Return to In-Person learning Plan for 2020-2021 (K-8)

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Please take some time to review the attached documentation regarding the 2020-2021 school year.  In addition to detailed information about what in-person learning will look like this year, there is an option (see last page) for Distance Learning where students would participate in instruction each day from their home.  Once you have read through the information, all families must fill out the questionnaire below to tell us how your child/ren will be attending school this Fall (in-person or remotely).  This information will help us further prepare for the start of the upcoming year.  Due date for responses is Tuesday, July 28th by 2pm.

Please keep in mind this plan complies with current State mandates but may fluctuate based on COVID-19 trends.  Any updates to this information will be communicated in a timely manner.

SJS Return to In-Person Learning Plan 7-22-20

FALL 2020 Return to In-Person Learning Intentions Questionnaire

 

For families with a Pre-Kindergarten student, please note our Pre-K plan will be sent to you by the end of the week.

Fall 2020 Update

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This afternoon our Return to In-Person Strategy committee is meeting to put the finishing touches on our school’s plans for Fall 2020.  We anticipate having detailed documentation for the K-8 program distributed tomorrow and the Pre-Kindergarten program by the end of the week.

In the meantime, please note that FACTS will not take their annual account fees (i.e. $45 for 10 payments, $25 for two payments) until July 29th (FACTS’ recent communication stated that these fees will come out on July 22nd).

Staff Update

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We are excited to announce the addition of Mrs. Mary Mitchell to the Saint James Middle School teaching faculty.  Mrs. Mitchell has many years of experience teaching in a Catholic School environment, including Assumption School and most recently at St. Christopher School in East Hartford as a Middle School Teacher.  In addition to her vast experience, Mrs. Mitchell has a Master’s Degree in Reading and Language Arts and holds a State of CT Teaching certification as well.  In addition to teaching 6th & 7th Grade Literature and 6th Grade Religion, Mrs. Mitchell will also be a 7th grade homeroom teacher alongside Mrs. Wolpert.  We are excited to welcome Mrs. Mitchell to our Saint James School community!

First Eucharist Update

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For SJS students that were supposed to receive their First Eucharist this past spring, please check your email for an update regarding this celebration from Macy Jordan.  Thank you.

Lands’ End Uniform Reminder

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As a reminder, Lands’ End is offering Free Logos and 20% Off uniform items through today (Friday) with Code: ROCKET and Pin: 1776

From Mrs. Zorger

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Dear Saint James School Families,

I hope this finds you well and that you have been able to enjoy some relaxing summer days.

As you are aware, this upcoming school year will look different than school years we have planned for in the past.  I am excited for the opportunity to have our students begin the school year present in the building.  For those of you not comfortable with a return to classroom at this time, we will have a distance learning option available.  My first and foremost priority is the health, safety, and well-being of our students, faculty and staff.

In the past few weeks, we have been working on how to safely bring our students back to in-person instruction at the end of August by evaluating our facilities and resources.  On June 29th, The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) released their requirements and guidance in a document titled “Adapt, Advance, Achieve: Connecticut’s Plan to Learn and Grow Together”.  Equipped with this information, we established a Return to In-Person Instruction Strategy (RIIS) committee to develop an action plan for our school.

Our RIIS committee members include Father Cavanaugh, Pastor of Saint James Parish, Bridget Zorger, Principal, Lisa Anderson, Assistant Principal, Rich Yirga, Facilities Manager, Janis Vignati, School Nurse, Laura St. Jean, Pre-Kindergarten Director, Jeanne Jones, 4th grade teacher, David LaMonica, Chairperson of SJS School Board & current parent, and Amy Guenther, Director of Advancement.

I am grateful for your participation in our first survey that was emailed earlier this week. Please note the surveys will close at noon on Thursday.  The data collected from the surveys will provide us with an initial understanding of our families’ intentions and concerns.

Along with understanding the requirements and guidance stated in the CSDE’s plan, there are many details that our RIIS committee will be working through.  In addition, The Archdiocese of Hartford Office of Education, Evangelization and Catechesis has also put forth requirements and guidelines. Each school in the diocese will need to submit a plan by July 31st.

Once a preliminary plan for our school has been developed, information will be shared with our school families.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate through this unique time preparing for the upcoming school year.

Staff Update

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It is with heavy hearts that we announce that SJS middle school teacher Mrs. Carol Grondin has decided not to return to teaching this Fall.  We are so grateful for the knowledge and passion of learning that she has passed on to the multitude of students she taught during her years of service to our school.  We wish Mrs. Grondin many blessings as she begins a new chapter alongside her family.

Planning For Fall

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In light of the State of Connecticut’s mandates for schools to resume in-person learning in the fall, we want to assure our families that Saint James School has been, and continues to be, planning for a safe return to in-person learning when school resumes in August.  Today our RIIS Committee  (Return to In-Person Instruction Strategy Committee) formally met for the first time to review the lengthy document put forth by the State as well as the information we have received from the Archdiocese of Hartford.  As part of our planning process, we will be sending a survey to families very early next week to gather your feedback as well.  A big part of this process will be communication and we look forward to sharing information with you throughout the summer as plans continue to unfold.

Tips on Social Emotional Learning: Goal Directed Behavior

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During the past several weeks, we have been sending out tips on Social Emotional Learning that we thought might be of interest to parents.  Today we wanted to share information on Goal Directed Behavior, another one of the 8 critical areas of importance for well-being.  As noted in our earlier emails, studies show that developing and nurturing important skills in our children can help them become happy, productive, and successful adults as they appreciate how to think and act in stressful or challenging situations.

Here is some information about developing goal directed behavior – a child’s initiation of, and persistence in completing, tasks of varying difficulty:  Goal Directed Behavior

Being able to set and achieve goals is a valuable life skill. Everything that goes into setting and achieving goals (having a clear, specific vision of what we want to learn or accomplish; having a plan that we can actually carry out, if we stay motivated, tracking and measuring our progress along the way; and creating a timeline for reaching our goal so that we are reminded to stay on track) help to prepare us for work life, for higher education, and for contributing to our families and communities in ways that are meaningful for us.

Generally, setting goals is the easy part! It’s following through and accomplishing them that can be tricky. Carrying out our action plan can become difficult or we may start to lose interest. But since setting goals, sticking to our plan, and then achieving our dreams helps build habits for a lifetime, it’s worth it in the long run!  Here are some helpful tips and ideas from Parents.com.

 

If you want to refer back to any of our prior posts on Social Emotional Learning, links are below:

Optimistic Thinking

Self-Awareness

Self-Management

Social Awareness

Relationship Skills

 

 

Addressing the Social Injustice of Racism

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As Catholic school educators and followers of Christ, Saint James School continues to be fully committed to ensuring our students grow to become well-educated, compassionate members of society that consistently seek to make our world a better place for all.  We believe that racism is not only a deep and grave sin, but one that clearly is still rampant in our society.  As Christians, we believe that every human life has inherent worth, as we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Racism in any form is in direct opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our mission as His followers.

The Archdiocese of Hartford’s Office of Education, Evangelization, and Catechesis has issued the following statement and resources that we wanted to share as part of our ongoing commitment to building a better tomorrow through Catholic education:

The schools and parishes of the Archdiocese of Hartford share the responsibility to address the injustice of systemic racism in our country and institutions, and we must do so through a lens of our Roman Catholic faith. Simply put, racism is a life issue.

We echo the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) who stated:

“… We must ask God where we are being called to act. As Pope Francis stated, ‘we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.’  We must discern how we can help defend our brothers and sisters in Christ when we witness injustice and racism. And we must ask what discussions we need to have or plans we must put in place to prevent racist acts in the future.”

We must reject the sin of racism, in all its forms, and stand with our brothers and sisters who have felt marginalized inside and outside of our Church. To that end, please take advantage of the resources we have gathered  from many national and local experts. Consider reviewing those in a category most pertinent to your school or parish ministry, and let us know if there are any resources we can add to benefit this important work.

To access the resources, click here.