We hope that your children had a terrific week at school. This eventful week began with our entire school praying the Rosary and ended with us celebrating our school and Catholic education with the annual Marathon (read more below). Just a reminder, there will be no school for students on Friday, October 5
th. Our faculty will have a professional development day. Please enjoy the long weekend!
Marathon St. Joseph’s School’s 2018 Marathon took place today at our school. Our students walked, ran, jumped, and spent time with their classmates, teachers, and friends during the walk. The event ended with a celebration and the third annual “Parking Lot” dance party.
Please take time to visit with your children to hear about how we celebrated our Catholic school for Marathon 2018. A very special thank you is shared with our school faculty and to all of the parents and volunteers that worked so hard to make this an awesome day for our students. Visit the St. Joseph’s School website / Facebook page to see the event captured in pictures and video. In addition, please consider sharing the information with your family and friends.
Our students with the assistance and support of you, family, and friends have worked collecting pledges. Our goal for this year’s Marathon is $67,000. At this time, the total amount of money reported in pledges by our students and staff is $50,950. We know that with everyone’s involvement and support, that we will reach and surpass our goal as money is collected and additional people are asked to support our school. All monies raised will assist our school in providing quality Catholic education for our students through the purchasing of classroom instructional materials, teacher materials, student assessments, and providing field trips and special programs during the school year. Marathon funds also helps keep tuition costs down for our school families.
Please take time to visit with your children to hear about how we celebrated our Catholic school today. We send a very special thank you to our school faculty and to all of the parents and volunteers that worked so hard to make this an awesome day for our students. Visit the St. Joseph’s School website / Facebook page to see the event captured in pictures. In addition, please consider sharing the information with your family and friends.
On Monday, October 8, students should begin bringing in the money that they received in pledges to their classroom teachers. As with the pledge portion of Marathon, a variety of incentives are offered to our students and classrooms as they bring the money. Please assist your student in collecting the money pledged. Our students can still collect additional pledges and money over the next two weeks. In addition, please be sure to thank everyone who supported our school during this event.
Mass of the Holy Spirit – Wednesday, October 10 St. Joseph’s School students and staff in grades 4 – 8 will be attending an all-school youth Mass for our archdiocesan Catholic grade schools, the Mass of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE) will host the Mass at US Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday, October 10. Archbishop Hedba and Bishop Cozzens will officiate with other priests of the Archdiocese, celebrating Mass with 14,000 Catholic grade school children, school leaders, teachers and guests. Please pray for the success of this special event for our students and staff.
Coats for Kids St. Joseph’s School families are asked to put their faith into action. Our school is partnering with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE) to collect warm winter clothing for people in need. Each student attending the Mass of the Holy Spirit is asked to bring a new or gently used winter coat or other piece of warm winter clothing to the Mass. Students should bring winter clothing items to school October 9-10. On October 10, the students will bring the winter clothing items to the Mass and place them in the collection bins. Thank you for participating in this special collection.
Parent Teacher Conferences – October 17, 23, and 25 Parent teacher conferences for Middle School Students will be held Wednesday, October 17
th from 8:45am -3:00pm in the Great Room. Conferences will be conducted arena style. Parents of Middle School students are encouraged to attend conferences for their child(ren). Due to conferences, Middle School students will not have school on Wednesday, October 17
th. School will be in session for students in grades Preschool – 5.
Parent Teacher Conferences for students in grades K – 8 will be held on Tuesday, October 23 and Thursday, October 25 from 4:30 – 8:00pm. Please watch for more information on the scheduling of your conference with your child’s teacher.
Respect Life Week - October 22-26 October is Respect Life Month. St. Joseph’s students and faculty will recognize the sanctity of all life through classroom lessons, activities, prayer, and service. Our school will be having a layette (baby items) collection beginning October 22nd. Attached you will find a list of items for this collection. This is a special service project that benefits and supports the Wakota Life Center in West St. Paul. Thank you for your generosity and support of this work of mercy.
School Pictures School pictures are scheduled for Monday, October 22. This will be an out-of-uniform day. Picture forms went home today with your child. Purchase of individual pictures/group composites is always optional, but we do ask that all students be photographed for the yearbook. Preschool-age children may be brought in to have their pictures taken between 8:20-8:50 am in the parish Great Room. No appointments necessary. St. Joseph’s Preschool classes will have their pictures taken later in the morning. Lifetouch is looking for parent volunteers to help line up the students and assist the photographers. Volunteers receive a free picture package for their child. Please call the office at 651-457-8550 if you are interested.
Vision & Hearing Screenings Vision and Hearing Screenings are scheduled for Wednesday, October 24 for students in grades 1, 3 and 5. Volunteer forms are being sent home today. If you would like to help, please return the volunteer form or call the Nurse’s Office at 651-789-8324.
The Positivity Project – Other People Mindset (OPM2) During this school year, you will hear your children talking about the Positivity Project and the “Other People Matter Mindset”. This week, our students and faculty explored and discussed Open-mindedness. People with open-mindedness like to consider new ideas and try new things.
This upcoming week, our students and faculty will begin learning about the first Other People Mindset (OPM2) element: identifying and appreciating the good in others. We look forward to learning about and practicing all twenty-four character traits through the Positivity Project during this school year.
Spiritwear Spiritwear sales went home with students on Tuesday, October 2
nd. Thank you to the many of you who participated and purchased these items! Thank you to our Spiritwear team, Jane Nicolo, Katie Doyle, Bri DeLeon and Katie Grondahl for all of your hard work! If you have any questions please contact Katie Doyle
kmdoyle654@gmail.com.
School Mass School families, friends, and members of the parish are invited to join us in prayer by attending our next school Mass on Friday, October 12 at 9:00 a.m. in the Church. Parents, grandparents, family members, and members of the parish are always welcome to attend our school Masses and prayer devotions during the school year.
The Weather is Changing As fall weather is fast approaching, it is a good time to start sending your children to school with sweaters, sweatshirts, and jackets. It can be very cool at the bus stops and on the playground. 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. The last day to wear shorts is October 31
st.
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.
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;
Attention all School Dads! Men’s basketball will be “every” Saturday morning starting Oct 6
th 7:30 – 9:00am in the School Gymnasium. This is open to men 16 years and older. If you would like more information please contact Tony Carnes at
bigjetz@gmail.com. Starting Oct 6th. Supportive shoes encouraged and no commitment required!
Click here to link to the weekly St. Joseph’s Church Bulletin
.
October Calendar Look Ahead: Please consider joining us for some of the special events at our school.
° Friday, October 5 – No School (Staff Development Day) ° Wednesday, October 10 – Mass of the Holy Spirit at US Bank Stadium, grades 4-8 ° Friday, October 12 – Mass 9:00 am ° Tuesday, October 16 – Mass 9:00 am ° Wednesday, October 17 – No School for Middle School Students – Parent Teacher Conferences. Students in Grades K-5 are in session. ° Thursday-Friday, October 18 & 19 – No School ° Monday, October 22 – School Picture Day – Out of Uniform ° Tuesday, October 23 – Parent Teacher Conferences for grades K-8; 4-8 pm ° Wednesday, October 24 – Vision and Hearing Screening ° Thursday, October 25 - Parent Teacher Conferences for grades K-8, 4-8 pm