News

Students in Pre-K through Grade 8 sang Christmas Carols and told the story of the birth of Jesus Christ at ACS Annual Christmas concert. The terrific show was directed by music teacher, Miss Anna Lawrence and Mrs. Melanie Lawrence. All in attendance agreed the performance was a great way to kick off the holiday season and the children truly enjoyed entertaining the packed auditorium. The school staff did an amazing job, and the Christmas songs, the costumes and the true message of Christmas all came through. The show concluded with Rev. Ivan Turyk, Pastor and School Administrator of Assumption School in Perth Amboy, NJ thanking all of the teachers involved and wishing all a blessed and Merry Christmas.

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Just about this time of the year for the at least the last 15 years, students of ACS in grades 6 through 8 gather together for a very special Christmas luncheon. The luncheon is a culmination of research and hard work.

Students researched Christmas season traditions that take place around the world. This year they researched their own ethnic traditions, learning where some of their own family traditions possibly started. As a team groups prepared a poster that included special events of the Christmas season that take place in the particular countries they studied. Students then played the part of travel agents, sharing the reasons to visit their country for the Christmas season. Some shared actual music that they used to entertain their visitors.

After being evaluated by teachers and guest judges everyone sat down for a smorgasbord of food that would be found on a Christmas table. They enjoyed each other’s company, as well as maybe finding a new food to add to their own menu at home. Desserts ended the afternoon with all students taking away memories that will remain with them in the years to come.

Mrs. Billy’s fifth grade and Mr. Wythe’s sixth grade homerooms have collaborated on a Church calendar project for religion class. Fifth and sixth graders were placed in groups and asked to research a season of the Church calendar. These seasons included Great Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, and Theophany.

Each group has presented their findings on the season on a small 8 x 11” flyer. Each flyer contains the dates the season r…uns from and until, the reason for each Liturgical season, the obligations of Ukrainian Catholic Christians, and the Liturgical color in the Ukrainian Catholic tradition. These flyers will be collected and placed on a poster board with a Church clock to remind the students which season we are in. The student’s own research will serve to explain each slice of the Church clock.

The children at ACS have plenty of choices when it comes to after school activities. Our 7th grade teacher Mrs. Vattelana brought the new sport activity to the school and is the coach of the cup stacking team. Cup stacking, or speed stacking, involves stacking and unstacking 12 plastic cups in a certain sequence as quickly as possible. Students race against the clock for faster times and race against each other in relays.

What do ACS students do during lunch on the cold winter days? Keep busy and have fun!  Some of our students have taken advantage of the new board games and enjoy a good chess match.  Other students  decide they want to draw and make Christmas cards. And a group of first graders think they can beat Mrs. Shumny at Connect Four!  All at ACS eat a healthy lunch and take a well deserved break and play with some classmates.  Hopefully it won’t be a long winter but for now ACS is enjoying some friendly competition.

First graders have been learning a lot about the birth of Jesus, and the real reason why we celebrate Christmas during religion class. Students learned that Advent is the time when we wait and prepare for our Savior. They made Advent wreaths, and now know the meanings of the four candles. They also enjoyed making candy canes and learning about how they represent Jesus.

What a busy day December 15th has been! Assumption Catholic School students had an engaging itinerary filled with learning and fun! The entire school attended a Science Day at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. The trip was organized by grade level and each science lab was developed based on that grade’s science focus. Grades six through eight enjoyed their 3D printing science lab and were able to take away basic commands and the imp…ortant concepts related to programming and creating. Pre-kindergarten through second grade enjoyed learning about the sun and the water cycle. Third and fourth grade were able to plot the temperature readings for different countries around the world and determine the climate of each using and interpreting the data collected. It was a rewarding learning experience. Thank you to the parents who chaperoned, the teachers who planned and followed the itineraries, students who behaved so well and of course to the Liberty Science Center for hosting our first whole school science day. This is just the beginning of our science initiative… Stay tuned for more ACS Science discovery and innovation.

 

The sixth grade class is working hard! They are an extremely busy group of students. In Religion they worked in groups and created each season of The Church Calendar. In Language Arts they have started a new unit on Science Fiction writings. In Math … rigorous as usual… they are using and constructing scale models! Social Studies the study of India is completed and they are extremely engaged starting the topic of Ancient China. And as a reward this week they baked Christmas cookies. Our sixth grade class has incredible energy and curiosity and Mrs. Shumny is proud of their hard work and efforts.

This week was a very busy week for the Class of 2018. They celebrated their last Saint Nicholas Day at ACS on Wednesday, followed by the day they have been waiting for since September. After Divine Liturgy on Friday they received their class ring. They were so excited on their way to church that it almost seemed as if they were floating on air!

When Liturgy was finished Father Ivan spoke to the class on the symbolism of the ring and Mrs. Shumny, our principal, congratulated them on their accomplishment. The ceremony was followed by a celebratory light breakfast. After spending some time with their parents they returned to school where they went to each class to have the teachers and students turn their ring for luck.

As the year continues we know that the Class of 2018 will continue to lead by good example. Time will pass all too quickly and in the blink of an eye it will be time to say farewell to this outstanding class. Until then we look forward to watching the Class of 2018 continue grow reflect Jesus in their daily routines, and hope that they continue to make wonderful memories that will follow them into the next chapter of their lives.