Events & News

November 8, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

The weather this weekend was glorious! I hope you were all able to get out and enjoy the sun for a few more days as we know what’s headed our way over the next few months. We continue to be vigilant with our COVID protocols, including the daily screenings, hand hygiene, sanitizing the bathrooms, and taking other various measures each day for school safety. Please make sure your child’s mask is clean each day. We’ve been open for 50 days this year and continue to pray for low numbers around our specific school community so that we can continue in-person instruction. We believe there is no substitute for being in-person with our students, but we know the possibility is still very likely that we’ll have to operate remotely in the near future. We pray daily for the health of our families, our community and for those world-wide who have been affected by this virus.

It has been increasingly common over the past few weeks for some of our students and families to arrive after 7:45am. The second bell rings at 7:45am and morning prayer starts shortly thereafter. Every time Mrs. Snow has to let in a student child after 7:45am, the morning prayer is interrupted. This can be very distressing to the students as they try to unpack while listening to the prayer, and knowing that they’re walking into their classroom late. In order to avoid interrupting the school’s prayer each day, we will be asking students who arrive AFTER 7:45am to remain outside until the prayer is finished. Mornings can be hard, as a mother of 3 children, I understand! We ask that you do your best to get your children there before 7:45am, but if you don’t, please understand that they will be asked to wait before marching into their classrooms during the morning prayer. It usually takes 2 minutes or less for us to complete the morning prayer routine. Thank you for your understanding.

Unfortunately, we will be cutting our Mass numbers back to 50 this week. This means that our first-grade class will not be able to attend Mass until the group gatherings within a building move back up to 100 per the Governor’s orders. Grades 5-8 will attend Mass in person this week, and Grades 2-4 will attend Mass in person next week.

Here are a few highlights of things to remember:

Despite this week’s expected nice weather, we know that it can be very cold during the month of November and our students should be prepared. We are outside for morning care, morning recess, lunch recess, and learning center each day when the temperature and/or wind chill is above 15ºF. Please make sure your child has a warm coat, hat, and mittens or gloves.
Even though this week will be warm, shorts are no longer acceptable for daily wear. Students legs must be covered from November 1 – March 31. This means our young ladies should have tights or leggings on underneath their skirts and jumpers. We understand that it may be warm this week but dealing with exceptions is so much more challenging than staying the course. Thank you in advance for your attention to this.
If you ordered pies from our fundraiser, the pies will be delivered on Wednesday, November 18. You can pick them up in car line or at learning center – but you must bring them home that evening.

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Monday, November 9

Tuesday, November 10

Mass Uniform for ALL

SJCS School Mass – 8am (No guests, only students and faculty)

Lectors – Grade 8

Cantors – Grade 5

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 5-8 attend in person

Grades 1-4 attend via livestream

Photo Retake Day –

If you intend on having your child’s photo retaken, please send your package back in to school. If you have not had your photo taken yet, please plan to do so on Tuesday even if you are not ordering a package. All students need to have their photo taken for our school yearbook. Please order online at MyLifetouch using Picture ID EVTVPVWCD

Wednesday, November 11

No School – Veteran’s Day

Thank you to all of our Veterans within the SJCS family! We appreciate your service to protect our country!

Thursday, November 12

PTA Meeting, 6pm – Virtual – Link will be sent via email on Thursday afternoon.

Friday, November 13

Pizza Friday – sign up in ParentWeb

Coming Up:

Nov. 18 – Pie order pickup

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 21-22 – Midcoast Tree Festival (SJCC) – Status TBD

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Nov. 24 – First Trimester Report Cards (emailed home)

Nov. 27-28 – Midcoast Tree Festival – Status TBD

Nov. 30 – Read-a-thon starts!

Dec. 22 – Early Release, 11:30am, NO LEARNING CENTER AVAILABLE

Dec. 23 – Jan 3: NO SCHOOL – CHRISTMAS BREAK

November 1, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

November is here! That means that winter is almost here as well…a few reminders as we enter the coldest season of the year:

We are outside for morning care, morning recess, lunch recess, and learning center each day when the temperature and/or wind chill is above 15ºF. Please make sure your child has a warm coat, hat, and mittens or gloves. Friday’s weather took us by surprise, and we had many children who didn’t have some of these items. Additionally, physical education will continue to take place outside as long as the snow isn’t covering the field. Students need to be prepared to be outside for phys ed class each week.
Shorts are no longer acceptable for daily wear. Students legs must be covered from November 1 – March 31. This also means our young ladies should have tights or leggings on underneath their skirts and jumpers.
Our virtual Scholastic Book Fair ends today – if you want to order please get your orders in tonight.
November Fridays will include bacon pizza as an option – please make sure you’re ordering pizza on ParentWeb each week.
If you ordered pies from our fundraiser, the pies will be delivered on Wednesday, November 18. You can pick them up in car line or at learning center – but you must bring them home that evening .

Today we observe All Saints’ Day, where we honor the saints that have come before us and have attained heaven. Tomorrow, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day), we remember the faithfully departed and pray for the souls in purgatory. Both of these days in the Catholic church are a reminder that we are here to know, love, and serve God, and to prepare for everlasting life with Him in heaven. In this time of political unrest, may we remember the small acts each day that show God’s love is very much present in our daily lives. My time of prayer each day includes praying for our St. John’s community, that we may rise to new challenges each day and that our school may assist our families in building a solid foundation in faith (with excellent academics) for our students. I pray that God continues to have His hand in our lives and on our school community.

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Monday, November 2

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

(All Souls’ Day)

Tuesday, November 3

Election Day – don’t forget to vote if you haven’t already!

Mass Uniform for ALL

SJCS School Mass – 8am (No guests, only students and faculty)

Lectors – Grade 4

Cantors – Grade 5

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 1-8 attend in person

Wednesday, November 4

Protecting God’s Children Class – 6pm; Sign up with Mrs. Snow in the office (9 spaces left)

Thursday, November 5

Friday, November 6

Pizza Friday – sign up in ParentWeb

Coming Up:

Nov. 10 – Lifetouch Picture Retakes (Bring back the other photos you ordered)

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 12 – PTA Meeting, 6pm, Virtual

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 21-22 – Midcoast Tree Festival (SJCC)

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Nov. 24 – First Trimester Report Cards (emailed home)

Nov. 27-28 – Midcoast Tree Festival

Dec. 22 – Early Release, 11:30am, NO LEARNING CENTER AVAILABLE

Dec. 23 – Jan 3: NO SCHOOL – CHRISTMAS BREAK

October 25, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

The weeks keep on passing and I’m so thankful for all of our families who continue to support our efforts to keep our school and students safe. We have been blessed to complete 40 days of in-person learning! The next several weeks will be very interesting as new outbreaks develop, and we’ll monitor closely. Due to our new protocols for student and staff safety, we will not be able to celebrate Halloween as we have in the past. Things will likely be very different for the Christmas season as well. We will keep you updated on developments as they arise.

Your child should have received a “Halloween Costume” guideline for you to review. We are allowing Halloween costumes to be worn to school on Friday, October 30 – but please read through the guide so you are aware of the expectations.

Our virtual book fair is still running, every purchase helps our teachers purchase books for their classroom libraries! As the weeks continue to pass, I continue to be amazed at how our students and faculty have adjusted to the “new normal” within our classrooms. It almost feels as though things are back to normal – students are happy and they’re learning, teachers are working diligently to reach each child’s needs, and God is providing us with His grace each day. Thank you for choosing St. John’s, and thank you for allowing us to be on this journey with your family. We are thankful for each and every one of our students as they bring so much life to our classrooms each day!

Thank you to all of you who sold pies this year – we sold 250 pies!

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Monday, October 26

Tuesday, October 27

Mass Uniform for ALL

SJCS School Mass – 8am (No guests, only students and faculty)

Lectors – Grade 5

Cantors – Grade 5

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 1-8 attend in person

Wednesday, October 28

Thursday, October 29

Friday, October 30

Pizza Friday – sign up in ParentWeb

Halloween Costumes or Uniform Holiday –

Please refer to guidelines for what is acceptable on this day.

Last day to wear shorts and/or bare legs under a jumper/skirt for the winter!

Coming Up:

Nov. 4 – Protecting God’s Children, 6pm (virtual) – please sign up with Mrs. Snow

Nov. 10 – Lifetouch Picture Retakes (Bring back the other photos you ordered)

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 12 – PTA Meeting, 6pm, Virtual

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 21-22 – Midcoast Tree Festival (SJCC)

Nov. 24 – First Trimester Report Cards (emailed home)

Nov. 27-28 – Midcoast Tree Festival

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec. 22 – Early Release, 11:30am, NO LEARNING CENTER AVAILABLE

Dec. 23 – Jan 3: NO SCHOOL – CHRISTMAS BREAK

MTF Ad.pdf

October 18, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

This week we have our parent conferences for the fall trimester.  If you haven’t signed up for a slot yet, and would like to, please visit this link to reserve your time: Fall Conference Signup.  We are dismissing students at 11:30am.  We do have Learning Center open, but spots are limited so if you have not signed up and intend to use this service, please sign up here:   October 21 Learning Center Signup.  Learning Center will still close at 5:30pm on Wednesday evening. We ask that all parents adhere to their scheduled time. Our teachers have several conferences back to back and will need to move to the next conference when your scheduled time has completed. Thank you for understanding.

Our Virtual Book Fair starts this week and will run for 2 weeks.  We usually have the Scholastic Book Fair during the week of conferences, but due to limiting visitors and mixing of students, we have opted to operate our book fair online only.  You can shop by visiting this link: St. John's Virtual Book Fair.  We are having a Read-a-Thon in November, so this is a good way to stock up on books for your children before they start reading for the contest!  St. John’s also earns rewards with each purchase, and our teachers use these rewards for their classroom libraries.  Thank you in advance for your support!

The threat of remote learning still exists and increases daily with cases of COVID-19 rising nationwide.  You can find our Plan for Remote Learning and our Weekly Schedule for Remote Learning by visiting the Parent Links 20-21 folder here: SJCS Parent Links 2020-2021.  This folder also has our school handbook and the opening presentations from August that we previously shared with you.  If you have any questions regarding our remote learning plan or the schedule, please let us know.  This was not an easy schedule to formulate due to a variety of factors, including teachers with multiple children at home and trying to decrease the number of virtual meetings in one household at any one time.  I assure you we have gone over this many times to try to make it as convenient as possible, but unfortunately with so many moving parts there are several families who may have more than one meeting taking place at one time.   In some situations, my own family has three meetings simultaneously.  It’s not ideal, but it’s the best we could do with our current situation.

Another factor that will greatly impact remote learning is our ability to secure devices for our students.   Currently our students in grades 5-8 have an old Chromebook we can send home for remote learning, but we do not have enough for students in PK-4 until our new order arrives.  We continue to press for a delivery date for our new Chromebooks, but the global demand is very high and supply is limited due to many factors associated with the pandemic.  We will keep you updated.  If you absolutely have no device for your child in grades PK-4 to login to a remote class, please let your teacher know as soon as possible so we can try to devise a solution.  Thank you for your patience and flexibility. Again, I’m hoping we will NOT have to use this schedule, but we must be prepared on a moment’s notice.

Another question that has been asked numerous times is whether we will have remote learning on a snow day rather than having the “day off”.  Remote learning must be planned, and by this I mean, if we can’t send home materials and Chromebooks in advance – or have a scheduled time for pickup – remote learning will not work.  This means that if we have a random snowstorm, or ice that we weren’t expecting to give us hazardous travel, our students will not be prepared for a “remote learning” day.   Additionally, many of our families often lose power during winter storms due to high winds and heavy snow, which would make it challenging for students to logon to their scheduled classes.  The teachers and I are working on a solution so that we can have a “blizzard bag” or something similar so that we can count some of our snow days as instructional days, but the idea of just popping this remote schedule in “just for the day” is not likely. Because we have been operating in-person, 5 days per week, since August 26, we are already ahead of most public schools in instructional days, and I suspect the State of Maine will continue to provide waivers to the 175 school day minimum (meaning we may not have to make up all of our snow days anyway).

Finally, the ConvenientMD link has been updated and will look a little different tomorrow morning. It was designed to be more convenient, so just be aware that it will have a different look in the morning.

Pie sales are due on Thursday of this week. If you have any questions, please let us know! Have a wonderful week!

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Monday, October 19

Tuesday, October 20

Mass Uniform for ALL

SJCS School Mass – 8am (No guests, only students and faculty)

Lectors – Grade 6

Cantors – Grade 5

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 1-8 attend in person

Progress notes will go home electronically, please review before your conference on Wednesday.

NWEA scores will go home on paper

Wednesday, October 21

Early Release – 11:30am

Learning Center available, please sign up here: October 21 Learning Center Signup.

Parent Conferences 12:30pm – 7:00pm (Virtual meetings – links will be sent home by each individual teacher)

Thursday, October 22

Pie Sales Orders Due!

Friday, October 23

Pizza Friday – sign up in ParentWeb

Coming Up:

Oct. 19-Oct. 30 – : St. John’s Virtual Book Fair

Oct. 30 – Last day to wear shorts/knee high socks for the fall season

November 1 – March 31 requires pants for boys and tights/leggings under skirts & jumpers for girls

Nov. 10 – Lifetouch Picture Retakes (Bring back the other photos you ordered)

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 12 – PTA Meeting, 6pm – Virtual

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Nov. 20-Nov. 29: Midcoast Tree Festival Fundraiser (SJCS/All Saints Parish, SMCC, Spectrum Generations)

Dec. 22 – Early Release, 11:30am, NO LEARNING CENTER AVAILABLE

Dec. 23 – Jan 3: NO SCHOOL – CHRISTMAS BREAK

October 11, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

We received great news when Governor Mills opened up indoor gatherings to 100 people in the State of Maine! This means we will be able to increase the number of students that can attend Mass each week on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, due to the timing of this new announcement and the date on which it takes effect, we are going to wait one more week until we bring additional students to Mass on Tuesdays. This will give the Parish the opportunity to determine how best to arrange parishioners to ensure physical distancing at St. John’s and provide for Holy Communion to all of our receiving students, and blessings to our non-receiving students. This week grades 2, 3, and 4 will attend Mass and grades 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 will stream it. Next week we anticipate grades 1-8 being able to attend Mass as a school community, although we will certainly be missing our youngest students in PreK and K.

Parent conferences are set for Wednesday, October 21. This morning you should have received a SignUp Genius link that allows you to sign up for a conference with your child’s teacher. You will receive a Zoom link from your child’s teacher closer to the date of the conference. Because of our class sizes we have scheduled 15-minute conferences that must be strictly adhered to. Some of our teachers will have 15+ conferences and we are aware that some families have to take time away from work to make these Zoom meetings happen, and we want to be cognizant of this sacrifice. As a mother in a busy family, I’m optimistic that these Zoom meetings will be more convenient for some of our families (like mine). Perhaps Mr. Wheeler will finally be able to attend a conference without having to leave the office early! If you are looking for a Physical Education, Music, or Latin conference and your child is NOT in 5^th grade, please reach out to the teacher directly. Because Ms. Shorey and Mrs. Carr are teaching core academic classes to 5^th grade, we have prioritized their meetings to specifically 5^th grade parents. Ms. Shorey and Mrs. Carr are happy to connect with you if you have specific concerns or just want to know how your child is doing in these classes. Sorry for the inconvenience – at St. John’s so many of our teachers wear multiple hats and there are times we have to prioritize them. If you would like to have a meeting with me, and your child is NOT in 8^th grade, please reach out to me. I will be participating in the 8^th grade conferences as I teach 8^th grade science and math, so I will not be available during those conferences, but I’m happy to schedule something else if you feel like you need to meet with me. Thank you for our understanding!

Finally, as we watch the world around us continue to manage and cope with COVID infections, I want to assure you that our school is prepared to operate remotely should the need arise. This summer our teachers completed Google Educator training and are ready to move to Google Classroom on a moment’s notice. We will keep our families informed if any developments should arise, but so far, we have completed 30 days of in-person school and consider this a victory! A detailed schedule for remote learning will be shared with families this week. I’m hoping that if we’re prepared, we won’t need it – because we all know that if we don’t prepare, we will need it! In conjunction with our school health professionals, we are recommending that students receive flu shots this fall just so that we can try to keep as much illness out of our school as possible. If you need a location to have your child vaccinated, Mid Coast Parkview Health is having drive thru clinics. You can find more information here: Mid Coast Parkview Health Drive Thru Flu Shot Clinics. Please let me know if you have any additional questions!

Have a wonderful week!

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Monday, October 12

No School – Indigenous People’s Day

Tuesday, October 13

Mass Uniform for ALL

SJCS School Mass – 8am (No guests, only students and faculty)

Lectors – Grade 2 (Mrs. Nelson)

Cantors – Grade 6

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 2-4 attend in person

Grades 1, 5-8 attend via livestream

Wednesday, October 14

Thursday, October 15

Friday, October 16

Pizza Friday – sign up in ParentWeb

Progress Grades close – Progress Notes will be sent home via email on Tuesday, October 20

Coming Up:

Oct. 20 – Progress Reports Emailed Home

Oct. 21 – Early Release, 11:30am – Learning Center Available

Oct. 21 – Parent Conferences, Virtual, 12:30-7:00pm

Oct. 22 – Pie Sales Due to the office

Nov. 10 – Lifetouch Picture Retakes (Bring back the other photos you ordered)

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec. 22 – Early Release, 11:30am, NO LEARNING CENTER AVAILABLE Dec. 23 – Jan 3: NO SCHOOL – CHRISTMAS BREAK

October 4, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

October is upon us, and we’re gearing up for our first trimester progress reports and parent conferences later this month. More details will be coming out this week, so stay tuned. All parent conferences will be conducted virtually through the Zoom platform, so if you are unfamiliar with this platform you may want to start looking into it. It’s very easy to use, particularly if you’re joining a meeting that’s already been scheduled. Progress notes will be emailed home in advance of the conferences, and NWEA scores will be coming home in advance of the conferences as well.

Maine Catholic Schools, in conjunction with the Superintendent of Maine Catholic Schools, are pleased to introduce a new initiative state-wide called “Weekdays ‘til 6”. The guideline in its entirety is attached to this email (click link at the bottom), but in general, it’s a guideline for parents, teachers, and administration to recognize that family time is important in the evenings. When the world shut down in March, our homes became our classrooms and offices, and it has been hard to draw a line separating “work time” from “home time”. Weekdays ‘til 6 asks that we all refrain from sending and receiving emails and text messages that are school related after 6pm in the evening. And if you do have to send an email, the teachers likely won’t be answering until the following day. Working in a school has become increasingly difficult for teachers this year due to the added pressures that COVID has forced us to implement – so in an effort to support our staff and their health and wellness, we kindly ask that after 6pm there is no email/text communication. Thank you for your support as we try to work through this very challenging year!

Uniform Holiday

The first uniform holiday is this Thursday, October 8. The cost is $2/student or $5/family. We are raising money for a new bike rack for our students that ride their bicycles to school! Students may wear their choice of clothing, here are a few of the “rules” that go along with our uniform holiday:

Hoodies are allowed, students may not wear them up on their heads in the building
Leggings are NOT allowed – girls should not wear tight fitting leggings as pants
Ripped jeans are NOT allowed
Hats are NOT allowed in the building
Inappropriate pictures and/or phrases on shirts are NOT allowed
Crocs are NOT allowed (they are never allowed)
Sandals are NOT allowed (they are never allowed)

Please send in $2 with your student (not on ParentWeb!)

NWEA Testing

Grades 1-4 will be testing this week. A few reminders for test week:

Students should be getting quality rest at night – early to bed!
Students should be getting a healthy breakfast each morning
Students should not be concerned with their scores; this is for us to know what we need to teach.
We do NOT share data with the State of Maine or any other agency. All data is kept in-house.
We will provide parents with their student’s scores and explanations during parent conferences scheduled for October 21 (virtually).

Have a wonderful week!

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

NWEA Testing Schedule Grades 1-8

Time Slot	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
8:15-9:30	Walsh ReadingZinni Reading		Nelson Math3 Zinni Language	Curry MathWalsh Language
9:50-11:00		Zinni MathWalsh Math
12:15-1:30	Curry Reading	Nelson Reading