As announced earlier this year, Saint James School is preparing to meet with our visiting team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) as part of the re-accreditation process.  This major evaluation takes place every 10 years, (with interim reports completed in between) in order retain our accreditation status.  As part of this process, the SJS faculty and staff are currently working on our self-study.  Thank you again to everyone who participated in the surveys back in late September. The data collected plays a significant role in helping us reflect on what our school does well and where we might be able to improve.

As part of the 10-year self-study, our faculty and staff also reviewed our school’s mission statement, and after careful consideration, voted to make a few changes to better align this statement (and our school’s guiding philosophy) with the Profile of an SJS Graduate—another important guide that was developed by, and is periodically reviewed by, SJS faculty and staff.

Today, as we kick off Catholic Schools Week, we will begin saying our new Mission Statement each morning.

Saint James School provides a quality Catholic education based on the teachings of Jesus Christ building a foundation for independent, lifelong learning. We strive to develop every child’s full potential through faith, academics, service, and character formation.

Our school’s first visit by the NEASC accreditation team will take place in April.  We look forward to sharing additional details about this visit and our re-accreditation process in the months ahead.

A session of STEM Club will be held for students in Grade 1 on Monday, February 3.  Please complete the permission form if your child would like to attend.

STEM Club Permission Form 020325

We received notice that Monday and Wednesdays lunch menu items are being swapped.  Monday will now be Italian Dunkers and Wednesday will the the Chicken Patty.

We are excited to Celebrate Catholic Schools Week next week!  Please review the full flyer of events HERE.  Some additional notes below:

This Weekend (1/25 & 1/26) — help still needed!!
Thank you to the families that signed up to help at our Parish Masses this weekend.  We still need helpers to hand out gifts to parishioners.  Please have your student RSVP to help HERE (grades 2 – 8, please) and will be in touch shortly with additional information.  For all other SJS students attending Mass this weekend, feel free to wear your SJS uniform so our parishioners can see all the wonderful students they help support!

On Monday (1/27)
* Green & White Dress Down Day in honor of our sister school, Saint Bridget.  Please note all standard dress down guidelines from the SJS handbook apply.

* We will also begin our collection for the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Little Sisters of the Poor are a congregation of Roman Catholic religious women who care for the elderly poor (regardless of faith) with dignity and compassion until God calls them home.  Please refer to the flyer for details.

* We will also be accepting monetary donations for Catholic Charities’ California Wildfire Relief efforts.  Please send money in with your student in an envelope or baggie that clearly notes Wildfire Relief Donation.

*K – 8 students and staff will attend Mass at Saint James Church.  All SJS parents/grandparents are welcome to join us – please sit in the back TWO pews as our students fill most of the church.  Mass begins at 9:00am.

On Tuesday (1/28)
* We will also host our Prospective Family Open House Event for families interested in joining our K-8 program for the upcoming school year.  If you know of anyone interested in attending, please have them reach out to Amy Guenther or Stephanie Holmes to RSVP (RSVP is required).

* All families are encouraged to join us as our girls Varsity and boys Varsity Gold teams play at EAST CATHOLIC High School.  There is plenty of seating in the ECHS gymnasium so we are hoping to see many SJS faces at the game to cheer on the players!  Girls play at 6:00pm, followed by the boys at 7:15pm.  We hope to see lots of Saber fans there!

On Friday (1/31)
Blue & Gold Dress Down Day (or any color Saint James School Spiritwear t-shirts/sweatshirts may be worn).  Please note all standard dress down guidelines from the handbook apply.

Saint James School will host two Open House events during the month of January for prospective families and new students who may be considering SJS for the 2025-2026 school year.

The first will be an Open House for our Pre-Kindergarten program the evening of Thursday, January 23rd.  This will be a drop-in event between the hours of 6:00pm and 7:30pm.

The second will be our annual Daytime Open House for grades K-8 during Catholic Schools Week.  This will be held on Tuesday, January 28th and will begin with a presentation in the gym at 9:30am.  If you know of anyone who may be considering Saint James School, please invite them to attend.  Our Pre-K4 parents who wish to learn more about “the big school” are very welcome to attend as well!

Important note: We do require families to RSVP for our K – 8 open house.  Please SHARE THIS LINK with families you may know who would like to attend.

For students currently in our Pre-K3 – 7th grade program, returning student registration forms will be emailed out on February 3rd.  If your family has a NEW student that you would like to join us next year please complete our online application form through your FACTS family portal and/or reach out to Stephanie Holmes (if you have not already done so). New students will be considered for enrollment once the returning student registration period closes.

Thank you to everyone who has already liked, commented on, and/or shared our Open House post on Facebook and Instagram…. If you have not already done so, please take a few moments to do so now by clicking HERE for Facebook and HERE for Instagram to help us spread the word.  Thank you!

There will be an evening Open House in March (pre-k through grade 8) for interested families that cannot attend in January.  Of course, we also provide informational tours by appointment.

Please reach out to Ms. Holmes with admissions questions (Admissions@SaintTeresaCatholic.org).