WEEKLY NEWSLETTER                                                   SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

THIS WEEK'S NEWS AND EVENTS

STUDENT COUNCIL HURRICANE EFFORT CONTINUES THROUGH FRIDAY

StuCo members would like to extend their appreciation for the donations received in support of hurricane relief. Thus far, they have collected more than $3,500 in cash, plus material goods that were donated to Trusted World, and additional supplies that were delivered directly to Houston. StuCo members continue to encourage the participation of our school families and have planned two opportunities for students and parents to support their efforts:

Friday Free Dress

By donating $5, students may earn a free dress day this Friday, September 8. Have your child bring their donation to their homeroom teacher or advisor by Thursday. Please refer to the school handbook for free dress guidelines.

Lower School Open House

StuCo representatives will be accepting donations at Thursday's Lower School Open House. Make checks payable to St. John's Episcopal School with a memo "Harvey Relief." Any amount is appreciated. 

_________________________________________________________________

LOWER SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE

First through fourth grade parents are invited to an Open House Thursday, September 7, 6:30 p.m. Meet in your child's homeroom to learn details about the year ahead. Open House is a parent-only event. Please note that teachers will park off-campus, so pull around back for plenty of parking.

CRUSADER CLUB KICK-OFF BREAKFAST
Meet fellow dads and learn about the Crusader Club activities for the year. Meeting will take place Friday, September 8, 7:30 a.m. in Owen Gym; breakfast from Barbec's will be served.

PRE-K/KINDER SOCIAL
Pre-k and kindergarten parents are invited to a come-and-go social (adults only). Mix and mingle at Times Ten Too on Friday, September 8, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Cash bar; appetizers will be provided.

AFTER SCHOOL
The After School Program (ASP) provides optional after-school classes in a variety of educational and instructive areas. Drama class begins this week, with most of the other classes kicking off next week. Learn more about the ASP optional classes. Also, Homework Club begins this week for Middle School students.

BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS + LUNCH MENU
The birthday blessing schedule is posted on ParentsWeb (School / Resources). You will also find the monthly lunch menu in ParentsWeb (School / Resources), as well as under the Current Families tab of the new website. See the August - September menu.

LOWER SCHOOL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

This year we are implementing new guidelines for birthday celebrations in Lower school. In addition to the well-loved traditions of Birthday Blessings and lunches with parents, students in grades 1-4 will receive a lunchtime birthday treat during their birthday month and a free dress day on or near their birthday or half-birthday. Teachers will review the new guidelines during Open House. For your reference, these guidelines are also available under References in RenWeb. If you have any questions, please contact Jayme Johnson.

COMING UP

SCOUTING OPPORTUNITIES

Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts representatives will be on campus next Tuesday, September 12, to talk with first graders about scouting opportunities, followed by evening parent information meetings. Boy Scouts District Executive Giovanni Angon will meet with boys, and Girl Scouts recruiter Emily Krizan-Lopez will meet with girls during a brief classroom session that morning. Parent information meetings will be at 6:30 p.m.; Boys Scouts in the cafeteria and Girl Scouts in the library. St. John's parents with students in all grades are welcome to attend the parent meetings to learn more. You can also learn more on the Pack 55 website or the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas website.

PARENT EDUCATION: UNDERSTANDING THE MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF CHILDREN

Please join the Student Support Team for the first speaker series event Wednesday, September 20, 10:00 a.m. Dr. Brad Schwall and Dr. Carrie Davidson with the Pastoral Counseling Center will help parents understand the impact that issues such as ADHD, anger, depression and anxiety can have on children and teens. We will share the differences between just nervousness and anxiety, a quiet temperament and depression, and high-energy verses ADHD. You will leave the talk with the latest research on social and emotional well-being, best practices for helping your child succeed at school, strategies for engaging cooperation and building strong relationships at home, and tools for helping your child develop skills for managing feelings and having confidence.  

SCHOOL CARPOOL

Afternoon carpool is going exceptionally well, especially for the first few weeks of school. We have implemented a color-coded tag system to better assist in regulating the carpool traffic during the staggered dismissal times:

·         Orange – pre-k

·         Blue – kindergarten through second grade

·         Green –  third and fourth grade

·         Pink – middle school

Your tag color is based on the grade of your youngest student. Carpool times are included on the back of each tag. Last year's white tags will no longer be recognized when admitting cars onto campus during the staggered pick-up times. We have already seen an improvement with carpool so thank you for your cooperation. If you did not receive a color tag or need additional tags please email our receptionist Darlene Williams or call her at 214-328-9131 ext. 100.

Morning carpool is not yet flowing quite as smoothly. It's been slow, with many students arriving after 8:00 a.m. If you are late because carpool is still backed up and unloading, your child will not be counted tardy. Presently, a large volume of cars is arriving around 7:50 a.m. All of those cars cannot be unloaded quickly enough to get everyone into the building by 8:00 a.m. However, today we finished at 8:06 a.m. so thank you for your cooperation and patience.

A few tips that might help morning carpool run more smoothly:

• Leave home a little earlier if possible.
• Take advantage of supervised early-morning care in the cafeteria beginning at 7:00 a.m.
• Arrive at 7:30 a.m. and allow your student to gather with others in the Lower School patio area. This area is supervised beginning at 7:30 a.m. and the doors open at 7:45 a.m.
• Consider carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles coming through carpool.

CARPOOL SAFETY

• We have procedures in place for the safety of our students. At the request of our police officers, please be reminded of the following safety rules.
• No cell phone usage while in the carpool line. If an officer approaches you regarding this policy, please remember that it is for the safety of the children. Students will not be loaded into a car with a driver on the phone.
• All children must remain buckled while driving through carpool. 
• Please do not allow your child to hang out of the car window or sunroof.
• During carpool, please enter from East Lake Highlands Drive onto Harter Road and exit campus toward Northcliff Drive. Do not cut through the residential streets. 
• There are more students walking and biking to and from school so please drive slowly when entering and exiting campus. 
• Please hang your colored carpool tag and make sure it is visible for our police officers and volunteers.
• Do not enter carpool until the entry time designated on your carpool tag.
• Do not park over the crosswalk during carpool - leave space for people to cross. Cars always yield the right-of-way to pedestrians when they are at the crosswalk.

 We appreciate your support in keeping St. John's carpool running smoothly and our students safe.

WEEK IN SPORTS

Tuesday, September 5

- TAPS soccer practice, 3:45 – 5:30 p.m.

- Flag football practice for fifth and sixth grade teams, 3:45 – 5:15 p.m.

- Volleyball practice for TAPS, IAA and MAL, 3:45 – 5:30 p.m.

- Cross country practice, 3:45 – 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 6

- TAPS volleyball practice, 3:15 – 5:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 7

- TAPS soccer vs Alcuin, 4:30 p.m. at Hobby

- TAPS volleyball, 4:30 p.m. at Parish

- MAL volleyball, 4:30 p.m. at Akiba

- Fifth grade flag football, 4:30 p.m. at Levine

- Sixth grade flag football practice, 3:45 – 5:15 p.m.

- IAA volleyball practice, 3:45 – 5:30 p.m.

- Cross country practice, 3:45 – 5:00 p.m.

Friday, September 8

- TAPS volleyball practice, 3:45 – 5:30 p.m.

>>See additional dates on website calendar.

CHAPLAIN'S CORNER

When people first discover St. John's, they are often amazed at the sense of community about this school. Not only do our students, parents, teachers, and staff comprise a strong and caring community, but the school is clearly dedicated to service outside itself as well. The Student Council's effort to help victims of Hurricane Harvey is a perfect example. This attitude of service is not an accident. It flows very naturally from the values we bring to education. Those values find their root in our devotional life. Chapel services give us the "why" behind our commitment to serving others. We give ourselves because Christ first gave himself for us. "Love one another," he said, "as I have loved you."

In chapel last week we discussed why we go to chapel, how we use the building, why and how to engage in the little acts of piety that make up our reverent approach to God. This week we get to expand that focus and see how our daily worship develops our inner devotional life, drives us outward into service, and lifts us upward to be aware of the great community of saints with whom we stand. In Early Childhood Chapel (which we're really enjoying) we'll also be talking about the effects of worship on our lives: how it helps us keep our eyes on Jesus, how worship prefigures heaven, and how chapel reminds us to serve others.

Parents, this is a great week to chat with your child about the role of worship in their life. How does chapel make them feel at the beginning of the day? Do they think their school day would be as focused without that chance to be centered on something more important?

We are also delighted to introduce our new chapel organist this week: Mr. Benjamin Kolodziej. His musical artistry is spectacular, and he is very excited to get students involved in chapel music as singers and musicians. Parents, if your child has a talent and a desire to use it, encourage him or her to speak to their teacher/advisor or directly to me, and we will arrange a day to help lead chapel music.

St. John's Episcopal School is dedicated to a program of academic excellence designed to train

the mind, strengthen the character and enrich the spirit of each student in a Christian environment.

St. John's Episcopal School | 214-328-9131

stjohnsschool.org

View in browser | Unsubscribe