Dear SJB Families,
Our annual Back to School Night will begin in the church at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. This is one night that almost all of our families attend.
In the courtyard outside of the church, there will be tables with flyers for SJB events and activities. There will be information on the H.S.A. Fall Plant Sale, Boy Scouts, Chess Club, and HSPT prep.
At 6:30 pm, I will welcome our families and introduce Father David, who will lead a prayer service. Our parent leaders will tell you about the Home School Association and the School Advisory Board. I will make a few remarks about our school, and then parents will go to their children's classrooms for presentations by the teachers.
We will have snacks and refreshments in the front hallway and a babysitting service for no charge starting at 6:30 pm in the Art Room.
Volunteer Opportunities -- We are looking for a few parents to step up and volunteer to help with our traditional events, including Breakfast with Santa and our annual Spring Gala. Our SJB traditions depend on the participation of our wonderful and active parent volunteers.
Please take a look at the Volunteer Sign-Up Form and sign up for what you think you can do. Everything that you do here enriches the children of SJB. Thank you, parents, for your wonderful support.
Thursday Pizza Lunch -- Due to to unforeseen circumstances, we will not be able to serve plain pasta for hot lunch on Thursday. Instead we will serve pizza, salad, chips and fruit. We hope the plain cheese pizza will be OK with everyone. If not, please notify Ms. Schwab in the school office tomorrow (Wednesday), and she will cancel and refund your order.
School Calendar - Our SJB calendar will go home with the students in their Gold Folders on Wednesday. Thank you, Kim Trebel (Katelyn 5th), for the photography, design and printing of the calendar. We love the artistic depiction of our theme for the 2017-18 school year: Come to the Table.
A Note About Syncing Your Calendar with Our School Calendar -- As much as we love our printed calendars, we ask that you remember to check the online calendar for the most accurate and updated information. The online calendar is posted on the school website. To import events from the SJB calendar into your own Google calendar, log into your Google account, go into Google settings, select the Calendar tab, and then select Import Calendar. When prompted, click Browse and enter https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/sjbsilverspring%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics for the filename. It will find and load the SJB school events onto your own Gmail calendar.
HSA Fall Plant Sale -- Please support the HSA Fall Plant Sale. We will again be coordinating orders in advance for pick-up both after school and before Family Flix Night (September 22nd). These are fantastic and high quality plants. We are offering mums and flats of pansies in an assortment of colors. The order form is attached. Limited quantities of additional items, including smaller quantities of the pansies, will be available for purchase at pick-up. Make checks payable to SJB HSA. Return order forms and payment by cash or check by September 15th to the school office or through the Gold Folder. Contact Mary Lombardo at maryjcl@gmail.com with questions or to let Mary know if you can help with the distribution on the 22nd.
Family Flix -- Please remember to mark Family Flix on your calendar. It's set for Friday, Sept. 22, at 6:30 pm. Family Flix is a Friday-night picnic and movie on the SJB lawn. All SJB families are invited. The highlight is the slideshow and home-video montage before the premiere movie. Ensure that your summer vacation pictures make it in the slideshow by emailing them to sjbpics17_6fec@sendtodropbox.com. Please note: there's an underscore character in the email address after the 7. Thank you, Kevin Trebel, for volunteering once again to edit the video.
Sacramental Preparation -- Please see the Sacramental Preparation information sheet.
Altar Server Preparation -- Please look over the information on becoming an altar server. Training will begin in early October. If your child is interested (and in grade 4 to 12), please contact Anne Thomas (e-mail anne.thomas@grace.com or text 301-908-7522) or Susan DeCamp (call the parish office at 301-622-1122).
Mass on Friday -- Our Back to School Liturgy will begin at 1:45 pm on Friday. Our 8th grade students will host the first mass of the new school year, and all of our parents are always welcome to attend. If parents do plan to come to the afternoon school mass, please remember to park in the school parking lot facing the direction of the Kazista Parish Center, just like you would for pickup. Mass will end just in time for pick-up.
Thank You... to all of the families who came out last week for the Buddy Family Picnic and who stayed to support the new families while they attended orientation.
Thank You... to all of the families who stopped by for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new preschool this morning. Catholic Schools Superintendent Bill Ryan cut the ribbon to mark the first school expansion in 24 years. Father David blessed the new classroom. The Catholic Standard came to cover this exciting news in our parish school. Our K-8 students came down to welcome the 4-year-old preschool children. And the 4-year-old preschoolers paraded around the pre-K entrance and then marched straight into their new classroom. What a fun way to start a new era!
Welcome to Ms. Lippert -- Please welcome our new middle-school teacher, Veronica Lippert, who teaches 5th grade homeroom, 6th grade language arts, 6th and 7th grade social studies, and 5th grade religion.
Ms. Lippert was born outside of Detroit and grew up in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. She studied History and Education at Providence College in Rhode Island and recently completed her Master's Degree in American History at Providence College. Last year, she was a Jesuit Volunteer in Scranton, Pa., where she taught Social Studies and English at a tuition-free Catholic middle school.
Drop-Off This Week -- Starting on Thursday morning (9/7), parents should drop off children along the gold line in the main parking lot. If parents plan to stand with their children in the morning, they should first drop off their children... and then park and walk up to join their children. We've allowed parents to walk with their children on just the first two days of school. This doesn’t apply to parents who drop off pre-k students or children in front of the church.
Tuition Contracts -- All students must have tuition agreements by Sept. 13, next Wednesday. Parents who have not completed tuition agreements should look for an email from TADS with instructions on completing their agreements sometime before tomorrow (9/7). Please check junk filters if the emails aren't arriving in the inbox.
If you are have questions about your TADS account, please call the parent support line (612-548-3320). TADS representatives answer the phone and are usually very responsive.