Pre-K News: Pre-K children are busy talking about winter. We went to the zoo on a beautiful sunny winter day in January. We will soon be visiting the Metairie Post Office and going to the Morning Call. Our next unit on Community Helpers will include visits from police officers a nurse, and a fireman.

Kindergarten News: Kindergarten has been studying about author Jan Brett. We learned about Norway. Our map of the United States is filled with postcards for our 100th day of school. We only need a few states and we will have heard from all 50 of them. From the pictures we have learned about the weather in different places and about the things that make each state special. We are excited about our new vocabulary word folder. We are learning our words, making sentences, and some of us are beginning to read.

First Grade News: The 1st grade theme is living things. We've studied different animals. We made a graph to show how animals move. It was fun reading & writing stories about them, too! We are now moving on to plants - When we are finished, we will know the parts of a plant and what plants need to live and grow. We are also preparing for our February PTF performance. We hope all of you can attend the meeting and see what wonderful things we have in store for you.

Second Grade News: Second grade welcomed in the New Year by beginning new readers, writer's journals, phonics books and vocabulary connection books. We are working to prepare for third grade. In writing, we are trying to "take risks" and correct our own compositions. Time, money, estimation and graphing are still being emphasized with our Every Day Counts Calendar. Upcoming activities will include the celebration of our 100th day of school . We'll go bowling and do several 100th day activities. On February 2 the Aqua Van will visit us at school.

Third Grade News: In the third grade, Mrs. Ricord's classes are reading fairy tales which are also Folk Tales. Mrs. Chevalier's students are studying the life cycles of animals and insects. The classes experimented with eggs to explore the first stage in a chicken's life cycle. The third grade students in Mrs. DuCarpe's class are learning the 50 states and their capitols. In reading, they are studying the sea. Did you know a killer whale can weigh up to 16000 pounds?

Fourth Grade News: Ms. Wossom's and Mrs. Dart's classes have been learning about the Chinese New Year. We compared our celebration to the Chinese festival. We made Chinese lanterns and Chinese time scrolls. We've read lots of books on the Chinese culture including, How My Parents Learned to Eat, The Reluctant Dragon, and Yeh-Shen, the Chinese Cinderella story. Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy New Year!)

In Science we are beginning metric measurement using a balance scale to find the mass of objects. Soon we will be using centimeters and meters to find length and liters and milliliters to measure volume. Busy hands - Busy minds.

Do you know where Union Parish is located?  How many annual carnivals and festivals does Louisiana host?  Can you label all the lakes and rives?  Ask any 4th grader - they should know!

This 9 weeks we will concentrate on Louisiana culture, geography, and history. This information will prepare us for the upcoming LEAP test.

Ms. Flato's reading class is reading the novel, Stone Fox. We are learning about mushers and the Iditarod Dog Sled Race. We will be having our own race. The first person who reads 15 books is the winner. Ready, Set, Go! Ms. Flato's math classes will be celebrating the 100th day of school on February 1, 2000. All of our activities will revolve around the number 100. We will be making 100th day necklaces, 100th day graphs, playing 100th day math games, and having a 100th day hat contest. Math has been 100 days of fun!

Fifth Grade News: The 4th and 5th grade had an excellent Social Studies Fair. The students did a fantastic job on their projects. The following 5th graders placed first in their categories: Amanda Vicknair, History; Chelsea Morgansen, Anthropology; Jared Dimarco, Political Science; Group 1st Place in History went to Yakira Garcia and Victoria Griffin. Congratulations to our two fifth graders who will reign as King and Queen of Mardi Gras from Harahan Elementary; Marco Brine is King and Brittany Jackson will be Queen.

P.E. News: School winners for the Elks Hoop Shoot Contest are Allen Alongi, Kyle Herndon, Brittany Harris, and Victoria Gilkers. Allen won at the Grace King shoot out and will be competing in Opelousas this weekend. Congratulations!