Dear Parents,

Catholic Schools Week is finally here! Along with Catholic schools throughout the country, St. John Bosco will celebrate the many blessings of Catholic Education during a jam-packed week of special activities. Teachers and students have been busy preparing for the most exciting week of the school year! 

Dear Parents,

I can’t believe that Monday is the 100th day of school! It is amazing to see how much our students have grown spiritually, physically, and academically.

Thank you for your support and patience as we continue to navigate the pandemic. We are grateful to our SJB families for following our mitigation protocol. Your diligence has paid off in a way we’d never imagined — our COVID numbers are declining and, with your help, they will continue to decrease.

Dear Parents,

We had a busy week of DIBELS and MAP testing! We will continue with make-up testing next week for students absent this week. We want to make sure everyone gets their chance to shine and show how much they have grown academically so far this school year.

In fact, the new year is bringing many exciting things our way!

• A new AC/filtration system was installed in the MPR over Christmas break.
• Thanks to our Dads' Club, our school security system was updated.
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Dear Parents,

Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed time with your family and friends celebrating the birth of Christ and ringing in the new year.

Our first all-school Mass of 2022 was an extraordinary occasion. Fr. John Nahrgang from the Diocese of Phoenix concelebrated today’s Mass with Fr. Manasseh and focused on the origins and blessings of The Miraculous Medal. The entire student body, staff, and parents were thoroughly engaged as Fr. John recited historical events associated with Sr. Catherine Laboure. Just prior to the final blessing, Fr. John, Fr. Manasseh, Deacon Ed, and Mrs. Bescak presented every person in attendance with their very own blessed Miraculous Medal! What an unbelievable way to cap our first all-school Mass of the new year.

Dear Parents,

Can you believe we’re already in the third week of Advent? Before you head into Christmas break, however, be sure to join us for two of our favorite events at St. John Bosco Catholic School!

Wednesday, December 15 at 6:00pm is our 20th Annual Christmas Program. Music Director Dr. Luis Rodriguez has created a very special program that will take place outside in our festive courtyard and showcase our kindergarten through 6th-grade students singing and playing instruments. Our 7th and 8th graders will be reciting scriptures and assisting Dr. Rodriguez behind the scenes. Since we will be outside, we recommend you dress accordingly.

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope you and your family had a peaceful Thanksgiving break together and time to reflect on the many blessings in our lives.

We have now entered the season of Advent — a time for hope, love, joy, and peace. As a Catholic school, we see signs everywhere of the reason for the season. We began our week gathering in the courtyard as our Campus Ambassadors and Student Council led us in our annual Advent prayer service. It was a wonderful way for us all to remember the reason for the season… Jesus.

Dear Parents,

We are all looking forward to an exciting, short-but-busy week. Wednesday is early release (12:30 pm) and ESP will not be offered as our staff prepares for the Thanksgiving holiday.

On Wednesday morning our entire school community will gather on the lower courts to kick off our Running with Rosco event with a Pep Rally led by the Phoenix Sun's Gorilla, Xavier's Gator, and our beloved SJB Rosco Bulldog. Then each grade level will take turns running around the field with classmates, parents, and volunteers to the beat of lively music. The event will end with a hot dog lunch sponsored by our Dads’ Club. I especially want to thank Cindy Casaus and the PTO crew for all of their hard work and dedication to making this event so much fun for the kids.

Dear Parents,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the St. Benedict Groundbreaking! It was a momentous occasion for our community. Thank you to our Campus Ambassadors for representing our student body and taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony alongside Fr. James and Bishop Olmsted.

Thank you to all who attended our Veterans Day Flag Ceremony and Prayer Service. Our scouts and student council led the gathering of our SJB community, staff, and student body through a reverent prayer service and flag-raising ceremony honoring our country’s cherished veterans. We’re especially grateful to the veterans who joined us and allowed us to say thank you in person.

Dear Parents,

This week we were reminded of how blessed we are that our students are allowed to embrace and celebrate our Catholic faith at school. We began the week celebrating All Saints Day with our precious first graders dressed as saints as they processed into church to the tune of “The Saints Go Marching In” as we gathered for the last time in the current St. Benedict building.

On Tuesday our 7th graders produced an exhilarating game show called “Name that Saint” in which entire student body actively participated. I was so impressed with how well versed all of our students were with their knowledge of saints!

Dear Parents,

Saturday’s Harvest Fest and Trunk or Treat was another fantastic evening of fun and community-building as we continue to celebrate our 20th anniversary. The costumes were exceptionally creative, and the lip sync competition and band were AMAZING! This annual event is made possible only by diligent, selfless effort from all our parent and student volunteers. Thank you to everyone who put in time and monitored the various stations of the festive grounds. The children and parents were giddy with excitement! Special thanks to our PTO, led by President Erica Seidel. This incredible team worked tireless hours planning and organizing the event for the sheer joy of building school community.

Dear Parents,

Our campus courtyard was alive with excitement all week with parents and students of all ages admiring the Harvest Fest baskets and hoping to be the lucky raffle winner! I hope to see everyone at Harvest Fest TOMORROW as we continue to celebrate our 20th Anniversary with St. Benedict Church, adding Trunk or Treat to the schedule of activities. The forecast calls for mild fall temperatures – perfect for gathering with your SJB community.

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had an opportunity to relax and refresh during our Fall Break! It’s hard to believe that we are already approaching the end of our first trimester. Please continue to monitor your child's RenWeb account for grades and any missing assignments.

Our 8th graders are approaching the time to decide on where they would like to go to high school. Representatives and student ambassadors from Xavier, Brophy, and Seton Preparatory have visited, sharing what makes their school stand out and what they have to offer. It was wonderful to see a few of our SJB Alumni return to campus and share their Catholic high school experiences.

Dear Parents,

As mentioned many times, SJB is extremely blessed with a highly qualified and devoted faculty. They choose to teach here for reasons other than pay; e.g., strong Catholic culture, freedom to teach and live their faith, support received from our administration, staff, PTO, and pastor Fr. James.

Each year Xavier College Preparatory asks their high school freshwomen to nominate a 7th- or 8th-grade teacher who had inspired her and significantly helped her along her academic route. We are proud to announce that our own Mrs. Kelly Rafford was again selected as the recipient of Xavier’s Golden Gator Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is part of a committed junior high team that goes above and beyond classroom teaching to prepare students for secondary education and other expectations of high school life. Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Rafford!