St. Joseph's School Parent Letter

A Message from Principal Rickbeil 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  Mr. Rickbeil does not have a new video for the week, but we wish everyone a very happy and safe long weekend.  

Memorial Day Weekend and Last Day of School

There will be no school on Monday, May 26th in observance of Memorial Day.  We hope that you all enjoy a long weekend with your family.  

As we are nearing the end of the school year, please note that our last day of school is Wednesday, June 4th.  On June 4th students will be dismissed from school at 12pm.  This is a parent pick up day.  Students may ride the bus to school, but parent pick up at 12pm is required.  Students will attend their last school Mass of the year at 9:00 a.m. on this day as well and we hope you can join us!

8th Graders Celebrate their Last Week of School!

Earlier today, our 8th graders received their class t-shirts.  To celebrate their last week of school here at Saint Joseph’s, 8th graders will be allowed to wear their class t-shirts in place of their uniform shirts any day next week.  The rest of the uniform (pants, skirts, shoes, socks, etc.) remains the same.  

Fitness Fun Day - Save the Date June 3 - Volunteers Needed!

We are excited to be planning our annual Fitness Fun Day for our students during the school day on Tuesday, June 3rd.  This is such a fun St. Joe’s Tradition!  It takes many hands to make this day special.  Please click here to learn more and to volunteer.

Summer Send Off – Please Join Us!

You’re invited to our last-day-of-school family and student picnic party to celebrate another successful school year! Bring your favorite lunch, beverage, and picnic blanket for a fun-filled lunch hour on the school field.  Let’s celebrate the end of the school year with new and old friendships, laughter, and make some lasting memories to kick-off the start to summer. Students are welcome to bring yearbooks to sign

at the picnic. We hope to see you all there!

Date: June 4, 2025

Time: 12:00pm—1:00pm

Location: Playground Field

What to Bring: Your own picnic lunch and Blanket.

Additional Notes:

*Adult supervision is required at the picnic.

The school will be closed to families and students. The picnic will be canceled if it rains.

Blessings,

St. Joe’s Home & School

Library News

Thank you for the great participation in our school book fair.  It was a great success!  Thank you to Mrs. Chamberlain and the many volunteers that made this happen for our school!  

Library books:  As we are getting to the end of the school year, please be sure to get your library books returned.  

A Note from the School Nurse Team

If your child has any non-emergency medications in the Health Office, please feel free to stop by anytime during the last two weeks of school and pick them up. Or, let us know if we may send them home with your child. This will greatly help our nursing staff on the last day of school. Otherwise, medications will be sent home in your child’s backpack on the last day, with the exception of controlled medications (e.g. ADHD medications) that do need a direct hand off to a parent or guardian. If your child won't be taking their scheduled daily med on Wednesday June 4th, which is a half day, please come pick it up on Tuesday June 3rd. The Health Office now has a webpage to assist with any health-related questions or concerns and our contact information! https://stjosephwsp.org/health-office

Thank you!

Nurse Deb, Nurse Joey and Nurse Molly

St. Joseph’s School Summer Camp - Registration Closing Soon!

Registration for the Summer Programs at St. Joe's School will be closing very soon.  We have a variety of options for our students throughout the summer.  Please click here to view the selection.  Registration is on our school website under the parents tab or by clicking here.  

After Hour Kid Power Summer Care Camp - Registration Now Open!

Kid Power summer care registration is now open.  Hours are 7am-5pm during the weeks June 10th - August 1st (closed the week of July 4th).  Please click here to register!  

Staffing Transitions and Hires for the 2025-26 School Year

As we are in the final weeks of our school year, I want to give you an update on staffing transitions for next school year.

As with any school year, as we close the school year we say "thank you" to several faculty members that will be beginning a new chapter of their lives next year.  Lisa Taplin will be moving on from her 2nd grade post  after 40 years of dedicated service to our school; it's hard to fathom the number of students she has impacted positively over the year.  Following three years teaching religion at Saint Joseph's, Jacob Hornecker is beginning preparations for a Ph.D. program that he has recently been accepted to.  Following two years of serving as our Spanish teacher, Anna Haire will be home raising her family.  After many years of service in both our preschool and then returning to the front office, Carolyn Pilney has announced her retirement following this school year.  Additionally, following many years in education and two years as an aide in the full-day preschool, Cindy Sullivan is announcing her retirement at the end of the school year.  Thank you to all for your dedicated service!

At this time, we are pleased to welcome some new members to the team for 2025-26.  Although not a new hire, Hannah Hanson will be taking Lisa Taplin's position in 2nd grade.  To fill the kindergarten position, Mary Hafner has been hired to join our kindergarten team this next year.  Mary is a recent graduate from Benedictine College in Kansas, and has spent her year finishing her degree and student teaching in Kansas.  To fill our third 5th grade opening for next year, Mary Kate Kocourek has been hired for this position.  MaryKate is also a recent graduate from Benedictine, as has been prepared well through her experiences as our instructional aide this school year.   She will pair with Rod Cina and Suzie Kocourek to form our fifth grade team moving forward.  

In the Middle School, Gaby Quilan has been hired to be our religion teacher.  Gaby comes to us with a Masters degree from the Catholic Studies program at the University of Saint Thomas, and experience teaching middle school religion at Risen Christ in the past.   To assist us in the main office, Coral Chino will be making the move from the preschool to the main office.

Currently, we are still in the interview process for the positions of Spanish Teacher, Instructional Aide, and Preschool Aides.  We are really grateful and fortunate for the amount of interest in recent openings, and the caliber of applicants for such positions.  Please keep us in prayer as we continue to bring in candidates, and feel free to give a nudge to anyone you know who would be a good fit on our faculty and staff.

Home & School Association

Our Home & School Association works hard to help us coordinate volunteers.  Below you will find 2 SUG to help coordinate volunteers for recess helpers and lunchroom helpers!  Thank you all so much for coordinating this for our school!

Recess Helper Sign up

LunchRoom Helper Sign Up