St. Joseph’s Class of 2023 

May our good and gracious God continue to bless and keep you, guide, guard and direct you.

Caleb Atkins, Jamie Baker, Rowan Belew, Jonathan Cara, Gabriel Dagher, Charles Dahl, Cash Davis, Jonah Eijckelhof, Ryan Emerson, Wilson Firestone, Jack Forney, Owen Graves, Brody Hale, Heidi Hatten, Jack Henderson, Lila Hofeditz, Livia Kendrick, Gavin Kerr, Ella Klekas, Felicity Larkin, Celeste Malsam, McKenna Malvick, Kevin Martinez, Marley Maxwell, Meghan McGarry, Clayton Miller, Giada Miller, Max Miller, Reese Millspaugh, Daniel Moodie-Bramlet, Kayla Nielsen, Sean O’Meara, Sophia Oakley, Annie Raeber, Eli Richins, Jack Robinson, Henry Smith, Peter Teuber, Greta Tobler, Marco Trotta, Henry Turcotte, Reagan Williams, Emily Wynkoop and Kai Yano

Can you believe we are headed into our last week of the school year? We sure can’t! This year has flown by and was an absolute blessing to share with all of you.

We are very excited for 8th grade graduation on Monday!  Please realize Monday is the last day for your 8th grade student.  Do not send your graduate to school with their siblings after Monday.  Due to supervision concerns and staffing shortages, they will not be allowed on campus during school hours. Next week is a little backwards due to the 8th grade graduation on Monday.

Monday– Mass dress for 6th & 7th only. We also encourage any siblings K-5 who will be attending the ceremony to dress in their mass clothes. Regular uniforms for everyone else.

Tuesday– 5th grade wax museum. Regular Uniform Dress.

Wednesday– Goodbye to Father Aleksander. At 10am we will be lining the hallways of St. Joe’s to give Father Aleksander a Brave Saints farewell. The students have made beautiful cards and letters for him as well as Father Mariusz to remember them as they head to their new assignments. They will be missed!

Thursday– Last day of school! We will be having an all-school mass at 8:30am. Students may wear spirit wear on this day. If they tie-dyed a shirt with their class, they may wear this as their spirit wear for our summer send off!

Friday– Keep an eye in your email for a registration link from our NEW Student Information System (SIS) called FACTS. This new system will replace:

• Plus Portals/Rediker and PaySchools.
• We apologize for redundancy in the Re-enrollment process, but it is a one time necessary inconvenience to complete this transition.
• Our new system will manage:

Gradebooks

Health information

Tuition payments (including split payments for households)

After care payments

Lunch Money

Family Portal & Online School Directory

Calendars

Mass communication and more!

The 2023-24 Re-enrollment process through FACTS must be completed as soon as possible upon receiving the link and NO LATER THAN June 25th so that you will be set up for July payments.

Today, my wife and I head up to Moscow for the 2023 commencement ceremonies.  Our daughter Zoe fills in for admin notes…

When most people think of a teacher that influenced their life, one clear person usually comes to mind. I am lucky enough to say that many teachers come to my mind. How could I decipher who impacted my life the most when each teacher I had influenced my life in a special way. In first grade, Miss. Hipwell crafted my penmanship. Mrs. Litzenburger taught me how to be the bigger person and forgive. Sixth grade with Mrs. Russell showed me that being organized is better than being disorganized, while Mrs. McClure sparked my love for science. As I grew up, I had other impressive teachers, but the teachers at St. Joseph’s molded me into who I am today. After St. Joe’s, I continued on to Bishop Kelly Catholic School before transferring to Boise High School. I learned a lot about myself in my teenage years, but I stayed true to my core. This was only possible because I was raised with a well rounded faith and an even better educational experience at St. Joe’s. During my first semester of college, my Calculus professor wouldn’t raise my 89% to an A. Anyone would be disappointed, and I certainly wasn’t an exception. Four years later, I have since realized that life doesn’t work out the way I always want it to. The transition from high school to the University of Idaho in Moscow wasn’t an easy one. I struggled making friends and felt out of place. My parents continued to remind me that as long as I was kind, but also tough, I would find my niche. As always, they were correct. On Saturday, I am graduating from the University of Idaho with a double major in Biology and Medical Sciences and a double minor in Microbiology and Pre-Health Professions Studies. Since my freshman year, I have found my best friends, made the best of the worst times, and have created life long memories. My dad has always said that my hard work is what has taken me so far in life and will continue to do so. My parents have always been my biggest supporters, and they ensured that I received the best education. My drive and work ethic didn’t come from thin air. Throughout my 17 years of schooling, my teachers and professors have taught me many things about cells, disease, and the human body, things anyone can learn if they put their mind to it. But, my teachers at St. Joe’s taught me about sacrifice, sympathy, and love. These are the values that I will carry on into the rest of my life, something I will always be grateful for.

Zoe McCormick, St. Joe’s Class of 2015 & U of Idaho Class of 2023

We are pleased to announce that Scott Basgall will be joining our staff next year! He will primarily be teaching Elementary PE. We are blessed to have him join our staff, he is already a part of our St. Joe’s community!

Scott Basgall is thrilled to be joining the teaching staff at St. Joseph Catholic School as a physical education teacher for the elementary grades. Scott comes from a background of teaching high school Special education mathematics previously in Colorado and Washington state.  During his time as a full-time parent, he discovered his passion for physical education while building an active lifestyle and coaching sports with his 3 children – Henry (6^th), Annika (4^th), and Heidi (K).  As a parent volunteer, his favorite activities have been P.E. volunteering and the Fun Run.  Scott earned his Teacher Certificate at Metropolitan State College of Denver and more recently earned a Master’s in Exercise Science from Liberty University and a Graduate Certificate in Health & Physical Education from Eastern Washington University. He has a true passion for all things athletic and believes it is never too late to learn something new, even learning to play hockey as an adult! (ouch!)  Scott firmly believes in creating a positive, safe, and fun learning environment for children of all abilities.   Scott feels grounded and supported by his Catholic faith and feels called to help students discover their own God given talents and abilities and build confidence and mental and physical resilience.  Scott and his family are parishioners at Our Lady of the Rosary in Southeast Boise. He enjoys pursuing various outdoor activities with his wife, Ingrid Lundgren, and their 3 children, especially skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and camping.

Being the assistant principal for a day has been a very fun experience. I got to hang out with Mrs. Kuznia all day and learn everything that it takes to be a good assistant principal. There were so many fun things that I got to participate in. Here are my top 10 favorite activities that I did:

1. To start the day off, I came on the intercom and said the morning announcements!
2. After the morning announcements, I sat in on a meeting with the Avid coordinator and then gave her a tour of the school!
3. Once the tour was over, I made my rounds to all of the classrooms, double checking that the students were all in dress code. A few weren’t wearing belts, so they had to run a few laps around the playground.
4. When we visited the kindergarten classroom, the kindergarteners were very eager to ask me a very important question about butterfly release day. They were wondering If they were allowed to dress up as a butterfly, so of course I said yes!
5. Once it was time for the middle school’s recess I decided that since they have been working so hard on their testing, they deserved for their recess to be 8 minutes longer!
6. After recess I was in charge of making a list of toppings for the 4th grade ice cream party on Thursday. I went to the 4th grade classrooms to get their ice cream topping preferences.
7. For lunch, Mrs. Kuznia and I walked over to the Co-op to get some lunch. Once we got our lunch, we walked over to Jacksons to grab a drink!
8. Once we got back from lunch, I then went into the kindergarten classroom to read them a story. They loved the story and were very good listeners!
9. After story time, I decided to make derby day on Friday even more fun! I thought that it would be fun if they could wear a fun hat, so I declared that you can wear a hat on derby day!
10. Last but not least, we had a fire drill in the afternoon. Since I was the assistant principal, I was able to pull the fire alarm!

Overall, My experience as the assistant principal was amazing! I’m so grateful to have gotten this opportunity and was able to do so many great things!

Rachel Lind, Assistant Principal for the Day
Bravely act like a Saint today!