Fourth Grade had the opportunity to learn all about therapy dogs and the impact they can have on people's emotional well being. Mrs. Mary Ann Wolf, one of our preschool teacher's aides, brought her therapy dog Lincoln in for a visit. He is a Therapy Dog International dog that visits people in nursing homes, hospitals, schools, libraries, and other places to provide comfort, happiness, and a break from the daily routine of loneliness and illness. Notice Lincoln's professional attire...he always wears a necktie to work.

Second grade recently enjoyed a visit from The Cincinnati Museum Center. They traveled to Peru, Kenya, Australia, and China all while staying in their classrooms and learning about different cultures around the world.

A sincere thank you to all of our donors during iGiveCatholic's Giving Tuesday! Our school was one of the Top 2 Elementary Schools with the most individual donors. As a result, we will be awarded $1000 from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Also, congratulations to Corpus Christi and St. John Neumann for being in the top 3 Parishes with the most individual donors. They also, will be awarded $1000 each.

St.John the Baptist School is participating in #igivecatholic on Tuesday November 27, 2018. Advanced Day of Giving is now open!! The funds raised will go toward MANY improvements to our school. Items we need to purchase are new windows for the school, twelve more classroom HVAC systems, and five new exterior doors. To donate or learn more about our campaign, please visit www.igivecatholic.org----You can find this link by clicking on this article’s title or under the Giving to St. Johns tab.

The Cincinnati Zoo brought Bocci, a three-banded armadillo and Cornelius, a corn snake to St. Johns for an enrichment program with our third grade classes. The students learned about these animal's characteristics, habitats, diet, and many more fun facts.

A big thank you to all of our school families that donated items and came to help make bags and baby blankets for St. John the Baptist Church’s “Create the Good” service project last week. They were able to fill 135 "Birthday Bags" for the Corpus Christi food pantry, 122 bags for Tri Health cancer patients filled with magazines, crossword puzzles, mouthwash, gum, etc., and 67 bags for St. VIncent de Paul filled with canned goods and personal care items. They also made 64 fleece baby blankets for Pregnancy Center West.

Fall if officially here and with the colder temperatures outside, we have several different styles of pullovers, jackets, and sweatshirts that can be worn as part of the school uniform. A few new introductions include a full zip sports wick jacket and a quarter zip lightweight sports wick pullover. For spirit wear days (usually Wednesdays unless there is an all school mass), We now offer a moisture wicking gray t-shirt with a Big Bluejay on it as well as two new colors in our cotton Blue Jay t-shirt, neon pink ($1.00 from each purchase donated to National Breast Cancer Society) and gray. For photos, sizes, and pricing of all the items available, please click on the parent tab at the top of the page and then click on spirit wear. An order form can be printed from the link at the top of the spirit wear page or you can obtain one from the school office. Orders are placed once a week and if not in stock, items usually take 2-3 weeks to arrive.

Eighth grade science students have been studying Newton's First Law of Motion. They have conducted several science labs including trying to keep a penny on their finger while flicking away a round piece of cardstock out from underneath it, and quickly removing a ring from between the top of a bottle and a stack of pennies to then have the pennies fall straight down into the bottle. Students also learned to calculate speed by measuring the distance and time of an air bubble in a bubble tube. Click on the title to view more pictures.

Our 1st Graders were visited this morning by the Cincinnati Museum Center for an enrichment called "The Reason for the Seasons". They used mini globes to learn and demonstrate why the different seasons happen. Students also learned how animals either hibernate, migrate, or adapt in the different seasons.

Our kindergarteners were visited yesterday by the Cincinnati Museum Center for an enrichment program about bats. In addition to learning fun facts, they got to see some live bats.

Our preschoolers and kindergarteners were visited yesterday by the Colerain Fire Department. They learned about all the different components of a firetruck and even got to hop inside for a peek. Every student received a hat, a coloring booklet, and sticker to take home. A big thank you to our local firemen for their time, and Nationwide Insurance for providing the hats and coloring books.

Grades K-3 welcomed their grandparents this morning in the church with a prayer service and then some singing performances led by our wonderful music teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Ossenschmidt. Students then enjoyed some refreshments and showed their grandparents around their classrooms. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a special morning for everyone.

We celebrated the Feast of St. Francis today after mass with Father Kyle saying a special blessing for our pets. Students were permitted to bring a picture of their furry friends to school today.

Sixth-grade reading students participated in a thrilling classroom Breakout created by their classmates. Accelerated reading students used skills of creativity, collaboration, and communication to author an exciting Breakout based on a soccer theme. Players used teamwork to solve intricate puzzles to determine the correct combinations to four different locks on a box they needed to break into. Players had loads of fun as they worked to beat the clock and save the day, with all seven teams breaking out successfully before time ran out. Players attributed their success to strong communication skills, to trusting their teammates, and to being open to working with all classmates. Players asked to be able to do more Breakouts in the future and even expressed interest in creating their own. We continue to be grateful to the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, who made the Breakout experience possible through a generous grant to purchase several Breakout kits, and look forward to providing more Breakout challenges in more classrooms during the year. To view a video of the breakout, please visit our Facebook page, St. John the Baptist School.

Our playground got a makeover last week when the old chipped wood mulch was replaced with much nicer and softer rubber chips.....and they’re BLUE JAY BLUE!!!

We are raising money to continue to improve the quality of our school's educational program. Everyone's support is greatly appreciated! Purchase your favorite magazine or digital subscription and send us your renewals. Magazine gift cards are available for $25 and make great holiday gifts. Go to APmags.com to place an order. St. John's Group ID is W04962. If sending an order through school, please make checks payable to St. John the Baptist.

St. John the Baptist School is excited to welcome our new principal, Mr. Dan Minelli. We also welcome several new teachers to St. Johns. Molly Sanford and Cindy Duhon are the new 3rd grade teachers. Lisa Moore is our new Spanish teacher for 6th-8th grade. Scott Gildea is our new Physical Education teacher. In addition, we also have a new school psychologist, Dr. Ann Wengler, and two part time Intervention Specialists, Amber Paul and Brooke Cook. In the office, we welcome Jill Katterjohn, Administrative Assistant. If you see these new faces in the halls, be sure to say hello.

After retiring this year, Mrs. Vicki Borgman, one of our kindergarten teachers for the past 24 years, was nominated by a parent to be recognized at Mix 94.9 Cincinnati's Teacher's Night Out. On Thursday, June 26th, she and about 100 other teachers were honored at the Cooper Creek Event Center in Blue Ash. Congratulations Mrs. Borgman!

Congratulations and good luck to our Class of 2018! The graduates enjoyed a special ceremony in the church on Thursday, May 31st followed by a celebration in the Parish Center with dancing, a photo booth, and dinner served by our seventh grade parent volunteers.

Students enjoyed a fun filled day on May 18th during our annual PTO Field Day. Thank you to Emily Meyer and Kim Tedesco, our event chairs, and to the many other volunteers that make this day possible.