• Mrs. Ileana Mohammed- Preschool Teacher
• Ms. Rachael Maly- Preschool Aide
• Mrs. Maria Kopp- is moving from Preschool Teacher to Kindergarten Teacher.
• Mrs. Megan DeAngelo is moving from Preschool Aide to Kindergarten Aide.
• Mrs. Arlene Pacenta-1^st Grade Teacher
• Mrs. Jean Dando- 2^nd Grade Teacher
• Ms. Laurie Daukshus is still our STEM teacher and also our Advancement Director. 
• Mrs. Jessica Kromer is our gym teacher.
• Sister Mary Glackin- Religious Enrichment

• Preschool-Mrs. Mohammed
• Kindergarten has two sections (Mrs. Degler and Mrs. Kopp)
• 1st grade has two sections (Mrs. Metters and Mrs. Pacenta)
• 2nd Grade has two sections (Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Dando)
• 3rd Grade- Mrs. Krajcirik
• 4th Grade- Ms. Bachert
• 5th Grade- Mrs. Purin
• 6th Grade- Mrs. Williams
• 7th Grade- Mrs. Miller
• 8th Grade- Mrs. Confer
• Physical Education- Mrs. Kromer
• STEM- Ms. Daukshus
• Art- Mrs. Odorizzi
• Music- Mr. Cressley
• Religious Enrichment (This is in addition to regular Religion classes)- Sister Mary Glackin

• St. Joseph of Panther Valley Parish- Father Bob George
• All Saints Parish, McAdoo- Monsignor William Baker
• St. John XXIII Parish, Tamaqua and St. Richard's Parish, Barnesville- Father Robert Finlan
• SS. Peter & Paul Parish, Lehighton- Father Christopher Zelonis
• St. Peter the Fisherman Parish, Lake Harmony- Monsignor John Chizmar
• The Immaculate Conception Parish Jim Thorpe, Churches of Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph- Father Ron Minner

• We are happy to announce that instrumental lessons will be offered to grades 4th-8th this year at SJRS! Grades 4-8 will be given the opportunity to learn band instruments. From flutes to drums and trombones to clarinets there is certainly an instrument for everyone. More information on obtaining an instrument and the program itself will follow at the beginning of the new school year. We are excited for this new opportunity!

• Our STEM teacher, Ms. Daukshus spent many hours this summer setting up school issued Google accounts for each of our students in K-8 and all of our teachers. She also created helpful family info sheets for each of our families with their information for every program that includes login and passwords for easy reference. Thank you Ms. D!

• The school internet connection is being updated in the entire building to fiber rather than cable.

• The school website was updated, as well as the student/parent handbook. Be sure to check the resources page for helpful information. Also, the supply lists are located on each teacher page. If you go to our faculty page of our website, click on your teacher/grade picture and you will find the supply list for your class.

• Chromebooks arrived and were set up for use in our classrooms. We will be still be allowing students to bring their own devices such as laptops, tablets or chromebooks this year. (No phones). They must be fully charged when they bring them to school. And, they will be able to connect to our existing system, which is on the school content filter and allows their device to use the internet safely.

• This summer, we applied for another grant through Computer Aid, Inc. We were informed that we will be awarded a $50,768 Instructional Technology Grant for the 2021-2022 School Year that will help us advance our Instructional Technology Program at SJRS. We are so grateful to CAI for their support over the past four years!

• Please be sure that your child arrives between 7:45-8:00 AM on the first day of school. Homeroom starts at 8:00 AM. Children should not be dropped off before 7:45 AM during the school year, unless they are registered for ECP. ECP will start September 7^th. The main doors will not be unlocked until 7:45 am.

• All children in grades K-8 should be dropped off and enter the main entrance of the school building. Please do not park in front of the main doors. The large loop is for drop off only. Buses and cars will be arriving and leaving at that time. Parents should use the small loop in front of the main entrance if you are parking your car to come into the school for school business. We ask that all parents take their final pictures and say good-bye to their children before their children enter the building. Parents will not be walking their children into the building. Teachers and Staff will be outside directing and helping the students. 

• Students should wear the DRESS UNIFORM on the first day of school. We will have many guests here, as well as a videographer that will be filming for the start of the 100^th Year. Please also see the updates to the Dress Code for 21-22. The dress code will be strictly enforced by faculty and staff. Please make sure to read it thoroughly, there have been some changes.

• On the first two days of school, we will dismiss students in two groups. Please be patient the first few weeks of school, as the students will be learning new procedures and dismissal may take longer than expected. Parents who are picking up their children should follow the normal dismissal routines that were established last school year. For our new families, there is also a diagram that explains the arrival and dismissal routines. Buses will be using the large loop to pick up, and the buses will be loaded and dismissed first. Parent pick up will follow the buses. 

• Group 1 – Kindergarten students will be dismissed at 12:00 PM at the main entrance of the school. Busing is not provided for Kindergarten students on these two days.
• Group 2 – All students in grades 1-8 will be dismissed at 2:45 PM. Buses will dismiss from the main entrance and car riders/walkers will be dismissed from main entrance.

•  Be sure that your child knows how he or she is going home from school—by bus, car, etc.   It is a good idea for kindergarten and grade one students to write the mode of transportation on a card and pin it like a nametag to your child. Your child’s safety is our greatest concern. We also want each child to feel secure and confident on the first days of school. Please plan transportation ahead of time. Last minute calls to the school office are stressful for the children and the staff. Only call in the case of an emergency change.

• Bus schedules vary from district to district. In the past, some districts sent information directly to the parents. Others posted stops on the district website. If the schedules are sent to us, we will forward them to you as soon as they are received. Questions concerning busing must be directed to the school district. If you are having difficulty with any busing issues and you need our assistance, we will help you as best we can.  Please be sure to complete any transportation forms as soon as possible if you haven’t done so already. To download the busing forms please visit our resource page on our website. 

• Important Documents: Students will return home from the first few days of school with many important documents if you did not already receive them at the Meet the Teacher Event. Most of these documents will need to be filled out and returned to school as soon as possible. Please remind your child to bring the documents home and to return them to their homeroom teacher completed and signed. The student emergency form and photo release form are being mailed to your homes. Please complete and return them before the first day of school.  You can bring them to Meet The Teacher Night or you can click here to print and then email to dsmarr@sjrschool.com

• SCHOOL LUNCHES: School lunches will be available starting September 7^th. Please be sure to send your child to school with a lunch, drink and a snack until that time. 

• WEBSITE: www.sjrschool.com. Please go to our website frequently to find important information on calendars, dress code, supply lists, extended care program information, etc. 

• Please be sure to set up your FACTS account if you are new to our school and haven't done so already.

• August 25^th, 2021 from 4:00-7:00 PM – Meet the Teacher Event. The doors to the school will be open to all of our families who have students that are registered for the start of the new school year. Teachers will be available in their classrooms from 4:00-7:00 PM. They will be speaking to groups of families every half hour. They will distribute information about their individual classes and other information about the school. School administration will also be available to answer questions and point people in the right direction. The office will be open if you need to hand in any paperwork or request new paperwork.  Homeroom lists for Kindergarten, 1^st grade and 2^nd grade will be posted at this event.

• I would also like to thank our Home and School Association for all of their work throughout last school year and for their continued efforts and commitment to help our school and our students. I encourage all parents to get involved with Home and School. Information will be available at the Meet the Teacher Event.  The uniform swap will also be taking place at this event. We are working on scheduling a Protecting God’s Children Workshop at SJRS in the fall. All volunteers are required to complete this workshop. We will share more information as that becomes available.