St. John Paul II Catholic School 
KNIGHT LIFE
105 St. Paul Street
Sellersburg, IN 47172
812-246-3266

September 6, 2023
You may need to click "View Entire Message" near the bottom to see all of the news and happenings going on at JPII!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
  • Email sent to parents today about eLearning dates scheduled is posted below.
  • New Parent Resource Section for quick reference, at the bottom of the newsletter!
  • A duplicate email regarding EZSchoolPay will be sent tomorrow 9/7, please email the Office with any questions or concerns.


CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER:
7: Email will be sent to parents for Parent/Teacher Conference Sign Ups
11: Walk-A-Thon Pledges Due to Qualify for Incentives
12:14: 7th & 8th Grade Trip to Nashville, TN
14: Last Day to Sign Up for Parent/Teacher Conferences
15: K-8 JPII School Walk-A-Thon (Families Invited to Walk With Us)
26: School Picture Retakes

OCTOBER:
3-5 Parent/Teacher Conferences
5- Coffee with Counselor and Knights Friday (Spirit Wear/1 Hr Early Dismissal)
6-13- Fall Break (NO SCHOOL)
19- Living Rosary
31- Halloween Parade and Parties



PARISH MISSION STATEMENT
Building God's Kingdom by growing disciples and making disciples through 
love of God and neighbor.


SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
Building God's Kingdom by growing disciples through fostering spiritual development, academic excellence, service, and responsibility, in a safe welcoming learning environment. 
A double rainbow at JPII drop off this morning is a beautiful reminder of God’s promise and protection! Genesis 9: 8-17
JPII- Home of Clark County's Best Educator 2023
Ms. Sarah Meyer
Letter from Ms. Meyer:

To say I feel honored and blessed would be such an understatement! I am truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, support, and votes to help me earn the honor of Clark County’s Best Educator!    

There is no way I could ever show my true appreciation to my family, friends, coworkers, parents of current and former students, school families, parishioners, and everyone who took time out of their day to vote. Our school/parish community came out in full force, and we had a HUGE voting turnout! I don’t have the words to express how much I truly appreciate you thinking enough of me to feel I deserve this honor!  

I work, and have worked with, so many amazing teachers! I feel so many educators are deserving of this achievement! I have learned so much from my coworkers and much of my teaching has evolved from the amazing teachers I have crossed paths with over the years. So, a huge thank you to all those teachers, who work day in and day out, for our students!    

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher! Moving to JPII, truly sparked my true love for teaching! I feel blessed to be part of a team, where teachers are supported and encouraged to be creative and fun, yet still maintain rigorous academic standards. 

I have had the pleasure of teaching many students over the years. Each one of them has impacted my life in a different way! The relationships I have built with students and families over the years are so very special! My students, and their families, have taught me more through the years than I could ever teach them! Many of those relationships have been maintained through the years. Our JPII community is truly a special place to call home!  

Thank you so much for putting your love and support into me!   

And remember…”once a Meyer kid, ALWAYS a Meyer kid!”

Ms. Sarah Meyer
Introducing EZSchoolPay!!

JPII has activated the 'View Only' mode of the EZSchoolPay App, with the goal of implementing an online payment option in the very near future! With this feature, you will be able to view transactions and balances on your student's lunch account!

A duplicate email will be sent. Disregard the duplicate email if you have registered your student. If at least one parent did not receive a welcome letter via email, please email the office.

eLearning Dates
Dear JPII School Family,

We are off to a great start and are enjoying the blessing of the additional space that the renovation project has allowed!

We want to make you aware of a professional development opportunity that we are providing our faculty and staff. Our faculty and staff team will be participating in an important crisis response training on Friday, September 22. JPII Catholic School has received partial funding through the Indiana School Safety Grant to host presenters from the I Love U Guys foundation. This training, among other things, furthers our knowledge of the Standard Response Protocol that was sent to parents last school year.

To be able to provide this training to all faculty and staff members, JPII will operate an eLearning Day on Friday, September 22. Assignments will be posted in Google Classroom at 9:00 a.m. Teachers will have opportunities throughout the day to respond to any questions your child has about their assignments via email. Your child’s teacher will provide more information about the specifics for their class.

Please also mark your calendars for Monday, April 8th. This day will also be an eLearning Day. As you may know, there will be a total solar eclipse that day. The umbra will cover a wide swath of Indiana with a focus on Indianapolis. Many will be traveling to experience this rare event. The partial eclipse that will be experienced in Sellersburg is during what would be the school dismissal time. We are joining Providence in providing an eLearning Day so that families can travel or share this experience at home.

Thanks for the support you provide our faculty and staff members!

Karen Haas
Principal

K-8 CELL PHONE & SMART WATCH REMINDERS
-Cell phones must be in the off position before entering the school building in the morning. They are to remain in student backpacks, and not be on the person at any time. 

-Smart watches or other devices that can be used for texting, calling, or emailing are not allowed at school.

-Cell phones, smart watches, Chromebooks, or other devices are not to be used by students to contact parents or others. If the need arises to contact parents, this will be done through the school office.
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

First Quarter Conferences are October 3, 4, and 5. Conferences are fifteen minute sessions to discuss the progress of each child and answer any questions parents/guardians may have. All students are required to attend their conference with their parent/guardian. 

We will be sending the link to sign up for conferences via School Messenger email on Thursday, September 7. Please make sure to pick a different conference time for each of your children. There will be 2 links sent: One link is for K-5 and the other is for Middle School. For Middle School, you do not need to sign up to visit every teacher for every subject; you only need to sign up for the teacher/subject you would like to conference about.  

Sign Ups will close on September 14th. We are looking forward to seeing everyone at conferences!
To become part of the JPII Family!!

Please see below, for opportunities to join our staff! If you are interested in being a substitute teacher or substitute teacher's assistant, please send your resume to Principal Karen Haas!
Be Ready for School Closing and Delay Announcements
JPII School Closing and Delays are announced on WDRB. Please look for St. John Paul II, Sellersburg on the WDRB news channel or website.
WDRB will send you a text message announcing the closing if you sign up for this free service at https://my.textcaster.com/asa/Default.aspx?ID=c4f69af1-fcf8-4a83-b929-f0ed22af349a  
 
Please note: Link has been fixed and should take you to WDRB to sign up!

Kona ice put the "fun" in this JPII Parent Group fundraiser on a hot Friday afternoon!
JPII FACULTY STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
-Taking a look at Divine Renovation and the JPII Parish & School Mission
-Learning How to Use iReady Formative Assessment Results
KINDERGARTEN
Second Grade
Mrs. Barber’s class had another fun art class. They created art leaves with cotton balls and two colors of paint.
THIRD GRADE
Fourth Grade
From Starbucks and neighborhood pools to the Nine Penny Trail in Charlestown, 4th graders are spreading KINDNESS all over Southern Indiana.
MIDDLE SCHOOL LOVES TUMBLEWEEEEEED!
JPII middle school students enjoyed the first carry out lunch of the year! Many thanks to Meredith and Jeremy Sons for delivering and providing us VIP treatment!
"Learn, Serve, Lead, Succeed Beyond JPII"

Jameson Harris
Jameson Harris is in Mrs. Clark's 2nd Grade class. He currently participates in piano/guitar/vocals and acting lessons. Jameson had the honor of performing The National Anthem for Indiana Salute to Veterans Distinguished Award Night, at The Grand in New Albany. He started rehearsing for this performance in March and delivered it beautifully, this past weekend. Way to go, Jameson! We are excited to see where your love for the performing arts takes you!
"CAUGHT BEING A KNIGHT!"

K= Kindness N= Nobility I=Integrity G=Goals H=Honorable T=Trustworthy S=Service

Dear Parents & Guardians,
At JPII we believe that all students should be recognized for their spiritual development, academic performance, service towards others, and responsibility in all that you do. 

Starting September 5th, students K-5 will be able to earn “Caught Being a Knight” cards. These cards can be given by any teacher or staff member who “catches” a student going above and beyond both inside and outside of the classroom. Middle School students have been piloting this program for over a year, and have found it to be very successful.

These cards will then be used to enter a bi-monthly drawing for students to earn prizes. Students will write their first and last name on the back of the card and place it in grade band jars. K and 1 will have a combined jar, second and third will have a combined jar and fourth and fifth will have a combined jar.  These names will be announced during morning announcements. Teachers will make sure students are able to claim their prize sometime throughout the day. If you see a child wearing a “Caught being KNIGHT” bracelet you know their name was drawn.

 
JPII Teachers & Staff
MIDDLE SCHOOL
"Caught Being A Knight"
This month’s character trait is kindness. The word kind can be used as an adjective. It’s a describing word about who you are or who you want to become. Kindness is being selfless, caring, and compassionate. And like most things in life it takes practice. Practice to feel and understand how your kindness can affect others. Ways you can practice being kind to someone are by smiling at another student you may not know, saying something nice to a friend, or doing an unexpected deed. Kindness can also be shown by thinking before you speak, showing grace to others when they need it most, and above all else including others. Kindness is a chain reaction and it starts with each of you!
 
Our first TOP KNIGHTS for the 2023-2024 school year!
Anola Wright (6) 
Anola was nominated this month because she is always paying attention, contributing to class, and has good behavior. She has begun her 6th grade experience with focus and determination. Anola is kind and cheerful and follows directions. She completes her work on time and does her best to make sure her work is a reflection of the kind of person she wants to be. Congratulations Anola!
Ryder Beyl (7) 
Ryder is off to a great start in 7th grade, and specifically in math class. Ryder has been paying attention, turning assignments in, asking good questions and working hard to come up with answers to questions on his own. Congratulations Ryder!

Molly Osborne (7)
Molly received her nomination for her excellent participation in ELA class, great effort in Creative Dramatics, and her leadership and service outside of school hours. She volunteers on weekends in different capacities at volleyball games, and gives 110% effort on her own volleyball team. Congratulations Molly!
"Kindness is a chain reaction!" - Mrs. Lasher
KNIGHT CAFE

Please note, each lunch account is a debit account, not a credit account. Any accounts in arrears of $20 or more will need to bring a sack lunch. Please refer to the JPII Student Handbook in regards to this policy.

"If a negative balance occurs the parent/guardian will be asked to send a sack lunch for their
child." Page 38 Appendix B

-To add money to your child's lunch account, please send a check to the school office. Please note, only one check per family is needed. Lunch accounts are shared amongst siblings. Be sure to write the name(s) of your student(s) in the memo line of the check.

-Each lunch account is required to maintain a $20 balance. Student lunches are $3.25/day or $16.25/week, per student- not including any extra entrees or milk.

Lunch Menu:


School Counselor Correspondence