In a Halloween STEM project, Mrs. Powell and Mrs. Saggio helped embed straws in paper cones that 2nd graders dressed up in purple cloaks and green faces to resemble witches. Then, with a string suspended from the loft to the floor in HNOM's gymnasium, 2nd graders watched in awe as their magical designs glided down like a witch on a broomstick!

To spread Halloween spirit around the school building and show camaraderie, HNOM teachers and staff dressed up as M&M's for Halloween. Our principal, Miss Ciminelli, continued the tradition of an annual costume theme for teachers, and Mrs. Chesterton, our Kindergarten teacher, coordinated the idea. In previous years, teachers were challenged to dress up as book characters and the Creation story. This year was sweet and simple! The candy characters brought smiles and vibrancy to HNOM this Halloween!

In Miss Fischer's first grade class, students painted sugar pumpkins with swirls of color! Our school cafeteria was transformed into an art studio with palettes of paint and tablecloths so that students could have fun with their messy, beautiful creations!

HNOM's Parent-Teacher League hosted their annual Halloween party, filling the schoolyard with decorated car trunks for "trick or treating," setting up a bone-chilling Limbo game in the gym, and covering tables with a plethora of craft materials, like pumpkin sticker books and fang-tastic wooden ornaments. Parents and HNOM students dressed up in costumes to celebrate the spooky season!

In Mrs. Chesterton's Kindergarten class, students read the classic rhyming poem, "Five Little Pumpkins," which teaches emotions vocabulary through the conversation of five gourds who each embody a different feeling, like happy, grumpy, angry, or sleepy. To recreate the five pumpkins sitting on a gate in the nursery rhyme, Kindergarten students then used shape building-blocks to construct a high and sturdy fence for some candy pumpkins!

With string and spider embellishments, 7th graders helped 2nd grade brainstorm intricate, insect-catching web designs to weave across a paper plate. Students then competed to see how many insect pieces would stay trapped in their webbing! Mrs. Powell, our K-8 technology and 6-8 science teacher, plans collaborative STEM activities to bridge our middle school and elementary classrooms for interpersonal learning, team-building, leadership skill development, and seasonal fun!

As a fun, but didactic ,Halloween activity, Kindergarten students in Mrs. Chesterton's class identified beginning letter sounds in a Seesaw Activity to bring Frankenstein's monster to life on an iPad screen!

From pink ribbon hair accessories to pink sweaters, HNOM students assembled in their pink attire for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. With a $2 dress down donation, students raised money for "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer." 

In Mrs. Onorato's Pre-K class, students learned about fire safety before a visit from a real fire truck, which parked in the HNOM schoolyard! The firefighters extended the truck's ladder and showed students all the equipment stored in the truck!

Starfish, crabs, and whales, oh my! With magnifying glasses, Miss Fischer's 1st grade class searched for digraphs and trick words on different ocean animals in an under-the-sea themed literacy activity.

In Miss Sciortino's 3rd grade class, students recognized the contributions of Hispanic Americans by researching the histories and achievements of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. To conclude their celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, 3rd graders compiled their research onto one-page summary sheets with fun facts and a photograph!

After the 10 AM school mass, 8th graders received their "Class of 2023" pins in HNOM's annual "Blessing of the Pins" ceremony. The pins symbolize the start of the 8th grade's transition to high school.

To learn about Monday's federal holiday, Columbus Day, 2nd graders researched the 1942 arrival in the Americas, colored in pictures of the explorer's famous ships, and recited lines - like "Columbus sailed the ocean blue" - from a famous rhyme!

Miss Faux, our math AIS teacher, hosted a fun Friday filled with addition games for 1st graders. In "Pumpkin Bump," students demonstrated fluency in addition to 12. In teams of two, students rolled two dice, added the numbers, and covered the sum on their fall-themed game boards. If the sum they rolled was already covered by their partner's cube, they could "bump" their opponent's cube off the space. As a second addition game, students stacked cubes to build towers!

In honor of St. Francis of Assisi, Ms. Lara's nursery class brought in plush and electronic cats and dogs for Father Regan's "Blessing of the Animals."

In honor of this week's Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, HNOM School families were invited to bring their pets - plush and real! - to the schoolyard for a morning blessing over the animals.

On the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, students  at HNOM School learned prayers to honor the Patron Saint of animals, merchants, and ecology. Students also researched his famous impact on animals and completed coloring activities that celebrated St. Francis of Assisi's life. 

At every grade level, students created cards to thank Mr. Larry and Mr. Leo on HNOM's "School Custodian Appreciation Day"! We'd be a mess without you, Mr. Larry and Mr. Leo!

Kindergarten students designed their own apple boats during a fun fall STEM project! They got to choose the size of their apple and used a toothpick and construction paper to make a sail for the boat. Students made predictions about if their boat would sink or float in water and then tested their predictions in a tub of water!