2 December Letter from Mr. Kelly
Friday of the First Week in Advent
Dear SJS Catholic School Community,
The Church seasons offer us opportunities for renewal and reflection, what a blessing. We have made our way into the Church season of Advent. Advent is a time to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming is recalled, and also a time to direct our mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming. One of the great Catholic traditions is the Advent wreath. It is made of various evergreens to symbolize continuous life. The circle has no beginning or end to symbolize the everlasting life found in Christ. And the four candles represent the four weeks. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming and the anticipation of His second. We have worked to make Advent a time of prayer and reflection at school and encourage you to do the same at home.
And we have an Advent opportunity for giving coming up with an optional out of uniform day on the 16th. Your donation of a canned good (for the SVDP) will be your student’s ticket to be out of uniform that day.
The key to our success the last couple of years really has been parents keeping sick kids at home. Please visit with your student each morning and monitor for any symptoms of sickness. If you are unsure, it is always best to err on the side of caution and keep your student home. Thank you for your support and understanding. We still have some at home COVID tests available if they help, just contact the office.
If you ever have an issue or question about something in the classroom, please feel free to reach out to our teachers. We believe a strong partnership with home is the key to success. It’s important to realize there are up to 25 other kids in the classroom, and only so much time in the day, but our teachers want your students to reach their full potential and will do what they can to help. Feel free to call or email.
Tardiness can also be an issue for students. From an educator’s perspective, starting the day off right cannot be emphasized enough. If you find yourself running late in the morning more than just occasionally, this can have an impact on your student’s performance at school. We appreciate your attention as we make our way into the second half of the year.
SOAR 2022 was a tremendous success! Fundraising in a recession is not ideal. Yet the generous nature of SJS shined through. Thanks to all the parents, volunteers, and supporters who helped make the night so smooth. Each year we look for new ways to make the night better and more successful, but the event really hinges on the support from the community. We are humbled by all the kindness and generosity shown. We recognize and appreciate all your support. God Bless SJS!
We recently received our Terra Nova standardized test results for the school, and they were quite good. The results showed our consistently solid efforts. The results indicate that the students were largely testing above their current grade. The pandemic seems to not have as significant of an impact at SJS as it has across education. This clearly illustrates the hard work of the students and teaching staff. Thank you for your efforts. As a staff we’ll examine the results, find our weaknesses, and make a plan to address them. This will help us on our continual goal to be academically solid. Don’t forget to pick up your parent Terra Nova results in the office before January, grades 3-8. Thanks for all you do.
Peace,
William Kelly
Principal
