Lion Line OP - March 2025

This school year is quickly escaping us. It has been great to see the growth in our scholars, academically, intellectually, and physically.

February was a whirlwind of activities and March has much on the horizon to appreciate as well. Thank you for the Lions Have Heart support, your efforts have been an added blessing for a family in need; shirts are still available and may be worn as part of Spirit Day wear.

Many hearts were touched with gifts of love via flowers, candy, and cards through our Valentine's Day Grams as well.

The Clay County Elementary Track Meet was an awesome event. It was a great turnout of parents and family members to watch our scholars compete in a variety of events, and our scholars performed admirably. (See pictures below).

Our spelling bee champion, Savannah, competed well in the Clay County District School's Spelling Bee, being one of the final 12 on stage out of 32 students who started; and this as a 5th grader.

As mentioned earlier in these notes, your scholars have grown "physically" as well. The physical growth of our scholars is evident as they continue to outgrow their beginning-of-the-year uniforms. Give an honest assessment of your scholar's current uniforms and gauge them against requirements listed in the Family and Scholar Handbook. Additionally, if you have a KG-1st grade scholar, please help them tuck their shirts in at the beginning of the day. Unfortunately, they have not developed that skill yet and we are unable to help in that area. Parents will be called for scholars out of uniform dress code to either bring a change of clothes or pick up the scholar.

Please review the Lion Lion and take advantage of some of the many fun activities listed for the month of March.

Thanks for your continued support, and as always, Go Lions!

To follow the Clay County School District schedule and increase instructional time after weather-induced cancelations, the SJCA Board of Directors voted to make April 11, also known as Fair Day, a regular school day. We understand some families have made plans, as a result, absences on this day will be excused.

On Friday, February 28 we announced our Teacher of the Year and our Support Staff of the Year. We'd like to extend our congratulations to:

Sylvia Mencner: Teacher of the Year

Ana Luisa DeAraujo: Support Staff of the Year

We had the privilege of hosting a special dinner last Friday night to honor all of the wonderful teachers and staff on both our campus and Fleming Island's. The winners were nominated by their peers and selected by our leadership team after completing individual interviews.

If you see our Teacher of the Year or Support Staff of the Year on campus, please feel free to congratulate them for a job well done.

Parents, we need your help in a couple of areas.

First, OPPD has reached out regarding cars standing in the bike lane on Kingsley prior to entering our campus. There have been recommendations of using a staggered dismissal for scholars or OPPD involvement with those in the carline to rectify the violations. I ask you help by delaying your arrival or circling around until the line decreases and you can enter campus without standing in the bike lane.

Another aspect of this process is to ensure our scholars are ready to speedily exit or enter the cars during carline; scholars should be able to exit without parents getting out their vehicle.

We are close to getting our carpool line back in operation, which should be a big help.

More than anything, we want to be good neighbors to the community.

On March 4, Big Smiles Dental will visit our campus.

Top quality care is provided by local, licensed dentists in the familiar surroundings of our campus. Dental care includes a complete exam, x-rays, cleaning, fluoride, and sealants when necessary, and in some cases, restorative care such as fillings.

Parents can visit www.MySchoolDentist.com and complete the form to allow their scholar to be seen by the in-school dentist. Forms must be submitted by March 3.

Please note: The dentist will only see those who request an appointment via the completed form.

The clinic is in need of black crew socks and size 5-7 boys and girls underwear to help our young scholars when they have accidents.

Class pictures will be taken by Leonard's on Wednesday, March 5. To order, please see the information below.

The final test for Spanish will be on the week of March 31-April 4th.

Students will be able to have their own folders with them. This will be the entry ticket for the test day.

The topics will be: colors, shapes, school supplies, objects in the classroom, numbers 1-60, family members, parts of the house, days of the week, months of the year, and body/face parts.

If your scholar is currently in sixth grade, we invite you to a parent information night to discuss what next year looks like. We'll meet in the cafeteria.

Mr. Guy is hosting a Run/Walk Club on campus, beginning March 10. If your scholar is interested in joining, please email byron.guy@stjca.org.

Please note, if scholars in K-2 want to join, a parent must be present.

Join us for an evening of adventure in Wonderland! Come masqueraded as your favorite character from our literary classics.

Registration is open on MySchoolBucks. The deadline to register is March 4.

Scholars, this is your time to shine! Family and friends will watch scholars put their talents on display!

Scholars may participate in the Talent Showcase and Silent Auction in two ways:

• Talent Showcase: The stage is yours! Show us what ya got!
• Silent Auction: Have an artistic side? Let us see! Submit your art for the Silent Auction!

Scholars may participate in both the Talent Showcase and Silent Auction.

A maximum of two pieces per scholar may be submitted for the Silent Auction.

Important Dates to Know

• March 5: Mandatory Talent Act Review for the Scholar Showcase, 1:00-3:00pm
• March 12: Silent Auction Items Due
• March 24: Artwork for Scholar Showcase Due
• March 26: Mandatory Dress Rehearsal for Scholar Showcase
• March 27: Inaugural Scholar Talent Showcase and Silent Auction

Cost of admission: Minimum $5 cash donation at the door.

SJCA-FI would like to invite scholars to an upcoming camp, clinic, and tryouts.

Tiny Lions Cheer Camp

The Roaring Lions will host a cheer camp the week of March 24 for scholars in grades K-5. The cost to participate is $55, which should be paid via MySchoolBucks. (The QR code will take you to MySchoolBucks to pay).

Participants will practice on March 24 and March 25 at the Fleming Island campus and will perform at the soccer game on March 27 at the Orange Park campus. Each Tiny Lion Cheerleader will receive a t-shirt and bow with their entry fee.

Cheer Clinic

If your scholar is interested in joining next year's cheer team, please sign up for the cheer clinic on April 15. The event is open to scholars in grades 5 and 6.

Cheer Try Outs

Cheer Try Outs will take place on April 28 and 29; both days are mandatory. Scholars in grades 5 and 6 are welcome to try out. Note, try outs are for the 2025-26 team and practices are held on the Fleming Island campus.

If you haven't done so already, you can order a yearbook. Information to order is below.

Faculty and staff are not permitted to accept cash or check for lunch.

When sending lunch money in with your scholar, please instruct them to either:

✅ Bring it to the lunch staff during their lunch (for immediate deposit to account) or;

✅ Drop it in the Lunch Money slot in the wall outside the administrative offices (allow up to 72 hours for deposit to account). Be sure to include your scholar's name on the envelope/baggie!

Addition lunch information:

✅ If you need or want to set limits on spending, please contact Lunch@stjca.org.

✅ To view your lunch account(s) and add funds, please visit: http://www.myschoolbucks.com/.

✅ If you would like to check your eligibility for Free/Reduced Lunch, please click HERE.

SJCA Fleming Island would like to invite you to the Lucky Lion Color Run on March 12. Please note, this event will now begin at 2:00pm on the Orange Park Campus.

The registration fee of $35/participant includes a t-shirt and a medal. Parents are invited to run too.

To register, please pay the fee on MySchoolBucks and then click the link below to register your runner.

Grades K-1 ~ One lap run

Grades 2 and up ~ Two mile run

Food and concessions will be on site for purchase.

Points of Contact: Coach Sage: matthew.sage@stjca.org or Mrs. Cosme: anamaria.cosme@stjca.org.

Proceeds will benefit the SJCA FI Athletics Department and the SJCA FI National Honor Society.

SJCA-FI would like to invite you to a special dance. The Father Daughter Dance will take place on March 29. Please register via MySchoolBucks.

Some of our scholars in grades 4, 5, and 6 participated in a county-wide track meet on February 22. Congrats to these athletes who represented our school well.

As a special Valentine's Day activity, first graders counted and listed the number of "chocolates" in the "box."

Fourth graders made African masks in a recent class as they discussed the culture and the use of these elaborate masks.

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