Dear St. John’s Parents:
As you know, our first academic quarter ended last Friday. Teachers are finalizing quarter grades and will have them submitted by this Friday, October 16. Primary grades teachers (pre-K through second grade) will email report cards to parents. From third grade through twelfth grade, quarter grades will be accessible on Blackbaud. Please notify me or Mrs. Untalan (Lower School) or Mr. Kelley (Middle and Upper Schools) if you are unable to view quarter grades by Monday.
We are extending our Parent/Teacher Conferences to cover three days rather than the usual one day. These conferences will be conducted through Google Meets. The dates will be: Lower School, Wednesday, November 4; Middle School, Thursday, November 5; and Upper School, Friday, November 6. You will receive a Google Form that will allow you to select a time on the appointed day to meet with your child’s teacher. You will receive a form for each teacher that your child has. If you don’t wish to meet with a particular teacher, you can ignore the request. For the teacher(s) with whom you do wish to meet, just select your time on the form. The program will then remove that time slot for other parents and reserve it for you. Just be sure to keep track of the appointments you select so that you don’t double schedule yourself. After the sign-up period, you will receive an invitation to meet from the teacher(s) you selected, and you will simply click on that link at the time of the meeting. Please communicate with teachers or administrators if you need assistance or clarification.
I know that this quarter has been challenging for everyone. I see weariness in the faces of some of our teachers, and I hear of stress among our students. But I also hear about engaging assignments and fun StuCo activities. The president of our Mandaña Club was on the radio Monday explaining why St. John’s students lobbied to change the name of the holiday to Global Heritage Day. The superintendent for the Catholic Schools on Guam, an old friend, did some substituting at St. John’s a few years ago. He reminded me of that yesterday, saying he was most impressed that our students WANTED to learn whatever the subject was. Yes, we have a lot to be proud of at St. John’s School.
As the island community struggles to maintain public safety and protect our fragile prosperity, we give thanks for the health and well-being of our students, families, and staff. We also pray for relief from the pandemic, knowing that things can get worse too.
Please be assured that, when the time comes that our leaders deem it safe to return to school, we will do so with careful thought and planning. To that end, we will soon be asking all of you to express your thoughts via an online survey.
Most of all, thank you for your support and for being a part of this esteemed institution.
Sincerely,
Pat Bennett
