Few decisions have the lasting impact on your child as that of the school where your child attends.  It is during their school days that life-long friendships will be made, spiritual formation will take place, and values will be instilled. 

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A true testament to that statement is our alumni who come back year after year to assist with our annual holiday bazaar, coach sports teams, run extracurricular activities or help with the annual play.  Sometimes our alumni will even perform.

​Many of our alumni come back to St. Joseph School.  When they come back   this time they are here as parents of current students and/or grandparents of enrolled students.

Here are some of our highlights:
•    Emphasis on Catholic Faith Formation through religion classes and integration into all aspects of students’ daily experiences
•    Talented and dedicated faculty and staff, knowledgeable about academic content and effective instructional strategies
•    Student-centered decision making
•    Appreciation of parents as partners in the child’s education
•    Extended Care Program for both before and after school care
•    Innovative Pre-K and Kindergarten programs balance academic learning and social development
•    Student Safety is paramount in our school community
•    Academic support for students who need extra guidance
•    Middle school math and science class time exceed state standards
•    Spanish language and culture instruction for grades Pre-K through 8
•    Specialized classes include Visual Art, Music, Physical Education, Computer Technology and Library Literacy 
•    Ever evolving technology integration with interactive whiteboards, and new iPad program
•    Varied extra-curricular activities including an exceptional Drama program
•    Strong Athletics program, including basketball, cross country, volleyball, and other sports
•    National Junior Honor Society
•    NEASC accredited

​Our families have made an investment in their children by choosing a Catholic education. Our students see the importance of commitment, hard work and community involvement.  They leave SJS knowing not only that they can make a change in the world, but it is their duty and responsibility to bring about a positive change in their communities.  By choosing to send your child to SJS, you can be ensured that your child is prepared academically.  We teach facts and items that require memorization, but also critical thinking and application skills; we teach students how to learn, and instill in them a love for lifetime learning.

​​​We would enjoy the opportunity to meet you in person. To schedule a tour, spend a day at SJS, or if we can provide you with more information, feel free to contact us.

We look forward to meeting with you and your family soon!

With the Pope’s recent visit to the United States, St. Joseph School has been discussing the Pope.  Not just our students, but our teachers are also reflecting on his messages of faith.

"You have to teach not just about a subject, but also life's values and habits, because when it comes to learning about a subject, a computer is sufficient, but to understand how to love, to understand what the values and habits are that create harmony in the world, you need a good teacher." The Pope remarked in the National Catholic Reporter "all students must feel welcomed and loved for who they are, with all their limits and potential."  The Pope asked teachers to be "witnesses of life and hope. Never, ever close the door, open all of them wide so that students will have hope." St. Joseph School is filled with enthusiastic teachers and students who are learning to create harmony in our classrooms, our homes and throughout the world.

Today in Grade 1, Father Bob brought in some of his favorite childhood superheroes, many which you may remember and some still popular today; Hulk, Spiderman, Superman, Captain American and Ironmen.  Our students know that superheroes have special powers such as, leaping tall buildings in a single bound, super strength, endurance and speed, just to name a few.  All these seem an easy task for superheroes. But Father’s most favorite and greatest is a beautiful figurine of Pope Francis. The Pope is our “superhero” opening our hearts to more love and patience!

Pope Francis doesn’t have any of those supernatural powers, but he has gifts. And they are plentiful! Most powerful is his gift of speaking. Through his voice, he brings comfort and happiness to those who hear it.  His gift of speaking allows him to pray for but himself and encourage others to do God’s will.  

Students re-teaching concepts to others is an effective means to support understand and retention of learning.   Kindergartners were excited to welcome the scientist from Grade 5 as they shared their experiment with an egg to demonstrate osmosis.  Our Grade 5 science teachers explained their hypotheses and revisited us 24 hours later to allow kindergartners to investigate changes.  Kindergartner’s inquiry prompted our student scientists to make predictions and investigate further. 

 

Grade 5...How to make a Bare Egg?

A “bare egg” is an egg that has no shell. This is not something you normally run across and when you are shown a bare egg, it's hard to believe the egg stays intact.  The shell of an egg is made up of primarily calcium carbonate. If you soak this egg shell in vinegar which is acetic acid, you start a chemical reaction that dissolves the calcium carbonate shell. The acetic acid reacts with the calcium carbonate in the egg shell and releases carbon dioxide gas that you see as bubbles on the shell.  On paper it looks like this:

CaCO3 (s) + 2 HC2H3O2 (aq)   →   Ca(C2H3O2)2 (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2 (g)

The egg insides remain intact and are held together by the two fragile membranes just inside the shell.

The process is really very simple. We carefully placed our eggs in a mason jars and fill the cup with vinegar so that our eggs were completely covered. We put just enough vinegar in the cup to mostly cover our eggs.

The hard part –  WAITING.  In the beginning  we could see some bubbles appearing on the outside of our eggs. These are bubbles of carbon dioxide gas from the reaction. 

After a day or two of soaking we carefully remove our eggs from the vinegar. 

At this point we literally rub the shells off our eggs with our fingers. 

We had some pretty cool bare Eggs!

As you know, we are currently engaged in a focused effort to create a hands-on science program. This week, our teachers began discussing national standards and reflecting on our current program. Our plan over the next year is to develop our program so that our students truly experience the excitement of science.  












This project is three-fold:

1. To guide our program, the SJS science curriculum is being revised according to the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Science Framework.  NAEP is the largest national assessment of what America's students know and can do.
2. To energize our program, we hired a dynamic, energetic, lead science teacher for our middle school.  Mrs. Anne Graham is experienced in creating experiences which emphasize the discovery process and application of scientific principles.  
3. To develop and maintain our program, we intend to purchase science kits and materials for the new lab. Because our current facility is limited in terms of space and resources, our long-term plans include a remodel of a classroom to create a modern science classroom space.

This is a costly and time consuming process. It is for this reason that we are reaching out to the SJS community, local partners and philanthropists who recognize the need for every child to both learn and experience science.  

I know that we have lofty fundraising goals and many of you have been so generous.  It is for this reason that we ask that you consider sharing this information with your personal friends and networks.  You never know, one of your friends, or possibly their employers may be looking for a charity for their company to adopt.



We are fortunate and thankful for Mr. Roger Bertrand, a local business owner and generous philanthropist, and supporter of Catholic Education who has agreed to match the funds we raise for this project.  The outline of his fundraising challenge is as follows:

10 $1,000 gifts = $10,000
50 $500 gifts = $25,000
100 $100 gifts = $10,000
Unlimited amount of $50 gifts

Peace,

Mr. Jim Woodmansee

 

To donate, please contact the school at 401.821.3450 or visit our giving page.