St Joseph High School - A Catholic College Preparatory Community
Week 10 of Remote Learning:
A Note from Mrs Sorrentino!
When I began my SJ teaching career in 1980, I never imagined that forty years later I would be instructing my students remotely. At the time, my technological talent was limited to reproducing worksheets on the ditto machine and presenting a recording of Romeo and Juliet on the record player. Over the years, however, by combining my tried-and-true teaching strategies with SmartBoard lessons, Kahoots, and the support of Mrs Abelson and Mrs Moskowitz, I have achieved what I once thought was unimaginable: The opportunity to welcome my students into a virtual version of Room 105.

This experience has enabled me to explore new apps and learning platforms that have expanded my lesson plans. My students have taken a virtual tour of Shakespeare’s Globe, and learned about the Elizabethan period while viewing 3-D images that magically appear on their IPads. Via Google Meet, they seamlessly continue to discuss and to write about literature, to expand their vocabulary, and to dramatically reenact monologues and soliloquies from Romeo and Juliet. Because we are able to recite the Prayer to St Joseph together every day, we strengthen the bond we have formed as a class and maintain our connection with our SJ family.

My students enjoy the variety of ways their teachers are presenting the course material, and they welcome the ability to complete and submit assignments during the school day. An additional bonus they shared is that they can attend a full day of classes without carrying any textbooks!

I look forward to greeting my students again in Room 105. When I do, I plan to present some of my favorite lessons in my forty-year repertoire with a fresh look as a result of what I have learned from my virtual classroom experience. Until then, we will continue to stay close while distance learning.

~ Mrs Sorrentino
Date Change: Virtual Talent Show Now on May 28!

Cadets: you now have more time to send in your talent show submissions! Share your video performance of an original song (or cover) with Mr Weiss via a YouTube link or Google drive by May 25 .

The Virtual Talent Show (hosted by the Guitar Club) will officially launch on May 28 at 2:20pm . For questions, contact Mr Brunner or Mr Weiss.
Important Dates for Seniors

On May 13, Dr Fitzgerald sent out a note for seniors regarding Commencement activities, book returns, and locker access dates.
Athletic Senior Nights

Senior nights for our Athletic teams is a cherished St Joes tradition. All last week, SJ Athletics highlighted each of our spring sports senior athletes on our social media accounts. Many thanks to Ms Nasser for putting these videos together to honor our student athletes!
College Counseling Events: Save these Dates!
Tips on a Smooth Transition to College Tuesday, May 19 at 1:00pm

Seniors, you may be nervous as you think about the new environment, new friends, and opportunities. Let us give you some advice! We will also have a special section for parents called “Letting Go”. 

Guest Speakers : Will Johnson, PhD, Dean of Students at Fairfield University along with Mrs Seperack.
College Admission Essay Workshop
Tuesday, May 19 at 7:00pm

Please join Julia Naclerio, Senior Associate Director of Admission at Trinity College, as she offers her expertise and strategy on how to craft an effective college essay.
Order Your Cloth Masks

Grace DeDonato '22 and Niko Charney '21 would like to share their talents with the SJ Community in exchange for a donation to charity.

On St Joe's website, you can now place an order for face masks (up to 4 per family) in exchange for a gift of any amount to the Spooner House in Shelton.

Maroon & Gold Everywhere!

We asked our families to decorate their doors Maroon & Gold and their creativity blew us away! Thanks to all who are showing off our colors and celebrating our students. Many thanks as well to SJ Parent, Pam DeAngelo, for putting this video together!
Pizza & Prayer on May 19

Tuesday, May 19 at 6pm

Join us for Pizza and Prayer next Tuesday May 19th on Google Meet! Contact Mr Smith at jsmith@sjcadets.org with any questions.
Academic Center Workshop

All students are welcome to attend weekly workshops each Monday at 2:15PM to receive support from the Student Academic Center (Google Classroom Code: h46jmzf). 

May 18 Workshop: Check It Off the List: Creating Effective Final Project Checklists
Review St Joes Online!

Parents & Students: school reviews are a great way for families, teachers, and future Cadets to learn about our incredible community.

Sharing your opinion will help families discover whether St Joes is right for them. It matters where you go to high school - and we want everyone to know about St Joes!

We hope all of our parents and students will take the time to share what they love about St Joes with the rest of the world!
Trumbull Literary Winners!

We are so proud to announce that SJ Cadets Deanna Malese, Alyssa Meyers, and Cassandra Popick have won awards for their creative writing from the Trumbull Library Creative Literary Competition!

The students will be featured in a PenWorks, an annual literary magazine.
Congratulations, Cadets!
Read SJ's 2020 Amaranth!

The  Amaranth  is St Joe's annual student-edited literary and artistic journal. Amaranth is published each May and celebrates the best of poetry, short story, essay, photography and illustration by SJ students, faculty and staff.

A huge thanks to all those who have contributed to this year's issue. We hope you enjoy!

(P.S. Keep an eye on our Remote Learning page as we continue to add virtual amaranth submissions!)
Reminder for Parents!

We are so excited to see all of our Cadets again in the Fall!

Personalized tuition agreements should have arrived by mail a few weeks ago. Agreements reflect any credits, financial aid, or scholarship awards that may apply to your student. As a reminder, please send in your tuition agreements as soon as possible so we can adequately prepare for the upcoming school year!
Have questions about your tuition agreement? Contact Joanne Rodgerson
FUTURES Webinar Series

St Joes is thrilled to invite all SJ Cadets to our FUTURES Webinars! So far, we have hosted 4 incredible webinars, and we are thankful to all those who have tuned in! Videos are available on our Remote Learning page.

Next week, we will be releasing a pre-recorded webinar featuring Donna Prutting, who will give everyone a LinkedIn Tutorial (a must-see for all working professionals!)
We will send an email later this week to our students with the LinkedIn Tutorial!
At-Home Workout #4 with Ms Thresher

Cadets and parents: here is another at-home workout for you, created by Ms Nasser and Mrs Thresher.

Enjoy!
Join the Stock Market Club on May 19 at 2:20pm

The Stock Market Club invites all students to join them to learn the basics of the stock market. How to get started, the importance of calculating value, market cycles, etc... will be discussed!
Spread the Word: St Joes Info Session on May 21!
 
SJ Parents and Cadets, you are our greatest ambassadors! Do you know of a student in grades 5-8 who might be interested in St Joes? Let them know that we will be hosting an admissions information session on Thursday, May 21st at 6:30pm.
Celebrating Our Seniors:
Send Us Your Words of Encouragement!
Let's raise the spirits of the Class of 2020!

We want the entire SJ Community to send words of encouragement or advice for our seniors! Together, our messages will remind the graduating seniors of the supportive community they have now and will always have around them. Let's let them know that we're rooting for their success!

You can email your encouraging message or advice to SJ Parent, Jen Simms at  jjsimms2000@gmail.com . Notes should be sent in by Wednesday, May 20 .
Upcoming Events: A Look Ahead
All Events Postponed or Cancelled

All events and campus activities are suspended until our campus reopens, including admission shadow dates. For updates and online events, click here.