Check the flocknotes below for the most up to date information on our return to school in the fall. Our formal Return to Learn Assurances for the Iowa Department of Education can be found on our homepage under COVID 19 or by clicking HERE.

What’s This STO All About? It’s about supporting our kids, particularly those in families who otherwise may not be able to afford a Catholic school education, and making the most of your charitable contribution dollars. If you file an Iowa income tax return, your contributions to the School Tuition Organization (STO) of Southeast Iowa qualify for a 65% tax credit. That means for every $1000 you donate, you receive an Iowa income tax credit of $650, which reduces your Iowa tax bill by $650.
For a maximum cost to you of $350, you are able to provide $1000 in need-based assistance to families! And remember, a gift to the STO may also qualify as a charitable contribution on your federal income tax return if you itemize deductions. Visit www.stoseiowa.org or call St. James School at 319-653-3631 or Steve Roling, STO Executive Director, at (563)391-1845 to learn more.

See the video below for more information on the STO program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtuXYaD-l9k&feature=youtu.be

Per the Return to Learn Committee: 

Our Return to Learn Committee has been monitoring the pandemic situation on a daily basis with the guidance from public health. 

Based upon this guidance, in order to move to temporary virtual learning, there must be a 14 day average community spread of 15-20% AND 10% positive case student absenteeism. Therefore, we will continue to evaluate based upon what is best for St. James School, students, families, and staff. At this time, St. James is healthy and does NOT meet these parameters. We will keep you posted if there are changes to our learning plan.
 

Due to our mitigation strategies in keeping St. James and Washington Community Schools healthy and safe for students, families, and staff, we have incurred some negative effects. One of those effects is teachers having less time to prepare for instruction and for collaboration. The Washington Community School District (WCSD) school board approved first semester calendar changes for five additional early outs allowing for professional development. Our St. James school board has approved that we follow public in adding the following early outs to the first semester calendar:

Friday, November 13 12:55pm dismissal
Friday, December 11 12:55pm dismissal
Friday, December 18 12:55pm dismissal
Friday, January 8, 2021 12:55pm dismissal

During this time, teachers will continue their collaboration with WCSD in special education, professional development in technology specifically SeeSaw, Google Suite (Gmail, Google Classroom), MobyMax, JMC (student information system), and through the Diocese, Basic Faith Formation.

Return to Learn Update

Please see the attached documents. The first one is a letter provided by Washington County Public Health and the second is our updated version of our Return to Learn Onsite Plan. 

NOTE:  This Return to Learn On-Site Plan has been proposed by the Return to Learn Committee and approved by the St. James School Board on August 12, 2020.  We will continue to develop this plan and recognize that additions, corrections, and deletions will be necessary as we progress through the school year. Our next step is to more fully develop our procedures to ensure students continue to receive instruction in the event that students must be in quarantine or isolation pursuant to the rules of the Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Department of Education.  

St. James provides high quality and effective instruction aligned with the Common Core Standards, while guiding students in grades preschool through fifth as they develop into life-long learners of their Christian Faith.