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.

Please note that we will attend Mass on Friday this week in celebration of All Saints Day. The fourth grade students will be presenting their saints that they researched immediately after Mass. Students will need to wear Mass uniforms on Friday, November 1st, not on Wednesday, October 30th.

• 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 Thursday, October 31, 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 Thursday, October 31, 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/skjympRvomxpFuCd6

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!

Today, Father Glenn talked about life. To me, it meant that life is temporary. You will never live forever. The most important thing is love. Your parents would give up their life for you. If you live a good and holy life then you can hope for eternal life. Marie, 5B

Today, Father Glenn talked about how he loved how some students and teachers helped the other kids get out of their car. He said, "It proves that we are a family". He also talked about how our homes are temporary and we won't stay in one place forever. He reminded us how our parents love us so much that they will risk their lives for us. They love us so much, they would get hurt instead of us. Layla, 5B

Today, Father Glenn talked about how life is like camping. You set up one day, and leave the next. It is temporary, and by living it, we are preparing for eternal life in Heaven. He also talked about depending on how we live our lives on Earth, that determines where we go when we die. Laura, 5B

We are so excited to introduce Mrs. Woolston to SJCS. Here is more about Mrs. Woolston:

I’m a passionate math teacher in my fifth year of teaching, and I love making math fun and accessible for my students. I graduated from the University of Central Florida—Go Knights!—and have worked in the school system for over 10 years. Outside of the classroom, I’m a proud wife and mother to four amazing girls. I’m excited to bring my enthusiasm for math to St. Joseph’s and look forward to becoming a part of this wonderful community.

Our booster club helps support the numerous sports programs we have here at SJCS. The boosters aid in maintaining uniforms and well as fund raising for maintaining the gym and fields. The booster club also helped with the bleachers.

Open Gym for basketball will be next week. Girls in grades 5th -8th will be 3:30-5:00 Monday, October 28th. Boys in grades 5th – 8th will be 4:00-5:45 on Wednesday, October 30th.

Per guidance from the Diocese of Orlando Office of Catholic Schools, we will not need to have any other make up days from the ones missed for Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene.

Our Read A Thon hoedown will be Friday, November 22nd. We are excited to celebrate the great job the students did in helping to raise funds for our 4 Square Court and replacing windows in our school.

The holiday poinsettias are back! These beautiful florist quality plants will be available for pick up Tuesday, November 19th, just in time for your holiday decorating! Click the link by tomorrow, Friday, October 25th to order: https://sjcswh.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/Poinsettias2024/tabid/1500789/Default.aspx

***Due to the recent storm, no Winter Rose poinsettias are available.

The Columbiettes recently made a donation to St. Joseph Catholic School to aid in student tuition. Mrs. Zamana recently presented the donation check to Mrs. Insua. We are very grateful for their generous support of our students and our school!

Red Ribbon Week is celebrated the last week of October, October 28-November 1st, the highlight the importance of staying drug free. At SJCS, we celebrate this with dress down days. Below are the dress down days for next week:

Oct. 28 Monday-We are too bright for drugs- Neon & Sunglasses attire

Oct. 29 Tuesday-Lay off Drugs- Wear Hawaiian or floral shirt

Oct. 30 Wednesday- We say no as we are St. Joes, head to toe. Wear any St. Joe gear

Oct. 31 Halloween Thursday-Cowboy up against drugs- Wear your Country/Cowboy attire

Nov. 1 Friday All Saints Day - Be different- Wear shoes other than all black ones (must follow dress down guidelines for shoes)

The Office of Catholic Schools is coordinating a special diocesan collection to support those in the Florida Province impacted by Hurricane Helene. This is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to demonstrate their generosity and compassion during a time of need.

Please send monetary donations to the school office to help Catholic School families and schools on the West Coast of Florida impacted by the hurricane.

It is time once again for an SJCS spirit night. Come join us any time between 5pm-9pm at Panda Express tonight. We look forward to seeing you for food, fellowship, and fun!

Middle School EDGE is in need of volunteers to help with the program for our youth's faith formation. EDGE meets once a month on Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm. If you are interested in helping, please email Mr. Nathan Hayes at nhayes@stjosephwh.org.

We will have a $1 dress down day tomorrow Friday, October 25th to benefit breast cancer research. Any and all donations are appreciated!

Our Fall Fest is coming soon and we are still in need of volunteers! Come join us on Friday, November 8th for fun, fellowship and food, as well as to help make this the best Fall Fest ever! We will need volunteers for with things like running booths, inflatables, and games as well as set up and clean up. If you are able to volunteer on this day any time between the hours of 8am and 7pm, please click the link SJCS Fall Fest Volunteers: Fall Fest Friday, November 8, 2024 2pm-7pm (signupgenius.com). Middle school students accompanied by a parent and high school students are welcome!

Click this link to access all this year's Fall Fest information: https://stjosephwhschool.org/fall-fest-24-25

Friday, November 8th will be a 2pm dismissal for Fall Fest. There will be no aftercare this day.

We will be putting together the class raffle baskets this coming Wednesday morning, immediately after morning carline. Please join us in the Parish Center to help. We would love to see you there!

Get your pumpkin decorating ideas ready! On Monday, October 28th, our annual pumpkin decorating contest begins. Send in your pumpkin by Thursday, October 31st, to be considered for prizes. Please, no carved pumpkins. We look forward to seeing all the creative designs!

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.

This year, we will have Tacos at Fall Fest! These are being donated by the Molina family and they will also offer flavored waters. You don't want to miss these special, new additions to the SJCS Fall Fest!

This year, all volunteers for Fall Fest will be wearing the orange SJCS lanyard. If you need help with directions, tickets, or anything else Fall Fest, please see someone with the orange lanyard. We will also have an information booth near the statue of St. Joseph.

If you ordered egg rolls, you can pick them up at the Fall Fest on Friday, November 8th, anytime after 5:30pm.

Thank you so much for your valuable help with Fall Fest! The Fall Fest Bake Sale is a great time for the SJCS community to taste a variety of delicious HOMEMADE treats and we can’t succeed without your help.

We are in need of “Homemade Baked Goods” (Cupcakes, Cookies, Breads, Brownies, etc.). Any donation would be greatly appreciated. Please sign up on the Sign Up Genius link with what will you donate.

Mobile

signupgenius.com

The digital world is every changing and becoming a larger part of our students' daily lives. This is why digital citizenship is an important part of the media curriculum in all grade levels. We have started our digital citizenship curriculum in all the media classes. While each grade level will be looking into different levels of detail and specific aspects, as is age appropriate, all the digital media curriculum will address the same general topics regardless of grade level: finding a balance in our lives when it comes to digital media, keeping personal information private, staying kind online, and determining the trustworthiness of sites and apps.

Each week, K-5 classes will be bringing home a paper that they completed in class on one of these topics. I encourage you to go over it with them. On the back of many of these papers are family activities and tips that will help your students establish and maintain online practices that are smart, safe, and kind. Many of these material echo what was presented by the Sheriff's Office at the PTO meeting.

Book sales during the fall parent conferences earned $240.50 for Ms. McGillin to use to purchase new books for the media center. Thank you for your support of this! We will have another book sale during spring parent conferences. Start saving those books you want to donate to the sale!

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!

Parents interested in chaperoning for field trips 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.

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.

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 November 5th. 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 have a new religious education coordinator, Ms. Malady Rogue. She wanted to let you know of date changes for the 2nd Grade Sacramental Preparation Session: Reconciliation. The event will now take place on Wednesday, November 6th, 2024 @ 6:30 and Sunday, November 10th, 2024 @ 9:30am. Both events will take place at the Parish Center and parents only need to choose one (the date that works best for their schedule) and at least one parent should plan to attend with their child.

If you intend for your child to receive any sacraments (such as First Communion or Confirmation) through St. Joseph Catholic Church, you can call the church office at 294-3144 or email Melady Roque at mroque@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.

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.

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

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

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