Tiger Tracks San Jose Christian School | August 25, 2014
This Week at SJCS Mon
by: Mr. DenBoer
8/25
Room Parent Meeting 8:30am | Auditorium Flag Football Practice Softball Practice 3:15pm - 4:45pm
Tues
8/26
WAT Planning Meeting 8:30am | Auditorium Flag Football Practice Softball Practice 3:15pm - 4:45pm
Wed
8/27
Flag Football Practice Softball Practice 3:15pm - 4:45pm
!
Thurs
8/28
Moms in Prayer 8:30am | Room 12
!
Flag Football Practice Softball Practice 3:15pm - 4:45pm
!
Softball Parent Meeting 4:30pm | MS Benches
!
Fri
8/29
No Events Scheduled
!
Advanced Dates
Mon
Our Common Core
9/1
No School (Labor Day) Extended Care closed
Scrawled on the pavement on the Los Gatos Trail are the words, “The Common Core is not what you’ve been told.” Over the last year and a half the debate has raged. “What should our children be learning in school? What standards should guide our educational leaders when making decisions about curriculum? Whatever you think about this debate, I thought this first Tiger Tracks of the school year would be a good place state the guiding principles of the SJCS “common core.” Our first core principle involves our partnership with you. We believe we serve our children best when they are nurtured within an intentional Christian community of caring parents, the church, and the school. We need each other if we are to fulfill our calling as Christian parents and teachers! Additionally, our entire curriculum is infused with biblical perspective. Beyond Bible class, beyond chapel, our students experience each subject area through the lens of the holy scriptures. Our entire world belongs to God, and he is the Lord of science, math and literature as well as athletics, music and art. If we do not strive for high academic standards and excellence throughout, we are not honoring our God. Excellence in education includes body, heart and soul; not only the mind. Colossians 2 says that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” SJCS has the advantage of approaching excellence in our program from this “Colossians perspective.”
Our final core principle is that we are culturally engaged to transform God’s world for his glory. We realize that the world in which our children are living is often very different from the intentional Christian community in which they are nurtured. We are called not only to prepare our children for this world but also to teach them to live to transform their world for Christ. “Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.” So, this is our “common core.” I invite you to hold us accountable to it. And please, help us with it!
The WAT is Coming! Saturday, October 4 will mark the 11th annual SJCS Walk-a-Thon. The funds raised at this amazing event go to support a wide range of student activities on campus. Mark your calendars now for this fun-filled day. Want to help out? The WAT planning team is holding its first meeting on Tuesday 8/26 at 8:30am. Melissa Findley would love your help. What: 10th Annual Walk-a-Thon When: Saturday, 10/5 (9am - 2pm) Where: SJCS Middle School Field
Parenting the Love & Logic Way Last year our staff offered a six session parenting course designed by the Love and Logic Institute. Good news! We are offering it again this fall. Please see the attached flier for registration and contact details.
Attendance Hotline If your student is not coming to school, please call (408)371-4815 before 9am to report the absence.
Tiger Tracks Theme: Love Does We encourage every family to purchase and read together the book, “Love Does,” by Bob Goff. Generally speaking all of the chapters are appropriate for school age children. It is a delightful storybook of authentic experience in spiritual growth. For example, the first chapter has the subtitle, “I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them.” Obviously this year’s school theme grows directly out of the title of Goff’s book. And he is right on in his interpretation and application of “love” as a biblical term! Listen to part of Goff’s introduction, “I reflect on God, who didn’t choose someone else to express His creative presence to the world, who didn’t tap the rock star or the popular kid to get things done. He chose you and me. We are the means, the method, the object, and the delivery vehicles.” Goff is right. In the Bible, love is an action word. Jesus spent his whole life... and death, proving that. But what does love do in the life of a pre-school - 8th grade school? How do students express love in the biblical “action word” sense? In 1 Corinthians 13 we read, “the greatest of these is love.” This year at SJCS we are exploring how we might make “love does” an authentic expression of our intentional Christian community. We invite you to join us.
A new section of the Tiger Tracks: Tiger Cubs Introducing our newest section of Tiger Tracks: Tiger Cubs! This section will focus on the amazing things that are happening in our Preschool. In future weeks, tune into this section for updates on curriculum, ways to help reinforce learning at home, and opportunities to connect in the Preschool. For our first installment of Tiger Cubs, we'd like to focus on some of the new initiatives and improvements that have been made in Preschool. First, we are thrilled with our new Preschool staff members! Stay tuned for a more in-depth introduction of each teacher, but we'd like to briefly spotlight our newest members. Ashley Koepplin joined our staff in the summer as our Assistant Director and the lead teacher of the Fireflies (4s). Adrie Gitchel will be our new Dragonflies (3s) lead teacher. Laura Leonard will be assisting in each class as a floating teacher. Sharokeena Hormoz and Blenda Betouseb will be running the Butterflies (2s) classroom; and Priscilla Ku will join our staff as a teacher's aide in the Caterpillars (Infant Care) room. We're so excited about the strength of our Preschool faculty! Be sure to say hello and welcome them to our fabulous community. Second, we'd like to mention our newly redone sandbox. Using funds donated by the CPTA and an army of volunteers, we rebuilt our sandbox structure and trucked in literally tons of new sand. The kids love it! We look forward to bringing you more exciting news from the Preschool next week.
Tiger Tracks Extended Care
School Picture Days
Mentor Families Needed
Remember, students who arrive at school before 8am or stay after 3:15pm are required to check in to Extended Care. Room 15 will serve as the headquarters this year. If you think your child will use Extended Care at all, please fill out your paperwork and turn it in to the office.
Mark your calendars. On Thursday and Friday, September 16/17, Still Light Studios will be here to take the photos of our students. Parents will have a wide range of choices for high quality photos available online once the pictures are processed. Save the date!
We have been blessed with a recent influx of new families to SJCS, so we are in need of some additional mentor families to help welcome them. Parents of lower elementary students are most needed. This is a great way to show people what it means to be a part of the SJCS community. Mentor families can make a huge impact on our new families. Please contact the office to volunteer.
Ms Veurink is looking for Volunteers Do you enjoy helping students in a one on one setting? If you answered YES, then I NEED you!! My hope is that I get an abundance of volunteers willing to come into a classroom, elementary or middle school, to help students with reading and writing of tests, AR, standardized testing, and various class assignments. This is a great opportunity to connect with some amazing kids! Contact Ms. Veurink: aveurink@sjchristian.org
Classroom Websites Remember to visit your teachers classroom website. These sites will be the place for information about specific classes, and will be taking the place of newsletters and homework emails. Students can use the websites to check for homework, find information about projects, and discover resources for enrichment or extra help. You can access the classroom sites in two ways: through our school website under the Quicklinks tab for classroom resources, or by typing the teacher’s first initial and last name after our website address (e.g.— www.sjchristian.org/jdenouden). Teachers will be adding more content throughout the year, so check back often for updates and pictures. And don’t forget to browse through some other teachers’ websites to get excited about next year!
Middle School Sports Season Starts This Week The Fall sports season is underway at SJCS. That means it’s time for Girls Softball and Boys Flag Football. The coaches are eager to get started with another great season of Tiger sports. Practices begin this week. Parents please remember to complete all the required forms for your athletes.
Moms In Prayer (MIP) Come join us this Thursday, August 28th from 8:30-10am in Room 12 and see what Moms in Prayer is all about. No prayer expertise required:) We are a group of moms, just like you and me, who come as we are, talk with God and continue to be amazed as we see God work. Feel free to send any questions to the coleaders, Cher Kooiman and Rebecca Miller at sjcsmip@gmail.com. Hoping to see you this Thursday!
Order Scrip. Save Money. School is back in session, so it’s time to order Scrip! This simple program allows families to raise funds for SJCS and their own tuition while making everyday purchases. Own your own business? Get your supplies with Scrip and earn even more! Scrip order forms are on our website, and the first order is due by Thursday, August 28. Check out the revenue sharing policy for more information, and start buying Scrip today! If you have questions please contact Mrs. Phillips in the school office at (408) 371-7741 ext. 231.
Frozen Friday is Back! Frozen Friday sign ups are ready. About every two weeks (starting September 5th), the Middle School Student Council will be selling frozen treats during lunch. We have created a Google Form where you can sign up for this semester. This form will only be open until this Friday, so go to our website to sign up today. Students are still able to bring money on the day of Frozen Friday, but signing up in advance guarantees that there will be enough ice cream treats for them. If you have any questions, please contact the office.
Parking Lot Please drive slowly and carefully in the SJCS Parking lot. Park only in designated spots, and pull all the way forward on the curb for drop off or pick up. Do not leave your car unattended at the curb. Thanks for keeping SJCS safe.
Teacher Tales The Teacher Tales section of the Tiger Tracks will kick off next week. Watch this section of the newsletter for exciting things our teaching staff is doing both in and outside the classroom.