First Day of Preschool

Preschool 3s started their very first year of preschool last month when school started.  Starting preschool can be an important milestone in a 3 year old's life.  It can be very exciting, as well as a mix of emotions. From the time they started school until now they have been adjusting to preschool and learning the rules and routines. Preschool 3s have been learning and engaging in various activities. These activities include circle time, where they sing songs and listen to stories, as well as Centers, where they express their creativity and work on various projects. The preschoolers have also used their social skills to develop new friendships and learn to share and take turns. Now, a month into preschool these students have adapted quickly and are comfortable and confident in their new setting. This is setting the stage for an exciting and enriching school year.  

Thank you, Mr. Debri!

Over the past week the K-2 ASA students said "thank you" to Mr. Debri in the best ways they know how with a lunchroom tunnel and a special bucket filler presentation at Mass.  Each June, when the 2nd graders leave the lunchroom after their final lunch at the Lower Campus, the kindergarten and first grade students make a tunnel for the 2nd graders to run through as they leave the lunchroom.  To continue this tradition,  the K-2 students made a tunnel to celebrate Mr. Debri's final day in the lunchroom last Friday!  For many years Mr. Debri has opened milk cartons and those tricky fruit cups and juice boxes in the lunchroom while visiting with students during the Lower Campus K-2 lunch.  By making the tunnel for Mr. Debri to run through as he left the lunchroom, the students were able to wish Mr. Debri well on his next adventure. 

 

But the K-2 students weren't done yet!  Traditionally Mr. Debri has always announced bucket fillers after the Lower Campus Wednesday Mass.  Over the years, Mr. Debri has recognized hundreds of students and each member of the teaching staff, but before this week had never been recognized himself.  So the script was flipped this week and the K-2 students recognized and thanked Mr. Debri for the many ways he has filled their buckets.  The students thanked Mr. Debri for giving them high fives, sharing a smile and a hello with them, making them feel better, being their substitute teacher, and being an excellent example by showing them how to fill others' buckets each day!  Mr. Debri was presented with a Thank You card and a personalized bucket filled with some of his favorite sweet treats!  It was the perfect send off to thank Mr. Debri in true Lower Campus fashion. 

Some fun memories of Mr. Debri include:

March is Reading Month

"In my 27 years working in Catholic schools, I've never worked for a principal who was as gifted at finding funding as Michael has been. Thanks to him, we have been able to add so much technology and other enrichments for students in the last few years. His new position at WC is perfect for his unique gift."

2021

Christmas 2022

Have you subscribed?

Did you know that ASA has a YouTube channel?  We do!  You can find it here.  Our channel includes videos about our school, our two previous video series and our current video series.

In our About ASA playlist you'll find videos titled "All Things Are Possible Through Christ", "Creativity and Innovation Promote Success", "We Believe We Can All Grow", and more!  There are informational videos about the programs offered as ASA, such as our Atrium, and Home and School.

The Day in the Life playlist highlights a day in the life of our students!  With videos highlighting Preschool, Kindergarten, K-2, 3rd grade, Grades 4-5 and Grades 6-8, all ages are shown.

Last year, our video series was Walking with the Saints.  This series focused on the Saints seen in the mural at our Upper Campus and how they connect to our school community.  Each video was released on YouTube and Facebook, go back and check them out again!

This year's video series is titled Parent Testimonials.  Each one or two minute video will focus on a parent's experience at ASA.  Two videos have been released already and the rest will be throughout the year.  Make sure to check them out and share with friends that might be interested in learning about ASA!

Technology Tools for Parents Revisited

 This is reposted from September 21, 2022.  We've reposted it today as the topic is still an important one, especially as our students return to school and use technology to complete their schoolwork.

Image by Luis Garcia Wikimedia Commons

Children are now growing up immersed in an online world. They watch their parents on their phones, older siblings are glued to their devices for both school and social activities, and they start playing online games at earlier and earlier ages. While the debate is still out on how this affects children long-term, the fact that keeping a child entertained on the internet can be a risky situation for their mental health and physical safety, unless the adults in charge have put necessary safeguards in place. 

Social media is one of the top places child predators seek out new victims, so it's important to both talk to your child about online dangers, and to set up parental controls to protect them. If you are a parent who is comfortable with technology, you probably have already put parent controls in place on all your child's devices, apps and accounts, monitor your child's online activity, and restrict their internet access. If you are a parent who is completely baffled by technology, and your 7 year old is your go-to tech expert, all these controls can seem overwhelming. What is a non-techie parent to do? Where do you even start? Once those parental controls are in place, how do you keep up with the latest ways for kids to bypass them besides fervent prayers to St. Isidore of Seville, the patron saint of the internet? (Yes, there really is a patron saint of the internet.)

Fortunately there are MANY resources available for parents, a simple Google search will bring up countless results. I'll point you to a few from organizations that are either currently in use at ASA, or that we've used in the past. Disclaimer:  ASA does not receive any compensation for any of the resources we recommend to parents. We share the resources we've found and used because we are passionate about working with parents to keep students safe.

Resources for Talking to Your Children About Online Dangers

It's never too early to start these conversations about online dangers and inappropriate content. Sadly, you'll want to have these conversations sooner than you think. 

• Childhood 2.0, A Handbook for Raising Kids in the Digital Age, from Bark
• How to Talk About Online Predators With Your Kids, from the Bark Blog
• How to Talk to Teens About Dealing with Online Predators, from Common Sense Media
• Talk to Your Kids, from the US Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice
• Chatting With Kids About Being Online, from the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure security Agency
• Be Internet Awesome, by Google. Children learn online safety in a game.
• The Protect App from Protect Young Eyes provides bite sized lessons for parents and their children.
• What's the Right Age to Give My Kid Social Media, from Wait Until 8th

Parental Controls

• Protect Young Eyes Parental Controls for Every Digital Device - Step by step instructions for setting up controls on any mobile or gaming device, computers, wireless routers, smart TVs, smart speakers, e-readers, etc.
• Recommended Parental Controls from Protect Young Eyes - scroll down the Resources page to find the parental controls
• Common Sense Media Parents' Ultimate Guide to Parental Controls - Everything you wanted to know about parental controls and more.
• Bark Blog posts about parental controls
• Child Predators:  Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Child, from the Bark Blog

Which Apps and Games are Safe?

So your child has an iPad, gaming system or mobile phone, and they want all the latest apps and games that everyone else is using. How do you know they are safe?

• Social Media, Gaming, Photo, and Video Apps Explained from Protect Young Eyes. Pretty much every app your child wants will be listed here.
• App Reviews by Common Sense Media
• Game Reviews by Common Sense Media

How to Keep Up With New Tech?

Let's face it, our children have far more time on their hands than adults, and they are fearless. They always find the latest and greatest app, game, site, way to bypass parental controls, etc.

• The Protect App from Protect Young Eyes provides bite sized lessons for parents and their children.
• Subscribe to the Bark blog The prompt to subscribe is at the bottom of the page.
• Subscribe to the Protect Young Eyes blog
• Recommended books from Protect Young Eyes, scroll down the Resources page to find the recommended books.

If you have questions or concerns, or wonder about the technology your child uses at ASA, please refer to this Technology in Use With Students page on our website, or feel free to reach out to me at kszczytko@asagr.org.

Many blessings,

Karen Szczytko (Sitko)
Technology Coordinator