First Day Reminders & Back to School Open House

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As a reminder, the first day of school for the 2024-2025 school year is as follows:

*K-8 students:  Thursday, August 29th (12:05pm dismissal day, aftercare will be in session);

*Pre-K4 Full-Day students: Thursday, August 29th (12:05pm dismissal day, aftercare will be in session);

*Pre-K4 Part-Time students:  Thursday, August 29th;

*Pre-K3 Full-Day students: Thursday, August 29th (12:05pm dismissal day, aftercare will be in session);

*Pre-K3 Part-Time students:  Friday, August 30th.

Back to School Classroom Visits/Supply Drop-Off:
On Wednesday, August 28th, all Pre-K through Grade 8 parents/guardians and their student(s) are invited to stop by the school between the hours of 8:30am and 11:30am to visit the classrooms, meet the teachers, and drop off their child’s school supplies.  This is a drop-in event, please come at whatever time works for your schedule. Please note, K – 8 students DO NOT need to be in their uniforms for these visits.

Teacher Assignments:
Teacher assignments for 1st – 8th grade students will be sent via email about a week before the first day of school.  Please note, as of today all teacher assignments have been finalized.  Requests for changes cannot be accommodated.

Medicine Drop Off:
Mrs. Pennington, our school nurse, will have availability to accept student medicines and medicine authorization forms on August 23rd (Friday) and August 27th (Tuesday).  Please email her at kpennington@mpspride.org to schedule an appointment if you would like to come on one of these two dates.  She will also be available during the Back to School Open House event on August 28th, but the line to see the nurse can be quite long on that day.

Welcome New Faculty and Staff!

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Saint James School is excited to welcome the following faculty and staff to SJS for the upcoming school year:

Ms. Sara Boyle – Middle School Teacher

Please join us in welcoming Ms. Sara Boyle to our middle school teaching team.  Ms. Boyle comes to us from Granby High School and brings a wealth of experience teaching math, English language arts, social studies, and science.  Ms. Boyle received her Master’s in Education in New York City, where she taught for five years prior to moving to Connecticut.  At Saint James School, Ms. Boyle will be teaching Grade 8 English, 7th Grade religion, and one math group in both Grades 6 & 8.  Ms. Boyle will also oversee an 8th Grade homeroom.

Mrs. Brianna Hawkins – Middle School Teacher

Also joining our teaching faculty for this upcoming school year is Mrs. Brianna Hawkins, who will be teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade science.  Mrs. Hawkins comes to us from Northwest Catholic High School where she taught several science classes.  Prior to teaching at Northwest, Mrs. Hawkins taught middle school science at St. Gabriel school in Windsor.  Mrs. Hawkins will be taking over the classes previously taught by Mrs. Oei, who will be teaching engineering at East Catholic High School in the fall.  Mrs. Hawkins will also oversee an 8th Grade homeroom.

Mrs. Stephanie Thomas – Middle School Teacher

Rounding out the new members of our middle school teaching team is Mrs. Stephanie Thomas, who will be joining us as our Middle School Math teacher for Grades 6 – 8, replacing Ms. Starnick who has also taken a teaching position at East Catholic High School starting this fall.  Mrs. Thomas comes to us from Corpus Christi school in Wethersfield and previously taught high school math in Virginia after receiving her Master’s in Education from UVA.  Of interesting note, prior to her teaching career, Mrs. Thomas spent many years as a Research Assistant for NASA.  Mrs. Thomas will oversee a 6th grade homeroom.

Extended Day Program – Mrs. Jodi Talaga

As previously announced, our Extended Day Program Director has retired after 33 years of service to Saint James School.  Taking over for her will be Mrs. Jodi Talaga, who has served our school in a variety of capacities – both as an employee and a volunteer.  Any questions regarding the before and after school care program can be directed to Mrs. Talaga at jtalaga@saintjamesschool.net.

Classroom Aide – Mrs. Duval

Taking over Mrs. Talaga’s previous position will be Mrs. Rebecca Duval who many of our families may know from her involvement with Cast Children’s Theatre here in Manchester.  Mrs. Duval also ran a home-based daycare for many years and is looking forward to assisting our teachers and students here at Saint James School.

Summer Work Reminder

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As we head into the month of August, just a quick reminder that all students entering 1st – 8th grade have a summer assignment that is due on the first day of school.  For students entering grades 1-5, this is a math review packet;  for students entering grades 6 – 8 this is a math review packet AND a reading assignment.

For returning students, hard copies of these assignments were sent home on the last week of school.  For new families joining us in grades 1 – 8, these assignments were emailed to you with your welcome letter.  Extra copies are available in the SJS main office if you need one.

Wanted: Christmas Tree

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Saint James School needs to replace our artificial Christmas Tree for this upcoming school year.  If your family has an artificial tree in good condition that you no longer need, please consider donating it to Saint James School.  Ideally we are looking for something no more than 6 feet tall and has working lights (pre-lit).  Please reach out to the SJS main office if you can help.  Thank you!

From the Tuition Manager

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Saint James School’s tuition manager, Mrs. Denise Mayo, would like to remind families that any changes to your FACTS Tuition Account (changing payments, payment dates, etc.) must be made by calling or emailing Saint James School – please do not call FACTS directly or try to do it through the family portal as it may result in double payments being withdrawn from your account.

Mrs. Mayo is reachable at the school Monday – Thursday 8:00am – 3:00pm (860.643.5088, option 8) and any other day/time via email at dmayo@saintjamesschool.net.

We appreciate your patience as we work out the nuances of this new family information system and the new FACTS Financial integration.

Uniform Notes

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A couple of quick notes on uniforms:

*We have been made aware that Dennis Uniform Company is having back order issues on select uniform items.  If you have ordered through Dennis, you may wish to check the status of your order.

*Lands’ End has announced a flash sale of 30% OFF School Uniform Items from August 2 – August 4, 2024.  Please use Code: DESK30 and PIN: 5321 at checkout.

If you wish to visit the SJS Uniform Closet (gently used uniform items available to families at no charge), you may stop by the SJS main office during our summer hours (M – F 9:00am – 12:00pm) to get the key.  Other times may be available for visits, but please call the office first to ensure someone will be there to let you in.

Please remember all uniform items should be purchased by the beginning of August to arrive in time for school.

Reminder: 1st Tuition Payment

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Families will be receiving an email reminder from FACTS Tuition Management regarding their first tuition payment for the 2024-2025 school year.  All payments are done via automatic withdrawal so families do not need to do anything with their FACTS account in order for the payment to be made.

Should you wish to review your tuition and payment schedule for the upcoming year, please remember this information is now accessible via the FACTS Family Portal (NOT a separate FACTS Tuition login like years past).  If you have questions on your tuition or wish to change the date of a future payment, please reach out to Saint James School’s tuition manager, Denise Mayo, at dmayo@saintjamesschool.net.  Due to banking regulations, you must notify Mrs. Mayo at least 5 business days in advance of any payment changes you wish to make.

If you submitted a signed parish affiliation form (K-8 program) and do not see the parish discount credited to your account, please reach out to Mrs. Mayo.

Thank you again for choosing Saint James School to be your partner in the academic and spiritual upbringing of your child(ren).  We look forward to another wonderful year of learning and growing at SJS!  Should you wish to reread the information about the change in accessing your FACTS tuition information, please do so HERE.

Lands’ End Uniform Sales

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Reminder: School Toolbox Option for Supplies

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This summer you will again have the option to order your child’s school supplies online through SchoolToolbox.Com and have them delivered directly to your home!  In addition, Saint James School receives a percentage of every sale – convenience for you and a great way to support SJS!  Plus, if you already have supplies left over from prior years, you can choose not to include those in your purchase.  Please remember to order supplies well in advance to ensure they arrive before the first day of school.

Next year’s supply lists can be found below:

24-25 Supply List Grades K-5

24-25 Supplies List Grades 6-8

 

 

Reminder: 30th Annual SJS Foundation Golf Outing

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The Saint James School Foundation is a privately run endowment fund providing over $100,000 to our school each year in support of our financial aid program, ongoing technology upgrades, and Margin of Excellence programs. Last year, the foundation donated more than $180,000 to Saint James School. Each year, the Foundation holds a golf tournament and dinner in support of their mission.

This annual event is a lot of fun with a great mixture of current SJS parents, former SJS parents, SJS alumni, and school/parish staff.

For more information, contact Eddie Fitzgerald at edwardjfitzgerald@gmail.com or Ken O’Hara at ken@kenohara.com or visit the foundation’s website.