Our mission is to create a place to encounter Jesus. Steeped in love and Catholic teachings, we provide strong academics to foster continual learning in mind and spirit.
Dear St. John's Families,
Happy Mother's Day to all of our beautiful SJB mamas! We hope that you are able to spend the day relaxing in some way.
This week we begin our 7th week of distance learning. Please check the SJB Distance Learning Site for this week's Distance Learning Calendars. Please also remember to check the Spanish, Art, PhyEd, and Music pages weekly, and to fill out the PhyEd activity log.
Mrs. Murray's drawing projects are due this Friday. Don't forget to snap a picture and send it to Mrs. Murray! It's been so fun to see what our students have been able to create at home!
Have you been checking the "assemblies" tabs on the Distance Learning Site? We continue to provide our Top 20 social/emotional curriculum through these short videos. You'll find the links on the Distance Learning Site homepage. Top 20 is a philosophy that has helped me in my own life and it's been such a pleasure to pass on to our kids!
Have a blessed week! Courtney Bierlein
A MESSAGE FROM FR. NEIL
Dear Saint John’s Families,
I want to provide you an update on the principal hiring process. Over the past year the leadership at Saint John’s has been engaged with a staff development consultant from Lighthouse Strategic Solutions (Lisa Sammon), paid for by a generous grant from CSCOE. Lisa has helped us as a leadership team to grow together, and to do many great things. We still have her for a few more months and we thought her time would be best spent on helping us find the very best leader for our school. Lisa has helped us implement a search process, and I want to outline that process for you here.
As we receive candidate applications, they will be processed through a search committee composed of parishioners and school families. Zach Haller, Eric Serbus, Deb Pauly, Becky Gavin, and Troy Mahoney will review applications, select candidates for initial interviews, and conduct the first round of interviews. They will then pass along their recommendations to be interviewed by subcommittees focused on conversations around education, leadership, and advancement. From there, finalists will be considered by parish trustees and myself. This will all occur throughout the month of May and June.
At the same time, Lisa will be holding focus group meetings with staff and school parents to learn from our community what is needed in the next leader. They will be asked questions like, “what needs to start happening at Saint Johns? What needs to stop happening? What needs to continue going on? What is the greatest attribute needed in the next leader of our school?” This will all be taken into consideration as we review finalists.
Our goal is to learn from the community as we embark on this leadership transition to identify the very best principal to lead our School on the continued path towards ever greater excellence. I am very thankful for the willingness of the search committee to participate in this important process. I’m also looking forward to the results of the focus groups.
If you have any recommendations or suggestions that you’d like to pass along, please feel free to send them directly to me. I’m open to all input you can give, and I want you all to know you are part of this important moment at Saint John’s school. To that end, I encourage you all to earnestly pray for our new principal, whom God is calling to join in our mission. I’ve written a prayer for us all to pray during this time:
Heavenly Father, you guide all creation with your loving hand
and give to each of us what we most need.
Thank you for the tremendous blessing of
Saint John the Baptist Catholic School,
and for entrusting to us the care and education of our children.
Be with us as we search for a new leader for our school.
Open the heart of the one whom you are inviting,
that they may hear your call to join Saint John’s in our mission
to create a place of encounter with Jesus.
Embolden our confidence in your providential plan,
that we may one day rejoice with You, and all the Saints in Heaven.
We ask this all through the powerful name of
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Building and Grounds Continue to Be Closed in Accordance with the Governor's Stay-at-Home Order
This past week Governor Walz extended the stay-at-home order until May 18th. Therefore we are still unable to gather. We are HOPEFUL that we will still be able to celebrate the end of the school year and gather in some way to honor our 6th-grade graduates. Please stay tuned for further updates as we plan to support one another in safe ways that honors the love we have for each other.
Watch daily mass at St. John's via live streaming on sjbjordan.org.
During this uncertain time, we would like you to join us in a power spiritual response to the effects of COVID-19. Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzensare urging all Catholic school students, their families, teachers, and the entire Catholic school community to join them in praying daily the Litany in Time Need.
You may click on the link above to access this prayer, or click here to reach a pdf form of the prayer.
This litany will also be carried daily on Relevant Radio around 11:05 a.m. each day. Please tune-in and join us on AM 1330 or at www.relevantradio.com. You can also pray this Litany at any time of the day.
May 14 School Advisory Council Meeting 6:30 pm via Zoom MAY 27LAST DAY OF DISTANCE LEARNING June 2 Tentative Date for 6th Grade Graduation Celebration - stay tuned! June 3 Student pick up/drop of materials day - stay tuned for further details
