September 26th, 2024
Principal Corner
CHRISTIANITY IN DECLINE
In the 1980’s, 90% of people in the United States claimed to be Christians. By, the year 2000 that percentage of people who claimed to be Chrisitan, dropped to 80%. The percentage of people in the United States who claim to be Christian continues to drop and as of 2021 that percentage was 63%. In this light some may say it is going to be harder and harder to fund a Christian school, which may or may not be true, but to me it shows the need for a Christian School. Not every family will choose Trinity because of it being a Christian school, and that is ok. It gives us the opportunity to tell the wonderful story of Jesus Christ to our students and to their families. We can provide the means for a student’s faith to grow and develop. We can set an example of Christian service and give our students opportunities to live that out in their life each year they attend Trinity. With less people claiming to be Christian the students are going to be interacting with more non-Christians. This means they could be more impacted by non-Chrisitan beliefs. Jesus, before He ascended into Heaven, gave the command to His disciples and so to us. Go and make disciples of all nations. That is why a Christian School is so important. It is the means by which we can make disciples for Jesus Christ.
WEEKLY REMINDERS
FUN RUN forms due by Sept 30th. ALL Money is to be turned in to the students’ teachers along with their green sponsor form, not the office. After the 30th, if you have money to turn in, THEN it can go to the office. We have a system in place for accounting for all the money. Please make sure your child’s lap amount is written on your sponsor sheet. The teachers need their number of laps as well.
Sports games are happening and we LOVE all the volunteers for our home games! Thank you! Come cheer on our Volleyball & Soccer teams and get some Parent Service Hours. Please see the volunteer page under the parents tab or click HERE to sign up.
If you arrive or your children arrive after 8:20, please have them report to the office. We still appreciate them getting signed in with the Procare App but we need a report to the office first. Thankyou.
Make sure you are notifying the school via Procare or email that your child is leaving early ahead of time or will be absent. We can coordinate best and make the most of your time if we can plan ahead. Middle school schedules are very different than they have been so knowing ahead of time will help reduce delays for everyone.
If you are here to pick up your children early or have something to drop off to them, please help minimize interruptions in the classroom by stopping by the office. Same goes with dropping things off for teachers, please stop in the office.
Please wait outside the school until 3:05 pm and have your children come to you EXCEPT for Preschool parents.
Make sure that you are paying Tuition in separate payments from SAC/WAC care. Tuition is reported differently than childcare for taxes. Therefore we ask you do not lump them together when making payments so that we can accurately report your totals at the end of the year. Preschool however, is reportable on taxes as a childcare expense.
LOOKING AHEAD
NEXT WEEK
K-2 Choir SINGS THIS SUNDAY at 10:15 am service
Midterm Report cards coming home for 3rd - 8th Grade
Big Island Rendezvous Field Trip for 6th - 8th Grade on Friday, Oct 4th. Bus LEAVES at 7:25 am
Fun Run Money & Forms ALL Due Monday Sept 30th to your teacher
See calendar below to look ahead even further OR the Google Calendar HERE
HOW TO “SUBSCRIBE” to the School’s Google Calendar & Athletic Calendars
Have you wondered how to make it easier on yourself so that anytime we update a calendar, you have it in the palm of your hand? The school uses Google calendars so that this is possible. Real time updates and you can set reminders for yourself as well! See a nice tutorial on how to get those Google Calendars added to your own to be viewed on your phone or on a computer when viewing your own Google Calendar. NOTE: These are all done via mobile, doing this on your computer does look slightly different.
STEP 1
Find the Calendar you want to have access to and click on the RED BUTTON near the calendar to “subscribe” or add it to your phone/own Google Calendar. OR on the Activities Calendar, in the bottom right, there is a tiny blue plus sign next to “Google Calendar”. NOTE: if you do not use Google Calendars currently, it will have you download the app and/or create a Google Account. This is NOT required, but it is free and very helpful.
STEP 2
A new window will pop up and this is where you will select your Google Account that you want the chosen calendar to sync with or create Google Account.
STEP 3
TADA! It should sync! Just 2 easy steps! If you don’t see it or you want to hide it, you click the 3 stacked lines in the upper left corner while you have Google Calendars open and it will show you all the items or types of calendars you have showing. The TLS Calendars will show up as “Other Calendars” below your personal labels under your account. On a computer, this menu shows up on the left side of the screen automatically.
TEACHER FEATURE
At TLS, we are working on each classroom having a “service” that they provide to the school or the community. For example, 6th Grade does a service to all the students and JWP students by providing Safety Patrol and helping students cross the street safely before and after school. Our 5th Grade’s service is taking care of the flags out front of the school in the morning and afternoon. They all recently learned how to fold the flag properly and to raise them and lower them from Mr. Stockman as well as some pointers from some helpful parents who know a thing or two about the flag and the care it deserves and requires.
BIG THANKS
Thank you our local Cardinal gear retailer for making our Fun Run Shirts! You can stop there anytime to get some great TLS Cardinal gear!
If any adults would like a Fun Run shirt, you can order here, can order until Friday, Sept 27th:
Share Your Photos
We are always on the lookout for photos to put in the yearbook and you could’ve captured a great one! Below are the links to add photos to two of our Google Photo Albums! One for the Fun Run and one for everything else! Please don’t hesitate to share! We can always use more photos in the yearbook! This is for staff and parents!
SAC - School Age Care
Welcome back! We are excited to provide care for your kiddos after school this year. SAC hours are from 3:05-5:30pm. Snack and homework help will be provided daily for kids who are here after 4 pm. When picking up, look for the posted sign on the side sac entrance so you can find our location.
What is SAC? SAC is before and after school care for all students, K-8. (Preschool has a separate before and after program, because they have their own childcare license). If you signed up for it during registration, you are all set! You just need to let us know if your child is a regular or not and we have heard from most of you.
If you did not sign up for SAC, here some more information:
AM SAC - just give us a heads up you’ll be using it and show up! AM SAC is from 7:00 am - 7:45 AM. Enter through the gym doors and please sign your child in using the Procare App. ALL students should enter through the gym doors if at school before 8:10 am.
PM SAC - We are available, but because it is after school, with limited staff, we still need to be in a safe student/adult ratio. We request, wherever possible, it be asked about your child getting added to PM SAC a week prior so we can ensure to have enough staff, deadline the Friday before the week you request your child to attend. We do understand that some things happen last minute and we will always try to accommodate. Please check with the school office before you send your child to SAC.
ON THE LOOK OUT
WE NEED KEYBOARDS
Looking for some more small, portable keyboards (piano) for the piano lessons that Mrs. Ziemke is providing to our 4th Grade Class. Contact the school please if you have any or know of anyone that does! Thank you!
Hy-Vee Receipts
Earn money for your school by keeping and dropping off your Hy-Vee receipts! They can only be dated 9/1/24-6/1/25. They can only be from the two Mankato locations. More information and frequently asked questions about what is accepted by clicking on the Hy-Vee logo. For the 2023-2024 School year, we earned just over $400 because of Hy-Vee Receipts! That money goes to the school and activities for the students!
NEW THIS YEAR!
NWEA Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) Testing will take place on and off from September 16-27 for grades K-8. Please be sure your children have healthy breakfasts and adequate sleep. A pep talk about not rushing and reading through the questions carefully would also be appreciated!
MAP Testing presents students with engaging, age-appropriate content. As a student responds to questions, the test responds to the student, adjusting up or down in difficulty. As students answer a question correctly, they get a question of higher difficulty. If the students do not correctly answer the question, the next question will be a little lower in difficulty. Through this process, we will get a better idea of what the student knows. This results in a rewarding experience for the student, and a wealth of detailed information for teachers, parents, and administrators.
UPCOMING EVENTS!!! See Calendar below! You can also check out the Google Calendar under Parents > School Calendar to subscribe.
Parent Service Hours
Trinity Lutheran School would not run or function without our families and all your hard work! We strive on showing our students a great work ethic and a drive to help and volunteer! Because of this, we ask that each family completes 10 hours of volunteer hours throughout the school year (if you only have a child in the Preschool, we only ask you complete 5 hours). Many events put on by PTL, Athletics and just helping around at the school provide plenty of opportunity to help out! Please don’t hesitate to check out the volunteer page on the website: https://seal-leopard-8yt2.squarespace.com/volunteer
NEED VOLUNTEER HOURS???
CHECK HERE
PTL SPONSORED UPCOMING EVENTS
Fall Festival, October 12th from 12-3pm. PTL will be serving a meal plus games which include balloon darts, 3-legged race, and cakewalk. Please see the Sign-Up Genius for ways you can help make this a fun event for the kids...more details to come.
Feed the Farmer, November 3rd from, 10-12pm, we are looking for those that can help get 2 Thrivent cards.
Meal for Parent/Teacher Conferences, November 5th. The teachers have a long day that first day of conferences which doesn't allow time to have a decent meal. We are looking for a few people to make a dish.
Please see the Sign-Up Geniuses which are located on the school's website under Parents and then Volunteer.
If you are able to help or have any questions, please contact Tina Schoenfeld.
Email: trinityjanesvilleptl@gmail.com
