Eagle's Eye

October 14, 2021

Mission Statement

Mission Statement

St. Joseph Catholic School fosters a diverse community of disciples empowered through a rigorous and inclusive Catholic education rooted in Gospel values and service to others.

Mission Statement

mass reflections

Our fifth graders spent some time in religion class recently reflecting on mass last Friday.


The message was to not let the devil tempt you. He, the devil, tries to tempt you into letting your guard down. Father Gordon told us to let the devil tempt us and tell the devil no. -Samiyah


I think the message can be, problems don't just go away. It can be the devil knows us so we need to stay with God. I also think the message is when the devil tries to tempt you, refuse his offer. - William


Father Gordon had a no-tempt message. Fr. Gordon said that the devil will tempt us with our favorite thing but we have to say no. He also said that if you move or something, to get rid of a problem, you will just have another problem. - Christopher

poinsettias

poinsettias

Tomorrow is the last day to order Poinsettias for Christmas. Hard copies of order forms were sent home with the students earlier this week. Orders of poinsettias will be available for pick up at the school the week of November 15th.

poinsettias
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thanksgiving food drive

Thank you so much for your incredible generosity for our Catholic Charities Food Pantry over the last couple weeks. We are collecting the following items each week in anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas.


Week of Oct. 11: Soup

Week of Oct. 18: Canned Fruit

Week of Oct. 25: Canned Green Beans and Canned Corn

Week of Nov. 1: Tuna

Week of Nov. 8: Jars of Spaghetti Sauce (no glass please)

Week of Nov. 15: Rice (Bag or Box)

school mass choir

We are going to start a small choir for school masses. At this point, we are opening the choir up for 6th through 8th graders only. Practices will be held every Tuesday from 3:00-3:30pm in the church. Students who attend practice on Tuesday may participate in the choir for Mass that following Friday. We invite all students in grades 6-8 to join us.

Join us at Beef O'Brady's

Join us for SJCS Spirit Night at Beef O'Brady's on Thursday, October 21st from 5pm to close. Come on out and see some SJCS staff and friends. Be sure to mention that you are there for SJCS Spirit Night, and Beefs will donate a portion of the proceeds from your meal back to our school.

Picture Retake Day

Picture Retake Day is Friday, October 22nd. The following students should be in mass uniform and plan to have their picture taken next Friday:


  • Any student who was absent on picture day.
  • Any student whose class was quarantined on picture day.
  • Any student new to our school since picture day.
  • Any student who purchased pictures and is not satisfied with the picture. (You must bring your pictures back to school before/on retake day.


If your child needs to have his/her picture retaken, please be sure that your student is aware that he/she should come down for pictures when his/her class is called. Parents of younger students, you are encouraged to reach out to your child's homeroom teacher to let her know that you wish for your child's picture to be retaken.


If you need an order form for pictures, please contact the office.

Early Dismissal

Please remember that school will be dismissed at 2pm on Thursday, October 28.

AAA

No partial scholarships! We recently received word that thanks to very generous donors, AAA is happy to announce that they continue to award full-value Florida Tax Credit ("FTC") scholarships. To help as many students as possible, the deadline for 2021-22 school year application submission for FTC scholarship has been extended to Friday, November 19th.

Call the school office if you have any questions.

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$1 dress down day

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, students and staff are invited to donate $1 and wear pink on Thursday, October 21st. Proceeds from the dress down day will be donated to the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.

Volleyball and Soccer Games

Congratulations to our Girls Volleyball and Boys JV Soccer teams for their strong performance vs. Resurrection Catholic School earlier this week. We are very proud of our teams for their strong competitiveness and fantastic sportsmanship on and off the court/field. We look forward to another game against Resurrection next week. Go Eagles!

Internet and phones

Thank you for your patience and understanding this week while we were without internet and phones. We are happy to report that Spectrum was able to get us back up and working mid-day today!

lunches

The piece we need to repair our oven is on back order. We are trying to get this situation rectified as quickly as possible and will keep you posted. Lunch tomorrow will be Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich or Loaded Chef Salad. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to rectify this situation.

Fall fest

For those of you new to SJCS, our Annual Fall Fest is one of the most anticipated events of the school year. Unfortunately, due to COVID, we weren't able to have a Fall Fest last year. In an effort to give students this fun activity, we are modifying the format to make it COVID safe this year. There are lots of details involved with this fun event. Please take some time to review the information below. Thanks for supporting our Fall Fest. We know the kids will love to have the opportunity back this year and pray that we can resume our normal format and include all of our community next year.
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5K

Thanks to those who have expressed interest in serving as a sponsor for our upcoming 5K Run for Unity. We are now beginning to accept registrations for individuals to run/walk. Please see information below. Please reach out to Leslie Martin (lmartin@cds-net.com) or Katie Collany (katie@collany.com) with any questions. Thank you for your support of the SJCS Booster Club!
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Beef O'Brady's spirit night

Please make plans to join us at Beef O'Brady's in Winter Haven on Thursday, October 21 from 5pm to close for SJCS Spirit Night. Families are invited to enjoy a night out for dinner. Mention St. Joseph Catholic School to your waitress, and Beefs will donate a percentage back to our school. Catch up with your SJCS friends and staff at Beef O'Brady's on 10/21.

Cains

Join us for SJCS Spirit Day at Cains Snowballs on Avenue C between 3pm and 7pm on Friday, November 5! Be sure to mention SJCS during your visit, and Cains will donate a percentage of the proceeds back to SJCS. We hope to see many of our SJCS community there!

Mass with the Bishop

Bishop Noonan will be at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Sunday, October 24th for the 11am mass in celebration of the 60th birthday of the church building. Students of SJCS are invited to attend the mass in school mass uniforms and see Mrs. Haas following mass for a dress down pass. Please make plans to join us!
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checking grades

Parents are reminded of our portal that allows you to monitor your student's grades throughout the year. This is especially important for parents of students in grades 3-8, as they receive numeric grades for all subjects. Parents are strongly encouraged to check grades a minimum of a couple times a week. The directions for accessing the grades can be found below.
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Fingerprints

We are beginning to allow limited volunteers on campus in supportive capacities. Please keep in mind, that if you intend to volunteer, you must have special fingerprint clearance through the Diocese of Orlando. Fingerprint clearance could take several weeks. Please take a look at the directions below and make arrangements for your fingerprints if you are interested.
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mass Sunday at 7:30am

Our sixth grade students will be hosting the 7:30am parish mass this Sunday at our church. Please consider joining us. All students are invited to wear their SJCS mass uniform. See Mrs. Haas after mass and receive a dress down pass.
St. Joseph Prayer

St. Joseph Prayer

O Blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector of Mary, the virgin Mother of God, I choose you this day to be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor you all the days of my life. Therefore, I humbly ask you to receive me as your client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen.
St. Joseph Prayer
St. Joseph Catholic School

St. Joseph Catholic School

St. Joseph Catholic School

Principal: Mrs. Haas

Assistant Principal: Mr. Reilly

Assistant Principal: Mrs. Insua

Canonical Administrator: Fr. Tim LaBo

Superintendent: Mr. Fortier

535 Avenue M Northwest, Winter Haven, FL, USA thaas@stjosephwhschool.org 863-293-3311 stjosephwhschool.org