Week at a Glance

Week of February 2-6, 2026

As we approach Groundhog’s Day on February 2nd, let’s cross our fingers for no sign of its shadow and an early spring!

Also, as the athletes start to gather in Italy for the Olympics, let’s keep them in our prayers that they stay healthy and injury-free and that it is a peaceful Olympic Games.

Math: We will keep working on fractions as we work through our unit on Geometry. We will also tie in some work with the Olympics, more specifically identifying fractions of flags from different countries and working on problem solving strategies with a variety of word problems.

Phonics (FUNdations): We will keep working on words with the long a sound. We are now up to four options for long a → a, a-e, ai, ay. We will work on reading and spelling words with these patterns. The trick words to practice are great, country, and away. 

Reading and Writing (Wit & Wisdom): We will wrap up learning about the Pioneers and we will read a Native American legend (The Legend of the Bluebonnet). With this legend, we will be able to explain what makes a story a legend, review the concept of story elements to aid in retelling a story, and define unfamiliar words.

Science/Social Studies: We will skip these this week, and we will turn our attention to extra time for Reading, Math, and learning about the Olympics.

Religion: We will wrap up our chapter from last week about Jesus and how he heals people both physically and spiritually. We will also keep practicing the Act of Contrition prayer as we get closer to First Reconciliation.

Tests and Quizzes: None

Additional Reminders:

• Please try to take your children to Mass this weekend.
• Tuesday = All School Mass
• Thursday = Conferences = No School for students
• Friday = OCS PD Day for teachers = No School for students

Please email Mrs. Lentino and me if your child is going to miss any days surrounding the long weekend. Thank you and safe travels!

• Spirit Wear Dress Down = Friday --> Please send your child in St. Joe spirit wear (or gym uniform) for the Pep Rally
• Library Books --> Please send these back Friday
• If you want to check out our class wish list, please visit the following link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3SEAB68UVH6SU?ref_=wl_share --> Always appreciated, never expected!

• Chemo Care Items = due Thursday - Thank you to the many families who have already sent in fuzzy socks. We also made cards in class that will be given to the families receiving the items.
• Pillow Drive = Thursday --> Please send in new pillows. This will benefit the St. Joe's Bed Ministry
• Spirit Wear Dress Down = Friday --> Please send your child in St. Joe spirit wear (or gym uniform) for the Pep Rally
• Library Books --> Please send these back Friday
• If you want to check out our class wish list, please visit the following link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3SEAB68UVH6SU?ref_=wl_share --> Always appreciated, never expected!

• Mass = Tuesday
• Chemo Cares Items = due Thursday - Thank you to the many families who have already sent in fuzzy socks. We also made cards in class that will be given to the families receiving the items.
• Pillow Drive = Thursday --> This will benefit the St. Joe's Bed Ministry
• Spirit Wear Dress Down = Friday --> Please send your child in St. Joe spirit wear (or gym uniform) for the Pep Rally
• Other important 2026 dates:
• Please consider signing up for a Mystery Reader opportunity, especially if we haven’t had the pleasure of your visit yet this year! 🙂
• We will finish up i-Ready Math assessments next week, as needed. (Some students finished last week.)

Week at a Glance

Catholic Schools Week → Week of January 26-30, 2026

Let us pause and take a moment to think about all of those who have come before us in the Catholic School system and all of those currently in the Catholic School system. What a gift that Catholic Schools can be to our communities and to our children! How blessed we are to have a supportive parish and a dedicated administration here at St. Joe’s. Let’s join in celebrating with other Catholic Schools throughout our entire country this week! 🙂

Math: Having finished our chapter on 3-digit subtraction, we will move to a chapter on Geometry. We will begin next week with a review of 2D shapes, specifically identifying attributes of shapes and identifying shapes based on the number of sides, angles, etc.

Phonics (FUNdations): We will wrap up our unit on er, ir, and ur syllables (r-controlled vowels) on Tuesday with our assessment, and then we will turn our attention to vowel teams, more specifically ai and ay (long a sound). New trick words include great, away, and country.

Reading and Writing (Wit & Wisdom): We will keep plugging away in our module about the American West. We will use our book Journey of a Pioneer to gather evidence for our next informational paragraphs. We will also add details to our writing and analyze visual art.

Science/Social Studies: We will wrap up our unit on Economics as we focus on answering the question: How can I be a smart consumer? Consumers are people who buy or use goods and services, so we will spend some time discussing costs and benefits of purchasing items, and we will define the following terms: need, resource, scarcity, want, and save.

Religion: As we continue preparing for First Reconciliation, please try to keep practicing the Act of Contrition prayer at home. We will practice that here multiple times each week. With the help of our books and our class bibles, we will learn about how Jesus healed the paralyzed man and how his healing extended to people’s spiritual lives. We will be able to define the following words: forgiveness, confession, and contrition.

Tests and Quizzes: 

• Phonics - Unit 9 Assessment = Tuesday, 1/27
• We will finish up i-Ready Math assessments next week, as needed. (Some students finished this past week.)

Additional Reminders:

• Please join us for our Catholic Schools Week kickoff this Sunday! We have so much going on and so much to celebrate:
• Mass
• Open House
• Pancake Breakfast
• Book Fair
• Tuesday = All School Mass
• Other important 2026 dates:
• First Reconciliation = March 7th
• Eucharist Prayer Service = April 30th
• Godparents Day Prayer Service = May 1st
• First Communion = May 2nd
• Please consider signing up for a Mystery Reader opportunity, especially if we haven’t had the pleasure of your visit yet this year! 🙂
• Please see the previous posts with flyers about the CSW events!

• No Library or Media Center classes this week - We cannot return books until next week's classes.
• Please see the other posts I put up on Tuesday with digital flyers about Catholic Schools Week events.
• Please join us Sunday for Mass and Open House.
• Chemo Cares - Please send in fuzzy socks by January 29th. Thank you for your generosity!
• FYI: Thursday, January 29th (next week):
  As we celebrate 100 years of St. Joe’s, let us toast to the future with a cup of Joe! Drop off your students and meet us in the Koenig Center to learn about the exciting NEW 6,700 square foot addition for our students. Delicious coffee and continental breakfast will be served. Thanks to the INCREDIBLE generosity of a parishioner, $50 per attendee will be donated to the St. Joe’s Teacher Bonus Fund. What a great way to support our staff!