eGazette - April 29, 2009

May 2009 Calendar

May_2009_Calendar.pdf

Joyful News from St. John the Baptist Catholic School!

This past week, we've been blessed to experience several opportunities that truly highlight the time, talent and treasure of many: Our students, staff, families, parishioners and community partners. Hold on tight because here I go!

- Gala: Last Saturday evening, the work of countless volunteers translated to a successful, elegant evening event at the Meritage Resort. The Gala, our largest fundraiser of the year was made possible through the efforts of many and resulted in an estimated net income of $65,000.00! The Gala would not have been possible without the strong and creative leadership of Elise Negueloua and her "Gala Dream Team." I am extremely grateful for all she did to ensure the success of this fine occasion which serves to support the school in so many ways.

- Student Success: Several of our 7th and 8th grade students participated in the Justin Siena High School Speech contest last Wednesday afternoon, competing with 7 other schools. Of the 18 possible prizes, St. John the Baptist Catholic School took 13! Our children radiated confidence, poise and the lifetime skill of public speaking. I am incredibly proud of them.

- CODS: Last week, led by Mrs. Berube, our 4th graders attended CODS; Coloma Outdoor Discovery School, a 2-night Social Studies camp. This standards-aligned program brought to life California History, specifically the historical excitement around the discovery of gold!

- NCEA: Last week, 4 staff members returned from the National Catholic Education Association where we attended a variety of workshops specifically geared to support our work in Catholic Education. This conference is the largest gathering of Catholic educators in the nation and we were fortunate to be able to attend. Stay posted for the results of our attendance.

- Baptisms: At our recent Easter Vigil, we welcomed 6th grader, Serina, into our faith family through the Sacrament of Baptism. Today, during our school Mass, Justin E. was baptized. What a beautiful witness to our community and reminder of our own baptismal promise. Welcome and congratulations to both students and their families.

- First Holy Communion: This Sunday, our 2nd graders will receive First Holy Communion. Last week, they received their first Sacrament of Reconciliation. Although they cited butterflies in their tummies, Mrs. Ford and their families have prepared them well. Their exuberance is a reminder to us all that our faith is alive! Please keep our 2nd graders in your prayers as they experience these spiritual milestones.

- Downtown Treasure Hunt: Marion Hansen-Jerrard again organized for us a unique and exciting community-learning opportunity. Our students, partnered with staff and parents, ventured throughout downtown with clipboards and sets of clues. The goal was to learn about our many historical and artistic landmarks located within walking distance from our school. Exhausted and enthusiastic, we returned appreciating the beauty of history of our hometown!

Now is the Time! The Time is Now!

In Peace,
Nancy Jordan
Principal

Welcome back!

We neglected to mention in the last Gazette... The Uniform Sale was a success and we thank Noel Lopreore, Jody Bolen and Gladis Gutierrez for their hard work organizing this event... Not a small task! If you are clearing closets, we are in need of the following: red and grey sweaters, sweatshirts, skirts and jumpers, shorts, all small sized clothing (4-5-6), and all LandsEnd items. We hope to have plenty on hand for new families shopping the August Uniform Sale. At this time, due to an over abundance, we are no longer accepting pants.

It was a busy week in the library with the Scholastic Book Fair collecting over $1,000 in profits. Thanks to quite a few generous shoppers, Mrs. Evans will be able to purchase a large number of books for our library. Thank you to Jesse Binz, Rita Madison, Claudia Kalten and Gladis Gutierrez for helping with the fair.

Track and Field Day is on the horizon, so please turn in your forms, if you haven't already... T-shirt orders will be placed very soon... A big thank you to Paula Vlaming for her amazing dedication to the team, and especially for braving the heat last week at Alston!

GO GAELS-ON MAY 17th!

The next Family Club meeting will be this Friday, May 1 at 8:30 a.m., upstairs in the Art Room. If you are already thinking about 2009/10 participation hours, join us to discuss opportunities for the next school year!

The Family Club

As you may be aware, we are connected with the Napa County Office of Education and the Napa County Health Department in several ways including through the County-wide Emergency Management Plan. As a result, we are in constant communication regarding updates or directions in the swine flu situation. Please read the attached notices from the County. On-going updated information is available on the Napa County Public Health Website: www.co.napa.ca.us/publichealth

I encourage families, students and staff to continue best practices when it comes to protecting the health and safety of our children and others. Frequent hand-washing, covering of the mouth when coughing or sneezing, keeping hands away from eyes and mouth and staying home while ill are critical. Each classroom and work station has a "Purell" hand-sanitizing dispenser which we use liberally. Staff also regularly wipe down desks and other surfaces with sanitizing cloths.

I will keep you updated on any information I receive.

Thank you,
Nancy Jordan
Principal

See attached.

Thank you Mrs. Hanson-Jerrad, we all had lots of fun!

Downtown_Napa_Treasure_Hunt_-_Answers_4-30-09.pdf

Thank you to all registered participants. If you are still interested, but have not yet turned in a form or registration, please turn it in to the School Office by Friday, May 1, or contact Paula Vlaming as t-shirts will be ordered next week and we need firm registration numbers and fees collected. Thank you!

TRAIL TUESDAYS
- Tuesdays - April 28; May 5 and May 12. Meet at Alston Park, Second Parking Lot, 3:30-4:30. Bring Water!

TRACK PRACTICES FRIDAYS
- May 1 at Silverado Middle School 3:30-4:30;
- May 8 and May 15 at St. John's Lutheran Track, 3521 Linda Vista Avenue. 3:30-4:40. (Please park near the track entrance on Trojan Street.)

PARENT MEETING
- Friday, May 8th at 2:00 in the St. John the Baptist School Yard for all parents volunteering at the event on May 17th.

Parents are encouraged to help with practices and at least one adult per participating family is needed to volunteer on May 17th. For more information, please contact Paula Vlaming at 363-1046 or paula@focus501.com.

To All St. John the Baptist Catholic School Parents and Guardians:

We are currently looking for nominees to join our School Council. The St. John the Baptist Catholic School Council is comprised of nine members: six elected from the school and three appointed from the parish. Ex-Officio members include the Pastor and Principal. The School Council functions in a consultative manner to the Pastor and Principal on a variety of broad issues and planning.

Those elected will be carrying out a term of three (3) years beginning June 2009. The Council meets one evening per month. Nominees should be parents / guardians of St. John the Baptist Catholic School children and registered parishioners of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

This year there is one open position, and we strongly encourage you to consider nominating several candidates. Please email the name of the person or persons you would like to nominate to ktbatt@yahoo.com. You do not need to contact the person in advance of the election. That is done by the current School Council. Once we have a slate of nominees, an election will be held in mid-May.

Names of nominees must be submitted by Tuesday, May 5, 2009.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the responsibilities of the School Council, please contact Katie Batt at 738-1266.

Thank you

St. John the Baptist Catholic School will be holding a "Bathing Suit Drive" to support the children of the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco.

Remarkably, there are a huge number of children living in the Tenderloin who do not know how to swim. In fact, many have never been to nor seen the ocean. Many of the children are Southeast Asian immigrants with no exposure to swimming.

Since the Kroc Center, in San Francisco, opened this past June, the children's swim lessons in the new pool have been very popular. The Kroc Center has discovered that many children arriving for their first time swim lessons do not own swim suits. So the Kroc Center has begun a swim suit lending policy to ensure all children can attend the swim lessons.

A bin will be placed in the hallway at the school and we ask that families of St. John the Baptist Catholic School donate swim suits. THE SUITS CAN BE EITHER NEW OR GENTLY USED


swim_suit_drive_flier_pdf.pdf

Vivian Biava was recently honored by receiving a copy of the Congressional Record Statement that was read into the US Congress in November of 2008 by Congressman Mike Thompson as a tribute to our historic Parish - Church and School.

Vivian will be 96 years old and is relatively homebound so Congressman Thompson visited her home Wednesday, April 8 to present her with the CRS and a special letter of citation.

Vivian, nee Ferrogiaro comes from a family whose history in Napa includes over 110 year membership to our parish. The Ferrogiaro children all attended our school- what a sacred gift to our faith family at St. John the Baptist Catholic Parish.

Blessings to you Vivian, Fr. Gordon

See flyer attached.
Polish_&_Poise_Girls_Summer_Camp.pdf

Don't forget to feed your bears. The class with most box tops at the end of the month will get special bear treats delivered to their classroom. Turn in your box tops by May 31st. Help your school reach the 1000 box top goal !! We are almost there.

A gentle reminder: please check your Box Tops to make sure they haven't passed their expiration date (yes, they do have expiration dates) and that the UPC codes are intact on your Campbell's labels. Box Tops without or passed their expiration dates and Campbell's product labels without the UPC codes (bar code) cannot be submitted.

Thank you all for your support of the Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education programs at St. John. We couldn't do it without you!

Lee Tatsuguchi
Rebecca Griffin
Box Top Co-coordinators

Don't forget to check out the websites for ways to earn additional credit for St. John!

www.boxtops4education.com
www.labelsforeducation.com