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.

The school office will be open today from 12:00pm-3:00pm, Monday, August 5th, from 12:30pm-3:30pm and Tuesday, August 6th, from 12:30 -3:30pm. We will be open regular office hours, 7:30am-3:30pm, beginning Wednesday, August 7th.

Open House for grades Prek-5 will be this Friday, August 9th, from 10am-12pm. This is a time for you and your child(ren) to meet the teachers and drop off school supplies. We look forward to seeing you there.

All students in grades 6 through 8 are required to attend Boot Camp on Friday, August 9th from 9am until noon. Middle school students should be dropped off between 8:45am and 9am using morning carline procedures. Students must be in full regular school uniform (not Mass uniform) and should bring school supplies. Parents should park their cars and pick their middle schooler up from the homeroom class at noon. This is mandatory for all middle school students!

New School Year Packets, including student's classroom assignments, are now available during office hours. Please remember that parent/guardians must be the ones to pick up the information.

New and used uniform sales will be:

• Saturday, August 10th from 9am-12pm
  
• Saturday, August 17th from 9am-12pm

New uniform sales will be in the Parish Center on August 10th and in the gym on August 17th. The used uniforms will be in the library. Please make plans to bring your student with you during one of our uniform sale dates so that he/she can try on uniforms before purchase.

Want to get ahead on your service hour commitment for the 2024-2025 school year? SJCS parents are required to complete 20 hours of service to the school each academic year. Our Fall Uniform Sales are a great way to log some hours before the school year even starts. If you are interested in volunteering at any of the Fall Uniform Sales (see dates above), please reach out to Ms. Summer at sdehaven@stjosephwhschool.org or call 293-3311 to let us know that we can count on you.

When shopping for shoes for the new school year, please keep in mind the dress code for boys and girls:

Shoes — All black shoes are to be worn with laces matching. The shoes may not have any secondary/accent colors, including the sole and logos.

Below are some examples of shoes that are acceptable and those that are not.

Shoe Rule for Boys

Black tennis shoe or black dress shoe

Shoe Rule for Girls

Solid black tennis shoes or black dress flat (ie. ballet style) *Must be flat; cannot have a heel.

If you have questions about whether a shoe is appropriate or not, parents are urged to only ask Mrs. Magnole or Mrs. Insua. You are welcome to send either of us an email with a picture, or bring the shoes with you to Open House or Orientation. Also, consider keeping them in the box, and not wearing them until you know that they meet the dress code.

The full uniform dress code for this school year can be found at https://stjosephwhschool.org/eagleparents.

What color pants do boys in grades 4-8 wear on Mass days?

All boys in grades 4-8 should wear khaki pants from Sir Walter. When ordering online, please select flat front pants.

May boys in grades 4 and 5 wear khaki shorts?

No. While boys in fourth and fifth grade will wear khaki pants on Mass days, Khaki shorts are reserved for middle school students.

Are girls in grades 4-8 allowed to wear the old Mass skirt on days other than Mass days?

Yes. If girls in grades 4-8 would like to wear the old Mass skirt on non-Mass days, that is acceptable. *Remember that the skirt must be no shorter than 3 inches above the bend in the back of the knee. The Mass skirt should only be worn with white polo (not blue, red or grey). The new Mass skirt must be worn on Mass days.

Are hoodies acceptable?

No, hoodies are not a part of our dress code this year and are not acceptable even on dress down days.

When can my child wear a Booster shirt?
Booster shirts may be worn with PE shorts on PE days. They can also be worn on dress down days, of course.

What is the new sports shirt?

Students who participate in a sport may wear their sport shirt on game day with uniform pants. Sports uniforms should not be worn to school and should only be worn to the game. This includes cheerleaders.

Are we still honoring Throwback Thursday?

No. Booster shirts may be worn with PE shorts on PE days. Booster shirts are no longer acceptable on Thursdays with uniform bottoms.

What hair accessories may my daughter wear?

Hair accessories (headbands, bows, ponytail holders, etc.) must match the uniform. Therefore, colors such as white, blue, and grey are acceptable. Scarfs and bandanas may not be worn.

What is the rule for haircuts for my child?

Hair for boys and girls must be natural color; it may not have highlights or be dyed. Boys' hair must be above the eyebrow and collar. Further, boys may not have mohawks or any designs shaved into their heads.

When can I purchase uniforms for cool weather?

We will have additional uniform sale dates later in the Fall, before the cool weather hits. Also, you can always order uniform items online from Sir Walter directly.

Do I need to purchase a Mass uniform for my child if he/she has PE on Mass days?

Yes. All students in Kindergarten through Grade 8 must be in Mass uniforms on Mass days (Wednesdays). If your child has PE on Wednesdays, your child's homeroom teacher will guide you in what works best for that particular age group.

Do parents have to wear something specific when going on field trips with the class?

Yes. All parents going on a field trip with the class must wear a SJCS shirt. You can purchase a polo shirt from Sir Walter or our Booster club has a variety of t-shirt options.

As teachers are preparing their classrooms for the new school year, you can help out by donating needed items from their Amazon wish lists. Click below to purchase an item for a teacher. Remember that every $10 counts as 1 hour of the 20 required service hours for each family this year.

Mrs. Stern
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/327KETBVAWXQ9?ref_=wl_share
Mrs. McDonald
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/7R95IL17T7LA?ref_=wl_share
Mrs. Magnole
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Mrs. Copeland
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Mrs. Wells
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Mrs. Englebrecht
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Ms. Keown
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Mrs. Breen
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Mrs. Becker
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Mrs. Freeland
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Mrs. MacPhee
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Mrs. Erb
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Ms. Motsch
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Mrs. Hengesbach
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Mr. Pack (Art)
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/26Q8W7DQ5HH44?ref=cm_sw_em_r_un_un_LrtOfmX7hSRbl
Ms. Brotherton
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Ms. McGillin
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Ms. Gandolff
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Ms. Barroso
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Mrs. Tanner
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1ARWGMFVVCSP1?ref_=wl_share
Mrs. Zellers
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Mrs. Fedderly
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Mrs. Williamson

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Jennifer Brown

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Summer homework for next year's kindergarten through 8th grade students is posted on our school website at https://stjosephwhschool.org/summer-resources. This will be due the first day of school.

Also, the supply lists for next year are posted there as well. Remember that you can order school supplies from School Tool Box and they will be delivered right to your home! Here is the link for summer homework and school supply lists: https://stjosephwhschool.org/summer-resources. For School Tool Box orders to arrive before school begins on Monday, August 12th, orders must have been submitted by Friday, July 26.

Just a few reminders about morning carline:

• Carline is a Cellphone Free Zone. Drivers should never be on cellphones when in the carline.
• PreK3 and VPK4 students may be dropped off at the office parking lot along with siblings. Students in grades K-8 must be dropped off in the Parish Center parking lot.
• Cars typically start lining up in the office parking lot and the Parish Center parking lot just before 7:30am.
• Remember that students should remain in their cars until morning carline staff is visible and has started emptying cars.
• The entire parking lot is a NO PASSING ZONE. Please do not ever pass cars in carline. This is for the safety of our students and teachers.
• Follow the directions of the staff in morning carline.
• It is best if students can exit you car on the right hand side (behind the passenger seat rather than the driver). This prevents the child (and staff) from having to cross in front of cars.
• Carline will back up! To help us avoid spilling out of the parking lot, please move up as close as you can to the car in front of you, leaving as little space as possible.
• When exiting the Parish Center parking lot, form two lanes at the gate that exits onto Unity Way. Regardless of where you are heading when you leave SJCS, the best way to exit the parking lot is very often to turn left onto Unity Way and then over to First Street or go up to Havendale Boulevard.
• Remember that there is no left turn from Unity Way on to Avenue M NW. WHPD will be in the area issuing tickets these first weeks of school.
• When exiting the office parking lot, remember that there is no left turn onto Avenue M NW.
  
• Patience! Remember that morning carline will be a well oiled machine, but it requires everyone to follow all procedures, and it will take time. We promise, it will get better.

We need all parents to assist and follow all procedures to help increase efficiency in afternoon carline. Failure to follow all steps may result in parents being asked to leave the parking lot and re-enter. So, take a few minutes to read this section carefully to avoid frustration in the future!

What time does the parking lot gates open for dismissal?

The gates will not open until 2:25 pm daily for afternoon dismissal. Please do not arrive earlier than 2:25 pm. If the gates aren't open, and you aren't able to get your car off of Hwy 17, you need to circle; please do not back the line up onto Hwy 17.

What time does dismissal begin?
It depends! If your child is in PreK through grade 5, dismissal begins at 2:55pm. If your child is in middle school (grade 6-8), dismissal is not until 3:10pm.

Do I need to do anything with the PikMyKid app?

YES!! Immediately upon entering the parking lot, please "Announce" for all of your students using the PikMyKid app. This alerts your child that it is time to pack up his/her backpack and get ready to leave the classroom. This will prevent you from having to circle back around and re-enter carline.

At what point does my child actually leave the classroom and head down to the parking lot? Your child does not leave his/her classroom until an administrator, using your number, calls for him/her. Mr. Kupka, Ms. Lucarelli, and Mrs. Insua will walk through the line, calling your number on your cartag. At this point, the app indicates that your child should go outside.

Why do I need to "Announce"? Can't the Administrator just alert my child to come out?

When skipping the "announce" step, the child doesn't have the appropriate amount of time to begin packing up and getting ready to head out. This will result in your child not being in the parking lot when you get to the front of the line and you being asked to exit the lot, circle the block and reenter. Both steps are critical to the efficiency of carline.

What happens if I am in the loading zone and my child is not in the parking lot yet?

If your child doesn't get into your car while you are in the loading zone, we will ask you to move your vehicle out of the loading zone making way for others. We will give you a few minutes to sit idle in the parking lot if it is taking your child a little bit longer to get to the parking lot. After a few minutes, you will be directed to leave the parking lot and re-enter.

What if I am parked and my child doesn't come within a few minutes?

We cannot have cars parked idle for more than a couple of minutes. It causes backups and doesn't help the efficiency of the carline. If you are parked for more than a couple of minutes, you will be asked to leave carline and circle around and re-enter.

What if I have an elementary and middle school student, their dismissal times are different?

Parents should not enter the parking lot until their oldest child is dismissed. So, in the case where a parent has a student in middle school, please do not enter until 3:10pm. Your elementary aged student will be in his/her classroom with the teacher and several peers.

What if I am parked and an employee tells me that I must circle and re-enter the parking lot?
This is because your child isn't in the parish center parking lot from his/her classroom. This could be because (1) you didn't announce on the app upon entering the parking lot; (2) you arrived too early - before 3:10pm for families with a middle schooler; (3) your child is staying after for an activity; (4) your child is taking a bit longer than he/she should. In this case, parents must comply with the directions of the staff member. Exit the parking lot and circle back and re-enter.

Our first Orientation is on Thursday, August 8th.

• New families in any grade level will meet at 5:30 pm in the Parish Center.
• Entering VPK (Prek 4) at 6:00 pm in the Parish Center
• These grade levels will meet in the classroom at 6:00 pm
• Entering PreK 3
• Entering Kindergarten
• Entering 1st grade
• Entering 2nd grade

Orientation for Middle School grades 5-8 will on Thursday, August 15th at 6pm in your child's homeroom classroom. This is the same evening for the sports meeting that will begin at 5:30 pm in the Parish Center. The sports meeting is required for parents to attend if students want to play any sport this year.

Orientation for grades 3 and 4 will be on Wednesday, August 21st, at 6pm in your child's homeroom classroom.

These meetings are for parents only. Children should not attend these orientation meetings. Thank you in advance for making other childcare arrangements for your child(ren).

Parents are reminded that we offer supervision beginning at 7am daily in the parish center. If you need to drop your child(ren) off before 7:30am, you will be charged $2.50 per family for anytime between 7:00am and 7:25am. Please drop your child(ren) off at the parish center doors and ensure that they enter the parish center to the care of an adult before driving away.

SJCS will continue to offer aftercare for all families. Students must be picked up by 6pm. All families will need to use the app for pick up from aftercare and will be asked to show a car tag. Remember, this is for the safety of your child!

The cost for aftercare this year is $4.50 per hour. Families are billed weekly. SJCS will not provide a snack. If parents wish to send an extra snack with their child, you may. Aftercare staff will give students a chance to eat his/her snack (brought from home) around 4pm.

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.

• August 12th: First Day of School
• August 30th: Teacher Workday: No School for Students
• September 2nd: Labor Day Holiday: School Closed
• 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

Maschio's returns for the coming school year as our lunch provider. The cost for a regular lunch will be $5.00 this school year. Below is the price list for extras that are offered.

2024-2025 Lunch Price List

If your child requires a special menu for food allergies or other food-related conditions, please fill out one of the following forms and submit it to the email address listed in the forms.

Food Allergy Management Program - English

Food Allergy Management Program - Spanish

During the registration process, parents signed the Diocesan Policy regarding students use of technology both in school or at home on school issued devices, when applicable. The policy can be found in the Resource section of this edition of Eagle's Eye. See below. Please be sure that you are familiar with this policy.

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

On Thursday, August 22nd, St. Joseph Catholic Church will host an Altar Server meeting for current and new servers. This will be in Mrs. Tanner's classroom from 3:30pm-4:15pm.. This ministry seeks to encourage the youth of our parish to fully engage in our faith through their service to the Church as altar servers. Serving at the altar gives youth a hands-on, personal experience of God's work in the liturgy. Requirements are that the children have received their First Communion. Children over the age of 14 will need to complete the Safe Environment Training and Fingerprinting. Please contact the Mrs. Tanner at htanner@stjosephwhschool.org with any question.

Absences (Including Early Dismissals)

• 10 absences, the parent receives an automatic email notifying them of the number of absences accumulated thus far and reminding them of the policy.

• 15 absences without documentation, the parent will either receive communication or be required to attend a meeting with a school administrator; the student could be placed on attendance probation.

• At the 19th absence, school administration will evaluate the documentation provided and determine if the student can remain at St. Joseph Catholic School.

Tardies

• 10 tardies, the parent receives an automatic email notifying them of the number of tardies accumulated thus far and reminding them of the policy.

• 15 tardies without documentation, the parent will either receive communication or be required to attend a meeting with a school administrator; the student will be placed on attendance probation.

• At the 19th tardy, school administration will evaluate the documentation provided and determine if the student can remain at St. Joseph Catholic School

St. Joseph Catholic School understands that a child's birthday is a special day. Students in Pre-K through Grade 8 may come to school dressed out-of-uniform on their birthday or half-birthday. If a student’s birthday falls on a Mass day, the student should dress out on an alternative day. Invitations to parties are given to all members of a class or mailed to individual students if all students in the class are not invited. Students should not exchange individual gifts at school. This gesture only creates hurt feelings among other students. If a family chooses to celebrate their child’s birthday with a treat for the class, Maschio’s (our lunch provider) is happy to provide the class with a treat at a nominal cost to the family. Birthday treats may not be sent in with the student. They must be purchased from Maschio’s and will be shared during lunch in the cafeteria. Parents must purchase these birthday treats in advance using the form provided by Maschio’s.

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 as follows:

With the new security procedures put in place this past school year for adults attending Mass and attending ceremonies, all driver license IDs must be scanned in the main office for the new school year. Please stop by the office and have your ID scanned now. This will ensure you are able to attend all events this coming school year and will not have to scan your ID for the remainder of the year.

All middle school students are required to have 10 service hours per year. Students can start now to attain those hours. The form for tracking those is below.

Please continue to scan your receipts so we can earn funds from Box Tops for our school. Our next goal is to earn $100. Students will have another dress down day once we reach this goal.

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