May 20, 2020
Dear St. Joseph School Families,
We are told in Scripture that “Wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there God is in the midst of them.” My prayer and I am sure yours is for the young people of our world, but in particular those of our school family, current and past. May we offer a prayer to for those St. Joseph School Alumni, who have and will graduate from colleges and high schools in this year of 2020. We are so proud of the Classes of 2013 and 2016 from St. Joseph School who are becoming the Classes of 2020 in our high schools and colleges. May they find gratitude and happiness in their hearts as they continue their lives in God’s care. We are so proud of you!
We also take a moment to remember our St. Joseph student, friend, and classmate Hayden Lawrence Keating, who would have graduated this year from high school, but looks with care upon us from heaven. Hayden remains in our hearts always.
As for our own Class of 2020, our in-person celebration for our Graduates and their parents, as well as limited staff members will take place at 4 p.m. on June 6th in St. Joseph Church. We also intend to live-stream this celebration for family and friends. Further information will be sent to the parents of our Grade 8 students.
I do hope many of you have been able to begin your Journal of Gratitude, as I have. I am so grateful for our St. Joseph School Family—our children, parents and grandparents who continue to nurture the Catholic Education, provided by our wonderful teachers and of course, yourselves—the first teachers of your children.
As we know our school year is winding down. We know that “distance learning” is not the perfect choice for our children, but I feel that we have managed quite well in this difficult time. What the future holds in terms of our opening date of school is still uncertain. What we do know is that St. Joseph School is alive and well even at a distance in our students and their families and in our teachers and staff.
We continue to plan for our re-opening with joy-filled and hopeful hearts, as we welcome current and new students back to our St. Joseph School.
Looking forward we will have a drop-off day on May 28, 8:30 to 10 a.m. This is for the current week’s work or catch-up work. On June 4th we will have the final drop-off of catch up work, school books, library books and, borrowed laptops. This will also be a pick-up of anything that was left behind on March 13th when we left school. The details of this last drop-off and pick-up will be forthcoming.
Once again, I remind you of the importance of completing as much of the assigned work as is possible, and to sign in to the portal daily for your attendance. We will be grading using our regular system of grades NOT on a pass/fail system. Grades will be based on the demonstration of skills learned through the completion of the work assigned.
Our final day of school for this year will be June 10th. Teachers will continue to be in touch with you and your children through that date and going forward as deemed appropriate. Report cards will be mailed to your homes during the 3rd week of June.
As always, your families are in my prayers. Please continue to keep the us in yours.
Sincerely,
Marianne Cote