Eagle's Eye

St. Joseph Catholic School fosters a diverse community of disciples empowered through a rigorous and inclusive Catholic education rooted in Gospel values and service to others.

• Family members of students at St. Joseph Catholic School who would like to attend school Mass at 8:15 a.m. must preregister by 12pm on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
• If you have previously visited SJCS and been cleared through the Raptor System using your driver's license, simply submit the form below.
• **Please note that you must be cleared through the Raptor System each school year. If you have not had your driver's license scanned this year, please go to the school office to have this done.
• If you haven't been cleared through Raptor, please complete the form below AND you must go to the school office to have your driver's license scanned into our Raptor System for attendance at future events by 12pm on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
• If you submit by noon on the Tuesday before Mass, please plan to arrive at the back doors of the church in the courtyard by the Parish Center between 7:55 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. on the day of the Mass. The church doors on the Avenue M side will be locked and no admittance will be given to anyone attempting to enter on that side.
• Once Mass begins, we will not open doors to visitors for the safety of our students.

Click here to sign up to attend Mass: https://forms.gle/e9ptUuen5LWY9xnC7

In the first reading from 1 Corinthians 3:19, we learned that Christians are not perfect. Just like the early Christians, we have things like jealousy and rivalry. We sometimes catch ourselves doing things like, “Who’s a better Christian?” No one is more perfect than another. God has made it easy for us to understand him. It is only God that is perfect and we, Children of God, should always keep that in mind.

Joan, grade 7

In today’s Gospel, we learned how God guides us. The song “Oceans” spoke of “Walking on Water,” meaning that we can push ourselves and God can push us even though we think we can't go further, God guides us through life if we just follow. Thomas said that he learned a lot from this school and even though he didn’t notice it over the years, he was becoming a changed person. This means that God wants us to take the right path into becoming a better person and learning from our mistakes.

Adelina, grade 7

When dropping off your student in the mornings in the Parish Center parking lot, please do not allow your child to exit the car until there are staff members in orange vests in the loop. For the safety of your child, school personnel must be in the parking lot before students may be dropped off.

Our Read A Thon starts with a kick off tomorrow! Each day next week, the students will have special reading time in class.

There will be a training for new altar servers on Saturday, September 14th, from 10am-12pm in the Church. Anyone who would like to be an altar server must have been baptized and received their First Communion.

PreK-5th grade students will be in the Parish Center or on the playground for Aftercare. Middle school students will be in the Science Lab or playground.

To help build student skills and encourage a love of reading, all SJCS students, Grades K-8th, are participating in the Sunshine State Young Reading Program. This program has three different lists of 15 grade-appropriate books, designed to engage and challenge each reader. The lists are grouped K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 and selected each year by media specialists from around the state of Florida. For every SSYRA book that students read and pass the AR test, they will receive a brag tag for that book. Students at SJCS who read 5 of the books off their grade group list will earn membership into our SJCS SSYRA club. Students in this club get to vote on which book they think should win that year’s SSYRA Award. Students who read 8 of the 15 books off their grade group list, they will get to attend a SSYRA luncheon at the end of the year! Students in K-2 are allowed to read the book with help from an adult- all other students should be reading the book independently.

Come back next week to find out about: SSYRA!

Our Chess Team is starting up soon! If your middle school child is interested in this, we will have an informational meeting on Friday, September 13th at 3:30 pm in Mrs. Motsch's classroom. The meeting should last 30 minutes.

Our annual Mary K. Hession Nun Run will be a great 3.1 mile run/walk. It will be a flat course out and back along the Chain of Lakes Trail, and is pet friendly. The event is on Saturday, October 5th beginning at 8 a.m. in the parking lot. Click the link to register. Sign up by September 10th to receive a t-shirt. For more information about this or sponsorship opportunities, contact Allison Beeman at sjcsnunrun@gmail.com. You can sign up using this link:

https://www.athlinks.com/event/st-joseph-catholic-school-nun-run-372770

Please use this link for sponsorships:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebo_nB9DC1mR0gzg7OfKmkJGCMgWrEEOiJfTYlFtdaAdZwmg/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

EPCAR (the East Polk County Association of Realtors) is hosting a golf tournament on September 23rd. This will benefit our school as we are their charity of choice for the year!

https://members.epcar.com/calendar/Details/2024-epcar-charity-golf-tournament-1073270?sourceTypeId=EmailInvitation

We are beginning to schedule field trips for some grade levels already! Parents interested in chaperoning are reminded that they must wear a SJCS shirt. There are several options. Parents may either purchase a SJCS polo from our uniform company or a t-shirt from Boosters. Please keep this in mind as you start making commitments to chaperone field trips. These can be purchased in the office.

We have a few different choirs at SJCS.

School Mass Choir
Students in grades 3-8 are invited to sing in the choir at all school masses. Practice will be once a month with the next one in October. Please don't come pick your child(ren) up until 4:00 pm if they are staying for choir.

Church Children's Choir

The Children's Choir for our church will begin practicing from 3-4pm on Thursdays. Jitka Cinibulk, music director from our church, coordinates this ministry. This is for students to sing at weekend Masses. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email her at jcinibulk@stjosephwh.org.

Choir with Mrs. James

SJCS Concert Choir

Students in 3-8th grade have the opportunity of joining Concert Choir. The SJCS Concert Choir performs at various community events during the school year including Carols in the Park, the Christmas program and singing the national anthem at the Rays, Bucs and Tropics games. During rehearsals, students will be developing many vocal concepts such as correct posture, resonance and technique. We will be singing a range of repertoire and work on two and three part harmony. All students interested will need to audition (even if they were in Concert Choir previously).

Grades 3-5

Auditions: Wednesday, Sept. 11

3rd grade 3:05-3:15pm

4th grade 3:15-3:30pm

5th grade 3:30-3:45pm

Rehearsals: 3rd, 4th & 5th grade on Wednesdays at 3:15-4:00pm beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 19th

Middle School

Auditions: Thursday, Sept. 12 beginning at 7:15am

Rehearsals: Thursdays from 7:15-7:45am beginning on Thursday, Sept. 26th

Students do not need to have anything prepared in advance for the audition. Please e-mail Mrs. James at vjames@stjosephwhschool.org if you have any questions. Thank you!

Church Handbell Choir

The Church Handbell choir is looking for 2-3 new ringers. The starting age is 10, so if any student is interested, this would be a great time to join us. Practice is on Thursdays 6-8 pm in the church. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email Jitka Cinibulk at jcinibulk@stjosephwh.org.

We encourage parents to send in water bottles with their child daily to keep hydrated in the extreme heat. We have water bottle filling stations around campus. Remember that water bottles must be clear and may not be glass. Please put your child's name on his/her water bottle.

Our middle school students are invited to attend Edge, St. Joseph’s Middle School Ministry. This will begin on Wednesday, September 18th. Email Nathan Hayes at nhayes@stjosephwh.org for more information.

If you intend for your child to receive any sacraments (First Communion) through St. Joseph Catholic Church, it is time to register! Registration is being held after all masses this weekend in the parish center. You can also call the church office at 294-3144 or email Liliana Reyes at lreyes@stjosephwh.org

Confirmation classes will take place every Sunday starting this Sunday (9/8) from 12:15-1:00pm in Room 2. This Sunday's class is open orientation, and parents can come to sign up that day if they would like to. Confirmation is open to grades 8-12. Parents can contact Mr. Nathan Hayes with any questions at this email address or by calling the office at (863) 294 - 3144 ext. 224.

Save the Date and RSVP your Hawk Jr. Cheerleaders today!

RSVP Sign-up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CABAB2DA4FCC70-51075989-sfcjunior

Important calendar dates for the 2024-2025 school year are listed below. ***Please note that the school intentionally schedules school closures at times throughout the school year. We are giving these dates to you early to help your planning for the 24-25 year. Families should schedule family vacations and other commitments during scheduled school closures; vacations should not be scheduled when school is open. Vacations are not considered excused absences and are a violation of the School Attendance Policy.

• November 25th-29th: Thanksgiving Holiday: No School
  
• December 23rd - January 3rd: Christmas Holiday: No School
• January 20th: Martin Luther King Day: No School
• March 17th-21st: Spring Break
• April 18th-23rd: Easter Break
• May 26th: Memorial Day: No School
• May 29th: Last Day of School

As you know, all parents are required to contribute a total of 20 service hours during the 2024-2025 school year. There are lots of opportunities to earn service hours. Thanks to all those parents who have already given of their time in service. It's time to document those volunteer hours in Renweb. You can find information about logging service hours in the "Resources" section at the bottom of this newsletter.

If you have any questions regarding logging of hours, Mr. Kupka is the best person to help you. Email him at mkupka@stjosephwhschool.org

Please remember that there are many times throughout the school year, where parents choosing to come on campus must be fingerprint cleared through the Diocese of Orlando. This includes volunteering at special events or chaperoning field trips. The fall is always such a busy time for the diocesan fingerprint office, and clearance can take weeks depending on circumstances. If you are a new parent to SJCS, or your fingerprints have expired, we urge you to consider taking care of this requirement now! The steps for being fingerprint cleared are below.

If you have been previously fingerprinted and have questions about this, contact the office. Please do not contact the Diocese directly about this.

Since we reached our goal of $100 in funds earned for SJCS, our new goal will be $250. Scan your receipts to help us reach this goal and all students will earn another dress down day.

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” —
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

This section of the Eagle's Eye will remain in every edition of our newsletter. It will contain links to information that parents may need from time to time. When parents have questions, we urge you to check this section for possible links that could get you the information that you need.

• School Calendar
• Lunch Menus
• Maschio's Birthday Order Form
• Registering for a lunch account
• PikMyKid User Guide (English)
• PikMyKid User Guide (Spanish)
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification Instructions
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification
• Uniform Company
• Technology Responsible Use Policy for Students
• Parent Student Handbook
• Attendance Policy
• Accessing Facts Family Portal
• Family Portal Login
• Logging Service Hours: Parents and students can now enter and view their own service hours. You can use your app to view the hours, however, you have to use the web version to enter new hours. go to FACTS Family Portal. The district code is STJC-FL. Once logged in, click on the Family option in the menu on the left side. At the top of the screen, select the family member who will be adding the service hours. Click on the Add option on the right side of the screen in the Service Hours box. Fill out the information and click Save.

O Blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector of Mary, the virgin Mother of God, I choose you this day to be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor you all the days of my life. Therefore, I humbly ask you to receive me as your client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen.

Principal: Mrs. Insua

Assistant Principal: Ms. Lucarelli

Assistant Principal: Mr. Kupka

Canonical Administrator: Fr. Tim LaBo

Superintendent: Dr. Erika Wikstrom

Email: jinsua@stjosephwhschool.org
Website: stjosephwhschool.org
Location: 535 Avenue M Northwest, Winter Haven, FL, USA
Phone: 863-293-3311