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, October 1 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, October 1, 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/8uaDzeonbfhNDhgA6

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said “Take nothing for the journey.” When he said this, I was thinking, why would he say that? When Father continued, I understood it. It told me to always trust God to take care of me. You should be open to whatever God’s preparing you for. God knows what is going to happen and when it's going to happen. So in other words, believe in what God may bring. God will never stop loving you.

Addi, grade 6

In Mass, I learned to always choose God. You should try to do what Jesus did. What the reading meant is that you always have choices. It meant to me that God is above all. He will lead you in the right direction.

Marcus P, grade 6

For Mass this Wednesday, we would like parents to host! We will need readers, gift bearers, Eucharistic Ministers (must be previously trained), food collectors, and banner holders in the procession at the beginning of Mass. If you would like to participate, please fill out the Google Form https://forms.gle/aJgvUjdw54cN14xm6

Catholic Charities continues to be in need of the following items if your child is able to bring in one or more of these items for Mass next Wednesday: cereal, canned meat, canned fish, spaghetti sauce, pasta, oatmeal, mac & cheese, rice, beans, canned vegetables and fruit, applesauce, and granola bars. Thank you for your continued generosity!

Our Read A Thon hoedown that was scheduled for Friday, September 27, has been postponed. We are working to reschedule this soon.

There is a hurricane make up day on our school calendar for Friday, October 18th. We are awaiting guidance from the Diocese of Orlando if this will be a school day.

We will dismiss at 2pm next Wednesday, October 2nd and Thursday, October 3rd for Fall Parent Conferences. Students who are not picked up by 2:30 pm will go to Aftercare.

Conferences on Wednesday will be from 2:30pm-5:30pm and on Thursday, from 2:30pm-3:30pm. Please look for ways to sign up for a conference time in your child's classroom newsletter. These conferences will last 10 minutes. If you would like a longer conference time, please contact your child's teacher.

Continuing this year! We will have food trucks available on Wednesday, October 2nd, in the parish center parking lot for you and your family to enjoy!

New this year! We will have a used book sale in the hallways during parent conferences. Hardback books will be $1.00 and paperback books will be $0.50. This is a great way to build your home library! If you have any books to donate to the sale, please drop them off at the school office. All proceeds will benefit our SJCS media center for purchasing new books.

It is very important that your child attend school for the full day. Our parent student handbook states, "is expected that all students will attend school daily, arriving on time and remaining in school until dismissal". When students are checked out early, they miss important instruction. We teach from bell to bell, from 8:00am until 3:00 for PreK3-5th grade and to 3:10 pm for middle school students. Please make every effort to allow students to stay for the entire day.

We will have our fall PTO meeting on Tuesday, October 15th at 6:00 pm in the Parish Center. We will have a speaker from the Winter Haven Police Department on the latest Social Media safety measures that you can put in place for your children. Because of the topic of this meeting, no children should attend.

Students in grades 5-8 may participate in cheerleading.

As you begin to decorate for fall and have some decorations that you are no longer using, please donate them to our school! We will use them for Fall Fest. Donations can be dropped off at the office.

https://sjcswh.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/Poinsettias2024/tabid/1500789/Default.aspx

Over the past 2 months, I have had several conversations with parents who were concerned about their student’s desire to read and/or reading level. I wanted to offer an often overlooked strategy that can be used at home to increase both of these things: reading aloud to your students daily. Parents often read aloud to younger students as they are learning to read, but studies have shown that students who are read to beyond the time they start to read independently actually become stronger readers and being read to creates a stronger desire in children to choose reading over other options (including devices). If fact, students who are read aloud to regularly up to and through middle school have been shown to have higher reading scores in high school! Children can listen to a book written at a much higher level than they can read independently and this helps build their background knowledge and increase vocabulary. This can also be a great family activity as you can all read the book together.

• Here are some resources for finding books to read to your students:

  -the public library

  - Commonsensemedia.org: this site has lists of recommended books on different topics your child may be interested in along with book reviews from parents just like you

  - Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook: The book has two parts- the first explains the science and how to of reading aloud to you child and the second is a massive list of books that are recommended for read alouds complete with summaries and age recommendations.

We will have our Great American Teach on Thursday, November 14th from 8am until 10am. We would love to have you share your career or hobby with our students from Prek to 8th grade! If you are interested, please sign up on this link: https://forms.gle/ZuJLkkNJTmhVFfLw8

More information will be coming soon!

Our middle school Chess team will practice Friday afternoons from 3:30-4:30 pm in Mrs. Mostch's classroom. The coaches are Mrs. Mostch, Matthew Motsch, and Noah Brown.

Time is running out to sign up for our annual Mary K. Hession Nun Run! It 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. 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

Click this link to access information: https://stjosephwhschool.org/fall-fest-24-25

We are scheduling 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 October 2nd. Please don't arrive to pick up your child(ren) until 4:00 pm if they are staying for choir.

Church Children's Choir

The Children's Choir for our church will practice 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.

Concert Choir with Mrs. James

Students in 3rd-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.

Grades 3-5

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

Middle School

Rehearsals: Thursdays from 7:15-7:45am

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.

If you intend for your child to receive any sacraments (such as First Communion or Confirmation) through St. Joseph Catholic Church, it is time to register! You can call the church office at 294-3144 or email Liliana Reyes at lreyes@stjosephwh.org

Confirmation classes will take place every Sunday from 12:15-1:00pm in Room 2. Confirmation is open to grades 8-12. Parents can contact Mr. Nathan Hayes with any questions at nhayes@stjosephwh.org 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

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. Please remember 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

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.

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”

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