THE MISSION | WINTER 2020

The Mission

Winter 2020 Newsletter

319.377.6348 - WWW.SJCSMARION.ORG

Shining a Light on St. Joseph Staff

St. Joseph Catholic School took the Iowa StatewideAssessment of Student Progress, also known asISASP, in the spring of 2019. ISASP measures studentproficiency in Language Arts and Math. St. Josephstudents are well above the state average, as shownin the graphs at the right, which includes both publicand private schools. In addition to an extremely highpercentage of students being proficient, we have thefollowing percentage of students consideredadvanced compared to the state average: 3-8 Language ArtsSJCS-17%State-7% 3-8 MathSJCS-34%State-13% We are very proud of these scores, which can beattributed to great teachers, involved parents, smallclass sizes, hard working students, a supportiveparish, and more.

St. Joseph Students Post HighTest Scores

2020 Iowa Assessment Scores

Registration for the upcoming school year is now open at St. Joseph School, the onlypreschool through eighth grade Catholic school in the metro area. Tuition assistanceis available for students ages kindergarten and up. St. Joseph boasts highachievement and a 21st century education for students. Assessment scores showstudents testing well ahead of benchmarks. STEM programs, extracurricular clubs,technology integration, and Spanish are offered to students in preschool througheighth grades. In addition, St. Joseph offers various daycare options to accommodatefamily schedules including childcare for children ages 3 and over, plus before andafter school daycare options. St. Joseph is an Iowa accredited parochial schoolserving over 200 children. Those interested may contact the school for moreinformation or schedule a tour by calling 319-377-6348.

Registration at St. Joseph Now Open

St. Joseph  offers a STEMRobotics Club after school once a week for eightweeks for students in thirdthrough fifth grades.The club is moderated byteachers Dana Virden andMissy Gadient. CaseyKettmann, school principal, applied for and secured thegrant funding. The grant

THE MISSION | WINTER 2020 319.377.6348 - WWW.SJCSMARION.ORG

Students get creative in co-curricularSTEM Robotics Club

St. Joseph introducesCampus Ministry Program

The Marion Youth Coalition includes more than 30 organizations andagencies working to meet the needs of area youth. In September, the groupcelebrated the opening of the Marion Youth Center. It provides after schoolprogramming for up to 50 fifth and sixth grade students from MarionIndependent, Linn-Mar, and St. Joseph Schools. The Boys & Girls Club of Cedar Rapids is providing the staffing and isserving as the fiscal agent for the center. Students and their families areenjoying the activities and safe, structured programming that the MarionYouth Center offers. St. Joseph Principal Casey Kettmann has been an activeparticipant on the Marion Youth Center committee and St. Joseph wasrecently able to donate 10 used iPads to the center.

St. Joseph supports Marion Youth Coalition

Chelsea Watts has been a staff member at St.Joseph for the last 5 years. This year, shebegan serving the St. Joseph community as acampus minister. The campus ministryposition evolved in an effort to focus on thepersonal and spiritual growth of students,staff, and families. Ms. Watts works to provideopportunities for students to plan and reflecton faith-centered experiences through thingslike service projects, retreats, and familyactivities.

SAVE THE DATEFeb. 12 Xavier Band Festival

Feb. 18 Xavier Choral FestivalMar. 13-20 Spring BreakMar. 28 Shamrock Gala

Apr. 2-4 Musical - Alice in Wonderland Jr.

paid for eight Hummingbird Robotic Kits in addition to manyother STEM materials such as Makey Makeys, Strawbees,Makedos, a Go Pro, Dremel power tool, and a sewing machineand kit. Students use the hummingbird kits to learn to writecode for input and output. By the end of the eight weeksession students will create their own robot. The excitementthat the students have exhibited while working with thematerials has been awesome!  They have been very quick tolearn and follow the tutorials to write code for lighting, sound,and movement. The students have been able to explore theircreativity while expanding their programming knowledge.  Thisis one of the many co-curricular activities offered at St. JosephSchool.

Last fall she led themiddle school studentson a pilgrimage throughnortheast Iowa andsouthwest Wisconsin.The faith journey wasdesigned to leave busyeveryday distractions behind and focus solely on God. It was anopportunity to connect with Holy places andpeople and to allow oneself to experience theHoly Spirit’s presence in his or her midst.