Good afternoon! Here are this week's news and announcements from St. Johns Country Day School:
Homecoming Week
Thank you so much to everyone who made last week's Homecoming and Spartan Fest activities such a tremendous success! From the parade to the pep rally, themed dress days to soccer games, it was such a great week! Hearty thanks to the entire Spartan community for planning, volunteering, providing snacks and drinks, for taking part, and for making it such a great week. Thank you, everyone! And, hearty congratulations to Homecoming Queen Savannah Berrang '24 and Homecoming King Ben Payton '24 (who was named at the Homecoming Dance Saturday night). You can check out a photo album from the day's activities right here.
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
We can't wait to see you this Friday and Saturday for St. Johns' upcoming production of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. This heartwarming, hilarious, family-friendly tale is a prequel to Peter Pan and tells the story of how a lonely orphan became The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Get your tickets today at sjcds.net/starcatcher.
Congratulations, Academy Select!
Congratulations to the new members of the Academy Select Choral Ensemble, a 16-voice select vocal group. Students experienced a competitive audition for a place and are excited about singing different styles of challenging music including classical, jazz and Broadway. Academy Select will perform for the first time at the December 13 Winter Choral Concert. Members include:
| Brielle Bryant | Zoey Maple | |
| Natalia Conde | Ireland Minard | |
| Bailey Dorman | Ryan Mitchell | |
| Teagan Goff | Graham Morris | |
| Lucas Hardy | Tamlyn Morrow | |
| Jubilee Jones | Davie Price | |
| Lily Landwehr | Lucas Ramnarine | |
| Lorelai Lawrence | Victoria Wall |
High School Basketball Media Day
Boys and Girls Basketball kicked off their seasons last Tuesday at Highschool912 Media Day, at the Winston Family YMCA. Boys Basketball Coach Ian Gibson and Girls Basketball Coach Tyler Miller attended the event with Mary Kate Kent '24, Sophia Mejias '26, Cam Cooper '28, and Grayson Moody '25.
Spartan Athlete of the Week
This week's Nichols & Pina Spartan Athlete of the Week is Senior Kate Jacobs! Kate is the all time digs leader in St. Johns history with 1938 digs. She led the Spartans this week in aces, and has averaged 6.5 digs per set over her career! Congratulations Kate!
Portrait Retakes
Fall Portrait Retakes are coming up next week Wednesday, November 1. Want to have your child's portrait retaken?
- For Lower or Middle School students, please alert their homeroom teachers before Wednesday, November 1.
- Upper School students should go to the Upper School Library during a break or study hall before 1pm on Wednesday the 1st.
- If you purchased a portrait package from the original fall portrait date, please return it to the photographer at the retake.
- If no package was purchased, students can still choose to get a retake photo.
- If a student was absent for the August fall portrait date, he or she must have a photo taken on retake day.
Photographers will only be set up for retake portraits through 1 p.m. on Wed, Nov 1
Spartan Wrestling
Interested in Spartan Wrestling? Join us for an interest meeting on Wednesday, November 1, at 6:00 p.m. in the Pace Lecture Hall. The team is open to Middle and Upper School students and practice will start after school on Monday, November 6. Please fill out this interest form, and join the Wrestling Google Classroom with code ila7yga. Questions? Contact Coach Hill at hhill@sjcds.net or (904) 545-6006.
Meet the Spartans!
Join us on Thursday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. to MEET THE SPARTANS! We'll meet all of our winter sport teams and athletes in this fun event. Join us in the Brown Gym to cheer on our winter athletes!
Club Sparty Session IV
Registration is now open for Session IV of Club Sparty, St. Johns' after school enrichment program. This session goes from 11/6 to 12/15 and features wrestling, tennis, Academy study help and more. Register today!
Spirit Store
Please note that the Spirit Store will be closed this Friday, November 3 and Monday, November 6. Except for these days, it will be open M-F from 8am-1pm. Also, come spend time on campus and volunteer in the Spirit Store! Please email Sherry Burnside if you're interested or with any questions.
Parent Conferences Friday
Just a reminder that Middle and Upper School Conferences will take place this Friday, November 3. Registration is open now in your Veracross Parent Portal. Please note that on November 3, Lower School students will be in session and Middle & Upper School students will be off.
Food Drive Competition
Help us drive out hunger in the first annual Battle of the Schools food collection competition between St. Johns Country Day School and Grace Episcopal Day School! November 1 through 17 each school will go head to head to see which school can collect the most canned food (weighed in pounds). Donations are being collected at Reception, the Upper School office, Middle School office, and Library. Send your donations in today! Click here for a list of most-needed items.
Sophomore Parent Night
Parents of sophomores, join us for Sophomore Parent Night with College Counseling, coming Monday, November 13, at 6:00 p.m. in the Pace Lecture Hall (PLH). Meet St. Johns' college counselors, learn more about the exciting journey ahead, and ask any questions that may be on your mind as you get started on the road to college! Junior parents, stay tuned for details on Junior Parent Night coming early next year!
Register for Grandparents Day
Mark your calendars and save the date for this year's Lower School Grandparents Day, coming March 8, 2024! Be sure to register your student's grandparent or "grandfriend" to receive an invitation to this wonderful St. Johns event. To register, just log into your Veracross Parent Portal at sjcds.net/veracross. Click on the "Update Household Profile" button at the top of the page, and then scroll down to "Grandparents" and add grandparent or grand friend households. We'll send them a hard copy invitation early next year!
College Admissions Visits
Check out the schedule of visiting college admissions representatives below for upcoming visits. Upper School students, seize these opportunities to learn more about these schools, check out the full schedule in SCOIR, and register there for visits with schools you're interested in. Please note, the schedule changes frequently, so keep an eye on SCOIR for last minute adjustments or additions, and stop by College Counseling with any questions. (Photo: Maddie Moody '21)
Contact Us!
St. Johns staff stand ready to assist with anything you might need. Please to reach out any time to:
| Head of School Valorie Baker | vbaker@sjcds.net |
| Head of Upper School Jackie Lentini | jlentini@sjcds.net |
| Head of Middle School Ben Magidson | bmagidson@sjcds.net |
| Head of Lower School Otis Wirth | owirth@sjcds.net |
We hope you have a great week!
- Campus Update