September 1st, 2021
Dear St. John's Parish Day School Families,
What an amazing turnout we had at our End of Summer Social on Sunday! We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones and most of all loved having our campus once again filled with the joy and spark of this wonderful community. We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at our annual Visit Day! This will be held in a modified format to allow for contact tracing and cleaning between sessions. By now, you will have received further information from your teacher on signing up to visit the classroom.
This week, we held our annual In-Service Faculty and Staff Professional Development Week with training on Mindfulness, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), new technology coding programs, COVID safety protocols, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI). Our faculty and staff have worked tirelessly to prepare for our students return to school. Our campus has undergone a thorough cleaning/disinfecting and our teachers have organized and decorated their classrooms. They cannot wait to see all our Bears soon! We would like to extend a special thank you to our dedicated Parents' Association (PA) for giving such a warm welcome back to all of our faculty and staff. The PA treated our faculty and staff to welcome back sidewalk chalk messages, lovely decorations, darling treats, and delicious breakfast and lunch. Thank you, PA! Also, thank you to our wonderful Board of Trustees member, Nancy Mason for treating the faculty and staff to a delicious, boxed breakfast!
Faculty Updates: Please join me in welcoming these two fantastic new members to our faculty! We are thrilled to announce our new Lower School Music Teacher, Ms. Sarah Watkins! Ms. Watkins graduated with a Bachelor of Music from The University of Maryland in Piano Performance. She has traveled across the United States and Europe performing and competing since the age of 6. She won the 2011 International piano competition in Vipiteno, Italy. She recently finished releasing a music album that she wrote in Nashville, Tennessee. Ms. Watkins is finishing her Master's degree in the art of teaching this fall at Goucher College. She was an orchestra and choir director for the last four years. She loves to teach piano lessons and drive her racecar on the weekends. Ms. Watkins recently won 3rd place at an autocross event in Carlisle, PA. She is excited to be a part of the community here at St. John's and looks forward to inspiring new artists to pursue their greatest passions in life!
Mrs. Heather Chaney completes our hires for this school year as we welcome her back to SJPDS! Mrs. Chaney formerly taught at our wonderful school as a substitute teacher and lunch/recess coordinator. A mother of two and most recently a full-time Nanny, Mrs. Chaney is thrilled to join our full day, 3's class as Ms. Katherine Baldwin's Assistant.
COVID-19 Updates: As we near the start of school, we ask our community to continue to be ever vigilant in their safety protocols. As always, our first priority is the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and community and we need your dedication to continued good health for all. We greatly appreciate the support of families to limit travel at this sensitive time. Please do your part to avoid large group gatherings and anyone who presents as ill in order to help keep our community healthy!
Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in COVID positivity numbers in our area, as well as, across our country and beyond. We must strongly recommend that families limit travel at these unprecedented times. On August 25th, the CDC updated its travel guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers. Additionally, the Episcopal Diocese has moved back to the Orange Phase with further restrictions for unvaccinated populations. At this time, unvaccinated families/students must report their travel plans to our Nurses, voluntarily quarantine for 7 full days, get a viral PCR test within 3 - 5 days of travel as well as continually monitor for any COVID symptoms. If the student(s) and family members do not get tested or receive a negative test you will voluntarily self-quarantine for a minimum of 10 days and must be symptom-free. Additionally, as noted in our reentry plan, elective travel during the school year will not be supported by virtual learning. Thank you all for supporting the health and wellbeing of our entire community! Click here for our comprehensive 2021-2022 Reentry Plan.
Lower School Uniform Updates: We understand that some of our families are experiencing delays in receiving their student(s) uniform orders from Lands' End. The company has assured us they are working hard to rectify the delayed orders. Please have your child(ren) come to school as close to the uniform guidelines as possible. Tan khaki pants or shorts, white or hunter green polos will be appropriate for the first few weeks of school. Light grey or black gym shorts and our spirit wear T-shirts are acceptable for gym days.
We are so excited to begin the 2021-22 school year and are appreciative of your partnership during these ever-changing times as our school community moves forward together.
We can't wait to have our students back on campus learning and growing beginning Tuesday, September 7th! As you prepare for the first day of school, please review the following essential updates and reminders.
Sincerely,
Lori Dembo
Head of School
