Happy New Year!

Thank you for all your Christmas and New Year wishes and gifts.   We appreciate your thoughtfulness very much.

The New Year is typically a time for starting over. It also offers us a great opportunity to work harder on our good practices and to dig deeper into those habits of heart and mind. I have some suggestions for you - and for me:

Let us resolve to

• intensify our relationship with Jesus;
• wake up each morning filled with gratitude for our blessings;
• keep our hearts and minds open to all the awesome moments each new day brings;
• laugh more often; and,
• take care of ourselves and those around us.

The New Year also rings in a busy time here at St. John. New families are touring, Catholic Schools Week is just around the corner and then we have the State of the School presentations and re enrollment!   As we in administration begin to plan for next school year, the teachers are evaluating their own and their students' progress as we meet the half-way mark for this school year. Teachers of grades one through seven are administering STAR reading and AIMS Web Math Benchmark testing to monitor student progress. We also continue with the math checkpoints. We have seen some remarkable gains in both areas! You will receive the results soon. In the meantime, resolve to do more reading and math facts at home! Old-fashioned memorization of math facts works!   You can play and practice with a deck of cards and have family fun at the same time.

We just realized that we have a date clash! The Seattle U basketball game and the Auction Wine Tasting Event are on the same night - February 8th. However, this can also present a babysitting solution for some families.   Some parents attend the game with the children, while other parents sample the wines for the auction!    

Tomorrow, we will have the Awards assemblies. At 8:45 in Egan Hall we will acknowledge those students in grades 3 - 8 who have been 'caught' practicing Habits of Mind. Students in Grades 4 - 8 who excelled in Christian Social Qualities and who completed all their homework on time and exhibited solid work and study habits will receive the coveted Eagle Award.   The Primary Department will have the Habits of Mind Award ceremony at 10:00am in the kindergarten rooms. Both ceremonies will begin with prayer.   We will include the Seahawks in our prayer! Next Friday, we will have a 'dress in Seahawks colors' here at St. John. This date will give you time to pull out blue or green t-shirts or sweaters.  Our strong wishes for a win and a 'free' dress day will surely push the team to success.

Go Seahawks!