Good afternoon St. Joseph’s Families,

Happy summer! I hope you and your family have been able to enjoy all that our Idaho summers have to offer!  I hope you have time for relaxation, fun and enjoy the blessing of your families and friends.

Class placement will be sent out this week.  This is a collaborative effort with input from the principal, teachers, counselor, and parents. 6th-8th grade students will be notified of homeroom placement. Thank you to all who helped with this very important process.

To avoid the summer learning slide, please continue to have your child read each day – it is so important to keep up reading skills over the summer. In addition, it is great to have your child work on math for about 15 minutes per day.

Looking Forward to the 2022-2023 School Year

We are looking forward to the 2022-2023 school year!  Our main focus areas:

• Our Catholic Identity
• Academic Excellence
• Our St. Joseph’s/St. John’s Community – building relationships and improving school culture

Our hours of operation will remain the same for the 2022-2023 school year. The school day for K-5th grade students will be 8:00 am – 3:00 pm with morning drop off available at 7:35. Middle school will begin class at 8:00 am and finish the day at 3:08 pm. After school care will be available at 3:15.

St. Joseph’s is in the school accreditation year. Catholic schools in the northwest are granted accreditation through the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA). The new administration and leadership team will work closely with Tammy Emerich, Superintendent for Idaho Catholic Schools, to complete the accreditation cycle.  This is an informative process where our school will be evaluated based on the National Standards and Benchmarks of Effective Elementary and Secondary Schools. We will be asking for different stakeholder participation throughout this process.

We have a hiring committee in place as we continue to search for a principal for St. Joseph’s Catholic School. Tammy Emerich is finishing her St. Joseph’s principal contract over the summer and remains the acting principal until August 1st.

After in-depth discussion on the committee, we feel it is important to hire a principal with several years of administrative experience in a K-5th grade Catholic school setting. We are continuing to accept applications. We are reviewing our options and are considering hiring an interim principal for the school year until we find the right candidate. Please keep this in your prayers as we continue our principal search. We will keep you updated as decisions are made.

In addition, we are still in search of a school counselor. We had two applicants and interviewed both. Both candidates had different skill sets and strengths. The position was offered but both candidates were waiting for other offers and ended up accepting positions in public schools. If you know of anyone who would be a good fit and interested in the counseling position, please have them apply.

Faculty/Staff Updates

We have the opportunity to welcome some amazing faculty to St. Joseph’s for the 2022-2023 school year:

• Andria Jenne’ will be teaching 1st grade at St. Joseph’s for the 2022-2023 school year. Andria has her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She taught at St. Joseph’s early in her career and then went on to teach at Shadow Hills Elementary. She has spent the last 17 years teaching second grade at Highlands Elementary. Her references spoke so highly of Andria’s professionalism and connections with children. Andria values Catholic education; her children attended Sacred Heart and Bishop Kelly High School. We are blessed to have found such an amazing, faith-filled educator to join our team.
• Amanda Kuzina is joining our St. Joseph’s administration team. Amanda will be serving our school as an assistant principal. Amanda comes to us with 14 years of experience in education. Amanda has served as a 4th and 5th grade teacher, technology specialist, and recently as an elementary assistant principal in the Boise School District. Amanda has her Ed. Specialist Degree in Educational Administration. She is a certified teacher and principal. Amanda is a faith-filled Catholic woman who values Catholic education. We are blessed to have her join our leadership team.
• As mentioned in our newsletters in May: Here are the new teaching assignments for the 2022-2023 school year. Brittany O’Brien will be teaching our 5th grade students English and Social Studies! Simon Petersen (PACE teacher) will be teaching 4th grade. Taylor Brown will be teaching 1st grade.

Please join me in welcoming these individuals to our St. Joseph’s Community!

Our next communication will come to you at the beginning of August.

Happy Summer – enjoy time with family and friends!

Giving Thanks For Summer

Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer!

Thank you for the warmth of the sun

and the increased daylight.

Thank You for the beauty I see all around me

and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation.

Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family,

and for the more casual pace of the summer season.

Draw me closer to You this summer.

Teach me how I can pray

no matter where I am or what I am doing.

Warm my soul with the awareness of Your presence

and light my path with Your Word and Counsel.

As I enjoy Your creation, create in me

a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.

– Author Unknown

Thank you for being a part of our St. Joseph’s/St. John’s Catholic Community!

Yours for Excellence in Catholic Education

Blessings,

Tammy Emerich

Principal