Santa Visits Early Childhood

The day before Holiday break, Early Childhood students had a special visit from Santa Claus! EC friends shared their holiday wish lists with Santa and received a candy cane treat. Students also patterned with candy canes and trees on the SmartBoard, and listened to a holiday story and music.

JK Gingerbread Man Hunt

Junior Kindergarteners hunted for the Gingerbread Man on Thursday, December 17. They followed clues and tracked the cookie chap through the classrooms, science labs, and library. He was eventually found hiding underneath the desk in Mr. Barton's office.

Holiday Orchestra Concert

ACS Orchestras performed for students at Gathering and for parents in the evening on Monday, December 14.

The intermediate and advanced orchestras each performed holiday favorites to get the community in the mood for winter break!

ACS Students Compete in Irish Dance Competition

Sisters Lily and Emma Smith competed in the Oireachtas, a prestigious Irish dance regional competition, over Thanksgiving weekend. Lily (Group Three) placed 15th and Emma (Group One) placed 20th earning the right in compete in the National Champioships of Irish Dance to be held in Orlando
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Congratulations to Lily and Emma Smith!

Student Council Visits Ronald McDonald House

Members of the ACS Student Council visited the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn on Thursday, December 17 to deliver goods collected from the ACS community. Student Council members collected more than two carloads of donations of paper products, cleaning products, food, and plastic containers. They were also able to purchase four personal DVD players and a set of queen-sized sheets with the money collected in "coin wars."


Eight Student Council members worked for 45 minutes to put ACS items in storerooms. The students toured the 16-bedroom facility and met some of the families and volunteers. They also baked cookies, using the three ovens in the community kitchen -- the cookies were barely out of the oven when the guests began to gather to sample the tasty treats.

Many thanks to Sue Gould for driving our donations to Oak Lawn!

ACS Alum Successful at State Swim Meet

Downers Grove North Junior and ACS alum Haley Sims (ACS '07) competed at the IHSA Girls' state swim championships held at New Trier High School on November 20 and 21. Haley was 2nd in the 200 freestyle {1:51.27}, 2nd in the 100 butterfly {54.80} and 10th in the 200 Medley Relay. The Downers Grove North 400 freestyle relay was 13th, just one spot out of the consolation finals. Her individual swim times were both new DGN varsity team records.

Haley has medaled at state every year of high school. Congratulations, Haley. We look forward to more!

Group One Fairy Tale Day

Group One celebrated Fairy Tale Day on Wednesday, December 16. Fairy Tale Day is the culmination of the students' study of popular fairy tales and the analysis of their essential elements (good vs. evil, setting, problem/solution, etc). On Fairy Tale Day, students dress up and act as a fairy tale character and have their classmates try to guess which one they are portraying. Some of the characters played by the students were Goldilocks, the Mirror on the Wall, Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Witch, and the Three Little Pigs.