Principal’s Letter
Welcome back! If you are new to St. John School, one thing you need to know is that we take our commitment to community seriously. We all have something this world needs, and this edition of NewsViews is chock-full of all the ways you can get involved and start making those positive ripples of change, starting off with tomorrow. Join us in Egan Hall immediately after drop-off for our first Parent Association meeting of the year. Tomorrow night we will celebrate with over 900 of our closest friends at the Back-to-School BBQ. We are still looking for volunteers to help set-up and supervise games and activities throughout the event (sign up here). Please consider a ride share or bike/walk to the BBQ. Thanks to Parent Association, Crispin’s Kitchen team, and the maintenance crew for all their preparations for the kick-off party.
Tomorrow we are also celebrating our students’ commitment to pursuing academic excellence through our Summer Incentive Program. We know all your students completed their summer learning activities and let’s celebrate with our first free-dress day of the year; please adhere to our non-uniform dress policy.
This afternoon we gathered to jump start one of our biggest fundraisers of the year: the Jog-A-Thon! Fundraising officially starts tomorrow, Friday; look for all the pertinent information in the packet coming home with your students Friday and watch for the email from 99 Pledges. Let’s run with the flock and hit our goal of $100,000. Your gifts to the jog-a-thon support the school’s operating budget which in turn helps fund curricula purchases, technology acquisitions, support staffing, and beyond.
Next week will be a busy one in the building. Students in grades 2-8 will begin our fall MAP testing. This standardized test measures a student’s growth over time, and teachers will use this data to help inform instruction and help students set academic goals for the year. We look forward to seeing our Middle School families on Thursday evening for our Middle School Curriculum Night, beginning at 6:30pm in the church. On Friday, we are hosting our annual Blessing of the Backpack Food Drive, benefiting the families of Broadview-Thompson K-8. And then, at 9am, we encourage all of you to join us for our first all-school community Mass of the year. This is a Dress Uniform day for all students; you will find our updated dress uniform policy here.
Another way we can spread ripples of kindness is by being mindful of our neighbors during pick-up and drop-off. Please pay close attention to our traffic map, and remember, when parking in the neighborhood, you may not block driveways or park in the Greenwood Elementary yellow painted bus load/unload zone on 1st Avenue. Speaking of student drop-off, our new morning routine is working well; just a reminder, while the school doors do open at 8:05am, our tardy bell does not ring until 8:20am, so please don’t feel rushed to drop students off early.
Be sure to read our Parent Action Items section of NewsViews for more ways you can get involved. We all have something the world needs.
Principal Mansfield
