Principal’s Letter

It feels like a refrain worth celebrating around here, but what makes St. John special is our community, and we have seen that all week, starting with Oktoberfest on Saturday night. Thank you to everyone who planned, volunteered, and attended. What a party! Through your generous giving, we have raised over $18,000 for our Repave the Way sidewalk improvement project. It’s not too late to make a gift to the project; gifts of $500 or more will be recognized on a Donor Wall.

Thank you for joining us for teacher conferences; we had almost 100% participation, which is a remarkable testament to our community. This family/school partnership is an essential part of who we are, and we are grateful to you for setting aside time in your busy schedules to prioritize these meetings.

We had over 330 students in grades 1-8 participate in our CYO soccer program this year. A huge shout-out to all of the coaches and volunteers! This program wouldn’t be possible without you. This Saturday, don your purple and gold, grab those pom-poms, and join us at BBHS as our 7th-grade girls (1:00pm) and 8th-grade boys (5:30pm) teams compete in the championship games. Congratulations and good luck!

Our 8th-graders have been hard at work planning and making games for our Halloween Carnival. Please carefully read the Halloween Carnival post below for all the pertinent details regarding costumes; we don’t want to have any sad children on Halloween who are asked to change out of their giant blow-up T-rex costume. Thank Mrs. Arruela and our 8th-grade students for putting on this wonderful school-wide event.

Speaking of 8th-grade – have you heard about our new 8th-grade trip, Stories That Shaped Our Nation? Assistant Principal Paul Kelley and 8th-grade teacher Stephen Bretz made positive ripples during their recent planning trip through the South. While traveling, they met a former educator, turned podcaster, who was so impressed by this enriching curricular experience that she interviewed them for her program. Watch this inspiring story to learn more about this powerful, cross-curricular experience and how it connects to Catholic Social Teachings and our St. John Mission.

We all have something the world needs,

Principal Mansfield