\ February 2024 Edition
Saint Joseph’s School Prayer Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin and Foster-Father of Jesus Christ; obtain for me and all the members of my family, a pure, humble, and charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the Divine Will. Be my guide and model throughout life that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Help us, Saint Joseph, in our earthly strife, to fulfill our responsibilities and ever to lead a pure and sinless life. Amen.
Contents From the Head of School ................... 1 Things You Need To Know .................. 3 From the Middle School Director ...... 6 From the High School Director .......... 6 From the Academic Support Services & College Counseling Office ............ 7 From the Athletic Department .......... 7 From the Business Office..................... 8 From the Development Office .......... 8 From the Fine Arts Department ......... 9 From the Parents Guild ..................... 10 From the School Nurse ...................... 10
From the Head of School Greetings from St. Joseph’s Catholic School! I hope this letter finds you and your family doing well. As we enter February, I think most of us are looking forward to the coming of spring and warmer weather. I know our spring coaches and athletes certainly are. It’s no fun playing tennis, softball, baseball, or any of the other spring sports in frigid temperatures! The heat is definitely on in the Saint Joseph’s gymnasium, however, as the basketball teams are enjoying good seasons. If you haven’t seen a game yet, I hope you’ll make a point to come out and support the Knights as the playoffs approach. You can find the schedule on the school’s website under the Athletics tab. While on the topic of athletics, I’m sure you are aware by now that the SC High School League has instituted a 3.0 multiplier for all 9th through 11th grade students in an attempt to better achieve “competitive balance” within the league. What that means for us is that those students who live outside of our assigned attendance zone, which is JL Mann High School, will now be counted as 3 people. Because nearly 70% of our students live outside of the JL Mann attendance zone, the new multiplier is bumping us up two classifications from 1A to 3A for the 2024-26 athletic seasons. Coach Nash and I traveled to Columbia twice in a week to appeal this classification placement and lost both our initial appeal to the SCHSL executive committee and the follow-up appeal a couple of days later to the appellate panel. It has become clear to us throughout the appeals process that the new multiplier was put into effect to curtail the success of a handful of private and charter schools, including Saint Joseph’s. While we support a level playing field and competitive play, we can’t help but feel as if our whole athletic program is being penalized for the success of some of our programs. Having lost both appeals that were available to us, we are considering what legal and/or legislative recourse we might still have, if any. Either way, I am confident that we will find a way to be competitive The Saint Joseph’s Way.