Eagle's Eye

St. Joseph Catholic School fosters a diverse community of disciples empowered through a rigorous and inclusive Catholic education rooted in Gospel values and service to others.

A very special Congratulations to our Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Estevez, who was recently recognized as our SJCS Distinguished Educator of the Year. Mrs. Estevez received this distinguished honor at our Diocesan Kick Off Day earlier this week! We are so thankful to Mrs. Estevez for her commitment to the students, teachers, and families of SJCS. She truly makes a difference! Thank you, Mrs. Estevez!

At our Diocesan Kick Off day earlier this week, several of our teachers were recognized for their service to St. Joseph Catholic School and the Diocese of Orlando. Congratulations to the following teachers for their exemplary service:

Ms. McGillin: 10 years

Mrs Wells: 10 years

Mrs. Magnole: 15 years

Mrs. Blanton: 15 years
Ms. Keown 20 years

A hard copy of the 2023-2024 Attendance Policy was sent home with your child this week. Please review the policy carefully and return it to school at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

A very special thank you to the Burry Family for sponsoring our police officer this week for our school Mass. Family sponsors cover the $135 cost for our off duty Winter Haven Police Officer to be present on our campus during school Mass or other special events. The sponsoring family also receives 13.5 volunteer hours (as families earn 1 hour for every $10 when requested by the school). A special thank you to all families who have already scheduled a sponsorship of a police officer. If you are interested in sponsoring a police officer, please reach out to Ms. Summer at sdehaven@stjosephwhschool.org.

We had such a great first day of school! Our students and teachers were excited to be back. We were blessed to be able to begin our school year celebrating Mass together in the church. To see more photos, follow us on Facebook

Students in grades 5-8 are invited to participate in our school's competitive team sports this year! Sports for girls and boys include: girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, boys flag football, golf, tennis and running club. In order for your child to be eligible to participate on one of these competitive teams, a parent/guardian must attend a special sports meeting this Thursday, August 17th at 5:30pm in the Parish Center. Children should not attend this meeting. This sports meeting will last thirty minutes. Please be prompt. If a parent doesn't attend, the student will not be eligible to participate in a SJCS sports team this year.

All parents of students in grades 5-8 are strongly encouraged to attend a special orientation meeting on Thursday, August 17th at 6pm. Parents will hear directly from their child's teachers in regards to expectations and strategies for a successful year. Children should not attend this meeting. Parents who attend this Orientation meeting will earn a volunteer hour. See you there!

Whether you are cheering the start of the school year or tearful at the thought of another summer coming to a close, we would love to have you join us for our Tears and Cheers Reception at 8am on Friday, August 11th in the Parish Center (cafeteria). Come for a few minutes to enjoy some refreshments and meet other SJCS parents.

Mrs. Haas invites you to join her for Mass this Sunday at 11am in our church! If students wear their SJCS Mass uniforms, they can see Mrs. Haas after Mass and receive a dress down pass!

SJCS students will attend Mass on TUESDAY next week, for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. All SJCS students in kindergarten through grade 8 should be in full Mass uniform on Tuesday of this upcoming week, instead of Wednesday. Families are invited to join us for Mass! Hope to see you there!

The Feast of the Assumption commemorates the belief that when Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, died, her body was "assumed" into heaven to be reunited with her soul, instead of going through the natural process of physical decay upon death.

The first day of morning carline was BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for arriving early and watching the carline personnel for directions. It will take us a few more weeks to get everyone acclimated to the process. Continue to bring your patience and smiles to morning drop off!

For the most part, afternoon carline on the first day of school went well. Thank you for announcing when you enter the lot. Within the next week or so, we will NOT park cars waiting for their child. So, it's important that we all work together to avoid you from having to drive around the block and get back in the line. Here are a couple reminders:

• You MUST have a car tag hanging on your rearview mirror. Mr. Reilly and Mrs. Insua will be looking for this car tag as they walk through the carline. Please understand, that when you see Mr. Reilly or Mrs. Insua, they are on the phone with an employee inside the building who is sending a message to your child's homeroom class that it is time for your child to head outside. When this step is missed, your child will NOT be waiting for you. Be sure to make eye contact with Mr. Reilly or Mrs. Insua and ensure that this step is not skipped as it will significantly delay this process for you.
• Make sure you "announce" when you enter the parking lot.
• Middle school parents, our timing is critical. If your child's number is called before 3:10pm, he/she will not get the message that you're in the parking lot. My greatest advice to middle school parents is to make sure you are pulling into the lot AFTER 3:10pm. If your child's 8th period class runs late, he/she may miss his/her number being called which will result in YOU being inconvenienced.
• Finally, remember that if you receive a text that your child is being kept late, or if your child is planning to stay late for an activity, don't come early. You will be directed to circle the block.

We will recognize those students who earned academic honors from last year's third trimester after Mass on Wednesday, August 23rd. Parents are invited to join us.

Our students looked great in their full Mass uniforms on our first day of school! So many parents read the guidelines that were outlined in previous editions of the Eagle's Eye Newsletters and made sure that their child was in full compliance. I thank you for this cooperation. Mrs. Magnole, Mrs. Haas and Mrs. Insua have been doing uniform checks the last two days and will continue to do so. If students need to address something with their uniform, we tried to delicately speak to them and asked that they relay the message to the parent. In most cases, we learned that you, parents, are already working on securing the necessary uniform items (ties, shoes, etc.) so that the child is in full compliance. Beginning next week, we will communicate with parents and may begin issuing consequences for uniform infractions depending on the situation. A couple things to note:

• Shoes on Mass days for boys and girls: either a boat shoe for boys (we had only a couple) or a SOLID black dress or tennis shoe. Some students had some additional colors on their solid black tennis shoe. We offered suggestions to fix the situation, when applicable, or told the student that he/she needs a different shoe for Mass days.
• There are some boys that need a haircut. We need to see the top of their eyebrows, and the hair should not touch the collar in the back. This weekend would be a great time to get a haircut for these individuals. It's important that parents remain in compliance throughout the year.
• Girls absolutely may not wear hoop earrings! We have many girls out of compliance with this request. This is a safety issue. Girls may only wear stud earrings that are smaller than a dime. Beginning Monday, we will have the girls take the earrings out of their ears and send them home in a plastic baggie. We need your help with this!

Please remember that there are many times throughout the school year, where parents choosing to come on campus must be fingerprint cleared through the Diocese of Orlando. This includes volunteering at special events or chaperoning field trips. The fall is always such a busy time for the diocesan fingerprint office, and clearance can take weeks depending on circumstances. If you are a new parent to SJCS, or your fingerprints have expired, we urge you to consider taking care of this requirement now!

The steps for being fingerprint cleared are as follows:

This section of the Eagle's Eye will remain in every edition of our newsletter. It will contain links to information that parents may need from time to time. When parents have questions, we urge you to check this section for possible links that could get you the information that you need.

• School Calendar
• Lunch Menus
• Registering for a lunch account
• PikMyKid User Guide (English)
• PikMyKid User Guide (Spanish)
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification Instructions
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification
• Uniform Company
• Technology Responsible Use Policy for Students
• Parent Student Handbook
• Attendance Policy

O Blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector of Mary, the virgin Mother of God, I choose you this day to be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor you all the days of my life. Therefore, I humbly ask you to receive me as your client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen.

Principal: Mrs. Haas

Assistant Principal: Mr. Reilly

Assistant Principal: Mrs. Insua

Canonical Administrator: Fr. Tim LaBo

Superintendent: Mr. Fortier

Email: thaas@stjosephwhschool.org
Website: stjosephwhschool.org
Location: 535 Avenue M Northwest, Winter Haven, FL, USA
Phone: 863-293-3311