Events & News

September 13, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

I hope your families had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the cool fall weather. We’re praying for nice weather next Saturday for our Annual Golf Tournament! There are a few open spots left so if you’d like to sign up (even if you don’t have a full team) you can do so on our website or contact Mrs. Snow and she can help you. We also have openings for hole sponsors or volunteers – please contact Mrs. Snow for more information.

Our new art teacher is starting this week! We are so thrilled to announce that Ms. Sarah Warshaw will be our new art teacher and she will begin teaching tomorrow. She will be teaching each grade level on Mondays and Tuesdays. Ms. Warshaw joins our fantastic faculty with a Master of Arts in Art Education from Teachers College Columbia University and has a background in teaching photography and art throughout New York City. She is an excellent addition to our school! If you see her tomorrow morning, please give her a big St. John’s welcome!

Domino’s Pizza Fridays

We had a great first Pizza Friday! There were a few bumps, and we apologize if your child was scheduled to have pizza and didn’t get any, or if there was other miscommunication or hiccup in the ordering process. Hopefully this week will be better. If you want to sign up, you must do so through the ParentWeb portal. This is the same place you enrolled your children for school – it is not a separate portal. You can order through the web or through the ParentWeb app. If you are paying in the office, please send your child with money in an envelope that is labeled. Mrs. Snow received several handfuls of dollar bills from a variety of students during morning drop off. We know Mrs. Snow is amazing, but remembering who all the lunch money goes to during a busy time like drop off is not something we can expect of her (or anyone!) Please label your lunch money in an envelope and hand it to her or have your child hand it in to their teacher. Thank you!

Brunswick Residents Afternoon School Bus

The Brunswick school bus run will start tomorrow, September 14. If your child is scheduled to take it and you haven’t been in touch with Mrs. Snow, please contact her tomorrow at your earliest convenience. There is no bus service on Wednesdays!

Back2School COVID Screening:

This is going well, but I ask that you continue to be diligent in answering the questions honestly each morning. As you may have seen, a Catholic school in Maine did have a positive COVID test come in last week and now they are handling it with the CDC and the diocese. We must be vigilant with our hand hygiene and keeping our children home when they have symptoms. This is challenging for working parents, and I do understand that, but it is what must be done to keep our school community safe and able to continue operating in person. Thank you for your help with this!

Morning Drop Off:

Morning drop off is becoming a bit cumbersome. A few reminders for morning drop off:

Parents should NOT be dropping students off in the front parking lot. It is unsafe for students to be crossing the lot alone as other cars are pulling through. Also, it is not fair to the parents who are waiting in car line, like we’ve asked them to do, when other parents pull in and drop off out front so they can get ahead of the line. Please be respectful of others and their time and follow the protocol that we’ve put in place. It is meant to be safe and consistent for all students and families.
Please have your students ready with a mask out! Students are having to get out of the car, search their bags for a mask and then go into the school. This is holding up the car line. Please have your child ready to go so that when he/she gets out of the car they can enter safely into the school without having to stop.
We can safely unload 2-3 cars at a time. When it is your turn to come around the building, please pull all the way up to the front so we can unload a few cars at a time.

Lifetouch School Photos

These are scheduled for Tuesday, September 22. All students should be in their Mass Uniforms as these pictures are used for our yearbook. If you would like to order a package you can do so online before picture day. If you are unhappy with the photos once they come in, we will have a retake day later in the fall.

Fundraiser:

The 8^th grade class is selling Fall Flower Bulbs to kick-off their fundraising for the 2020-2021 school year. Flower Bulb orders are due on September 14 (tomorrow).

Thank you for a fantastic start to the school year! I hope your children are adjusting well and we are now settled into a place where our learning can take off! I pray for our families daily and for God’s grace to continue to guide our school and its families through another great school year.

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Peek of the Week – September 14, 2020

Monday, September 14

Flower bulb orders due!

Tuesday, September 15

Mass Uniform for ALL

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

Cantors – Grade 8

Lectors – Grade 4

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 5-8 attend via livestream

Grades 2-4 attend in person

*We are working on being able to offer our primary grades Mass during the week. Unfortunately, we are still limited to 50 people in the building which makes it challenging as we would have limited availability for adults to help with all of our littlest St. John’s students. We’re working on it!

Wednesday, September 16

Thursday, September 17

Friday, September 18

Pizza Friday – Sign up in ParentWeb for pizza by the slice

*Reminder that LC closes at 5:00pm on Fridays

Coming Up:

Sept. 19 – St. John’s Annual Golf Tournament – Bath Golf Club

Sept. 22 – School Pictures – Mass Uniform required for pictures

Oct. 8 – PTA Meeting, 6pm – Virtual

Oct. 9 – No School, Professional Development Day

Oct. 12 – Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day – No School

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

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

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec. 16 – Christmas Pageant – Details TBD

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

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

September 7, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

It was a beautiful weekend to celebrate the official “end to summer” and a sign that the school year is in full swing! I am so proud of all of our new and returning students for adjusting to a new way of learning, a new way of playing, and a new set of expectations. Wearing face coverings most of the day and physically distancing ourselves and students is most certainly not ideal, but I can see so many wonderful things happening in our classrooms as I walk through the building.

As a reminder, the “County Color Code” system that was released by the Maine Department of Education still has Cumberland County listed as a green county. Even if that changes to yellow, we are still able to stay open for 5 days per week if the school and diocesan administration believe that St. John’s is at a low risk of an outbreak. We are taking each day one at a time and are praying for many months of uninterrupted education for our students!

Domino’s Pizza Fridays

Thanks to Domino’s Pizza in Brunswick, we will be able to sell pizza by the slice each Friday for our students at lunch time! It’s not a hot lunch program, but it’s a way to get the students a little something once per week. To sign up please go to your ParentWeb portal and under “Student” there is a tab to go to “Lunch”. Click “Web Order” to order your slices. Each slice is $2. You can pay online or send in money with your child. Students should not order more than 2 slices, and all orders must be in by the end of the day each THURSDAY so we can get the order in on time. Thank you to Dr. Trapp for the wonderful suggestion and to Mr. & Mrs. Jantorno Stelser from Domino’s for making this happen!

*This is JUST pizza, there are no side dishes, fruit, veggies, or drinks, so please send the rest of their lunch as you normally would in their lunch boxes.

Brunswick Residents Afternoon School Bus

Brunswick offers an afternoon school bus run to St. John’s students that live in Brunswick. This service will be starting on September 14 (NEXT MONDAY). The bus will bring our students to HBS for a bus transfer, and then will take your child to their normal bus stop (as if they were taking the bus home from the public schools each day). If you are interested in having your child take this bus, please contact Mrs. Snow.

Back2School COVID Screening:

This is going VERY WELL. You will continue to get a text message each morning to remind you to complete the survey. One question that has been coming up a lot is, “What if my child has a runny nose?” While we are not medical professionals, the direction we have been given is to let you know that less common symptoms of COVID, such as a runny nose, are not as worrisome as some of the more common symptoms (shortness of breath, fever, cough, etc…). Most children will have a runny nose at some point during the school year. If you feel like this is a change from their normal patterns, please keep them home. Otherwise, they can likely participate at school safely. If the Back2School site lists your child as “Not Cleared” and you have a question about it, please call the office and we can go through the symptoms together.

Face Coverings:

Gaitors are still NOT working well. Students are either keeping them up too high, so we have a hard time to see their eyes and their ears are covered OR they slip down and the student is playing with it during class or outside at recess. I recognize that some of us spent money on gaitors – and they are not officially banned yet, but please do your best to send your child in with a face mask that has ear loops, as these ones have been working significantly better to stay up while students are playing and during class time. I do expect Gaitors to be taken out as an approved face covering in the near future (Maine Catholic Schools decision).

Morning Drop Off:

Primary Cohort will begin to drop off at the same door as everyone else. This will likely slow down the line some, but it won’t be long before things start to speed up again.

Fundraiser:

The 8^th grade class is selling Fall Flower Bulbs to kick-off their fundraising for the 2020-2021 school year. The 8^th grade raises money for their year-end field trip (we hope) as well as other small activities throughout the year. Flower Bulb orders are due on September 14.

If you have further questions, please let us know. I’m praying for another successful week for our families and for the other local schools as they begin to open their doors again to students. God has His hand in our lives; may He keep a watchful eye over our students, teachers, and families during these unusual times.

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Peek of the Week – September 7, 2020

Monday, September 7

No School – Labor Day Holiday

Tuesday, September 8

Mass Uniform for ALL

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

Cantors & Lectors – Grade 8

Livestream Available on Facebook: @SJCSBME

Grades 5-8 attend in person

Grades 2-4 attend via livestream

Wednesday, September 9

No special activities

Thursday, September 10

PTA Meeting- 6pm, Virtual (Link to be sent on Thursday)

Friday, September 11

Pizza Friday – Sign up in ParentWeb for pizza by the slice

*Reminder that LC closes at 5:00pm on Fridays

Coming Up:

Sept. 14 – Flower Bulb orders due

Sept. 22 – School Pictures – Mass Uniform required for pictures

Oct. 7 – Protecting God’s Children, 6pm – Contact Mrs. Snow for details

Oct. 9 – No School, Professional Development Day

Oct. 12 – Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day – No School

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

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

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec. 16 – Christmas Pageant – Details TBD

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

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

August 30, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

The first few days are behind us and we have the rest of the year to look forward to. Thank you to all of our faculty, staff, and families for making the first few days a success! It’s always challenging to come back to school in August but paired with resuming school for the first time since March, in addition to having a significant number of new families has made this year particularly challenging. We’ve learned a few things this week and as always, sometimes we need to adjust once we see how things play out. Please read through the following items to make sure you are informed with new information.

Back2School COVID Screening:

Face Coverings:

On a positive note, students are doing a pretty good job of keeping them on their faces. We have to remind the younger ones somewhat often, but that’s to be expected. A few things for you to know:

Gaitors are NOT working well. Students are either keeping them up too high, so we have a hard time to see their eyes and their ears are covered OR they slip down and the student is playing with it during class or outside at recess. I recognize that some of us spent money on gaitors – and they are not banned (yet), but please do your best to send your child in with a face mask that has ear loops, as these ones have been working significantly better to stay up while students are playing and during class time.
Send extra. Some students have been sneezing in their masks, or getting them soiled by breathing heavy during recess. Please have an extra one in your child’s backpack so they can change it if necessary.
Paper masks are not sufficient. Cloth masks/face coverings are required. Paper masks are for use only in emergency situations when a student doesn’t have access to a cloth face covering. Please do not send your child to school in a paper mask.

Morning Drop Off:

This will get easier after this week when the Primary Cohort will be dropping off in car line with the rest of the school. A few things to note for safety:

When you come around the side of the building, it is NOT TWO LANES. There were several “near miss” situations this week when one parent was pulling out after dropping off a student at the door, and another was trying to go around them into the parking lot. Please merge into the line of cars to make your way out to Pleasant Street.
The Church parking lot is ONE WAY. When you depart from dropping off you MUST turn right and drive in front of the school and then take a left to go the length of the parking lot and on to Pleasant Street. Please see the diagram attached for reference.

Fundraiser:

The 8^th grade class is selling Fall Flower Bulbs to kick-off their fundraising for the 2020-2021 school year.  The 8^th grade raises money for their year-end field trip (we hope) as well as other small activities throughout the year.

Volunteering:

The next Protecting God’s Children class is on September 3, 2020 at 6:00pm.  This is a required class for adults to volunteer at St. John’s and it is completed online.   You can register by emailing Mrs. Snow: Alicia.snow@portlanddiocese.org

If you have further questions, please let us know. God is good and He has truly blessed us as we embark on our new school year. Your families are in my prayers as we adjust back into a consistent schedule and for many of you, a new school environment for your children. May God continue to send his grace upon us!

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Principal

Peek of the Week – August 31, 2020

Monday, August 31

Grades PK, Walsh 3/4- Phys Ed Uniform

Tuesday, September 1

Mass Uniform for ALL

(No Mass this week, but we will resume next week)

Wednesday, September 2

Grades 2 & 2/3 Phys Ed Uniform

Thursday, September 3

Daily Uniform for ALL

Protecting God’s Children – 6pm (Online Course)

Friday, September 4

Grades K, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 Phys Ed Uniform

*Reminder that LC closes at 5:00pm on Fridays

Coming Up:

Sept. 7 – Labor Day – No School

Sept. 10 – PTA Meeting – Virtual, 6:00pm

Sept. 22 – School Pictures – Mass Uniform required for pictures

Oct. 9 – No School, Professional Development Day

Oct. 12 – Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day – No School

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

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

Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – No School

Nov. 20 – End of First Trimester

Nov. 23-27: NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK

Dec. 16 – Christmas Pageant – Details TBD

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

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

First Day of School Newsletter

Accessibility View

St. John’s Catholic

School 2020-2021

First Day of School Newsletter

August 26, 2020

From the Principal’s Desk

We had a wonderful first day of school! There was a lot of learning new routines, a lot of reconnecting with old friends and meeting lots of new friends! The first day of school is always a little challenging, and this year was no different. Many students were nervous to return to school because it’s been so long. Others were a little nervous to start at a new school. Asking students to wear a mask is challenging, and not what they’re used to. Listening to their teacher with a slightly muffled voice is challenging, and not what they’re used to. Things will get better and we will work through the bumps as we go! Overall I do think there were many successes of the day.

Morning car line worked very well, thank you to everyone for completing your online screening form in a timely fashion! Afternoon car line needs a little practice, but just as kids need to practice, adults do too – particularly with new procedures and expectations that are a little different than what you may be used to. Each day should get a little smoother and within a week you’ll be out of here in no time at all! Particularly for the primary parents, it is okay to step out of your vehicle, with a mask on, to let your child see you. Many of our younger students didn’t recognize their parents’ vehicles which made it challenging to get them into their vehicles quickly. Additionally, if your child is going to Learning Center, please let your child’s teacher know via email – at least for the first week or so. Some students were very confused and couldn’t remember where they were supposed to be. (Which is understandable after such a long day!)

Please read through the important items below and keep scrolling for a few pictures from our day! I’m looking forward to tomorrow! I think we’ll all rest pretty well tonight!

God Bless,

Shelly Wheeler

Click below for access to the SJCS Student Handbook and PDF files of the PowerPoint from last weeks’ Zoom meetings.

Student Handbook & Zoom Slideshow PDF

Need or have supplies for students? See Melissa ...

Things to Remember

Submit your COVID screening form each morning (the earlier the better!)
ID numbers for our screening system have been altered – please use SJCS in front of your child’s ID number to submit their form (Example: SJCS54938)
Drive slowly at morning and afternoon car line
Have patience with car line – with practice it does improve!
If your child has medication needs please communicate with the office and our school nurse
Send clean masks to school each day
If you have a concern, please contact your child’s teacher first
Let us know if you have any questions

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT DAY!

SJCS Annual Golf Tournament

Saturday, September 19, 2020
8:30 am – Shot Gun Start

Bath Golf Club
387 Whiskeag Rd
Bath, ME

Tickets $75 per person
Includes
Continental Breakfast
Lunch
Golf Cart
Prizes & Contests

Join Us!!!

August 23, 2020

Dear SJCS Families,

It is so hard to believe that the first day of school is finally here! We haven’t had students in the building since March 13, that’s 166 days! A normal summer vacation is around 75 days, so it’s definitely been a long period of time without their smiling faces. We can’t wait to welcome them in the doors on Wednesday morning. God has blessed our school community in so many ways, and the fact that we’re able to open for in-person instruction is just one of the many blessings our school community has to be thankful for.

I would like to give a big THANK YOU to Mrs. Snow who worked tirelessly this summer to help get our new families in the building and enrolled, as well as prepare the school for all of our needs. She’s a rock star, but most of you already knew that. Also, a big THANK YOU to Mr. Brown for doing such a great job on our school building over the summer – he installed our new lockers, fixed and painted desks for classrooms that used to have tables, washed all the carpeting, and so much more. We couldn’t run our school without these two, so if you see them around, please give them a shout out for being so awesome!

A few details to get you started this week – please read through carefully for the information. This is more detailed than a typical Peek of the Week because I know we have several new families and want to make sure that information is clear. You can still email with any questions! Alicia.snow@portlanddiocese.org or shelly.wheeler@portlanddiocese.org

Back2School COVID Screening:

All families should have received an email with their child’s unique ID number and a link to the COVID screening form that will be required for entry each day. If you did not get this information via email, please email jennifer.nelson@portlanddiocese.org . PLEASE practice on Monday and Tuesday this week so that you can start becoming familiar with the process. Additionally, by having our families practice, it will give US some time to see how the data gets processed and presented to us through the system. Please help us out and practice!

What to bring to school:

Backpack
Several face coverings (students should be wearing one to enter the building)
Personal pack of tissues (we have some, but will be easier if they have some at their desk to reduce sharing)
Filled water bottle with student name and grade
Morning snack and cold lunch
Beach towel for outside sitting
Older kids (grades 5-8) – Pens/Pencils would be helpful

*All traditional school supplies (crayons, binders, paper, etc…) were ordered by the school and our families have been charged a $30 supply fee to cover the costs of these items. It saves you from shopping and it saves us by having all students with identical supplies!

All students should be in DAILY UNIFORM on Wednesday, August 26, even if they are scheduled for Phys Ed. Please have students wear sneakers if they are scheduled for PE.

Phys Ed Uniform Days by Class:

PreK – Monday

Kindergarten – Friday

First Grade – Friday

Second – Nelson – Wednesday

Second/Third – Zinni – Wednesday

Third/Fourth – Walsh – Monday

Fifth – Friday

Sixth – Friday

Seventh – Friday

Eighth- Friday

Presentation links for the Zoom meetings were emailed last week, if you would just like to find the PDF presentation slides, you can follow this link for access: SJCS Parent Docs (You will also find the SJCS 2020-2021 Student/Parent Handbook in this folder).

I am looking forward to Wednesday, please let us know if we can help your family in any way! Have a wonderful week!