Building Playground Equipment in the Makerspace

Our students were challenged to design and build a piece of equipment that you would find on a playground using Play-Doh for their "cement" and various materials found in our Makerspace Room. Looks like a fun and creative playground to visit!

   

5th Grade's "Living Wax Museum" Moves Outdoors for 2021

Our Fifth graders worked very hard researching and creating their role for this year's Annual Living Wax Museum. The Living Wax Museum came alive outside this year, with incredible stories of trailblazers, saints, legends, and innovators during this interactive event for our families and classmates. The costumes and the props added a touch of reality to the Wax Museum. Congratulations to Mrs. O'Connor, Mrs. Borowick, and our Fifth Grade students for a truly outstanding performance! Many thanks to Mr. Lee for the awesome pictures! Here are a few examples - please visit our Facebook page for the full photo gallery.

    

From St. A's Class of 2017 to St. Joe's Class of 2021

Congratulations to the following members of the St. A's Class of 2017 who graduated from Saint Joseph High School as members of their Class of 2021:  Andrew Musto, Calson Goodwill, Thomas Siegler, Ryan Chan, Justin Ferber, Timothy Kalapala, Robert Zimmerman, Christopher Parise, Colin Friedlander, Karson Chen (not pictured). They graduated on the 21st day of the 21st week of the 21st year of the 21st century.

Fourth Grade STEAM Project: Pasta Rovers!

Our Fourth Grade students were challenged to design and build a NASA-themed Mars Rover with only pasta, mint life savers, and glue. After learning about the Mars Rover Perseverance, the students used the Engineering Design Process to plan, build, test, and improve their Pasta Rover, all while staying within a pre-determined budget.

    

Seventh Grader Wins Silver Medal at USAIGC Gymnastics Championships

Seventh Grader Alyssa O. competed at the USAIGC New Jersey State Gymnastics Championships, held the weekend of May 8-9 in Wildwood, NJ and won the 2021 USAIGC NJ State Silver Medal for Balance Beam in the 12 year old division.  Of the 53 gymnasts in the session, Alyssa received the 2nd highest score (among 12-16 year olds). She also placed 5th for Floor Exercise.  Awesome job!

 

Three St. A's Students Win Awards in Diocesan Respect Life Poster Contest

The theme of this year's Respect Life Poster Contest was "This is the Year of Saint Joseph!"  Students in grades 1 to 8 were asked to draw a picture of a "special day" in the life of Saint Joseph, such as the birth of Jesus, or of an "ordinary day" in his life, such as working or spending time with Jesus and Mary.  A total of 112 posters were received by the Diocese Office of Human Life and Dignity, who had the very difficult task of selecting the First and Second Place winners in each grade.  Congratulations to the three St. A's students who received awards for their outstanding posters:

Shana I. - First Place, Grade 8


Jenevieve G. - First Place, Grade 7


Zoe N. - Second Place, Grade 4

St. A's Team SASolar Wins First NJIT eSTEM Competition

A team of six 4th and 5th grade students from St. A's won the Gold Trophy for their First Place finish in the New Jersey Institute of Technology's first eSTEM Competition, a STEM competition for elementary school students sponsored by the NJIT Center for Pre-College Programs.  The team was composed of students Lucas B., Sofina B., Abigail J., Isak K., Emma L., and Kendrick M. plus their teacher coaches Mrs. Falk and Mrs. Knox.  In all, 15 New Jersey schools took part in the competition with a total participation of over 75 students.  Teams were challenged  to use their knowledge of solar energy and the engineering design process to design and build a working solar oven without the use of solar panels, batteries, or external heat sources.  In addition to the overall Gold Trophy, Team SASolar also received medals for their Oral Presentation, Engineer's Logbooks, Kahoot! Challenge score, and the Engineering Design of their solar oven, nicknamed "Solar Rover", which they built to resemble a robotic rover like the Mars rover Perseverance that they had been studying in class.

   

For additional details on the Solar Rover and the NJIT eSTEM Competition, please click the links below:

Here Comes the Sun: NJ Elementary Students Turn Solar Engineers at NJIT's eSTEM Competition (NJIT News)

St. A's Shines at NJIT's first eSTEM Competition | South Brunswick, NJ Patch

Earth Day Projects in 4th Grade

Our fourth grade students in Ms. Fama's class celebrated Earth Day by planting sunflower seeds in a biodegradable pot.  Ms. Verdesco's class learned how to repurpose a plastic tablecloth by designing a wearable piece of clothing. Great examples of how to be God's stewards of our beloved Earth!

       

 

8th Graders Learn That Art Can Be Theraputic

Our 8th grade students leaned about Art Therapy and practiced Neurographic art while listening to meditative music in Mrs. Minsavage's Art Class.

       

 

Early Learners Take the Tallest Tower Challenge

Our Kindergarten Kids and First Graders used our KEVA Planks to complete a Tallest Tower Challenge, in which they were tasked with building a tower that would safely hold their plastic Easter egg and keep it from falling and breaking. If their tower fell, they used the engineering design process to make improvements until they built the tallest tower possible.  Great job to our future Engineers! 

   

 

Paper 'Copters Take Flight in 2nd Grade

Our 2nd grade engineers have been learning about the Mars helicopter, Ingenuity. They watched a video of a NASA engineer showing them how to build a paper helicopter, and then used the engineering design process to iterate and improve it. 

     

 

5th Grade Combines Sports and Math

Mrs. O'Connor's 5th grade Math Classes used a basketball to learn about percent and fractions by calculating what their percentage is at the free throw line.

   

 

Middle School Reflects on the Life of St. Joseph Through Art

As part of the Diocese of Metuchen's annual Respect for Life Poster Contest, our Middle School students were asked to reflect on the life of St. Joseph and then draw a picture of either a special day or an ordinary day in his life.  A selection of their remarkable artwork is featured in the video below. 

Music: "Good Good Father" by Matt Maher

 

8th Grade AAU Team Wins Iron Peak Championship

Congatulations to Coach Lentz and his AAU 8th grade Knights for becoming the 2021 Iron Peak Champions. They beat an undefeated Hillsborough team, 51-33.  Five of the eight players on the AAU team are current St. A's students.  Way to go KNIGHTS!

 

2nd Grade Uses Simple Machines to Trap a Leprechaun

Mrs. Gabriel's and Mrs. Straughn's 2nd grade classes used their knowledge of simple machines and designed, built, and presented their working Leprechaun Traps.

  
  

 

1st Graders Share Science Lesson with 7th Grade Buddies

Mr. Tackett's 7th Grade Science Class had some "out of this world" conversations with their 1st Grade Buddies, when they got together to share their knowledge about the Solar System and Space. 

  
Additional photos are available on our Facebook page!

 

Kindergarten & 8th Grade Buddies Celebrate 100th Day of School

Our 8th Grade Science students have been learning about natural resources, and created a book for each of their kindergarten buddies to teach them about natural resources and how they can be good stewards of the Earth. They also spent the 100th day of school counting their 100 objects together to show that they are truly 100 days brighter!

  
See the rest of the photos on our Facebook page!

 

Fifth Grade Marks 1,000 Total Days in School with 1,000 Cranes

Our Fifth Grade Students celebrated 1,000 days of their school career (180 days from K-4 and 100 days of 5th Grade) by learning about Sadako Sasaki and the 1,000 Cranes. The origami crane is used as a symbol of hope and healing. The act of folding a crane started by Sadako and her classmates turned into a national, then an international, children's peace movement. Children from all over the world still send folded paper cranes to be placed beneath Sadako’s statue. In so doing, they fulfill the wish engraved on the base of the statue: "This is our cry, This is our prayer, Peace in the world." The students then learned how to make origami cranes and got busy, folding their cranes. Their ultimate goal is to make 1,000 paper cranes! Stay turned to learn what they will do with them...

  

 

Pre-K is 100 Days Smarter!

Mrs. Pullen's Pre-K students celebrated their 100th day in school by painting 100 dots, counting out 100 snacks, and dressing up like people from 100 years ago.

    

 

Seventh Grade Explores the Solar System in Science Class

The Seventh Grade Science students recently completed a project as part of their unit on the solar system. Each student selected a planet or a moon in our solar system to research, and then created a model of their chosen planetary body. To demonstrate what they have learned, the students will use their models to teach a Science lesson to their First Grade buddies.

   

 

Second Grade Celebrates Black History Month

Mrs. Straughn's 2nd graders celebrated Black History Month by researching a famous African American, and creating and presenting a biography cube about their life and achievements.

   
You can see the rest of the cubes on our Facebook page.

Kindergarten Celebrates Read Across America with Dr. Seuss

Mrs. Young's Kindergarten class celebrated Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' birthday with a whole week of special activities.  They wore their craziest socks, dressed up as Dr. Seuss characters, and made giant book covers of their favorite Dr. Seuss book.  They even had a Zoom visit from two of their moms who read The Cat in the Hat for them.  As Dr. Seuss said, "The more that you read, the more things you'll know.  The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

   

ELA Meets STEM in Fourth Grade

Ms. Fama's Fourth Grade class integrated STEM with Language Arts, by reading the story of "Snowflake Bentley", about Photographer Wilson A. Bentley, and then were challenged with designing their own unique snowflakes using only toothpicks and marshmallows. As you can see, their snowflakes are just as unique as each one of our Fourth Graders are!

  

School Families Honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Day of Service

In answer to a request from Elijah's Promise, some of our students and families got together and assembled over 100 snack bags and rolled silverware. We are so proud of you for honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day of service for the community.

 

Kindergarten Celebrates Inauguration Day

As our nation was watching the inauguration of President Biden, our Kindergarten Kids were holding their own Inauguration ceremony, complete with a Vice President, Cabinet Members, and their own St. A's Little Knights Secret Service Agents. God bless America and our future generation of Americans.

 

Inauguration Day Rosary for our Nation

Our Fifth Grade Religion Classes prayed a special Rosary for our country and our new President.

  

First Grade Makes Corn Hop for Science

In honor of National Popcorn Day, Mrs. O'Donnell's First Graders observed the Hopping Corn Science Activity, in which they saw corn popping up and down as a result of the CO2 gas formed when baking soda and vinegar are combined.  The gas bubbles lift the kernels up, and they will continue hopping until the vinegar and baking soda have finished reacting. They even had a hopping dance to go along with the experiment. Great job to our future Scientists!

  

St. A's Celebrates Saint Lucy Filippini's Birthday

St. A's celebrated the 349th anniversary of Saint Lucy Filippini's birth with a prayer service held in front of the mural of Saint Lucy in the school's gathering area.  The prayer service was livestreamed so that it could be attended safely by our teachers and in-person students in their classrooms and by our remote learners at home.

 

La Befana Comes to St. A's on the Feast of the Epiphany

Signora Bernasky, our World Language Teacher, virtually celebrated L'Anno Nuovo with a New Year's count-down in Italian, and the Epiphany with the tradition of La Befana - the Italian Christmas Witch - in 4th grade and the storybook “The Legend of Old Befana” by Tomie DePaola in 2nd grade.

 
 

First Grade's First Day Back from Christmas Break

Our fabulous First Graders had an awesome virtual first day back to school with a visit from Sister Mary Louise in the morning during Computer Class, to a rocking New Year's party with Mrs. O' Donnell in the afternoon; complete with flashing lights and everyone dancing to the "Happy" song!

 

St. A's in the News - The Catholic Spirit - December 17, 2020

Seventh Graders Gisel C. and Alyssa O. are featured in a full page article in the December 17th issue of the Catholic Spirit. The students recently won an international workspace design contest hosted by Work Design Magazine. Click the link below to read the article.

Parochial school students earn top prize in design competition - The Catholic Spirit

Young Paleontologists Make Fossils During Virtual Science Class

Kindergarten learned how to write like scientist this week. Then they became paleontologist and made fossils using salt dough and imprinting. It was a huge success!

  

Girl Scouts' Groundskeeping Earns Community Service Badges

St. A's members of Girl Scout Troop #81785 pitched in to help clean up and maintain the grounds around the school building.  They worked as a team picking up litter, pulling weeds, and making sure the planters were free of fallen leaves and debris.  Their efforts earned them their Community Service Badges and the gratitude of the entire St. A's school family.

  

Kindergarten Students Meet Their 8th Grade Buddies

Our Kindergarten Kids finally got to meet their 8th Grade Buddies this week, just in time to collaborate on a fun Halloween project. After reading the book, "Spookley the Square Pumpkin," the buddies designed and created their very own square pumpkins together. Having Kindergarten and 8th Grade Buddies is our most treasured St. A's tradition, and many of our buddies go on to be life-long friends, and celebrate each other's successes in life.

In-School and Remote Learners Collaborate in Math Class

Our Fifth Grade students in Mrs. O'Connor's Math Class worked on solving division problems while in small groups.  The in-school students used their Chromebooks to join the class Zoom session and were able to work with their at-home remote classmates in Zoom's breakout rooms. Way to work together!

  

Second Graders Turn Pumpkins into Book Characters

Our 2nd Grade Students in Mrs. Straughn's Class, created a character book report using a pumpkin. The students were asked to decorate their pumpkin to represent a character from their book, and you can see that the results are extremely creative and each one is unique and makes you want to read the book!

   

See the rest of these awesome pumpkin characters on our Facebook page!

Little Knights Show Off Their Chromebook Skills

Our Pre-K students showed just how "tech-savvy" they are, as they used our sanitized Chromebooks and the touchpad to click and identify their colors. Well done Little Knights!

    

Seventh Graders Win Workspace Design Contest

Gisel C. and Alyssa O. were recently announced as the winners in the Workspace  category of Work Design Magazine's Next Work Environment Competition.  Their design for a modern office space, titled "U-turn, I-turn," was chosen from among entries submitted from all over the world by teams ranging from large architecture firms to independent designers to students.



Click here to read the full article about their winning submission on Work Design Magazine's website.

First Friday Rosary

Mrs. Paras' 6th Grade Religion Class visited church to pray the Rosary on the First Friday of October, the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

 

5th Graders Build Molecules out of Marshmallows

Molecules Matter in Mrs. Falk's 5th Grade Science Class, as they used toothpicks and marshmallows to study atoms, elements and subatomic particles.

  

Kindergarten Celebrates Johnny Appleseed Day

Our Kindergarten Kids celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day by participating in several activities that involved delicious apples, including an outside story time while enjoying their snack.

  

Learning About Shapes with Play-Doh in Pre-K

Our Little Knights are learning about shapes by using Play-Doh to recreate them and discuss how many sides each shape has.

  

7th Graders Review Technology Rules with Jamboard

Our 7th Grade Students are working safely and social distanced in the Computer Lab while using their own Chromebook, instead of sharing the desktop equipment. They are using a new resource called Google JAMBOARD, to create and collaborate with other students about the five most important rules and policies that we agree to abide by when using Technology, whether we are learning in-class or at-home.

 

Father Bob's Feast of St. Padre Pio Blessing on KTN

Today on KTN, Father Bob blessed our school, students, faculty, and staff in honor of the Feast Day of St. Padre Pio, one of the most beloved saints of the Church.  He bore the stigmata, the Wounds of Christ, for 50 years and is a model of prayer and humility.  St. Padre Pio, pray for us.

 

Chromebooks Come to First Grade Computer Class

Our First Grade students were awesome as they were learning the placement of the keys on a Chromebook keyboard during Computer Class.  Even though we had some technical difficulties, they remained calm and patient, and waited until Mr. De Bari could troubleshoot the issue.  Way to go First Graders!

  

Middle School Cohorts Enjoy Lunch in Revamped Cafeteria

Our 7th & 8th grade student cohorts ate their lunches in our socially distanced cafeteria behind donated Plexiglass Dividers.  It was a blessing to see their smiling faces!  They also enjoyed some fresh air during their sunny recess outside as well.

  

KTN is Back on the Air for the New School Year

The Knights Television Network (KTN) resumed broadcasting the Good News to St. A's classrooms on September 14th after an unexpectedly long hiatus.  Returning and new crew members quickly settled into their roles in front of and behind the camera.  We look forward to starting our days with prayer, announcements, and a little bit of fun sprinkled in as well, live on KTN!

  

Welcome Back to School!

We are thrilled to be back in school with our St. A's Knights. You were all missed so very much. Whether learning at home or in school, there's no place like St. A's!