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Blue Jay Flyer
August 14, 2023
From the Principal's Desk...
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome Back Blue Jays! We had a great day today welcoming all of our new families into our Blue Jay Family at the annual Ice Cream Social! It was fun to see the excitement on the students' faces as they talked about starting school later in the week. This summer had its ups and downs. We said goodbye to our long-time Business Manager, Cathy Dreyer, a few weeks ago. We plan on celebrating her commitment to our school throughout the year and remembering the lasting impact that she made on the students and staff at St. John’s. She will be dearly missed, but I know she is smiling down on us and looking out for our school.
I would like to welcome our new teachers/staff members:
2nd Grade - Mrs. VandeRyt
4th Grade - Mrs. Palmer
Jr. High Math - Ms. Dodd
Art - Mrs. Jungkunz
Admin. Assistant - Mrs. Sundrup
Nurse - Mrs. Morgan
I am excited for each of these ladies to join our staff. They have already made some great first impressions, and I am sure our students will love them as well. Please check out our Facebook page to see their bios.
While I know this is an exciting time, I encourage the parents to read all of the information that will be sent home in the first few weeks of school. Whether this is your first child or your fourth, it is important to read and return all forms as quickly as possible so that the office has all the needed information from your family.
I look forward to seeing everyone at Open House on Tuesday, 8/15. We start with a prayer service at 6pm. Let’s pack the church and pray for a successful school year for our students.
Sincerely,
Courtney Weinheimer
School Calendar 📅
School News
Open House - Meet the Teacher
Tuesday, August 15
6:00 pm Church Prayer Service
Open House Immediately Following
6:30-7:30 pm
Be sure to stop by the cafeteria to taste some delicious samples, purchase spirit wear/yearbooks and obtain information about St. John's PTO, Athletic Boosters and Girl Scouts.
Visit the School Spectacular table in the cafeteria for a chance to win
two tickets to this year's gala event on Saturday, November 11th.
Welcome to Our Blue Jay Family
Mrs.Courtney VandeRyt
2nd Grade
Ms. Maggie Dodd
Junior High Math
Ms. Dodd is fulfilling her lifelong dream of returning to St. John’s to teach after graduating in 2015. She did her student teaching at Pleasant Run Middle School and recently graduated from the University of Cincinnati. In her spare time, Miss Dodd enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her two dogs and friends.
Mrs. Kathy Jungkunz
Art
Mrs. Sara Palmer
4th Grade
Our former Math Specialist, Mrs. Sara Palmer, will be taking on a new role this year as our fourth grade math and science teacher. Although she is a Cincinnati native, she and her family moved back to the area one year ago after being away for twenty five years. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, reading and spending time with her three children.
Mrs. Holly Sundrup
Administrative Assistant
If you don't already know Holly Sundrup as one of school parents, she will quickly become a familiar face. She will be working full time in the school office as one of our Administrative Assistants. Mrs. Sundrup joins us after spending the past eight years working for Murphy Insurance Agency. In her free time she enjoys visiting parks with her two children, reading, crafting and supporting our hometown sports teams.
Mrs. Lauren Morgan
School Nurse
Mrs Morgan comes to us from Mercy West Hospital where she spent the last eight years working as a nurse. She is a Cincinnati native and a huge Bengals fan. Lauren has two young children, one who attends preschool here at St. John's. In her spare time, you can find her reading a good book or teaching Jazzercise class on Tuesday evenings.
First Day of School
GRADES K-8
Thursday, August 17
8:00 am - NOON (Early Dismissal)
- Mt. Healthy buses will not pick up for early dismissals. Please arrange alternate transportation for your student(s).
- School cafeteria will be closed. Please pack a snack for your student(s).
PRESCHOOL
Monday, August 28
3's & 4's
Wednesday, August 30
Pre K
School Communication
1. St. John's utilizes the OneCallNow System to generate e-mail, text messaging, and telephone communication to school families. Please be sure that the school office has an updated phone number and e-mail address that a parent/guardian checks regularly. To "opt in" to receive text messages, text the word Alert to 22300.
2. A weekly parent newsletter, The Blue Jay Flyer, will be sent out via e-mail every Wednesday to all school families. Our newsletter is designed to be your "one stop" place for important updates and school information. Be sure to check out the photos each week of our SJB Birthday Bunch and other student activities. These newsletters can be read easily from either your smart phone or computer.
3. St. John's also utilizes both Facebook and Instagram to communicate and share photos with school families. Be sure to like us, follow us, comment and share. The more you engage, the broader our audience.
4. Please visit our school website at stjohnsdrschool.org for school news, information, links to important forms, and much more. Helpful hint: When looking for information underneath the "Parent Info" tab, in addition to hovering over the tab, you can also click on the tab for a list of additional links to information and forms.
Supply Lists
Uniform Dress Code
Grades K-8
Our updated uniform dress code for the 2023-24 school year will be included in the Student Handbook. The handbook can be accessed from the school website beginning Tuesday, August 15th.
Arrival Procedures
Students may not arrive at school until 7:45 A.M.
Safety and liability issues necessitate that students not be allowed to enter the building until 7:45 A.M. Do NOT leave your child unattended outside the building. Before school care is available at 6:50 A.M. in the After Care Room for a fee of $2.00 per student per day.
Bus Riders and Walkers:
Upon arrival, bus riders and walkers will enter through the door by the office (blue awning). All students must then proceed to their classrooms.
Car Riders:
Cars will enter the school lot from the driveway near the church cemetery and circle around toward the northwest corner of the school building. Your child must be dropped off only at the drop-off area from the northwest corner to the gym doors and must only exit from the right side of the car. Once the student has disembarked, proceed toward the lower exit on Dry Ridge Road.
Scooters and mopeds are not to be ridden to school.
Dismissal Procedures
Bus Riders:
Bus riders are dismissed out the side or front doors.
Car Riders:
All car riders will be dismissed from the parish center doors. Cars should park behind the parish center in the designated rows. Please get out of your vehicle and wait outside the gym doors for your student(s) to walk them to your vehicle. Cars will then be dismissed by row to exit the parking lot once ALL students are safe inside their vehicles.
Walkers:
All walkers will be dismissed from the Sister E's Way (between parish office and school) doors after both the buses and car riders have left the parking lots.
After Care:
Any students going to after care will be dismissed directly to the after care room. After school care is available until 6:00 PM on regular school days for a fee of $12.00 per student per day for pre-registered students.
Transportation
If you haven't already, you should be receiving a bus pass in the mail for your student(s).
For any questions regarding busing from Northwest Local, Fairfield or Mt. Healthy School Districts, please call your school district's transportation departments directly.
Transportation Departments:
Northwest 825-4600
Fairfield 829-6603
Mt. Healthy 729-4985
Before and After School Care Program
The Beforecare program runs from 6:50 am - 7:45 am each day that school is in session. The Aftercare program runs from dismissal at 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm on school days only.
When school is cancelled or on early release days, there will be NO Beforecare/Aftercare available.
Please see information sheet attached below for more details. A registration form is also attached below for your convenience.
School Uniform Spirit Wear
Please visit the cafeteria during Open House to order school uniform spirit wear. There are several styles of sweatshirts and jackets that can worn during the school day over the uniform polos as well as t-shirt options for spirit wear and out of uniform days.
Order form attached below.
2022-23 Yearbooks
If you ordered a 2022-23 yearbook online, it will be in your child's classroom for Open House or sent home with them on the first day of school. A limited number of extra copies will be available to purchase for $18.00 in the school cafeteria during Open House. Cash or check payments will be accepted.
Save The Date: 2023 School Spectacular
Mark your calendars for our fifth annual School Spectacular, "Follow Me!" Join us on November 11th for a fun evening of cocktails, dinner, live and silent auctions, raffles and dancing.
Cafeteria 🍽️
Students will go through a line to select their entrees, sides and beverages. We will not be selling water bottles. Students may bring their own water bottles from home to refill during lunch and throughout the school day.
The St. John's Cafeteria will be using The FACTS Management System as our payment source for school lunches. Every family at St. John's has a FACTS account. If you are unsure how to access your account, please contact Courtney Weinheimer at cweinheimer@stjohnsdrschool.org. Payments of cash or check can also be sent into the school office for lunches. Please reference your student's name(s) with the payment and the funds will be added their lunch account.
To Prepay School Lunches:
1. Login to your FACTS account and click on Prepay Accounts.
2. Click on Add Funds.
3. Follow the prompts as to how you would like to pay. Any monies added to your account will be a lump sum per family, not individual amounts per student. When using a checking or saving account, there is no additional fee. For credit card payments, there is a service fee up to 2.85% per transaction.
2023-24 CAFETERIA FACILITY FEES
If your family has not yet paid the 2023-234Facility Cafeteria Fee of $50 per student, please send your payment into school as soon as possible. Cash or check payments are accepted for the cafeteria fees. If you are uncertain whether or not you have paid your cafeteria fee, please contact the school office.
Blue Jay Gallery 📸
Corn Day
Some of our junior high students got a jump start on earning service hours over the summer by helping prepare the Burwinkel's corn for our famous chicken dinner.
Kindergarten & New Family Ice Cream Social
We had a great time on Sunday afternoon at our annual ice cream social for incoming kindergarteners and new students! Everyone enjoyed meeting some of their classmates while cooling off with some Kona Ice. Thank you to our Blue Jay for making a special guest appearance!
Alumni News
News to Share?
We love to share exciting news about our St. John's alumni with our school community! If you have an older child or know anyone who graduated from St. John's who has an achievement to share, please send information and any photos to Laura Heidorn at lheidorn@stjohnsdrschool.org.
Parish News
The Cana Experience
Please see attached fliers for information on Cana Family Institute programs. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Kaitlyn Siebenaller at