We will have individual student photos on Friday, September 18.

Students are permitted to wear their own clothing for individual pictures.  Normal dress down day rules apply.

Order forms were sent home in backpacks. For students who are absent on picture day or who would like a retake, O'Connor Studios will be back on Friday, November 13. 

Date: Friday, September 25, 2020 

Cost: $1.00

Attire: Wear purple or white

Cause: Alzheimer's Association

Casual for a Cause is a special monthly tradition at Saint Joseph School organized by our eighth graders. On that Friday, students are invited to bring in $1 for the privilege of a no-uniform day (normal dress down day rules apply). All money is donated towards that month's cause chosen by the eighth grade.

This month we are proud to support the Alzheimer's Association: 

Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia. This is when people start to forget many things. As the years go by, a person's symptoms get worse. A person needs help with mostly everything. People even forget who loved ones are. People with Alzheimer’s become unaware of what is going on around them.The Alzheimer's Association uses the donated money to collect more research on the disease and to find a cure. 

By Gregory Beckwith~Grade 8

Grade one superheroes are getting ready for a super year!

Grade three is getting our messages across even though we are socially distancing and wearing our masks!

Grade four enjoying class and lunch at Moulton Park!

Laurie's 909 lunches, which are available to all students from our Early Childhood Program through Grade 8, will begin on Monday, September 14.

Laurie's menu includes a variety of delicious breakfast items, sandwiches, burgers, chicken, pastas, salads, snacks and more. To place orders, please go to https://lauries909.h1.hotlunchonline.net.

A few important notes:

1. When you login for the first time for the 2020-21 school year, please be sure to ADD and/or EDIT each child to advance their grade to this year's grade level.
2. The order deadline is two (2) days prior to delivery. For example, for a Monday lunch delivery, you need to place the order by 10 a.m. on Saturday. Laurie also offers emergency lunch orders.  We encourage you to place a month of lunch orders at a time when possible.  
3. This year, all side items (including chips) need to be ordered separately. Please be sure to visit the "Additional Treats" section on the menu if your child would like chips or other side items.

Please reach out to Laurie anytime with questions or comments!  She welcomes feedback from you and your children on menu offerings and all aspects of the program.

Laurie Rizzo
Laurie's 909 Catering
info@lauries909.com
781-246-1909

We are pleased to offer daily milk to all students in the Early Childhood Program through Grade 8. 

Parents may select 2% reduced fat milk or low fat chocolate milk. 

The cost is $71 for the school year for students in Kindergarten - Grade 8 and ECP students enrolled for 5 days per week.  The cost is $42 for the school year for ECP students enrolled for 3 days and $28 for ECP students enrolled for 2 days.

The cost for milk may be paid by check with your completed order forms or you may charge the cost to your FACTS tuition account.

Milk distribution begins on Monday, September 21.

Please submit the milk order form to your child's teacher by Tuesday, September 15. 

For the safety of the children in our school who have severe nut allergies, Saint Joseph School is completely nut-free.  Please review our allergy policy.  

What does this mean?  It means that food should not contain peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, or any form or derivative of peanut or nuts at all.  It must not contain "traces of peanut."  Even if the ingredient label says "may contain traces of nuts or peanut," or "made in a facility with tree nuts," treat this label as if it says "contains nuts or peanut."  

For other allergies (such as gluten or dairy), the classrooms are "allergy sensitive."  Your teacher will inform you if there are other allergies in your class.  If you have any questions, please contact Nurse Haladay at shaladay@stjosephschoolwakefield.org.

Note:  if you send a safe non-nut butter in your child's lunch, such as sunflower butter, please label the sandwich so that the teachers know that it is safe. 

Mr. Xavier Babu, an SJS parent, is pleased to offer a free, virtual robotics programming class for students in grades 1-8. He will be using the student-friendly platform CoderZ to teach and excite children about robotics!

Classes will be held via Zoom and will meet every other week based on age/skill: Beginner (Grades 1-5 and/or students in grades 6-8 with no coding experience) and Intermediate (Grades 6-8). Additional details:

Dates: Fridays from 6:00-7:00pm beginning September 18th for 12 weeks (each group will meet every other week). 

Format: Each session will be 30 minutes of teaching and 30 minutes of programming (practice). After learning CoderZ visual programs, students will then be trained to do Python programming.

RSVP: Please sign up with Mr. Babu via email at xbabu@yahoo.com by September 17th to reserve your spot. Additionally, please have your child register at the following link by using their school email id (by choosing sign in through Google option) to complete the enrollment process so that Mr. Babu can make them be part of the class. If they don't have a school email id, you can use your personal email address.

Please feel free to contact him with any questions.

- WE CANNOT DIRECT THE WIND BUT WE CAN ADJUST OUR SAILS -

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2020-2021 School Year Information

Dear New and Returning Families,

Welcome to Saint Joseph School! We are excited to see everyone’s smiling faces (behind your masks!) very soon.

By choosing Saint Joseph School, you have become part of a community committed to providing academic excellence, developing well-rounded students, cultivating faith-filled disciples of God, and more important than ever this year, keeping your children healthy and safe. This school year will be like none that any of us have experienced before. It will require parents and staff working together every day to ensure the health and well-being of our children so that their learning can continue uninterrupted.

Our school plans to open for full-time, in-person learning as close to our normal manner as possible under current health and safety guidelines. We are grateful for our physical space with large classrooms, high ceilings, wide corridors, hot water heating system (not forced hot air), ceiling fans, and good ventilation that is making this possible. Here are some logistical details to note for the beginning of school:

First Day: Grades 1-8 return on Wednesday, September 9^th. Kindergarten orientation will be held from 9:00-10:00am that day and their first day will be Thursday, September 10^th. Class A uniforms are required on the first day. The Early Childhood Program will begin the week of September 14^th.

Arrival and Dismissal: The school day is 8:00am-2:10pm (2:05pm for kindergarten).          Children may be dropped off beginning at 7:50am. New procedures for this year include:

• Drop Off: On arrival, children will see signs in the parking lot designating their grade’s assembly area. Their teacher will be there to welcome them. Each grade will take turns entering the building to accommodate distancing requirements. Students in every grade should wear masks at drop off and pick up.
• Pick Up: Children will be dismissed through the side doors on the west side of the school (closest to Cedar Street) as usual. Each grade will be dismissed separately to accommodate distancing requirements. We ask that parents do not congregate outside in the dismissal area and that they return to their car once their child(ren) are with them.

Family Portal: New this year, we are delighted to introduce an online family portal. This will allow families to see their child(ren)’s grades, update emergency contact information, access the school directory, and receive text alerts from the school. Families should have received an email with instructions to set up their account. If you have any questions or difficulties in doing so, please contact Mrs. Hamelin at rhamelin@stjosephschoolwakefield.org

Additional Information: We encourage you to check the school’s website frequently for new information throughout the year, especially the Calendar and the Parent’s Blog. The blog is updated weekly and contains a wealth of information such as milk and pizza order forms, extracurricular activity forms, upcoming events, and much more.

After-School Program: Although we look forward to welcoming back students into the building with increased safety protocols, we are not able to offer after-school care at this time. We understand that this program is helpful for many families, but we cannot safely operate this program for several reasons, including concerns around mixing groups of students. If health metrics allow, we hope to begin the program in October.

For many years, we have had environmental precautions in place to limit the spread of typical illnesses such as the flu and stomach bug. We have now adapted and enhanced these protocols to meet the challenge of COVID-19. The daily measures now will include:

• Classroom preparation: Each classroom now features individual desks, not tables (including kindergarten). Desks have been spaced a minimum of three feet apart and all classrooms have been emptied of everything that could contribute to virus spread. Students will not share equipment or supplies. Teachers also will take advantage of outdoor learning opportunities when possible.
• Daily movement: Our wide corridors have been emptied of all obstructions such as extra desks or tables and have been divided into one-way paths. The 4^th-8^th graders will continue to move between classrooms but will have staggered schedules to minimize contact in the hallways. Recess will continue with appropriate distancing monitored by teachers.
• Cleaning protocols:
  • Upon entering homeroom in the morning, each child will use hand sanitizer.
  • There will be additional emphasis on and opportunities for hand washing throughout the day.
  • Desks in K-3 classrooms will be cleaned at least daily.
  • Desks in 4^th-8^th classrooms will be cleaned at the end of each class.
  • Each classroom is equipped with multiple sanitizing spray bottles.
  • All corridors have spray sanitizing products on the windowsills for use as needed.
  • The water fountains have been disabled. Children must bring at least one water bottle with them each day.
  • The custodian will sanitize each classroom and common areas of the school (including bathrooms) at the end of each day using the Clorox 360 sanitizing system (used widely by airlines, universities, etc.). In this way, the school is clean and sanitized when children report each morning.
• Visitors to the school: Parents and visitors will be restricted in the building this year. All visitors (including parents) to the school must remain at the main office area and staff will assist from that point.
• Lunch: Parents are welcome to pack lunch for their child(ren), but we also encourage ordering from Laurie’s 909. The menu can accommodate dietary restrictions and lunches are individually packaged and delivered to each child’s classroom. We also will continue to offer pizza on Fridays. The sharing of snacks and lunches among children is not permitted.
• Face masks: All staff and all students in grades 2 and up are required to wear masks throughout the day. Students in kindergarten and grade 1 will be required to wear masks outside of their classroom and at other times as deemed necessary. Parents are expected to provide the masks for their children. Masks should not feature any distractions. We ask that you refrain from wearing any masks including words, images and/or symbols detailed on the front. We will incorporate mask breaks as possible and when safe to do so.

The health and safety of your children and our staff will rely, in part, on individual attention and responsibility this year. We ask you to check your child daily for the symptoms below. The most important thing to do if any of the following symptoms are present is to stay home. We know that some symptoms of COVID-19 are the same as the flu or a bad cold, but please do not assume that it is another condition. When in doubt, stay home. Your child’s teacher will be in touch regarding missed work and remote learning opportunities. If a child becomes sick at school, we will isolate him/her until a parent can arrive.

Most Common Symptoms of COVID-19 and Testing Requirements:

• Fever [100.4or higher] chills, shaking chills
• Cough [not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough]
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Headache when in combination with other symptoms
• Muscle aches or body aches
• Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
• Fatigue when in combination with other symptoms
• Nasal congestion or runny nose [not due to other known causes, such as allergies] when in combination with other symptoms.

Staff and students who have symptoms should contact their primary care physician for further instructions. If staff or students have these symptoms, they must get tested for active COVID-19 prior to returning to school. If a student tests positive for the virus, the class will automatically move to remote learning for 14 days or when cleared by medical authorities. We anticipate adding to and/or adjusting these guidelines as necessary for safety.

We understand that this year’s return to school may be scary and anxiety-provoking for many parents. However, we are confident in the protocols and enhancements we have put in place, and our staff is eager to welcome back the students we cherish. Working in partnership with you and centering our day around our faith, we know that God will “keep us in the palm of His hands” (Isaiah 49:16).

Please don’t hesitate to call the office if you have any further questions or concerns. Additionally, I will be hosting a virtual principal coffee hour on Tuesday, September 1^st at 6:30pm. Please check the Parent’s Blog for the zoom link.

God bless,

Dr. Joseph Sullivan, D. Ed.

Principal