St. Joseph School
25 Squire Street
New London, Connecticut 06320
“This is a holy place where we discover each other in God’s love.”
March 20, 2024
Dear St. Joseph School Families,
As I have continued to mention each week of Lent, our prayers during this time are centering around the Baptismal signs and symbols in preparation for the Easter celebration. This week our school-wide Lenten prayer took place on Wednesday. At our Baptism, we were anointed with holy chrism, one of the special oils used to anoint us in the Sacraments. In ancient times oil was used to give light and warmth, but also strength to the body. The significance in Baptism is much the same. We are reminded of the strength we received to live our lives in goodness given through God’s grace in the Sacrament. We are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as we walk toward God’s kingdom. May you take a moment once again to remember your own Baptism and that of your children in praying with us this week.
We congratulate our 8th Graders on the reception of their class pins yesterday on the Feast of St. Joseph, our patron.
A belated happy St. Patrick’s Day to all, as we thank Clare Powers for chairing the Shamrock Tea on Saturday. Many thanks to her and all the little leprechauns, including our 8th grade servers, who helped. A special thanks to the Blarney Stones and Father Mark for our musical entertainment!
Our students in Grade 8 will present the Living Stations at St. Joseph Church on March 29th, Good Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Please mark your calendars in order to support them in this important Lenten gift.
Congratulations to our Grade 5 inventors! Students and guests visited the exhibit and were delighted by our Grade 5 presentations last Friday.
Special Alert! You may have seen the Special Olympics “Over the Edge” at Mohegan Sun last year. All proceeds go to support Special Olympics. This year the Diocese of Norwich is asking our schools to participate. This means getting sponsors for each participant. There are at least 10 of us at St. Joseph who have agreed to rappel from the Mohegan Sun Hotel and we will need to raise $1250 each. We feel we can do this with the support of area businesses and our own family and friends. Our school will support, in part, with our next two casual days. This takes place on August 30, 2024. Bishop Cote has given all schools who participate the day off in order that families can be our cheerleaders at the hotel. Currently, our list of participants includes Miss Cote, Mrs. Andriks, Mrs. Pisarz, Mrs. Batch, Mrs. Bustamonte, Mrs. Egan, Ms. Ford, Ms. Kornacki, Ms. Lakowsky, Ms. Lawton, Mrs. Williamson, and hopefully, Mr. Moore!
Important Dates:
- March 20th Chocolate Bar money due.
- Grades 7 and 8 will cook for the New London Community Meal center on Thursday March 21st. This dinner preparation for the hungry is a long-time tradition and service for our students.
- March 25-29th Holy Week. School prayer will include Monday morning Lenten prayer, the reading of the Passion by the 8th Grade on Tuesday, and our traditional school seder on Thursday.
- Holy Thursday March 28th School closes at 12:30 p.m. for the Tridium celebrations (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.)
- Good Friday March 29th NO SCHOOL., Living Stations, Grade 8 in Church at 7:30 p.m.
- Happy Easter! March 31st.
- Easter Monday, April 1st NO SCHOOL
- April 3rd Grade 8 Play at 1 p.m.
- April 5th First Friday Mass at 9 a.m., report cards, 12:30 p.m. dismissal.
- April 8th through 12th Spring Vacation. NO SCHOOL.
- April 16 Paid Pizza Day
- April 17-18 D. Sardelli, Poet, visits the school.
- April 18 Spring Concert at school, 6:30 p.m.
- April 19 Grades 6-7 to NESS, Basket Raffle in the evening.
- April 22 6-8 Science Fair, First Reconciliation—Grade 2
- April 24 Dine-In Night at Mr. G’s.
- April 26 Grade 4 Play
- April 28 First Communion Grade 2 10:30 Mass
We continue to keep everyone in our prayers. God’s blessings on you and your families during the Lenten journey toward Easter.
Marianne Cote, Principal