Last Friday, the Class of 2022 took part in their final all-class retreat, a Senior Day of Reflection. Instituted last year, this retreat was offered again this year due to the Class of 2021’s overwhelmingly positive feedback that it was a wonderful experience. This retreat serves as a "bookend" for the students' reflective time at the Academy.

Seniors spent their morning in small group discussions and heard a witness from their class moderator, Mrs. Jill Garlock ’92, as they reflected on their "road map" through Saint Joseph Academy and their plans for the future.

In preparation for Holy Week, the CORE Ministry Department has helped guide the Saint Joseph Academy community through their Lenten journeys. They have provided various offerings and activities including the sacrament of Reconciliation during activity blocks. Lenten themes have also been at the center of CORE classwork with students journaling and reflecting upon their personal Lenten journeys, praying special prayers, learning the liturgies and rituals of Holy Week and watching videos to better understand the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Auditions will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday for to earn a spot in The Academy Chorale for the 2022-23 school year. Students can choose to attend a 10-minute in-person audition or submit a video. Here are the instructions.

Members of this popular extra-curricular musical group enjoy many performance opportunities at a variety of venues. It is an ensemble that requires hard work, dedication, time/material management skills and a current high-level musical ability. The Academy Chorale is also a group of students who become great friends!

March has been busy for visual art students during National Youth Art Month. This month-long celebration of visual art education encourages support for quality school art programs and is a time for art shows, special exhibits, fundraisers, and school and community activities.

The artwork of Kayla Gleason ’22, Carmela DiLisi ’23, Sienna Stephens ’25 (artwork pictured) and Keira Scott '24 have been selected for the 2022 Statehouse Exhibition. This student exhibition, hosting forty works of art, recognizes the “talents, creativity and innovation of students who receive high-quality arts education instruction as part of their academic experience in school.” The Ohio Statehouse exhibit is open to the public during regular business hours April 1-27, 2022.

A key component of a Saint Joseph Academy education is the development of the whole student. Our Wellness Curriculum is designed to keep our students strong in body, mind and spirit. To help identify the needs and measure the progress of our efforts, the Wellness Survey is scheduled for all students on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The survey consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and is based on the Independent School Health Check (lSHC). Please be assured that the survey responses are all confidential and anonymous.

Here is the link to the letter Mr. Jeff Sutliff and Ms. Maryann Marek sent to Saint Joseph Academy families.

Questions? Please contact School Counselor Ms. Maryann Marek.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our Family Challenge so far! We have had a wonderful response with over $6,700 raised to date for the Annual Fund.

Our goal is to receive a monetary gift from every family. This is a fun and friendly competition between all four grades to see which class can get the highest number of families to donate to the Annual Fund.

This year, all gifts received by Friday, April 29 will receive a Proud Jaguar Family key chain and be eligible to win a parking spot or a prom bid (A gift of $25 gets you one chance, $50 gets you two chances to win and so on!), a class dress down day (if your daughter's class has the highest participation) and/or lunch from a food truck in May (if your student’s class reaches 100% participation).

Students who are interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts or Mathematics (STEAM) are encouraged to apply to the Engineering & Design Honors Program. This program is designed to give students experiences from a wide range of guest speakers, hands-on field trips, competitions, projects and more.

Please use this link to fill out the application before Monday, May 2.

In May, a meeting schedule will be sent out to all students who have applied.

Accomplishments: Junior Sophie O’Leary had the title role in the Saint Joseph Academy spring musical, Cinderella. While this is Sophie’s third Academy production, she has been involved with theater for seven years, performing mostly at the Near West Theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District in Cleveland.

“I always love being able to play any character, but this one feels particularly special for me since I grew up with the story of Cinderella,” Sophie said. “She’s such an iconic character and I’m so grateful and excited to have had the opportunity to play her!”

Sophie shares that she was surprised to find she has many similarities with the character she played. “I have an amazing family and great friends, unlike her, but I can still relate to her struggle with standing up for herself and her journey to find people who support her. Plus, at the end of the day, we’re both big daydreamers and hopeless romantics who just like a happy ending.”

At each performance, Sophie enjoyed interacting with the young children who were in the audience. “I got to talk to so many little kids – a lot of whom were in Cinderella dresses – and it always made my day. Bringing the magic of this story to life for them was so much fun.”

For the role, she had to learn how to waltz and then perform the dance in heels and the ball gown she wore as her costume. The thing Sophie will miss the most now that the musical is finished are her friends. “Although I'll see a lot of them in the hallways at school, I'll miss performing with them very much.”

Activities: As a Saint Joseph Academy performing arts student, Sophie was in two other Academy productions; last year’s musical 9 to 5 and this year’s fall play Clue. She also plays the cello and has studied the instrument for 13 years. Along with being in the theater program, she is part of String Orchestra, Academy Inclusion Club and is a Book Club captain. At Near West Theatre, Sophie is on stage in many productions and also works behind the scenes as part of the costume crew and building sets.

The Varsity track team traveled to Wheeling, WV for the 50th annual Dick Dei Invite and battled weather from all four seasons including hail, snow, rain, wind and some peaks of sun. However, they did not disappoint as they finished 4th out of 10 teams!

Written by: Head Coach Mr. Steve Stahl, edited by Mrs. Kathy Flinn

The Varsity Lacrosse team had another home game at Victory Park this past weekend. Ten different scorers contributed to the 19-2 win over Cleveland Heights including Elise Larsen ’23 who scored her 50th career goal! In addition, Ellen Martin ’23 and Ireland Kovacevic ’25 each scored their first varsity goals of their careers.

Written by: Head Coach Ms. Laureen Antall, edited by Mrs. Kathy Flinn

This past weekend (April 8-10, 2022) the Varsity and JV Jaguar Rugby teams traveled to Nashville, TN to compete in the U19 Nash Bash Rugby Fest. Varsity ended the weekend at 2-1 and JV ended 1-2.

Written by: Head Coach Mary Wunderle, edited by Mrs. Kathy Flinn