St. Joseph
Catholic School

Psalm 31

R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness. 

You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. 

R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness. 

I hear the whispers of the crowd, that frighten me from every side,
as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life. 

R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness. 

But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors. 

R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

From the Principal

Pictured above is Mrs. Kimberly Thibodeaux.

Dear Parents -

I am very pleased to announce that the recipient of the Mother Seton Award this year is Kimberly Thibodeaux. 

Mrs. Thibodeaux is our Home & School President. She works very hard to help our students and parents to create many wonderful memories as a part of the St. Joseph school family. Just a few of the events she has been involved with this year are Fall Fest, Mother/Son tailgate party, and Grandparents’ Day. Outside of school, she helps with her sons’ sports teams, assists with VBS at St. Joseph, and she is on the board for The Louisiana Early Childhood Association (LAECA) which is a non-profit early childhood organization for teachers, parents, caregivers and early care professionals dedicated to improving the lives of Louisiana's children from birth to eight years of age. 

Congratulations to Mrs. Thibodeaux and thank you so much for your support and dedication to St. Joseph. We are very blessed to have you.

-- Mrs. Danette Ragusa
    Principal

Calendar-at-a-Glance

Thursday, March 5
Field Trip (grades 1-4) 
No P.M. Buses

Friday, March 6
Accelerated Reader Deadline (3rd Quarter)
Spirit Dress
Stations of the Cross
FAIR - T-Shirt Orders Due

Saturday, March 7
Mini Cheer Clinic
First Communion Retreat (2nd grade)

Sunday, March 8
Daylight Savings Time Begins - Spring Forward

Monday, March 9
No Bus Service
Exams (grades 6-7-8 English/Social Studies
Uniform Swap in Ministry Building 
Fair Planning Meeting

Tuesday, March 10
Exams (GRADES 6-7-8) Reading/ Science

Wednesday, March 11
Mass 
Adopt-a-Child Collection
Food Drive

Thursday, March 12
Exams (grades 6-7-8) Math

Friday, March 13
Third Quarter Ends
Spirit Dress
Stations of the Cross

Saturday, March 14
STA Placement Test
First Communion Retreat (2nd grade)

Tuesday, March 17
Field Trip (7th grade)

Wednesday, March 18
No School Mass
Report Cards

Thursday, March 19
St. Joseph Feast Day
Mass
Food Drive

Friday, March 20
Spirit Dress
Field Trip (7th grade)
Stations of the Cross

Saturday, March 21
District Literary Rally

Tuesday, March 24
ACRE Test (grades 5 and 8)

Wednesday, March 25
Mass
Food Drive
Crusaders of the Month

Thursday, March 26
Spring Pictures
Mandatory Cheer Parent Meeting

Friday, March 27
Spirit Dress
Stations of the Cross
Drama Production - The Wizard of Oz

Saturday, March 28
Drama Production - The Wizard of Oz

Monday, March 30
Field Trip (3rd grade)

Tuesday, March 31
8th Grade Retreat

Partners in Faith

PARTNERS IN FAITH MARCH 2015

Rice Bowls

“Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty.” – Pope Francis

Dear families,

This Lent our school is participating in CRS Rice Bowl, a faith-in-action program that helps families experience Lenten spirituality by living in solidarity with people in need around the world. Here are three simple ways to bring Lent to life in your home.
• Place your CRS Rice Bowl in a prominent place in your home and use it to collect your Lenten sacrifices.
• Read the Lenten calendar reflections each day as a family.
• Visit RICE BOWLS to find videos and family activities, or take Lent outside of the bowl and download the CRS Rice Bowl app on your mobile device. 

Rice Bowls were sent home with students on Wednesday, February 25.

We will be collecting Rice Bowls at the end of Lent, so stay tuned to learn more. Thank you for using CRS Rice Bowl with your family this Lent.

No P.M. Bus Service - March 5

Ponchatoula schools will have a half day dismissal on Thursday, March 5, to travel with their girls' varsity basketball team to Lake Charles for the state basketball playoff games.

This means that St. Joseph will not have bus service on the afternoon of Thursday, March 5. All students will be carpool or After School Care.

Buses will run in the mornings as usual.

Accelerated Reader Deadline - March 6

The Accelerated Reader deadline for the third quarter will be Friday, March 6.

Fair T-Shirt Orders - March 6

Fair t-shirt orders and payment are due Friday, March 6.

Please send the T-SHIRT ORDER FORM and payment for the entire cost of the order to the school office.

Note the name and grade of your oldest student on the envelope with the money.

Shirts sell for $13 each.

All t-shirts must be pre-ordered and all orders are final.

Students may wear the t-shirts on every Friday in April.

Friday's Lunch Menu Changed - March 6

Friday's Lunch Menu is being changed to: 

Fish Nuggets 
Tater Tots 
Sweet Green Peas 
Salad Cup Fruit Cocktail 

Choices: 
Garlic Bread Pizza or Veg. Salad w/ cheese

Fun Run T-shirt Contest - March 6

The Fun Run t-shirt design contest is now open to all students of SJS. Entries due March 6. Please see EDLINE for details.

Stations of the Cross - March 6

St. Joseph students and faculty in grades 1-8 will follow the Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent. Our next Stations will be on Friday, March 6. The devotional will begin at 1:45 in the church. All are invited to join us. 

To see pictures from last week's service, please visit CHURCH.

If 1:45 is not convenient, St. Joseph Parish has Stations of the Cross again at 7:00 P.M. each Friday of Lent. 

To learn more about this devotional, please visit STATIONS of the CROSS.

Fair Planning Meeting - March 9

A planning meeting for our May Fair will be held on Monday, March 9, 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.

No Bus Service - March 9

Tangipahoa Parish School System will not have school on Monday, March 9. This is their day for teacher professional development.

St. Joseph Catholic School DOES have school on Monday, March 9.

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.

Uniform Swap - March 9

The St. Joseph School Home and School Association will have a uniform swap on Monday, March 9, from 7:00 A.M. until 5:30 P.M. in the Parish Ministry Building.

Donations of gently used uniforms will be accepted on that day or they can be brought to the school office beforehand.

Exam Schedule

The exam schedule for students in grades 6-7-8 is as follows:

Monday, March 9 - English and Social Studies
Tuesday, March 10 - Reading and Science
Thursday, March 12 - Math.

New Fair Tab

Spend a minute or two or five checking out our new FAIR TAB on this website.

It contains extra forms in case any are misplaced and due dates in case any are forgotten.

The Wizard of Oz - March 27 & 28

The thespians of St. Joseph Catholic School will present "The Wizard of Oz" on March 27 and 28 beginning at 7:00 P.M. each evening.

The production will take place in the gym.

Advanced tickets may be ordered through EDLINE. The site is up and ready to order now.

SIGN UP

If you're looking to volunteer your time and talent to the Spring Fair, you've come to the right place!

By clicking the link below, you can find the time you like and volunteer.

Remember, time slots are on a first come basis, so sign up early to get your preferred time.

SIGN UP GENIUS

Read the Most from Coast to Coast

The totals are in! SJS students overwhelmingly surpassed last year's Read the Most from Coast to Coast quiz total! Our total from last year was 1893. The year the students took 2595 tests! Way to go, SJS Readers!

The nationwide total was 4,173,153 quizzes. To find more information on this Renaissance program, please visit READ THE MOST.

To view pictures of our kindergarten students enjoying their Dr. Seuss books, please visit KINDERGARTEN READERS.

Stations of the Cross

Fourth grade student Laney Roberts follows along with the Children's Stations of the Cross this afternoon. Students in grades 1-8 attend this devotional as part of their Lenten practice. Stations of the Cross are every Friday during Lent at 1:45 in St. Joseph Church. To see more pictures of the Stations, please visit http://sjscrusaders.org/photo-albums/431.html.

Congratulations, Cheerleaders!

Congratulations to our cheerleader squad!

They won first place in the Spirit Professionals' Kickin' It for Kids competition in the intermediate junior high cheer division. We are proud of our girls' win as well as their donation to charity!

To learn more about Spirit Professionals' charities and this competition, please visit CHEER.

Congratulations Quiz Bowl Teams

7th/8th Quiz Bowl Team

Congratulations to our 7th/8th grade Quiz Bowl Team. They did us proud in the competition held in Baton Rouge last Saturday.

Members are, front row from left, Caroline Casey and Heather Habisreitinger. In the back row, from left, are Brett Monistere, Scott Jacobs, and Thomas Casey.

Congratulations Quiz Bowl Teams

5th/6th Quiz Bowl Team

Congratulations to our 5th/6th grade Quiz Bowl Team. They did us proud in the competition held in Baton Rouge last Saturday.

Members are, from left, Preston Davidson, Hannah Habisreitinger, and Anthony Cazedessus. 
Not pictured are Andrew and Robert Elsenrath.

Lenten Confessions Schedule

Besides the regularly scheduled confession times at each Church in the Northeast Deanery of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, confessors will be available at the following locations and dates, starting at 6:00 P.M. until the last penitent's confession is heard:

Wednesday, March 4 - Holy Ghost Church in Hammond and
ST. JOSEPH CHURCH in PONCHATOULA

Wednesday, March 11 - Holy Ghost Church in Hammond
and St. Joseph Church in French Settlement

Wednesday, March 18 - Holy Ghost Church in Hammond
and Mater Dolorosa Church in Independence

Wednesday, March 25 - Holy Ghost Church in Hammond
and St. Margaret Church in Albany

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

Weekday Mass Schedule
The week day Masses on Monday through Thursday 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 beginning at 4:00.

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