and look at linear equations and slopes. It's a lot of work to write out and show in these algebra-heavy chapters!   

Probability will be a great March math topic for the 7th grade class, and the next round we will get into some pre-algebra with simplifying expressions. Good luck to all, and enjoy the madness!

Religion - Mrs. Nigrin

As we prepare to enter into the new month, we will be focusing on our Lenten Journey as we celebrate Ash Wednesday on March 5.

The 7th graders will be focusing on God’s love and will be discussing how we know God loves us, how we respond to that love, and how we can move closer to that love. The students should also be working on choosing a Confirmation sponsor and be researching Saints so that they may pick their Saint for Confirmation. 

Congratulations to the 8th graders! They received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday, February 9 at a beautiful Mass celebrated by Archbishop Lucas. We will now be focusing on how we live our faith and how to share that love and our faith with all those around us. We will be working on our prayer life this Lent and finding our own connections with God and Jesus. 

Literature - Mrs. Fosbender 

In eighth grade literature, students will be finishing the book, Touching Spirit Bear. Each student will be creating a totem pole with five symbols that represent their family or the students’ personality. Through the months of March and part of April, the eighth grade will be the Holocaust/WWII unit. Students will work with a literature circle group and practice different strategies throughout the novels.

The seventh grade students are continuing the Adventure/Mystery unit novels. Students will be using their creative side to complete three-tier projects that consist of some researching, writing, and illustrating. Seventh grade will also work with literature circle groups. 

Social Studies - Mrs. Sullivan

In social studies, the 8th grade students are beginning studies about WWII, and the Holocaust, and will be moving into studies of the Cold War and life in the 1950s. We will explore the causes of the wars, the countries and people involved, as well as the outcomes of the wars. Learning will not just be from our textbooks. We will also use PowerPoints with guided notes, videos, and photo analysis, as well as small group projects and investigations.  

The 7th grade students are finishing up their studies of Europe. They have spent time learning about the countries, culture, geography, history, religion, language, and many other aspects of life in these countries. Our next studies will take us to Africa. As with our other continent studies, the students will explore the history, geography, and ways of life in many African countries. We will use a combination of textbook, workbook, and PowerPoint/guided notes to help us with our exploration.

The 7th graders will also engage in small-group projects and investigations. 

SPECIALS

Art - Mr. Pflaum

Here is a summary of what is happening in the school art room:

The kindergartners are creating an original tempera painting consisting of many overlapping hearts.

In first grade, the students have been introduced to contemporary artist Romero Britto and will create their own Britto-inspired art.

The second graders are working with construction paper to create large collage-style artwork.

In third grade, students will be working on a new observation drawing lesson while in fourth grade, students have been introduced to 2-point perspective drawing.

The fifth graders are still working on their awesome Georgia O'keefe acrylic paintings.

In sixth grade, students are nearing completion of their clay sculptures, while in the seventh grade, the students are continuing their Pointillism drawings.

The eighth graders are working on their beautiful portrait drawings for the Holocaust Memory Project.

Samples of various student work can be viewed on the private instagram art gallery: https://www.instagram.com/svdpmrpflaumart/

can be found on the school instagram art gallery: https://www.instagram.com/svdpmrpflaumart/

Computer - Mrs. Kuhr

Preschool - Students are working on learning how to login to the computer and use a mouse. There are a some games students can play and work on their mouse skills on the preschool Symbaloo.

Kindergarten - This month students got to work with our Sphero Indi. They worked with colored tiles to program different movement with the Indi.

1st Grade - Students this month were are learning how to create a slideshow about themselves. They took self portraits, created a Keynote, and next we will be talking about emojis. Students will then use emojis to describe themselves.

2nd Grade - Students were designing games on codeSpark while using the design process. They are also now using their math skills on to Prodigy, too. 2nd graders login with their Google accounts.

3rd Grade - Students are wrapping up coding a dance party in Scratch. They will be starting next a Google Earth project. They learned how to navigate on Google Earth and are now using land formations to find the letters of their names. They will then place their letters on a Google Drawing to form their names.

4th Grade - Students finished up their Scratch programming animated names and have moved on to keyboarding this month. The next project will be learning how to be an upstander while using the Internet.  

5th Grade - This month the are programing a platform style game in Scratch. They are learning about conditionals to control their player sprite.

6th Grade - Students are finishing up their programing game, Cargo Bay Chase in Scratch. They be working on their animation unit next quarter. They first started off creating flip books and GIFs. They will next use Wick Editor to create a series of different animated clips.

7th Grade - Students are finishing up their “Flappy Bird” style game in Scratch. For forth quarter, students will create chariots for our Sphero robots.

The yearbook is in need for pictures. If you have any pictures to share, please send them to me at kuhra@svdpomaha.org.

Educational Strategists - Mrs. Heavey, Mrs. Price, Ms. Bousquet

Educational Strategist – Gr. K-2 – Mrs. Heavey

In grades K-3rd, children need more opportunities for reading practice to help develop their reading skills. Some children may need more encouragement than others to read outside of school. Here are some ways to encourage young readers to spend more time reading.

1. Be a role model and let your child see you reading.

2. Keep a variety of reading material in the house. This may include comic books, magazines, a dictionary, joke books and picture books.

3. Encourage your child to practice reading aloud. You will gain a better understanding of your child’s reading ability when you listen to them read aloud. Offer to take turns reading the pages of a chapter book. You can offer praise and encouragement as you read together.

4. Leave notes for your child.

5. Encourage activities that require reading. This may include cooking, playing a game or building a lego project.

Go to readingrockets.org to find other ideas to encourage your young reader.

Educational Strategist – Gr. 3-5 – Mrs. Price

Writing is an important skill and is much more than just putting words down on paper. It is a form of communication that your child will use daily for the rest of their life. Parents can assist with their child’s writing skills by providing fun writing activities at home. To make your child feel confident in their writing and enjoy this lifelong skill, it is more important to focus on what they are writing when writing for enjoyment rather than being picky about their grammar and spelling. As recommended by Audrey W. Prince, M.Ed., students and parents should make writing a daily habit both at home and at school. Here are some writing ideas to do at home:

Letters– Have your child write letters back and forth to family members and relatives. It is always fun to receive mail as a child.

Say "Thank You"– Have your child write a “thank you” note anytime they receive a gift.

Journal/Planner– Give your child a planner or journal and encourage them to write in it each day. They can make scheduling notes, write letters to themself in the future, or simply record important information.

Writing a Proposal – When your child really wants something, have them write up a persuasive proposal to convince you to purchase the wanted item or allow them to do the desired task.

Educational Strategist – Gr. 6-8 – Kara Bousquet

Parents play a crucial role in helping middle school students stay on top of their homework. One of the most effective strategies is establishing a consistent routine. Set aside a quiet, well-lit space each day for homework, and help your child set a specific time to work. Consistency will help them get into the habit of focusing on their tasks.

Use a planner or calendar to track assignments and deadlines. Encourage your child to break larger projects into smaller, manageable tasks, making it easier to stay on track. During homework time, minimize distractions like phones or TV, and consider using a timer to work in short, focused bursts with breaks in between.

Be available to offer guidance when needed, but resist the urge to do the work for them. Offer praise for effort, and stay involved by checking in regularly to ensure things are going smoothly. 

Lastly, talk to your child about why he or she has so much homework. Is she using his or her time in class well? Is she procrastinating? Is it one class or one subject where your student may need extra support? No matter the reason, by providing structure, support, and positive reinforcement, parents can help their middle schoolers build good habits and successfully manage their homework on time. If your attempts have not been successful, reach out to your child’s teacher! He or she is there to help and only wants your child to succeed.

Guidance - Mrs. Skudlarek

It has been a great month in Guidance! Students continue to work hard and practice using skills of kindness, respect, and looking out for others. All classrooms discussed the importance of having choices to make a decision. In kindergarten, students practiced making choices such as a favorite color or food. First grade students practiced making choices to build a clown face. While these choices seem simple, they set an important foundation for students to be able to decide when the choices become more complex. Second graders worked together to make decisions for a fictional dinosaur named Gus. Ask them what they decided would be best for the friendly brontosaurus! Third graders discussed using choices to help guide them with peer relationships and what to look for in quality friendships. Fourth graders discussed the importance of the decision making process and why it is so important to understand that our decisions can impact us in a positive or negative way. Fifth graders started a unit on drug and alcohol awareness. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders' focus was on being a good team member in the classroom and outside the classroom.   

HAL - Mrs. Miller

The 4th graders have been learning about geometric concepts this past month. They learned all about various types of polygons and angles creating tessellations like the famous artist, MC Escher. The 5th graders learned all about proportions so they can apply their knowledge to basic probability problems. This is always a challenging concept, but they continued to persevere. Likewise, the 6th graders used their knowledge of proportions to apply different percent applications in their work. They learned about interest rates, percent markups, and discounts. Now they will be informed future consumers! The algebra group continued practicing solving rational equations and will next move on to radical equations. The literature groups both started new novels this month. The 7th graders are beginning their mythology unit and reading The Lightning Thief while the 8th graders started Touching Spirit Bear. 

Media Center - Mrs. Kaiser

Grades K-2 are exploring folklore, how books are located in the library, and identifying nonfiction. Grade three will be reviewing how to use the digital catalog. Grade four is working with 3D design and printing. Grade five has been reviewing sources and citation. Grade eight is diving into a favorite book for 20 minutes in each class to help build our reading stamina. 

Thank you to the following students and their families for donating a book to the library in honor of their birthday: Nate Achola, Jack Dunn, JJ Scheppers, Larry Williams, Linh Nguyen, and Will Wiedauer. 

Music P-5 - Mrs. LeMense

This Thursday, Feb. 27th, was the 3rd & 4th grade choir concert. It’s called, “Preaching to the Choir.”  😃
We sang in unison and in harmony!

Our 5th graders are getting to the end of their recorder unit. Next will be ukuleles!

Our Kindergarten classes are starting work for their spring show. We’re doing lots of songs featuring nursery rhyme characters!  

Music 6-8 - Ms. Julia Campbell

6th graders are finishing up their performances for their PopOpera. Their next unit will be based on rhythm. Half of the unit will include learning  how to read and identify note values (e.g. quarter notes, half notes, quarter rests, etc.) After they learn the basics of rhythm, they will start to learn about drumming from around the world and as a class will participate in a percussion ensemble. 

7th graders are working on Soundtrap and learning how to make various types of music using a digital audio workspace (DAW). In the next unit they will understand the origins of and begin to play the ukulele. 

8th graders are finishing up their careers in music unit. We will move on to playing guitar later on in the year!

We missed a few play rehearsals due to the snow days, but the students are in a great spot! 

We still need some costume pieces for our Romeo and Juliet scenes! If you have any renaissance vests, shirts, belts, or hats you would be willing to let our students borrow, please email me at campbellj@svdpomaha.org 

PE - Mrs. Conry

The 7th & 8th graders began the SNAG® program, which stands for “Starting New at Golf.” It is a FUN game that is EASY to learn and can be played ANYWHERESNAG™ contains all the basic elements of golf but in a modified form. Falling somewhere between miniature golf and regulation golf, SNAG allows for full shots, pitching, chipping, and putting. Its design makes it both safe and portable, allowing instruction, practice, and play to take place both inside and outside.

The students ended the unit with a test on what they learned. It was fun and golf is a lifelong sport they they can play for many years to come.

I would like to thank all the volunteers for taking time out of their busy schedules to help with this unit. I certainly enjoyed their help and I know the students did too.

PE - Mr. Boone

The beginning of the month the students were wrapping up their gymnastics and parkour unit by completing an obstacle parkour course. The students were able to run, climb, jump off, vault, and balance their way through it. The last part of the month saw the students starting their jump rope unit. With the younger students, we focused on how to hold the rope, twirl, and jump on our toes. To lead up to that, we did several jumping activities with pool noodles, scooters, and hula hoops. The repetition of jumping on our toes was to help them understand that while jumping rope, you don’t need to jump that high. This unit will continue into March where the students will be able to complete the Ninja Belt Challenge.

Spanish 2nd-4th - Mrs. McDermott

Students in 4th grade Spanish have begun learning about the weather. They continue to practice the four seasons in Spanish: el otoño (Fall), el invierno (Winter), la primavera (Spring) and el verano (Summer) by writing and talking about what weather occurs in each season.

Students in 3rd grade Spanish continue to learn the names of over 35 animals. They will begin drawing and writing about 2 animals using Me gusta (I like) and No me gusta (I don’t like) and describing them with a color and another adjective. They are learning that adjectives in Spanish can be masculine or feminine.

Students in 2nd grade Spanish finished learning the names of family members. They drew a portrait of their family and labeled each of their family members in Spanish. They are also practicing how to identify feminine and masculine words. 

Spanish  5th-8th - Mrs. Singh

¡Hola familias!

Third quarter has flown by! Please make sure that your student submits any absent/late work before the end of the quarter.  

Fifth grade students have been studying the geography of Spanish speaking countries. We are learning where the countries are located (which region and/or continent as well as their capitals). Students are having fun coming up with acronyms to memorize the order of the countries.  

Later, students will also research interesting facts about their assigned Spanish speaking country.  

Sixth grade students have been studying weather terms and will start a project to report about the weather in a Spanish speaking country. They will research the capital of the country and one other city in the country. They had to convert temperature information from Farenheit to Celcius. Some students realized their country is in the southern hemisphere so they are experiencing fall weather while it’s spring here.

Seventh grade students finished a foods unit studying breakfast foods. We are moving on to include lunch and dinner items. Their culminating activity for the unit will be to create a breakfast menu from a Spanish speaking country.  They will show the prices in the currency of their country and write the conversion of $1 to the currency of their country. They will also include a dish that is typical in their country.  

It’s time to take a field trip for some Mexican, El Salvadorian, Peruvian, or Puerto Rican food…let your students order in Spanish! I absolutely recommend the tacos at Corner Kitchen. They have Mexican street tacos influenced by global flavors!

Eighth grade students made beautiful “Copos de Nieve” / snowflakes that were decorated with the conjugations of Christmas themed verbs.  

We have been studying present tense verb conjugations.  Starting in the second semester, we will use present tense verb conjugations and then add a second verb in the infinitive form to talk about future activities. We will also review our past vocabulary of sports and hobbies by learning the places we go to play sports or do hobbies. Students have a list of 20 locations they visit for sports/hobbies.

I hope you encourage your students to practice our current vocabulary at home! I appreciate your support. ¡Gracias!