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.

In the homily, Father told us that every day we need to have one thing in particular. We need to have faith in God. In the Gospel, there were some ten lepers and they were being healed by Jesus. They all went their ways, except for one. He came back to thank Jesus for cleaning him. He had faith. This story tells us that we need to thank God for all of His works. We also need to have faith in Him. We should thank God in this very moment for everything He has given us.

Camilla 6A

In today’s homily, we learned about the story of the ten lepers. Father told us how lepers were exiled, even their families that didn’t have the disease, kind of like COVID-19. Also, Jesus healed all ten of them, however, only one came back and thanked Jesus. Then Father explained that we should always thank God for everything he has given us, a family, pets, food and water, and even the house that we live in. We should thank God every day!

Jackson 6A

In today’s Gospel Jesus cured ten out casted lepers. Although all ten of them were healed, only one came back and gave thanks to Jesus. What I got from this detail was although all of us have been blessed by God and have reasons to be thankful, not all of us actually thank him. God loves and cares for everyone no matter what and we should do the same. We are supposed to be like the one leper who came back to praise the Lord. Every day, we should try to pray and thank God for all that he has given us.

Elena 6A

Farther Raju's homily was about the ten lepers. There was a disease that was very contagious and a lot of people got sick from it. There were ten men who got sick and Jesus healed the ten men and only one came back and thanked him. The other men did not care that Jesus was the one who cleaned them, they just cared that they got healed. So we need to thank God every day because he does a lot of things for us that we should be thankful for.

Milly 6A

Beginning this past Wednesday, November 15th, we will have a separate school Mass at 8:15 a.m. for students and staff. This will be closed to parishioners and guests. Daily Mass will be held in the Chapel at 8:15 a.m. We are working with Polk County Sheriff's Office to determine if there are any protocols that we could take to allow parents to attend school Mass. Once those protocols are established, we will share that with you. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we navigate this.

Our first trimester academic awards have been postponed. We will communicate to all families once we have them rescheduled.

The date of our Taste of Achievement Gala has been changed. Please make a note on your calendar that the Gala will be held on Saturday, March 2nd. You will not want to miss it. Save the date and make plans to join us.

Please make sure that when dropping off PreK students in the front office parking lot that you are only turning right to exit the parking lot. With the amount of traffic, it is unsafe to turn left and it backs up the PreK drop off line when waiting. Also, when approaching the stop sign at Avenue M and Unity Way, only right hand turns are allowed. We appreciate your help with this.

There is no school next week for Thanksgiving break. Students will return Monday, November 20th. We pray you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Today for the Great American Teach In, we had speakers sharing about their careers with all of our students. The students enjoyed learning about careers such as engineering, dentistry, pest control, and international teaching. The students loved learning about the careers. Thank you to all the speakers who spent their morning with our students! We appreciate you!

Our fall book fair will be December 4th through the 8th from 8 am until 4 pm. This is a perfect time for you to pick up a book for a Christmas present! Below is the Sign Up Genius link to volunteer to help Mrs. Reece with the book fair. Also, the book fair will be open during Sweets with Santa on Saturday, December 9th.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094FABA822AAF4C70-stjoseph1

As a school wide service project, we are collecting toys for the Heartland for Children's annual Rudolph Round-Up Toy Drive which helps local families. All of the items will be donated to children in need. Use the links below to purchase an item from Amazon to be shipped directly to our school, or you can purchase the item and send it in with your child. Thank you so much for supporting this wonderful cause! Toys are due by December 8th so they can be delivered in time for children to receive them.

SignUpGenius Links:

Preschool:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-3aboxof

Primary Grades:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-44983390-heartland

Intermediate Grades:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-45632517-heartland

Middle School:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-45633723-heartland

We welcome parents to come eat lunch with their child at lunch time. Parents who would like to join their child for lunch will need to eat on the picnic tables on the recess field and not in the Parish Center. Parents also need to be fingerprinted.

We will have a spirit night on Wednesday, November 29th, at Chick Fil A in Winter Haven from 5 pm - 8 pm. Come join us for an evening of food and fellowship with our school community! Tell them you are with St. Joseph Catholic School and a portion of the proceeds with be donated to our school.

Special thanks to the Childers family for sponsoring our deputy at Mass, and to the Gamez family for sponsoring our deputy at the Kindergarten Thanksgiving celebration!

Friday is a dress down day for students! We met our goal of $150 in earnings from Box Tops for the school. Our next goal is to earn $300. Please scan your receipts so we can earn these funds for our school.

With the holidays around the corner, our Catholic Charities Food Pantry needs our help to stock the shelves. This collection is in addition to the items students are encouraged to bring to Mass on Wednesdays. The items listed below are collected throughout the week in the classrooms. We will track the number of items collected in each class. The class with the highest total number of items in prek, primary (K-2), intermediate (3-5) and middle school (6-8) will receive a special treat.

Week of November 12: Jars of Peanut Butter

Week of November 26: Soup

Week of December 3: Cans of Tuna/Canned Meat

Week of December 10: Cereal/Oatmeal

Our annual Nun Run 5K will be January 27th beginning at 8am. Click the link below to register.

https://register.chronotrack.com/r/76149

All girls in grades 5-8 are invited to cheer. Practices will be on Thursdays. Requirements are as follows:

• Parents must have attended a sports meeting with Mrs. Insua.
• Coach Edwards has permission slips that must be completed and returned to the front office.
• Families will be charged $50 sports fee on FACTs account.
• Parents must join the respective Band app to receive notification from coaches about practices and games. (see below)

Practices have started so sign your child up soon to cheer.

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
• Maschio's Birthday Order Form
• 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
• Accessing Facts Family Portal
• Family Portal Login
• Logging Service Hours: Parents and students can now enter and view their own service hours. You can use your app to view the hours, however, you have to use the web version to enter new hours. go to FACTS Family Portal. The district code is STJC-FL. Once logged in, click on the Family option in the menu on the left side. At the top of the screen, select the family member who will be adding the service hours. Click on the Add option on the right side of the screen in the Service Hours box. Fill out the information and click Save.

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"A man going on a journey
called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--
to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.
Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five.
Likewise, the one who received two made another two.
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground
and buried his master's money.

"After a long time
the master of those servants came back
and settled accounts with them.
The one who had received five talents came forward
bringing the additional five.
He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents.
See, I have made five more.'
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy.'
Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
'Master, you gave me two talents.
See, I have made two more.'
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy.'
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
'Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.'
His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter?
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?
Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.
For to everyone who has,
more will be given and he will grow rich;
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'" MT 25:14-30

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.

Interim Principal: Mrs. Insua

Assistant Principal: Mr. Reilly

Canonical Administrator: Fr. Tim LaBo

Superintendent: Mr. Fortier

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