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 5th grade, please reach out to the teacher directly. Because Ms. Shorey and Mrs. Carr are teaching core academic classes to 5th grade, we have prioritized their meetings to specifically 5th 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 8th grade, please reach out to me. I will be participating in the 8th grade conferences as I teach 8th 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
