St. Joseph
Catholic School

Psalm 21

R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad. 

O LORD, in your strength the king is glad;
in your victory how greatly he rejoices!
You have granted him his heart’s desire;
you refused not the wish of his lips. 

R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad. 

For you welcomed him with goodly blessings,
you placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
He asked life of you: you gave him
length of days forever and ever. 

R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad. 

Great is his glory in your victory;
majesty and splendor you conferred upon him.
You made him a blessing forever,
you gladdened him with the joy of your face. 

R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.

From the Principal

Dear Parents,

School is of to a great start. I thank each of you for your cooperation.

Please come to the Home and School Meeting tomorrow, Thursday, August 22 at 6:30. If have students in the fifth through eighth grades, the Open House will follow.

The students are excited about their i-Pads. I would like to extend the technology throughout the school in an appropriate way for each age group. As funds become available, that is our goal.

See you tomorrow evening. 

-- Dr. Gerard Toups
    Principal

Calendar-at-a-Glance

Wednesday, August 21
Mandatory CC Meeting for Parents @ 5:30 Ponchatoula Rec Park

Thursday, August 22
Home & School Meeting @ 6:30
Back-to-School Night for Grades 5-8 after Meeting

Friday, August 23
Spirit Dress
Sock Hop @ 7:00-10:00

Tuesday, August 27
August Birthdays

Wednesday, August 28
Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend. 
Canned goods at Mass

Thursday, August 29
Individual Pictures in Uniforms

Friday, August 30
Spirit Dress

Monday, September 2
Labor Day Holiday

Learning the iPad Way

Cody Flynn and his seventh grade classmates each received an iPad and spent a day in training in preparation for the launch of St. Joseph's new 1 to 1 program. All students in grades 6-8 received iPads, training, and are now learning the 21st Century way! 

See more training pictures at iPAD.    

Back-to-School Pep Rally

Our cheerleaders led the first pep rally of the school year on Friday, August 16. The fifth graders were the proud winners of the back-to-school pep rally spirit stick! Pictures of the pep rally can be seen on the website under the photo albums tab at PEP RALLY.

Home & School Meeting - Thursday, August 22

The first Home and School Meeting of the year will be held on Thursday, August 22, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the gym.

As this is a business meeting for adults, we appreciate parents making arrangements for their children.

After a short business meeting, faculty and staff will be introduced to the parents. Following the meeting, a Back-to-School Night will be held for parents of students in grades 5-8.

To learn more about the Home and School Association, please visit the school website at HOME & SCHOOL.

Back-to-School Night - Thursday, August 22

Thursday, August 22, is Back-to-School Night for parents of students in grades 5-8.

The event begins at the conclusion of the Home and School Meeting.

We invite parents to visit with teachers of grades 5-8 in the classrooms to learn about class requirements and other information special to particular grade levels. Please start in your student's homeroom class. Bells will ring every periodically to guide parents through their child's schedule so that all teachers can be visited.

As this is an event for adults, we appreciate parents making arrangements for their children.

Sock Hop - Friday, August 23

The first SJS sock hop of the year will be held on Friday, August 23!

The event is for SJS students in grades 5-8.

Cost is $10 which includes refreshments.

Optional pictures are available in $5 and $10 packets.

SJS students may bring one guest outside of the school. The guest must also be in grades 5-8 and must abide by all rules that cover the SJS students, including dress.

The sock hop theme is Back to School/Back to Nature.

This sock hop is sponsored by the St. Joseph Cheerleaders.

August Birthdays - Tuesday, August 27

All students at St. Joseph who have a birthday in August may come out of uniform on Tuesday, August 27. This is the only day students with July birthdays may come out of uniform. There is no make-up day. Out of uniform guidelines can be found on the WEBSITE.

Canned Goods for Mass - Wednesday, August 28

Families at St. Joseph Catholic School are always ready to reach out and help others. They have always been most generous giving aid to those in great need.

We recognize that people in our community go hungry at times other than the holidays when we traditionally hold annual "food drives".

To aid with this great need in our midst, the church parish has established a food pantry. Often this pantry struggles to maintain enough inventory.

This year, we ask that students bring a canned good or non-perishable item when we attend Mass as a school. Containers will be in the back of the church to accept these donations. In this manner, the students of St. Joseph can reach out to community members in need and help with this great ministry. What a great way to teach charity to our children!

Pictures in Uniforms - Thursday, August 29

All students will take pictures in uniforms on Thursday, August 29.

Packets to purchase pictures have been sent home today, August 21. 

If you intend to make a purchase, please follow the directions on the package and return to school by picture day.

School Newsletter

Edline activiation codes for parents of new students (or those who never activiated their accounts last year) were sent home for grades 1-8 today. Also included was a letter with instructions to access Edline.

If you did not get a code, have trouble with a code, or forgot username/password from last year, please E-mail Mrs. Little at slittle@sjscrusaders.org to have these problems resolved.

Get the Text

Our Sunday evening robo-call has an additional feature that allows those with text options on their cell phones to opt-in to also receiving text messages from the school.

This is a great feature for use in emergency situations.

This is also a great feature for those who desire more frequent reminders about what's going on at school during the week.

Opt-in for texts is easy. Just text the word ALERT to 22300 from the phone used to receive texts. 

If at any time opting-out is required, the instructions are written at the bottom of the text.

Like us on Facebook

Did you know that St. Joseph Catholic School has a Facebook site?

If you'd like to be among the first notified about pictures in the photo albums as well as upcoming events and happenings, give us a like. 

We can be found on FACEBOOK.

Partners with Office Depot

Office Depot
5% Back to Schools Program
St. Joseph School's ID #70042759

Use our School's ID number every time you shop at Office Depot.
St. Joseph will receive 5% back quarterly towards Office Depot Merchandise.
Thank you for your support!

More details at www.officedepot.com/5percent or from Mrs. Toni Waddell in the school office.

Parish News

Personnel
Fr. Paul A. McDuffie, Pastor
Larry J. Melancon - Deacon
Mike Agnello - Deacon
Dr. M.J. "Dutch" Schanzbach - Deacon

Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil Mass - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday Mass - 8:00 a.m., 11:00 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