Archdiocese Benchmark Assessment 2

Dear parents:

On Thursday February 14, 2013, students will be taking the Archdiocese Benchmark Assessment 2 in English and Math.  By establishing a rich and productive foundation for understanding student achievement, the assessment provides data needed by our teachers to monitor student learning.

As with any assessment, it is important that students get a good night rest and a well-balanced breakfast prior to coming to school on Thursday morning.  If you foresee your child being absent on Thursday, please send a note with them tomorrow so that he/she may take the benchmark assessment on Wednesday. 

It is St. Jerome’s goal to use the results from the Archdiocese Benchmark Assessments to promote action to accelerate progress toward annual goals and provide immediate information that can be used to help plan and guide subsequent instruction for our students.  

Thank you for your time,

Mr. Ortega

Jr. High Department Chair  

Welcome back Jr. High!

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome all new and returning families back to St Jerome for the 2012-2013 school year. As with each new school year, so many new adventures and opportunities lie ahead. I wish all the students great joy and success as they embark on a new school year.

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity."

-Cicero

Jr High Update

Dear students and parents,

Our start to the new school year is fast approaching and we here in the Jr. High are excited to get started with the new school year. We are happy to welcome two new dedicated teachers to our Jr. High faculty. Mr. Bradlin will be the 6^th grade homeroom, Jr High Math, and 6^th and 8^th grade Religion teacher. Ms. Cordero will be the 7^thgrade homeroom, 7^th Religion, and 7^th & 8^th Language Arts teacher.

Summer Reading

All students in the Jr. High are encouraged to read over the summer in order to build good readers. To assist parents and students with the selection of appropriate materials, links were placed on the St. Jerome Jr. High page and on EdZone. There are no test/projects with summer reading for the 7^th and 8^th graders; however, I ask that all students complete reading logs for each book they have read and at least one plot outline from one of the books that is on the reading log.

For your convenience, I have placed the links below in the event that you have not been able to locate the summer reading lists, plot outline, and reading log.

Summer Reading list from the St. Jerome Jr. High page

Summer Reading list from EdZone

Reading Log template

Plot Outline template

Enjoy the rest of your summer,

Mr. Ortega

Race for Success

Race for Success

Please consider registering for this worthwhile event! Student participation helps raise money for our school!! The more St. Jerome students the better!

To register for the Race on line....

Go to raceforsuccess5k.org

Click on "Register Now"

Choose...."Register Now" or "mail-in registration form (PDF)"

If registering online....

1. Choose "Team Member"
2. Choose "Team member-ages-12 and under"
3. Choose "I agree to the above waiver"

1. Put one of your parents birthdays and their name in the next agreement column
2. Click "Agree and Continue"
3. Select "St Jerome 5-6-7

1. Type "sjs567" as the team password
2. Type the rest of the required information INCLUDING the last line which asks which school you are supporting

1. Choose method of payment
2. Pay online with credit card

You are done

If using Mail-in registration fill out form

1. Choose St Jerome 5-6-7 as the team name and James McClune as the team captain contact phone 310-641-0669
2. Be sure to mark St. Jerome as the school you are supporting on the right hand column of the form.
3. Mail in or bring to the office of the school by Wednesday May 18th.

Please note, only the first 10 kids can register for the team, after that they will have to set up their own team or race as an individual.

Veteran’s Day

Hello everyone,
Here is a speech I saved from a former SJS student.

Everyone needs a hero to look up to. Whether it’s Spider Man webbing his way across town, Super Man flying in the skies above us, or an ordinary individual who is caring, bold, and brave, we depend on them in times of need.

Veterans have done a lot in order to be named our heroes. They served our country through the sacrifice of joining a branch of the armed forces, which can become rough, frightening, and in worse cases, life threatening. They are loyal to our country, through the good and bad times. Regardless of the situation, they have the strength in them to make it through, and carry on. We would not be here today, honoring our veterans with pride if they had just given up. They have done so much for us, especially here in America, where we once fought long and hard years for our freedom and independence. Must we still honor our veterans from so long ago? The answer is yes, because their sacrifice, hard work, and dedication will ultimately have a lasting affect on our society. Not all people are as courageous and humble as our veterans.

Because of veterans, we are proud to call our country’s name “Home of the Brave”. Veterans truly do have bravery, or else they would not have been known as our heroes. But being a hero has nothing to do with just flying across the skies or defeating a country. To find a hero, you must look deep into the heart of someone and find goodness. You must look deep into the heart of a veteran or current members of the armed forces, and find not only goodness, but love, care, courage, loyalty, perseverance, and friendship. Many things in our world display different figures that we look up to as our hero, We must always remember that when most of these displays are false, distorted, and just not right. To look for a true hero, we can turn and look to our veterans.

We must not always dwell on fantasy. When we need a true friend to be there, someone loyal to our land, and a hero that truly saves your day, we can certainly always look to the work of our veterans and to those who are currently serving our forces.

The mystery of Written and Non written sources

The lesson on Primary, secondary, and non written sources taught us how sources can be applied to a historical event that has happened in the past. We can look at any event and give our own opinion about what may and may not have happened, but in the case of an event that happens, we turn to written and non written sources to give facts and details about an event that occurred in the past. Some people may ask why we place so much importance of primary and secondary sources.
People can barely remember what happens one week ago, so how would we remember what happened a long time ago. All these sources can describe and specify an event that could have happened a while ago or recently. Without the discovery of these resources, documenting an actual event would be hard to do, and we can make a big mess of history with any bias we may hold. Written and non-written sources could be like playing the telephone game. When playing telephone, one person whispers something in a friend's ear that they have to repeat to another friend, and so on. The message gets passes along correctly with the first few people, but the chance of someone getting it wrong increases with the number of people who repeat a message. Going back to primary sources is like going back to the first person in the telephone game because you are more like to get a more accurate source from the person who witnessed the event. Secondary sources are great to get a different perspective of the same event, but if we are not careful, we can pick up some exaggerated or biased information. Non written sources can also prove whether a point is true or not, based on the amount of information the source can give.

All in all, written and non written sources come in handy when you have something in history you want to document or save for later. We can always rely on these pieces of information to give us a glimpse into history. As the saying goes, "History is a cyclic poem written by Time upon the memories of man." History tells us what happens in the past, and if we use it wisely, it will help us make a better future.

-By Stephanie

Scholastic Book Clubs orders online!

Dear Parent,

I have exciting news. You can now place your Scholastic Book Clubs orders online!

Browse all the great monthly Book Club selections at low prices and order online. Plus, our class earns a FREE Book every time a parent orders online.

Here's how it works:

1. Use the information below to access the Scholastic Book Clubs Web site.
2. Browse the titles with your child and place your order with your credit card.
3. Your order will come to me, and your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic's secure server. There's no need to send money to school.
4. After I submit the entire class order to Scholastic, your order will be delivered to our classroom for your child to take home.

To get started, go to the Web address below and enter our class’s personalized user name and password in the sign-in fields on the right side of the page. Note: You do not need to create your own user name and password.

scholastic book clubs


User Name: homeroom6

Password: sjs123

Ordering online is the most convenient way to use Scholastic Book Clubs. You can order anytime, right up until the online order due date. You'll also get instant access to over 500 additional titles plus online-only specials and discounts.

And don't forget: Every time a parent places an order online, we earn a FREE book for our classroom library!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Mr. Ortega

Welcome back students and parents

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome all new and returning families back to St Jerome for the 2009-20010 school year. As with each new school year, so many new adventures and opportunities lie ahead. I wish all the students great joy and success as we embark on a new school year.