Preschool - Mrs. Malone, Ms. Onkka

It’s winter!  Ask your child to name an animal that hibernates. During January we have been talking about animals in the winter, winter weather and penguins. Did you know that there are 17 different species of penguins? Our themes have provided us with lots of opportunities for fun art projects. Students’ fine motor skills are really coming along! We will end the month talking about the ocean and celebrating Catholic Schools Week. Catholic Schools Week offers us the opportunity to say “Thank you” for supporting preschool at St. Vincent de Paul School!

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

Our students have had their eyes on the skies this month! We've been learning about weather patterns and ways to stay safe in severe weather.  

In math, we are practicing addition and subtraction problems.

The students are very excited for Catholic Schools Week and all the fun activities planned for next week. They especially look forward to eating lunch on Wednesday with their parents!

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

Happy Catholic School Week!  Thank you so much for making the decision to send your child to St. Vincent de Paul. We feel so privileged to be able to spend our days with your children.  

First grade is focusing on math fact fluency this quarter! Please continue to review math facts with your child, as this is beneficial to their success. Our unit on time and money will also be coming up. This is traditionally a more difficult skill for 1st graders, so if you have extra time, it's not too soon to begin reviewing these skills at home.

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

Thank you for attending the First Eucharist retreat. We will be working in the Blessed books at school, as well as sending them home for you and your child to work through certain chapters. We will let students know what chapter to be working through at home. Please keep the 2nd graders in your prayers as we continue to prepare for Holy Communion.  

We will celebrate Valentine’s Day on Thursday, February 13th. Your child may start bringing Valentines on Tuesday, February 11th in a bag with their name clearly labeled on the outside. We ask that your child not write classmates' names on individual Valentines, but please make sure they sign their name! We will decorate a bag in class. They will pass out Valentines on the 13th.

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

The third quarter has begun! The students continue to increase their human capital and are developing into independent learners as the year progresses.

Brrrrrr! Cold weather is upon us. Even though it is cold, the students look forward to getting outside. Please send your child/children with a winter coat, hat, and gloves. Boots may be worn when there is snow on the ground.

All basic multiplication and division facts 0-10 have been introduced and practiced. To help retain this knowledge, the students will continue to use the XtraMath and Mastering Math Facts programs the remainder of the school year.

We love our Catholic School and celebrate Catholic Schools Week this coming week in many fun ways. We are so blessed to be here at St. Vincent de Paul School!

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

Happy New Year! It is wonderful having the students back after the extra long Christmas break. In science class, we have been exploring the different parts of a plant and their functions. Students enjoyed observing different flower parts under a microscope.

In social studies classes in January, students learned all about the Oregon Trail and the hardships along the way. They discussed which animal they would have bought: mule, horse, or oxen, and how would they spend their money when they were preparing to make the journey. They had a great time contemplating these decisions and even got to play the original Oregon Trail video game!

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

The 5th graders have been working on a pronouns unit in English. We will put these skills to use in our writing. We are consistently improving our editing skills with daily oral language practice. Students have begun studying about our nation’s government and completed their 50-state geography test before Christmas break. We will move on to learning the state capitals for the third quarter. The students are also continuing on in their first unit of biology, having investigated how energy and matter move through organisms and the ecosystem. 

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

English - Gone are the days of one or two sentences to edit. Students are now looking at paragraphs and catching the various errors that writers can make. We will continue exploring parts of speech with adverbs as well as use Step Up to Writing to express our personal narrative.

Literature - Students are finishing a poetry unit in which they have been writing a variety of different poems that include imagery, rhyme, simile, and other figurative language. Students will begin their next novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry the last week of January. This novel usually prompts great class discussions. Be sure to ask your child about the novel.

Math - This month, 6th graders have been exploring ratios and rates, learning to compare quantities and understand relationships through engaging activities. Next, we'll be moving on to percents, where students will learn to convert fractions and decimals into percents and calculate discounts, markups, and interest rates. This knowledge will enhance their problem-solving skills and prepare them for real-life applications!

Science - Students finished their “Rock Cycle" project and will begin focusing on the layers of Earth’s interior.

Religion - Students will be focusing on the Sacraments and how they shape lives and bring us closer to God.

Social Studies - Students have been exploring the geography of Ancient India, discovering how its diverse landscapes influenced the development of early civilizations. They have also learned about the caste system, understanding its significance in social structure and daily life. Next, we will delve into Hinduism and its rich belief system. Students will explore the core principles, deities, and practices of Hinduism, gaining insights into how this ancient religion shapes culture and society in India today.

JUNIOR HIGH

English - Mr Leever

English 7

In January and the beginning of February, 7th graders will focus on parts of speech and grammar/usage issues. We have started learning the various types of pronouns, especially the differences between object and subject pronouns and the usage issues that arise with them. We will then study prepositions and prepositional phrases.

English 8

Students will be learning about different types of phrases and how it is important they are in providing sentence variety. We are starting with prepositions and prepositional phrases and then moving to verbals and verbal phrases: infinitives and infinitive phrases, participles and participial phrases, and gerunds and gerund phrases.

Science - Ms. Kolberg

7th graders

Seventh graders have been discovering many of the organelles found in cells and what they do to keep us alive. Our last quiz had lots of great scores, so I know they are learning lots! We have looked at our cells under the microscope and will be looking at our DNA soon. This will lead into our next area of genetics and how traits are inherited.

8th graders

Eighth graders have been looking at the periodic table and learning how the table was set up with orbitals/shells, number of valence or outer shell electrons, and characteristics the elements share. We are looking into pure substances and mixtures, and our next few labs will deal with how to separate those mixtures with physical means. We will go into chemical reactions next (Don’t worry, no students will be blown up! I promise.)

Math - Mr. Polacek

Quadratics are leading the way in February for the algebra classes. The classes will be finishing up the very challenging chapter sometime in the next couple of months. The methods used there will be completing the square, square roots, and the quadratic formula. They should be able to sing the quadratic formula song to you by the end of the month!  Next up for the algebra classes, we will be jumping to chapter 11 for more square roots and radical expressions.

The pre-algebra classes have another big algebra chapter looming after a review of probability. It will be writing and solving inequalities and should be having them writing out lots of work by the end of the month. The 7th grade math class is finishing up probability and will start a long journey into the angles, curves, and shapes of geometry.

Religion - Mrs. Nigrin

Seventh-grade students are focusing on the Sacraments. We will be classifying each Sacrament into groups of Initiation, Healing, and Service. We will also be learning about the significance of the sacramentals and the events that are included in each of the Sacraments.

Eighth-grade students will be focusing on the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit as they prepare for Confirmation. We will be completing 3 Novenas before our celebration of the Sacrament. We are also working on completing our Pro-Life essays. Please keep the eighth graders in your prayers as they celebrate this very special sacrament.

Literature - Mrs. Fosbender 

The eighth-grade literature students have started to read, The Giver by Lois Lowry. Some of the strategies the students will be working with this novel are note-taking through journaling, research, and developing their own 3D Utopia Society.

Seventh-grade literature students will also be working on note-taking through journaling. Students will be learning the different kinds of poetry. Each student will create their poems and make it into a “Book of Poetry." 

Social Studies - Mrs. Sullivan

The 7th graders recently finished up an exploration of South America. Throughout our South America studies the students learned about the countries, people, culture, geography, and natural resources. As a part of their studies, they made a map of South America and created an illustration of the Andes Mountains and the climate zones. We have started working on our studies of Europe. Our European studies will include specific country research as well as an end-of-chapter project. 

The 8th graders just finished working on their Archdiocese History Hall of Fame project and paper. The students chose a person to be inducted into the “History Hall of Fame.” They wrote a 2-4 page research paper, created a project, and gave a presentation to the class. Next up will be studies of WWI, including learning about what led to the war, who was involved, specific battles, the outcome and consequences of the war, etc. 

Art - Mr. Pflaum

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

The kindergartners are demonstrating ‘camouflage’ by drawing a chameleon living in its environment.

In first grade, the students have been briefly introduced to Pablo Picasso and are using his style to create an Picasso Snowman.

The second-graders are exploring the life of cartoonists and answering the question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

In third grade, students are creating abstract art using oil pastels, while in fourth grade, students have been introduced to contemporary artist, Grant Haffner and his colorful paintings.

The fifth-graders are learning about Georgia O'keefe while creating an acrylic painting.

In sixth grade, students are using clay to sculpt their own tiki statues while in the seventh grade, the students are creating Pointillism drawings.

The eighth-graders have been introduced to the Art and the Holocaust project and will be creating portraits of people associated with the Holocaust.

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

Computer - Mrs. Kuhr

Kindergarten - We had our first chance this year to get onto codeSpark. This is a great site we visit up to second grade. It is full of puzzles where students have to use coding skills to move their Foo around obstacles.

1st Grade -We have been learning about Keynote. The Apple’s version of PowerPoint. The students are going to start making slides about themselves. In this unit we will be taking self portraits, practice typing sentences, and about A.I.

2nd Grade - Students are going to start to create their own games in codeSpark. There is a tutorial that will walk them through creating and coding a game.

3rd Grade - Students are starting their first coding project in Scratch. They will be introduced to Scratch and created a program where they had to code a dance party. 

4th Grade - Students are will be starting their first Scratch coding project of the year by creating a maze game. They learned different ways to move sprites and animate them.

5th Grade - Students will be coding a platform style game in Scratch. This is always a fun project.

6th Grade - Students are starting their Scratch coding project where they coded an avoid-the-obstacles-style game. This is always fun to code and fun to see how they make this game their own.

7th Grade - Students are starting computer class coding their own Flappy Bird-style game in Scratch. This project will combine elements they learned in 6th grade in Scratch and animation in Wick Editor.

YEARBOOK - We are looking for photos to add to our yearbook. Please send photos to kuhra@svdp-school.org. Thank you.

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

Mrs. Heavey, Educational Strategist, grades K-2nd

In the spirit of the New Year, help your child make a goal for the year ahead and with your assistance, watch them grow. Research links goal setting and academic achievement. Here are some examples of goals for children in grades K-2nd  :

-Empty mail folder each night

-Daily spelling word practice

-Read a book each night to a parent

The following link provides the steps for setting goals and goal setting worksheets to complete with your child.    

https://www.developgoodhabits.com/goal-setting-worksheets-kids/

Mrs. Price, Educational Strategist, 3rd-5th

It is hard to believe that a new year is upon us, and we are halfway through the school year. We have been reflecting upon the first semester and have discussed New Year’s goals. The students chose a few learning goals they wanted to work towards improvement.  We also talked about making additional goals in other areas of our lives, for example social, physical, spiritual, and personal. Listed below are some helpful goal-setting ideas to discuss with your child and make it a fun experience!

New Year's resolution ideas for children 3rd-5th grade

I will work on improving my organization with my school materials.

I will focus on asking my teachers questions if I don’t understand something.

I will put forth more effort into neater handwriting so that the teachers and myself can read it.

I want to strive to get 80 and above in all my classes.

Ms. Bousquet, Educational Strategist, Junior High

One of my college professors called exams “celebrations of knowledge.” Tests are often viewed as burdens or obstacles to quickly overcome, and that’s how kids often prepare for them. They cram as many facts as they can as quickly as they can and hope to regurgitate the information on the test the next day. These same students, when they perform poorly, will say, “I studied for an hour last night. I don’t know what happened.” When asked how they studied they will say often say, “Oh, I just looked over my notes.”

While notes and facts are important, passively looking over notes or cramming facts isn’t the most effective or efficient means of learning information. Instead, try to encourage your kids to focus on understanding the concepts, systems, or stories that contextualize those facts. How are the facts or ideas connected? How did this event lead to this result? Creating a conceptual framework both helps students understand the concepts more deeply and creates a network of neural pathways through which the child can access the facts. Simply put, if your child does his or her homework well but consistently performs poorly on the test, then he or she is likely not learning the material well. Instead, he or she is merely replicating a pattern or regurgitating facts to complete the assignments. If your student follows this pattern, encourage him or her to teach the material to you the night before the test. Teaching the material requires the student to take ownership of their learning, prepare in advance for the test, and understand the concepts well enough to talk about them.

Guidance - Mrs. Skudlarek

Happy 2025!  It is hard to believe we are embarking on another new year, full of so many great opportunities. Students in kindergarten set a goal for the new year. First and second graders also set a goal for the new year. Each class has been working on understanding the importance of decision making. We will continue this into February. Our third graders have been busy discussing how to work in groups and what types of things to say when the group work is not as smooth as it should be. Fourth graders learned about ten different terms related to decision-making. In addition, they are learning about positive and negative consequences. Our fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders have been focused on teamwork and the importance of contributing to their team. We discussed that they are part of a team in all they do, not just on a field or a court!  Some of the qualities of a good teammate that they shared include being kind, caring, aware, dedicated, supportive and positive! 

HAL - Mrs. Miller

This month the 4th and 5th grade HAL students completed units on computing with decimals and fractions. These are fundamental concepts that the students will continue to build upon over the next few years and later apply their knowledge to algebraic concepts. It is amazing to see how far the students have come since beginning the school year in August. The 6th grade pre-algebra students finished up a unit on inequalities and graphed their answers on a number line. Next, they will move their concentration to ratios and proportions. The 7th grade algebra students completed a unit on factoring a variety of polynomials. Their next topic will be using radical expressions. In the 7th and 8th grade literature classes, the students began new novels this month. The 7th graders are reading The Seventh Most Important Thing, a story about a teenage boy that makes a bad decision that ends up changing his life for the better. The 8th graders are reading The Giver and are learning about utopian/dystopian societies. Their final project will be creating their own perfect society. 

Media Center - Mrs. Kaiser

We are working on our library skills! Grades K-1 are learning library vocabulary. Grade 2 has begun using the digital catalog to search for books. Grade 3 used the catalog to place holds. Grade 4 is reviewing how to copy-and-paste a URL and how to use the school research database, Nebraska Access. Grade 5 is also reviewing Nebraska Access. Grade 8 has been discussing best practices for their high school research and how AI impacts online research. 

Thank you to the following students and their families who donated a book to the library in honor of their birthdays: Cici Margo, Julia Luetkenhaus, Aidan Witter, Ethan Manyimo, Madi Gregory, Noah Johnsen, Eliza Yeboah, Charlie Collington and Porter Pyle.

Music - Mrs. LeMense P - 5

The biggest news:
All of our 3rd and 4th graders will present their concert on Thursday, February 27!
Mark your calendars!

The 5th graders are working on expanding their note ranges on their recorders.
We’re working on the C Major Scale.  
You will hear them play in church from time to time.  

Our 2nd graders learned about their breathing muscle, the diaphragm. They also got to see what vocal cords look like. 
(We were all pretty grossed out but fascinated at the same time!)

The 1st graders are headed to the Omaha Symphony Orchestra concert in February - the program is called “Mission Imagination”.
We’ve been learning the names of the many instruments in the families of Brass, Woodwinds, Strings, and Percussion!

Kindergartners are singing songs about winter and will begin work for their April show soon!

Music - Ms. Campbell 6 - 8

6th graders are diving into their pop opera projects! They are creating a mini “opera” with 5 songs that help tell the stories they have created. Using the songs and accompaniment from Quaver music, they will eventually present their creations to their class!

7th graders will be starting their music technology unit. After they completed a music creation webquest, they will create ringtones for themselves. It was fun talking to them about the history of the cell phone. 

8th graders are in the midst of their “Careers in Music” unit. They have been exploring various careers in music. We just finished learning about owning music stores and music production companies. The next jobs we will be learning about will be radio DJs and singing/songwriting. 

Next quarter, all classes will be learning about and using classroom instruments to close out the year.

PE - Mrs. Conry

I would be surprised if you have not heard of GaGa Ball and how much fun it is to play! The students really enjoyed it and were engaged. The game is played in an octagon or hexagon shaped pit. We made our own pit by using 8-foot tables and placed them in an octagon shape. The more players you have involved, the better. The game is played with a soft ball and is a gentler version of dodgeball. The game uses the skills of striking, jumping, running, and dodging all while attempting to hit the other players with the ball below the knee. It was fun to watch the different classes play the game.

We had a wellness Wednesday during January with different stations set up. Station 1 was jumping rope, hoping to build up endurance. Station 2 was a ball toss on scooters, hoping to work their legs. Station 3 was hula hoops to get their core in motion. Station 4 was a running station. Station 5 was a curl-up and push up station. It was a different and fun way to work on specific areas of their bodies.

Lastly, we played a few days of scooter tag with noodles, which was fun and kept the classes moving throughout the gym.

PE - Mr. Boone

K-6 January is one of my favorite months in terms of what we do in class. This has been traditionally the month where we do gymnastics and parkour.  During this month, the students focused on three main areas: 1. Balance and Strength, 2. Jumping and Landing Skills, and 3. Weight Transfer. For the first area, the students worked on balancing either on one foot, their hands, their heads, and on beams and bars. Whether it was running through an obstacle course for parkour or staying stationary on the mats, balance and strength was a primary focus during this unit. The next area was jumping and landing skills. Students learned the proper way to jump and land in order to protect their joints. They were told to try and land like a cat where you couldn't hear them land. Jumps such as a straddle, pike, tuck, heel click, 360 degrees, and banana were just a few that we worked on. We also worked on our landings when we jumped off boxes during the parkour portion. Lastly was the weight transfer. The students were able to see and understand how they can transfer their body weight from part of their body to another with activities such as a log roll, forward roll, egg roll, bear walk, crab walk, hand stands, cartwheels, and round offs.  

Spanish 2nd-4th - Mrs. McDermott

Students in 4th grade Spanish are learning the four seasons in Spanish: el otoño (Fall), el invierno (Winter), la primavera (Spring), and el verano (Summer). They are also practicing the months of the year by reciting what months occur in each season. Soon we will be talking about the weather in each month and season.

Students in 3rd grade Spanish are learning the names of over 35 animals. They are having lots of fun talking about their favorite (and non favorite) animals. They are using Me gusta (I like) and No me gusta…..(I don’t like.) Example: Me gusta el gato grande y negro=I like the big and black cat. They will be drawing and writing about these animals with a color and some other adjectives.

Students in 2nd grade Spanish are learning the names of family members. They are also learning how to identify feminine and masculine words. Most feminine words end with the letter “a” and have the article “la” (the) before the word. Most masculine words end with the letter “o” and have the article “el” (the) before the word.

Spanish  5th-8th - Mrs. Singh

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!  Happy New Year!  

All students have a fresh start for the new year and second semester!  

All grade levels of Spanish classes are asked to write the date and an entry given to them each class in their notebook. A few notebooks have gone missing… students can replace their notebook or use loose leaf paper in a binder.

I'm hoping to ask a favor of you… if you email me with any questions, please let me know which homeroom your student is in.  

5th grade students are learning about 22 Spanish speaking countries. We will learn what region and continent they are located in, what is the capital city, and which currency they use. Each student will also select one country to research 10 interesting facts… ask your student which country they are researching!

6th grade students are expanding their knowledge of “Calendar” information.

In addition to practicing days of the week and months of the year, we are learning the seasons and weather terms. Our culminating activity for this unit will be a weather report for a Spanish speaking country. Some students were shocked to find out that Christmas is a summer holiday for countries south of the equator!

7th grade students completed their unit about body parts by acting out a short skit.

One student said that a body part was hurting. Their partner gave them a suggestion of what they could do to feel better.

Our next unit is about breakfast foods! We will discuss foods eaten at home vs. what is often eaten for breakfast in Spanish speaking countries.

8th grade students have been learning Sports vocabulary. Most students had not heard of Jai Alai… a sport that originated in Spain, from the Basque country.

In addition to sports vocabulary, we have learned subject pronouns and present tense verb conjugations. Since we have been missing the snow…we made “copos de nieve” (paper snowflakes) and decorated them with the 6 verb conjugations.  Let it snow! 

¡Gracias!