Friday 9/18 Message from Mrs. Zorger
Please watch this short video message from Mrs. Zorger: https://youtu.be/AOhzuKeK6C4
Virtual Mass for this Weekend
Here is the link for the Saint James Virtual Parish Mass for Sunday, September 20th, 2020:
Morning Arrival & Afternoon Drop-off Notes
As a reminder, please do not park in the St. Mary’s Church parking lot when picking up or dropping off your children at school. St. Mary’s staff specifically request that our families do not park there. Please utilize the St. James Church Parking Lot (across the street) instead.
Also, please do not park in the driveway behind the blue house (between the blue house and the grass lot on the corner). There is a sign on the fence noting this area is reserved for SJS staff only.
Lastly, another reminder to please utilize the crosswalks when crossing the streets in front of the school in the mornings and afternoons. We want to continue to model safe practices for our students and we are fortunate that the town provides us with two crossing guards at high-traffic times to help keep our families safe.
Please share these important messages with anyone else that may be picking up or dropping of your child/ren.
Virtual HSA Meeting Tonight
The Saint James Home & School Association (similar to a PTA/PTO) will hold its first meeting of the new school year tomorrow evening, Thursday (9/17) via Zoom from 7:00-8:00pm. We strongly encourage parents to attend to learn more about the HSA and to hear about what events are upcoming in the next few months. If you are unable to attend the Zoom call but would like to volunteer to help at various times throughout the year, please reach out to our HSA President (parent volunteer, Jodi Talaga) at hsa@saintjamesschool.net.
The Zoom class information is as follows:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 746 9866 4177
Passcode: sGMQ9h
Lands’ End Scholarship Program
Lands’ End has announced a $5,000 scholarship opportunity for students in grades 8-12 whose schools use Lands’ End Uniforms. If you are interested in learning more, you can do so HERE. (Saint James School’s preferred school number with Lands’ End is 900117540). For full details, please click here: https://www.landsend.com/starboard-scholarship/
Absence Calls
Please remember if you are calling in an absence, those calls must be left with the school nurse. When you call in to the school, hit ‘3’ to be directly connected to that extension. Please do not call absences into the front office.
Instrumental Music Notes
This evening at 6:30pm, Mr. Corcoran will host a ZOOM Parent meeting for the parents/guardians of any 4th grade students (and 5th – 7th grade transfer students) interested in learning more about our school’s instrumental music program. As a reminder, our instrumental music program begins in 4th grade at SJS but new learners are welcome to join in all grades 4th and up.
https://zoom.us/j/97595856030?
Meeting ID: 975 9585 6030
Passcode: 4Pwtt2
Mr. Corcoran can be reached at jcorcoran@snet.net with any questions.
Instrumental Music Lessons begin tomorrow (Wednesday) for students in grades 5-8 and on Thursday our 4th graders/beginners will have lessons.
Welcome New Staff Members
We are excited to announce a couple of new additions to the Saint James School faculty and staff.
Mr. Carlos O’Neill will be joining us later this week as our new Spanish Teacher (Grades 3-8), replacing Senora Nixon who – as you may recall – retired in the Spring. Mr. O’Neill has vast experience teaching Spanish and bilingual education in the Hartford, East Hartford, and Bloomfield public school systems. He is a graduate of Mercy College in New York and has his Master’s of Education from UConn with a focus on second language and bilingualism. He will start teaching Spanish classes this Friday. We look forward to welcoming Mr. O’Neill to our school community!
Another new addition to our staff, beginning tomorrow, will be Ms. Sara Zukowski. Ms. Zukowski will be filling in for Mrs. Sager as our front office secretary while Mrs. Sager remains on medical leave for a few more months. Emails going to the main office should still be sent to lsager@saintjamesschool.net as this is the email Ms. Zukowski will be checking.
Extended Day Policy Book
Families that utilize the Extended Day Program are asked to review the policy book. A copy will also be posted on our website in the Forms/Docs section for future reference.
Important: Hot Lunch Program Update
Thanks to a grant that has been extended to all of Manchester, students at Saint James School (1st – 8th grade) are now eligible to receive Hot Lunch each day at no charge. This free hot lunch program is in effect until the end of this calendar year (Dec 31, 2020) OR until the funding runs out (whichever comes first). In the event a student would like to purchase milk only or extra food items, normal charges will apply.
For all new students and 1st grade students, you should have received an email with your child’s SJS hot lunch account number. Students do NOT need to memorize this number.
Currently the cafeteria does NOT have water bottles for sale like we did last year, however our water bottle filling stations are working and can be used to fill a refillable bottle at appropriate times throughout the day.
