During Ms. Liepins' art class, our students create many beautiful artworks every day! 5th grade is learning about El Dia de Los Muertos and creating Calaveras de azúcar or sugar skulls out of paper. 6th & 7th grade had a still life demo class inspired by the catacombs in Paris. Kindergarten learned about warm & cold colors while making sun creations. These are only a few of the creative artwork and techniques Ms. Liepins is teaching our students. Check out her Twitter account @SASartroom and the school Instagram for more! @st.annschool_nj

El Dia de Los Muertos is coming to Saint Ann! The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico between October 31st and November 2nd. It's a time to remember deceased loved ones and honor them. The Day of the Dead is a festive occasion, a time to celebrate, much like a family reunion. Making an altar (or ofrenda as it's sometimes called in Spanish) for the occasion can be a way for you to honor the life of someone who was important to you or remembers your ancestors. Mrs. Laccetti and her Spanish class students will be making an Altar or Ofrenda table and displaying it at the entrance of our school. Anyone at Saint Ann School who would like to remember a special person will be able to contribute to the Ofrenda with a picture, a small candle, or a note remembering something special about their loved ones who passed.

It's Dress Down Wednesday for staff & faculty at Saint Ann School! In appreciation to the PTA, we will be having a dress down day on Wednesdays when staff & faculty are invited to wear jeans & the new PTA gift: the SAS polo shirt. Thank You to our PTA for all the wonderful things you do for us and to all SAS families for your constant support!

Saint Ann School families: the Crusader Corner School Store is open for business and will be selling in the cafeteria at all lunch periods the following Mondays: 10/21, 11/4, 11/17, 12/2, and 12/16. Show your school spirit! Please send cash with your child on those days if they wish to make a purchase.

Saint Ann School is happy to announce a new after school club: the Readers-R-Leaders Book Club. The club is open to students grades 3 through 8 and meets every Tuesday from 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm under the supervision of Mrs. Meyer. The first session of this club will run from 10/15/19 to 12/03/19. Students will be reading an assigned chapter of the book "The Christmas Genie" by Dan Gutman each week and participate in fun & engaging activities related to the book. With this club, we hope children will develop a love of reading and show their creative side. For more information visit our website https://saintannschool.org/clubs-activities-1

Students in 2 & 3 grade are starting a new unit in Mrs. Moya's Music class. Based on the grade, all students were given a Precorder, Recorder, and Method book and started to make some noise that will turn soon into beautiful music with the guidance of our wonderful music director Mrs. Moya!

Saint Ann School 3rd-grade students visited Howell Living History Farm for their field trip this week. They traveled back in time and experienced what life used to be in 1700. 1800, and 1900. They tasted food from those time periods in the newly renovated Pleasant Valley Kitchen, visited a 1900s schoolroom, and had homemade ice cream. No need for a time machine though for this great experience, just a quick ride on a school bus!

The 2nd-grade students learned about being good, safe digital citizens while being online. In Mrs. Meyer's Technology class, they read the book The Tweeting Galah by Kim Maslin. Little Galah was learning how to fly and his teacher told him not to use his phone as it could be quite dangerous. He decided he wanted to take a selfie with his friends while they were flying and then post it on social media. Of course, his teacher saw the post because we learned that what you put online can be seen by lots and lots of people so we must always be careful what we post. The class made wonderful Gabo’s, the tweeting Galah. They loved being a part of the book using augmented reality. It was a fun and creative lesson.

Saint Ann Schools students are exposed to service every day. Some of them took it a step further last weekend when they participated in the 2019 Walk to End Alzheimer's. Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. One of our 7th graders lost his grandmother last year to Alzheimer's and to honor her he decided to form a team and participate in the walk, raising not only awareness but also almost $3,000 to donate to research. The team's name is Forever Young and has 16 members, 7 of whom were St Ann students. Our 7th grader effort made an impression on the Executive Director of the walk who asked him to step on stage and address the crowd with a few words at the opening of the event. Finding the walk to be very rewarding, he plans to put together a team again next year and hopes that more of his school mates will join him. To know more about the association and his effort, visit https://act.alz.org/site/TR?pg=personal&px=16655579&fr_id=12544

“LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. Today Saint Ann School will gather outside for the Blessing of the Animals to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi day (10/03). Mrs. Socha's preschool class learned all about St Francis and how to be good to the animals. Students brought in stuffed animals and prayed for them. Then they made bird feeders to take care of our friends outside.

Saint Ann School families, during the opening presentation at Back to School night, I had the opportunity to let you know about some big changes to our Christmas program. Last year provided me the chance to observe the program in depth. After much consideration, I focused on the goal of creating a performance that would provide more emphasis on the spiritual aspects of Christmas. Additionally, I wanted to find ways to give our students different opportunities that would match better with their varying ages and grade levels. For these reasons, I felt a change was needed... CLICK ON THIS STORY TO READ MORE

Notre Dame High School announced five National Merit Commended Students last week and among them are two Saint Ann School Alumni. Dora Krstic and Bridget Hoyt, class of 2016. They were recognized for their academic performance on the PSAT/NMSQT®. Commended Students are named on the basis of a Selection Index score, and are usually the top 50,000 students that scored the highest in the nation. We congratulate Dora and Bridgit on their achievement and wish them all the best as they continue in their academic journey!

Saint Ann School is happy to announce Art Club with Ms. Liepins! Art Club is the perfect club for students interested in pursuing their creative side! Drawing, painting, sculpture, 2D, 3D- the options are endless for what students will create! Each month there will be a new fun theme! Art Club membership is a month by month membership. Permission slips will go out before each month to sign up again if students are interested. The club will start Wed., 10/02 and will meet every Wednesday, 2:30-3:30 pm. Students will wait in the cafeteria for Ms. Liepins to walk them over to the FDC after school. Snacks will be provided.  For more informations please contact Ms. Liepins at kliepins@st-ann-school.org

Saint Ann School is proud to introduce a new after school club: the Library Secret Service Club (LSS). This club is open to students in grades 6, 7, and 8 who are interested in the betterment of our school library as well as getting back to the extended Saint Ann's community. Students attending this club will earn Comunity Service Volunteer Hours after completing at least 15 meeting sessions. The Club will meet every Tuesday, from 7:30 am to 8 am, in the school library located at the Faith Development Center. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, 10/08/19. Permission slips can be found online on the school website under the Students Corner tab and the P.I.E tab and need to be returned to Mrs. Ortiz by Monday, 10/07/19. For questions or more information please contact Mrs. Ortiz at portiz@st-ann-school.org

Mrs. Moya's Music Ensembles are back at work! "Experience Choichime Ringing Ensemble" meets every Monday, now through 12/09/19, from 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm. "Ringing & Singing Ensemble" meets every Tuesday, now through 12/10/19, from 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm. The clubs meet at the Faith Development Center for practice. Students attending gather in the school gymnasium at 2:25 pm for a brief snack before heading over to the FDC. For more information, contact our music director. Mrs. Moya at cmoya@st-ann-school.org

Dear Saint Ann School Families, on Tuesday, 09/17 representatives from the Church of Saint Ann's Junior Legion of Mary visited with students from third to eighth grade to distribute information regarding this worldwide organization and to recruit new members. The Junior Legion of Mary is a parish organization and is moderated by adult volunteers from the Church of Saint Ann. The adult volunteers have completed the mandatory Virtus training and fingerprinting as required by the Diocese of Trenton for volunteers working with children. Please take note that this is not a school club but a Parish run organization. The Junior Legion of Mary meets weekly on Thursdays from 2:30 to 4:00 pm in the Faith Development Center. Saint Ann School students who attend are dismissed to the adult volunteers who escort the children to the FDC. If you have any questions, you may contact Lorraine Burns at 609-882-0895 or Rose Kaniper at 440-670-2282. God Bless!

Thursday, 09/19 Saint Ann School hosted High School Awareness Open House for 7th & 8th-grade students & their families exploring academic life after middle school. Several area high schools representatives came and shared information about admission, financial aid & other things their school has to offer.

Saint Ann School & Parish Green Team invited parishioners to the blessing of the parish #solarenergy project last Sunday. The project consisted of the installation of solar panels over the "Walk of Faith" sidewalk that stretches across the church & school parking lot. The blessing was presided by Msgr. Vince Gartland. Parishioners were asked to bring clean water from a natural water source to be used for the blessing.

Saint Ann School is pleased to announce that a new gym teacher has been hired and will begin classes on Wednesday, 09/18. Mr. John Zimmer comes to us with prior experience teaching physical education in both public and Parochial schools. We welcome Mr. Zimmer to the Saint Ann School family and wish him best of luck! God bless!

Saint Ann School is proud to present two new school clubs! Our Science teacher, Mrs. Daniel, will host the Trout Team and the Green Thumb clubs. Interested in all things trout? Do you want to be in charge of making sure the water quality in our fish tank is optimal for our trout? The Trout Team club is the place for you! Do you love gardening? Or just love the idea of eating the "fruits" of your labor? Join the Green Thumb Club and help take care of our school garden. Members will be able to take home herbs and tomatoes that are grown in the garden as they begin to grow in the spring and summer. Flyers with more information about these clubs will be coming soon. In the meanwhile, if you have any questions contact Mrs. Daniel at mdaniel@st-ann-school.org