A TRADITION OF
FAITH, EXCELLENCE, COMMUNITY

From the Desk of Mr. Black


Dear Saint James Community,


Happy New Year! 2025 has certainly started with a bang, courtesy of Mother Nature. The recent ice and snowstorms in early January presented some challenges, but please know that every decision we made was guided by our commitment to the safety of our parents, staff, and students.


Our school calendar includes two built-in snow days, so only one make-up day is required. To address this, we will utilize Presidents Day on February 17th as a Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) Virtual Learning Day. While we prefer not to rely heavily on NTI days, they are valuable tools that allow us to continue providing quality education and help us maintain our school calendar. We are also developing an NTI platform specifically for use in emergency situations. If further make-up days are needed, May 2nd (Oaks Day) and May 23rd (the Friday following our scheduled last day on May 22nd) are potential options using NTI. Hopefully, we can avoid using these dates.


On a brighter note, our virtue of the month for January is Charity. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the friends and family who contributed to the recent “Snow Angel Challenge.” (Click here to view the Snow Angel Challenge videos: Part 1 and Part 2.) I was once again amazed by the overwhelming generosity shown through the 24-hour raffle sales challenge.  Saint James is truly a remarkable community, and I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of it.  Our raffle is not over, you can still purchase tickets either in person at the school office or online https://sjschoolonline.org/bwk-raffle-tickets/.  The raffle drawing will take place at the Black & White Knight Gala on February 1.  It will be a “Knight to Remember” – I hope to see you there!


Thank you for your continued support and dedication.


Warm regards,


Mr. Patrick Black
Interim Principal