Our 5th-8th graders had the opportunity to join a small ensemble that will sing at Lessons and Carols along with the classroom choirs. They will be singing “Christmas In About Three Minutes”, which includes snippets from 23 Christmas carols! Mrs. Roossien is holding rehearsals during recess on Wednesdays.
Lessons and Carols is scheduled for Friday, December 17. Please mark your calendar!
Our virtue focus for the 2nd quarter is FRIENDSHIP. The words of I Peter 4:8-10 give us much to think, talk, and pray about: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” What does it look like (or not look like) to love each other even when we have been wronged? To whom do we owe hospitality? How can we stop grumbling? What gifts do you have, and how can you use them to serve others? What does it mean to be a “steward” of God’s grace? Questions like these make good dinnertime, car-time, walk-time, and bedtime conversations.
Near the end of business hours today (Friday, November 12), our systems will update with a feature that will allow Office 365 users to reset their own passwords. Either this evening or over the weekend, Gr. 5-8 parents should help their children sign on to their accounts and enter the desired recovery email when prompted. This will allow parents to reset account passwords directly, without having to contact the office.
Dear Trinitas Families,
We’ve compiled a list of “best practices” or “healthy habits” that we have observed contribute significantly to the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual health and growth of our students (and parents too). Each family, and each person within a family, has strengths and weaknesses; none of us can practice all of these well all of the time. We provide this list as an opportunity to pause and intentionally examine life at home and focus on the most needed categories. We recognize that external pressures can cause us to neglect these important things. Sometimes making the effort to establish or re-establish them is the best strategy for handling those pressures.
Sleep
Make it a priority. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides these guidelines:
Ages 4-12 months: 12-16 hours (including naps)
Ages 1-2 years: 11-14 hours (including naps)
Ages 3-5 years: 10-13 hours (including naps)
Age 6-12 years: 9-12 hours
Age 13-18 years: 8-10 hours
Adults: 7-9 hours
Family Meals
Strive for daily (or nearly daily) dinners together (even just 15 minutes); adjust time as needed so everyone can be there. Breakfasts together are a good way to start the day (they can take as little as 5 minutes).
Family Devotions
Make time daily for Scripture, prayer, discussion, and/or song (even just 5-10 minutes).
Screen Time (not including homework)
Screens have a big impact on our lives. AAP guidelines:
No screen time at all for children until 18 to 24 months (except for video chatting)
Ages 2-5: an hour or less/day
At Trinitas, we recommend an hour or less/day for children ages 5 and up, as well as days with no screen time. Occasional movies (preferably shared with others) are an exception.
Turn screens off at dinner, during family and friend outings (even car rides), and at least 60 minutes before bed.
Screen Content
Philippians 4:8 is a good guide. Is the material uplifting? And, does it leave you energized or drained?
A positive COVID case was reported this week in the upper grades. All close contacts were contacted the same day. Because we cannot say how quickly the health department might move in contacting those impacted by a positive case, we will generally move first for the benefit of our families. The sooner we can let people know, the sooner we can get work collected for students and help them plan for remote learning. Official follow-up should eventually come from the health department, however.
Vaccination against COVID-19 is now available for children ages 5-11. Parents who have questions or wish their child to participate may contact their child’s physician, their preferred health system, or their local health department. Vaccination is not required for attendance and is a decision that will remain with individuals and families. You are not required to provide vaccination status to the school unless your child is identified as a close contact and that information is needed for determining if he/she needs to quarantine at home.
Thank you to all who acted out of an abundance of caution and kept their children home this week if they were showing symptoms of concern, however mild. We encourage families to keep practicing good illness-prevention practices: hand washing, surface cleaning, and monitoring of symptoms. Please note that when you call to report an absence, we will ask what symptoms your child has.
In our effort to do everything we can to keep students and staff healthy, we now have large room air purifiers running in every classroom!
Today is the end of the first quarter. Report cards will be distributed during parent-teacher conferences next week. The office will begin calling parents who have not scheduled a conference (one for each teacher, for upper grades). You may sign up here.
Remember that Thursday and Friday of next week are half days. If you have a friend or relative who picks up your child(ren) from school on a Thursday or Friday, please let that person know about the 11:35 dismissal time.
Picture Day will be Wednesday, November 10, starting after Morning Prayer. Dress uniform is optional. Students may wear the approved “everyday” uniform options. Classroom composite photos will be available in addition to individual portrait packages.
Retake day will be January 26. An all-school picture will also be taken on that day. Dress uniform will be required for the all-school picture.
We hope students are continuing to polish their Speech Meet recitations. Practicing in front of an audience can be very helpful! Please encourage your child to present his/her speech for someone before Speech Meet day. It could be a parent, grandparent, neighbor, or friend from church. It helps to practice in front of a mirror too!
Grades 3 and 4 enjoyed a rainy but wonderful day at the zoo on Friday, October 29. After a one-hour interactive lesson with a zookeeper, students enjoyed walking around to view the exhibits.
During our lesson on animal adaptations, we got to touch 4 different animals including an anaconda. We were blessed to have wonderful chaperones who drove us and then enjoyed the zoo with us.
The Calvin University Math Circle is an opportunity for 6th-8th grade students to engage with exciting problems and topics in mathematics. Meetings are led by a professor in the Calvin math department and typically begin with a warmup activity or game that leads into the day’s problem or topic. The Math Circle seeks to generate enthusiasm for problem-solving in mathematics. Students also discover applications of mathematics and participate in a community that nurtures critical thinking, communication, and abstraction.
The Math Circle will meet Mondays at Calvin University, 4:00-5:15 p.m., from January 31 to March 21. The cost is $80/semester. Click here to register.
Information: https://calvin.edu/go/mathcircle
