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Saint Bridget School
832 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702

Phone: (508)875-0181
Fax: (508)875-9552

Proudly Accredited by:
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)

Principal's Dec, 2009 Letter

Dec. 7, 2009

December 7 , 2009

Dear Parents:

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”   is our prayer in this season of Advent.  We, as Christians, are reminded that this is the time to prepare our hearts to welcome Christ in a very special way on His birthday.   Each Thursday morning at 8:00 am the St. Bridget School community gathers for a brief prayer service to light an Advent candle.  We pray, we sing, and we praise God.  Our children are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas and that peace, love, and generosity are virtues we should live by always. Please join us!

 Last week the students in grades 3-8 received the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as we do each Advent season.

News:

1. St. Bridget School is pleased to announce that we are opening a 3 year old program for the 2010 – 2011 school year.  Children who are 3 years old by September 1^st and potty trained are eligible.  Options for this program will be Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 – 11:00 am.  For more information contact Jennifer Ryan in Admissions.
2. The Physical Education teacher for grades 2-8, Rob Gomes, recently moved to Florida to pursue new job opportunities.  This week we were pleased to welcome Mrs. Dorothy Iaccarino to this position.
3. Today, December 7^th, St. Bridget School will host Jason Evert, an international speaker on chastity for 7^th and 8^th graders from St. Bridget,, St. Tarcisius, St. Paul School in Wellesley and Immaculate Conception School in Marlboro.  This speech is part of an Archdiocesan initiative to inform middle and high school students on the virtue of chastity before marriage.
4. Our Shamrock school spirit attire promotion was a huge success!  Thank you to all who have ordered tee shirts, sweatshirts, and pajama bottoms. I am excited to see them on the children.  Also, we are pleased to offer St. Bridget School Cinch Sacks – these are great for books, winter boots, dance clothes, sports attire and equipment etc.  These cinch sacks are available at school for $12.00.  There is a limited number so HURRY! 

             
          St. Bridget School invites you to attend our Christmas programs:

           Grades 4 and 5   Wednesday, December 16              7:00 pm  School Hall
                          “Good News”          
          Grades K1 – 3   Thursday, December 17    1:00 pm  School Hall
                          “The Stable Where Jesus Was Born”

 Please join us on Tuesday, December 22^nd at 10:15 am in St. Bridget Church for our annual Advent Prayer Service before we leave for Christmas vacation.

 

Did You Know:

1. Our virtue for the month of December is GENEROSITY.  Our children learn about generosity from you - their wonderful, generous parents.  Your gifts of time, talent, and treasure are second to none.  Thank you for setting this example and we will continue the path you set.
2. Our coin collection for our sister school in Haiti continues to move along.  To date we have collected $710.28 for L’Ecole du Village.  The children happily bring their pig banks to my office and enjoy putting the coins in the jar I have for that purpose.  Thank you for assisting with this project.
3. Congratulations to former SBS students who were recently inducted into the National Honor Society at Marian High School:  Rob Enge, Taylor Sager, Slava Pysak, Alexandra Erath, Maureen Ryan and Emma Hazen! 
4. Students in Grades 1-8 all have the opportunity to change classes at some point during the day, or week.
5. One eighth grader, Sahit Mandala, was recently honored by The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth with an Exceptional Talent Award for achieving a score of 730 in the SAT before the age of 13.  Congratulations!!!
6. The first grade is using Venn diagrams and graphs in math and will be conducting a cookie survey.  They have begun a “Festival of Lights” unit – a cross curricular unit of religion and social studies where children will explore different holidays of other religions and nations. 
7. The 5^th Grade has been preparing “Christmas Around the World”.  The students will present the Advent Prayer Service on December 22^nd. Featured will be Christmas traditions from around the world, and from those of the United States as well.
8.  In science the third grade will be exploring simple machines and how they help us with our daily work.  To wrap up their social studies unit on different types of communities the children will be creating pictorials of urban, suburban, and rural communities. 
9.  Students in Middle School science classes have finished tests on their current units and will be changing into new textbooks for the next topics. Eighth grade will begin a study of the basics of Chemistry to prepare for further study next year in high school. Seventh grade will begin a detailed study of Genetics both in the text and on multiple  Gizmo computer games. Grade 6 will begin studying what goes on under the Earth. After Christmas, all three grades will be introduced to the whole Science Fair system and students will begin choosing topics. They will have approximately 12 weeks until the Fair to work on those projects. It is always a highlight of the year for both students and their teachers.
10.  Our 6^th grade language arts students have just finished reading Nothing but the Truth, by Avi.  The culminating project will be a debate on the topic of “Freedom.”  They have also been studying nouns and have created collages of common and proper nouns.

Seventh grade students have been studying the life of Mark Twain, and they have finished reading the unabridged version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  Students will be writing childhood stories using Twain’s style as a model.

In 8^th grade religion, students are studying the history of the Church.  They are also preparing for their 8^th grade retreat, which will be on December 18^{th .} at the Marian Retreat Center in Medway.  For Advent, 6^th grade students are writing essays reflecting on the past and looking toward the future; 7^th grade is writing Christmas stories and poems; and students in 8^th grade religion are writing Christmas cards and notes, as well as short essays about many of the symbols of Christmas.

11.   From MS Social Studies:  Grade 6 will celebrate their unit on Greece with a Greek feast on December 17^th and take part in a Macedonian Phalanx on December 18^th with Bob Ryan.  

          Grade 7 just finished studying Latin America and for their culminating activity they made fabulous board games and they played one another’s games.

Grade 8 finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird and the culminating activities will be debates and drawing life size characters with character analyses.

11. Our Annual Fund appeal is underway.  Please watch the mail for your envelope and consider making a contribution to this important campaign that helps sustain the life of our school. If you feel a grandparent or other family member would like an envelope please contact Anne-Marie Gagnon, ext. 224.
12. The second graders will be celebrating Christmas Around the World.  The children will learn about other countries, their traditions and how they celebrate Christmas.  They will have a Christmas luncheon and will demonstrate how they are outstanding caregivers by doing good deeds throughout the Christmas season.
13.  The K1 Class is anxiously awaiting Christmas. The class is busy making Advent wreaths, decorating gingerbread men and stockings for the bulletin boards outside our room. The children learned the Nativity Story and we set up a Nativity scene and Christmas tree in our room. The letters for the next two weeks are J and K.  Merry Christmas from all of us in K1!

 

CIA’s for December:
KM    Isabelle Lucien        2B     Entire Class
2B      Matthew Dutile       6Z      Sarah Lucien
2B      Nikko Vittoratos

 
As we continue our Advent journey and await the birth of the Christ Child we are continually bombarded by the secular images presented to us each day.  Here at St. Bridget School our wish is to keep Christ alive at Christmas.  The children are taught that Christmas is Christ’s birthday and therefore the celebration.

 On behalf of the faculty and staff of St. Bridget School I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

God Bless You,

 Mrs. Roseanne Mungovan

Principal

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