October 15, 2021 Edition
Dear St. Joe’s Parents and Community,

There is school spirit and there is SCHOOL SPIRIT!

Under the enthusiastic leadership of Mary Beth Cox, our Development Director, the annual Fun Run was held Wednesday through Friday of this week. With the school mascot, the Hammerhead Shark, visiting classrooms, daily updates on the morning announcements, and students and teachers donning their tee shirts, close to 500 students pitched in to make this week’s event the most successful ever. It was difficult to tell who was more excited about the event…the students or Mary Beth! With music blaring, student cheerleaders on the sidelines and parent volunteers providing plenty of encouragement, our runners ran hard and showed their true St. Joe’s spirit. This event is testament to the dedication that the St. Joe’s Community has for the school, its staff and most especially, its students. It was indeed quite an event.
Sincerely,

Dr. Joe Barnes
Interim Head of School
School Updates
Celebrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
During the course of this school year, we plan to recognize and celebrate the many cultures that we are blessed to have in our country. As a nation, we live and work with a diverse and rich population. During the month of October, we will be celebrating the Hispanic and Latino culture. A message on the morning announcements, coupled with a bulletin board dedicated to the culture will focus on the many contributions that have been made by our Hispanic-Latino Americans.

In addition to October, we plan to recognize:
               November – National American Indian Heritage Month
               February – African American History Month
               March – National Women’s History Month
               May – Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Fall Intramural Sports
Fall intramurals are here and we are excited to offer field hockey. This is open to grades 1-8 and is a non-competitive opportunity to participate in field hockey. The focus will be on physical activity, teamwork, and developing field hockey skills. Participants are encouraged to bring their own equipment, but there will be some available to borrow. Practices are from 2:45-4:15 Tuesday and Thursday beginning October 19 and running through November 11.
Ski Club - Grades 5-8
Ski Club Interest Form – Grades 5-8 ONLY

To help us with the planning of ski club, please take a moment to fill out the form. This is not the official sign up, just gathering interest to help us in the planning stages!
Trunk or Treat
Trunk or Treat is less than a month away and tickets are available now! This is our first school wide event in quite some time and we are really looking forward to having our wonderful community come together. Trunk or Treat will be Friday, October 29th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. There will be music, crafts, and entertainment, as well as food and ice cream trucks. We are still in need of volunteers to help set up, run check in, help during the event, and help with clean up. Middle schoolers are welcome to volunteer as well! Of course the highlight of this event are the trunks! We are still in need of families to volunteer to trick their trunk out for this wonderful event. The kiddos are always so excited to see the different trunks and they will be able to vote on their favorite. I know this kind of project might feel overwhelming to some but there are soo many examples to find on Pinterest etc. that will give you great inspiration! Oriental Trading also offers kits that you can purchase if you are not that crafty but still would like to participate by decorating your trunk! There are so many ways to get involved and we hope to see a great turn out for this fun family event! Please email Emily Cleary cleary.j.emily@gmail.com with any questions. 
Saint Joseph Parish - Altar Servers
St. Joseph parish is inviting the youth, 4th grade and above, to participate in the Liturgy as altar servers. The ministry of altar service offers the youth an opportunity to develop a sense of reverence and to acquire familiarity of the Holy Mass.
 
Whether you have served in the past or are new to serving, please plan to attend one of the training sessions to be offered in the upper church on Thursday, October 21 at 7:00 PM or Sunday, October 24 at 1:00 PM. Each session will run about an hour.
 
Families may sign their children up using the link below.
 
For more information and questions, please contact Fr. Joseph at jkim@saintjoes.com
MAP Testing
Each year our students take the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) test in the spring, winter, and fall. MAP is a computerized adaptive test which helps teachers, parents, and administrators improve learning for all students and make informed decisions to promote a child’s academic growth. The Catholic Schools Office mandates this test for each Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Boston. 
Birthday Books
The Birthday Book Program is the library's main fundraiser, supplying approximately 50% of our library budget. Families can donate a book to the library as part of a child's birthday celebration! When families make a donation, we record it and have the students pick a new book from the "Birthday Book Cart" close to the date of their birth. We will place a bookplate with the child's name in the front of the book, and the child will be able to check the book out that day and will be returned within two weeks to be circulated in our library as a new title. Books may be also given at holidays, in honor of a teacher, relative, friend, or in memoriam.

For more information, please visit the Library Website!
Pantry in a Box - Community Service
  • There will be a test of our emergency system tonight at 7 p.m. Parents will receive the alert on their phones.
  • MAP testing results are going home in back packs today.
  • Progress reports for students in grades 3-5 will close on Monday. Progress reports can be viewed on the Family Portal.
October Calendar Dates
  • Tuesday, October 19th - Intramural Field Hockey Begins
  • Wednesday, October 20th - Half Day
  • Wednesday, October 20th - Fun Run Tag Day
  • Thursday, October 21st - Prayer and Pick up with 6A
  • Monday, October 25th - Field Hockey Game @ Medfield
  • Wednesday, October 27th - Fun Run Tag Day
  • Thursday, October 28th - Prayer and Pick up with 6B
  • Friday, October 29th - Halloween ECB Parades and Parties
  • Friday, October 29th - Trunk or Treat Event
  • Friday, October 29th - Middle School (Grades 6-8) Halloween Party 8-10pm
Around Saint Joe's
Kindergarten had a great field trip to Ward's Berry Farm!