Dear Parents-

Today we observe a memorial in honor of the Queenship of Mary, celebrated 8 days after the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother into Heaven. Mary’s Queenship is depicted in the last of the Glorious Mysteries...the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Pope Pius XII established this feast proclaiming, “We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God…”

Many thanks to all parents who were able to stop by on Sunday for our start of the year Meet and Greet! It was so great to see returning families and say hello to our new! In addition, a huge shout-out to our PTO Executive Board who worked together to create this event. It is exciting to work with our amazing PTO, and pray that many parents will consider volunteering to support the PTO functions this year! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any board member…Lisa Schultz, Jessica Ingham, Maureen Morgan, Beth LaForme, and Anthony DiMario, or email [email protected].

Back-to-School Nights are scheduled for Tuesday, August 29 for grades 2-5; and Wednesday, August 30 for grades 6-8. Doors open at 6:00 both evenings for fellowship, and a call to order at 6:40. Back to School Night is an opportunity to become acquainted with your child’s teacher, learn about the curriculum and plans for the year, meet the other parents, and it lets your child know how important school is! We look forward to seeing you!!

Parents and students are reminded to check the uniform dress requirements as they will be strictly enforced. Our school uniform sets us apart, and choosing to attend a school with a uniform implies a willingness and desire to comply with the requirements, including expectations related to make-up, hair length, jewelry, etc.

Students should never carry medications to school. All OTC and prescription medications are to be kept locked in the clinic/school office and be administered by the school nurse, clinic aide, principal or trained designee. No student is to carry/possess medications without appropriate medical authorization. No medication will be administered unless the school has received a signed copy of the Medication Authorization Form (Appendix F-6). OTC medications do not require a health care provider’s signature unless the medication is required for four (4) or more consecutive days. All health related questions should be directed to our school nurse, Mrs. Ezenwa, [email protected] or 703-880-4318.

All parents are invited to join us for the first school Mass, Friday, August 25 at 9:30. School safety measures include locking the church doors promptly at the start of Mass so please be sure to arrive on time.

We truly missed everyone over the summer, and we are looking forward to the arrival of the students tomorrow—and a great school year ahead!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

“Let the love you have in your hearts be shown outwardly in your deeds.” (St. Clare of Assisi)

Denise Rutledge

Principal

 Building Wisdom and Faith Through Service to God

It is critically important to send all notifications of absences, late arrivals, or early dismissals (with a reason) to [email protected] 

Please provide a time of arrival for late arrivals (if known) and for early dismissals. If notification of an absence is not received by the attendance office, parents will be emailed with a request for a reason for the absence.  

The attendance forwards all emails to the appropriate teacher so please email the attendance office first.  Thank you for your support!

All parents should access Schoology to support their child(ren) through the academic year. 

If you require assistance with an account set-up or a parent access code, please contact Lisa M. Pearce, Registrar, at [email protected]  

She will be happy to email the letter with instructions and access code to you. 

For families with students in Grades 3-8, the Diocese of Arlington is proud to offer the ease of viewing your child’s academic progress and report card for ALL trimesters within the PowerSchool parent portal. Parents are responsible to log in to PowerSchool to monitor progress on assignments, quizzes and examinations for students in Grades 3-8.  Each parent may create one parent account and then link each child to the account.  PowerSchool remains the most up-to-date resource to track your child’s academic progress.  For families with students in Grades K-2, the PowerSchool parent portal is the place to view your child’s report card for each trimester. 

We will not be sending a printed copy of the report card home with students, nor will we send report cards via email.

Click HERE for more information and instructions for account set up.

VDH (Virginia Department of Health) requires all rising 7th grade students to receive Meningococcal, HPV and Tdap immunizations prior to entry into the 7th

grade. The document has to be legible and signed by the healthcare provider to be valid.

Please remember that your child cannot begin school without proof of the 7th grade immunization record on file. You will be called to pick up your child if his/her

required 7th-grade immunization is missing, incomplete, or not valid.

Click here to read more about required vaccines:

https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/immunization/requirements/

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL! I hope your summer was fun!!!

I’m looking forward to a second year of band at our school. Click HERE for the date/time of the band parent registration night. I hope to see you there!

In the meantime, be sure to go to the following link, with your child, and take a look at all of the fun information about band instruments and such: https://www.bepartofthemusic.org/group/index.php?id=8458

Musically,

Dr Howell

Happy lunching! Yay Lunch is the lunch provider for our students. Should you have any questions about the ordering process or Yay Lunch! in general, check out Yay FAQs or contact the customer experience team.

In addition to being available for questions, comments and concerns via email at [email protected], our customer experience team can now be reached through text at 909-359-6898.

**The Yay Lunch! hot lunch program will start on August 28, 2023.

Volunteers needed for lunch and recess.

Sign Up HERE!

**All volunteers must be compliant through the Child Protection Program. For more information, please contact Beth Covert at [email protected]

Reminder - 12 hour family service: St. Joseph Catholic School will implement a 12-hour family service requirement, effective with the 2023-2024 school year. All families are encouraged to participate, and many opportunities exist to volunteer time, talent, or treasure, including class field trips, parties or other classroom help, cafeteria, recess and hands-on activities such as art or outdoor classroom activities. The PTO also has numerous opportunities such as the auction, Donut Sundays, etc.  All volunteers must be Virtus compliant if they will have substantial contact with students. Families that do not participate in the service program will be charged a $120.00 fee, or partial fee of $10 per hour for hours not volunteered.

Any adult who wishes to volunteer at St. Joseph Catholic School must be compliant through the Child Protection Program. Click HERE for instructions on steps to become compliant.

For more information, please contact Beth Covert at [email protected]

Extended Day registration is now closed. Please contact Mrs. Nancy Lisk at [email protected] to be placed on a waiting list. Thank you!

Sign-up by Aug. 30 if possible! Click HERE to sign up!

Join Cub Scouts Raingutter Regatta!

Saturday, August 26th @ 3:00PM

Welcome to the first Pack meeting of our 2023-24 Cub Scout school year! Our St Joseph Parish Cub Scouts will meet Saturday, August 26th, 3PM at Claude Moore Park Pavilion #2 – 21544 Old Vestals Gap Rd, Sterling, VA 20164.  Scouts and prospective scouts will race sailboats with their Dens. Extra boat kits will be available at the event. Scouts should wear their Class “B” scouting activity shirt or any other scouting, school spirit, or patriotic t-shirt. Pirate attire is also appropriate. Lawn chairs and cold drinks recommended. 

New potential Cub Scouts in Kindergarten through 5th grade are welcome to join. Students in any of these grades may join the pack any time throughout the school year. Also, look for future announcements for our Join Scouts Night to be held in St. Joseph’s Parish meeting rooms 212 and 213 on September 11th from 7:00-8:30pm. New families wishing to attend either event should contact John Keats at [email protected] if interested.  

Interested in joining girl scouts?

 Join us for an evening of information Parents Only

Tuesday September 5th

from 6:30-7:30pm

In parish hall room 212 &213

For question, please contact Brittany Adams at [email protected]

**Volunteers are needed for the Parish BBQ! Please consider signing up

by clicking HERE!

The Knights of Columbus will hold their annual Soccer Challenge for boys and girls ages 9-14 in the back of the school field at the Parish BBQ! Competition will take place from 2-3 PM. Each contestant receives 15 penalty kicks from either 10 or 12 yards out (depending on age and gender). Scoring is based on where the ball lands in the net. A parent or guardian must be present to complete a registration form. Contact Jim Nasakaitis ([email protected]) for questions.

Celebrate our unity in diversity! All are invited to the annual Mass for Multicultural Communities celebrated by Bishop Michael Burbidge, con-celebrated by priests of The Diocese of Arlington. The Mass celebration will be held at Nativity Catholic Church, Burke VA at 7:00pm on Friday, August 25, 2023. 

Following the Mass, there will be a reception featuring cultural dishes and performances! The reception is free for all. Mass attendees are encouraged to wear cultural attire if desired. There is no registration required. If you would like to participate in the Marian

Procession and would like more information, please contact [email protected] with any questions.

St. Joseph Catholic School

750 Peachtree Street, Herndon, VA 20170

Tel: 703-880-4350 Fax: 703-880-4320