Parent Letter 10/9/20

Dear Parents,

I am so pleased to share with you that we have completed our sixth week of the 2020-2021 school.  It continues to be a joy to have our students and faculty here at school and remote learning from home.  Our school continues to be blessed as we all work together.

I am very grateful to you for your support during these weeks.  Your children are coming to school each day ready to learn.  They are continuing to do a very good job with following the protocols and guidelines our school has in place to keep everyone safe and healthy.  In addition, our families have been doing a tremendous job of communicating with our school office.

I am very grateful for our faculty who continue to work extremely hard to provide for the learning needs of all of their students in person and remotely.  They are creatively planning learning experiences and successfully supporting the learning needs of their students. 

Please continue reading this Friday Letter to receive information and learn of several important events taking place during the upcoming weeks.  St. Joseph, pray for us!  Go Jaguars!

Specialist Schedule
As the new school year began, we shared with you that this year, our Specialist classes (Art, Music, PE, and Spanish) were going to be scheduled in a “block”.  This means that for a six week period, our students have a specialist class everyday.  

Beginning on Monday, October 19, our students in grades K-8 will begin a new specialist class.  The new schedule will be as follows;

Grades K-1 Spanish with Professora Tulia
Grades 2-3 Music with Mrs. Bowe
Grades 4-5 PE with Mr. Reyes
Grade 6-8 Art with Mr. Beaman

The specialist teachers will continue to “travel” to each grade level classroom.  PE will continue to take place outdoors as the weather permits.

All School Raffle
Plans for 2020 St. Joseph’s School All School Raffle have been finalized.  This event is our major school fundraising event involving our students and their families.

Our school has secured donations of a brand-new 2020 Ford Escape, tickets for a pilgrimage for two people through Mater Dei Tours, and $1,000 “Christmas Cash”.  The raffle will include special incentives and exciting contests for our students as they assist in selling raffle tickets.  One of the goals for the raffle is to have 100% of our students and families participate in selling/purchasing tickets.

The proceeds from the Raffle will be used to support carrying out the mission of St. Joseph's School by financially assisting with the numerous investments the school has made to be open during the pandemic.  Please watch for additional details and information about the Raffle next week.  Thank you for your support of this important fund-raising event for St. Joseph’s School.

No School
School will not be in session for students and teachers onThursday, October 15, and Friday, October 16 because of Education MN (M.E.A.).  Enjoy the break from school with your family and friends!  We will see everyone back at school on Monday, October 19.

No District Food Service or Transportation - October 14
St. Joseph’s School is in session on October 14th.  ISD 197 is not in session and for that reason there will not be bus transportation or food service provided on October 14th.  Please plan transportation to and from school accordingly.  Please send a lunch and beverage from home for your student.

Information Regarding COVID and Non-COVID Absences
We have had a great first six weeks of school with healthy students, teachers, and families.   Thank you for following the health protocols and procedures put in place that have allowed our classrooms and building to remain open.  Soon our beautiful fall weather will turn colder and the cold/flu season will be upon us.  Earlier this week you received a letter identifying practices and procedures as it pertains to COVID and Non-COVID related illnesses.  Please click here to view this message.

The Fall Parent Teacher Conference Sign Up Genius is Now Open!
Please note:  The Conference Sign Up Genius will close at 11:30pm on Monday, October 12^th. Parent Teacher Conferences for students in grades K – 8 will be held on Tuesday, October 20 and Thursday, October 22 from 3:00 – 7:30pm.  There is an additional conference day for parents of Middle School students only on Friday, October 23 8:00am - 3:30pm.  Note: school will not be in session for middle school students on Friday, October 23. 
All Conferences will be done virtually via Zoom.  

Conferences for K – 8 students are scheduled by you through Sign Up Genius.  Please CLICK HERE to schedule your conference(s).    When you go onto the Sign Up Genius page, you will find a row of tabs at the top.  Please use the arrow to move along the selection to find your child’s teacher(s) and select your day and time.  You will receive a Zoom Invite in your email that you provide in your sign up from your child’s teacher(s) closer to your conference date. 

Our faculty looks forward to meeting with you to share and discuss your child’s(children’s) progress during the conference.  We do request that all of our parents schedule a time to meet with your child’s teacher. 

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Wrobel liwrobel@stjosephwsp.org.

St. Joseph’s School Spiritwear Orders Now Open thru October 11th!
Our Home and School Association has put together another Spiritwear Sale that will run October 2nd-11th.  They have a great selection of t-shirts, sweatshirts and face coverings etc.  Please click here to check out this great sale.  Thank you Betsy Joyce and Christy Frost for your great work on this!

During the school year, Jaguar Spirit Days are scheduled to provide the chance for students and faculty to wear our school colors; orange, black, and white and show their school spirit.  We look forward to the first Spirit Day coming soon!

NWEA MAP Assessments
Students in grades 2-8 have completed the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) in Math and Reading.  We thank Mrs. Budge and Mrs. Nordgren for coordinating and facilitating the assessments for our students and our teachers for supporting their students during the assessments.  Individual student reports and information will be mailed home to parents next week.  Upon receipt of your child’s report, please contact your child’s teacher or Mrs. Budge if you have any questions.

Air Purifier Units
The Church of St. Joseph and St. Joseph’s School are in the process of purchasing individual HEPA Air Purifiers for our classrooms.  Air filtration doesn't replace the other more important factors (social distancing, face coverings, handwashing) but it is thought that it helps to improve air safety relative to COVID in conjunction with those other measures.  

Playground Structure
Plans have been finalized by administration and staff to open our school’s playground structure for use during school hours for recess for all grades levels K-8.  Routine maintenance of the structure and the addition of wood chips was completed this week.  Proper sanitization of the structure will be scheduled between the classes playing on the structure.  We look forward to our students climbing, sliding, and spinning, and laughing on the playground real soon.

School Mass
Today, our students, faculty, and community were led in the celebration of the Mass by Fr. Wratkowski.  Our second and third grade students and faculty attended the Mass in person.  The Mass was live streamed to our classrooms for students.  School families are invited to continue to watch the live stream on the Church of St. Joseph website; www.churchofstjoseph.  Our school Masses are not open to families and the public at this time.  Holy communion is distributed at the end of the Mass to our students and faculty in the church and in their classrooms.

Our school Masses are typically scheduled for Friday beginning at 9:00 a.m..  As we continue through the year, our students and faculty will be attending the Mass in person following the parish’s established guidelines and protocols to do so safely.  The following schedule has been created with Fr. Creagan;

• October 16 - No Mass (No school for students and staff)
• October 23 - grades Kindergarten and 1 
• October 30 - grades K-8 (two Masses will be held to accommodate all students and faculty)

Please plan to join us in prayer for our next Mass.

Band at St. Joseph’s School
Band is off to a great and certainly interesting start this year!  Between lessons outside, Band masks, and bell covers, things sure look different but they still sound great!  If you are still interested in having your child participate in Band this year, please contact our school's Band Director, Mr. Gideon Matchey at gmatchey@hill-murray.org for more information on Band and learn what an outstanding opportunity it can be for growth and learning for your child.

Preschool News
The Preschool children are feeling more comfortable in the school environment with teachers and friends.  It has been wonderful to see new friendships blossoming, laughing and happy children coming and going to Preschool each day.  
Our theme this week was Fall Time. 
The children learned all about the changing colors of leaves through lessons, stories, activities and rhyme chants. 
Our dramatic play area went from Housekeeping to a Fall Camping theme in a very short time.  

Each classroom has a tent, fishing poles, fish, boat and campfire to enjoy the outdoors of camping.  Our camp site has been a very busy place and enjoyed by all.

Learning a few new skills is always fun and this week the children learned how to make their very own tree with paints, crayons and paper.

The Preschoolers met Timothy Tiger for the letter T and found objects that started with the letter T.  They can make the letter T with their body, arms and fingers.

Our Faith Focus theme in October is God Gifts to Us which ties in nicely with our study of the Fall and the Bible Story: God Made The World.  
It has been a fabulous week of learning and growing together in our Preschool programs.  

St. Joseph’s School Gala
Did you know?  The St. Joseph's Gala is our school’s largest annual fundraising event during the year..  It's an opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate the legacy of our school as well as raise funds for its continued education of our children in Christ.  

Gala 2020 will be a virtual event held on December 5, 2020.  The planning for this event is well on its way!  Please start making your plans to attend and participate in this special community event.  

At this time, our Gala Committee is seeking sponsors and donations for the event to help us meet our fundraising goals.  If you are interested in sponsoring this event or know of businesses that might be interested, please email rachael.amarante@gmail.com.

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, December 5 and plan to attend and participate in this year’s Gala.

Respect Life Month
October is Respect Life Month.  St. Joseph’s School will recognize the sanctity of life by participating in a special service project.  In partnership with the Church of St. Joseph, our school is having a Layette (baby item) Collection during this month.  The collection will take place during the week of October 19-23.  At this time, these particular needs have been identified; baby wipes, newborn size diapers, and baby socks - all sizes up to 3T.   Watch for more information about this important service project to benefit and support the work of Wakota-a Guiding Star Center in West St. Paul.  Thank you for your generosity.

Restaurant Night - Chipotle WSP - October 19
School families are invited to the St. Joseph’s School Family Restaurant Night at Chipotle in West St. Paul on Monday, October 19th between 4:00pm and 8:00pm.  Please let them know you are there for the St. Joseph’s School Fundraiser or bring in or show the Chipotle Flyer for our school to receive 33 percent of your purchase.  You are encouraged to order online chipotle.com or through the Chipotle app and enter code 2RCHPF3 before you check out in the “promo” field. Click here for instructions if needed. Proceeds from our school’s restaurant nights are used to fund important programs within the school.  Thank you to our Home & School for Coordinating this event!

Home & School Association
Our St. Joseph’s Home & School Association is a very important part of our school.  We are blessed to have such a vibrant community of parents that offers support to our school in many ways through our Home & School Association.  We invite you to visit their page on our website under the “Parents” tab by clicking here to learn
more!

Fire Prevention Safety Week
This week, October 5-19, has been Fire Prevention and Safety Week.  We would like to thank our local firefighters, first responders, paramedics, EMTs, and law enforcement officers for watching out for the safety and well-being of our school and communities.  We ask for the intercession of St. Florian, patron saint of firefighters, and St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of first responders, paramedics, EMTs and law enforcement officers to keep these men and women safe in their service to others.

Throughout the school year, our administration schedules fire, tornado, and security emergency drills providing our teachers and students the opportunity to practice the specific procedures to keep them safe while at school.

The Weather is Changing (however it is 80+ degrees today!)
As the fall weather is fast approaching, it is a good time to start sending your children to school with long sleeves, sweaters, sweatshirts, and jackets.  It can be very cool at the bus stops, eating lunch outside, and on the playground 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.  The last day to wear shorts is Friday, October 30.

Parent Letters / Attendance Communication
All non-emergency communications will come home on Fridays in this parent letter.  Parent letters will only be sent out by email every Friday (or the last day of the school week.)  Friday Letters may be found on the school website, www.stjosephwsp.org.  

Our Attendance Hotline is 651-457-3031.  If your child is going to be absent or late due to a morning appointment, please leave a message on the “Hotline”. 

Mission

“St. Joseph’s Catholic School educates students through faith formation, academic excellence,

and the development of virtue to be disciples of Christ.”

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.

Please click here to view our St. Joseph’s Church weekly bulletin.

The Consecration to our Beloved Patron, St. Joseph
Join St. Joseph School families and parishioners for a 33 day Preparation for Consecration to St. Joseph.  Please click here or visit the parish website for more information.  Fr. Creagan, Fr. Wratkowski, and Mr. Wesely invite you to join them in participating in and completing the consecration.

Important Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday, Oct. 14 - No District Food Service or Transportation
Thursday, Oct. 15 & Friday Oct. 16 - No School  MN Education (MEA) 
Monday, Oct. 19 - Restaurant Night, Chipotle WSP 4-8pm
Tuesday, Oct. 20 - Parent Teacher Conferences (Virtual) 3:00-7:30pm
Thursday, Oct. 22- Parent Teacher Conferences (Virtual) 3:00-7:30pm
Friday, October 23 - No School for Middle School Students Only
Friday, Oct. 23 - Parent Teacher Conferences MS only (Virtual) 8:00am - 3:30pm
Friday, Oct. 23 - Mass 9am virtual www.churchofstjoseph.org
Friday, Oct. 30 - Mass 9am and 10:15am
Tuesday, Nov. 3 - No District Food Service or Transportation

Important Links:
Lunch Menu (2 week rotation - Monday will be Week 1)
Scout Information