Eagle's Eye

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.

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.

• Family members of students at St. Joseph Catholic School who would like to attend school Mass at 8:15 a.m. must preregister by 12pm on Tuesday, April 15th.
• If you have previously visited SJCS and been cleared through the Raptor System using your driver's license, simply submit the form below.
• **Please note that you must be cleared through the Raptor System each school year. If you have not had your driver's license scanned this year, please go to the school office to have this done.
• If you haven't been cleared through Raptor, please complete the form below AND you must go to the school office to have your driver's license scanned into our Raptor System for attendance at future events by 12pm on Tuesday, April 15th.
• If you submit by noon on the Tuesday before Mass, please plan to arrive at the back doors of the church in the courtyard by the Parish Center between 7:55 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. on the day of the Mass. The church doors on the Avenue M side will be locked and no admittance will be given to anyone attempting to enter on that side.
• Once Mass begins, we will not open doors to visitors for the safety of our students.

Click here to sign up to attend Mass: https://forms.gle/rrBPGHnkRercVRbm7

*****Please use your name on the form that appears on your driver's license.

In Mass, Father shared that we have to try to be freed from sin’s control. He said that instead of talking negatively about others, we should talk about events and ideas. The pillar of faith for the month April is Courage. We must have courage to break free from the chains that keep us from doing what is right. It may seem like it is impossible to stay away from sin, but you can do anything if you believe in the Lord. Use all of the courage that you have to defeat sin and become one with God. Camila, 7th grade

In the reading from Daniel, we learned to put God before anything else. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego all put their life in God’s hands, willingly stepping into the fire, supporting God over praising King Nebuchadnezzar’s god. They could have easily taken the safer way and praised the false god, yet they insisted on following the one true God. In today’s Gospel we hear that whenever we consistently sin, we are not following God to the fullest. If we say we are followers of God, then do something completely against Him, we are not true disciples. Jackson, 7th grade

In the Gospel, we learned about being a slave to sin. In the Gospel it says, “Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains.” This means to us that everyone is a sinner and everyone who commits a sin is a slave to sin, but it takes courage to break free from that sin and that enslavement. Atticus, 7th grade

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter.

Stations of the Cross

During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer. As a school community, we will pray the Stations of the Cross, as we accompany Jesus' on his journey to crucifixion. The next Stations of the Cross will Friday, April 11th, at 8:15am in the church. Sign up by Thursday, April 10th, to join us. https://forms.gle/7XgBpS58tqZdu1wN9

Eucharistic Adoration

On Friday, May 2nd, we will have Eucharistic Adoration at 8:15am in the Church. This is a time for us all to pray in front of the blessed Sacrament, the consecrated host, to worship and be closer to Jesus. Please sign up here by Thursday to pray with us. https://forms.gle/xbSGS8XhCRAenXVSA

The same safety procedures for Mass are in place for Stations of the Cross and Adoration.

Our Lenten Food Drive has been so successful this year! We have collected over 2,500 items in 4 weeks. What a wonderful blessing to Catholic Charities and those in need! Our classes in first and second place are very close! First place in collections is KB with 487, second place is 2A with 484, and third place is KA with 312. The class with the highest number of food items collected by the end of Lent will receive a dress down day and a special treat

• This Week 5: Tomato sauce and ravioli
• Week 6: Crackers and ramen noodles

The 4th grade service project, in honor of St. Anne, is to collect socks to WARM THE SOLES of the homeless in our community. The 4yh grade students will also make hand written cards to be attached to the socks to WARM THE SOULS.

Socks are very often one of the greatest needs of the homeless. During the month of April, please help us to collect as many pairs of NEW socks, in all sizes, to be donated to Catholic Charities along with the handmade cards. Students may drop their socks off to the boxes outside the 4th grade classrooms for the socks.

For parents conferences today, we will have a 2pm dismissal. There will be Aftercare available both days until 6pm.

The Knights Of Columbus Chapter #4726 hosts a Fish Fry every Friday evening in Lent from 5:30pm–7pm in the Parish Center. The last one of Lent is tomorrow evening. There will be no fish fry on Good Friday, April 18th.

This summer, we will have new air conditioners and new windows installed. The teachers will need to pack up items in their classrooms so they do not get dusty. If you have any boxes, we would appreciate them! We would like them broken down flat so we can easily store them until May. You can drop those off during carline, before or after school, any day.

The Students will be participating in many beautiful Holy Week events, the week of April 14-18. Here are important dates for that week and the week after Easter Sunday.

Thursday, April 17: Holy Thursday-hour of silence beginning at 7:30am at car drop off, Living Stations of the Cross; Dismissal at 2pm today

Friday, April 18th: Good Friday-no school

Monday, April 21st: Easter Monday-no school

Tuesday, April 22nd: No school

Wednesday, April 23rd No school

Palm Sunday (Vigil Mass) Saturday, April 12 at 4:30 pm

Palm Sunday, Sunday, April 13 (All Mass Times)

Holy Thursday, April 17, The Lord's Supper Mass at 7 pm (English)

Good Friday, April 18, Veneration Of The Cross at 3 pm (English)

Easter Vigil Mass, Saturday, April 19 at 8 pm

Easter Sunday, April 20

7:30 & 11am Mass English

11:15 am Mass English (chapel)

9 am Mass Vietnamese

1pm Mass Spanish

12:30 pm Easter Egg Hunt On The Playground *Please Bring Your Easter baskets

Spirit Week is coming soon! The week of April 28th-May 2 we will celebrate SJCS with the activities below, as chosen by our 8th grade student service council. Please remember that dress down guidelines, including shoes, must be followed on all of these days.

Monday- School Spirit Day

Tuesday- Sport Day

Wednesday- Wear your favorite accessories AFTER MASS J

Thursday- Match your Homeroom by wearing a color. Teacher picks

Friday- Decade day

Congrats to Coach Gandolff and the flag football team over for their win over BAMS 🏈 27-21 🦅

Tennis is going on now for Middle School! Permission slips are in the office or Coach Edwards has them as well. The cost for this sport is $30 and the student's FACTS account will be billed. For more information, contact Coach Edwards at ledwards@stjosephwhschool.org.

Coach Edwards will be hosting three days of learning volleyball skills and playing for any students in grades 5 or middle school students who have not played on our team in the fall. Plan to meet in the gym on Thursday, May 8th, Wednesday, May 14th, and Wednesday, May 21st, from 3:30-5:00pm. There is no cost for this but all students who participate will need a signed permission slip before attending on any of these dates. These can be picked up in the school office or Coach Edwards will also have them.

At conferences, your child’s homeroom teacher should have told you if your child has any overdue books. Please help locate those and return them to the school. If you are not able to locate a book, you will need to replace it with another copy or pay the school for the cost of the book.

If you have any questions about your child’s overdue books, please email me kmcgillin@stjosephwhschool.org

Upcoming Library Dates:

Spring Book Fair May 5th-9th 7:30-3:30

Last day for book checkout Friday, May 9th

SSYRA Club Lunch Friday, May 15th

The first day of the 2024-2025 school year will be Monday, August 11th, 2025.

We are beginning to work on the calendar for the coming school year. Here are some key dates for you to put on your calendar:

August 11: First Day of School for all students

November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break

December 22 - January 2: Christmas Break

January 6: School Resumes

March 16 - 20: Spring Break

April 3 - 6: Easter Break

May 29: Last day of school

* A full calendar will be shared this summer.

Please see the information below about the Food Allergy Management Program from Machio's for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year.

Please see the information below about the Step Up for Students scholarship. Here is the link for the Application Checklist.

https://go.stepupforstudents.org/hubfs/Scholarship%20Info/Scholarship-Application-Checklist.pdf?utm_campaign=SCHOOL%20PROVIDER%20-%20GENERAL%20Communication&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--GcARUeCd0J0qJWsoArEhr7zZfKOCptd0zf-xM1mZIsmx7ri9EAeTtiGWfaiPsDhxbddjlNUKHyk-5tDm_bVCq8-MydCMmApmqhaMCkVoDmlIgkIs&_hsmi=344541403&utm_content=344541403&utm_source=hs_email

We have a few different choirs at SJCS.

School Mass Choir
Students in grades 3-8 are invited to sing in the choir at all school masses. Practice will be once a month with the next one April 29th. Please don't arrive to pick up your child(ren) until 4:00 pm if they are staying for choir.

Church Children's Choir

The Children's Choir for our church will practice from 3-4pm on Thursdays. Jitka Cinibulk, music director from our church, coordinates this ministry. This is for students to sing at weekend Masses. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email her at jcinibulk@stjosephwh.org.

Concert Choir with Mrs. James

Students in 3rd-8th grade have the opportunity of joining Concert Choir. The SJCS Concert Choir performs at various community events during the school year including Carols in the Park, the Christmas program and singing the national anthem at the Rays, Bucs and Tropics games. During rehearsals, students will be developing many vocal concepts such as correct posture, resonance and technique. We will be singing a range of repertoire and work on two and three part harmony.

Grades 3-5

Rehearsals: 3rd, 4th & 5th grade on Wednesdays at 3:15-4:00pm beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 19th

Middle School Rehearsals: Thursdays from 7:15-7:45am

Please e-mail Mrs. James at vjames@stjosephwhschool.org if you have any questions. Thank you!

Church Handbell Choir

The Church Handbell choir is looking for 2-3 new ringers. The starting age is 10, so if any student is interested, this would be a great time to join us. Practice is on Thursdays 6-8 pm in the church. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email Jitka Cinibulk at jcinibulk@stjosephwh.org.

The next Middle School Edge will be on Wednesday, April 30th from 6-8pm in Room 2. Parents who volunteer to help with EDGE may earn SJCS service hours.

St. Joseph Catholic Church's religious education coordinator is Mrs. Melady Roque.

If you intend for your child to receive any sacraments (such as First Communion or Confirmation) through St. Joseph Catholic Church, you can call the church office at 294-3144 or email Melady Roque at mroque@stjosephwh.org.

Confirmation classes will take place every Sunday from 12:15-1:00pm in Room 2. Confirmation is open to grades 8-12. Parents can contact Mr. Nathan Hayes with any questions at nhayes@stjosephwh.org or by calling the office at (863) 294 - 3144 ext. 224.

Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucified.

Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful will often receive palm fronds which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem. In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.

Palm branches are widely recognized symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.

The use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic, it represents the humble arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war

During Palm Sunday Mass, palms are distributed to parishioners who carry them in a ritual procession into church. The palms are blessed and many people will fashion them into small crosses or other items of personal devotion. These may be returned to the church, or kept for the year.

Retrieved from https://www.catholic.org/lent/palmsunday.php

Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany
at the place called the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples.
He said, "Go into the village opposite you,
and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered
on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
And if anyone should ask you,
'Why are you untying it?'
you will answer,
'The Master has need of it.'"
So those who had been sent went off
and found everything just as he had told them.
And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them,
"Why are you untying this colt?"
They answered,
"The Master has need of it."
So they brought it to Jesus,
threw their cloaks over the colt,
and helped Jesus to mount.
As he rode along,
the people were spreading their cloaks on the road;
and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of his disciples
began to praise God aloud with joy
for all the mighty deeds they had seen.
They proclaimed:
"Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest."
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples."
He said in reply,
"I tell you, if they keep silent,
the stones will cry out!"

Our next Box Top goal is $600. Remember all you need to do is scan your receipts to help us reach this goal and all students will earn another dress down day.

This section of the Eagle's Eye will remain in every edition of our newsletter. It will contain links to information that parents may need from time to time. When parents have questions, we urge you to check this section for possible links that could get you the information that you need.

• School Calendar
• Lunch Menus
• Maschio's Birthday Order Form
• Registering for a lunch account
• PikMyKid User Guide (English)
• PikMyKid User Guide (Spanish)
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification Instructions
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification
• Uniform Company
• Technology Responsible Use Policy for Students
• Parent Student Handbook
• Attendance Policy
• Accessing Facts Family Portal
• Family Portal Login
• Logging Service Hours: Parents and students can now enter and view their own service hours. You can use your app to view the hours, however, you have to use the web version to enter new hours. go to FACTS Family Portal. The district code is STJC-FL. Once logged in, click on the Family option in the menu on the left side. At the top of the screen, select the family member who will be adding the service hours. Click on the Add option on the right side of the screen in the Service Hours box. Fill out the information and click Save.

Important calendar dates for the 2024-2025 school year are listed below. ***Please note that the school intentionally schedules school closures at times throughout the school year. We are giving these dates to you early to help your planning for the 24-25 year. Families should schedule family vacations and other commitments during scheduled school closures; vacations should not be scheduled when school is open. Vacations are not considered excused absences and are a violation of the School Attendance Policy.

• April 18th-23rd: Easter Break
• May 26th: Memorial Day: No School
• May 29th: Last Day of School

Principal: Mrs. Insua

Assistant Principal: Ms. Lucarelli

Assistant Principal: Mr. Kupka

Parochial Administrator: Fr. Glenn Lopez

Canonical Administrator: Fr. Tim LaBo

Superintendent: Dr. Erika Wikstrom

Email: jinsua@stjosephwhschool.org
Website: stjosephwhschool.org
Location: 535 Avenue M Northwest, Winter Haven, FL, USA
Phone: 863-293-3311