St. Joseph
Catholic School

Psalm 139

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord. 

Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there. 

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord. 

If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast. 

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord. 

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light”–
For you darkness itself is not dark,
and night shines as the day. 

R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

From the Principal

Dear Parents:

Thank you for your efforts this morning with the Food Drive. Two wagons were filled and will be added to the food pantry sponsored by the church. Fr. McDuffie congratulated the students on their generosity at Mass this morning.

The school is still working through the procedures for morning arrival. This morning went well. A bus was delayed and came through late. When that happens, we will stop traffic coming into the gate by the gym and let the bus unload. Thank you for your cooperation. Please do not block driveways. Please do not cut in line. These common sense and courteous acts make the line run smoothly, safely, and more quickly. 

Shortly, you will be receiving a letter from the school. I ask that you read the message carefully.

Now is a good time to mark your child’s jackets and sweatshirts with names. This cuts down tremendously on the amount (for us) and expense (for you) of lost outerwear. Cool weather is still a few weeks away, so please take care of this now. 

-- Dr. Gerard Toups
   Principal

Calendar-at-a-Glance

Thursday, August 29
Individual Pictures in Uniforms

Friday, August 30
Spirit Dress

Monday, September 2
Labor Day Holiday 

Wednesday, September 4
Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend.
Adopt-a-Child Collection
Non-Perishable Food Items for Needy

Friday, September 6
Spirit Dress

Wednesday, September 11
Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend.
Non-Perishable Food Items for Needy
Midquarter

Friday, September 13
Spirit Dress
Fall Fest T-Shirt Order Forms Due

Food Drive Success!

Third grade students, from left, Ian Acosta, Gracie Ford, Carter Alston, and Camille Hamilton proudly display some of the foodstuffs collected by St. Joseph students to help fight hunger in our community.

Two giant wagonloads of non-perishable items were brought by the students to add to the parish food pantry. What a great start to our school-wide service project for the year!

Students at St. Joseph Catholic School have always ready to reach out and help others. Time after time, they have been most generous giving aid to those in great need. 

Our students recognize that people in our community go hungry at times other than the holidays when annual "food drives" are traditionally  held.

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, students are asked to bring a canned good or non-perishable item when attending 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!

K/8th Buddies

Kindergarten and 8th grade buddies paired up today. This tradition at SJS gives our little Crusaders a big buddy to help them through Mass and other celebrations during the year at St. Joseph. More buddy pictures can be seen at BUDDIES.

Room Mothers

ATTENTION PARENTS! 

We are looking for room moms and room helpers in several classes and grades. 

At your child's Back-to-School- Night, there were forms available to sign up. If you were unable to attend the meeting and are interested in volunteering for one of these positions, please email your teacher at their email address. 

Please remember...if you are interested in being the Room Mom, you must have all of the Child Protection Requirements completed and on file in the office.

Fall Fest T-Shirts

It's time to order Fall Fest T-Shirts. A picture of this year's shirt is shown above.

The order form is on EDLINE. Payment must be sent to the office. Shirts will only be distributed with a payment.

All youth sizes are $11 per shirt.

All adult sizes are $13 per shirt.

Students may wear the Fall Fest T-Shirts on Spirit Dress days during October (every Friday).

Deadline for orders is Friday, September 13.

Pictures in Uniforms - Thursday, August 29

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

Packets to purchase pictures were sent home last Wednesday, August 21. 

If you need another form, they are available in the school office.

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

Edline Activiation Codes

Edline activiation codes for parents of new students (or those who never activiated their accounts last year) were sent home a couple of weeks ago. 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