Tiger Tracks San Jose Christian School | November 18, 2013
This Week at SJCS Mon
11/18
Final Day of Book Fair
Tues
11/19
No events scheduled.
Wed
11/20
No events scheduled.
Thurs
11/21
All School Thanksgiving Chapel 8:40am | Auditorium
Fri
11/22
Orange Crush Day 3-5 Musical 7pm | Auditorium
Sat
11/23
3-5 Musical 1pm | Auditorium
Advanced Dates Tues
11/26
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Workshops & Performances
November 27-29 No school (Thanksgiving Break) Extended Care Closed
Fri
12/6
City Team Food Drive Ends Thursday Thank you to all of the students and families who have contributed already to the City Team Food Drive on campus. Barrels are found in every classroom and outside the main office. The drive runs through Thursday morning and will conclude during our all-school Thanksgiving Chapel, where Hermie Smit from City Team Ministries will talk to our students about the ways in which their gifts will bless others. For the past several years, our school has been the single largest contributor to City Team’s efforts, and we certainly want to do our part again this year. Thanks for doing your part! If you need an extra list of suggested food items, contact Mrs. Singh in the office.
3-5 Musical This Weekend The students and the directors have been working hard, and the 3rd - 5th graders are excited for their musical performances this Friday and Saturday. The show, Compose Yourself, features a group of kids who meet some of the great composers of the past (Mozart, Bach, Strauss, Beethoven and Brahms) while enjoying some contemporary music as well. Friday’s performance at 7pm is sold out, and Saturday’s 1pm show has just a handful of tickets remaining.
SJCS Christmas Concert 7pm | Lincoln Glen Church
Scrip Orders Due by Thursday This Week
Wed
To have your Scrip orders ready before Thanksgiving Break, please get them in by Thursday (11/21). They will be ready to pick up or have sent home with your child by next week Tuesday. An order form is attached to the Tiger Tracks, or you can order online.
12/11
Minimum Day 11:45am Dismissal
Fri
12/20
National Geographic Bee 8:45am | Auditorium
Re-enrollment Soon The re-enrollment information for the 2014-15 school year will be distributed to all current SJCS families by the end of November, which is earlier than previous years. Earlier re-enrollment time will help us plan an appropriate budget and set staffing levels. Please keep this in mind for the weeks ahead.
Book Fair Ends Today If you didn't get a chance to visit our Book Fair this year, or if you are not done shopping yet, please take the opportunity to buy books online, where there is an even bigger selection of quality books to choose from. Go to our school's website (www.sjchristian.org), and click on Parents ➔ Upcoming Events ➔ Annual Book Fair ➔ Shop Now. Online purchasing is available until November 26.
Orange Crush Friday In honor of the first basketball games of the season, we will have an Orange Crush Day on Friday. Wear your orange and show your Tiger pride!
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Tiger Tracks Rosetta Stone for You?
Shakespeare Is Coming
Basketball Games Friday
If any parents or family members would like to learn a foreign language through the Rosetta Stone software, we are offering these extra subscriptions through September 2014 for $50 each. Students can switch their languages or take on a second language for this same fee. If you’re interested, email Mr. Meester to get set up (dmeester@sjchristian.org).
On Tuesday, November 26 our students in grades 3-8 will get to see visiting actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival perform a condensed version of The Tempest.
Friday afternoon, our boys and girls basketball teams will have their first games of the year, taking on Baymonte. The girls begin at 3:30pm, and the boys follow at 4:30pm. Both games will be at Campbell Christian School - 1075 W. Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008.
The 7th and 8th graders will participate in a 2-hour afternoon workshop with the actors. We’re excited about this unique opportunity!
Teacher PLC Updates Last Wednesday, after the Minimum Day dismissal, our teacher PLC groups got to work on their professional growth activities. Read here for a summary of what is happening with each group: The Project Based Learning group finalized the particulars of their proposed projects, each at a different grade level. They worked out details such as compelling questions on which to base each project, previous knowledge that would be needed by the students, when and how to provide that scaffolding, rubrics to assess the projects, and guidelines for the students. The Phonics PLC investigated two phonics programs: Zoo Phonics and First Focus. Mrs. Webb is using Zoo Phonics in Jr. Kindergarten, and we set up times to observe her with her students. We also poured over the online reviews of both First Focus and Zoo Phonics. We will dig more deeply into First Focus when we meet with the co-founder of the program next month. In the Learning Differences PLC, we viewed two LD documentaries. "Learning Disabilities and Discipline" dealt with behavior management strategies for students with learning differences and how a lot of positive reinforcement, rather than punishment, is key to changing behavior for these students. "How Hard Can It Be?" was a film that everyone working with LD students should watch! The film captured what it’s like for students with learning differences in the classroom through simulations about what these students experience. It generates lots of empathy in teachers and brings to light the classroom strategies that are not going to work for children with learning differences and which strategies will help them be more successful. The Love and Logic PLC made use of every minute we were given. Janie Sacks, a Love and Logic trainer, joined us and began taking us through the "Parenting with Love and Logic" curriculum. We had time to work through some of the videos, questions, and discussion. The group left the meeting with plenty to think about and process, as well as some techniques to try out. We continue to be excited about where our group is headed. As we work through the parenting curriculum to become trainers ourselves, we look forward to sharing these strategies with the SJCS community. The New Teacher Induction group met to review what information should be covered with new teachers when they come on staff at SJCS. We made lists for the Administration, Teacher Mentors, and other staff members responsibilities. These lists review what should be covered before orientation, during orientation, within the first week of school, and within the first month of a teacher coming on staff. These procedures will help make new teachers feel part of our community, understand the policies and procedures at SJCS, and illustrate our high expectations for our teachers. The School Garden PLC spent time planning the next month, which will be preparing and planting the second garden bed. We reflected on the success of the garden’s radish harvest so far with teaching science, nutrition, and stewardship—all while bringing together the elementary and middle school. So far the 6th grade Life Skills class has taught garden-related lessons to both the 1st and 2nd grade classes, and we hope to include every elementary class by the end of the year. After a 90minute trip to Home Depot, they donated of over $60 worth of garden supplies to us! Please check out the 6th grade Life Skills website to read student accounts and see photos of our garden. https://sites.google.com/a/sjchristian.org/lifeskills6/
Annual Board Offsite Strategic Meeting On Saturday, November 16 the SJCS Board of Trustees met for its annual offsite retreat. Mr. Meester, Mr. Intlekofer, and Mrs. Phillips participated and facilitated the meeting. From 9am - 2:45pm, the group had great discussion about where our school is now and where it needs to go in the future. Some highlights of the meeting included: • Analysis of key stats from the past 5 years that are indicative of the health and success of our school. These stats include academic, financial, and staffing information and provide a great backdrop for the other discussions of the day. They also help us identify trends and make projections about where we will be in the future. • Creating dashboard metrics: For the past 6 months, the board has been discussing topics that are critical to the health of any school: Mission Advancement, Mission Penetration, Value Add, Brand Management, Customer Service, Urgency, Results, Sustainability, and Vision. On Saturday, the trustees proposed a variety of metrics or measurable actions that we can monitor to ensure that SJCS is thriving in each area. • SWOT Analysis: This year, we are writing a strategic plan for the school that will give us an organizational road map for the years ahead. The first step in such a plan involves obtaining an accurate picture of where we are right now as an organization. A SWOT Analysis looks at an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to paint a picture of its current status. The teachers did this activity during the retreat in October, and now the trustees have done so as well. We will gather more feedback on this front from parents at dates coming up, and then we can identify the common themes that will guide our strategic plan. • Finances: Due to a confluence of factors, SJCS has a greater-than-anticipated shortfall in its operating budget this year. The trustees discussed the ways in which SJCS can both increase income and cut expenses to bring us back to where we need to be. Key decisions included: ✓ Setting the tuition rate for next year at a very small increase of 2%. We are mindful of the sacrifices our school families make, and we have faith that enrollment growth will keep us from having to raise tuition by a higher amount. Information on re-enrollment will come out in the next two weeks so that we can get an early start on the 2014-15 budgeting process. ✓ Launching a program in which families can purchase future years’ tuition at current year prices. The concept of this program was approved, and the administration and trustees will iron out the details within the couple of months so that families who wish to do so can take advantage of this opportunity during the current school year.