By Kandice Kimmel, Latin & History, 5th-8th

St. James Day School has always had a  reputation in our community of high academic success. But how? It really is a pretty simple formula. Relationships + learning style + fostering a passion of learning = successful, life long learners! 

Relationships are important between the teacher and each student, and also the parents and the teacher. At SJDS, it is a team effort to meet each child where they are and move them forward. Building trust and relationships with our students and families is an integral part of fostering success and creating lifelong learners. 

‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid’. -Albert Einstein. Everyone has a learning style that is unique, and at SJDS we value all learning types. Our project-based learning pedagogy emphasizes the concept of learning by doing. Students actively get involved in the learning activity, helping them enhance their skills and thinking capacity. Lessons are taught and projects assigned to engage visual and verbal/linguistic learners, but also spatial, social, logical, and kinesthetic/tactile learners. Two of my own three children are dyslexic, and they were screened at six years of age and have received (the youngest is still currently receiving) a structured, multisensory language therapy focused on phonics, decoding, spelling, and comprehension. The wonderful thing about SJDS is most of these multisensory techniques are already taking place in every classroom! The teachers know their students' learning styles, and teach them in the way they learn best as well as challenging them with new ways of learning.  

One of the things I hear about after our students graduate SJDS and move onto different high schools and colleges is they are lifelong learners. They simply love to learn, and want to keep learning as much as they can about the subjects that interest them. I have first hand experience with this as my oldest children are sophomores in high school right now. I watched them grow and thrive over the past ten years at SJDS, and all the wonderful teachers that poured into them the love for learning each and every year while teaching to their unique learning style. They continue to be excited to learn new things and seek out learning opportunities constantly. 

By Kandice Kimmel, Latin & History 5th-8th

At St. James Day School we have all school chapel every Tuesday morning lead by Fr. Halt or Fr. McCarley. This is a special time our student body comes together to discover more about themselves, the world, and God through the worship of Jesus Christ.

Students have many opportunities to participate and contribute to worship and are challenged to grow and stretch their understanding of their faith and the Bible.

Our sixth grade students are responsible for organizing the set up and take down of chapel, the scripture readings, crucifer, torchbearer, and flags.

I recently asked all of my middle school students what they thought about our chapel service.

‘I think it is important to have chapel at school because you can learn about the Bible and how Jesus sacrificed his life for us’.—Anna Scott Bruner

‘Chapel is a place for learning about the Bible. It is important to know and continue to learn about the work of the Lord’. —Mabyn Kyles

By Kandice Kimmel, Latin & History 5th-8th

The sixth grade class hosted their very own Egyptian market!

We have traveled to Egypt in our ancient civilizations class and learned all about mummification, canopic jars, pyramids, ka, pharaohs, the Nile, and so much more!

Each student chose a profession to research and presented their findings in an interactive marketplace. Our market had a scribe, pharaoh, farmer, military officer, brewer, perfumist, healer, common solider, leather worker, jewelry designer, and traveling merchant who was also an expert in mummification.

Project-based learning is important at St. James Day School. The students learn team building and time management skills while developing their communication skills. They also gain a better understanding of the concepts and subject material.

Sixth grade students were assigned an element from the Periodic Table and created an interactive description including name, symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, interesting facts, and everyday uses.

Our interactive Periodic Table of Elements is now complete and will soon be on display.

By Kandice Kimmel, Latin & History 5th-8th

In Latin class the fifth and sixth graders stretched their brains, team building skills, and Roman Numeral knowledge with a Roman Numeral Escape Room. Don’t worry, they did escape in time for Mrs. Rogers English class! The seventh grade took a mini trip to PreK and spent time reading and making memories with some adorable preschool students, and on Friday it was all ‘hands’ on deck as we volunteered our time making popcorn hands for the annual St. James Day School Fall Festival! I love that these students are willing to devote themselves not only to learning but they truly enjoy giving back to our school community.