St. Joseph Catholic School Programs
Committed to providing an environment where all students can succeed, St. Joseph School has an on-site Learning Resource Center (LRC) staffed by three full-time certified learning specialists and one full-time counselor. Students identified as needing support or students at risk in the areas of academics, peer relationships, social/emotional growth, or physical development/health are placed on a Student Service Plan. Our teachers are trained to differentiate instruction and assessment, so they are able to teach to individual strengths while assisting growth in demonstrating mastery and proficiency of the Common Core State Standards.
Currently, we are in the planning stages of expanding our LRC offerings to students who work above grade level. In 2012-2013 the LRC provided academic support to 90 students and monitored 86 additional students of concern. It is our hope to expand the program to better address students approaching the standard to those surpassing it.
In order to make a high-quality Catholic grade school education affordable for as many students as possible, St. Joseph School offers tuition assistance to over 21% of its students. In 2011-2012 alone, over $900,000 in financial aid assistance was awarded to St. Joseph School families for tuition and fees.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
The St. Joseph School community is proud of its efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. In recognition of these efforts, St. Joseph School has received a Terry Husseman Sustainable School Award from the Washington State Department of Ecology. The award promotes sustainable work and rewards school efforts to reduce waste and increase environmental curricula.We have several "green" projects in an ongoing effort to reduce waste, conserve energy, and educate students about the environmental impact that their actions can have. In addition to recycling, food waste composting, and the updating of light fixtures and installation of high-efficiency bulbs throughout the school, solar panels were installed on the roof of the auditorium which can be monitored via the internet. Solar kits have been incorporated into the curriculum.
St. Joseph School is committed to providing a high-quality Catholic education to students from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. To keep tuition at an affordable level for as many as possible, the school subsidizes part of the cost of educating its students. As a result, there is an approximately $2500 gap between tuition and the cost of educating each student between $1.3 and $1.5 million annually which must be met through fundraising and charitable contributions.
We are currently planning a new building project, which includes a unified main entrance creating a much needed central gathering area for parents and students. The addition will also provide needed space for hosting events and creating a welcoming main office environment that will increase the level of safety of our campus. Most importantly, the addition will give us the space we need to accommodate the growing Learning Resource Center.