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Welcome to 3rd grade!!! I have been teaching 3rd grade at Sacred Heart Academy since 2005. I graduated from Cal State San Bernardino in 2002 with a B.A. in Liberal Studies and a minor in music and I earned my teaching credential from the University of Redlands.  I have been a parishioner at Holy Name of Jesus since 1978.  My husband, Roger, and I were married here.  My son attended Sacred Heart Academy from kindergarten through eighth grade!   So, needless to say, my family is very committed to this parish and school.  I truly enjoy teaching 3rd grade and try to make learning fun, engaging, and relevant.  
 

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End of Year Stuff...

I can't believe it's the end of the school year already!  Even though we only have one and a half weeks left, there are still a few fun activities left up our sleeves!
 
Monday 6/3: Students need to bring a stuffed animal with legs and arms.  If you have any scrap fabric, buttons, old socks, or t shirts (that can be cut up), please send those too.
 
My math class will have a chapter 7 test.
 
Tuesday 6/4: Pizza and ice cream sundae party!  Thank you to all who brought pennies for the Penny War!
 
Friday 6/7: Minimum Day
 
Monday 6/10: Field Day - more information coming later
 
Wednesday 6/12: Last school Mass, led by the faculty and staff.  This is a wonderful way to start summer break! 
 
Last day of school!!!  Dismissal is 12:00.
 
Not school related:  I am a member of the Empire Wind Ensemble, a community concert band.  I play the french horn in the group.  We are having our last concert of the season on Wednesday 6/12 at 7:00 pm at the First Congregational Church, here in Redlands.  You are invited to join us in listening to some wonderful patriotic music at this concert.  This is another great way to start the summer.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Week of February 11, 2019

Here is information for the week of 2/11/19
 
Monday: Bishop Barnes is visiting Sacred Heart Academy.  He will be at morning assembly and then will celebrate school Mass.  The mass on Monday will be at 8:30.  Students need to wear liturgy uniform.  Also please remind them to bring a canned food item.  Minimum day.
 
Tuesday: Last day to bring in permission slip for Living Desert field trip.  If it is not turned in by today, student can not go on the field trip - no exceptions.
 
Wednesday: It is the 103rd day of school!  Our class will dress as 103 year olds!  What will they look like when they are 103 years old?!?  :)
 
Thursday: Valentine's Day - We will have a party in the afternoon.  Students are invited to bring valentines for each student in the class.  There are 17 students in the class.
 
Friday: Field trip to the Living Desert.  Students MUST be in the classroom by 7:30.  Students must wear their PE uniform that day.  Students need to bring their lunch in a paper or plastic bag.  Do not use their regular lunch boxes.  We need to be able to throw away all lunch wrappers so that the students are not carrying anything after lunch.  More information later.

First Communion Meeting

If your student is eligible for receiving their First Communion, we will be having a meeting on Thursday, February 28th from 6:00-6:30 in the 5th grade classroom.  I will be discussing the curriculum, student and parent expectations, the banner, and important dates.  Please bring any questions you have about First Communion to the meeting.  If you have any questions about the meeting, please text me.  Thanks!

Catholic Schools Week in 3rd Grade

Hello all!!!  This is a three part message, so please read through the entire post.  Thanks!
 
1) REMIND: Great news if you are a Verizon customer!  Verizon has reversed it's fees to Remind and therefore they will continue to service Remind.  What this means to you is that you will continue to receive text notification from me and you can continue to text me! Yay!
 
2) Mystery Day: Wednesday is Mystery Day.  Each class will dress up in something "mysterious" and the other classes try figure out what they are.  In third grade, we will be multiplication problems displayed as arrays.  Each student will have a t-shirt with stickers on them.  Mrs. T purchased each student a solid colored t-shirt at Michaels so that we would be coordinated.  If you could, please have your student bring in $3 to class so that we could reimburse Mrs. T.  Thanks!
 
3) Grandparents Mass: our small but mighty class will be leading the mass at 8:45 on Friday, Feb. 1st.  Please invite any grandparents or elder friends to join us.  They are invited to stand with their student during the mass.  We hope to see you there!
 
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to text or email me.  Thank you!
 

Verizon customers and Remind Texting

If Verizon is your phone carrier, this information is for you.  
 
Verizon is increasing the Remind's costs of providing texts through Remind.  The following information is from Remind and will help you keep in touch with the class.  If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected].
 
How will this affect you?
Beginning January 28, 2019, the people in your classes who normally get your Remind messages as texts will no longer receive these messages if they have Verizon Wireless as their phone carrier.
 
What can you do?
To make sure people in your classes continue receiving your messages, ask them to download the mobile app or enable email notifications—both of which are free of charge. Our team’s also working hard on a solution that allows your classes to continue to use Remind by text, and we’ll share more details with you before January 28.

January Events

Science Fair Project: In class we will be learning about the scientific method, completing two experiments and the journals to accompany them, and creating a science fair board to display.  We will be doing this all in class, so no work will need to be done at home.  The science fair will be open for viewing between January 25th through January 27th.
 
Catholic Schools Week: Catholic Schools Week begins on Sunday, January 26th with the 10:00 Mass lead by our school.  There will be an open house after Mass.  The talent show is Tuesday, Jan. 29th and the teacher vs. 8th grade volleyball game is Thursday, Jan. 31st.  We finish CSW on Friday, February 1st with the Grandparents Mass
 
Grandparents Mass: All grandparents (and other family, of course) are especially invited to join us for this special Mass.  Our mighty 3rd grade class will be leading the Mass as readers, cantors, and choir members.  It is delightful when grandparents join their grandchild at the ambo as they read or sing and when they bring up the gifts at the offertory.  Please invite grandparents to join us at this very special Mass.
 
 

Next Week Info

Next week will be a fun and full week!  Here is the breakdown:
 
Monday: Thanks to Anna (and her Orthodontist Dr. Ehrler in Redlands) winning a raffle, our class will be having a pizza party.  Pizza and drinks will be provided at lunch.  (Yay!)
 
Christmas Around the World project is due today.  Working nutcrackers need to be brought to class and students will present to each other during the day.
 
Wednesday: Ugly sweater day (no fee!)  Wear an ugly Christmas sweater to school!  Christmas socks gift exchange: students to bring filled Christmas socks to class today to exchange in class tomorrow.
 
Thursday: Pajama Day - wear comfy  pajamas to school.  Christmas socks exchange / game today.  Christmas party at 11:00.  Minimum Day
 
Christmas Program Information
Students are to be brought to the University of Redlands Chapel by 5:30.  Students need to be signed in with either Mrs. McFarland or Mrs. Luther.  They should wear nice Christmas outfits.  No jeans please.  After the program, students will need to be signed back out with either Mrs. McFarland or Mrs. Luther.  The only people that  I will release students to are people that I'm familiar with, not "Aunt Sally or Uncle Jim" visiting for the holiday.  I want to make sure that we're releasing the student to the proper people.  
 
If you have any questions, please email me ( [email protected] ) or text me.  Thank you!

Christmas Around the World

The class was given a special project today! We are studying Christmas Around the World.  Each student randomly chose a country to research.  The research and completion of project will be done during class time.  
 
One portion of the project will need to be completed at home.  Each student needs to create a nutcracker representing the country they researched.  The nutcracker can be made with items found at home.  The example I made and showed the class was made with an empty water bottle, toilet paper rolls, and paper towel rolls.  The students were given a sheet with the details of this part of the project.  Please ask them for this.  
 
The students know that parents can help, but parents can not do the project.
 
The project is due no later than Monday, Dec. 17th.  The students will be presenting the research and nutcrackers to the class on Monday.
 
If you have any questions, please email or text me.  Thank you!

Medieval Time Project

All the information about the Medieval Time Symposium project is on the attached file.  Click on the title to access the file.  Better viewed on computer rather than cell phone.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

May Events

May is a busy month for our class.  Here is a run down of all the happenings:
 
5/2 Wednesday: 3rd and 4th grade leads the school in a Living Rosary.  Please join us at 8:45 to pray the rosary.
5/4 Friday: Minimum Day; 1st Communion Banners are due
5/7 This week our class leads the morning 
5/10 Thursday: 1st Communion Retreat 6:15 - 8:00
5/12 Saturday: First Communion Day!!!
5/16 Wednesday: 1st Communion School Mass.  Our class leads the Mass, followed by reception.  Photographer will be available for individual photos.  THIS IS A MINIMUM DAY FOR THIS CLASS.  Students go home after reception.
5/17 Thursday: Class and Mr. Turner go to Assistencia Convalescent Home to visit.  Permission slips will go home soon.
5/18 Friday: Medieval Times Field Trip
5/24 Thursday: SHA Symposium.  This is a minimum day, but students / families are to return back to school between 5-7 pm to participate in the Symposium.  More about this later.
5/25 Friday: No school
 
Phew!  That's a lot of stuff!  There isn't that many more days left of school, so we are packing in as much as we can!  As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.  
 
Have a great weekend!!!
 

First Communion Information

Good news!  Everyone is scheduled for the Mass that they requested!  The following is who is scheduled for which Mass:

May 12, 2018

   

10:00 Mass

 

12:00 Mass

Owen Bonadiman

 

Simone Bacon

Anika Calvez

 

Ryan Bravo

Luke Cloud

 

Ali Chappelow

Landon De La Torre

 

Cami Chappelow

Sophia Elder

 

Arianna Donohue

Carolina Feitoza

 

Abigail Espinoza

Rachel Hellrich

 

Anthony Gerome

Justin Jolley

 

Branden Hazen

Finnegan Markham-Cobb

 

Sergio Pulido

Samuel Misenheimer

 

Samantha Rodriguez

Frankie Moyles

 

Clifford Sanchez

Brandon Ramirez

 

Linda Sanders

Juliet Start

 

Emily Santana

Mayly Vo

 

Isabel Servin

Tori Wallace

 

Benny Tavares

   

Jonathan Uminski

   

Victoria Urso

   

Erik Reeves (Parish Student)

     

April 22, 2018 Natalie Jimenez, 10:00 Mass

 

If you have any questions about the Mass assignments, please let me know.  If you would like to move from the 12:00 Mass to the 10:00 Mass, there are a few slots open, but there is no more room to move anyone to the 12:00 Mass. 

 

Hopefully you and your student have gotten started on making the banner. Please remember that your banners are due no later than Friday, May 4th.  If you have any questions regarding the banner, please let me know.

 

Students will be tested on four prayers in the next few weeks.  By now, students need to have memorized the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the Mealtime prayer, as well as the proper way to do the Sign of the Cross and genuflection.  I will be testing the students in small groups of 3-4.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

Symposium

For this year’s school symposium, our class will be studying the Medieval time period.  We will be learning about castles, kingdoms, lords, ladies, peasants, guilds, life in the city and life in the country.  This is going to be a fact filled, fun unit!

Part of the learning experience will include a field trip to Medieval Times in Buena Park! There is an epic 90-minute show with knights, horses, and weapons, a hearty four-course lunch, and an educational presentation.  We are scheduled to go on Friday, May 18th.    The cost for this trip is $28 per student and chaperone/driver.  If the cost may prohibit your student from attending, please come talk with me and we can see what can be done to help.    If you are interested in joining us for this fun adventure, please text me.  The field trip forms will be sent out when we return from Easter break and will be due shortly after that. 

Information for Week of 3/12/18

*Ch 4 Math tests were returned on Friday.  Please review test with your student, sign the test, and have your student return it on Monday.

*First Communion Classes start on Monday.  If you haven’t done so already, please sign up for the E-mail Program for Parents.  You can do this by clicking this link: https://dynamiccatholic.com/blessed/parent-program

*I will be out of the classroom on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  I am part of the Accreditation Visiting Committee for the WCEA/WASC visit for St. Margaret Mary School in Chino.  If you were at SHA in 2015, you may remember that we went through the accreditation process during that year.  So this time, instead of being on the side being accredited, I am on the team that recommends accreditation.  This is a wonderful opportunity to learn what other Catholic schools are doing in our diocese and hopefully I will return with some innovative classroom ideas.  The class will be in the very capable and loving hands of Mrs. Luther, assisted by Mrs. Maria Cilmi.    I will return on Friday.

Getting ready for our field trip to the Living Desert

Getting ready for our field trip to the Living Desert 

What you need to bring:

  • Wear your P.E. uniform: red Sacred Heart Academy T-shirt, red shorts or sweat pants, red sweatshirt or jacket.
  • Brown bag lunch with your name on the bag. Or you can use a plastic grocery bag with your name on it.  We don’t have a lot of room in our lunch boxes for insulated lunch boxes.
  • Bottled water

 

What you may bring:
  • Hats
  • Sunglasses
  • Camera – you are responsible for this! (If your student wants to bring any digital devise, I will need a parent note giving parent permission.  Also, all internet access needs to be disabled.)
  • Sun screen
  • Small back pack to carry all items

 

You need to be in the classroom at 7:30 a.m.  We need to get into our groups and on the road by 8:00.  If you are not in classroom at 7:50, we will be leaving without you.