Mass
Thank you to Russell and her 6th grade students for their leadership with Mass. Thank you to everyone who joined us for Mass. Please know all are welcome each week.
No School Tomorrow (Friday)
We are hosting a professional development day for the Treasure Valley Catholic School K-8 teachers here tomorrow. Students and families, enjoy your extra day, and please pray our day with more than 100 local Catholic school teachers is an effective day of collaboration and learning.
Fall Carnival
Thank you to everyone who came to our Fall Carnival the past weekend. Big thank you to Kelly Lim, Kacie Brioschi, and the St. Joseph’s Parents Association (SJPA) for their leadership, vision, time, talent, and dedication to put on a great community event for our school!
Click here to watch a video made by Ulli Schlapka capturing the fun: check it out!
Click here to see photos from the Carnival
Student Picture Day
- It will take a couple weeks for pictures to come back.
- Picture Retake day will be Friday, October 19.
5th/6th Grade Girls Basketball
There will be some changes with 5th and 6th grade basketball this year. Ultimately, in the end, these changes may well work to our benefit.
What has changed?
The Boise School District has informed us our Boise Catholic Schools are no longer invited to participate and play in the 5th/6th grade development basketball program.
What will we do?
We are combining with all of the Catholic Schools in the Treasure Valley along with Cole Valley Christian and Nampa Christian to create a Christian Basketball League in order to continue providing this wonderful opportunity for our students.
Which schools are participating?
- St. Joseph’s Catholic School (Boise)
- St. Mary’s Catholic School (Boise)
- St. Mark’s Catholic School (Boise)
- Sacred Heart Catholic School (Boise)
- St. Ignatius Catholic School (Meridian)
- St. Paul’s Catholic School (Nampa)
- Cole Valley Christian (Boise)
- Nampa Christian (Nampa)
What will change?
- There will be some cost to play ($30 for the season), as we are planning to have referees for the games.
- We will likely lower the maximum number of players required to have another team.
- We will, at times, travel to Nampa or Meridian, but most of the schools are really close.
- We will include prayer.
What will stay the same?
- We will rely on parents to volunteer and coach (please email Tony Quilici, quilicit@stjoes.com if you are interested in coaching)
- The emphasis is development. The teams will be, as equally as possible, split with 5th and 6th grades students and split evenly with talent.
- Practices and game times will remain in the after school time frame Monday-Thursday (game times may vary for greater travel time).
What is the timeline?
- We need to get coaches lined up. We have 30+ girls who have expressed interest in playing this year. *Coaches need to have Safe Environment Training.
- Practices will start as soon as we have coaches.
- Games will start at the end of October. Games will end in December before Christmas Break.
- 5th/6th Grade Boys Season will start in January.
Student Flu Shot
Students can get their Flu Shot at St. Joseph’s Catholic School on October 22 with parent permission. Permissions will be sent home, linked in the email, and linked here. Hard copies are available in the front office.
End of Quarter 1
First Quarter will end Friday, October 19 with a noon dismissal.
Parent Teacher Conferences (Wednesday, October 24, 4-8 pm and Thursday October 25, 8am-4pm)
- Kindergarten-5th grade: Wednesday, October 10, k-5 teachers will email out a sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences. These conferences are 15 minutes.
- Middle School (grades 6-8): Middle School will also email out a sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences. The middle school conferences are 30 minute allotments for parents to meet with the student’s 6-8 middle school teachers. The individual conferences will be about 3 minutes.
- Special Teachers: These teachers will be in the gymnasium. They will be available in the for parents to drop in without signing up for a time to meet with them.
- Mr. Aspiri: Music k-5, choir, and middle school music and drama
- Mrs. Elwer: PE for k-4
- Mrs. Arrubarrena: Spanish k-5
- Mrs. Vietri: Spanish 1 (7th/8th grade elective)
- Mrs. Miller: Art k-5 and middle school
*If you have concerns or discover you need more than the allotted time to talk with the teacher, please make arrangements with the teacher to meet with them soon.
SafeStudents Online (More of you are signing up, thank you!)
This is for our families with students in grades 5-8. We have sent follow up email invites. We are looking to get 100% participation. We are nearing 50% participation at this point. If you have not enrolled, please do so. If you did not receive a welcome email, please check your SPAM folder in you email, and if it is not there, please let me (quilicit@stjoes.com) or Mrs. Porter (porterc@stjoes.com) know and we can send you a link that will allow you to access SafeStudents Online.
These accounts are per family, so if you have older students in high school, you can add these students as well.
This is a program that Catholic schools back East have been using for grades 5-8, and their families love it. This is to build trust between parents and students. Many of you have shared that you search through student phones, and this will do the searching for you and only alert you of worrisome material. This also hopefully addresses and concerns students have about spying on them. The goal is to coach and provide students a safer and healthier online experience and provide open communication between parents and students. The school does not get alerts; the alerts go to the parents. Please register and join us in piloting SafeStudents Online to provide a true and honest assessment of its use and application for our community. All you need to do is sit down with your student(s) and take less than 5 minutes to set it up.
If you still have questions, please feel free to view the video link below and call or email questions to myself (quilicit@stjoes.com) or our counselor Mrs. Porter (porterc@stjoes.com).
PlusPortals (Grades/Attendance)
Emails with access to PlusPortals have been sent. If you have not logged in, you can do so following the instructions in the email. If you have not received an email, please let Mrs. Granvall know by calling (208-342-4909) or emailing (granvalla@stjoes.com). There is a free app called ParentPlus that you can add to your phone.
School Directory
PlusPortals has a digital directory for staff, students, and parents. Student name, homeroom, and gender are available. Parent name, email, phone, and address are available. If you do not want this information available in the school directory, select your name in the top right, select Directory Listing, uncheck to list information in the school directory.
Student Safety
We ran a Hall Check Drill today. This is a drill where we make sure all exterior doors are locked. Teachers check the halls for students, lock their classroom doors, and continue teaching. Hall Check is a new term for us this year. Previously, we would have called this a Secure in Place. For further information on our current terminology and the shift, please refer to our
IDeal 529 College Savings Program funds- use them to pay for K-12 tuition!
What is a “529 plan”?
Named for Section 529 of the U.S. tax code, a 529 plan is a tax-advantaged investment plan operated by a state to encourage saving for education expenses. As there is risk when investing in a 529 account, we are required to advise readers talk to a financial advisor.
Click here for a link the the 529 Frequently Asked Questions and other resources
There is also a $25 incentive for those to start saving and a chance at $800
Bravely act like a Saint today!
We are blessed to have a loving and supportive community. As a Catholic community, we hold ourselves to a higher standard. When you see someone in our community going above and beyond leading by example and bravely acting like a saint, please let me know using the following link.
