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, November 12, 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, November 13, 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/QZUWx9g7VJ4MxmC5A

We will have First Trimester award recognitions immediately after Mass on Wednesday. You must have attended Mass to be at the recognitions as the doors will not be opened once Mass begins.

We will be collecting toiletries next week and the following week for Catholic Charities. We will have a dress down on Friday, November 15th, and Thursday, November 21st, for students who donate at least 1 item each week.

Monday Shampoo

Tuesday Deodorant

Wednesday Bars of Soap

Thursday Toothbrushes and Dress Down on Thursday, November 22nd

Friday Toothpaste and Dress Down on Friday, November 15th

Father Glenn shared during today’s Mass that we are the light of the world. In the first reading, it says, “In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world,” This means that even if there is war, suffering, and injustice in the world, we should all shine brightly. Father Glenn said that we are just like the stars because the stars are the light of the night. Even if the sky is full of darkness, the stars would shine brightly the whole day. We should always shine brightly with God when there is darkness in the world.

-Jianna, 6B

Father Glenn explained that you can't be a disciple of God if you don’t hate your mom, dad, sister, brother, etc. Although it might sound wrong, he told us it doesn’t mean literally. It was a Hebrew idiom. It means your parents shouldn’t be an obstacle to you. He also mentioned a simile we are like the stars in the night sky. During the day we are still shining, although the sun shines brighter because it is closer. When the night strikes, darkness comes. It’s full of hatred, fighting, and war. We together shine brighter than any darkness. Light always reigns over darkness. The homily states that you should let your light shine. This homily inspired me to do good and learn more about the priesthood.

-Quan, 6B

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!

Congratulations to the Chess Team for bringing home 19 wins from their 1st competition this past Saturday!

November Chess Club Practice Schedule:

Practice: November 15th 3:30-4:30

No Practice this Friday, November 8 (Fall Fest) and November 22 (2:00 dismissal).

Come join us tomorrow for fun, fellowship and food, as well as to help make this the best Fall Fest ever! We still 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

All volunteers who plan on showing up in the morning and staying all day will need to park in the spaces close to the concession stand/exits. This exit will be blocked for exiting and a sign will be in the parking lot indicating that. The video game truck is going to pull right up the exit gate by the playground fence and park there so no one else will be able to park there. The photo booth/truck will be blocking that side exit on the other side of the pathway. All of the all-day volunteers would need to park close to the end of each of those rows.

All students (PreK through grade 8) will need to be picked up at 2pm on Friday, November 8th. This is our annual Fall Fest day. We have an early dismissal and do not have aftercare available. Parents will need to park and walk into the building to pick up their child at 2pm. Please be aware that there will be many people on campus at this time, and parking will be limited. Please allow plenty of time to find ample parking space and get to your child's homeroom class to pick up him/her by 2:15pm on Friday, November 8th. If your child is being picked up by another parent, please notify the homeroom teacher via email.

Please remember that an adult must be present at Fall Fest at all times with students. No students may be dropped off without a parent or guardian.

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

These are the locations of where students will be for aftercare:

• PreK-1st grade will be in Mrs. McDonald's room by the playground.
• Grades 2-5 will be in the Parish Center.
• Grades 6-8 will be in the Science Lab.

We will have a Booster Club meeting on Monday, November 11th at 5:30pm in the Parish Center. 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 cost of the new bleachers in the gym.

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.

Sweets with Santa will be on Saturday, December 7th. Make plans to attend now! We will need volunteers for this event and will have a meeting on Monday, November 11th, in the Parish Center at 8:00 am to plan this event. We hope to see you there!

We are so close to our goal of $250 in Box Tops. All you have to do is scan your receipts to help us reach this goal and all students will earn another dress down day.

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.

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.

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 December 3rd. 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.

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,
"Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation."

He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood."

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

Parochial Administrator: Fr. Glenn Lopez

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