Mask Mandate
​August 4th, 2021, Governor Pritzker announced that all non-public and public K-12 schools are required to mask while in the school building. Every student, staff member, parent, and visitor must wear a mask in our building regardless of vaccination status. The Governor has stated that as the numbers of infections fall, layers of mitigations can be removed.  My prayer is that the COVID-19 numbers lessen and that the mask mandate is removed later in the school year. 

Sports: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) All-Sports Policy will require masks to be worn for all indoor SIJHSA athletic events regardless of an individual’s vaccination status. This mask directive for indoor athletic events applies to student-athletes, coaches, officials, game personnel, and fans.
This masking mandate applies to all SIJHSA fall sport practices and contests that are conducted indoors. The masking directive also applies to any winter or spring SIJHSA sports that may be conducting open gyms indoors.
At this time there are no restrictions to scheduling or spectator limitations as a result of the Governor’s announcement, nor are there any changes to the SIJHSA calendar for any sports.

Masks: The Executive Order from Governor Priztker on August 4, 2021, mandates that all students, staff, parents, and visitors be masked in all preK-12 school buildings. Appropriate social distancing, face coverings, enhanced sanitation measures, and other accommodations will be necessary to ensure the safety of students, staff, and their families.
Students, staff, parents, and visitors must wear a face covering when in the building.  Face masks or gaiter masks must fit over the nose and mouth and may not contain inappropriate messages or logos. 
Individuals wearing an unapproved face mask will need to remove it and wear an approved face mask. T-SJ will have extra masks that will be offered to those wearing unapproved masks or those that do not have a face covering. 
Disciplinary action will be taken under non-compliance for students who do not follow the masking procedure.

T-SJ Families, 
I pray this summer is going well for each of you! We are finishing up the 20-21 school year and working hard to prepare for the 21-22 school year. School supply lists and the 21-22 calendar are posted on the T-SJ website as well as in Sycamore. Please register your child online before August 2nd. Registration includes verifying that we have your correct information entered in Sycamore and updating any new information. This means more accurate records and less paperwork for all of us! 

Please read through the following instructions and contact the school office if you have any questions. 
Registration
Go to the enrollment portal here: https://app.sycamoreschool.com/admissions/index.php?schoolid=3206
You will be required to log in using your Sycamore username and password. If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it.  Once logged in you will see a few different tabs. Make sure to click update or submit at each tab to save your information.
Checklist: A list of requirements to complete this summer.
Information: Update family information and choose to exclude specific details from the family directory. 
Contacts: You can edit current and add additional contacts.
Medical: Please provide medical office information in case of an emergency.
Documents: Here you can download any documents you may need for back to school. These are also available at tsjlutheran.org and in the school office.
Agreements: Indicate agreement/ permission for field trips, photography release, etc. 
Students: Change the status to New/ Returning and edit student information and click on “Information Verified”. You can also add new students in your family in this tab.
Medical Information: On the left hand side of the screen find your student’s name and click on “Medical Information.” Here you will need to update any medical needs your student may have. 
After updating all required information, return to the Home page and click “Submit Application.” 

We will use this space to provide the T-SJ community with updates on COVID-19 data and for making notifications regarding new cases. Please know that we are in regular communication with the Washington County Health Department and use their guidance to help us make decisions. As a reminder, the Illinois Department of Public Health defines "close contact" as someone who is within 6 feet of you for 15 cumulative minutes. This information will always be used when administration conducts contact tracing after the confirmation of a positive case. This page will be updated regularly as data changes or when additional notifications are needed.

Here is the data that pertains to individuals affiliated with T-SJ:
TOTAL ACTIVE CONFIRMED POSITIVE TESTS: 0
TOTAL STAFF/STUDENTS CURRENTLY ON QUARANTINE ORDERS: 0
(This number includes individuals affiliated with TSJ who are on quarantine orders for both school-related and non-school related COVID-19 contact. It does not include those who are quarantined after testing positive.)
TOTAL NUMBER OF CONFIRMED POSITIVE TESTS SINCE AUGUST 12: 8

Our overall goal is to maintain in-person learning for five days per week as long as it is safe to do so. We are committed to keeping our families and staff safe. We are working closely with the Washington Country Health Department, closely monitoring our data, and making decisions that focus on everyone's safety.

If you have any questions regarding COVID-19 issues here at school, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Mrs. Kurtz, Principal 618-327-8561 principal@tsjlutheran.org

Due to Nashville high school and public grade school bus schedules T-SJ will be dismissing Kindergarten- Eighth grade students at 2:00 p.m. each day. All day PreK students have the option of staying until 2:55 p.m. Please communicate with Mrs. Mueller if you would like your child to stay until 2:55 p.m. or if they will be going home at 2 p.m.  

Due to the shortened day grades 5-8 will not have their regularly scheduled Art, Music and Study Hall times.  

We do look forward to offering K-8 students extra assistance and/ or study time from 2:00 - 2:55 p.m on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week, if they would like it. Of course, teachers are available until 3:15 all days if a student or parent has a question. If your student needs to stay after school until 2:55, you would need to sign them up and let their teacher know that they will be staying. Then, the student would go to the teacher on duty's classroom for study time and additional help after dismissal. Social distancing and masks will be required. Students would be picked up at the normal car line area at 2:55 p.m. Details on how to sign up will be provided after school begins.

Currently the schedule is: 

K-4 after school study room: 
Monday, Mrs. Backs
Tuesday, Mrs. Eubanks
Thursday, Mrs. J. Lange

5-8 after school study room:
Tuesday, Mrs. Wesseln
Thursday, Mr. Renth 

Staffing Changes:

Mrs. Deb Lange will be unable to be in the classroom with us this year. We will miss her greatly and are extremely thankful that she will still be able to be our Technology and Yearbook Coordinator.  I get the honor of teaching Second Grade Language Arts and Math in addition to being Principal and teaching 7th grade Math. I am excited to get to be in the classroom in the mornings and look forward to another wonderful year at T-SJ!

We welcome Michele Boester to TSJ as our new custodian. Michele is a member of St. John's New Minden and also works as the cook at Trinity Hoyleton. Also joining our staff as teacher aids are: Mrs. Dana Haertling and Mrs. Lindsey Langenfeld. I am very excited to have each of these wonderful ladies as part of our TSJ family! 

Please join us virtually on Sunday August 9th at 3p.m. for our Back to School Celebration Service! The service will be shared on T-SJ's Facebook page at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Monday, August 10th, grades 1-8 will have parent meetings. One parent from each household should attend. Meetings will be held in their student's classroom. Grades 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 have two meetings to choose from to help families with more than one child. Grade 3 will meet at 6 and Grade 4 meets at 7 p.m. 
Grades 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will meet at 6 p.m.
Grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will meet at 7 p.m. 
Our first day of school will be Wednesday August 12th from 8-2p.m. We are so excited to see each of our students. Parents of students in grades 1-8 are not allowed to walk in the school building. Students will need to walk to their classrooms on their own and should enter through the gym doors. Students in PreK and Kindergarten may have a parent or caregiver walk them to their classroom door, however they should enter through the glass doors on the North side of the building. Anyone entering the building will have their temperature taken and will not be allowed to enter if they have a fever of 100.4 or higher. 
Our school opens at 7:30 a.m. each day and students will go directly to their classrooms after having their temperature taken and washing their hands. There will be no walk and talk offered at this time. 
Please contact me at principal@tsjlutheran.org or at 327- 8561 if you have any questions or concerns. 
in Christ, 
Mrs. Kurtz

We are so grateful to be able to be together again this fall! I know that many things will look different and our experiences will be different. Our mission will not change. We are partners in Christ, instructing for life and equipping for eternity. Our goal of sharing God's love with our students and families is the same.  I am so grateful to be partners with you, our TSJ families and friends. 
As of July 1, 2020 the following plan is what we are presently planning to do as we re-open school. This plan follows the CDC and Illinois Department of Education guidelines.  We all know that this situation is fluid and our plan may change as guidelines change. 
As August 12th gets closer, I encourage you to talk to you child in a positive way about the changes: wearing a mask, social distancing when possible, taking temperatures, etc. We will do everything we can to help you and your children be comfortable. 
We are praying for our TSJ family and look forward to seeing you all in August. 
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 
in Christ,
​Mrs. Kurtz