On Friday, September 1st, all instrumental students in grades 6-8 will meet at 7:30am to receive their music. The Advanced Band will rehearse at noon that day. On Wednesday, September 6th, Mr. Corcoran will have a parent meeting for all new band students (grades 4 – 8) and their parents at 6:30pm in the cafeteria where they can sign up for band and get information on instrumental rentals.
Class assignments were just sent out to SJS Parents (K-8th grade). Please give the e-mail until 10:30am to reach you. If you do not receive an e-mail by 10:30am, please contact Mrs. Sager in the school office.
Our annual back-to-school “Meet & Sweet” event for all NEW Saint James elementary/middle school (K-8) students/families and buddy families will be held the evening of Tuesday, August 29th from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. All incoming Kindergarten students and their families (even if they have older siblings already at the school) are also invited to attend. If you have any questions regarding the Meet & Sweet event, please contact our Advancement Director, Amy Guenther at aguenther@saintjamesschool.net.
Mrs. Celia Camilleri – 7th & 8th Grade Math Teacher
Please join us in welcoming Mrs. Celia Camilleri to the Saint James School faculty in the role of 7th & 8th Grade Math Teacher. Mrs. Camilleri comes to us with experience teaching math in a college setting (UMASS Amherst) as well as teaching/tutoring students in preparation for taking the SAT/ACT exam. We look forward to our students benefiting from her experience!
Also, for your information, our K – 5th grade art program will be taught by Mrs. Sabatella this year and Ms. Boutot will be teaching grades 6 – 8.
As we prepare for the upcoming school year, please join us in welcoming the following new staff members:
Mrs. Lisa Anderson – Assistant Principal
Mrs. Lisa Anderson has joined the Saint James School staff in the role of Assistant Principal. Mrs. Anderson most recently served as Principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel school in Meriden, CT, and has over 15 years of middle school teaching experience (at Corpus Christi School in Wethersfield, CT). Mrs. Anderson has a degree in Business Management, a Master’s Degree in Education, and also has her Professional Educator License from the State of Connecticut. Mrs. Anderson’s office will be located on the Middle School floor.
Mrs. Jennifer LaMarche – 2nd grade teacher
With Mrs. Zorger moving into the Principal position, we are pleased to announce the addition of Mrs. Jennifer LaMarche in the role of 2nd grade teacher. Mrs. LaMarche comes to us from Saint Joseph School in Baltic, CT, where she taught 1st and 2nd grade for over 10 years as well as serving as the school’s Assistant Principal during the past year. In addition to having her Professional Elementary Educator License from the State of Connecticut, Mrs. LaMarche has a BA in History and Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Education.
Mr. Robert W. Viara – Technology and Middle School STREAM Teacher
Mr. Robert Viara will be taking over for Mrs. McNamara, who has decided to pursue another opportunity outside of SJS. Mr. Viara comes to us from EO Smith High School in Storrs, CT, where he taught Technology and Engineering. A Manchester native, Mr. Viara has been involved in Manchester youth sports for many years. He has a Master’s Degree in Education and is certified through the State of Connecticut to teach technology to Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade (with experience teaching technology to grades 5-12). Prior to his teaching career Mr. Viara worked as a manufacturing engineer at Pratt and Whitney.
(STREAM is an acronym for practical learning applications that combine Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, and Math and is part of our middle school course schedule).
We are excited to have these three new educators joining our school staff! Please join us in welcoming them to the Saint James School community!
In addition to Mrs. McNamara, Mrs. Reilly (part-time, middle school math teacher) has also decided to pursue other opportunities outside of SJS. Mrs. Zorger is currently interviewing candidates and plans to make an offer to fill the position by the end of next week.
Returning Saint James School families: Please remember that in order to receive the Catholic tuition rate, your Catholic Parish Affiliation Form should be submitted by the end of this week. Please feel free to put it in the mail (to attention: Denise Mayo) if you have not already submitted it to the office. The form must be signed by your Parish priest. If you have any questions, please call Denise Mayo at 860.643.5088, (select option 7 on the automated menu to be directly connected to her office).
A couple of notes/reminders:
Summer Hours: The school office will be open Monday – Friday from 9:00am – 1:00pm.
Soccer Uniforms: Soccer uniforms must be returned to the school or the coach.
Openings: We still have space available in some of our grades (including Pre-Kindergarten) if you know anyone who is looking at school options for their child(ren).
Documents, Forms & Calendars: All documents, forms, and calendars will be available on our website under the DOCUMENTS & FORMS page (yellow quick link on the right side of the page). This includes:
Please note, additional documents will be added to the website over the next few weeks as they become available (class lists will be e-mailed the week before school starts).
Summer reading assignments for next year’s 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are online under Documents & Forms.
Thank you to all the families that signed up already! Please sign up today if you have not already done so and are willing to help out.
Please help us welcome new families and friends to Saint James School by signing up to be a 2017 Buddy Family (click here to sign up to be a Buddy Family).
A Buddy Family is any current Saint James family that is willing to be a resource for questions that a new, incoming (K-8) family may have during the summer and at the start of the school year.
We typically assign each of our buddy families two new families. If you have never been a buddy family before, please know it does not require a lot of time.
Buddy families will also receive an invitation to attend the back to school meet & sweet ice cream social (along with the new families and staff) on August 29th.
If you have any questions, please contact Amy Guenther at aguenther@saintjamesschool.net. Otherwise, please click on the link above to sign up and you will be contacted via e-mail shortly after school lets out with more information. As always, we sincerely thank you for your support and for helping us welcome new families and friends to Saint James School!
As a reminder, field day is on Thursday:
Wear: SJS Gym Shorts, Gym sneakers, and any T-shirt in the color designated for the grade. Don’t forget to apply SUNSCREEN (hope we need it)!
T-Shirt Colors
1st Purple (or something close…this is a tough color)
2nd Blue
3rd Green
4th Yellow
5th Orange
6th Red
7th Tie dye or navy
Teachers Pink
Please take a few moments to review the attached letter from the Home & School Association.