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January 25th – 29th is a week of nationwide celebration in Lutheran Schools as teachers, staff, and students celebrate Lutheran Schools and Lutheran Education. We praise God for our Lutheran Schools where we can learn about God and share our faith with each other! The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod has provided the following information about National Lutheran Schools Week: National Lutheran Schools Week provides the network of over 1,900 LCMS preschools, elementary schools and high schools with the public opportunity to proclaim and celebrate God’s work in Lutheran schools. In this, Lutheran schools thank God for the opportunity to provide excellent academic [...]

Dear Families, This week provides a chance to share with you about the final stage of our Eagle Community Building time each Friday this year: Morning Message!  As a review, the components I’ve unpacked for you thus far are Greeting, Sharing, and Group Activity.  Morning Message provides information and academic reinforcement through a message written by the teacher.  Students read the message as they enter the room and later the teacher engages the students in discussion based on its content. The purposes of this final component are as follows: Build community through shared written language Develop and reinforce academic skills in [...]

Dear Families, Happy New Year, St. John’s Eagles!  On behalf of the faculty and staff here at St. John’s, I want to thank you for your patience, dedication, and sacrifice during this school year as we’ve all partnered together so that our children can be at school in person during the ongoing pandemic.  We’ve been so blessed by God to have made it this far into the school year with very few disruptions.  We started the academic year with a solid plan, and it has taken the work of many devoted people to support this shared effort.  Thank you for your [...]

About 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah shares the Christmas Good News, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” The Child and Son is Jesus. Isaiah shares the Good News that Jesus is born for us. Jesus was born for all the people of the Old Testament who had believed that God would keep His promise. Jesus was born for Mary and Joseph and the shepherds who greeted Him in Bethlehem. Jesus was born for us. The Gift wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger is God’s gift to us. God’s Word [...]

Dear Families, Focusing back on our Eagle Community Building as promised, I wanted to finish outlining the process for you.  The next piece to share with you focuses on the Group Activity portion of ECB.  Group activities are brief, fast-paced, and involve the entire class.  They could connect to something academic, or they could be purely focused on building community in the class.  As identified in The Morning Meeting Book, group activities have several purposes: Contribute to the class’s sense of community and group identity Foster active and engaged participation Encourage inclusion and cooperation Help students to learn the value of [...]

Dear Families, Each FIRST Friday of the month means there’s a special “treat” in store for our students!  We often make it a surprise, but we also know that you may enjoy a sneak peek into what we have planned.  Tomorrow everyone will wear their pajamas, enjoy a little treat, and sit back during lunch for a short viewing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.  This selection was not made arbitrarily.  In honor of a native Minnesotan born in Minneapolis, this is a special treasure to share with our students!  It also focuses on our Christian reason for celebrating Christmas.  A bit [...]

Dear Families, As we transition back to school after this much-needed break, it will be increasingly important to be diligent about our protocols.  Please take a moment to review the following expectations. No matter whether we are in-person learning or distance learning, you should STAY HOME and notify the school in the following instances immediately: -If your student is sick or if anyone in your household has any COVID-related symptoms listed on the decision tree (attached) -If anyone in your household has been identified as a close contact to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 -If anyone in your household is awaiting [...]

Dear Families, With a period of distance learning ahead of us this next week, I wanted to make you aware of a few things! What happens in two days of distance learning next week will not be completely indicative of how it may need to work during a longer period of distance learning.  While we have been practicing and working with K-8th students in Google Classroom since the start of school, this will be our first chance to test our technology, programs, bandwidth if teachers opt to instruct from their classrooms, scheduling.  Each year also presents unique class dynamics and family [...]

Dear Families, In sharing about each component of Eagle Community Building (ECB), today we focus on SHARING as part of the process.  As laid out in The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete, there are three main categories of sharing: Around-the-circle: Everyone shares on a topic Partner: Students pair up for a short conversation Dialogue: A few students share and the rest of the class responds with questions or comments Sharing can focus on academic or social topics.  Sharing with each other builds a strong class community, and can offer content reinforcement and social skills.  Additionally, the purposes of sharing are [...]

Dear Families, As I mentioned last week, I will be sharing about each component of Eagle Community Building (ECB) in the next few newsletters.  Today, we focus on the GREETING as part of the process.  As laid out in The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete, there are several purposes for greetings: Set a positive tone for the classroom and the day Provide a sense of recognition and belonging Help students learn and use each other’s names Give practice in offering hospitality Greeting time also teaches and encourages some positive aspects of social awareness such as eye contact, politeness/manners, conversation skills, [...]