12-13-07

Mark Your Calendar
We're kicking off Catholic Schools Week a bit early with a special 4:00 Mass on January 20. Please plan to attend and share in some good news!

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Where: Ronnie’s Theatre
When: Wednesday, December 19th
What: Movie – Alvin and the Chipmunks: 5-star, PG rating
Who: Grades K-8 and families

The movie begins at 11 am, runs 93 minutes, and will conclude about 1:30 pm.
All K-8 students and their families are invited to attend but only the St. Ambrose children will travel by bus. Parents are encouraged to attend and carpool from St. Ambrose. Please park your car in the soccer lot if you do choose to carpool!
A field trip form will be going home today and needs to be returned by Tuesday. Please sign and enclose $7 per St. Ambrose student for admission and bus. The cost for those outside the St. Ambrose student body is $6.75 for children over 12 and adults and $5.75 per child under the age of 12.Thanks to all those who were willing to drive and help in any way . . . we will meet you at Ronnie's.

Act Now to Maintain Title V-A Funding
Funding for the 2007-2008 school year is set, but Title V-A will cease to exist unless Congress acts. The best thing to do is contact your federal legislative representatives, both House and Senate, and let them know how important Title V-A is to your students. In the past, these funds have been used to purchase the sound systems in most of the rooms and we are currently using Title V funds to purchase another sound system for another room. The funds have decreased considerably over the last couple of years and now the threat is that it will be completely gone. Private schools really depend on these monies for a variety of items.

Classroom Sound Systems Enhance Audio Learning
Proceeds from the Box Tops and similar collections, plus the Quilt Social, have helped to purchase these $1700 sound systems, but more funds are needed. If you, your company, or any organization you are affiliated with is looking for a year-end contribution opportunity, please contact Sr. Carol.

Box Top Contest
Final winners were Mrs. O'Toole's class, which enjoyed a pizza party. Second place went to Mrs. Harris' class, where ice cream sundaes were served. Continue to save your boxtops for the upcoming contest in February.

Campbell's Soup Labels
Mrs. Moses is a member of the Labels for Education Coordinator Advisory Board and will be attending the committee meeting January 10 and 11 in Philadelphia.

In the Office

Purchase one of the last three Entertainment Books for $25 each. Don't forget to pick up some Together We're Better cards while you're there.

Technology Update
St. Ambrose students benefit from age-appropriate use of technology in the classroom. In Kindergarten through Second Grade, students are exposed to the internet via educational web sites projected in the classroom. Grades 3 through 5 attend Computer class in the lab where students learn keyboarding and the basics of Office software. Students in Grades 6 through 8 visit the Computer lab with their teachers and learn advanced Office skills applied to projects in specific subject areas. All students benefit from our subscription to United Streaming, a web site with curriculum-enhancing videos. The manipulatives and visuals engage and excite our students, regardless of their age.

Kindergarten Renovation
We are adding a bathroom to and expanding the Kindergarten room over the holidays.

Video Streaming
Check out the new video clips on the St. Ambrose web site. Click the St. Ambrose link here or atop the upper-left column on the Fast Direct home page. Or enter www.stambroseonthehill.com in your web browser.

Shop and Give TWB Certificates for the Holidays
The online order form has been updated at www.stambroseonthehill.com/school/. We will begin taking orders in the back of church before and after the weekend masses. The last day to make an order for Christmas will be Sunday, December 9, through church, and Friday, December 14, at school. All special orders MUST include payment. Please mark church or school on your order form so that we may have the filled order ready for you. Any orders through Sunday, November 25, will be ready at school by December 6, and at church December 8 and 9, from the TWB reps. All orders received after November 25 will be ready at church on December 22 and 23, and at school by December 21.

Faith and Sacraments
Happy Advent! The school children attend an Advent prayer service every Monday at 7:45 in the gym before they go to their classrooms.
An update of the money collected by the school children for the Key Player Initiative for the homeless: September--$179.29, October--$207.76, November--$274.06. Students will continue to collect for the homeless during December and January for this initiative to fund housing and programs for the homeless of St. Louis.
Submitted by Cathy Griner

Collection for the Homeless
St. Ambrose School has joined other Catholic schools in the Archdiocese in the Key Player Initiative to eliminate homelessness. This initiative wants to provide opportunities for self-sufficiency and dignity to those who are homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless. The school children have collected over $600 for St. Patrick’s Center and Catholic Charities since September and will continue to raise money to provide housing during December and January. Also during Advent the teachers will help students become more aware of the problems that the homeless face. A representative from St. Patrick's Center addressed the faculty after school on December 3 and will present an assembly to the students on December 18.
Submitted by Cathy Griner

Be Informed Before Seeing an Upcoming Children's Movie
Please review information about an upcoming children's movie that will be released on December 7 during the Christmas season. The author of the trilogy of books on which the movie is based is an atheist and is trying to influence children against God in a sly way. The link gives more details:
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp.

In Appreciation

To Jack Ostermeyer for reversing the office door.
To Debbie Hilderbrand, Brian Ward, and Ben and Joe Calloni for installing the penthouse LCD projector and additional improvements in the computer lab.
To Hilma Moses and the Quilt Social, the proceeds from which were used to purchase customized computer tables.
To Chris Felt, who is working on several short videos to be added as links from the St. Ambrose web page.
To the Catholic School Office for the new school banner which is hanging on the fence along Marconi Avenue.

A nice update about the 2nd grade Brownie troop lead by Bobbi Pineda & Ellen Tisell:
Deacon John took the girls around the church and discussed special things about the service, special nooks and crannies in the church, and then showed them the bone fragment from St Ambrose. During the bone fragment showing, one of our Brownies asked Deacon John, "Did you buy any cookie dough?"
We also learned about the angel tree and picked one to give to (as a troop). The request was for "energy." In asking the girls what that meant, they said things like "they need to run," "they need to eat better," and then finally realized that it meant they might need help with their electric bill. We discussed what this might be like and the girls decided that they want to donate $100 as a troop. Earlier in the day, two girls were "tipped" a dollar each while selling cookie dough. These two girls have turned this money around into a donation as well. We therefore have $102 to send for "energy." If any girls have change or families want to donate further to this cause, we will continue to take donations through Sunday the 16th.

Congratulations to Grace Frisella!!!!!
Grace competed in a State gymnastics meet this weekend. She came in first in every event (except 2nd in beam) and placed first all around. Great Job, Grace! Your dedication and hard work inspires us all.

Soccer Goals
Congratulations to 8th Grader Gina Migneco!! Gina played soccer this year for St. Mary Magdalen and they won the City/County playoffs Wednesday night in the bitter cold, 4-2. Way to go Gina!! We are very proud of you.
Congratulations to 7th graders Timmy Booth, Stephen Lordo, Justin Seaton, Stephen Stemlau, Jacob Winkler, and Joey Wiss, who played for the 7th Grade St. Joan of Arc team. They made it to the first round of the City/County Soccer Playoffs. They lost Wednesday night to Holy Infant, which scored their winning goal with less than 1 minute left in the game. This is 2nd year in a row that they went to the playoffs. Last year, they lost in the semi-finals. They'll give it a try again next year when they are in 8th grade. Way to go boys!! Congratulations and good luck next year.
Rick Severino
Soccer Director

Thursday, December 06, was a great day in K-108. We celebrated St. Nicholas Day in many ways. First, many of the children shared their stories of what treat they received from him. If a child had received a visit last night from St. Nick, I explained that sometimes he can’t make it to everyone’s houses in one night because he doesn’t have that many helpers this early in Dec. I told them that maybe he was coming another night or maybe they would get all their treats on Christmas morning. I gave the children whom St. Nick was not able to visit 3 pieces of candy and some stickers. This seemed to cheer them up. After recess, we discovered that St. Nick had been in our classroom while we were outside! He left each child a new green highlighter and a bubble gum candy cane! It was a wonderful surprise and the children’s reaction was priceless.
Mrs. Foster found a great website for children about St. Nick complete with stories, songs, and interactive games like memory and tic-tac-toe. It was really cute and the children enjoyed it a lot.
We ended the day by going to the middle school floor and meeting with the 7th grade buddies in Mrs. Griner’s room. Together they created beautiful Christmas place mats for St. Patrick’s center. It was a very positive experience all around!
On Wednesday, November 28th, Fr.Andrew talked about the importance of prayer at the primary level mass. He has been reciting/teaching the children prayers during his homilies for past few weeks and on this day he had a gift for the children. To help them memorize the prayers he is asking them to learn, he typed them on piece of paper for them and asked the teachers to distribute them. The K children took home a copy, but will be practicing them in class.
For their Challenge Unit, Mrs. Patke’s K class is learning about Mexico and they had new lesson last Wednesday. Since they learned about the Native American Indians as they studied Thanksgiving, I told them about the Mexican Indians, the Aztecs and Mayans. (My daughters are of Mayan & Spanish descent.) Then we looked at a website that featured the Mexican Flag so we could make one of our own. Like the Italian flag, it is green, white and red. However on the white is the Mexican Coat of Arms, which is reminder of the Native Aztec Heritage. Here is the interesting legend behind the coat of arms that I read to the children. A sun god told the ancient Aztec people to leave their home and to look for a new place to live. He told them to keep looking until they saw an eagle eating a snake and sitting on a cactus bearing red fruit. The Aztecs wandered for 150 years looking for the sign. They found the place in which their god had told them to settle on an island in Lake Texcoco. Here they built the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan which is now the area of Mexico City. This may not be the most useful piece of information they learn in K this year, but my goal is to expand their horizons as they will be functioning in a global society. Anyway, they enjoyed the story and making the flag.
Submitted by Mrs. Patke

Thursday, December 13	Faculty Meeting, Noon Dismissal Dress-Down Day
Friday, December 14	Stages Performance for Parents, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, December 18	Key Player Initiative Assembly on the homeless School Board Meeting
Thursday, December 20	Sacred Heart Villa Christmas Pageant, Grades K, 1, and 2
Friday, December 21	All-School Mass Stages Performance for Students Noon Dismissal for Christmas Holidays
Thursday, January 3	Classes Resume

Grade	Teacher	Homeroom	Voice Mail
K	Maria Foster	107	134
	Michelle Patke	108	134
1	Mary Lynne Harris	205	138
	Jennifer O'Toole	202	125
2	Jennifer Smith	204	137
	Margaret Rotter	203	136
3	Emily Elmore	103	123
	Ann Grandstaff	105	130
4	Anne Henning	106	133
	Sr. Margaret Mary Stoverink	104	129
5	Judy King	307	145
	Debbie Hilderbrand (homeroom)	308	146
6	Eugene Marella	303	141
	Leanne Durham	304	142
7	Cathy Griner	305	143
	Dwight Elmore	302	140
8	Shanna Kar	306	144
	Mary Scherer	301	139
Art	JoAnn Dreas	201	117
Computer	Debbie Hilderbrand	Computer Lab	126
Learning Consultant, 5-8	Lisa Horner	Penthouse	119
Learning Consultant, K-4	Terry Kellar	Penthouse	120
Physical Education	Beth Brickey	Gym	263
Italian, K-3	Sr. Ruth Aubrey
Italian, 4-8	Annunciata Buzzai
Teacher Aide	Sr. Sandra Krupp
Principal	Sr. Carol Sansone	Office	114
Office	Hilma Moses	Office	115
Office	Linda Gambaro	Office	116
Extended Care	Susan Nelson	Cafeteria	314-922-9475