Principal's Peek at the Week

What a week! We had so much fun celebrating Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day as a school family of faith. Thank you to Mrs. Driscoll and Mrs. Tinnirello for continuing our tradition of the Saints Parade and for helping our first-graders learn more about being a saint.

Congratulations to our three Students of the Month for October! Guiliana, Alex and Christian were all "Caught Being Great," have shown excellent character, all while demonstrating exceptional behavior in one of the HOPE areas of helping hands, opportunity, promise and excellence.

Thank you to Ms. Kopy for arranging for Strongsville's own Stateside Provisions to visit our sixth-graders to learn about the daily operations of a food truck. Earlier that morning, the students presented their own 3-D food truck designs and original menus to parent visitors and fellow students. They spoke about their environmentally friendly plans and inclusivity of their food truck business. Our staff also enjoyed lunch from Stateside Provisions in thanks for all they do for our students and school.

A Fall Open House Event for rising Preschool and Kindergarten students and their families takes place on Thursday, November 16 from 6:00-7:30 PM in McGraw Hall. Be sure to see the information below about our exciting new full-day Pre-K program!

A Warm Welcome to our Kindergarteners as we joyfully welcome them as they join us at school Mass tomorrow!

Spirit Day is tomorrow! Be sure to dress in your favorite SJJ Vikings spirt wear tomorrow! Spirit wear must be paired with uniform bottoms and school shoes.

We're off to a solid start this quarter! Let's continue the momentum in prayer and thanksgiving at our very first SJJ Family Mass Takeover at St. John Neumann Parish on Sunday, November 12 at 11 a.m. More information is below.

Autumn blessings,

Mrs. Schenek

MORNING

7:15 am- Building opens and students may enter the building to report directly to McGraw Hall.

Car drop-offs may not occur prior to 7:15am.

7:45 am- Tardy Bell Rings.
Students not in their seats and ready to learn at 7:45 am will be marked tardy.

SJJ is excited to start Family Mass Takeovers this year! All families are encouraged to attend and celebrate Mass as a school family on the dates below. Specific grade levels will have special responsibilities at designated Masses throughout the year at either St. John Neumann Church or St. Joseph Church. Some of these special roles will include lectors, gift bearers, and greeters.

The first Takeover Mass is at Saint John Neumann Church at 11:00 am on Sunday, November 12. Grades 5 and 6 will be our featured grade levels.

Other SJJ Mass Takeovers are:

January 21 at 11 am at St. John Neumann (Featuring Grades 3 and 4)

March 3 at 10:30 am at St. Joseph (Featuring Grades 7 & 8)

May 12 at 11 am at St. John Neumann (Featuring Grades 1 & 2)

We are excited to celebrate these Sunday Masses with all of our school families!

Our school is very fortunate to have been awarded a $100,000 Ohio School Safety grant to use toward safety and security improvements in our school. Using important information from the school safety assessment that was completed last fall, our team worked with Strongsville City School's Operations Manager Stephen Breckner and met with city safety forces to identify and prioritize safety and security improvements.

With the $100,000 we plan to:

• Replace all windows in McGraw Hall.
• Install additional bullet resistant film on windows and entrance doors.
• Install a Visitor Management System in the school lobby to screen and identify visitors to the building.
• Replace a main door at the Preschool.
• Install panic buttons in each classroom that will directly alert law enforcement and first responders in the event of an emergency.
• Install additional security cameras throughout the school campus, including the outdoor recess areas.
• Enhance front office and overall building security in the front lobby, including the installation of a new transaction window.

It is our plan to have all of the above completed by August 1, 2024.

Preschool ended the busy month of October with Halloween parties with their families. There were crafts, games, snacks, and stories as well as costumes, smiles, and treats! P3 students were visited by some officers from the Strongsville Police Department during community helpers week. Our P4 students had the pleasure of a visit from some Strongsville firefighters. P4 Enrichment was weaving spider webs, floating boats, and floating ghosts.

PRESCHOOL REGISTRATION for the 2024-2025 School year will begin on November 13. Families will receive an email before then with instructions on how to register online. This Priority online registration is for current school families, including any sibling planning to attend next year. Once you receive the email, please complete this online registration as soon as possible. Spots fill quickly.

On November 16, Preferred Registration will begin with our Fall Open House from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Preferred Registration includes parishioners, alumni, and Open House attendees.

Open Registration begins January 3.

Please contact Joe Clark in the Admissions office for more information: 440 238-4877 EXT 101.

There is a $100 registration fee to be submitted when you complete the online enrollment.

**New** for the 2024-2025 School year, all P3 students must be 3 on or before August 1. P4 students must be 4 on or before August 1. Kindergarten students must be 5 on or before August 1. We will honor the program’s previous age cutoff date of August 31 for this year’s P4 students entering Kindergarten next fall.

2024-2025 Preschool Class Offerings :

P3 Tuesday/Thursday AM 8:00 am- 10:30 am

Or PM 11:15 am- 1:45 pm

P4 Monday/Wednesday/Friday AM 8:00 am- 10:30 am

Or PM 11:15 am- 1:45 pm

Prekindergarten M/W/F Full Day 8:00 am-1:45 pm

(Prekindergarten applicants must be 4 ½ years of age or older. )

Information about registration for the 2024-2025 school year for Grades K-8 will be coming soon.

6th Grade: Stateside Provisions Food Truck Visit to SJJ

As we conclude our Food Truck STEAM Projects, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Strongsville's Stateside Provisions Food Truck for spending time with our sixth graders today. Our students personally witnessed the daily operations of a food truck and even had the opportunity to go on a tour inside. Great job on your amazing projects, sixth graders!

7th Grade: Jelly Belly Factory Virtual Tour

On Halloween our seventh graders took an interactive 360° virtual tour of the Jelly Belly Factory, where they explored the history and manufacturing of jelly beans. Did you know about 3.5 tons of Jelly Bellies were sent to Washington DC for President Ronald Reagan's inauguration celebrations? The patriotic color-coded flavors were Very Cherry, Coconut, and Blueberry! After the tour, students used their creativity and knowledge of sugar content, flavors, and shapes to design and name the most delicious and visually appealing jelly bean.

8th Grade: Uber Driver Simulation

Can you support yourself and your family as an Uber driver? Through a simulation, students played the role of a full-time Uber driver with kids to support and a mortgage payment. Students made tough financial decisions while gaining insight into paying for both planned and unplanned expenses. At the end of their work week, students were given a driver rating and able to see if they made enough money to pay the mortgage. Students really enjoyed evaluating their on-the-job decisions and learning more about careers in the gig economy.

Please note that this amount reflects actual funds received. Donations that were solely indicated on the Google Form survey are not calculated into the total amount raised so far.

Consistent with our theme of the year, we are hopeful for a playground to be built! The fundraising efforts are in full swing. Please note that the playground is being built entirely based upon the generosity of donors.

The total cost includes everything from beginning to end (site preparation, rubber mulch w/ installation, playground structure w/ installation as well as a fence to border the perimeter). The design includes the structure, 4 benches, teeter totter, 3 spinners, and a gaga pit. The total is $147,572.

Contributions of any size help make this project possible and are greatly appreciated!

Please note: All contributions are tax deductible.

Contributions should be made to Sts. Joseph and John School or SJJ by Friday, November 10, 2023.

Click on the link below to donate.

https://forms.gle/2FpJTHdT9nfRaPt19

*Would you like to donate a part of your EdChoice tuition refund to our new playground? We would be happy to help you with that! Please call Patty Briggs in the Business Office and she will let you know how to make that donation. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Craft Fair

The SJJ PTU Craft fair is this Saturday, November 4th. Come check out the amazing crafters at the show from 9am-4pm. Admission is FREE. We still need help including donations of raffle baskets, gift cards to include in raffles and food for concessions – can be delivered to the school office by Friday, November 3rd. Also, we are in need of more volunteers to take shifts during the day on Saturday. If you have any questions, reach out to Kelly Hess or email sjjptucraftfair@gmail.com

Signup here to help à https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45ADAA2DA7F58-44560679-sjjptu?fbclid=IwAR0U0L6R5IAsxLJqN18kF95hN6qlSle5rs7VcTqD46lG-6V6mDyy8UsvLck#/

Breakfast with St. Nicholas

Tickets are on sale now for SJJ PTU's Breakfast with St. Nicholas event! Sunday, December 3rd anytime from 9am- 12pm at St. John Neumann. Enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast with your family cooked by the Knights of Columbus. Also enjoy crafts, games, and a photo opportunity with St. Nicholas. Fun for the whole family! Buy tickets at the following link. https://pancake-breakfast-with-st-nicholas-2023.cheddarup.com

We are also looking for volunteers to assist us at the event, both adults and students. Students will earn service hours by serving breakfast and helping with crafts and games. Here is a link to the sign-up genius. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4CAEA62DAAFD0-45683603-breakfast

SJJ PTU Rockin’ Reverse Raffle

We are in need of volunteers to contact local businesses to secure donations, sponsorships and advertising for our event. We are getting things kicked off and would love extra hands! If you would like to join our team to help, email Natalie Pratt nat1016@hotmail.com or our event chair Kerry Woloszynek kwoloszynek@fallsandco.com. We really appreciate all the time and effort spent by our committee members on this event! Thank you!

PTU EXECUTIVE BOARD:

• Co-Presidents- Natalie Pratt, Roxanne Yurcik
• Treasurer- Tina Dzik
• Secretary- Laura LaNasa
• VP of Operations- Krista Klefos
• VP of Marketing- Julie Lytle
• VP of Fundraising- Kristina Arch

To reach our PTU team please email stsjjptu@gmail.com

Pants, skirts and jumpers only began on November 1 with school uniform shoes. At that time, no tennis shoes are to be worn in Grades 1-8 (The exception is for gym days).

Please remember that students must have a jacket/coat/hat to play outside during recess as the temperatures cool down.

The SJJ Student Handbook offers detailed information regarding the dress code.

Shelly Schenek, Principal

sschenek@sjjschool.org

Jennifer Francis, Assistant Principal

jfrancis@sjjschool.org

Angela Bosko, Little Vikings Preschool Director

abosko@sjjschool.org

Patricia Briggs, Business Manager

pbriggs@sjjschool.org

Joe Clark, Admissions and Marketing Coordinator

jclark@sjjschool.org

Fr. Barry Gearing, Treasurer

FrBarry@sjnohio.com

Fr. Joe Mamich, President

jmamich@sjohio.org

Saints Joseph and John School lives the values and teachings of our Catholic faith, serves as Jesus served and encourages lifelong learning.