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Parent Letter 12/7/18
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Dear Parents,
Advent blessings from St. Joseph’s School! We have had another busy and exciting week at school. Please continue to read on to learn more about everything that is taking place at our wonderful school. Please mark your calendars with the dates of these many special events. We hope to see you there!
Did you know that there are two very special Marian feasts happening during the next week? These two feast days would be a wonderful time to offer prayers to Mary requesting her protection and intercession. You may choose to pray a Rosary, the Hail Mary, the Hail Holy Queen, and/or any other Marian prayers. Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – December 8
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is the Patronal Feast day of the United States of America. We remember that Mary was full of God’s grace and free from original sin from the first moment of her life. God gave Mary this honor because she would be invited to be the mother of the Savior, Jesus.
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – December 12
In the year 1531, Mary appeared to an Aztec Indian named Juan Diego. Juan saw the Mother of God dressed as an Aztec princess. She promised to help all who call on her. The vision of Mary’s message brought faith and comfort to the Aztec people, who had been treated with great cruelty by some of the Spanish explorers. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron of Mexico, and today she is honored throughout the Americas.
Fall Fest 2018 - Thank you! Thank you!
Fall Fest, our school’s major fundraising event, was an overwhelming successful. We had a wonderful turnout of parents, faculty, friends of St. Joseph’s School, and supporters of Catholic education. It was a fantastic night for our community with wonderful food, an entertaining program, great auction items, and music. We are so grateful to everyone who during the evening so generously supported the mission of St. Joseph’s School. We hope that everyone enjoyed the evening!
A special thanks to everyone who donated his or her time, talents and resources to prepare for the evening. St. Joe's is able to thrive because of the generous support of this remarkable community. We congratulate and thank this year’s co-chairs, Mitzi Welk, Bri DeLeon, Adrianna Birk, Katie Grondahl, Mollie Rubenzer and Cheryl Weimer for their work in preparing for this special event. Thanks to all who helped as committee chairs and event volunteers. On behalf of the St. Joseph's administration, staff and -- most importantly -- our students, thank you!
Fall Fest Buy it Now! Back by popular demand ~ Mr. Wesely’s Morning Announcement Helper! We only have a couple of spaces available! These are available for a limited time so please get your orders in! See attached Flyer.
St. Joe’s Socials are now available. You won’t want to miss these amazing parties. These are great way to meet new families and catch up with ones you already know! There are a variety of parties offered from class parties, teacher hosted parties and our parent parties.
Please Click Here to register!
Does Your Employer Offer a Matching Gift Program?
Employer matching programs are a wonderful way to maximize your donation to St. Joseph’s School. Please look into your employer programs to see if they may participate in this program. If you have any questions or need help with the process, please contact Lisa Wrobel in our school office. Thank you!
Report Cards
Report cards for 1 st Trimester are coming home with students today. Congratulations to all of our Middle School students who earned recognition on the St. Joseph’s School Honor Roll for having a 3.5 GPA for the first trimester. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions regarding your child’s academic progress.
K-2 Christmas Concert
The K-2 Christmas Concert will be held on Monday, December 10 at 6:30pm in St. Joseph’s Church. Students should report to their homerooms at 6:10 pm (classrooms will not be open until that time). Families may enter the school building through Door 13 (back entrance) or through the Church entrances and the Kindergarten hallway. Students are in uniform during the school day, but should wear their “concert” dress for the evening performance. We ask parents to pick up your child where they are seated in the Church when the concert is over. Following the Concert, a reception is being held in the Great Room for fellowship and to celebrate the musical accomplishments of our students. Please stop for cookies, refreshments, and fellowship.
Senior Citizen’s Christmas Party
Today, our K – 2 students lead by Mrs. Bowe and assisted by Professora Tulia celebrated the Christmas season by performing our annual Senior Citizen Program in the Great Room. Our students did a tremendous job! Thank you to the many families who donated the cookies that were provided for our guests. Thank you faculty members and parent volunteers who worked hard on to make this event so very special. We would like to send a special thank you to Rachael Amarante, Katie Capiz and the many volunteers for your work in coordinating this event!
Restaurant Night – Wednesday, December 12
Join us for food and fun at Chick-fil-A in West St. Paul on Wednesday, December 12, 5:00-8:00pm. Chick-fil-A will give 20% of all orders purchased back to St Joe’s. This is a great opportunity to spend time with your family while giving back to our school. Remember what the cow says, “Eat more chicken!”
Preschool Christmas Program
The Preschool Christmas Program will be held on Tuesday, December 18 th at 6:30 p.m. in the Church. We are so excited to share the gift of music with our loving families. Please plan to arrive early to get a good seat. All are welcome!
Band & Choir Concert
The annual Christmas Band & Choir Concert is scheduled for Thursday, December 20 at 7:00 pm in the gym. Students will watch the dress rehearsal performance at 2:00 pm. We look forward to our band and our middle school choir performing at this annual event.
Festive Sweater Day
Do you have an ugly Christmas sweater (who doesn’t) but don’t have a place to wear it? You are in luck!!! On Wednesday, December 19 th, we will be hosting a Festive Sweater Day. Wear your ugly sweater/vest/sweatshirt to school, along with festive, gaudy accessories. Wear it in style and be confident that yours is the ugliest of all! Students, who do not participate, will need to be in uniform.
Middle School Pancake Breakfast
On Thursday, December 6th our middle school students were treated to a wonderful pancake breakfast. This special event, a long-time tradition hosted by our middle school faculty and administration, celebrates the end of the first trimester of school. Prior to getting their breakfast, the students at each table needed to sing a Christmas Carol for everyone! Thank you teachers and volunteers for this wonderful treat for our students!
Beautiful Holiday Planters - Thank you!
Thank you to Cheryl Weimer for the festive holiday planters in the front of our school building! What a great way to spread holiday cheer!
Family Christmas Cards
We invite our school families to bring/send a Christmas card to the school office. All cards will be displayed near the office. Please join us in sharing the joy of Christmas with everyone.
Mitten and Hat Collection is Underway!
The fifth grade students are sponsoring their fifth annual mittens, hats, gloves, and scarves collection for the Hats and Mittens of Minnesota. The items may be brought to school between now and Friday, December 14. Please place new items on the trees in the display across from the office on the second floor. Thank you so much for your participation in this special work of mercy.
Santa Grams
Would you like to wish someone a Merry Christmas and have a Santa Gram delivered to their classroom? Santa Grams will be for sale during the lunch hours on Friday, December 14. Santa’s elves will be delivering grams the week of December 17. The price for the grams are;
Candy Cane Gram: .50 cents each Hersey Bar Gram: $1.00 each
Buy your friends or entire class a Santa Gram! This special holiday activity is sponsored by The Home & School Association.
Registration for the 2019-2020 School Year Opens in January
It’s almost time to enroll for the 2019-20 school year! Current school families will be automatically re-enrolled and annual family registration fees will be applied to family TADS accounts in February. If a current family would like to delay re-enrollment, they must notify the school office by January 31st.
New families interested in learning more about our school are encouraged to attend one of our January admissions events. More information can be found on the school website.- Middle School Information Night: January 8th at 6pm
- Preschool Information Night: January 15th at 6pm
- Open House: January 27th, 10am to 1pm
- Kindergarten Information Night - January 29th at 6pm
School Mass – Friday, December 14
Please join us for our school Mass on Friday, December 14 at 9:00am in the church. School families, friends, and members of the parish are invited to join our students and faculty in prayer and song.
Reminder to Parents
Just a reminder to our families that our school day for students in grades K-8 begins at 8:40 a.m. Please make sure your child is arriving to school and in their classroom prior to 8:40 a.m. so they are not tardy. Students arriving late to school can be a disruption to the learning environment when they enter the classroom. Thank you for your cooperation.
Lost and Found
Parents please stop in to check the lost and found bin located in the front main entrance of our school. There are many items including coats, hats, gloves, shoes, and gym bags. If you are missing any of these items please stop by school to pick them up.
Winter is Here!
The cold weather is here. Now is the time to send your children to school with sweaters, sweatshirts, and jackets, snow pants, boots, hats and mittens. During the school day, students should only wear sweatshirts and / or sweaters that are part of the St. Joseph’s School uniform. Hoodies and sweatshirts that are from community teams, college or professional teams are not to be worn during the school day. If there is snow on the ground, students are required to be in “full snow gear (snow pants, boots, coats, hats, mittens) in order to play in the snow on the field during recess. Please remember to label all of your child’s clothing so that it can be returned to them in the event that it is misplaced or lost while at school.
Mission Statement
St. Joseph’s Catholic School educates students through faith formation, academic excellence,
and the development of virtue to be disciples of Christ.
Our school community has identified faith formation, academic excellence, and the development of virtue as three pillars of our school as we continue to partner with you to provide your children with a quality Catholic education. Thank you for supporting our school mission in so many ways throughout the school year.
Just a Reminder
Please continue to review our Friday Letters, check your child’s Family Folder, our school website, Facebook, Twitter, and the St. Joseph parish bulletin to keep updated on all the exciting happenings at St. Joseph’s School.
For Your Information
St. Joseph’s School is an important ministry of the Church of St. Joseph. Some of our school families are not members of the parish. In our efforts to serve all school families, our Friday Letter may at times include information about activities and events that are taking place at the Church of St. Joseph.
Upcoming Parish events include;
Children’s Christmas Eve Choir- for All Students in Grades 4-8
Once again, this year, at the 5 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass, we will have the Children’s Choir. Practices will be held in the church on Wednesdays: December 12 and 19, from 3:45 to 5 p.m.; and an additional practice, if needed, will be held on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 10 a.m. Welcome the newborn King into the world with your glorious voice! Please mark your calendar for the practice dates above, and sign up by contacting Denis Allaire at (651) 789-8355/ denis.allaire@churchofstjoseph.org.
Click here to link to the weekly St. Joseph’s Church Bulletin .
Important Links:
Mr. Wesely Announcement Helper
Luke Spehar Concert
December / January Calendar Look Ahead:
Please consider joining us for some of the special events at our school.
° Sunday, December 9 - Second Sunday of Advent
° Monday, December 10 - K-2 Christmas Concert 6:30pm Church
° Friday, December 14 - Mass 9:00am
° Sunday, December 16 – Third Sunday of Advent
° Tuesday, December 18 – Preschool Christmas Concert, 6:30pm Church
° Wednesday, December 19 – Festive Sweater Day
° Thursday, December 20 – Band & Choir Concert 7:00pm Gym
° Friday, December 21 – Mass 9:00am
° Sunday, December 23 – Fourth Sunday of Advent
° Monday, December 24 – Tuesday, January 2 – Christmas Break MERRY CHRISTMAS!
° Wednesday, January 3 – School Resumes HAPPY NEW YEAR!