Dear families,

The faculty, staff, and administration are excited to kick off another great year of learning and growing here at Saint James School!  While we know first few days of school can be a time filled with both excitement and uncertainty for both you and your child(ren), I want to take a moment to assure you that every member of the Saint James School community is fully committed to the success of every child entrusted to our care.  We consider it a privilege to work with parents in the education of children because we believe parents are the primary educators of their children.

Since you have chosen to enter into a partnership with us at Saint James School, we trust you will be loyal to your commitment to the rules of our community.  During these formative years (Pre-K to Grade 8), your child needs constant support from both parents and faculty in order to develop his or her moral, intellectual, physical, social, and cultural endowment. Evidence of mutual respect between parents/guardians, teachers, and the overall school community will model good, mature behavior and relationships.

These commitments include:

*Having your child to school ON TIME each day:

Tardy arrivals at any grade level are disruptive to the teacher and the entire classroom of students.  While we recognize that unforeseen circumstances may occasionally occur on your commute to school (unusual traffic due to an accident or bad road conditions), if you find yourself not getting to school in a timely manner please take time to adjust your morning schedule.

For tardy arrivals this year (K-8 program arriving after the 7:50am bell) the parent/guardian must park and accompany their child to the SJS main office, where they will be required to sign their child into school for the day.   As noted in the handbook, excessive unexcused tardy arrivals may result in a detention.

*Following the school’s parking rules: 

Last year we (unfortunately) received MANY complaints from our neighbors about our families blocking driveways, blocking roadways, and parking in private parking areas.  Saint James School values the positive relationship that we have with the people in our neighborhood and we really need everyone’s help and consideration this year.  We realize parking is tight at arrival and dismissal, but we have a huge parking lot at St. James Church and town crossing guards at our disposal.  If you cannot find on-street parking that is within our communicated guidelines, please use the Church lot.  Please share this with anyone dropping-off/picking-up your child(ren) each day.

*Adhere to the dress code:

Saint James School adheres to a specific dress code for its students.  Please ensure students come to school each day meeting the dress code guidelines.  As noted in the handbook, ongoing disregard for the dress code may result in a detention for the student.  If your child’s uniform items have not arrived for the first day of school, please visit the uniform closet to get the items needed for your child.  If you are unable to obtain items from the closet, please reach out directly to your child’s teacher for guidance.

As always, we thank you for your commitment to Saint James School and your continued support of our wonderful, faith-filled community!

God Bless,

Mrs. Zorger

Pre-K families are asked to review the Pre-K program handbook.  Any questions may be directed to the program’s director, Ms. Richard, at trichard@saintjamesschool.net.

Pre-K Handbook 2022-2023

Please take a few moments to read the attached letter from Mrs. Zorger concerning Saint James School’s Covid policies and procedures for the 2022-2023 school year.

SJS Health & Covid Protocol 2022-2023

A link to the Covid-related health policies will also be added to our website for future reference.

Teacher assignments for K – 8 students will be sent out tomorrow morning.

With that email you will also receive a copy of the SJS 2022-2023 Handbook, which we ask you to review in full prior to signing.  Please return the acknowledgement page to your child’s homeroom teacher on August 31st when you come for your classroom visit.

Our Technology Acceptable Use Agreement (pertaining to grade K – 8) and Chromebook Insurance Information (pertaining to grades 3 – 8) will also be included with the email.  Homeroom teachers will be collecting these forms from families as well during your visit on August 31st.

As we head into the final stretch of summer vacation, we have some exciting staff updates to share:

Middle School

Saint James School welcomes Ms. Chelsea Salafia into our middle school teaching team in the role of 7th & 8th Grade History and Geography teacher.  Ms. Salafia is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University where she obtained her degree in History Education and is state certified to teach at the middle and high school level.  Most recently she worked as a long-term sub in the Social Studies department at Glastonbury High School.

In addition, Ms. Jennifer Starnick (who was previously introduced as our 7th & 8th grade mid-level/advanced math teacher), will be taking on an expanded role that now includes 8th grade homeroom teacher and also the 6th grade mid-level/advanced math.  Ms. Starnick’s room will be B208 (formerly Mr. Adam’s room).

With these changes, Mrs. McQuaid will take on the role of teaching the 6th Grade Social Studies classes.

Pre-Kindergarten

For our youngest learners, we are excited to welcome Ms. Teresa Richard as our new Pre-Kindergarten Director/4-year-old teacher.  Ms. Richard comes to us from St. Mary School in Massachusetts, where she taught kindergarten for many years and more recently, was a remedial support teacher for grades 1-5.   Ms. Richard has a vast amount of teaching and student support experience both in both public and Catholic schools and is certified in a variety of areas, including Early Childhood Education With and Without Special Needs.

Also in our Pre-K4 program we will be welcoming back classroom aides Mrs. Vicky LaChance (who was with us for 4 years before taking last year off for health reasons), and Mrs. Carpenter.  Mrs. Lengsavath (who was with our Pre-K4 program the past few years), has moved over to St. Bartholomew Church where we are launching a joint Pre-K program for families that we were not able to accommodate with a spot in the St. James or St. Bridget preschool programs.

Mrs. Page (teacher) and Mrs. Davis (aide) are both returning to work with our littlest Sabers in the SJS Pre-K3 classroom.

Extended Day Program

The SJS Extended Day Program (before and after school care) is also welcoming two aides to the existing staff this year – Ms. Debra Deptula and Ms. Gloria Hobbs.  They will join returning staff members Ms. Jean Burdick (Director), Ms. Mary, Ms. Chris, Ms. Divyata, and Ms. Rashid.