ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
“Let’s make a joyful noise.” Psalm 98:4
“Providing a foundation in Jesus Christ and developing the God-given talents of learning.”
DEAR FRIENDS IN CHRIST:
Thank you for your continued support as we learn and grow in Kindergarten and First Grade. The New Year has proved to be hope-filled and exciting.
Students are currently:
*reading about Jesus’ birth and his adult years.
*practicing short vowels (Kindergarten) and long
vowel words (First Grade).
*practicing our fluency skills
*learning different strategies for addition and
subtraction (i.e. counting on, making a ten,
doubles).
*comparing and contrasting animals.
We look forward to serving you in the New Year. We will be participating in the Faith At Work challenge in April. We hope you can join us as we serve the community.
Mark your calendars for February 24th! Our Kindergarten round-up will be from 6:00-7:00 p.m. If you know of an incoming kindergartener, please invite them to join us. During the month of February, we will be reading “The Water Horse” as a whole school. If you would like to read along with us, please let me know.
Blessings on your new year!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Miller
SECOND AND THIRD GRADE NEWS:
We are off to a great beginning of 2026 and the students are learning all about Kansas as well as our country’s 250th anniversary.
February is a busy month with our field trip to Science City, Jump Rope for Heart, and the addition of one book-one school read aloud this month (a big THANK YOU to our book fairies for providing the books for each family to make this possible).
In reading, we are studying expository texts about our natural world and animals. They are working hard with helping verbs and contractions in grammar and will continue to focus on writing complete sentences with correct punctuation.
In math, the 3rd graders are working hard to multiply and divide while the 2nd graders are doing 3-digit addition and subtraction. Some of my 2nd graders are eager to jump on the multiplication band wagon too and have been listening in while I teach 3rd grade.
In science we will be working on forms of energy and how it is changed.
Physical education will focus on some jump rope skills to pair with Jump Rope for Heart.
In Christ,
Mrs. Howard
FEBRUARY GREETINGS FROM MRS. GREENE
It is hard to believe that we are part way through the third quarter already. The students are looking forward to our Hearts for Jesus Party and our class fieldtrip to Union Station to tour the Titanic Museum and the Museum of Illusions.
We are off to a fast-paced start in English Language Arts classes prepping for our diagramming sentences unit. The 4th-6th grade classes are finishing up their unit over verb types and punctuating titles, while the 7th and 8th grades are identifying the different types of phrases in grammar.
In writing classes, the 4th and 5th grade students are learning about the revision process in writing. The students are starting to work on peer editing to help improve their essays. The 6th-8th grade students are preparing for the Lutheran’s for Life Essay Writing Contest. We are working on how to research effectively and cite our sources.
In history classes, the 6th-8th grades are learning about the Civil War Era, and the 4th-5th grades are preparing to start the Liberty Kids Series over the Revolutionary War. All students are starting to work on their History State Assessment Projects that we will need to complete by March. We started off the third quarter visiting the Alma Library where we learned how to do searches for books over our assessment topics.
All of the art classes are off to a busy start finishing up projects. The 6th-8th grades are in the finishing stages of the Solar System and the 4th-5th grades are creating their own version of a Spanish Mission from our history curriculum.
The ukuleles are going strong, settling back into practicing songs. We sure had a great time in December playing music at Heritage Home for the staff and residents. Charley has kept us busy learning new chords to play for the school’s Spring Fling.
We are off to a great and fun-filled second semester. I continue to pray that all the families of St. John Lutheran School and Church continue to stay healthy during this winter season with all the illnesses going around. Let’s keep making a Joyful Noise unto the Lord…If you listen close enough, you might just hear the joyful noise of ukuleles playing upstairs at school.
In all things trust the Lord,
Mrs. Greene
FROM THE DESK OF MR. ALTEVOGT:
I want to thank the School Board for again putting their faith in me and asking me if I would fill out the year in the fourth through eighth grade classroom and teach Math and Science. More importantly, I am honored that parents are entrusting their children to my leadership.
In math, I’m slowly finding out what concepts the children know and what concepts I need to teach them. Some of the classes are successful with the textbook series published tests, while other classes are more comfortable with “home-made” tests.
In science, the 7th and 8th grade students are continuing their studies in Life Science. The new science curriculum for 4th -6th grades has not arrived yet, and so we are doubling up on Math assignments on a daily basis.
The lessons in Religion for 4th and 5th have moved from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
For PE, the students are working on a basketball unit in January and will be working on jump rope skills in February.
2025 – 2026 SECOND QUARTER HONOR ROLL
These St. John Lutheran School students have received Honor Roll recognition for the 2nd quarter:High Honor Roll (3.99-3.50)
Ivy Anderson (3rd Grade) Sienna Bruning (3rd Grade) Madeline Mayer (3rd Grade) Kylee McClusky (3rd Grade) Logan Haynos (4th Grade) Maggie Hurla (4th Grade) Charlotte Kyle (4th Grade) Kathran McClusky (4th Grade) Lane Seematter (4th Grade) Athena Shedrick (4th Grade) Finnley Bruning (5th Grade) Belle Howard (5th Grade) Reagan Shannon (5th Grade) Brynn Anderson (6th Grade) Kade Mayer (6th Grade) Kooper Runnebaum (6th Grade) Baylee Howard (7th Grade) Allison Hurla (7th Grade) Haley Shannon (7th Grade) Theodore Walton (8th Grade)
Honor Roll (3.49-3.00)
Jace Prater (4th Grade) Clarence Lynch (4th Grade) Sam Hurla (6th Grade) Myke Manor (6th Grade) Owen Falk (7th Grade)
Congratulations and God’s Blessings on your academic accomplishment! Finally, the mission of St. John Lutheran School is to “provide a foundation in Jesus Christ and developing the God-given talents of learning.”
ARK ENCOUNTER/CREATION MUSEUM
The bus is not full YET. There is still room for you to join us. The trip is set for March 16th-19th 2026. Non-student attendees cost: all totals are per person. Hotel, travel, and museum tickets included. No meals included besides hotel meals- breakfast and dinner at hotel - Drury Inn.
Contact us if you are looking for a roommate.
1 person per room - $770 per person
2 people per room - $540 per person
3 people per room - $465 per person
4 people per room - $430 per person
ST. JOHN LUTHERAN SCHOOL
MISSION AND ACCREDITATION
We are accredited by the NLSA (National Lutheran Schools Accreditation) commission and by the KSDE (Kansas Department of Education). Our teachers are highly qualified and seek to meet certification standards for the State of Kansas. The dedication and love, which comes from this staff, show in every area of our instructional and social programs – making St. John Lutheran School a respected and nurturing environment from which children learn and grow into leaders.
We have the great pleasure and honor of emphasizing Christian teachings and activities that develop in our students a strong, secure, and independent child who knows the importance of a faith walk with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This allows Christ’s teachings to guide them in their daily lives.
The academic program at St. John Lutheran School concentrates on allowing children to reach their full academic potential. We continually evaluate our educational programs and will make changes, as needed, to keep our students performing at levels above grade level expectation.
If you would like more information about St. John Lutheran School, please contact us by phone at 785-765-3914 or schoolofficestjohnalma@gmail.com.
2026 LPTL MEETINGS:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.
(A meal and child care are provided.)
DILLON’S COMMUNITY REWARDS: We encourage anyone who is a Dillon’s PLUS card shopper to please take a couple of minutes to sign up for the rewards program. This is a program offered by Dillon’s to give back to local schools. Each time you make a purchase using your PLUS card, a percentage of your sales is donated back to SJLS in the form of cash. There is no extra charge to you, it is simply a donation by the Dillon’s company. Please use the following link to add your PLUS card to the rewards program: www.dillons.com/communityrewards and use the code AU093 to support SJLS.
STOP TO SHOP: St. John Lutheran School now has a Kickback Card at Stop 2 Shop! When you check out, just tell them you would like to use the SJLS Kickback card and then key in 7-8-5-7-6-5-3-9-1-4 (the school’s phone number). It’s so easy…be sure to participate all year long!
In This Month's
St. John Witness
FEBRUARY WITNESS
The Eagle Cry
