St. Joseph Catholic School Newsletter (Archived) - Newsletter 897

Psalm 34

R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.

R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.

R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

From the Principal

Dear Parents,

I am not generally an Oprah person, but I thought these ideas were most applicable and helpful to parents as well as to the school. This is from the article published on her website entitled "10 Things Teachers Want Parents to Know".

I will share these thoughts over the next couple of weeks.

1. Respect the teacher. Remember that the teacher is on your side. Teachers truly care about your children and want them to be successful. "The child's success is our success," explains Nelson. If your child's teacher contacts you about a problem or something that happened at school, understand that the teacher is trying to work with you to resolve any conflicts that may be getting in the way of your child's success. You're all on the same team.

2. Trust in the teacher's feedback. Just because a child doesn't exhibit a particular behavior at home doesn't mean he doesn't exhibit that behavior in the classroom. So if a teacher reports a particular behavior that you haven't seen before, don't rush to say, "Well, I've never seen him do that." The classroom and home environments are quite different, and oftentimes children behave differently when forced to follow rules and work with peers. Listen to what the teacher has to say and work with him/her to find a solution.

3. Don't show up for a meeting unannounced. It's great if you want to meet with a teacher to discuss an issue or chat about your child, but don't show up at school without any warning. Instead, schedule a time to meet—not only does this show that you respect the teacher's time, but it also gives him/her time to prepare for the meeting and provide you with everything you want to know. (I might add teachers are particularly annoyed when parents wish to talk about their child’s problems at school functions or in the supermarket. Call the office a request a meeting or a phone call.)

4. Don't go over the teacher's head. If you're having an issue with the teacher, your child, the subject matter or the classroom in general, talk directly with the teacher before going to the principal or other administrators. "Ninety-five percent of the time, a problem can be resolved between the teacher and parent with a simple phone call.”

I believe these statements are particularly true for the teachers at St. Joseph. We are not perfect, but the teachers that I see everyday care for the students they teach. They want everyone to be successful. They work hard. They are perfectly willing to discuss a child’s progress at an appropriate time.

-- Gerard Toups

Current Calendar

Monday, October 25 - Friday, October 29
* Red Ribbon Week

Thursday, October 28
* Reconciliation - Grade 4

Friday, October 29
* Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend.
* Crusaders Announced
* Spirit Dress (or Fall Fest T-shirts)
* Field Trip - Grade 8 - Buddy Day @ STA

Monday, November 1
* Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend. PreK will join us. Sixth grade "saints" will be featured.
* Adopt-a-Child Collection
* Regular Uniforms are worn.

Tuesday, November 2
* Election Day. SJS has school. Public school does not. We will NOT have buses on this day. Everyone is carpool.

Wednesday, November 3
* Advisory Council @ 6:00

Thursday, November 4
* Reconciliation (3rd)

Friday, November 5
* No school Mass
* Spirit Dress (NO FALL FEST T-SHIRTS)
* Father/Daughter Dance

Sunday, November 7
* Daylight Savings Time Ends

Tuesday, November 8
* ACRE Test Grades 5 & 8
* STA Retreat for Grade 7 @ SJS

Wednesday, November 10
* ENTERGY Presentation

Thursday, November 11
* Veterans' Day - SJS has school.

Friday, November 12
* Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend.
* Spirit Dress
* Grandparents' Day

Fall Fest

St. Joseph School held the annual Fall Fest on Friday, October 22.

As seen in the picture above, Mrs. Dufreche was elected festival queen for the day by the students. Proceeds from the voting process went to benefit the seventh grade service project.

Students in grades PreK-fourth had a fantastic time in the gym with the games, face painting, treats, and jumping apparatus. Many, many thanks go to Mrs. Toni Waddell and her room mother team for the hours of work and preparation put into this fun day for the students. Pictures of the fun can be seen in Photo Albums.

Students in grades fifth-seventh report they had a ton of fun at the bowling alley during the same time as the Fall Fest. Many thanks to Mrs. Beth Mercer and the upper grade teachers for arranging this great field trip. Those pictures are also in Photo Albums.

We need to send out a huge thank you to J&J Inflatibles, LLC for providing the inflatable bouncers for the Fall Fest. Their donation helped tremendously to make the Fall Fest such a rousing success!

Father/Daughter Dance

St. Joseph School is sponsoring the second annual Father/Daughter Dance on Friday, November 5, 7:00-9:00 p.m., in the school gym.

All dads of daughters in any grade are welcome to come and enjoy a night out with their little girl. There will be music, dancing, food, and drinks. Pictures will also be available.

We realize that special circumstances permit another male firgure in a student's life. If this is the case, a grandfather, uncle, etc. may attend in dad's place.

The theme for the evening is any football attire. An award will be given for the best dressed couple.

Early bird prices - $20 admits dad and one daughter. Each additional daughter is $5.

At the door prices - $30 admits dad and one daughter. Each additional daughter is $5.

St. Joseph School Night with the Hornets

Don't miss your chance to show your school pride and watch CP3 and the Hornets as they take on the New Jersey Nets for a night full of excitement and entertainment!

December 22 is St. Joseph School Night at the Hornets' game! One of our eighth graders, Tyler Carollo, will sing the National Anthem. After the game, the St. Joseph group will be allowed on the court to take a group photo with a few Honeybees! Our school name will be on the BuzzVision screen during the game.

Tickets for the game are $25 each and include a special St. Joseph School/New Orleans Hornets t-shirt.

Orders for tickets are due November 19. NO late orders will be taken.

To purchase tickets, please fill out and return the purple form sent home today with payment. Make checks payable to St. Joseph School.

Need more information? Please contact Toni in the office at 985-386-6421.

All Saints Day

All Saints Day is Monday, November 1.

St. Joseph School will have Mass on that day instead of on the Friday of that week.

Sixth grade students will participate in the Mass dressed as "saints". The Mass is at 8:30. All are invited to attend. We expect this Mass to be very crowded.

The collection for Adopt-a-Child will be taken up at this Mass.

PreK will join us for the first time this year. We're looking forward to having our youngest Crusaders at Mass with us.

Election Day

Tuesday, November 2, is election day. We encourage all eligible voters to take an active role and vote in this important election.

Although public school has cancelled classes for the day, St. Joseph School will have school on November 2. No buses will run. All students will be carpool. As usual on no-bus days, carpool will run on both sides of the gym. Please be patient and courteous during this procedure so that all students may be dropped off and picked up safely and as quickly as possible.

Thank you in advance for your cooperaton.

St. Joseph Parish

Personnel
Rev. John Dominic Sims, O.P. - Pastor
Larry J. Melcanon - Deacon

Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil Mass - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday Mass - 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 5:00 p.m.

Contact Information
Address - 255 North 8th Street (P.O. Box 368), Ponchatoula, LA 70454
Phone - 985.386.3749
Website - www.stjosephsonline.com

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Newsletter (Archived): Newsletter 897 - Oct 27, 2010 - Nov 3, 2010 [Archive]