Meet Mrs. Petura! Erin Petura is our PreK 4 teacher and this is her second year at Saint Ann School. Mrs. Petura engages our young students to always be curious and enthusiastic about learning new things. She focuses her curriculum on small group academic instruction, which she calls centers to get her students to be "Kindergarten ready" and she integrates these centers with developing social skills and understanding of God's love. Being the mother of 3 young children, one of whom is a preschooler himself, Mrs. Petura does a wonderful job understanding not only the needs of her young students but also the concerns and expectations of their families. She is the Perfect PreK 4 teacher and we are very lucky to have her!

Saint Ann School held its annual Science Fair from 02/19 to 02/22. Students in 4th to 8th grade had to complete a science project as part of their Science curriculum and all projects were displayed in the gymnasium for the Science Fair Open House held on Thursday, 02/21 and attended by families, faculty, and the rest of the student body. The faculty was asked to submit their vote for the best 3 Junior projects (grades 4 and 5), and the best 3 Senior projects (grades 6 through 8). A science teacher from Notre Dame High School was invited to the event to help judge the students’ work. Kudos to all our students grade 4 through 8 who participated in the science fair and congratulations to all our winners!!!

Saint Ann School has been focusing on contributing to decreasing its environmental impact. Based on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si”, the school has undertaken several projects in line with the Vatican’s environmental agenda, such as participating in a school-wide recycling program in partnership with our parish community. Each classroom has its own small blue recycling bin to dispose of paper, plastic, and glass, and large yellow recycling bins have been placed on each floor at one side of the hallway. Each day, students are responsible for emptying the classroom’s bin into the main one, which is placed on the street every other week during collection days for Lawrence Township. At Saint Ann school, faculty members and administrators will keep helping students cultivate good citizenship and environmental awareness to better care for God’s world, as they continue to strive in their quality faith-based education.

Presidents Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February; Presidents Day 2019 occurs on Monday, February 18. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other figures, Presidents Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present.

Every February 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, people celebrate St. Valentine's Day. But who is this mysterious saint? Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote a letter to the jailer's daughter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Many speculate that the Christian church decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

Saint Ann School students in 7th and 8th-grade are currently studying the Roots of Rock & Roll from African roots to the present days. Mrs. Moya, SAS vocal music instructor, assisted by Mrs. Daniel, our science instructor guided the students in completing a project on the subject in the format of SAS STREAM program. Students modeled instruments used in tribal music and dance, following the earliest prototypes and using purely unprocessed organic materials. The instruments on display outside 7 and 8-grade classes include idiophones, aerophones, chordophones, and membranophones.

Do you know what your 5th grader likes to eat the most? There is only one way to find out: check out Ms. Sung webpage. As part of their computer science curriculum, students in 5th-grade created a webpage about their favorite food and Ms. Sung incorporated it into the school website. Check it out! Go to https://saintannschool.org/5th-grades-favorite-foods

Meet our super Mrs. Sorrentino! Linda Sorrentino is one of our fifth-grade teachers. Her subjects are Integrated Language Art and Religion. With her love for books, she helps her students master literacy fluency, improve their language and grammar skills, and gets them ready for academic success in all other subjects. Mrs. Sorrentino guides our students and prepares them to transition to middle school spiritually, emotionally, academically, and socially. We are blessed to have her on our SAS team!

Saint Ann School is holding a book drive to benefit children of military personnel at the joint base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The children attend Lakehurst Elementary School, and the school library lost all its books as a result of mold remediation. The book drive is undergoing and will run through February 28. New and gently used books donations are most appreciated and can be dropped off at Saint Ann School or Saint Ann Church Faith Development Center, in the FDC Library.

Saint Ann School invites you to International Night!!! Wednesday, February 6th, 2019 6:30-7:30 PM in the school gymnasium, 6, 7, and 8-grade students and families will display crafts, flags, currency, stamps, food, clothing, maps, and photos, from all different countries around the world and they will also perform dances, songs or make heritage related crafts. PreK through 5th-grade families are all invited. Come on over! Whether you’re Irish or Italian, whether you have an interest in Chinese or Cherokee cultures: come to share this fun night with us! RSVP to Mrs. Laccetti at [email protected] ASAP

Due to the overwhelming success of STREAM Camp at Saint Raphael School & Saint Ann School in the summer of 2018, Saint Ann School and Saint Raphael School will continue offering a collaborative STREAM summer camp in 2019. We are excited to continue to raise the bar and challenge our students to think and work together in a hands-on way. Please take a moment to complete a brief survey to help us better serve you. Go to www.streamcamp.org or simply click on this news story.

Today concludes the celebration of Catholic Schools Week at Saint Ann School. After a week of engaging activities and fun events, Saint Ann's students and staff are ready to resume their regular schedule. Although they say that all good things come to an end, we will continue to be exceptional at SAS. We will keep engaging in our learning and serving so that we will one day become successful leaders. So another Catholic Schools Week is in the books but its motto will keep resonating in the hallways at Saint Ann School and in the minds and hearts of our students: "Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed."