St. Joseph
Catholic School

Psalm 117

R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News. 

Praise the LORD, all you nations,
glorify him, all you peoples! 

R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News. 

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever. 

R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

From the Principal

Dear Parents,

We are very excited (especially Ms. Cory and Ms.Toni) to welcome Mrs.Karen Aveton to our office staff.  She will begin on Monday, October 13.

Ms. Karen is a member of St. Joseph Parish, and she has worked for many years as a substitute in the classrooms and offices of the schools in Ponchatoula. She will assume the duties of receptionist and other office projects.

Please help us to make her feel welcome to our St. Joseph school family.

As we come to the close of our first nine weeks, I would like to brag on our students. Our students are hard workers, and I am very proud of their success during the first nine weeks. Even more importantly, I see our students practicing their Catholic values throughout the school day. Thank you for choosing us to be a part of your child's life.



-- Mrs. Danette Ragusa
    Principal

Calendar-at-a-Glance

Thursday, October 9
First Quarter Ends

Friday, October 10
Spirit Dress (Fall Fest Shirts)

Monday, October 13
TPSS Inservice - St. Joseph does have school today!
No Bus Service - Everyone is carpool!
1:00 P.M Dismissal

Tuesday, October 14
October Birthdays

Wednesday, October 15
Mass @ 8:30
Food Drive
Report Cards
Football Raffle Tickets Due

Thursday, October 16
STA Open House 6:00 p.m.

Friday, October 17
Spirit Dress (Fall Fest T-Shirts may be worn.)
Football Raffle Ticket Drawing 

Monday, October 20
Fair Planning Meeting @ 6:30 in Library

Wednesday, October 22
Mass @ 8:30
Food Drive

Friday, October 24
Spirit Dress (Fall Fest Shirts) 

Wednesday, October 29
Mass @ 8:30
Food Drive
Crusaders Announced

Friday, October 31
Fall Fest
Spirit Dress (Fall Fest Shirts)
Happy Halloween!

Respect for Life Mass - October 12

On Sunday, October 12, at 11:00 a.m., Bishop Robert W. Muench will celebrated the Bishop's Respect Life Mass at Sacred Heart Church.

Sacred Heart Church is located at 2250 Main Street in Baton Rouge.

Each of us is a masterpiece of God's creation.

There will be a special blessing for all those involved in Respect Life ministries.

All are invited to a reception following Mass in the parish hall.

This event is sponsored by the Office of Marriage & Family Life, Christian Formation Secretariat, Diocese of Baton Rouge.

For more information, please contact Danielle Van Haute at 225-242-0164.

No Bus Service/Early Dismissal - October 13

Tangipahoa Parish School System will not have school on Monday, October 13. This is their professional development day.

St. Joseph Catholic School DOES have school on Monday, October 13, until 1:00 p.m.

However, we will have no bus service on that date. Everyone will be carpool. Carpool will run on both sides of the building in the morning as well as the afternoon.

We will dismiss at 1:00 p.m. on this date so that our teachers may participate in professional development.

After school care will be open on October 13.

October Birthdays - October 14

All students at St. Joseph who have a birthday in October may come out of uniform on Tuesday, October 14.

This is the only day students with October birthdays may come out of uniform. There is no make-up day.

Out of uniform guidelines can be found on the WEBSITE.

Raffle Tickets Due - October 15

The St. Joseph Home and School Association is excited to announce the football tickets raffle again this year!

The first name drawn will have the choice of Saints v 49ers or LSU v Ole Miss tickets. The remaining tickets will go to the second name drawn.

The student body is asked to get involved by selling ten raffle tickets at $5.00 each. Raffle tickets were sent home on Wednesday, September 17.

First, second, and third place ticket sellers will receive a LSU/Saints gift basket donated by Chuck's Field of Dreams.

The student who sells the winning ticket will receive tickets to the LSU/Kentucky game!

In addition to the individual prizes, the class between preK and 3rd grade and the class between 4th and 8th grade that sells the most tickets will each be awarded a pizza party.

All tickets and money must be turned into the office by Wednesday, October 15. The drawing will be held on Friday, October 17.

Surveys Due - October 15

We only have a week left! 

We are in the process of renewing our SACS Accreditation for the school and need some help from our parents.

This help comes in the form of taking a survey regarding our program effectiveness. We need at least a 20% response rate from our parents in order to use the information in our report.

The survey will be open until October 15. It only takes a few minutes of your time, costs nothing, and gives us much-needed feedback.

Program Effectiveness Parent Survey
http://www.advanc-ed.org/survey/public/5922246  

Thank you in advance for helping us acquire the data needed to complete your accreditation reports.

STA Open House - October 16

St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Catholic High School welcomes current 7th and 8th grade students and their parents to an Open House on Thursday, October 16, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Come see the exciting opportunities St. Thomas has to offer! 

www.stafalcons.org

Fair Meeting - October 20

A planning meeting for our May Fair will be held on Monday, October 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the school library.

Everyone is encouraged to attend this meeting. The more ideas and help we have, the better the fair will be. Whether you're a new family to the school or one that has been with us forever, we welcome you to attend this meeting.

Save the Date! - December 30

St. Joseph School - Group night with the New Orleans Pelicans 
Tuesday, December 30, 2014 
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Phoenix Suns @ 7:00pm 

Come experience a New Orleans Pelicans game with our St. Joseph School Group. 
The game is during the holiday break, so the students don’t have school that day. 
Our tickets will be together in a large group. 

This year we have two price options, the balcony ($10) or the lower end ($25). 
An optional St. Joseph/New Orleans Pelicans t-shirt may be purchased for $10 each. 
You will order on Edline and send your check to the office in an envelope marked Pelicans. 

The deadline to order is November 21st. 
NO orders will be processed until the money is received. 


Our group will receive the following: 

*Halftime Fan Tunnel: 20 people from our group will be allowed to go on the court to form a fan tunnel and high-five the Pelicans players. We will pull 20 tickets from our group. This drawing will be done at school the week of December 15th. The 20 tickets drawn will be the able to participate in the fan tunnel. 

*Our entire group will be allowed on the floor after the game to take a group photo on the court with some of the Pelicans dancers. They send the group picture to the school. 

*Our group name will be posted on the Jumbotron at halftime. 


Balcony Ticket $10 each (Balcony seats are in the upper level of the arena) 
Lower End Ticket $25 each (Lower seats are on the first lever of the arena) 

Optional St. Joseph/New Orleans Pelican group night t-shirt $10 each 
YS, YM, YL, AS, AM, AL, AXL, AXXL, AXXXL

Adopt-a-Child Update

We are proud to announce that our St. Joseph students generously donated $340.85 to our adopted children in underprivileged countries.

The October collection was also large at $259.30.

We hope to keep up this generosity toward out "adopted" children as the year continues.

Our next collection will be in November.

We are so proud of our generous Crusaders!

Rainy Days? No Problem!

What happens at St. Joseph when we have a rainy day and no bus service? The teachers dress up in rain gear and go out into the street with umbrellas!

To see more pictures of our morning carpool in action, please visit CARPOOL.

2014 Fall Fest Shirts!

Third grade students (from left) Emily Addison, Trent Perrin, Alia Louviere, Luke Owens, and Emily Monistere model the 2014 Fall Fest shirts ordered by members of the student body, faculty, and parents to wear every Friday in October in anticipation of the Fall Fest to be held on Halloween.

Geaux, Crusader Dads!

How exciting was our weekend!

A wonderful crew of Crusader Dads showed up Friday evening to begin prepping and painting our hallways. 

By Sunday evening, the transformation was complete. Our hallways now look bright and fabulous! We send out many thanks to our Crusader Dads for making our school look so wonderful. What an awesome bunch of guys!

To see the pictures from start to finish, please visit PAINTING.

Apple Community Helpers

PreK is studying community helpers this week. 

As a follow-up activity, the students modeled their hats just like the policemen wear. 

Our PreK Apples Class -- 

Top row left to right: Joshua Linton, Cash Plaisance, Gino Crucia, Jake Bankston, Stephen Notariano, Hayes Fisher, Even Silberhagel. 

Middle row left to right: Brooklyn Beauchamp,Ryleigh Vutera, Isabel Marshall, Ava Cutrer, Harper Pepitone, Claire LeSaicherre, Halle Stanga. 

Front row left to right: Emmalyn Moffett, Gabriella Breaux, Jules Arteaga, Elle Davis, Reese Perrin, Kamryn Goldsberry, Paige Alexander, Jasen McCrory.

Bees Community Helpers

PreK is studying community helpers this week. 

As a follow-up activity, the students modeled their hats just like the policemen wear. 

Our PreK Bees Class -- 

Top row left to right: Lucian Bivona, Nathan Pena, Bryson Richard, Bryce Dagro, Aiden Mendiola, Trey Tynes, Mario Baglio, Fisher Alford, Wyatt Fuselier. 

Middle row left to right: Makenzie Clement, Sophia Alston, Faye Boihem, Kaylei Long, Avery LeSaicherre, Lylah Madere, Isabel Daniels. 

Bottom row left to right: Lily Perrin, Callie Polito, Ryleigh Rosendale, Zoie Polezcek, Maggie Millet.

Patriotic Rosary

October is the month of the most Holy Rosary. 

On Wednesday morning, October 8, our 8th grade class led the school in a recitation of a Living Patriotic Rosary which prayed for our country, its leaders, defenders, and all citizens. 

To see all the pictures of our students praying this beautiful prayer, please visit PATRIOTIC ROSARY.

Wavette Dance Clinic

The 2014 Wavette Dance Clinic will be held on Saturday, October 25, in the Ponchatoula High School gym.

The clinic is open for students in grades K-8th.

Fee is $25 per student.

Students may register by filling out the form at CLINIC and mailing it to the included address.

For more information, please contact Molly Bel or Erica Morse at 985-386-3514.

Ponchatoula Youth Basketball

Online registration is open until November 2, at www.pard1.com.

Forms may also be dropped off at the gym on Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Uniform try on dates are 9/27, 10/4, and 10/18 from 9:00-1:00 in the gym.

Email: ponchatoulayouthbasketball@yahoo.com .

Our Parish

Personnel
Fr. Paul A. McDuffie, Pastor
Larry J. Melancon - Deacon
Mike Agnello - 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.

Weekday Mass Schedule
The week day Masses on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will be at 8:30 a.m.

Reconciliation (Confessions) will be available before all week day Masses at 8:00 a.m. in addition to Confessions on Saturday from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

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