NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents,
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer spending time with family and friends. On behalf of our faculty and staff of Saint John Bosco Catholic School, I’d like to welcome you to the 2021-22 school year!
To begin, I would like to thank Mrs. Anita Petitti for her guidance and support during this transition in leadership. Her willingness to share her wisdom and experience with me during the summer has been a true blessing and her legacy will continue to guide me throughout the years. I am incredibly excited to begin our 2021-22 school year as your new principal and sincerely appreciate your continued support.
We are all very eager to see your children on August 11 to begin another fabulous year of learning and growing! This is a uniquely exciting time for our community as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary and welcome parents and volunteers back on campus. We have many fun events planned, so be sure to read the Bulldog Bite in its entirety each Friday beginning in August so you don’t miss anything.
We have been busy this summer making adjustments to enhance the safety, learning environment, and quality of education for all learners. Masks are optional at this time, although, depending on the virus, our school is prepared to make adjustments as needed to maintain the safety of our students and staff. When entering campus, all parents and visitors must enter through the school office or front gate. The north gate may only be used for ESP after school hours.
I am also happy to announce that our sixth grade will now rotate between the two 6th grade teachers. Our Junior High will consist of 7th and 8th grades. This model allows for more instructional time for all students in each academic area. More wonderful news is that as our enrollment continues to grow, so does our faculty and staff! Please meet our 2021-2022 Faculty:
Preschool 3-year-olds: Krissy Bileski & Nicole Hoffman
Preschool PreK: Karen Rizzo & Sharon Faccenda
Kindergarten: Brenna McLean & Rachel Barone
1st Grade: Kari Czerniski & TBA
2nd Grade: Jena Gump & Jennifer Opdahl
3rd Grade: Rebecca Daniel & Laura Jean Curley
4th Grade: Naneth Perezchica
5th Grade/Preschool Director: Jennifer Vanderzyl
6th Grade: Josilyn Tan, Lang. Arts/Social Studies & Nicole Camou, Math/Science
7th Grade: Melanie Del Grosso, Jr. High Math
8th Grade: Kelly Rafford, Jr. High Social Studies & Amy Pratt, Jr. High Science
Jr. High Language Arts: Sandra Heffron
P.E.: Brett Caradonna
Resource: Anne Iniguez
Library: Theresa Harvey
STEM/ IT Director: Hogan Macdonald
Music: TBA
Counselor: TBA
Our new teachers can’t wait to meet all of you at Meet the Teacher Night. Until then, please view this short introductory video.
Jamie Bescak, Principal
Do everything in love.
SCHOOL NEWS
Save the Dates!
Mark your calendars for important back-to-school events:
Wednesday, July 28, 5:30 PM - New Family Night
Monday, August 9, 3:00 - 5:00 PM - Meet the Teacher Day
Wednesday, August 11, 7:45 AM - 3:00 PM - First Day of School for all students
Wednesday, August 18, 6:00 - 7:30 PM - Curriculum Night
New Family Night
We welcome our new families to join us for an informational event to prepare them for the first days of school. Our SAB, PTO, and Dads’ Club representatives will be present if you would like to find ways to be more involved in our community. Used Uniforms and Anton Uniforms will also be available for purchase as well as Spirit Wear from Gold Crown Promotions and Marianne's Creations. Please join us promptly at 5:30pm in the multi-purpose room (MPR).
Extended School Program (ESP)
All students are automatically enrolled in our Extended School Program (ESP) to allow the convenience for parents to have after-school care for their children at any time. ESP will be provided after school M - TH, 3:00pm - 6:00pm and Friday 12:30 - 6:00pm. Please send a snack with your child as snacks are not provided.
Important: Please make note of the following dates when ESP will not be offered:
October 7th
November 24th
December 15th & 16th
March 3rd
April 14th
May 26th
Summer Office Hours
The school office will be closed July 5 - 11 and reopen on Monday, July 12.
July office hours are Monday - Thursday, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm; closed on Fridays.
August office hours are Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 3:30pm.
For your convenience, links to websites, contact information, and the new school year calendar may be found at the end of this newsletter.
Material Drop-Off for Virtual Students
If you missed our drop-off date, please return your Chromebook and materials ASAP to avoid a charge to your FACTS account. We will be open Monday - Thursday, July 12 - 30, 8am - 2pm; closed on Fridays.
Classroom Supply Lists
Click on your child's grade level below to see their respective supply lists:
School Uniforms
We are looking forward to celebrating our 20th Anniversary this year! Anton Uniforms has designed a NEW T-shirt for our school P.E. uniform. Students may opt to continue wearing our current P.E. shirt for the 2021-22 school year if they choose. Gold Crown Promotions will continue to sell apparel on our website, and Marianne’s Creations will also sell spirit wear -- both on our soon-to-be-updated Spirit Shop tab located under the Parent section.
New this year: Students will be allowed to wear any SJB t-shirt every Wednesday with uniform bottoms for Spirit Day!
Financial Assistance 2021-2022 School Year
If you are interested in learning more about Student Tuition Organizations and using Tax Credits to pay your tuition, please click the link to sign up for one of Arizona Tuition Connection's “Introduction to Tax Credit” Zoom meetings. The information is presented in an easy-to-understand format and they offer many useful tools that will make gathering your tax credits successful. Further, they will offer virtual coaching sessions on Monday and Wednesdays throughout the summer.
We are doing everything we can to make Catholic education affordable for everyone; it’s just a click away on your part!
The Scrip Shop will be closed during the month of July and reopen when school starts. However, you can still earn Scrip credit all summer long by using the RaiseRight app for electronic purchases wherever you are! Please visit the Scrip page on the SJB website for instructions to register for the RaiseRight app and general Scrip information.
In an effort to maximize fundraising profits, the Scrip window will accept cash or check only for purchases at the window, beginning in August. Your understanding is appreciated as credit card machines charge the school a percentage to use. You may, however, continue to use your credit card or bank account for purchases made through the RaiseRight app.
To support our streamline to electronic purchases through the app, we will be removing the Formstack option. You may still place orders for any physical cards we have on hand by sending an email to sjbscrip@sjbosco.org or visiting the Scrip window.
Thank you for your understanding as we continue to improve the process and maximize the benefits our school receives. We look forward to seeing you when school starts!
Katie Savoy
St. John Bosco Catholic School Scrip Office
(480) 219-4848 x5108
Volunteer Opportunity
Please contact Amy Molina if you are interested in volunteering with Art Masterpiece this school year. This is a great opportunity for parents and grandparents to volunteer in their child’s classroom. Absolutely no experience necessary!
Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)
We are pleased to announce Erica Seidel will be our 2021-22 PTO President. If you would like to join SJB’s dynamic PTO, please send an email to Erica at ptosjb@sjbosco.org or join the group at the first PTO meeting of the year on Tuesday, July 27th at 6:00pm in the SJB Science Lab.
New SAB
Please welcome our new School Advisory Board (SAB) for the 2021-2022 academic year. These volunteers work behind the scenes alongside the school administration to advance the common good of all students, promote academic excellence, and promote the good news of our school.
Brian Wiscombe - President
Marianne Biegler - Vice President
Cheryl O’Malley - Secretary
Molly Goins - Board Member
Judea Oyer - Board Member
Natalie Petersen - Board Member
Marc Rivas - Board Member
Erica Seidel - Board Member
PARISH NEWS
St. Benedict Parish Youth Ministry
Please click below to see all the exciting summer events of our dynamic Youth Ministry at St. Benedict Parish: St. Benedict Youth Ministry Summer Calendar of Events
Declutter and Help St. Benedict Parish
If your spring cleaning is way overdue, St. Benedict Parish will gladly take your no-longer-needed items for their donation drive. Bring your items to the Goodwill Store on 32nd St. & Chandler Blvd. Saturday, August 21, 10am - 2pm. Bring this flyer (or mention St. Benedict) to effortlessly contribute to St. Benedict Parish and declutter your home and yard at the same time. See two flyers linked below for more details.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook
Stay up to date on classroom happenings by following us on Instagram @sjbbulldogs or Facebook@stjohnboscocatholicschool. We also encourage families to tag SJB on any photos or videos they post of their child(ren) from their personal social media accounts.
Not Receiving The Bite?
The weekly Bulldog Bite is our primary method of disseminating important school-related information. If you know someone who is not receiving this newsletter, please refer them to the editor to be added to the list. An even easier way is to TEXT the word Bulldog to 84576 to be immediately added to the EMAIL distribution list.
Until August …
Below are helpful links to information:
School Website: https://sjbosco.org/
School Calendar: https://sjbosco.org/calendar
Faculty & Staff Contacts: https://sjbosco.org/faculty-staff
School Lunch Program: https://sjbosco.org/school-lunch
Parish Website: https://stbenedict.org/
The Bulldog Bite: Teri Pistacchio Aguiar, editor
