Earlier today, Saint James School briefly went into a soft lockdown as a precaution after the wires on a power pole outside the gymnasium area short circuited and caused a small fire. Fortunately, the transformer did not actually blow as we had initially suspected.
We moved students who were in the cafeteria at the time back to the classroom side of the building, where they remained with their teachers. Shortly thereafter, we received the all clear from the fire department and resumed normal activities.
As noted in the parent alert, the fire department responded very quickly to the situation, as did Eversource to safely disconnect the power. Fortunately, the power being shut off did not impact the school’s operations. However, we wanted to ensure that all students were with their teachers in their classrooms in case the power was affected.
Because the soft lockdown was announced over the intercom to reach everyone as quickly as possible, we recognize that the announcement may have been unsettling for some students. We are grateful for the calm and caring response of our faculty and staff throughout the situation. Our frequent safety drills helped everyone know to pause what they were doing and listen carefully to instructions.
If you have any questions or concerns about today’s events, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher, Mrs. Mitchell, or Mrs. Nunes.
Also, if you did not receive the parent alert text that we sent, please reach out to Mrs. Guenther.
Blessing of the (Stuffed) Animals
Today we celebrated St. Francis of Assisi in honor of his Feast Day. Pre-K and Kindergarten students also enjoyed a special blessing of their (stuffed) animals with Father Marcin and Father Bernard.
MAP Testing
Tomorrow is the last day of Fall MAP testing.
Middle School parents, please remind your student to charge their Chromebook tonight.
Uniform Sales/Reminders
Lands’ End is currently offering 40% off school uniform items, now through October 13th, using code: OURTREAT40.
This is one of the largest sales they have had in quite some time so it would be a great time to save on “winter/formal” uniform items if needed. Required winter uniform begins 11/2.
Please also remember, today (9/30) is the expiration date for Tommy Hilfiger the $50 coupon codes that were sent to each K-8 family at the end of last year (or over the summer for new families).
Congratulations Cross Country
Congratulations to the Saint James School Cross Country team – both the boys and girls teams won their races yesterday versus St. Timothy school in West Hartford.
The Sabers swept all 5 of the top scoring positions in the boys race as follows:
Charles Zaleski – 1st overall
Max Heatherington – 2nd
Carter Flenke – 3rd
Harrison Heatherington – 4th
Mac Thompson – 5th
For the girls our top 5 finishers were:
Mari DuBaldo – 1st place overall
Giada Collachio – 2nd
Gianna Matos – 4th
Nora Lysik – 5th
Fiona Cwikla – 6th
Thank You!
A great big Thank You to SJS parent volunteer, AJ Klaassen for hosting our Father/Son Game afternoon this past weekend and to the SJS Home and School Association for helping to pull together this fun, community event for our school!
Book Fair Fun!
Today’s Alert
Earlier today, Saint James School briefly went into a soft lockdown as a precaution after the wires on a power pole outside the gymnasium area short circuited and caused a small fire. Fortunately, the transformer did not actually blow as we had initially suspected.
We moved students who were in the cafeteria at the time back to the classroom side of the building, where they remained with their teachers. Shortly thereafter, we received the all clear from the fire department and resumed normal activities.
As noted in the parent alert, the fire department responded very quickly to the situation, as did Eversource to safely disconnect the power. Fortunately, the power being shut off did not impact the school’s operations. However, we wanted to ensure that all students were with their teachers in their classrooms in case the power was affected.
Because the soft lockdown was announced over the intercom to reach everyone as quickly as possible, we recognize that the announcement may have been unsettling for some students. We are grateful for the calm and caring response of our faculty and staff throughout the situation. Our frequent safety drills helped everyone know to pause what they were doing and listen carefully to instructions.
If you have any questions or concerns about today’s events, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher, Mrs. Mitchell, or Mrs. Nunes.
Also, if you did not receive the parent alert text that we sent, please reach out to Mrs. Guenther.
MAP Testing Tomorrow/Thursday
Please note that SJS 3rd – 8th grade students will be taking their MAP Adaptive Assessments first thing in the morning on Tuesday, September 29th and Thursday, 10/1 at 8:00am.
Please pay particular attention to ensuring your child/ren get to bed on time the evening before each testing day and that they have a nutritious breakfast on those mornings.
Also, it is very important that students get to school on time these days testing will begin right after morning announcements. Any student coming in tardy on a testing day will have to wait in the office until the testing period is over and will have to make up that test at another time.
For middle school parents – please make sure your child comes to school with their Chromebook fully charged on testing days.
Book Fair – This Week!
Cross Country Reminder
For those with a student on the XC team, please remember we have our second meet of the season tomorrow, September 29th, at Saint Timothy Middle School in West Hartford. Please plan to arrive at St. Tim’s around 2:45pm to stretch and walk the course.
Since runners may need to leave right from afternoon pick-up to arrive for warmups, runners will have the option to come to the gym to change at dismissal and parents can pick them up at the gym door around 2:10pm. If this will be the case for your student, please make sure they bring their XC uniform to school tomorrow.