The Spirit - May 2025
As this school year comes to an end, we reflect on how quickly the months have passed and gratefully acknowledge what a privilege it has been to teach these very special children. The boys and girls have worked very hard this year in kindergarten, we are proud of each and every one of them! The students have diligently remembered so many of the SFDS Life Skills; effort-in trying their best, initiative, by doing what needed to be done, as well as growing in their commitment to, and understanding of the St. Francis de Sales School-wide Learning Expectations.
Our year working with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd religion studies has been joyfully rewarding and continues to leave us humbled by the profound influence this invaluable curriculum has on boys and girls. As the children work in the Atrium each week, we witness the building of their personal relationship with God and each child forming their own way of expressing their faith.
The boys and girls enjoyed a close and fulfilling relationship with each other. Truly living the St. Francis Life Skill of friendship, making, and keeping friends through mutual trust and caring; we know the children will forever remember the many special times spent together.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Earth Day Projects! Your projects were so creative! Congratulations to our winners: Layla Cabanillas, Zoey Lacson-Dizon and Julie Vasquez- Castillo. Wonderful job! We are so proud of you!
Also, we are proud of all our students for the wonderful stories they wrote and illustrated for the PBS Go Writers Contest this year. Well done everyone! Congratulations to our first-place winner Layla Cabanillas!
A big thank you to Mr. Cruz for such a wonderful performance. The children sang so beautifully, and their parents were so proud!
We appreciate all the parents and students who enthusiastically participated in the Fun Run, helping us reach our goal, a fantastic achievement that we celebrated with a pizza party with dance and dressed as our favorite characters.
This year’s May Crowning was truly beautiful; the singing and prayerful reverence is always an inspiration. The boys’ and girls’ hearts are always filled with love for our Mother Mary. We know she continues to intercede and watch over us all.
Once again, the St. Francis de Sales Field Day was a huge success. The snacks were so yummy, and the games were great fun! The kindergarteners enthusiastically spent the day happily playing together, enjoying each other’s company, and cheering each other on!
Many thanks, also, to all our Kindergarten parents for their willingness to help whenever we asked throughout this year, most importantly by supporting their child’s learning with conscientious reinforcement at home.
It’s amazing how quickly this year has flown by! In The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium, we are learning about Jesus’ resurrection, the parables, the Paschal candle, and Pentecost. Our May altar is beautiful! Many of our Life Skill and Ethics lessons remind us of the examples that Jesus and the saints have given us. We are almost finished writing and illustrating our Life Skills. Bible stories, literature books, and classroom discussions have helped teach the importance of putting these character traits into action. Conflict Resolution lessons continue to assist us in reviewing appropriate, kind behavior and following The Golden Rule. We had such wonderful time learning about Argentina! Additionally, everyone worked extremely hard on their stories and illustrations for PBS Young Writers and Illustrators contest.
Scripture and literature stories are some of the ways we make connections to our Life Skills. Some of our favorite books that make life skills real to us are: The Last One In is a Rotten Egg! (Patience), Paca and the Beetle (Sense of Humor and Common Sense), Chicken Sunday (Perseverance, Problem Solving, and Friendship).
We are having such a great time exploring IPad activities! We love Freckle, IXL, and Seesaw! Our Math skills are expanding our knowledge of 2-digit addition and subtraction, geometry, fractions, money, and time. Social Studies lessons taught us about cultures and traditions. We learned a lot about Earth and creation in Science. Our class loves our explorations in the STREAM Lab. We made anemometers while learning about the weather. We also explored magnets. It was amazing exploring Life Cycles in Science. Our butterflies came out of their chrysalis and flew away to find a new home.
As we continue to practice the writing process with the Jane Schaffer method, our skills continue to increase. First Graders are awesome readers, as well! The Accelerated Reading Program helped us improve comprehension and fluency! During the spring AR points continue to soar as we work toward meeting our new reading goals. Our class has taken over 1390 AR quizzes with an average reading level of 2.0 (Second Grade). Congratulations! Keep reading. Since the last newsletter, the following students have earned awards:
Super Reader (15 points) Passed by all students.
Advanced Reader (20 points): James Chaidez, Alina Davey, Jacob Garcia, Victoria Garcia, Eli Gougeon, Kasen Hernandez, Winry Isanan, Sebastian Lucero, and Fiona Santibanez
Over 30 points: Kasen Hernandez
Over 40 points: Miles Mariani and Ella Tobin
Star Reader (50 points): Miranda Sotuyo, Ella Tobin, and Miles Mariani
Over 60 points: Miranda Sotuyo
The month of May is filled with educational lessons, community events, and traditions that we all treasure! We shared Mass booklets written by our Prayer Pals and bid them farewell. They have been an inspiration to us. Field Day activities are anxiously anticipated and enjoyed by all of us! The May Crowning is a custom we all look forward to. It is truly a joyous way to honor our Blessed Mother. We also enjoyed the Spring Music Concert and Field Day.
Additionally, it is a blessing teaching each and every one of my students. I am so proud of all of you. Many thanks to our spectacular room parents, Mrs. Porucznik and Mrs. Salazar, and all the dedicated First Grade parents, for helping us make this a terrific year. I am grateful to have such a tremendous amount of parental participation and support in all our activities!
The end of the year is here, and I cannot believe how fast the time flew! This year has been filled with so much learning, good memories to cherish, and friendships that will continue to blossom. Each child in my classroom has worked so hard and I could not be any prouder of them. Thank you parents for your role as the primary educator in your child’s life and continuing to show positivity for education. It has been a wonderful year and I truly thank you all for your support and kind words of appreciation. We are finishing Second Grade strong to be ever more prepared for Third Grade in the fall!
Here is what we have been working on in the last two months of school!
In Math, we just finished our chapter on counting money! We really enjoyed making change and finding out who in class had the most money. In Reading, we just finished Unit 16 of Superkids. Currently, our Superkids are getting ready for the parade float from the contest they had won, with a special visit from Golly! We knew he couldn’t be lost forever! We are very sad to know that this is our last year having the Superkids series. But, we know that we are ready for the challenging reading texts in Third Grade! We enjoyed singing the ‘Superkids Song’ from our readers, over and over and over again! In Writing, we have been busy Decoding the Prompt in our Jane Schaffer Writing Program. We know and understand that the prompt is the direction for the paragraph. Our current writing prompt is explaining the rules to our favorite outdoor game, like Hide and Seek or Duck, Duck, Goose and explaining why the rules are important. We really enjoyed Writing this year, especially with our colored pencils and fun chants!
In Science, we just finished our chapter on sound and how it travels. It has been fascinating to learn about the different pitches and tones different objects can have. Soon, we’ll be learning about technology in the real world. In Social Studies, we just finished our unit on Economics. We learned about what a producer and consumer are, as well as how to budget money. We have loved our Classroom Economy and being responsible for our own money! It is fun learning about money this way and earning money to spend later in the classroom!
We have finally received the Sacrament of Communion! We have been preparing our hearts, soul, mind, and body for this blessed day. We know that Jesus is with us now and will continue to be with us forever. We are feeling beyond excited because we get to join our school family in receiving the Body of Jesus. Our lights are glowing brightly and our hearts are lifted high! Our favorite song is a tie between “Behold” and “The Butterfly Song” because we know that each song talks about how much Jesus is with us.
We are loving our novel, “The Wild Robot” in which the main character Roz has many situations that she must overcome. We like to predict and help solve her situation before the end of the chapter. This has made reading the book so enjoyable for us! It is the best way to end our day.
The Accelerated Reading program in my class this year has truly been a wonderful experience. The students are avid readers and truly have a passion for reading! To date, we have taken and passed 2,141 AR quizzes and gained a classroom total of 1,139.7 AR points! Amazing!! Below are the students who have earned their award:
Advanced Readers: (20 points +) Angel-Lynn Cantiberos, Eve Cretin, Violet Denton, Ellie Freeman, Aliza Gagne, Alondra Garcia, Sarah Garcia, Giorgio Jarrous, Liam Miles, Atlas Pascual, Kaliope Rosales, Reina Ruvalcaba, Rilynn Shows, Liberty Springer, Caleb Vargas, and Adan Wandling
Star Readers: (50 points +) Makayla Bass, Olivia Byrd, Vey Cohen, Zoe Espinosa, Olivia Hernandez, Calvin Marshall, Reese Porucznik, and Bella Romero, and Daniel Stephensen
Classic Readers: (100 points +) Oliver Harger with 220 earning Jr. AR Wall of Fame
Parents, thank you so much for the opportunity to trust me in teaching your child each day. I have enjoyed each and every one of my students. They each hold a special place in my heart. I appreciate all of your continued support throughout the year and wish that you and your families have a wonderful summer break. I look forward to seeing you all in August!
Always with lots of love,
Mrs. Banks❤️
Happy May! Third Grade has been busy this spring and we are excited to share all the wonderful things that have been happening in our classroom.
Thank you to students who participated in our Earth Day Projects this year! Creativity shined bright with submitted projects. Congratulations to all winners. Remember to do your part in protecting our Earth.
We are excited to come together in the beautiful May Crowning ceremony in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a very special way to show our love for Mary during this special month dedicated to her. We have also been joining our SFDS family in the mornings to pray the Rosary. We continue to grow in reverence. Praying the Rosary has been a peaceful and faith-filled moment of each morning.
We have recently finished reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Students learned about friendship and problem solving. A recent spring highlight was students doing research on a historical person and then writing a biography. Students came to school dressed as their assigned person to present their findings. We had presidents, athletes, authors, scientists, and more! The creativity and effort was amazing to see.
AR Reading
Advanced Reader (20+ points): Harrison Blackwood, Fatima Diaz, Amiah Hernandez, Noe Lizaola, Ayana Nunez, Cara Reyes, Brayden Sarmiento, Ariana Valencia, Nikolai Wright
Bronze Star Reader (50+ points): Abel Anaya, Joaquin Arguelles, Leonardo Cabanillas, Angel Duarte, Joshua Garcia, Ivy Mariani, Zoey Mariani, Gabriel Martinez, Agatha Medina-Cuadrado, Johnathon Mitchell, Gavry Reyes, Gabriel Salazar-Garcia, Colin Sarmiento, Emmett Soriano, Daniel St. James
Silver Star Reader (100+ points): Alexander Flagg, Mabel Ibarra, Jayden Solano
We can hardly wait for our field trip to the Lion Habitat! Students are counting down the days. We are excited to see the animals and learn more as explorers. It will be a wonderful opportunity for hands-on learning!
The Third Grade is excited for summer break. We are almost Fourth Graders and can hardly wait. We wish the graduating 8th grade class a wonderful future full of love and opportunities. We wish them the very best as they move up to high school. We pray that God blesses them in all they do! We also want to congratulate our Kindergarten class on completing their first year of school!
What a wonderful year we have had! As the summer approaches we are looking back over the year and remembering all the great lessons we have shared. Our faith has grown as we learned more about Jesus and the traditions of the Catholic Church. We continue to celebrate Easter joy as we await the celebration of Pentecost. We are learning to recognize the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we shall continue to focus on our gifts as the church moves into the season of Ordinary Time this summer. We especially enjoyed presenting the Drama Ministry skit. Mr. Blaskey brings the Bible stories to life for us with his great plays. Lifeskills are easy to recognize in the characters from the dramas. In addition, lifeskills always come up in the many stories we read, as well as in the everyday events in our lives. We are learning to be more patient and compassionate and joyful through the examples all around us.
Our biggest joy this spring was the birth of our baby chicks! They are very entertaining! Their size should almost double during the time we have them as they go from balls of fluff to birds with wing and tail feathers. Fourth grade is always happy to share our pets with all who want to visit them, just as any other proud parent would be!
In Math we will be finishing up the year working with a challenging unit on decimals. We will continue to add, subtract, multiply, and divide these numbers and explore the many types of figures in geometry before the end of the year. Please remember to practice these math skills over the summer!
In Reading we recently finished the novel Bud, Not Buddy, which has turned out to be a class favorite. Bud is an inspiration as he keeps a positive attitude while enduring some pretty tough situations. His kindness and perseverance combine to make him someone we would like to have as a friend. We will start reading The Summer of Riley, as a boost into summer reading. Hopefully everyone will enroll in the Summer Reading Program offered at all the local libraries. Barnes and Nobel and Pizza Hut both offer reading rewards as well! There are so many wonderful stories to read over the summer and you can be rewarded for enjoying a good book so keep reading!
New AR Award Winners
These students have earned enough points to move up to the next level, Congratulations!
POWER READERS 30 Point
Emily Liao
STAR READERS 50 Point
Kinley Ferreira
Mia Garner
Delilah Uribe
SCHOLARLY READERS 75 Points
Saraiah Carambas
Blaire Davey
Cash Delgado
Leo Garcia
Isabella Lauria
Gracie McCaleb
Clara Shevorski
Kiani St. James
OUTSTANDING READER 200 Points!
Lara Santos
Erlise Saraste
Everett Ware
Beyond the Wall Readers
Luke Perez- 375 points
Rebecca Rickert- 730 points
Field day, the Seventh Grade Barbecue, the May Crowning, were all events that we enjoyed very much. It is such a blessing to be a part of a school that celebrates family, community, and excellence together with such joy. The children love having their parents participate in school traditions and these special days enrich our lives by making us proud of each other and St. Francis de Sales School.
In Religion, we learned that after Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, he instructed his Apostles to continue his work through the church he founded. Jesus gave his Apostles the Holy Spirit and instituted the Sacrament of Penance before his Ascension into Heaven. We were amazed to learn that after receiving the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spoke in tongues to a crowd of three thousand people. They were so moved by Peter’s words, that they were all Baptized that same day.
In Reading, we completed all the stories in the Journeys hardcover book, and are now reading fun stories from the Journeys magazine. We love taking spelling tests and can’t wait to see how much easier these review tests will be. At least, we hope they will be easier. All of us are excited to complete reading The Secret Garden and take the 13 point AR on it! We are also looking forward to watching the movie and eating some of Mrs. Taubert’s scones with jam and clotted cream.
In Math, we completed all the chapters on fractions. We have begun the chapter on multiplying decimals. Many of us find this so easy, we hope to all achieve a 100 on the test, so we get the extra recess Mrs. Taubert promised us. Every morning, there are a few new math examples on the board that aren’t in the book. They are helping us be ready for 6th Grade Math. We love enriching our Math skills using IXL as a fun supplement.
After completing the chapter on the American Revolution, we played a review game. It really helped! Most of us earned an A! We are amazed at how courageous our forefathers and foremothers were. They fought for our freedom both in the field and on paper, creating the Declaration of Independence. We will be learning about “taxation without representation” using an interactive activity.
Now in Science, we just completed a unit on matter. We learned all about the changes that take place and were fascinated by the experiment we watched on Generation Genius. We also made slime that showed how matter changes. In a break from matter, we made parachutes using peeps as the “guinea pig”. Most of them landed beautifully. The best part though was eating the leftover peeps. We will end the year with a lesson on sound and light energy. The fact that grasshoppers have their “ears” on their stomach was astonishing! We watched a video on the loudest sound believed to be in human history. The volcano eruption on the island of Krakatoa in 1883 that was felt over 2000 miles away, and changed the weather around the world for more than a year. Nature is awesome, and scary at the same time. We love all the STREAM labs we’re doing in the lab and in class. Our latest is seeing how matter (Oreos) changes in different liquids. Hope there are some leftovers for us to eat!
The Following Students have Advanced in A/R:
Super: Caleb Reyes
Advanced: Leslie Abarca Star: Montserrat Carrillo-Fierro, Gunner Ellis, Amy Estrada, Leah Murguia
Classic: Kaydence Lauria, Emma Nunez, Journey Richardson, Audrey Shevorski
We continue practicing our Life Skills everyday, especially Patience, Common Sense, and Initiative.
As we round the corner toward the end of the school year, 6th grade is gearing up for final study time to increase their academic success. With two weeks in row of noon dismissal in May, students will have to make good use of their time at home to prepare and study. Additionally, we have many fun activities on the horizon! We had a wonderful time at both our 7th grade barbeque and the field trip to the movies to learn about Saint Carlos. Thank you to all the parents who are able to help celebrate and decorate our classroom Mary by sending flowers for the May Crowning next week! Also, students are excited for Field Day on the 9th!! In the 3rd week, we celebrate summer birthdays and have our final Prayer and Flag Ceremony. With so much happening, we are grateful for the blessings of our school and the friendships that we cultivate as time goes on!
Regarding AR goals: Students, let’s keep the momentum going in maintaining your goals and end the year strong!
Advanced: (20+) Joseph Garcia and Chase Reyes
Star:(50+) Charlz Abboud, Sango Akoh, Chrystina Canteberos, Julian Diaz, Gavina Diaz-Carpenter, Aurora Ellis, Eloy Espejo-Dominguez, Colton Gardiner, Natalie Guerrero, Jacob Ibarra, Van Kirk, Esmeralda Luna, Terrance O’Donnell, and Sophia Ramirez
Classic: (100+) Brielle Angeles, Rikki Banyai, Dean Ingram, Avalon Lambert, Frances Leveck, Ian Lopez, Roosevelt Mee, Avery Nunez, Rafael Ruvalcaba, Mateo Tapia-Zamora, Miguel Villegas, and Isabel Zepeda
Science: Thank you to students who participated in the Earth Day Projects! Currently, they are learning about the Excretory and Digestive Systems. They are finding it interesting and making connections on how our body functions and all the systems work together.
English: In English, students are reviewing singular, plural, and collective nouns. While students covered these ideas at the beginning of the year, reinforcement for critical components are always suggested.
Religion: We have completed the five units in the Family Life series. We learned how God gives gifts of family, self, life, love, & community. This is an ongoing series, and I look forward to seeing how students mature and grow next year as we will tackle the same ideas, but with different content!
Reading: Students are currently reading the book, “The Giver.” This is an extraordinary novel that will give student much to think about and discuss.
Social Studies: After finishing up the Ancient China and Greece modules, we are delving into the exciting era of the Romans! From Gladiators to architects, this is such a monumental and interesting unit.
Math: While some students are learning about different symbols for Algebra; the other students are learning formulas for area, volume, and perimeter.
With all of that…It is hard to believe that our Sixth graders are almost 7th graders! Hopefully, they have put into practice the study suggestions we have been emphasizing, as next year goes very quickly and the workload is sure to increase. Again, organization skills, time management, and preparedness will ensure a smoother transition for them for next year!
So, another year has come and gone; the past month for the seventh grade has been very exciting. We appreciate all of your support. We enjoyed a wonderful field day, thank you, Mrs. V for setting up an exciting Field Day for us this year.
In Reading we just finished our story on the “Triangle Factory Fire” which was a devastating tragedy in the history of New York City, but as a result laws were formed and the foundation of New York State’s Industrial Code, is the finest in the nation. Soon other states enacted protective labor laws as well.
In English we finished learning about the principal parts of verbs. Some of the areas were transitive and intransitive verbs, along with simple, progressive and perfect tenses of verbs. We are currently wrapping up our argumentative essay on animal abuse laws using the Jayne Schafer Writing program.
Our Life Skills have helped the class to grow into more informed and thoughtful students this year. Being challenged to display traits such as tolerance, and initiative, among many others, can be difficult. Through many of our discussions, the students were provoked into thinking about how using those skills can help them daily.
We are very proud of one of our classmates, Audrey Ware, who took first place in the state of Nevada in the American Scholastic Challenge. Congratulations, Audrey!
The Eighth Grade was profoundly touched by the movie Carlo Acutis. We all need to believe in ourselves and the impact that we CAN have on this world even as teenagers or young adults. Thank you, Mrs. Wilson, for allowing us the opportunity to see such an inspiring movie.
As our time draws to a close here at St. Francis de Sales, we are all very thankful for the life skills we have been taught throughout the years. The SLEs for St. Francis de Sales are our gateway to successful high school years as well as many years into our adulthood.
Thank you to all the Eighth-Grade students who committed themselves to patrol duty this past year. Enjoy your bowling trip to the Santa Fe lanes on May 14th.
In religion, we are currently on Family Life in the chapter on God and Community. We must never forget that God is a part of our life every minute.
In science, we are studying hydrocarbons, and then we will be studying the different types of waves to include seismic, radio, microwaves, and infrared waves.
In reading, we will be beginning the book The Cheat, and in English we are currently studying verbals and have just finished up our last argument essay on The Holocaust.
Both classes in math are studying polynomials to include factoring and operation with polynomials.
Star:(50+) Jayden Eugarrio
Classic: (100+)Sophia Allen, Marifer Alvarez, Ethan Anaya, Brendan Berkley, Cristel Claveria, Adrian Herrera, Alyssa Ibarra, Isabelle Khayat, Genevieve Lara, Jess Marchese Grace Medford, Timothy Neal, Vincenzo Perdichizzi, Lincoln Pilanca, Robbie Pistone, Aeris Quenery, Valentine Rivas-Torres, Alexander Rosales, Calista Sanchez, Mya Solano, Denae St. James, Kayla Tran, David Villanueva, Karyssa Wand, Audrey Ware, Fiona Wendelboe
The month of May is finally here. We have had a great year. I am so proud of all our students and how they have performed. We continue to learn how to stay active. Students have been working hard in all areas.
In PE we continued to do cardio and endurance. We worked on different stations, jumping rope, playing various games, and learning new games. We continue to do workouts, which involve some challenges.
We also had Field Day this month. Students always look forward to all the games and really enjoy themselves with the many games that are planned. We had water games again this year. It was a great time for all.
We are now in the All Catholic Schools Flag Flag Football Tournament and hope to have a great time!!
Stay active and stay safe!!
Mrs. Villanueva
National Junior Honor Society would like to thank everyone who supported our ice cream, pop tart, and pie fundraising sales. We truly appreciate your support. Next year will bring some different but yummy desserts and snacks to be served! Best wishes to our graduating 8th grade members, Cristel Claveria, Genevieve Lara, Grace Medford, Kayla Tran, Audrey Ware, and Fiona Wendelboe. Wishing everyone a very fun-filled and safe summer.
Dear Parents,
I hope you have enjoyed reading this month’s issue of The Spirit! As this month comes to an end, it is hard to believe that another school year is almost over. Yet here we are once again - wondering where the time has gone! The month of May has been filled with so many special events: Teacher Appreciation Week, 2nd and 8th Grade Retreats, First Holy Communion, Spring Concert, Patrols Bowling Field Trip, Field Day, May Crowning, our Final Prayer and Flag Ceremony, and our upcoming 8th Grade and Kindergarten Graduations.
This week, we say good-bye to the Class of 2025 at our Eighth Grade Graduation Mass which will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 21st. We are extremely proud of our Graduates. They have worked very hard this year and we wish them much happiness and success! We will also look forward to our Kindergarten Graduation on Thursday, May 22nd, where our Kindergarteners will cross the bridge and become “Big First Graders!”
As we come to the end of this school year, I wish to extend my appreciation to all of our St. Francis families for the support, cooperation, kindness, and friendship that you have graciously shared with our school community. Your generosity in helping in whatever way you could to make things better for our students is greatly appreciated. You are valued in ways that can never be diminished.
In addition, I would especially like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our WONDERFUL teachers and staff. They are truly dedicated professionals who are an endless source of inspiration! I am extremely grateful for their selfless service on behalf of the children of St. Francis.
At this time, plans for the next school year are in process. We are working on a variety of projects as we look forward to the 2025-2026 school year. Please note in the coming weeks we will be adding the 2025-2026 School Calendar, Student Supply Lists, and Reading Logs to our home page. All families who registered for the 2025-2026 school year will receive information in July. This will contain back to school information as well as various school forms for the new school year.
Please remember, our School Year will end on Friday, May 30th. The Trimester Awards Ceremony will take place immediately following Mass. All students will be dismissed at 10:30 AM. Please note: The After-School Program will be available through Friday, May 30th.
Wishing you all a safe and fun-filled summer!
Respectfully,
Carol Wilson
Principal