THE ARCHER - April 2004

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents,

The Stanford scores are back, and they look great!

After we return from Easter break, you will receive a report on your student’s individual performance. The big news we’ve been waiting for is how this year’s academy-wide acceleration of the mathematics curriculum would affect our performance on the Stanford Achievement Test.
And the answer is… Great! Mathematics scores are up in every single grade! While I wish I could say, “I told you so,” the short term results of accelerating the math program are actually much better than even I predicted. I expected the scores to prove this was the right decision by the second year of the new math program, but now the students have gone and proven it this year. (Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa—we can’t be right all the time.)
I want to commend especially Miss Peacher’s third graders, who showed the most collective improvement as a class. Last year as second graders, the average of their individual mathematics scores was 70th percentile. This year as third graders it was 95th percentile. Yes, you read that right. The average third grade individual score in mathematics is 95th percentile. As a class average, that’s incredible. They jumped two whole stanines. The third graders, their parents, and their teacher, Miss Peacher, are all to be commended for this outstanding effort. I am so proud of you all.
Again, every single class at The Atonement Academy improved its mathematics scores in the same year that we skipped ahead a year in content. How did this happen? It happened because we have excellent teachers, yes. It also happened because we not only worked harder, we worked smarter. The Saxon curriculum itself, a classically-based, skill-focused, inductive system, helps students learn at a quicker pace and gain greater understanding of mathematical concepts so that they retain them better. Our decision to use the program at one year ahead of its published level has now been vindicated by empirical evidence—improved achievement test results.
I want to thank all of you, parents, students, and teachers, for working through this transition. Things will be much easier now that we are through this first year, and our children’s mathematical performance will be improved for their whole lives.

Inserted in this month’s Archer is a copy of The Atonement Goals and Objectives, recently approved by the academy council. While this will be included in our parent/student handbook in the future, I wanted you to have an opportunity to see it now. It gives a philosophical justification for the pedagogy we employ here at the academy.

Upcoming events to Watch for after Easter Break
April 23 – Battle of Flowers; no classes
April 27 – Lecture on Parental Responsibilities in Sex Education, 7:00 p.m. (This is a mandatory event for all parents, required by the Archdiocese; wine and cheese will be served.)
April 29 – Academy Spring Concert, 7:00 p.m.
May 8 – First Holy Communion, 10:00 a.m.
May 15 – Parish Picnic (Barbecue, music, games—get your teams together for the volleyball tourney!)
May 21 – Graduation Evensong & Banquet, 7:00 p.m.
May 22 – Graduation Mass & Commencement, 10:00 a.m. (Speaker is Professor Darrell Dobbs.)
May 25 – Field Day (Run by the then-graduated 8th grade class.)
May 28 – Last day of classes; academic awards ceremony, 9:15 a.m.

Thank you for the privilege of helping you educate your children,
Dr. Stephen Hollingshead

PRE-KINDERGARTEN
During the month of April, we will be covering the theme “A Habitat is a Place to Live.” The students will be learning about where different animals live. We will study animals that live on land, underground, and in the water, and we’ll learn about animals that fly. We will talk about how animals can live in cold climates.
Since we are learning letter Z this month, we will begin to review all the other letters of the alphabet. Also, the students will start writing three letter words from the board and spelling them. In math, we will be writing numbers 1-20 and recognizing them.
This month, the children will further develop an awareness of the human body. They will identify parts of the body, and recognize that the body needs food, water, air, and exercise to grow.
Thank you for all your support; I wish you a very blessed Holy week!
Mrs. Garcia

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KINDERGARTEN
During this season of Lent our Kindergarten class is learning about the Rosary. We are participating in Evensong and The Stations of the Cross. The fifth grade is helping us. What a wonderful way to celebrate Lent! Bugs will invade our classroom as we study “Creepy Crawlies” in Language Arts. The students are reading and writing short vowel words. The entire Kindergarten class is reading and almost all of the students are taking AR tests. Congratulations to Lauren Arndt; she won the third quarter Outstanding Reader Award!
The students are adding and subtracting two digit numbers and are learning how to tell time to the hour. They are also measuring in inches. The students can’t wait to BLAST OFF into space with our new Science Unit, “Space, the Final Frontier.” Soon they will know the names of all of the planets!
Our unit of study in Social Studies is “Space and Transportation.” We will be learning about all modes of transportation.
It is hard to believe that there are only two months of school left.
God bless,
Mrs. Harrold

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FIRST GRADE
Happy April, parents!
Spring will be blooming as we watch caterpillars grow into butterflies and seeds grow into plants, in science. A lot of new life is budding, as Easter nears, and the first grade will be learning about how Jesus began the church, as well as how it continues to grow in the present time.
First grade will be continuing to grow and improve in the writing process, and in reading comprehension and fluency. The students are blossoming wonderfully in their reading skills, as Accelerated Reader test scores have shown. We will all be continuing to grow together academically and spiritually. I am very proud of every student in my class for his efforts and achievements so far!
Have a beautiful month!
Miss Zandt

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SECOND GRADE
Our Easter break is upon us, and I know the kids are certainly ready for one. I hope that the students do get some rest during their break. I hope to have them back energized and ready to finish the last six weeks of the year off with a bang!
This month we will be finishing up our lower case cursive letters. I see quite an improvement in their handwriting skills. In Language Arts the students are going to be identifying the main idea of a paragraph, finding details in a sentence, and learning new contractions. In our math lessons we will continue to discuss division and multiplication. They will also be learning about perpendicular lines and how to make change.
We have begun the Animal unit in our reading book, and are finishing up the story of Balto. I am exceedingly proud of the reading levels of your children and the outstanding progress they have made this year. The majority of the students are above the reading level for the grade and none are below. Please encourage your children to continue reading, even if it is for twenty minutes a day. Reading is a gift that keeps on giving.
Have a wonderful Easter, and students, enjoy the rest.
God bless you,
Mrs. Garcia

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THIRD GRADE
Spring is finally here! In Math class we are on the right track and will probably have time to go back and spend extra time on concepts that were not well grasped. We’ll be simplifying fraction answers, finding the least common denominator, and dividing by two-digit numbers this month. In English we will be focusing more on grammar and mechanics. Our first topic will be different types of sentences such as telling, asking, and commanding sentences. They enjoy the parts of speech racing and drill games in English. They’re getting better at it too. Our next chapter in Science will explore forms of energy, heat, light travel, and electricity. We will be visiting the Native Americans and pioneers in Social Studies as we study movable communities. In Religion we will be studying the Last Supper and Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, which will be great preparation for Holy Week. I wish you all a very blessed Easter!
Miss Peacher

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FOURTH GRADE
Come and see our bulletin board! We created a mural of all things Texas on the bulletin board upstairs between the restrooms. The children did a beautiful job…no surprise there!
Our last research paper of the year in English will be assigned this month. We will be looking up information on Texans from the past. Like the president reports, these reports will focus on people we aren’t necessarily familiar with.
It seems like everything we are doing this month has to do with Texas History, though I can assure you we are still plugging away in math and our other studies. It’s not all about TEXAS. But like a popular bumper sticker states, “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could.”
Recently, four of the fourth graders received recognition for poems they submitted to the Young Pegasus Poetry Contest. They deserve a round of applause for their creativity! The students are Camila Flores-Clar, Natalie Casso, Mariana Gutierrez and Liam McDonough. Great work fourth graders!
Mrs. Ermer

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FIFTH GRADE
The fifth grade students have been taking a closer look at the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation. As Catholic Christians, it is important to have a thorough knowledge of all seven sacraments and the vital role they have in our earthly life. They provide us with spiritual nourishment in this life, and prepare us for our future life in Heaven. We congratulate Courtney Ohlemacher, Aubrey Sanchez, and Jane Wallace, who received the sacrament of Confirmation on March 27th.
In Mathematics, the students are learning to solve problems involving percentages and unit rates. The problem solving skills they will encounter in this unit will help them make decisions that involve cost. For example, they will know how to determine whether to make a large or small purchase, and when it is to their advantage to buy goods in greater quantities due to the reduction in cost.
LTC Mary-Pat A. Klee will speak to the students about the Civil War. She will talk about the Union and Confederate Armies, women's roles on the home front, and honoring those who sacrificed their lives. LTC Klee has over twenty-eight years of military experience in the fields of transportation, strategic planning, and operations. She is currently in charge of overseeing the air, land, and sea movements of all Army Reserves and National Guard units in a 21-state area as they move to and from Afghanistan and Iraq. She has lived in Europe for 5 1/2 years, Korea, and in Northeastern, Southern, Midwestern, and Western parts of the United States. Both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are in Education. She previously taught 5th-12th grade Social Studies.
God bless you and all your loved ones!
Sister Mary Margaret

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SIXTH GRADE RELIGION, MATH, SCIENCE, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH
Greetings from the sixth grade!
We are near to finishing the Saxon Math book lessons, which will gave us a few weeks to review the material and prepare for Math in the Seventh Grade. The students have risen to the challenge of the Saxon Program and advanced in their understanding of mathematical principles and procedures. The content of the seventh grade math curriculum is very similar to what the sixth grade middle scholars have studied this year; therefore, next year will offer them plenty of review and mastery of the material.
In Science we will be observing changes in an ecosystem, the motion of waves, earthquakes, and volcanoes. The students will compose a well-researched paper in which they demonstrate their comprehension of scientific principles and their skill of thinking scientifically.
We will finish our study of the Last Things in Religion, which concludes our use of the Faith and Life series textbook. The remaining weeks in class will be devoted to reading and learning stories and passages from Holy Scripture.
The sixth grade students will return to the Junior Great Books series once we finish A Tale of Two Cities. The young scholars are currently crafting a paper on the Dickens novel, and they will write another composition after finishing the literary work. The eighth grade students, having completed The Count of Monte Cristo, are now deep into the intricacies of Shakespearean style as they study Richard III. Since The Lord of the Rings is a longer work, the seventh grade students will continue that novel until the end of the year. And they may even learn a little of the Elven tongue: Cuio i Pheriain anann!
Mr. Cupp

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SEVENTH GRADE RELIGION AND MATH, EIGHTH GRADE ALGEBRA, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL LATIN
Salve,
It’s an exciting time of the year. Easter approaches, as well as the end of the year. We have only a few more topics to cover in our mathematics classes, but much of the material is reinforcement of what we have already learned. Thus it will be a good month in both algebra classes for mastering what we have learned. And almost without exception the students in both classes are doing very well. Even those who are struggling, with a little more focused effort, should do very well. Easter will be a well deserved break. Bene factum, discipuli!
We are taking a radical departure in Latin from main stream pedants. It has recently come to my attention that the real reason Caesar was assassinated was not because he seemed to want to be rex, a title the Romans despised, though not the office. Augustus, who prudently avoided the odious word, settled for permanent imperator (a temporary but constitutional grand commander of the Republic), whence we have the word emperor, a more powerful office than most any king before. Similarly, we would never dream of having an emperor, but a president suits us just fine. (Thanks Lincoln and FDR.) But to return to Caesar. The Romans, it turns out, came to despise him after he declared, “Veni, vidi, vici!” and sounded like a weenie. Shortly thereafter the Romans began pronouncing the letter ‘v’ as we in English do. Because we are now going to be learning the perfect system and will understand the form of the verbs above, at this time we shall throw off that ugly liquid for the more sonorous fricative. My pedantry has its limits.
Religion will be fun too.
Vale,
Mr. Ruplinger

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EIGHTH GRADE RELIGION AND MIDDLE SCHOOL HISTORY
History
In American History, the eighth grade scholars will finish the unit on the Civil War and Reconstruction in April, whereupon we will have finished all of the course material for the year. Look for a fun and more detailed look at the Civil War in May. In Texas History, the seventh grade scholars will study early Texas statehood and the events leading up to the American Civil War. In World History, the sixth grade scholars will turn their attention to the Byzantine Empire and the rise of Islam as we prepare for the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Eighth Grade Religion
Having concluded a lengthy account of the differences between civil marriage and the sacrament of matrimony, as well as the differences between divorce and annulment, we turn to consider the role of the Christian in the modern world. Our discussion will include the distinctions between Divine, Natural, and Human Law, an account of conscience, as well as a presentation on Catholic Social Teaching.
Mr. Arndt

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EIGHTH GRADE SCIENCE
Having read Dr. Ben Wiker’s interesting book, The Mystery of the Periodic Table, we will spend the rest of the quarter reviewing the origins of the study of chemistry and performing some of the original experiments that led to our current understanding of the atomic theory.
Dr. Hollingshead

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GEOGRAPHY
The fourth grade students are finishing their European adventure with the completion of their library assignment on Russia. Oral presentations will be made in class. Students are testing their “map-making” abilities. While we studied Russia, we’ve had a quick course in Soviet Marxism as well as a historical overview of time of the Czars. As the month progresses, we will turn our eyes toward the land and people of the East. The People’s Republic of China will be our first stop, followed by the “Land of the Rising Sun,” Japan. Toward the end of the month, we’ll leave the Asian continent and explore the land “down under” - Australia and New Zealand. For “hello,” they say: “gi-day mate.”
The fifth grade students are completing their trek through the rugged terrain of Southwest Asia in Georgia (the country, of course), Armenia, Azerbaijan (ask your child how to pronounce it), Kazakhstan, and NATO ally Turkey. We will have a test over these nations; then we are crossing the Atlantic and returning to where we began in fourth grade: The Western Hemisphere. We spanned the globe twice, and now come full circle again with a detailed look at Central America. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala will be explored. Our 10th annual World Geography Competition will be held on May 13th, and already the excitement is building!
Deacon Orr

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ATHLETICS
It’s April, and the pressure is off! Having spent the last week of March giving our best shot to qualifying for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, we can all now breathe a little easier and enjoy the warm, sunny weather. We can’t take it too easy, though, for there still remains much to be done. We still have to learn the fine arts of whiffle ball, Frisbee tossing, and volleyball, while also reviewing basic safety do’s and don’ts, creating our very own healthy snacks, and conquering progressively more difficult obstacle courses! In addition, the Middle Scholars must each design and implement their very own exercise regimen, incorporating the various principles that we have learned about in Health class throughout the year . . .
A couple of quick side notes. First, beginning April 19th (the day that we return from Easter Break) all students are encouraged to bring water bottles for class. Increased temperatures will no doubt bring increased perspiration, and we certainly don’t want anyone getting ill because he is dehydrated. Secondly, please be sure to emphasize for your student the importance of SAFETY. The increase in construction activity around here, while exciting, will also mean more safety hazards. Mrs. K. and I did take all classes on the official The Atonement Academy Construction Safety Tour (TAACST, for short) and we will keep careful watch that no one strays near any restricted areas, but it never hurts to mention it again.
Coach Lyle

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