St. Joseph's School Parent Letter 2/4/22

ST. JOSEPH’S SCHOOL PARENT LETTER

Administrative Team Update

Dear St. Joseph’s School Parents,              

WOW!  Our Catholic Schools Week was truly a “celebration” of Catholic education and our school!  We would like to thank our faculty, students, and Home & School Association along with our families for your participation in the celebration!  It was a tremendous week that included special theme days, our school Mass, special outdoor winter activities - Broomball, Snow Soccer, Snow Sculpting, Jaguar BINGO, and faculty vs Grade 8 volleyball matches.  In addition, thanks to our wonderful Home and School Association;  lunch for teachers, cookies and a special Raffle for the students.  St. Joseph, pray for us!  Go Jaguars!

St. Joseph’s School Gala  - Same Dates / New Venue - Please Join Us!
There is excitement in the air as the St. Joseph Gala scheduled for February 25, 2022 at the new Omni Viking Hotel in Eagan gets closer!  If you have not already purchased your tickets (available through February 18th) please click here.  Please also consider inviting guests, grandparents or others to a fun night of celebration, as we both support St. Joseph Catholic School and honor Ed & Suzie Kocourek with the Spirit of St. Joseph award.  For those who might be interested in volunteering for the evening, and not attending as a registered guest, opportunities and sign-ups will be announced shortly.

Parent Teacher Conferences February 17
Parent teacher conferences sign up requests will go out early next week.  Please watch for a message from your child’s teacher and also a sign up genius from the school office.  

Spelling Bee – Congratulations!
Our annual School Spelling Bee was held this week.  Students from grades 4-8 shared their knowledge of spelling words.  Congratulations to all of the participants and to the following students for their accomplishments; Audrey Sands - First Place, Kellan DeVoy - Second Place, and Charlotte Ferguson - Third Place.   Thank you to our faculty for organizing this special academic event for our students.

Financial Aid & Aim Higher Scholarship Deadlines - March 1 for  Grades Kindergarten - 8
If you are interested in applying for Financial Assistance for the 2022-2023 school year, please log into your TADS account and begin that process now.  All Financial Assistance Applications are to be completed online through TADS.  Financial aid applications do need to be completed each year to be considered.   If you have any questions, please contact our school office or contact TADS at 612-548-3320.

2022-2023 Tuition
St. Joseph’s School recently announced 2022-23 tuition rates:

Preschool 3’s: $1,575 ( 0% increase)   K-8: $5,650 (currently $5,550 - 1.8% increase)
Preschool 4’s: $2,115 (2.2% increase)   Annual Family Re-enrollment Fee:  $200
Preschool 4 / 5’s: $2,430 (2.2% increase)    

These limited increases reflect a sensitivity to the impact of inflation affecting each of our families. With the real cost of educating a K-8 student closer to $8,000 - we are grateful for the continued support of the parish, in addition to the ongoing success of our various development efforts (Gala, Raffle, GiveMN, other).  These efforts and partners help us both fill the budget gap, while also providing a just wage to our faculty and staff.

Early Childhood Screening for Preschool Aged Children
Please be sure to make an appointment for Preschool Early Childhood Screening through the school district you reside in.  An early childhood screening is required for kindergarten entry.    Even if your child is past the age recommendation, it is still necessary to make an appointment.  Please contact our school office if you need more information 651-457-8550.

Prayers for a New Principal
As we continue to cultivate and receive applications for the principal position, we ask our school families to offer prayers and sacrifices that God will send us a new principal to make the name of Jesus known and loved, and continue the tradition of academic excellence and faith formation that have been the cornerstone of Catholic education at St. Joseph for nearly 80 years.

Please consider saying the attached prayer as a family each day during the month of February for a successful principal search.  In addition, a signup has been created by the Home & School Association where families can specifically choose a day to say some additional prayers for this same purpose- perhaps a rosary or holy hour, or other additional prayers.  

St. Joseph’s School - Middle School Variety Show March 10-11
We are excited to announce our first ever Middle School Variety Show!  Please read more about this opportunity.  Thank you Mrs. Bowe for organizing this for our students.

A Note from The School Nurse- Updated Covid -19 Mitigation & Quarantine Policy
Please click here to view St. Joseph’s School Updated Quarantine Policy as of January 25, 2022.. 

The most important practice we can continue is to please keep kids home each day if they are sick.   Rapid tests are available for students upon request ammilosch@stjosephwsp.org.

Our current positive caseload for this week  is 6, effecting the following grades: Pk (0), K (0), 1(1), 2(0), 3(0), 4(0), 5(3), 6(0), 7(0), 8(1) and 1 staff member.

Important Links
Home & School Association Information
January/February Recess Volunteers
February Lunch Menu
Church of St. Joseph
St. Joseph Church Bulletin

February Look Ahead

• Friday, February 11 - Mass 9:00 am Church
• Thursday, February 17 - No School; Parent Teacher Conferences
• Friday, February 18 - No School; School Office closed
• Monday, February 21 - No School Presidents Day
• Friday, February 25 - Mass 9:00 am Church, 5:30 pm St. Joseph’s School Gala

INTERIM ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
Greg Wesely (Principal); grwesely@stjosephwsp.org
Patrick Menke (Advisor); patrick.menke@churchofstjoseph.org
Lisa Wrobel (School Operations); liwrobel@stjosephwsp.org
Lori Bruce (Interim Dean of Students); lobruce@stjosephwsp.org
Sandy Knudson (Preschool Coordinator); saknudson@stjosephwsp.org