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FEATURED NEWS

Posted April 12, 2012

A SCIENCE FAIR TO REMEMBER

The annual science fair at Morris Catholic Junior School (MCJS) in Morris Township is nothing new.Like many of the school’s beloved traditions, every sixth, seventh and eighth grader knows that, come springtime, they will be expected to unveil their scientific masterpiece before a panel of judges and their peers.This year, however, the fair took on a bit more significance.Since September, these junior high students have been pioneers in a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) curriculum.This interdisciplinary approach to learning has kept the students designing, calculating, measuring and experimenting all year. Read more...

Posted March 10, 2012

St. Virgil’s Celebrates Seuss

It was “All Seuss, All the Time” as St. Virgil Academy/Morris Catholic Junior School (SVA/MCJS) celebrated the National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America Day. The Morris Township-based Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8 school engaged all of its students in a day-long celebration that marked Dr. Seuss’ 108 birthday. “While reading is always a priority, Dr. Seuss’ birthday gave us an excuse to make it an extra-special reading day for our students,” explained SVA/MCJS principal Debbie Duane. After all, who can resist a reason to celebrate? The normal Friday school schedule was set aside as students followed an agenda, customized by Mrs. Duane and her faculty members, that was chock full of reading, rhyming, creative writing and illustrating activities. More...

Posted February 8, 2012

CREATIVITY “S.T.E.M.s”

FROM ST. VIRGIL ACADEMY YOUTH

Early Childhood Center (ECC) Students Build Native American Shelters

Engineer—it’s a word that typically brings to mind a vision of a well-dressed worker in a hard hat who is busy studying blue prints and measuring with rulers and protractors.At St. Virgil Academy (SVA) in Morris Plains, however, the engineers are quite a bit smaller, wear school uniforms and typically use crayons and rounded scissors as their preferred desk supplies.That’s right, as part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) program that began at both St. Vigil Academy and Morris Catholic Junior School this year, even the youngest learners are able to put on imaginary hard hats and start calculating like the pros… This winter, the SVA kindergarten class teamed up with the school’s first and second graders to apply their Native American studies to a S.T.E.M. project.Like this country’s early inhabitants, the students were challenged to work in teams to design a shelter using a limited supply of available materials.“We gave the students a set of criteria from which to work,” explained ECC teacher Robin Fink.“They needed to make sure the shelter provided adequate protection, had a safe heat source, included a doorway and that it was free standing,” Fink continued.Read more...

Posted January 15, 2012

A Quadruple Win for MCJS Forensics!

The Morris Catholic Junior School (MCJS) forensics team recently came home with not just one—but four—awards from the New Jersey Consortium of Middle Schools forensics competition!The competition takes place annually with other local area public and private schools like Morris Plains Borough School, Kent Place School, Central Middle School, Newark Academy, Morristown-Beard Middle School, Ridgedale Middle School, and Oak Knoll School.Team members compete in one of two areas.The first is interpretive reading wherein participants prepare an interpretation of a 3 – 6 minute reading selection suitable for a public audience and appropriate for the junior high reader.Poise and style are judged, as well as the reader’s enunciation and sincerity of purpose.The second area is that of original oratory where students present, from memory, a 3 – 5 minute speech written entirely by the student on a topic of his/her choosing. Read more...

Posted November 26, 2011

From a Bat Cave to the Mayflower

St. Virgil Academy’s Montessori Approach has Young Imaginations Soaring

They started out as just plain, ordinary boxes.You know-- the kind that UPS delivers every day.But, to the preschool students at St. Virgil Academy, they’re so much more…

Beginning with this school year, St. Virgil Academy (SVA) in Morris Township has launched an innovative approach for their newly formed Early Childhood Center (ECC), which encompasses the three-year-oldpre-kindergarten program through first grade.Based on the educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori, the “Montessori education” is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, respect for a child’s natural psychological development, as well as technological advancements in society.“Our preschool teacher, Mrs. Patsy Dewey, is new to our school this year and has many years of experience with Montessori-based teaching,” explains Debbie Duane, the Academy’s principal.“I feel very blessed to have her on our team, incorporating this philosophy with our youngest learners,” Duane adds.More...

Posted November 25, 2011

Spaghetti and Sports, Perfect Together

The sight of crisp lettuce being tossed, the aroma of succulent garlic, the sound of fresh bread being sliced—no, it’s not a trip to Little Italy, it’s the St. Virgil Academy/Morris Catholic Junior School (SVA/MCJS) pasta supper!A beloved annual tradition, the pasta supper is great way for our wonderful community to socialize while raising funds to benefit the school’s sports program.And, this year was no exception.Families with children in our preschool through those in our eighth grade class gathered in the school cafeteria for some delicious salads, pastas, meatballs and tasty bread.St. Virgil parishioners, as well as school alumni, also joined the crowd to take part in the festivities.Of course, the meal wouldn’t be complete without an array of delicious homemade desserts and, we had those too!More...

Posted November 8, 2011

MCJS TEACHER WINS GRANT

Morris Catholic Junior School (MCJS) science teacher, Mrs. Anne Gualtieri, is the recipient of a $2,000 ING Unsung Heroes® grant.ING Unsung Heroes® began in 1995 as a way for ING to demonstrate its commitment to the education community.Grants are given to K – 12 educators utilizing new teaching methods and techniques that improve learning.Each year, educators submit applications for an ING Unsung Heroes grant by describing projects they have initiated or would like to pursue. Each project is judged on its innovative method, creativity and ability to positively influence the students.Read more...

Posted November 8, 2011

FROM PLAY YARD TO FARM YARD

St. Virgil Academy Playground Sees Some Fall Festival Fun

Chicks, ducklings, goats, rabbits and even a pony recently paid a visit to the St. Virgil Academy (SVA) playground.Their mission?To help the Early Childhood Center (ECC) students have some real “down on the farm” fall fun!The pre-kindergarten three-year-olds through first graders participated in a fall festival complete with farm animals provided by Farmer Swift from Swift Farm in Milford, NJ.