Welcome to Saint Joseph Regional High School.
Frequent visitors to our web-site will notice its new look, updated graphics and easy to use menus. First time visitors should find it easy to navigate and a regular source of news and information about our school programs. And for our current families, with tabs to Schoolnotes, Naviance and Schoolmaster, information about the progress of our students is only a click away.
Re-imagining our web-site is just one aspect of the change and growth that has been going on in all aspects of our school community. In the past two years, we have renovated all of our classrooms, adding new desks, window treatments, student lockers, overhead projection systems, new white boards and Promethean Activ-boards to our classrooms.
This year, several of our students piloted an on-line learning program called the Virtual High School, which allows them to take specialty courses which our regular program of studies does not include. The internet based program, which has been endorsed by the United States Department of Education, has received rave reviews from our inaugural class of students who have just completed their first “virtual semester”.
Our fine arts program has also grown in the past two years. We have added a spring drama to complement our award winning musical theatre program, and were gratified when our first production, The Crucible, was named Best Dramatic Production by the Montclair University High School Theatre Awards. And our campus ministry program has expanded its community outreach by focusing on a different service project every month.
Yet the core values of our school remain unchanged. The Xaverian Brothers who founded this school in 1962 believed strongly in nurturing the diverse gifts and talents of every student. They were committed to providing opportunities for everyone to excel, and ultimately to developing well-rounded men of faith. These beliefs still stand as the cornerstones of our school’s mission.
To that end, we continue to offer a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that includes eight Advanced Placement or College Credit offerings, a comprehensive program of religious instruction with in-school “days of reflection” and off campus retreat opportunities, an exceptional slate of thirteen interscholastic athletic programs and a diverse program of extra-curricular opportunities.
In 2008-2009, 85% of our students participated in at least one extra-curricular program; the vast majority contributed their talents to several. The high school experience is necessarily one of self-discovery; opting not to explore new challenges and test one’s interests and talents is to miss out on an essential part of the high school experience.
It is certainly appropriate that we introduce our new web-site during Catholic Schools Week. Above all else, Saint Joe’s is an institution where the values of family, faith and community are paramount. The emphasis on family is an appropriate reflection of our patron, St. Joseph, for just as Joseph, as head of the Holy Family, nurtured and protected Mary and Jesus, so too does the school seek to cultivate its graduates as true men of faith, its “vir fidelis” whose dignity and selflessness are worthy of the respect of others.
At the mid-point of our forty-eighth year of excellence in Catholic education, Saint Joseph Regional High School is a place of growth and change, even as our foundational values remain as strong and vital as ever.
Through the intercession of Saint Joseph, and Mary, Our Good Mother, we pray for God’s continued blessings on you and your family.Barry Donnelly
Principal