October School Newsletter
Oct. 2024
Looking for the latest information, dates, times, or SJS news? To keep up with all the latest, check out:
- the Weekly text message on Fridays with a link to the school announcement page
- the St. Joseph School app, just search "St. Joseph, Conway AR" in your app store,
- School website with all the news, calendar of events, announcements, documents, and so much more!
October Calendar Events
October 3: Hispanic Heritage Night, 6:00-8:00 PM, SJHS, all are invited!
October 4: Stuffed Animal Blessing, Preschool & Elementary only
October 7: School Picture Retakes
October 8: PSAT/NMSQT (11th grade)
October 11: First Quarter Ends
October 14: Second Quarter Begins
October 15: PSAT (9th grade)
October 17: Parent/Teacher Conferences, K-12 (school dismissed for students)
October 18 & 21: Fall Break
October 22-25: Red Ribbon Week
October 23: School Board Meeting
October 28: PTO Tacos for Life Fundraiser, 5:00-9:00 PM
October 31: The Homecoming // Purple & Gold Pep Rally
Support Hours
If you are looking for ways to get those 30 support hours out of the way, just look below! You can find all the details about support hours in the Student and Parent Handbook under School Support Hours, page 24 of a printed copy or page 25 of the online version. Please note that this year the value of each service hour is now $30. A rate of $30 per hour will be assessed to families with less than thirty (30) hours by the May deadline, which is May 1, 2025.
Curious about how many recorded hours your family has? You are able to check services recorded by logging into FACTS Family Portal, click the down arrow by Family and then click on Family Home. All family hours will be recorded under the name of the first parent listed in FACTS.
THANK YOU for all who have already worked many hours this school year!
Volunteer Opportunities this Month
PTO October News
Attention High School Parents: We want to stock the lounge monthly for our High School Teachers! The younger grades have homeroom moms and treats often. Sometimes our teachers in the upper grades get the short end of the stick! We want to show our teachers they are as important teaching 11th grade as they are teaching 1st grade. We are hoping for k-cups, coffee creamers, easy grab snacks, candy, soda, danish, chips, or anything else you can think of to bless these teachers and brighten their days!!!
PTO Needs Volunteers for Breakfast with Santa!
Here is a sign-up genius to volunteer to help with the Breakfast with Santa event on November 16. We need need your help to make this a success! This event is open to public.
Uniform vs Spirit Wear--What to Wear and When
The temperatures are going to start dropping, and on the way out the door in the morning, students will be grabbing that sweatshirt, hoodie, pullover, windbreaker, or jacket. BUT, what can they wear on what day?
UNIFORMS MONDAY-THURSDAY: (top photo) The official bulldog purple or dark heather gray sweatshirt, ¼ pullover, hoodie, windbreaker, or jacket with St. Joseph School logo, available through the PTO. Students must have a school uniform shirt underneath. No other sweatshirts or hoodies will be allowed Monday-Thursday.
(*At SJHS (not in photo): There is an additional sweatshirt from PTO for 7-12 & senior sweatshirt allowed.)
PTO will have a Fall order is happening now! Click the button below for the order form.
BULLDOG SPIRIT WEAR FRIDAY ONLY! (bottom photo) All of the other fun SJS Bulldog wear may be worn on Fridays.
Booster Club will be selling all of their new items at the home volleyball and basketball games. You can also reach out to Erika Stobaugh to check on availability of spirit wear for sale, stobaugh@conwaycorp.net.
For uniform and spirit wear items, don't forget to check out the uniform store at the Volunteer Center located at the Elementary School. Open during school hours.
Teacher Spotlight - Mrs. Christy Pasierb
I graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1992. After high school, I attended UCA and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. I worked in the medical field for ten years, then decided to follow my passion for literacy and love of children. I returned to UCA, where I earned a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Master of Science in Education in Reading. Upon completing these degrees, I accepted a third-grade teaching position at SJS. After four years in the classroom, I began working as the K-6 library media specialist. A year later, I returned to UCA and obtained an Educational Specialist degree in Library Media. I am currently in my ninth year in the library and my first year working with fourth and fifth-grade students in reading intervention.
I love working at SJS because it enables me to share my passion for literacy and love of children while also integrating my Catholic faith. This year, I am excited to utilize my reading specialist certification and training to help improve students' reading skills through reading intervention. Working at SJS has also enabled me to spend additional time with my daughters, niece, nephew, cousins, and other family members during the school day, at school Mass, and other SJS events.
K-6 Library Program
The main goal of the SJS Library Media Center is for our students to develop a love of reading and become lifelong readers. I aim to accomplish these goals at the elementary and middle school by sharing numerous books, providing a variety of fiction and nonfiction materials, creating the Middle School Reading Challenge, and hosting the SJES Family Night. The SJS Library Media Program also strives to prepare our students for the future by teaching library media skills, information literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship. In addition to checking out and reading books, students enjoy engineering activities and digital choice boards when visiting the library.
Ms. Pasierb’s family: Love, Support, Bulldogs!
I am a Conway native with a long family history at St. Joseph School. My grandparents, Martin ‘33 and Margaret ‘39 Strack and Richard and Pat Bausom, along with my parents Ray ‘67 and Sue ‘70 Strack, have always been strong supporters of SJS. I have three wonderful daughters: Emma, Olivia, and Anna Kate. Emma ‘21 and Olivia ‘22 both attend the University of Central Arkansas. Emma is a senior majoring in communication sciences and disorders, Olivia is a junior majoring in nursing, and Anna Kate is a freshman at SJS. Other family members include three siblings, Michelle ‘91, Jamie ‘96, and Stephen ‘98, as well as their spouses, eight nieces and nephews, and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.
I am extremely blessed to have an amazing family that is supportive and generous. They have helped me tremendously over the years with organizing my classroom and the library, creating props and decorations, and assisting at book fairs and family nights. I would not have accomplished my goals as a teacher and library media specialist without their continuous support.