Dear St. John Catholic Academy Families,
I pray this midsummer update finds you enjoying time with your family, long walks, and leisurely talks over bustling dinner tables.
On July 1st we officially welcomed Father Thomas Kennell, as our new parish administrator. Fr. Kennell has been getting to know our parish and school these past three months and we are grateful for his commitment to SJCA. He has been actively involved in interviewing and planning for the new year and we are blessed to have him as our new pastor and head of school.
Our Preschool Teachers recently engaged in three days of professional development which began with a full-day spiritual retreat. This was the first time since the preschool opened in the fall of 2020 that the teachers were provided with professional development to assist with behavioral management, lesson plans, and the spiritual formation of their students. The impact can be seen as you walk down the halls and see the enhanced relationships, posted themes for each week, and improvements to the classroom organization. The team is engaged in preparing for the new school year and I am so proud of their commitment to the loving care and spiritual formation of each child enrolled in our early learning center.
I am grateful to announce that the Academy was awarded a $50,000.00 grant from the St. Joe Foundation for new playground equipment. Late last year we discovered some decay on the equipment and received a generous anonymous donation for the repairs which would have cost $5,200.00. Under the leadership of our Director of Development, Mrs. Jillian Preston, we made the decision to apply for a grant to replace the entire structure and improve the playground as an alternative to simply repairing a portion of the equipment. Your participation in Sip and Support which raised over $19,000 along with our anonymous donation allowed us to re-submit and be approved for the grant. While there is a $13,000 gap between the final cost and the money already collected, our PTO has generously committed to continuing fundraising this year to close that gap and the diocese has provided the remaining funds until that time. The equipment has been ordered and we will share details of a blessing of the playground closer to the completion of installation (estimated 12 weeks). Many thanks to Mrs. Preston, Mrs. Buxton, and the PTO as well as our anonymous donor for working together to make this possible for our children. We will have the sketches posted in the school office for you to review.
St. John has been in the process of transitioning to classical liberal arts education over the past few years and we have made the decision to invest in Memoria Press Classical Curriculum for each grade this next school year. You can review the materials here Memoria Press Classical Curriculum. We will be introducing Latin in grades 2 through 8 this year. The curriculum will be a robust addition that supports our students across all subject areas. This is in addition to FOSS for our K-8 science, these materials may be reviewed here FOSS Scope and Sequence K-8 each grade covers the full standards and is centered on hands-on experiments. By investing in this ready-to-use curriculum, our teachers will be free to concentrate on encouraging and facilitating your child’s academic and spiritual formation rather than trying to bridge curriculum gaps individually.
More Good News:
- VPK has been moved out of the Music/Art room allowing us to have the dedicated space in order to expand our music and arts program this year. VPK has been relocated next to our Kindergarten classroom which will serve as a bridge for them entering elementary school next year. The new VPK classroom has a restroom in it which eliminates the routine of marching the little ones down to the restroom multiple times a day.
- We will be reintroducing Choir and Drumline as options for our students and look forward to providing a more robust music and arts program this year. Ms. Roth and Mr. Wanous are working together to design the new music program and more details will be available before the school year begins.
- Mrs. Borden will continue to expand our arts program which is so central to classical education. The integration of faith with a deep appreciation for the truth, beauty, and goodness that is all around us provides a rich environment to support academic success.
- Aftercare: We are happy and grateful to announce that we will be able to once again offer aftercare to assist our working families in providing safe and enriching extended care for their children. The operating hours of the Academy for the 22-23 school year will be 7:30 – 5:30 pm, which includes options for early morning drop off (7:30 before carline on the preschool side) and aftercare from 2:50 – 5:30. A preregistration form for aftercare will be distributed in the coming weeks, please be sure to fill it out promptly if you are in need of extended daycare for your child. We are currently in the process of designing and structuring the aftercare program and I look forward to sharing more details with you once they have been finalized.
SAVE THE DATE: We have scheduled two events in the coming weeks that we would like to invite you to save the date for:
- Parent Social and Uniform Swap: Sunday, July 24th from 5-7 pm in the Parish Hall. Please join us to meet other families and share your clean, gently used uniforms with one another. If you are new to St. John and do not have a uniform to share, please join us and begin to get to know the community.
- Blessing of the Backpacks: Sunday, July 31st after the 10:15 mass in the Parish Hall we invite ALL families with school-age children to bring their backpacks for a blessing and social as we prepare for the new year. This event is open to all St. John and St. Dominic students regardless of where they will be attending school this year. We look forward to beginning the new year with our communities gathered in prayer and fellowship.
Helpful Information/Links:
- Individual Step Up Award Amounts: The final award letters for each family from Step Up have not been released yet. They have informed us it is anticipated to be in late July. When we receive the award letters the amounts will be entered into your FACTS account and the difference between the award amount and our tuition for 22-23 of $8,022.00 will be evenly distributed for equal monthly payments. The State has released the range of awards to be from $7,240.00 (grades 4-8) and $7,800.00 (grades K-3).
- Grants and Aid: If the gap between your award amount and the full tuition at SJCA would be a hardship for your family please, please fill out the Grant and Aid Application FACTS. We do not want anyone to be denied the opportunity to choose a Catholic education for their student. The application in FACTS allows us to demonstrate that we are awarding grants and aid in compliance with State regulations. All families requesting aid must complete this application. We look forward to working together to work out a reasonable and just plan for each family. Your application is protected and kept strictly confidential.
- 22-23 Uniforms: You can find the current information about SJCA uniforms from Lands End here School Uniforms 2022-2023
- School Supplies Lists Pending: Some of our school supplies lists are available now, but please bear with us as final teaching assignments and therefore specific supplies lists are still being developed. Final assignments and lists should be available no later than Wednesday, July 27th. School Supplies Information
Thank you for your patience and prayers as we continue to interview and hire our faculty for the 22-23 school year. As you may know, this was a year of transition at St. John and we are blessed to be welcoming many new experienced teachers for this coming year. We are in the final stages of completing the hiring process and look forward to sharing specific assignments in the upcoming weeks. At this time I can share that two former teachers will be returning to SJCA after teaching for the district for a number of years, Ms. Danielle Boncaro (formerly Haraughty) is returning to teach 2nd grade this year. She has been enthusiastically welcomed back and many students remember her and are thrilled that she is returning. Similarly, Mrs. Theresa Kostic is returning and has received similar enthusiasm to those who knew her when she taught 5th grade previously. Her final teaching assignment is pending at this time. We also welcome two experienced teachers who recently relocated to Panama City, Mrs. Casey Delahoussaye (assignment pending) and Mrs. Susan Langman (1st grade) to our full-time faculty. All four of these teachers are experienced educators and we are blessed to have them join us. Please continue to pray as we discern the final new hires for our faculty from a pool of nine remaining applicants. We will make final assignments for grade level and subject after completing the hiring process based on the overall experience and subject area expertise of each teacher. We look forward to introducing the full team and specific assignments on or before July 26th when our teachers will attend New Teacher Orientation with the Diocese. We have also hired three additional teacher aides to support our teachers this year. One main focus this year is investing in faculty support and a robust curriculum as we commit fully to a classical liberal arts education program at SJCA.
I am so very grateful to God for all the talented personnel He has drawn together for our upcoming school year. Each and every faculty member is committed to your child’s academic success and in their growth as a disciple of Christ for life. We have much to celebrate and be thankful for. As soon as final decisions have been made concerning teaching assignments, I will share those with you along with a more detailed introduction to our new teachers. I appreciate your patience during this time of significant change in our faculty. I am confident that you will be amazed at God’s provision for our children. I hope to see you at the Parent Social and Uniform Swap on July 24th (5-7 pm parish hall) and/or the Blessing of the Backpacks on July 31st after 10:15 mass also in the parish hall.
May God continue to bless you and your family. Please continue to pray for the Academy and be assured of my prayers for your family.
Through Christ our Teacher ~
Sister Grace Ford
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