Parent-Volunteers Now Must Be Fingerprinted
Changes in Child-Protection Certification Rules for Volunteers
As a result of the new policy, St. John the Baptist will no longer require parents to serve lunch duty at school.
SJB faculty will supervise students during lunch. A faculty committee currently is working on a coverage plan.
Parents will not have to sign up for lunch duty or pay a fee for missed lunch-duty dates.
Parent-volunteers who were previously certified with an electronic background check will now have to be fingerprinted to volunteer at the school.
Go Here for Summer Camp Information...
Early School Year Dates
- Pre-School Open House on Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 5 pm to 6 pm
- Buddy Family Picnic on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 6 pm
- New Family Orientation on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 7 pm
- Kindergarten Open House on Thursday, Aug. 22, from 11 am to Noon
- First Day of School on Wednesday, Aug. 28 (Half Day for Preschool, Full Day for Everyone Else)
- Back to School Night on Thursday, Aug. 29, at 7 pm
- Half Day and Back to School Liturgy at 10:45 am on Friday, Aug. 30
- Back to School Barbecue Picnic on Friday, Sept. 6, from 6 to 9 pm
Here is the new registration form for After Care for the 2019-20 school year. The $30 After Care registration fee will continue to be paid on TADS during the enrollment process.
Please send the completed After Care registration form to the school office to register for After Care for next year.
The After Care rates are new for 2019-20. As we indicated several months ago, we have moved toward a system in which families are encouraged to sign up for different annual plans. Using After Care on a drop-in basis will be costlier.
The change will help us determine the number of students we will have and the number of staff members we will need in After Care each day. This is important as we begin to include 3-year-old and 4-year-old children. Supervision and staff-child ratios are state regulated when preschool-age children are included.
Our plan is to have a separate After Care group of primary and preschool children. They'll have their own snack time and playground time. We'll tell you more about what's coming in the After Care program before the next school year starts.
SJB Now on Instagram
If you are on Instagram, follow us at sjbsilverspring.
Mrs. Jenkins - Summer Tutoring and Enrichment
Warmer temps are in the air which signals SUMMER is almost here. One of the considerations for parents over the summer is finding ways to keep the motivation for learning strong thereby not losing ground from what has been mastered over the school year. Sometimes it is tough to find ways to build the bridges between grade levels. One area of utmost importance is reading. It cuts through all areas of the curriculum. Summer reading work is assigned to SJB students to help keep those reading muscles strong. Mrs. Jenkins will be offering tutoring/enrichment sessions in reading and writing this summer. Please reach out to her at the following: judy.jenkins@sjbsilverspring.org if you would like to discuss summer tutoring/enrichment for your son/daughter.
Mrs. Castillo Available to Tutor Over Summer
Mrs. Castillo is available for summer tutoring and can meet with children in Grades 2-8 and focus on Math or Reading. Please email her at: liz.castillo@sjbsilverspring.org to arrange a tutoring schedule for your child this summer. She can work around your family's schedule and set up times that are convenient for you and your child.
It's Already Time For Fall Soccer Registration
Here is the flyer for fall soccer at SJB.
Morning Drop-Off Reminder
Our morning drop-off procedure is designed for safety of children and efficient flow of traffic. Please note that cars should be arriving in the main school parking lot from one direction -- Lima Drive -- and not from the direction of New Hampshire Avenue. Thank you, parents, for cooperating with us.
After dropping off children along the gold line, parents may park in the lot and walk up to join their children as they wait with their classmates for the 8 am bell.
Class Information Posted on Portal
Homework assignments are typically posted each afternoon by 4:00 pm without any email notification to parents.
An email notice went out with assignments on our old online homework and grading system. With our previous system, one teacher posted the assignments for each grade. With our current system, the Parent Portal, each teacher posts assignments and class information.
For example, the "unit ahead" information gives an overview of the topics that students will be studying over the next few weeks. It may list the chapters they'll be reading, problems they'll be solving, projects they'll be doing, tests they'll be taking. The unit ahead information is posted on the class summary page.
To see the class summary, log in to the Parent Portal. At the top of the SJB website, there is a sign in prompt that will take you to the Parent Portal. When you are on the Portal, look for your child's name and then look for a Classroom tab to the right. If you don't see a Classroom tab, select "More..." and then you should see the Classroom tab.
After selecting Classroom, select the name of the class from the drop-down list, and then select Class Page. You should see a Portal page with the Class Summary, Announcements, Files, and Links.
Here is an image of an 8th grade student's social studies class summary page.
Home Access to Educational Websites
Parents, did you know that you and your children have subscriptions to several educational websites? The website list and home access information can be found on the Rediker Parent Portal under School Links and Files. Through the SJB Library, the school provides access to BrainPOP, World Book, Scholastic Go!, CultureGrams, SIRS Discoverer, and IXL Math and Language Arts. There are two files -- one for home access and one for school access. World Book is an online encyclopedia for the children, parents, and teachers. SIRS is part of the ProQuest research database, and CultureGrams provides information about the 50 states and places in the world. BrainPOP provides academic enrichment in all subjects.
Parents, are you on Facebook? We are!
Follow our SJB page: https://www.facebook.com/SJBSilverSpring/
Admire the latest and greatest masterpieces in the Art Room: https://www.facebook.com/ArtWithMrs.Leishear
Discover what's happening in the Computer Lab: https://www.facebook.com/sjbtechnology
SJB Athletics is on Facebook. Visit and "like" the SJB Athletics Facebook page to receive more timely information about registration, events and opportunities to participate in SJB Athletics.