SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service

"Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." - Deuteronomy 4:39

Principal's Message

Dear Saint John School families,

With Thanksgiving a week away, we are reminded of the many things we are thankful for here at Saint John School. Our school is part of a dynamic and faith-filled Catholic parish. In addition to providing the funding to build our school 15 years ago, the Saint John Parish community supports our school in countless ways. Father Brian and Father Joseph provide spiritual leadership for our students, parents, and staff each and every day. The Parish office staff helps with everything from facility maintenance to scheduling Girl Scout troop meetings.

Our family of volunteers is led by an active School Board and enthusiastic Eagle Group. We are truly blessed with extensive parent support that is shown in so many ways. We have a dedicated, professional, and caring staff of teachers and support personnel who are committed to the spiritual and academic growth of each student who comes through our doors.

Of course, none of this would be possible without our students. When we count our blessings, it is impossible not to be thankful for all who are with us now, as well as those students who have come before them. Their smiles, energy, and enthusiasm brighten every day. We are truly grateful that you have entrusted us with their care as they continue to grow as Christ-centered persons, active life-long learners, and responsible citizens.

Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

Dan Schuh, Principal

November 21, 2014

Table of Contents

Important Reminders

11/21/14: Thanksgiving Prayer Service 2:00pm

11/24/14-11/28/14: Thanksgiving Break-School is closed

12/03/14: Minimum Day-12 Noon dismissal

12/10/14: Pre-K-2 Christmas Program 6:30pm

12/11/14: Grades 3-5 Christmas Program 6:30pm

12/16/14: Grades 6-8 Christmas Program 6:30pm

OUR FAITH

Mass Schedule

Weekend Mass schedule: Saturday 5:00 pm; Sunday 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 am, 12:00 and 5:00 pm

Family Mass on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27, at 9:00am

Weekday Mass schedule December 1 - 5: Parish Mass at 8:00 am: grades K -2 on Tuesday, grades 6 - 8 on Wednesday, grades 3 - 5 on Thursday

Benediction on Friday, December 5 at 2:00 pm

The season of Advent begins on Sunday, November 30.

Friday, December 5 is the Feast of Saint Nicholas.

Faith in Action:

Our Faith in Action outreach for Christmas is Christmas baskets of food and gift items for those in need throughout our community. All food should be non-perishable. The following is a list of items that have been assigned to each grade:

Preschool: Cake and muffin mix and frosting, and rattles/crib toys

Kindergarten: Tuna fish, and stuffed animals

1st grade: Breakfast cereal, puzzles/board games

2nd grade: Canned fruit, and coloring books/crayons/art supplies

3rd grade: Soups/ beans/chili, and dolls/cars/trucks

4th grade: Corn/green beans/hominy, and balls/jump ropes

5th grade: Canned yams/ pumpkin puree/cranberry sauce, and books in English and Spanish

6th grade: Mac and cheese, and warm socks

7th grade: Peanut Butter, and pajamas

8th grade: Jellies/jams (fragile), and sweatshirts/sweatpants

OUR FAMILY

Please keep in our thoughts and prayers...

Monsignor Harnett, and all who are suffering from illness

all who suffer from loneliness during the holidays

Congratulations to ...

The weekly Respect Card drawing winners:

Caroline Cummins 6R

Brady Gallagher 1C

Abby Meyer 8L
Max Shaffer 3H

Thank you to....

Mary Goulet, Erica Castellanos, and all our Park and Pray parents for purchasing new class prayer intention books. For all who donated so generously to the Thanksgiving outreach for Brother Benno's. We collected an overwhelming amount of food and hams this year. Thank you to Mrs. Miller and Ms. Heinz's fifth grade classes for leading this outreach program.

5th Grade Ham Collection

5th Grade

More Hams!

5th Grade helping fill boxes

OUR SCHOOL

Annual Fund Update: Tomorrow is Built Today

Thank you to all who have donated to our Annual Fund so far. We are currently at a 24% participation rate with $90,000 raised so far. We also have several families that having matching contributions from their employers as well. Please don't forget to see if your company has a matching program and let us know if you need assistance with that process. Donations can be made online through a secure PayPal link on our website or by completing a donation form and submitting it to the front office.

We are just a few short weeks away from the December 15 deadline. There has been a lot of information sent to you recently about the Annual Fund. The most important message to take from everything is that 100% participation at any level is truly our biggest goal, and the key to securing even greater funding from grants and foundations who require 100% community involvement. Ultimately, the development of a culture of giving at Saint John School will give us the resources necessary to continue offering a dynamic Catholic education to all our students now and in the future.

Strategic Plan:

We have recently added our Saint John School Strategic Plan to School Speak. It will also be on the school website. The seventeen page plan is the culmination of a school self-study and evaluation in strategic areas as they relate to the school's mission and philosophy. Those areas include Catholic identity, academics, development, constituents, facilities, equipment, and technology. One to three year goals were established in each of the strategic focus areas based on the results of the evaluation. Project Domino and the Annual Fund are both action plans in response to specific goals in the Strategic Plan. An important aspect of our Strategic Plan is feedback from the community. We invite you to look over the plan and provide us with your comments or suggestions. We will survey your thoughts and ideas more in-depth after the first of the year.

EAGLE PARENT GROUP

Eagle Group Financials

Julie Putnam, Eagle Group Treasurer, reported the following financials at the November Eagle Group Meeting:

*Fall Festival earned $5,000

*Golf Ball Drop earned $21,000

*Used Uniforms has earned $2,000 to date

*October Box Top Collection $675 to date

* We received 90% participation for class fund donations

Park-n-Pray meets on Wednesdays from 1:30-2:30. Evening meetings are held on early dismissal Wednesdays. Look out for prayer cards and bookmarks that have been given to your children from this wonderful ministry. For questions please contact Mary Goulet at mary@marygoulet.net.

Box Tops

Great job turning in Box Tops! We almost doubled our numbers from this time last year. Congratulations to Mrs. Marrero's 3rd grade class. They brought in the most Box Tops. The next Box Top collection is in February. Please make sure to turn in your Box Tops to your child's teacher, not the office, to ensure your class gets credit for them.

ESCRIP/Target Card

Don't forget to sign your credit cards up on Escrip.com AND your Target Red Card on target.com. This is easy money for our school!

Barnes and Noble Night

*Although the performance night has passed, you can still shop in store to benefit our school! Nov 20-24 are in store shopping days. Please let the cashier know you are with SJS for any purchases.

*Nov 20-29 are online shopping days. On the online payment page look for BOOK FAIR ORDER and enter ID 11486107

Campus Beautification will be decorating the campus for Christmas on Sunday,

Nov 30 after the 9:00 Mass. High school students needing service hours are welcome to help. Please contact Natalie Garcia ngarcia@gmail.com for more information.

Teacher Christmas Gift Collection

Interested in one stop shopping for all of your child/children's teachers? Be on the lookout for a flyer coming from your room mom regarding a collection for teachers, specialty teachers, aides, and office staff.

DVD Sales from the Christmas Program will be for sale. The flyer will be coming out soon. Questions? Contact Tashia White at tashiawhite08@yahoo.com.

Giddy Up Round Up

Save the date for the Father/Daughter Dance for preschool-8th grade, January 10 from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. Tickets are $25 per couple/$5 per additional child.

Mother Son Bowling will be on February 7.

Roaring Twenties Auction - Save the date! March 21, 2015

The Auction Committee still has a few volunteer opportunities available. Please contact Jill Cole at jillacole@yahoo.com or Melissa Harrington at melissaharrington@cox.net.

Eagle Group Meeting

There will be no EG meeting in December. The next meeting is on Tuesday, January 20 in the Encinitas and Leucadia Rooms of the Parish Hall at 8:00 AM.

ATHLETICS CORNER

Thanks to all who have signed up for the Pee Wee Soccer Program. We had a record number of students sign up. It promises to be a fun and exciting season for our children. Thank you to all our athletes and volunteer coaches for a great fall season with girls volleyball, boys flag football, and cheer.

As always, athletic game schedules can be found here.

Please consider supporting our teams at home games whether or not your child is playing. Our teams love to have your support!

Good luck Eagles!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Knights of Columbus will be holding their annual Christmas tree sale in the school parking lot starting November 28 (please be patient with the parking situation). This year, they have generously pledged a portion of their proceeds to our Annual Fund! So please consider keeping that faux tree in the box and purchasing one of their beautiful Christmas trees this year! Encourage friends and neighbors to do so, as well. They also offer deeply discounted trees to active military.

Hands across Saint John will take place on Monday morning, December 1 after assembly to benefit Blessed Sacrament School.

Saint John Chess Club Announcement:

Congratulations to the following students who were recognized at the recent Chess Tournament held on November 11, 2014.

First place - Gold: Connor Zielinski (4th)

Second place - Silver: Brendan Cordaro (3rd)

Third place - Bronze: Connor Melehan (3rd)

Also recognized were Joseph Hoar (K) - most improved, and Ella Azzeh (2nd) for her participation and enthusiasm. The Saint John Chess Club members included Colin McPhail (1st), Oisin Caulfield (1st), Jacob Cordaro (1st), Gabriel Quezada (1st), Michael Riebe (2nd), Hudson Palmer (2nd), Adriana Quezada (3rd), and Griffin Cappiello (3rd). The chess club will resume after the Christmas holidays.

Mr. Cross "The Chessman" wishes all a Blessed Thanksgiving & Merry Christmas.

Classroom Celebrations
With the holidays upon us, this is a good time to remind everyone about classroom celebrations with food. For the last several years we have moved away from having treats, snacks, and food brought in from home. Approximately 17% of Saint John students are identified as having moderate to severe allergies. Most of these are food related and for some of our students it is life-threatening. Many of our students cannot eat items brought in from anywhere but their own homes. As such, they are excluded from participating. First and foremost, Saint John School is a safe haven for all our students. This requires everyone's cooperation. We realize that food is part of the culture of celebration in our society, but there are other ways for students to understand and celebrate the holidays as well.

We are a faith-based school and our recognition of holidays and events should be tied to Catholic beliefs and traditions or a part of curriculum instruction. That can be accomplished through small meaningful projects and activities directed by our teachers with assistance from parent volunteers when needed. Thank you for supporting every child's learning in a safe environment.

REMINDERS

Important Reminders

Thanksgiving prayer service at 1:45pm on Friday, November 21
School is closed from Monday, November 24 - Friday, November 28 for Thanksgiving holiday.
Wednesday, December 3 is a minimum day with 12:00 noon dismissal. The first Wednesday of each month is also Spirit & Stewardship Day. Students may wear their spirit shirts with blue/black jeans or uniform attire. Uniform shoes, socks, and accessories are also required. Donations to the Parish Food Pantry are encouraged as well.
The school Christmas programs are scheduled as follows: Wednesday, December 10 for PreK - 2, Thursday, December 11 for grades 3-5, and Tuesday, December 16 for grades 6-8.

MISSION STATEMENT

Saint John School, a Christ-centered environment, empowers our children to gain a thorough understanding of the Catholic faith, achieve their highest academic potential, and share Christ's love through Christian action.