Head of School Message

Dear SJPDS Families,

At this time annually the Administration and Board of Trustees begin planning for the following academic year. Part of the budgetary process is the determination of next year’s operational and student needs and decisions of how best to meet these needs. Ever-escalating expenditures are met in several ways; nevertheless, SJPDS’s primary source of revenue is tuition. Currently, our tuition covers 88% to 92% (depending in the grade level) of the cost to educate each student. Setting tuition levels is given prayerful thought and careful analysis to balance between affordability, accessibility, and educational excellence. To provide the exceptional education we expect at SJPDS costs rise as we all experience more turbulent economic times. After much deliberation and a thorough study of prudent budgetary requirements, the Board has voted to support a modest 2½% tuition increase for the 2024-25 academic year.

As you know, SJPDS proudly supports optimum teacher-to-student ratios, rigorous educational programs, increasing staff and faculty compensation, and maintaining an impeccable physical plant while attempting to continually set as reasonable a tuition level as possible.

Understanding that our families may face fluctuating markets and/or uncertain times, need-based financial assistance is available to families with children entering Kindergarten-Grade 5. Standing ready to support one another, you are encouraged to apply if you anticipate a need for assistance in the 2024-25 academic year. Please visit SJPDS’s website for further information on affording St. John’s (St. John's Tuition).

Re-enrollment contracts will be available for current families tomorrow, December 15th, and are due no later than January 14th, 2024. Please re-enroll promptly as we are expecting waitlists in most grade levels again next year. All grades will be open to new families beginning January 15th, 2024.

Finally, we would like to share that our Childcare Services for the 2024-2025 school year are live! Please review the descriptions of the services we will provide for next year by clicking HERE and make the best selection for your needs. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Greg Wright at [email protected].

SJPDS is a strong, healthy, resourceful, well-managed, warm, and welcoming community that serves families with love and support daily. With God’s help and the support and determination of our community, we will continue to be a premier academic school of the future.

With a grateful heart for this wonderful community,

Lori Dembo

Head of School

SJPDS Winter Enrichment

Registration is Now Available

We are very excited about our upcoming Winter Enrichment Opportunities for 2024! We will have four enrichment options and registration is now open. We have implemented a new and streamlined registration process that will allow our community to register for enrichment activities with ease! If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Greg Wright at [email protected].

To Register for one of the following Enrichment Activities, please click HERE!

Chess Wizards

Early Elementary Coding Global Challenge

Spanish Enrichment- Canta-Baila Kids

Exploring Nature: Below Zero Science

SJPDS Inclement Weather Policy

As winter break and wintery weather approaches, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind our community once again of the SJPDS inclement weather policies and communication channels. PLEASE NOTE: SJPDS functions independently of local Public Schools. Even if Howard County is closed, delayed, or open we will communicate our decision on school closures, delayed openings, and/or early dismissals to you via the following channels:

• WBAL Morning News
• Remind Text- Click HERE for instructions to enroll
• Email Communication
• SJPDS Website
• Facebook and Instagram

We will have our decisions shared with our community by 6:15 AM. If you have not heard from us through the above channels, please assume we will operate as normal.

As always, when traveling please do what is best and safest for you and your family

in the event of any inclement weather.

Last Day of Collington Square Toy Drive

Ends TOMORROW

Thank you SO much to all of the families who have donated to our Toy Drive for Collington Square! We are so grateful to you all and for all of your generosity. Each day, the students are thrilled to bring their donations to Chapel and send them off in our Santa sack to be donated to the families with Collington Square.

Tomorrow is the last day we are accepting donations! If you have a toy to donate, please send it with your child(ren) in carline drop-off. Thank you for your continued support of our community outreach programs!

For more information about Collington Square please visit this link:  https://www.csnpc.org/index.html

New Lunch Program Begins After the New Year!

My Hot Lunchbox

SJPDS is excited to partner with our new lunch delivery program, My Hot Lunchbox! The program will launch after the Winter Break and will allow parents to order lunches to be delivered to their students at school. Please review the documents below to learn more about our new partnership and how the My Hot Lunchbox program works. We are looking forward to this new opportunity and more information to follow soon!

My Hot Lunchbox Intro

How It Works

2023 SJPDS Christmas Card Winners!

We were overwhelmed by the amount of incredible Christmas Card entries that were submitted! It was a very hard decision to pick this year's winners. Well done to all of our artists! Go Bears!

The winners are:

Jackie B., 5th Grade

Ranya S., 1st Grade

Tiwa A., EC 4's

Last Day for the SJPDS Book Fair Tomorrow!

What a wonderful outpouring of support SJPDS has received for our Book Fair this week! Tomorrow is the final day to shop in person at our Book Fair! Parents may come shop tomorrow before and after the Lower School Christmas Performance (from 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM). Please be sure to sign in at the Front Office if you are planning to shop in person.

Don't forget that you can continue to shop ONLINE until December 21st! Thank you for supporting our Book Fair and instilling a love and appreciation of reading in your children!

Click HERE to shop online, and click HERE to set up your child(ren)'s eWallet!

Early Childhood Christmas Performances

This week, both of our Early Childhood classes performed for family and friends in our annual Early Childhood Christmas Programs! They all did a wonderful job and we are so proud of their hard work! A special thank you to Mrs. Enokian, our Early Childhood Music Teacher, for her dedication to this performance. It was absolutely wonderful and our students, faculty, and families all enjoyed the program! Videos of each performance will be available tomorrow on our YouTube page. Well done, EC Students!

St. Jude Children's Hospital Holiday Cards

Each year, St. Jude's Children's Hospitals, an organization close to our hearts, creates a way to send virtual holiday cards to patients in the hospital receiving treatment. These virtual cards spread holiday joy and cheer to children who need it the most! Please consider writing a holiday message to a child receiving treatment this year by clicking the link below. It only takes a moment and the benefits are amazing. Thank you for bringing smiles to the children this holiday season!

Send a Virtual Card

Lower School Christmas Performance (K-5th)

Friday, Dec. 15th, 8:45 AM

All visitors must park at the Historic Church and enter through the Main Entrance. Parking by the Parish Life Center (PLC) is prohibited due to clergy and staff needs. The Lower School Performance will be held in All Saint's Hall (ASH). Please note the performance begins at 8:45 AM, and visitors will be allowed to enter ASH at 8:30 AM, following a brief rehearsal.

Lower School students are encouraged to wear their Holiday Best Red & Green!

Early Dismissal December 20th- Red & Green Dress Down Day

NO AFTERCARE AVAILABLE

There will be NO AFTERCARE AVAILABLE on December 20th. Due to the large number of departures on this day, we are enforcing our traffic patterns to help with the flow of traffic.

Lower School will Dismiss at 11:30 AM. To alleviate a traffic back-up on Frederick Road, we ask that folks for the K-1 pick-up line enter through the top entrance as normal, and to remember to go around the Historic Church as the line builds up. There will be signs directing our K-1 parents. Grades 2-5 will pick up as normal.

Early Childhood will dismiss at 12:00 PM. We are asking our EC parents to also follow the signs to go around our Historic Church to alleviate some traffic on Frederick Road.

If you have students in both Early Childhood and Lowers School, please plan to pick up at 11:30 AM. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to [email protected]. Thank you!

School Closed for Winter Break

December 21st- January 2nd

School Re-Opens Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

St. John's Living Crèche: Evenings, Dec. 24th-31st

Parish and SJPDS friends and families of all ages are invited to sign up for an evening shift to wear Biblical costumes to participate in our annual Living Creche! We will enjoy fellowship time in the stable scene on the lawn near Frederick Road as a witness to Christ’s presence for those in our wider community. Costumes are provided, or you can bring your own. There are many convenient time slots to choose from! Sign up to help us keep this St. John’s tradition alive! More details can be found HERE!

Merry Christmas and Thank You!

Thank you to those who attended our General Meeting last night. We are so grateful for your continued support and dedication to the experience of St. John's Parish Day School!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and look forward to a wonderful 2024!

Follow SJPDS on Social Media to stay connected to our community!