Elementary Newsletter

Learning and Growing at GACC

Dear GACC Parents and Families,

It has been wonderful to see our students settling into the school year and growing both academically and socially! As I walk through the classrooms and halls each day, I am especially encouraged by the confidence I am seeing in our students.

Boys Town Social Skills

Our Boys Town Social Skills are off to a great start! It is refreshing to see the confidence level of our students as I enter classrooms and walk through the halls. Our teachers have done a fabulous job teaching students how to greet others and introduce themselves. We will continue building on these skills by practicing appropriate greetings such as “Good Morning” and “Good Afternoon.”

These may seem like simple skills, but they are important ways for our students to show respect, kindness, and confidence. Our teachers are intentionally teaching these skills and giving students opportunities to practice them throughout the school day.

Our goal is to help our students become confident, respectful, compassionate Christian leaders who know how to communicate and interact positively with others.

Growing as Readers with Magnetic Literacy

Our students and teachers are also working hard with our new Magnetic Literacy curriculum. Magnetic Literacy is a comprehensive English Language Arts program that develops the many skills students need to become strong readers, writers, and thinkers. It incorporates instruction in phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, writing, grammar, and higher-order thinking skills.

I know that for many of our GACC families, Journeys was the reading series we used for approximately 15 years. Journeys served our students well, and changing to a new curriculum is a significant adjustment for both teachers and students. If Magnetic Literacy seems more challenging than what your child experienced with Journeys, please know that this is intentional and is connected to what we have learned through years of reading research.

Over the past several decades, researchers have learned much more about how children learn to read. The Science of Reading is not one particular curriculum or teaching method; rather, it is a large body of research from fields such as education, psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience. This research shows that strong readers need a combination of skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, vocabulary, fluency, language comprehension, and reading comprehension.

Magnetic Literacy reflects this research by intentionally building these skills while also providing students with opportunities to read meaningful texts, develop background knowledge, discuss what they are reading, write about their learning, and think deeply about text. In other words, we are not simply teaching students how to read words; we are helping them become readers who can understand, analyze, communicate, and think critically about what they read.

As with any new curriculum, there is a learning curve. Our teachers are working hard to understand the new resources, make thoughtful instructional decisions, and provide additional support and instruction when needed. We are committed to using Magnetic Literacy as a strong foundation while making sure we meet the individual needs of our students.

Our ultimate goal is simple: to give every GACC student the knowledge, skills, and confidence to become the best reader they can be.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we grow together academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Learning and Leading Through Christ,

Joyce Stalp
Interim Elementary Head of School
Guardian Angels Central Catholic

• 9/16: Ag Safety Day (Grades 1-4)
• 9/16: SPA Drive-Thru Dinner
• 9/17: Elementary Mass (8:10 AM)
• 9/17: 6th Grade Missoula Children's Theatre Assembly (Role With It) at WPBPS
• 9/21: Safe Environment Training on site (contact Renee Eames or the rectory for more information/pre-registration required) (6:00 - 8:00 PM)
• 9/22: 6th grade Conservation Day
• 9/23: EDGE Kickoff Pizza Party (7:00 - 8:30 PM)
• 9/24: Elementary Mass (8:10 AM)
• 9/24: Picture Retake Day
• 9/28-10/2: Homecoming Week (Be ready for some fun dress up days - info coming soon!)
• 9/30: Homecoming Tailgate
• 9/30: Family Night RSVP's due
• 10/2: All School Mass (8:50 AM)
• 10/6: Students may wear a pink shirt with uniform bottoms for $1.00 (more information below)

This can also be found on the Family Portal of FACTS!

Click School -> Resource Documents -> _____ Lunch Menu

These will be sent home! :)