When I came 3 years ago, I read the Mission of our school, it stated: St. John the Baptist Catholic School, in partnership with parents and community, instills the values and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church by fostering the development of the whole child: spiritually, academically, physically, emotionally, and socially. I believe we continue each day and year to fulfill this mission in our school.

Spiritually we offer many prayer experiences for our students on a weekly basis and rely on the parents to continue prayer experiences as a family, such as Sunday Mass. We have also begun Faith Families with our students. A family consists of K-8 students. We had our 1st experience Sept. 5th. We all went to Mass together; we had a picnic lunch, memorized a Bible verse and played fun games. Everyone had a great time. We will meet three more times this year, each time we will pray, have a value lesson and enjoy one another.

Academically, we have been working on our Reading Curriculum, choosing a reading series for our Pre-K and Kindergarten classes, this series will move into the 1st grade next year and 2nd grade after that. We also chose a new Math series that will enhance our math teaching; Go Math covers the Common Core and is recommended by the Archdiocese to prepare our students for the future. This program started in the 1st grade and will move up a grade each year. We have purchased Tablets for our 8th grade, so they will be prepared for High School. Teachers have taken some training and will continue this fall, hoping to put the tablets in the student’s hands in January. We are working with LaSalle for training. The teachers are working diligently, with the help of Mary Ellen Moeller to look at our IOWA scores to find strengths and weaknesses so we can strengthen our academics.

Emotionally and socially are a daily teaching and growing opportunity. We are blessed to have a school psychologist with us 3 days a week. With the help of our PTO, we are bringing in Mr. Tom Sparough to give bullying presentations to our students this coming Thursday, Sept. 12th. This is an issue we try to address on a regular basis. Mrs. Sparough’s presentation is scripturally based, teaching the students that this something God wants them to stop doing and care for one another.

Safety is another area that is important for our student’s emotional health. Brad Hasselbeck and I met with Officers Angela Meyer and Dean Doppleman to go through our building and build plans for total and partial lockdowns. We have put this plan together and shared it with the teachers and staff. We have a very secure building and continue to work hard to keep everyone safe.

VIRTUS training is another area to help keep our students safe. Be sure you are trained and finger printed or you will not be able to go on field trips or help in the school. This training is excellent and offered almost every night somewhere in the Archdiocese. You do not have to take it at one or our pastoral churches, you can take it other places, bring us your certificate and you will be put on our volunteer list. Also, those who have taken the training, don’t forget to read your monthly bulletins to keep current with training. Don’t wait until the last minute; everyone must be trained by December!

This is a just of the many great things happening at our school as we begin this new year. I will share more in the coming weeks and throughout the year. Thank you for supporting our school in so many ways. Call, email or visit with any questions or concerns you may have.

May God bless you and your family,
Ms. Catie Blum, Principal