Hello from St. Joseph’s School. It has been a great “short” week of school. Are you aware that today is the 100
th day of school for our students in grades 1-5? Our first grade students spent today completing special activities to mark this very special occasion. It was very interesting to see the type of items the students brought to school (100 of course) to celebrate the day. I was fortunate to join Mrs.Schuster and her students as they prayed the last five of their 100 Hail Marys at the end of the school day. Our Kindergarten students will be celebrating their 100
th day of school on Tuesday, February 26.
Mrs. Taplin’s and Mrs. Fallon’s second grade students recently read a story in their reading book titled;
Mr. Tanen’s Tie Trouble. On Thursday afternoon, I had the chance to read a special story;
Mr. Tanen’s Ties Rule to the second grade students. The stories are about a school principal and his many colorful ties. It was a pleasure to read to the students. In addition, I brought my collection of ties to school to share with the students. The students assisted me in organizing the ties into various categories (striped, Christmas, school related, other). In addition, the students were all smiles when they were able to put on one of my ties and smile for the camera. Check out our school Facebook page to see for yourself.
Plans are being finalized for the next season in the Church’s liturgical calendar - Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 6. Our students, faculty, families and members of the parish will have the opportunity to grow in their faith and prepare for Easter through classroom work, prayer, Mass, Stations of the Cross, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (grades 2-8), the Rosary, and the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd instruction. In addition, the Church of St. Joseph will be praying the Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings in the church. Everyone is invited to join us at Mass at 9:00 a.m. A specific schedule of school Lenten activities will be published next week.
This morning after Mass, Jake DeBolt, Church of St. Joseph Director of Middle School Youth and Evangelization met with our middle school students to share information about the upcoming Extreme Faith Camp and the St. Joseph’s Youth Summer Mission Trip to Boston. More information about these opportunities for our students are included in this Friday Letter.
As we continue through the remainder of the school year, please be sure to contact the school office with any needs or questions you may have (651-457-8550).
Financial Assistance– Grades Kindergarten-8
If you are interested in applying for Financial Assistance for the 2018-2019 school year, please log into your TADS account and begin that process now. All Financial Assistance Applications are to be completed online through TADS. The deadline to apply for and complete this process is February 28, 2019. If you have any questions, please contact our school office or contact TADS at 612-548-3320.
Confirmation Retreat Our eighth-grade students continue to prepare for receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. They will be participating in a special retreat facilitated by NET Ministries on Tuesday, February 26 in the Great Room. Please continue to pray for our school and parish students as they prepare to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Mass and Breakfast On Wednesdays during Lent, St. Joseph’s School families are invited to attend the parish’s morning Mass at 7:30 a.m. The dates are March 13, 20 & April 3, and 10. After Mass, the students (parents may accompany their child/children) will go to the Great Room for supervision prior to school (8:05-8:30 a.m.). For any family interested, a light breakfast will be available for students for a nominal charge ($2.00) payable each morning. Students will be dismissed to their classrooms at 8:30 a.m. to begin their school day. We look forward to praying together with members of the parish at morning Mass.
St. Joseph’s School Family Nights – March 13 at Chipotle
Thank you to all of our families, faculty, and friends for attending the recent school family night at Panera. The turnout was terrific and it was a tremendous success. We thank our Home and School Association for organizing this special event.
Join us for our next school Family Night at Chipotle located at 1857 Robert Street in West St. Paul. This special school event will be on March 13 between 4:00pm and 8:00pm. Our school will receive 33% from the sales that evening. We invite you to enjoy an evening out with your family and friends. Yum!!!
Middle School Play – “Annie Jr.” The Middle School musical “Annie Jr.” will be performed on Friday, March 15 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, March 16 at 1:00 pm in the school gym. Middle school students have been working tirelessly on their performance and it will be a fantastic show!
All students will have the opportunity to see the play during the week. Ticket order forms went home with students today, and are also attached below. Guests attending the performances may also pay at the door. Please be aware that adults attending student performances must purchase a play ticket for each performance attended. If you are not able to attend the play performances, we encourage you to consider purchasing a DVD of the performance, photographs, and “behind the scenes” interviews with the cast and crew.
We thank Mrs. Bowe, our middle school faculty, Mrs. Kilduff, school office staff and administration, and many parent volunteers for providing this special experience for our middle school students.
Donuts with Dads - Feast of St. Joseph Celebration – Tuesday, March 19 – Save the Date The Feast of St. Joseph, the patron saint of our parish and school, is Tuesday, March 19. Dads and grandfathers are invited with their children and grandchildren to attend a “Donuts with Dads” celebration on Tuesday, March 19 between 7:45-8:25 a.m. in the Monsignor Foran Great Room. Donuts, coffee, and juice will be served before school as we celebrate dads and grandfathers. Dads and grandfathers are invited to remain for fellowship prior to attending the celebration of Mass at 9:00 a.m. in Church. Please
CLICK HERE to RSVP for this wonderful event! We look for to seeing you!
Volunteers Needed for Donuts with Dads Event St. Joseph School Moms - we need your help to serve donuts and coffee as well as do a little clean-up for our annual Donuts with Dad's event on Tuesday, March 19
th, 7:00am-9:00am. This wonderful event is held in the Parish Great Room. Please
CLICK HERE to Volunteer! Thank you for your help!
St. Joe's STEM Fair – April 4, 2019 St. Joseph’s School is holding a STEM Fair on Thursday, April 4, 2019. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. We are pleased to share that we have over 50 students participating in the STEM Fair this year. Winners of the St. Joe's STEM Fair will be able to compete in the CSCOE Big Bang STEM Fair on April 6, 2019. If you have any questions, please contact
elschafer@stjosephwsp.org.
CAA Scholarship Opportunity Each year, the CAA awards six $500 scholarships to current 6th or 7th graders to be awarded at their grade school for the following academic year. The deadline to submit applications is Saturday, April 20, 2019. Award winners will be announced in early May. The link to the application can be found on the CAA website,
stpaulcaa.org.
Volunteers Needed for Recess Duty We need help for recess duty for the remaining months of school. Whether our students are outside or inside because of the weather, volunteers offer tremendous assistance in providing supervision of students. Please look for an email from your grade level rep and consider signing up for recess duty.
School Mass – Friday, March 1 Please join us for our school Mass on Friday, March 1 at 9:00am in the church. School families, friends, and members of the parish are always invited to pray with our students and faculty.
Parking Reminder When coming to visit school, parents are asked to please not park blocking our neighbors’ driveways. If there is not space available to park on the street, vehicle parking is available in the lot located on the corner of Seminole and Orme. Vehicles parked blocking our neighbors’ driveways may be ticketed by the West St. Paul Police. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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:
All in God’s Plan St. Joseph’s will be hosting an All in God’s Plan Level 1 event for 10-12 years old girls and their mothers or significant adult female on Saturday, March 9, 2019 from 2-4:30pm. Space will be limited. Please see the parish website for registration details.
Extreme Faith Camp Extreme Faith Camp is for all youth currently in grades 6-8, July 8-12. This will be held at Camp
Courage in Maple Lake MN. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
SJY Summer Boston Mission Trip All teens currently in grades 8-12 are invited to join us as we travel to Boston Catholic Heart Work Camp, July 12-21. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
Mission Statement St. Joseph’s Catholic School educates students through faith formation, academic excellence, and the development of virtue to be disciples of Christ. Thank you for supporting our mission and entrusting your children to our care each day.
Click here to link to the weekly St. Joseph’s Church Bulletin
.