News

The ACS Yearbook Committee under the direction of Mrs. Vattelana, is working hard to make the 2016-2017 yearbook the best one yet.  They have started their fundraising endeavors with an empanada sale. And it was a huge success. Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez for their assistance in making about 200 empanadas!

Catholic Schools Week starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, which in 2017 is January 29 – February 4.

Monday: Mis-Matched "Math" Monday
Dress-Down — MIS-MATCHED ATTIRE – contest, "Which class is the most mis-matched?"
Daily Activities will be focused around Math – all subjects will tie back into Math.
Math activities in am for grades 6-8 in auditorium (Mrs. Vattelana) and grades K to 2 in the afternoon (Miss Hucul), 3-5 (Mrs. Billy)
6-8 Nutritionist Guest Speaker.

Tuesday: Terrific Reading Tuesday
Eighth Graders will teach a lesson to Grades PK – 7
Each teacher will read (either book or excerpt) from their favorite book and share with the class.
Grades K – 3 Reading Across ACS Activities, Grades 3 – 5 Project Challenge in classrooms, Grades 6 – 8 Vocabulary Challenge in the afternoon (Shumny – Jeopardy style game).

Wednesday: Wacky "STEAM" Wednesday
ACS Science Symposium – projects will be displayed in each class and all lessons will lead back to Science – Science Literature, Science in Math etc,
K-4 working on science experiments to do together in am.

Thursday: Thoughtful, "Thumbs-up" Thursday
Focus on our Faith and our Community Project that is being worked on by grade group (PK-2 Mrs. D and Miss H coordinating= Nursing home prayer cards and crosses, 3-5 Mrs. Lawrence coordinating = Veterans, 6-8 Mrs. Pickering & Mrs. Vattelana coordinating = Police, Fire, EMS). We will be sending the Mayor and invite and plan on a theme of giving back to the Community as Christians and importance of kindness and responsibility to our Community.

Friday: Faith, Family and Fun Day!
8:45 a.m. Divine Liturgy with parents and families – children will sing the responses and show parents how beautifully we participate in Liturgy.
Parents will be invited to Continental breakfast at school and will visit each class and "be the student" for a period. In addition, parents will be able to appreciate student art work, science projects and literature projects and end the morning with a short ACS Video showcasing some of our graduates and pictures of each class. Our eighth graders are also collecting food for the food pantry sponsored by Good Shepard Parish in Perth Amboy.

Sunday: OPEN HOUSE
Parents and prospective preschool through grade eight students are invited to visit our school on Sunday, February 5th, from noon to 3:00 p.m. for the Open House. You will have the opportunity to tour the school and enjoy conversation with Principal and current students, who will be assisting with each tour. Registrations for the 2017-2018 school year, will be accepted at these sessions. It’s never too early to start thinking about giving your children the great gift of a Catholic education – one which is effective and affordable.

The Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on January 6. The Feast commemorates the Baptism of Christ and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity. At the Baptism of Christ at the river Jordan, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—were made manifest. During Theophany, people traditionally attend a prayer service… where the priest blesses regular water into holy water at the “Blessing of the Water” ceremony. This year, after the blessing of the water ceremony in the church, Fr. Ivan walked around the Assumption Catholic school with a small group of students and blessed each room with holy water and offered a blessing to students and staff. Father Ivan explained to children that Christ’s baptism in the Jordan was a “theophany,” a manifestation of God to the world, because it was the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. He also asked students various questions about Feasts of Christmas and Theophany and was very pleased by their answers.

Assumption Catholic School will join nearly 8,000 Catholic Schools across the nation in celebrating Catholic Schools Week. Parents and prospective preschool through grade eight students are invited to visit our school on Sunday, February 5th, from noon to 3:00 p.m. for the Open House. You will have the opportunity to tour the school and enjoy conversation with Principal and current students, who will be assisting with each tour. Reg…istrations for the 2017-2018 school year, will be accepted at these sessions. It’s never too early to start thinking about giving your children the great gift of a Catholic education – one which is effective and affordable! If you can’t make it to the OPEN HOUSE, feel free to call the School office and set up a tour with us at any time. Our principal is always more than happy to do a walk-through with you and answer all your questions! To receive more information about the school, call 732-826-8721 or visit www.assumptioncatholicschool.net

Kindergarteners at ACS have been reviewing what they have learned in science and math while watching the “toy” duck hatching. Duck hatched from the egg that was placed in the cold water and emerged from the shell in 72 hours.

Can you hear the loud and exciting reading coming from Kindergarten?  Yes, it’s December and not only are our Assumption Catholic School Kindergartners reading – they can identify the noun, adjective and verb in what they are reading! Impressive! And our first through sixth grade classes are also working hard and are into Unit 2  of the new reading program.  Students have learned and are using over 100 Amazing Words from their new Vocabulary to their everyday writing and into their daily speech. Teachers and parents have noticed better fluency when reading orally, an increase in reading comprehension and the exciting rigorous vocabulary. Our students are working hard and we thank our parents for supporting this new academic program! Let’s keep reading!

The sixth grade class has been learning how to interpret ancient civilization timelines in Social Studies class and the importance of understating them. This past week, they each created their own timelines!  Each student selected pictures and captions that captured key life events that they wanted to share with the class and designed their timeline using the key components studied in class. They presented their creation with accuracy and enthusiasm: way to go ACS Class of 2019!

On Saturday, December 17th, Assumption Catholic School teachers and administrators organized a school wide event at Barnes & Noble at Menlo Park Mall. To start the event, everyone got into the Christmas Spirit with the ACS Chimeteers and Show Choir members. These groups of students performed several songs and entertained their parents and the many shoppers who stopped to watch. They received many compliments on their wonderful performance and did an e…xcellent job. Next, some of our ACS teachers read children’s books and had quite a crowd for their book readings! The event included art work, writing samples and Christmas projects from every ACS classroom which was displayed throughout the store. Many shoppers read the children’s projects and commented on how impressed they were with the display. The fun filled day also included cupcake decorating for ACS students and time to talk and connect during the very busy Christmas season. We thank our parents who support our events and want to announce that ACS has already been invited to perform in the Spring and next year!

If you don’t know what the Water Bottle Flipping Challenge is, just ask any student that stayed after school recently with Mrs. Shumny and Mrs. Pickering for a science fun afternoon. After watching 2 short videos about how to flip a water bottle, they tried their luck and skills at flipping their own bottles. Students recorded bottle brands and sizes followed by actual bottle flipping with various amounts of water in the bottles. They tracked their accomplishments and misses. A few students were able to land a bottle or two on the caps!

At the end of the afternoon students were happy and ready to go home and share their results with family and friends.

On December 6th, St. Nicholas paid a visit to Assumption Catholic School! Born in Patara, a land that is part of present-day Turkey, circa 280, St. Nicholas was a Christian bishop who helped the needy. After his death, the legend of his gift-giving grew. St. Nicholas transformed into the legendary character called Santa Claus, who brings Christmas presents to children around the world. Before the visit, all students of ACS enjoyed the wonderful performance by the Senior Drama group under direction of Mrs.Pickering. The play concluded with the students welcoming St. Nicholas to ACS by singing the traditional St. Nicholas Song, “O kto, kto Nikolaja l’ubit.” After Principal’s welcome, St. Nicholas greeted the students and staff with gifts. As St Nicholas was leaving for the next visit on his list, students returned to their classroom to enjoy their new gifts.