October 24th, 2024
Principal Corner
God speaks to us sometimes in the strangest places. As we get ready to celebrate the Reformation, I learned that when Luther came up with the theological idea that we are justified by faith alone, that he was on the toilet. As I think back to different thoughts that have come to me it is usually when I am not being distracted by other things in my life. I remember having ideas while I was push- mowing yards or in the shower or driving by myself or driving while everyone else was asleep in the car. In order to hear God talking, we need to silence the distractions of the world around us. I can tell you I have never had any inspirational thoughts while watching TV or at a movie, or listening to Country, Rock and Roll or other secular music forms. I have enjoyed those things, but I do not recall any great inspirational thoughts. God comes to us at those strange times when we finally have the noise of the world shut down. It is in those moments when we are able to hear God speaking to us. I believe God speaks to us a lot more than we hear, we just need to quiet our surroundings and our minds to be able to hear God. Find your quiet place, relax, take your bible or devotion and spend time in God’s word, but then also spend time to hear what God may be saying to you.
RSVP for dinner is ENDED - but you can still attend the talk at 3 pm! RECOMMENDED BY PASTOR BJORNSTAD
WEEKLY REMINDERS
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.
Please be mindful and help reduce interruptions. If you arrive at the school - go to the office. We will grab the student or deliver an item or message. You may think it’s just a quick visit or you are doing no harm, but a small view of a visitor causes more disruption than you can imagine. Please be respectful and check in with the office, even if the class or teacher, knows you are coming.
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.
Jacqie leaves for a break between 11:15 & 12:00 every day. Please try to avoid stopping by at those times if you can help it. If you do, please be patient and wait outside while she answers the doorbell and talks to you via the intercom. Sometimes directions need to be given or information needs to be gathered, so please do not expect other staff to open the door for you. They have their own jobs, caring for their students.
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.
Classroom FUN RUN RESULTS
The WINNING Classroom was the 5th Grade!! YAHOO 5th GRADE! They will get treated to a special afternoon for their class in the spring. They averaged raising over $300 per student to earn this coveted prize!
Calling all FB users. We need your help! You will notice that we are beefing up our Facebook presence (Instagram soon) and while we work hard to put the content up, it’s you that can make the REAL difference. When you see TLS posts, please take a minute to LIKE, COMMENT on, or SHARE the content. Every time you engage with our FB page it spreads our message further and further. We have something so special here at Trinity and we want everyone to know about it.
Great Communication Tool + More
A lot of staff and parents love using Procare. It’s a great communication tool AND it serves multiple purposes for staff and behind the scenes tracking. It is the required sign in and out needed for our Childcare/Preschool and our SAC programs. It is a great way to calculate and bill and get other invoices paid from families! It has helped streamline many processes for us. One this it is not, is an EMERGENT messaging system. Please, and this has always been the case, if you have a last minute change or message to get to your children, try to call the school and do not be afraid to leave a message. A Procare message is not an alert system for last minute changes. We want our teachers teaching, not staring at their phones for notifications constantly. We encourage you to use it for everything else.
LOOKING AHEAD
NOVEMBER CALENDARS COMING TO YOU SOON via email.
First A Squad Girls Basketball Practice is Wednesday, October 30th from 3:30-5 pm - pizza provided
Parent - Student Directory is finally finished, sorry for the delay, and will be handed out next week!
Athletic Calendar is UPDATED! We have one for all squads this year. Same one used for Volleyball and Soccer.
End of Quarter - NEXT FRIDAY, Nov 1st! K-4 will also be having their fall parties in the afternoon.
NO BUSES ON NOV 1st - JWP is NOT IN SESSION, therefore there will be NO BUSES running that day.
NO SCHOOL MONDAY, NOV 4th. Teacher Workshop.
Parent Teacher Conferences Tuesday, Nov. 5th, from 3:30-8pm & Thursday, Nov. 7th 3:30 - 6 pm. Sign Up for conferences HERE
Free dental care for students is coming in November. Let’s Smile helps provide dental care and we arrange with them appointments so the students can be evaluated while they are at school! See the flyer below. Forms are due November 6th.
We are in need of B Squad Boys & Cheerleading coach. Please contact us if you are interested in coaching either.
6th-8th Grade Choir Sing in church November 17th
Bulldog Basketball Tournament Concessions - Bulldog Basketball rents our gym during they tournament every year and we provide concessions. During this time, we allow 5th-8th Graders to earn money towards their 8th Grade trip and it allows parents a chance for service hours. We require 2 adults work with 1-3 middle school students for each shift, the point being the students are not running it by themselves. The sign up can be found at the red button - subject to change. Times have not been confirmed.
TEACHER FEATURE
Crows Beware! The Trinity 4th Graders are keeping the residents of the Janesville Nursing Home company with their unique scarecrows. Drive by and check them out!
HELP WANTED
Substitute Teachers: Have you ever considered being a substitute teacher at TLS? We occasionally need A substitute teacher throughout the school year. If you are available during the day and would be willing to be a substitute teacher, we would welcome you, here at TLS.
Requirements: You must have a background check done by our school prior to subbing.
Helpful qualifications: Love working with children, good at following directions, some experience or classes in education, has discernment in understanding when students may be stretching the truth, willing to ask when not sure what to do.
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM: We are seeking team members for our afterschool program! Candidates must be 18 years or older and able to work 2 to 3 days per week. As a program assistant, you'll help students with homework, participate in fun activities, and foster a positive learning atmosphere. The hourly pay is $15, and training is included. If you're enthusiastic about working with children and positively impacting their lives, don't miss out on this opportunity. Apply today and become a valuable member of our committed team!
Librarian Sub - We have a wonderful librarian, Jan Stockman, but she will be gone for a longer amount of time during the winter months. Looking for someone willing to come in once a week to do the library program for our elementary students. She does more than just check out books and would love to see that continue while she is absent. This is a volunteer position.
COLDER WEATHER GUIDELINES
Here are the guidelines we use to determine what the students should wear outside. Be advised that these are guidelines, many things come into play with weather. But being prepared for the cooler weather with layers is always a good day.
Below 55, they need long sleeves
Below 45, they need a sweatshirt or jacket
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.
CHAPEL OFFERING
This month our Chapel Offering goes toward paying to ship Samaritan Purse shoeboxes! More details to come, but this year, we got the premade boxes to fill! We have always in the past, raised money for the cost to ship the boxes $10/box, and then in November we will collect and send them off!
BOXTOPS
Another great, easy way to earn money for our school is through Box Tops! They have a fantastic app for scanning in paper receipts, linking online accounts to add box tops automatically (like Walmart), or submitting online receipts and earning cash for our school! It’s super simple and this week EVERYTHING is double points!
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!
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
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
JANESVILLE COMMUNITY
Click the poster to get the form to fill out! They can also be requested from the office. We need forms turned into the office by Wed, Nov 6th.
