Good afternoon! Here are this week's news and announcements from St. Johns Country Day School:
Every Spartan, Every Day & Bridged Learning
Information went out yesterday from each Division Head with details about Every Spartan, Every Day, Orientation Day, and St. Johns' bridged learning model. Please be sure to reach out to your Division Head before the end of this week if you feel that your student needs the bridged learning model this quarter.
Middle and Upper School Course Schedules
Schedules for Middle and Upper School students are now available in My School App. From your My School App parent landing page, click on your student's name in the upper left, or, if you have more than one St. Johns student, click on "Children" and then your student's name. Your student's schedule should appear under the "Progress" tab. You may also wish to download St. Johns' innovative new new bell schedule. If you have questions about your schedule, please reach out to your Division Assistant (Mrs. Kurnitsky for Middle School, or Ms. Goode in the Upper School) prior to Orientation Day. The new Lower School bell schedule is available here.
MBS Bookstore Now Open
While most of your student's texts and learning materials are provided for them-- either in the classroom or pushed directly to their iPads-- a few courses require hard copy books or other materials. Once you have your student's schedule in hand next week, download a copy of the non-iPad required books list from your division's My School App Topics page to see if there are any books you'll need to provide for your student(s) this year. Then, log into MBS to purchase any extra books or lab notebooks your student might need. You're not required to purchase items from MBS, but if you choose to buy elsewhere, please reference the required ISBNs to be sure you're getting the correct items/item versions. You can also access the list of needed texts by entering your student's classes directly into MBS.
Magnus App & Health Survey
As you have read, for the upcoming school year, our days will begin each morning with a Daily Health Check, including an at-home temperature check, which must be submitted in the Magnus Mobile app (available in the Apple Store or Google Play store) prior to your child(ren) arriving on campus. All faculty and staff will also be required to complete the Daily Health Check.
| To get started in the Magnus app, first: |
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| Now you're ready to get the app: |
That's it! You're all set. The Magnus Help Desk stands ready to help you with any questions. Call or email at (877) 461-6831 or service@magnushealth.com. |
Also, be on the lookout for a pre-back-to-school COVID-19 health survey coming from Magnus. This quick, two-minute survey helps us ascertain that all of our Spartans are safe and healthy before we bring everyone back onto campus. We must have a survey response from all Spartan families, so please complete those before Wednesday, August 5. Contact School Nurse Heather Burson with any questions.
Athletics Start Dates
After last week's meeting of the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA), St. Johns' athletics practices will now begin on Monday, August 24. The full schedule of fall sports teams and start dates/locations is available at sjcds.net/athletics. All dates are subject to change. Please reach out to the listed coach, or to Director of Athletics Traci Livingston, with any questions.
Senior Athletics Banner Photos
Senior Athletics banner photos wiil take place on Wednesday, August 12 at 3:30 in the Alumi Gym. Any senior who plans to participate in athletics this school year should attend.
School Supplies
Looking for School supply lists? Grade-by-grade lists for Lower and Middle School students are available on My School App. From the relevant Division Group page, click on Topics and then School Supply Lists. Upper School students do not have grade-level lists, but are expected to come to School the first week with an adequate supply of paper, pens, pencils, etc. If a course requires any additional supplies-- for example, 3" x 5" cards, compass/protractor, etc.,-- teachers will inform students during the first week of school. Students are not expected to have these supplies on the First Day of School.
Bell Schedules
St. Johns is implementing new bell schedules for the 2020-2021 School year. These innovative new schedules have a variety of benefits, including allowing some longer class periods each week, which enable deeper dives and more thoughtful work and discussion, and the ability for students to take these schedules with them into Spartan Distance Learning, should the School be required to pivot to distance learning at any point during the school year. Click on these links to download the new schedules for Lower School and Middle and Upper School.
School Year Calendar
The full calendar for the 2020-2021 School year is available at sjcds.net/calendar. You can download the latest fridge-friendly printable version, or click the RSS button, which is gray and looks like little radio waves, to subscribe to the School calendar on your phone or tablet. Or get started by clicking on the RSS button at the top-right of this box.
Lunch Accounts & Menus
You can sign up for student SLA Lunch accounts and view menus at sjcds.net/lunch. Click on the yellow "Student Payment Portal" button on the right to set up or add money to your student's lunch account, or download the SLA Lunch app to be able to manage student accounts, view purchases, and add money to accounts all from your smartphone or tablet.
After School Program
St. Johns' After School Program offers before and after school care and enrichment programs for Lower School students as well as after school study hall for Middle School students. The program is open from 7:00 a.m. for before school drop-off and after school until 6:00 p.m. Monitored after school study hall for Middle School students is now a part of the After School Program. All Middle School students are required to register. Program fees apply. Students enrolled by month or semester in the After School Program may take advantage of the many enrichment activity offerings each quarter at no extra cost to the family. Learn more about it and register at sjcds.net/afterschool.
Parent Back to School Nights
Mark your calendar now and save the date(s) for Parent Back-to-School Nights. Lower School Back-to-School Night will take place on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m., and Middle and Upper School will follow on Wednesday, August 26, from 6:00 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there! You can download the full 2020-2021 calendar either to your phone or in a handy fridge-friendly printable at sjcds.net/calendar.
Key Contacts
Some things never change-- no matter the circumstances, St. Johns' school administration stand ready to assist with anything you might need. Please feel free to reach out at any time to:
| Head of School Valorie Baker | |
| Head of Upper School Mary Virginia Fisher | |
| Head of Middle School Jackie Lentini | |
| Head of Lower School Otis Wirth | |
| Head of Administrative Affairs Tanya Powers |
Or, just reply to this message.
We hope you have a great week!