4/1/2019 Weekly Newsletter & Reminders

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A Note from the Principal's Desk...

Dear Parents,

Just a few quick reminders. Warm weather uniforms will begin on April 1st (not joking) through the end of the school year. In addition, please remember that the parking lot is closed to all vehicles when students are at recess, lunch or after school programs. Please park on Ray, Robinson, Whitcomb (right side ONLY) and Lincoln Streets. Additional parking is available on Maynard Street. Thank you for your cooperation.

A sincere thank you to all who make time to attend the HSA General Meeting this past Thursday. The presenter, Dynamic Influence certainly had the dangers of Social media hit home with all of us. I believe we walked away with helpful ideas to control the way we use the web and amount of time spent on "screen time". Also, thank you to all the parents who contributed beverages and snacks to this wonderful evening.

Happy Spring!

Sincerely,

Michael Hackenson M.Ed.

Principal

H.S.A. Monthly Meeting: April 2nd

All Parents/Guardians

Encouraged to Get Involved!

The Home and School Association (H.S.A.) will hold its monthly planning meeting on Tuesday, April 2nd at 6:30pm in the First Floor Faculty Room and all parents/guardians of St. Joseph School students are encouraged to get involved. See below for information about the H.S.A. and its vacancies.

H.S.A. representatives are an integral part of the school.

Please consider getting involved!

All About the H.S.A.

What does H.S.A . stand for?

H.S.A. stands for Home & School Association

Who are the members of the H.S.A. ?

All parents and guardians of St. Joseph School students are members of the H.S.A. In addition, the H.S.A. has a core group made up of a board (Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer), representatives for every classroom, faculty representative and administration.

How can we join the H.S.A .?

You don’t have to join. You already belong! Everyone is welcome to attend the monthly H.S.A. meeting. Meetings are held the 1st Tuesday of the month at 6:30 in the Faculty Room at school.

What does the H.S.A. do?

The H.S.A. supports St. Joseph School through educational activities, religious and social functions, as well as fund-raising projects to fund these activities.

What kinds of activities does the H.S.A. do?

Back-to-School Picnic, Halloween Spooktacular, Christmas Shop, Book Fairs and Special Person’s Dance are just some of the ways the H.S.A. helps build school spirit and happy memories for the students and families of St. Joseph School.

The H.S.A. does a lot. Is there anything the H.S.A. DOESN’T do?

The. H.S.A. is not a committee that discusses school policy. The H.S.A. is not intended to be a liaison or influence school policies. If you have questions or concerns about school-related matters, they should be brought to your child’s teacher or the school administration.

H.S.A. Vacancies 2019-2020

Membership in the Home and School Association (H.S.A.) consists of fathers, mothers, and guardians of students of St. Joseph School and members of the faculty.

Several of our Classroom Representatives have fulfilled their two year terms. Therefore, the H.S.A. Executive Board has several vacancies that need to be filled for the 2019-2020 School Year. They are listed below:

Treasurer

PreK 3-year-old program

PreK 4/5-year-old program

Kindergarten

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

Sixth Grade

Seventh Grade

Eighth Grade

Classroom Representatives are an integral part of the St. Joseph School Community. Responsibilities include:

1. Regularly attend our monthly meetings at 6:30 PM on the first Tuesday of each month, as well as H.S.A. General Meetings.

2. Communicate with the parents in your classroom using a school assigned email.

3. Regularly check-in with your teacher to determine needs and coordinate parent volunteers if necessary.

4. Attend family Masses.

5. Support and participate in H.S.A. sponsored events.

If you are interested in volunteering for a classroom representative position and being more involved at St. Joseph School, please email: hsa@sjs-webster.com

Spring Pictures - April 3rd & 4th

Casson-Foster Photographers will be at the school on Tuesday, April 3rd and Wednesday, April 4th for Spring photos. Students should wear their Sunday Best for individual photos. Please follow the school dress code.

Students may wear:

leggings only if worn with a tunic length top providing appropriate coverage
pants/jeans only if neat and clean, have no holes, are not too baggy/too tight
tennis shoes
short socks
uniform length** shorts or capris
uniform length** skirts/skorts

**Please note that uniform length is no more than

three inches above the knee.**

Students may not wear:

clothing that is extremely tight
low cut blouses/tops or v-neck tops
tank tops or scoop neck tops
skinny jeans or jeggings
bike shorts
T-shirts with inappropriate writing
pajama pants
flip-flop sandals
open-back shoes
tennis shoes that convert to roller skates
no visible undergarments allowed
make-up/nail polish
No boots of any kind.

Wednesday schedule for pictures - Grades PreK 3, PreK5, K, 4,5,6,7,8.

Thursday schedule for - Grades PreK2, 1,2,3.

Festival Update: Early Bird Drawing

Money Raffle - $6,100 in Prizes!

Don't forget to turn-in your Festival Money Raffle Tickets. To get in on the Early Bird Special, please return your tickets by April 8th.

The Early Bird drawing will take place at the St. Joseph School

Science Fair on April 10th. Good Luck!

Planning Meetings

The St. Joseph Festival is June 14th-16th and planning meetings are underway. If you are interested in helping to plan, please join us at our weekly meetings. Unless noted otherwise, the meetings are at 6:30PM on Tuesdays in the new Parish Center.

Tuesday April 2nd - Kitchen Meeting

Tuesday April 9th - General Meeting

Tuesday April 16th - Kitchen Meeting

Tuesday April 23rd - General Meeting

Tuesday April 30th - Kitchen Meeting

Thursday May 9th - General Meeting

Tuesday May 14th - Kitchen Meeting

Tuesday May 21st - General Meeting

Tuesday May 28th - Kitchen Meeting

Thursday June 6th - Final meeting

This is the largest fundraising event for the school, but we CANNOT be successful without you. Please send any questions to festival@sjs-webster.com

Last Call for Yearbook Orders!

Deadline to order is April 3rd

Making new friends and making memories with old friends are important parts of the school year. Be sure your student has this special keepsake to remember the memories, fun, and friends of the 2018-2019 school year.

We cannot guarantee that yearbooks will be available for purchase if you do not reserve a copy today.

Please return your order form with payment no later than April 3, 2019.

Click HERE for a copy of the order form.

Holy Week

We will soon begin the holiest days of the liturgical year - Holy Week. Our traditions call us to focus on Jesus' tremendous love for us - a love so great that He died for our salvation. We encourage all students and families to participate in the observances of this very special week.

Palm Sunday, April 14th - 9:30 AM Mass & Procession

All children are invited to participate in the Entrance Procession carrying palms. The Children's Choir will sing and students in Grades 7 & 8 will read the Passion narrative.

Holy Thursday, April 18th - 7:00 PM Mass & Procession

Students will participate in the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the Lily Procession. Each student carries a potted lily which will be used to decorate the Easter altar. A $5.00 donation is required. Children of Mary will serve as line leaders. If you cannot participate but would like to donate toward liles for the Easter altar, please click HERE for a form.

Easter Vigil, April 20th - 7:30 PM & Easter Sunday Masses, April 21st

Students have the honor of serving as Collectors at the Easter Masses as the Annual Excellence in Education appeal, which benefits the students of St. Joseph School, is conducted.

For more details, including the dress code, please click HERE to download the Palm Sunday & Holy Thursday Procession sign-up form and click HERE to download the form to sign your child up to collection at an Easter Mass.

A Few Reminders!

Lenten Service Project:

Pennies for Patients

Due April 8th

This year’s Lenten Project is Almsgiving to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Student Series’ Pennies for Patients. While schools and students collect money to help find cures for blood cancer patients, students learn about service, leadership and philanthropy.

Your child will help save lives. By collecting change, students will help people touched by blood cancers. In the 1960s the survival rate for the most common form of childhood leukemia was 3%. Today it’s approximately 90% thanks to many research advances funded by LLS. With the help of programs like this one, LLS has invested more than $1 billion in research to advance therapies that save lives.

Your child received his/her own coin box for collecting change, dollars and checks (made out to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) on Monday, March 18th. Spare change can turn up anywhere and your child can make a difference just by collecting it.

Our program begins on Monday, March 18th and runs for the next three weeks, ending on April 5, 2019. Collection boxes are to be kept at home until the end of the program. Students return their collection boxes to their homeroom teacher on April 8, 2019.

Please note that we are not participating in LLS’ online program this year, but we will have a special day each week with a specific goal.

Thank you for supporting this project.

8th Grade Testing: PSATs

St. Joseph School Eighth (8th) Grade students will be taking the PSATs from Monday, April 22nd through Tuesday, April 23rd. Please mark your calendars accordingly.

SJS Summer Camps

Weekly Themed Summer Camps: Pre-K Students - Grade 4

Youth Sports Leadership Academy: 5th Grade - 8th Grade

Created a little over three years ago by leaders in both youth basketball and leadership development, the Youth Sports Leadership Academy (YSLA) is a cutting edge program for youth basketball players both on and off the court. The goal of the program is to take what coaches are teaching their teams to the next level by offering an individualized leadership development, wellness and skills program. This unique approach focuses on individual strengths of each player while cultivating the team dynamic.

Details are being finalized now, so please watch for more information regarding pricing. The program will run on the following dates from 6:00-8:00PM in the Richard A. Nowak at St. Joseph School and will be run by YSLA Director of Leadership Development, Brenda Hounsell Sullivan and YSLA Director of Team Concepts, Buzz Krysinski.

June 25 & 27, July 9 & 11, 16 & 18, 23 & 25

Save the Dates!

SJS Theatre Camp

Plans are also being finalized for an SJS Theatre Camp. Information will be available very soon!

Lenten Family Mass Class Schedule

All Family Masses are at 9:30AM in St. Joseph Basilica. We ask that all students and their families consider attending, even if you are not scheduled to participate in the Mass.