St. Joseph Catholic School in Martinsburg has completed the second quarter of their 135th year. As everywhere, some things have changed due to COVID-19, but the faculty, students and parents have striven to make learning seem as normal and fun as possible.

There were many events in the second quarter, starting with Red Ribbon Week. The classroom doors of the school were decorated and different dress-days and activities were held throughout the week.

On Oct. 29, a pep rally was held on the school playground to kick off the Crusaders basketball season. November began with All Saints Day, which was celebrated by the school on Nov. 2 with a saint parade in the church building. Each student studied about a saint, drew a picture of the saint, and then at the parade shared the information with those attending.

Also that day the winner of the buckeye rosary was announced.

Each year for more than two decades, Jan Schafer, a parishioner of St. Joseph Church, has made a buckeye rosary to be given away. Each student is given an opportunity throughout the month of October — the month of the rosary — to say a prayer for someone and include their name on the slip of paper and then the students name is entered in the drawing.

The winner of the rosary this year was Lilly Bosworth. After the All Saints Parade, parties were held at the school.

Students gathered on the playground on Veterans Day to take a picture with the U.S. flag to share on social media as their thank you to our veterans.

In early December, a new roof was installed on the school building in a matter of only two days, and a food drive was sponsored by the St. Joseph School Student Council. The 1,049 cans collected filled Ms. Carol’s suburban, and they were delivered to the St. John’s Food Pantry in Laddonia.

The seventh and eighth grade classroom collected the most cans and won the movie party.

Due to restrictions from COVID-19, the SJS Crusaders’ basketball season was cut short, but a scrimmage was held on Dec. 8 and players, coaches, cheerleaders, eighth graders and their parents, and alumni who are graduating from high school in 2021 were recognized.

The All-School Christmas Program was recorded during the school day and shared with parents virtually this year and a read-a-thon was held before the students left for Christmas break. During the read-a-thon the big shots shared some time and stories with their little squirts as well as each classroom having some time for projects, movies, and reading.

During the first months of school, students were assessed by two different types of testing.

“St. Joseph School received the results from the Iowa Testing this past quarter,” said Mrs. Michelle Hombs, principal, about the results which came in the second quarter. “Students in grades third through eighth grade took the standardized test this past October. We found ourselves somewhat anxious waiting for the testing results because we didn’t know what to fully expect since the school had to shut down and do remote learning for the majority of the fourth quarter last spring. We experienced a slight dip in achievement scores but overall we were happy with the results”.

The school went into remote learning on March 18 and didn’t return to in person learning for the rest of the school year.

“I believe it was important that although our students didn’t experience in person learning to finish last school year,” said Mrs. Hombs, “despite taking on a different form, they continued to learn. This is evident with the testing results. We have identified some areas we need to focus on but have also noticed the strengths and work ethic our students have”.

This school year the I-Ready Program was implemented in grades kindergarten through eighth grade with the hopes of helping students who might have fallen behind due to the closure. The I-Ready program is two-fold for the students. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each student in the program and then provides individualized instruction to help fill in the gaps or provide enrichment to challenge each student.

This information also helps teachers as it is used to help guide their instruction. Students are periodically assessed allowing students, teachers and parents an opportunity to see if growth in learning is taking place.

“I believe it will take some time before we can truly get a clear picture of our students’ learning with I-Ready as they need time to get used to the online assessment and the program as a whole,” Mrs. Hombs added.

The second quarter ended on Jan. 8, 2021, and the students and faculty look forward to continued learning and fun in the third quarter which will include Catholic Schools Week beginning with an opening mass on Jan. 31.