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
“Endure” Hebrews 12:1-3
“Providing a foundation in Jesus Christ and developing the God-given talents of learning.”
I want to first thank you all being a part of the SJLS family for the 2025-26 school year. I’m confident you will see that it is an awesome place to be! We have been blessed with tremendous growth, our SJLS family has doubled over the past six years. There are 60 students from 30+ families with a number of cousins and even an uncle and nephew! God has truly blessed the efforts of our staff, our boards, the congregation and the work of our parents to promote Christian education at SJLS.
I am taking a different approach to math classes this year. I have focused on one topic each day in each of my two classes (4-5 and 6-8). We begin by spending 20-30 minutes on the concept. Next, we spend 15-20 minutes practicing the skill at the appropriate grade level by using IXL. The remainder of the class is spent on a lesson from our Saxon Math books which cover a variety of topics within each lesson. Early testing (Fast Bridge) is very encouraging with 65% (15 of 23) of the students raising their score from the 24-25 school year and 87% (20 of 23) scoring within a point or two of last year’s levels without showing a dip due to the common summer losses! We will test again in the winter and spring for a total of three testing windows.
Science classes are dominated by life science topics. Fourth and fifth grades are focused on our incredible new greenhouse! Thank you for the tremendous gift and the time spent bringing my dream of a greenhouse to life. We hope to have radishes, onions and spinach by the end of October and possibly summer squash, peas and several types of lettuce before the cold shuts us down in early November. I hope to start some composting this fall and include K-1 and 2-3 on the project. Sixth through eighth are studying a broader biology curriculum starting with cells and life processes within the cells – photosynthesis, cellular respiration and adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Look for information in the bulletin about Our Ark Encounter/Creation Museum Trip. We had an informational meeting with parents and anticipate having room for 30 to 40 guests to join us. Pricing options are in Worship and Spiritual Nurture, and will be placed as bulletin inserts in October. We need firm commitments by the October 15.
Mr. Butler, SJLS Principal
MRS. MILLER, KINDERGARTEN & FIRST GRADE
“God cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Kindergarten has been learning and exploring the skill of reading letters and sounds. We’ve explored numbers 1-9 and have started to write letters. We will start learning teen numbers next. We hope to be half-way through the alphabet by the end of October.
First graders are working on reading fluency, writing sentences, and adding single digits. They will continue to work on reading fluently through October. Social studies has led us to a deep dive of rules and laws. In science, we have completed our sound unit and are moving to nutrition. We will have Miss Burnadette from the Wabaunsee County K-State Research and Extension office during our science lessons this month and next month to teach us about nutrition, exercise, and hand washing. The students love being active and learning about how to fuel their bodies.
Upcoming events and units include: Camp Read- A-Lot, National Fire Prevention Week, fluency goals, and our Veteran’s Day Chapel. Students will be singing at Veteran’s Day Chapel on November 11th and in church on Sunday, November 30th.
Student council and choir will begin soon. It will likely be the first week of October before we get started.
Thank you for your support and gifts.
Blessings,
Mrs. Mindy Miller
HAPPY FALL!
Second and third graders are very busy this month with switching from review to new topics! In math, we will begin geometry with 3rd graders while continuing to expand understanding of addition in 2nd grade.
In reading, we will be working with biographies, and when we have shortened weeks due to teacher conferences, we will take a small break to study the fairy tale story structure of "The 3 Little Pigs." The students have made amazing progress in their sentence writing skills, so we will be working to write our own versions of a fairy tale as well.
The students have mastered continents and oceans, and we are moving on to read generalized maps of different areas now, using compass roses.
In science, we are working on the life cycle and are thankful to have tadpoles from the extension office in our room! We hope to squeeze in a trip to the buffalo ranch if the weather cooperates.
We look forward to our harvest parties this month and thank everyone who donated or shopped our garage sale last month. Don't forget to add the Pork Chop supper and Silent Auction to your calendar on November 15th!
In Christ,
Mrs. Howard
MRS. GREENE'S CLASS NEWS
FALL, one of my favorite seasons, will be here before we know it.
In Language Arts, the 4th-6th grade students are busy learning to identify simple, compound, and complex sentences. The 7th and 8th grade students are reviewing the different parts of speech and will be focusing on prepositions, contractions, and interjections. In reading, the 4th and 5th grade students are reading fairy tales and realistic fiction texts. We have been working on identifying the main idea and problems and solutions in a story. The 6th-8th grades are learning about conflict in the story and completing a story plotline.
In writing classes, the students are busy working on improving their penmanship and cursive writing skills. Currently all of the writing classes have finished learning about character traits, the setting, and the plot of a story. We are getting ready to learn about the theme in a story.The 4th and 5th grade students are excited to be participating in the Lutheran Pen Pal writing program. We are excited to start receiving letters in late October or early November.
In social studies, the 4th and 5th grade classes are getting ready to learn about different Native American Tribes in the United States. The 6th-8th grades are learning about the Renaissance Period.
In art classes, the 4th-8th grades are learning about the principle of lines and depth illusion artwork. The 4th and 5th grade classes visited the Art and Light Museum in Manhattan recently and really enjoyed the experience. They also visited Wildcat Vet Clinic to learn about what a veterinarian does. The students enjoyed learning about the different aspects of a career in veterinary medicine.
The 4th-8th grade classes are looking forward to our next field trip to Kansas City Sea Life Aquarium in mid-October to explore sea life. The 4th and 5th grades will be taking the “Sea Defender” class, and the 6th-8th grades will be taking the “Habitat Explorers” class.
The students are all enjoying the start of a great school year, and the 4th and 5th grades are enjoying learning how to play the ukulele together. We are making some joyful noises learning to play songs to glorify our Lord. Thank you to the dedicated music staff and all their volunteer time to make this happen.
In all things, trust the Lord
Mrs. Greene
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 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.
LUTHERAN PARENT TEACHER LEAGUE
WAYS TO SUPPORT
ST. JOHN LUTHERAN SCHOOL
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.)
WAMEGO MATCH DAY:
When: Thursday, October 2, 2025
Time: 7:00am – 7:00pm in person; 12:01am – 11:59pm online
11:59pm online Where: Iron Clad, 427 Lincoln Ave., Wamego, KS
PORK CHOP SUPPER & SILENT AUCTION LPTL FUNDRAISER:
When: Saturday, November 15. 2025
Time: 4:30pm – 7:00pm, Dinner & Silent Auction
Where: St. John Lutheran Church, Memorial Hall, 218 West 2nd St., Alma, KS
218 West 2nd St., Alma, KSMenu: Pork chop, scalloped potatoes, green beans, roll, and dessert. Dine in or to go.
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!
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.
In This Month's
St. John Witness
OCTOBER WITNESS
The Eagle Cry
