Dear Parents, Guardians, & Students,

As the school year draws to a close, I wanted to again thank all the SJS families that participated in our school-wide survey a couple of months ago.  Your feedback is very important to us and we know that Saint James will continue to thrive with a solid collaborative effort between our families and the school.

The members of our accreditation steering committee, Father Cavanaugh, and I have spent a lot of time reviewing the survey responses in detail as well as reading each and every comment.  The steering committee also reviewed the feedback on a broader level with the teachers, staff, and school board – all of whom are actively engaged in the upcoming re-accreditation process.

As we reviewed the comments, there were several common “themes” that stood out to us.  Some of these items are now being addressed while others are more appropriate for long-range planning by the school board.  Presently, for example, we are working to secure funding to replace the breezeway roof this summer and we will be adding iPad technology in the upper grades (5^th – 8^th as a first phase) during the next school year.  Additionally, there were several comments about adding to our after-school activity offerings and I am looking for parents, grandparents, or others who may be interested in spearheading those efforts.  Suggestions included (but are not limited to) an art club, elementary-level running club, and choral group.  These items are just a few of the many items parents, guardians, and students commented on.  There are several others items that we will be continuing to brainstorm and work on over the summer.

As a reminder, our re-accreditation visiting team will be at Saint James School in October of 2015.  Over the course of the summer and next school year the administration, faculty, and staff will be working very hard to put together all the required documentation;  Your feedback is – and will continue to be – an essential part of our re-accreditation process.

Thank you again for your time and your commitment to making Saint James School the very best place for our students to grow and learn.

Sincerely,

Patricia A. Kanute
Principal

Mrs. Kanute has received notification that many families still owe balances for hot lunch.  This  impacts our school financially because Saint James is responsible for paying that money to the town.  Any family that still owes a balance on the last day of school (for hot lunch, lost library books, missing sports uniforms, etc.) will not receive their child(ren)’s report card(s) until their balance is paid.