Dear Parents,

I would like to congratulate our basketball team members and all the volunteers or their participation in the annual Napa Invitational Tournament this past weekend. It was a great tournament and a wonderful opportunity for our kids. I would like to especially recognize Bob Hauch for his hard work in putting the tournament together, and for his leadership in running this event! I was most pleased with the attitude and behavior of our kids and fans. It was a wonderful reflection of St. John's Lutheran School!

There is no school this Friday so that our teaching staff can work together on curriculum. We will be working on our Math program,  discussing its strengths and weaknesses, developing a philosophy statement and the component structure of the curriculum, and then writing objectives that incorporate the California standards, the Core Knowledge Sequence, and other standards. We will then determine what resource materials to use to support the written curriculum. I want to thank all those who turned in our Math Questionnaire. We will use those responses in our discussion of our program. In the past year, we have reviewed and revised the curriculum objectives for Reading/Language Arts, Religion, and Physical Education.

1. Napa Invitational Tournament: Big crowds, great volunteers, good weather, and exciting basketball all played a per in last weekend's 16th annual St. John's Napa Invitational Tournament. A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped make this year's event a real success.
   
   On the court, our St. John's girls' team won its ninth consecutive NIT title with a thrilling 42-41 win over Zion, Anaheim. St. Apollinaris took third place and St. John's Catholic won the consolation championship in the girls' division. Zina Zaia was named to the All-Tournament Team and Kelsey Zeller was selected as the tournament MVP for the second straight year.
   
   In the boys' division, St. John's captured third place with a 59-35 win over Zion, Anaheim. St. Apollinaris took first place, and Zion, San Francisco won the consolation championship. Kevin Haugen was named to the All-Tournament Team for the Eagles.
   
   This year's winners of the Paul Gillies Team Sportsmanship Award were St. John's Catholic (Girls) and Faith, Fair Oaks (Boys).
2. Crab Feed: The 7th Annual St. John's Lutheran Crab Feed will be held on Saturday, January 22nd. Doors will open at 5:00 PM with dinner beginning at 5:30. Look forward to enjoying an evening of great food, fellowship and music.
   
   Raffle items: If you have an item which you would like to donate to our raffle, please bring it into the school office by Thursday, January 20th.
   
   $$Tuition Raffle: We are now selling tickets for the tuition raffle. You do not need to be present to win. We have $1,000.00 donated to raffle off toward your tuition payment. Tickets are $10.00 each and may be purchased at the school office or on the night of the Crab Feed.
3. Group Pictures: Yearbook will be taking group pictures on Tuesday, January 18th. Student Council, Yard Duty, and PALS will be taken at 1:15 pm. Music pictures will begin at 1:45 pm - Handbells, Choraliers, Praise Choir, Tone Chimes and Drama.
4. Yearbook: Please turn in your class activity pictures, sporting events, holiday school parties, school community service and anything else, which relates to your child's class to the school office. We would love to get as many events and students included in this year’s yearbook.
   If you are interested in taking pictures for the yearbook, please contact Jill Kusel or put a note in the yearbook box located in the school office. The yearbook committee can provide you with 35mm film.
5. N.C.R. D. Youth Basketball: If you are signing up your son or daughter for the upcoming season, or if you plan to coach a team in the N.C.R.D. Youth League this year, please do so with the understanding that there will be very limited, and probably very irregular practice times available at St. John's. N.C.R.D. provides practice times at Harvest Middle School or other available city sites. Our gym schedule is pretty well filled between our 7-8 school teams and other church and school related activities.
6. PALS: Please remember to sign your child out of PALS. If a sign-out time is not provided, you will be charged as if they were there until 6:00 PM.
7. Tuition Payments: Semester payments are now due. Please be sure to bring your tuition payment into the school office. Monthly tuition payments not received by the 10th of the month will receive a $25.00 late fee.
8. PALS Payments: November and December billings are going out this week. Please be sure to pay them by their payment due date. Late payments will receive a $25.00 fee
9. The Scoop >From Scrip: We are now accepting Visa & MasterCard as payment for your scrip purchases. Stop by and add to your air miles or car points.
   
   We have two new vendors: Shell $25 debit cards which give us 3% and Albertson's, which now has $25 debit cards. The slight "catch" is to NOT use your Community Partners card when using your debit card. Have the cashier use their card. (They don't want us to double dip!) When you buy the debit card you will get full credit toward your scrip commitment. When you use your Community Partners card you get 1/2 credit.
   
   Don't forget your Starbucks card for these cold mornings!!
10. From the Minister to Youth and Children:
    
    4th, 5th and 6th Graders: We meet next Sunday, January 23rd for a fun afternoon of games in the gym. Plan ahead and bring your friends as we gather together for some fun. Hope you can make it on the 23rd!
    
    7th and 8th Graders: Don't forget to join us next Friday, January 21st from 7-9 pm for "The Christmas Party" Night. Yes, I know it's a little late, but who says you can't celebrate Christmas in January? Anyway, we'll be celebrating Christmas by playing some weird and wild games around the theme of Christmas. So invite your friends, dress in Christmas attire (if you want to), and come on down for a great celebration!