Villa Maria Academy Lower School

Eighth grade students programmed Finch robots in STEM class through the BirdBlox app to play Christmas music to share with younger students this holiday season. The students will also have some fun by decorating their Finch to make it festive and adding lights to play along with the music.

Finches were designed from Carnegie Mellon University’s famous Robotics Institute (RI) specifically to make intro classes to computer science engaging for students. Finch currently can be programmed with the Java and Python languages and are widely used by educators.

Fifth grade students designed and created 3D Christmas Ornaments in STEM class. The girls worked with an online software program called BlocksCAD to design, create and print 3D prototypes on Villa's 3D printers. A Christmas tree with the girls' ornaments will be on display in the Children's Department of the Chester County Public Library through the holiday season. The tree will feature a QR code that can be scanned to reveal the process of how the ornaments were created.

Visit us to learn more about how we empower girls through STEM at Villa.

Second graders sorted the donations for veterans this week.

During the month of November, the second grade collected items to support local veterans. The items will be delivered to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Coatesville. The students collected almost 300 items of deodorant, body wash, and shampoo.

Each second grade homeroom also created a welcome home cart for two veterans who are getting new housing. The letters they wrote to veterans will accompany the donations to the medical center. Thank you for your support of our veterans!

Eighth graders were tasked with writing the first three chapters of a novel and will prepare pitches to present to classmates to try and "sell their story," as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge (NaNoWriMo).

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers for transforming our gym today for the Christmas Bazaar on Monday! We are so grateful.

Kindergarten students have been learning about Christmas around the world this week. They just wrapped up Christmas in France and Italy. The girls learned some Christmas vocabulary in French and Italian, listened to some Christmas music from both countries, and learned about traditions special to families in both places. They made a book about Christmas in France and a craft based on the legend of La Befana from Italy.

The kindergarten girls are beginning to learn about addition! They are using models to solve addition problems. They were given a number and multiple addition sentences and they used models to determine which addition sentences added up to their number. After finding all the correct pieces, they ordered them based on size to create a Christmas tree! 🎄

Want to learn more about our kindergarten program at Villa? Schedule your private tour today! (610) 644-4864

Eighth grade students got to experience the effects of a chemical reaction in a homemade lava lamp experiment this week in science.

Schedule a shadow day to learn more about our middle school program and how Villa can empower your daughter.

As we come to the end of the Liturgical year, the second grade learned more about other seasons of the church year by making their own Liturgical calendar.

Will you be at our Preschool Visit Villa event tonight (November 29) at 6:30 PM? Prospective students and their families can meet for a short presentation, connect with staff, our admissions team and current parents and tour the school to discover how a Villa education can empower your child. We look forward to seeing you!

Please visit our website at www.villamaria.org to register.

In sixth grade Spanish, students are learning to listen and read with awareness in order to discover word meanings and relations. They focus on vocabulary and practicing pronunciation and grammar on topics such as greetings, the body, clothing, numbers, shapes, colors, family, weather, the calendar, and food.

Want to learn more about our middle school foreign language programs? Contact our Admissions Office today to schedule your private tour at [email protected].

First grade is exploring light and sound this week in science. Today, the girls watched a video about making sound effects and practiced making sound for rain and thunder. Then they had to apply what they learned by drawing and writing about two ways that sounds could be made for a cartoon.

Two hours are left to , an opportunity to give toward a mission for the greater good. For Villa, it is for students to create the best foundation for values, confidence to serve and lead, and a motivation to explore and learn. Your gift today makes that possible! Up-to-date technology to support engaging learning with their teachers, learning tools, and on-site and personal professional development for our educators who are truly dedicated to being lifelong learners so their students achieve beyond their goals. All in a beautiful, loving, safe, and caring environment. Thank you to those who gave, and if you are considering a gift, know everyone, regardless of the amount, impacts many young girls and early learners! We have the best Villa supporters, and let's make this the most impactful one yet! To learn more and make a gift, click on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday in our bio. Thank you from the bottom of our Villa Hearts! Our Villa Family is the best!

One 30-year-old VMALS alumna reflects about VMALS "It's an honor that my parents invested in a Villa Maria education for me. The school and its beautiful campus, the education I received, and the friends I made are truly what shaped the woman I am today." One current grandparent and alumnae parent said, "We continue to support VMALS because we strongly believe it is the foundation for empowering young, compassionate, and confident young women to become leaders of tomorrow." Your chosen giving to Villa today on creates an impactful tomorrow as described above for our students beyond their time at VMALS. Create an amazing present and an amazing future for our students today with your intentional giving on ! We are so appreciative of the opportunities your gifts grant us to do this year and generations to come! EVERY GIFT, EVERY AMOUNT MAKES AN IMPACT! Celebrate ! We are appreciative of all your grateful giving to our students and legacy! Give a gift by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday. Thank you from the bottom of our Villa Hearts!

Sister Renee taught students about the Feast of Christ the King this week, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year (this past Sunday). Sister asked the fourth grade girls to summarize why the image of Christ the King was a good image and present it to the class.

The kindness and generosity from our Villa Families, Alumnae, Grandparents, and Friends on creates a feeling of love, opportunities, and possibilities that the IHM mission creates for each young girl and learner! It may be technology advancements, special student activities and educational programming, curriculum enhancements, learning tools, professional development and higher education tuition aid for our teachers who are lifelong learners themselves, and everything necessary to flourish in a loving, beautiful, and safe environment at Villa. Thank you to those who already gave to Villa this , and if you have not yet, please consider a gift. Click on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday to learn more. You may make your gift by credit/debit card, Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay and more.

Thank you to all of you who have created 12 hours, so far, of smiles of gratitude from our students, staff, and Taffy, too, with your generous and intentional gifts to Villa! EVERY gift, EVERY student, EVERY area of Villa benefits from your choice to be part of with Villa chosen to be the recipient of your giving. If you haven't been part of today, there are 12 hours left to make an impact. Learn more about how it impacts the mission and decide if you would like to make a gift by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday! Thank you from the bottom of our Villa Hearts!

When you give a kind gift to Villa this , ask your company if they will support yours with a matching gift! Many employers empower their employees' generosity with matching gifts or grants that increase the amount of their total giving! Ask your HR department or look on your company's internal website. It's an easy way to increase the impact of your gift to Villa! Make YOUR gift by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday and fill in your company's name if you ask them to match yours. Thank you for this extra effort to increase the impact of your already kind and generous gift!

Did you know the Fund for VMALS funds special events for our Villa Students? This includes memory-making traditions, like the Spring Show, guest visitors, and in-school educational programming. This is another way your generous giving impacts our students' well-rounded experience at Villa! We'd appreciate it if you consider us when you intentionally give today for ! You can make your gift by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday using a credit/debit card, Venmo, PayPal, Apple or Google Pay. Thank you from the bottom of our grateful hearts for your help in creating experiences for our Villa young girls and early learners that last a lifetime!

A grateful gift to give back to Villa ignites effective and engaging learning by providing our teachers, the greatest executors of the VMALS mission, the funds for enhanced curriculum and professional education, learning tools, and the newest technology to reinforce teaching methods and create technology leaders. This , your gift can make an impact! Click on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday and make a gift in any amount using credit/debit cards, Venmo, PayPal, Apple/Google Pay. Villa is grateful to be the recipient of your intentional giving today!

When Villa receives your kind and generous gifts on , the educational experience of young girls, women, and early learners remains one where IHM tradition can evolve with engagement through innovative learning. Villa students flourish daily in a loving, safe, and beautiful environment. YOUR GIVING MAKES THIS POSSIBLE! Learn more and make a gift by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday. Various convenient payment options are available! Thank you so we may rely on your support of the mission today and every day!

Celebrate the accomplishment that your generous giving to Villa can create this ! Today's gifts toward our Fund for VMALS support every student and every area of Villa Maria Academy. Villa would be grateful to be the recipient of your giving because so much more is POSSIBLE to accomplish with you to rely on to support us each year! Give a gift that makes a collective impact (and learn how) by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday.

The students were back into the swing of things today after a nice break with their families for Thanksgiving. Third graders focused on Advent during their religion lesson today, as it begins this coming weekend.

Continue the spirit of gratitude on tomorrow! Villa would be grateful to be the recipient of your generous giving, gifts we are blessed to rely on every year! It is 100% that EVERY gift BENEFITS every person and every area of Villa ! WE COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH AS MUCH WITHOUT YOU! Please consider a gift to Villa and any amount makes an impact! Make a gift by clicking on villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday by securely using credit cards, Venmo, PayPal, Apple/Google/Android wallet. THANK YOU from the bottom of our Villa Hearts!

#GivingTuesday Ways of Giving to Villa Maria Academy

It's not too late to register for our Preschool Visit Villa event this Wednesday, November 29 at 6:30 PM? Prospective students and their families can meet for a short presentation, connect with staff, our admissions team and current parents and tour the school to discover how a Villa education can empower your child. Please visit our website at www.villamaria.org.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6

Because today is a special day of giving thanks, we are counting our blessings big and small, and thanking the Lord for YOU. We would like to thank you for your continuous support of Villa Maria Academy Lower School.

May God Bless you and yours this Thanksgiving!

Our 3s and PreK classes held their Friendsgiving get together today. The children enjoyed a special lunch together in the 3s classrooms and had some fun in the PreK building with Thanksgiving themed center activities.

During the fifth grade girls Girl Scout November meeting, the girls earned their Robotics: Programming Robots badge.

They discussed the different types of robots that we have available even in our own homes and learned how to program the Bee-bot. They were given a challenge to program the Bee-bot to visit several spots on the town map and return to home base.

They also learned how to program the Ozobot and were given a challenge to give color code directions to the Ozobot so that it could navigate a maze from a start to a finish point. Good job, girls!

Third grade met with their fifth grade prayer partners today to complete a STEM challenge together. The girls used aluminum foil and an index card or popsicle sticks to create a “Mayflower." They then tested it to see if it would float and how many coins it would hold. The girls enjoyed the activity and each other’s company before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Second grade practicing those math facts!

Thanksgiving get together of first and eighth grade to make prayer partner “hand turkeys” and wish each other a Happy Thanksgiving.

The third grade girls have been busy studying multiplication. Recently, they learned about the Associative Property of Multiplication, which says changing the way three or more factors are grouped does not change the product. The girls practiced the property by rolling dice, and then grouping and multiplying the factors in any order, while having a friendly competition with their partner.

Want to learn more about our programs? Contact our Admissions Office today to schedule your private tour (610) 644-4864.

Giving Tuesday is ONE WEEK AWAY! Every , a universal day of giving held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (November 28th), Villa Maria Academy has been blessed to be the chosen recipient of generosity. It has become a blessing we can place reliance on year after year to bolster every area of our school and benefit each student. Please consider Villa this by making a collective impact that empowers our students! Click below to make a gift!

https://villamaria.org/support-vma/givingtuesday/

PreK worked on some fun Thanksgiving themed centers today: Turkey directed drawing, math turkey stew, fall pattern blocks, fall patterning, pumpkin latte math, and subsitizing color by number turkey. Students had fun mixing centers to get to see friends in the other class too!

Second and sixth grade prayer partners got together today for some holiday craft fun!

Fourth and seventh grade prayer partners worked together to write acrostic poems on "I am grateful."

The sixth grade was tasked with being a teacher for a day. In religion class, girls were placed into groups and given a religious topic and had to teach the class each Wednesday. This was a collaborative effort. Each lesson included technology via a self created slide show, a prayer, a culminating activity, and a video or song. This gave the girls the opportunity to use their creativity and leadership skills. The girls showed great confidence and enthusiasm in the learning environment during class.

Today, our 3s and PreK students held their Grandparents and Special Friends Day event! Thank you to all the family and friends that were able to join us today!

Eighth graders enjoyed a special brunch this past weekend with their mothers!

Second grade had a lot of fun in art class making and glazing their initial tiles!