​Have you been contemplating the benefit of enrolling your 3 or 4 year old in an Early Childhood program?  We can help you see the impact when you attend one of our Open Houses at SJS on either Sunday, January 31 from 12PM-2PM or on Thursday, February 4 from 5PM-7PM. We believe you will be excited by what you see!

Our Early Childhood educators are constantly exploring new innovations and improving upon their curriculum. Recently,  Ms. Melinda O'Dea (Pre-K), Mrs. Linda Maguire (K) and Mrs. Linda LaPlume (K) participated in a professional development opportunity at Children's Friends called "Science Says: Build It!"  This program explored the scientific world of building and design.  They discovered what is possible when building and why it is important for our children's knowledge and development.  Our Program recognizes the cross-curriculum connections afforded by block play, as well as the other important cognitive connections needed for a child’s optimum brain development.

Did you know that at birth, the child’s brain is roughly 25% connected? By the first year, the connections reach 75% complete, and 90% within the third year. Early experiences, plant the seeds that will allow your child to reach his or her maximum potential.  We are busy in our Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten classrooms working memory, creativity/cognitive flexibility, attention/concentration and impulse control.

Grade 5 is studying food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.  We are dissecting owl pellets so we can see part of the food web in action.    An owl feeds early in the evening and regurgitate a single pellet approximately 20 hours after eating.  We know that owls swallow their prey whole and we are excited about what we are going to find.  Owls have a weak stomach muscle so they form wet slimy pellets out of undigested fur, feathers  and bones.  In the process even the most fragile bones are usually preserved unbroken.  We hope to see the skeleton remains of moles, mice, birds, rats and shrews.

​Parents and Friends of SJS,

National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, January 31 - February 6.

The theme for the National Catholic Schools Week 2016 is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” Here, all students have the opportunity to learn about and experience the love of God. We are an inclusive community which welcomes and accepts all of our neighbors as sisters and brothers.

SJS has a long history of guiding students through their early years by helping them to learn about God, the world, and themselves so that they can become the person God intends them to be.

Catholic Schools Week is a celebration of Catholic Schools. RI Families of for School Choice will be holding a legislative reception for members of the General Assembly on January 28 at the State House for the purpose of advocating parents right of choice in education. Imagine what this could mean. 

Peace,
Mr. Jim Woodmansee

We did many activities during Advent to prepare for Jesus’s coming.  
Our manger was prepared with our many acts of kindness, through reconciliation and the help of Father Bob.   As a school community, we had an old fashioned Christmas Carol sing-a-long and we learned about St. Nicholas and the traditional tales of old.   We patiently waited to open the gifts of Christmas.  We hope many of you continued to unwrap the joy of the Christmas season which ended on January 6th. 

​Yesterday, the Christmas season concluded with the celebration of Epiphany, the feast of the Magi.  During Mass, our sixth grade students followed the star to the Nativity scene and the gifts of the three wise men were revealed.  Later in the day, our kindergarten class presented a celebration of "Peace throughout  the world and the Light of Jesus".

The Epiphany occurs on the twelfth day of Christmas.  It's name means “manifestation” and it celebrates the day Jesus was revealed as the Son of God.  When the magi adored the infant Jesus and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, it was a sign that Jesus was sent as the Savior of all.