St. Joseph Catholic School

Day two of the new school year brought some very special guests! Our priests stopped by the classrooms today to say hello, meet the students, and prepare for a wonderful year ahead.

Happy New Year!

One more sleep…

There is something special about the night before a new school year. It’s a night filled with anticipation, a few nervous butterflies, and so many possibilities. We are grateful for the opportunity to begin another year together as a school family, and we get to celebrate the 1st morning with Mass together at 8:20 am!

“St. Joseph, PRAY for US!”

The school year is here! Wonderful to see everyone at our Pre-K orientation. Can't wait to meet all these new students!

We wrapped up the month of July with our K-8th Grade Panther Basketball Clinic and 5th-8th Grade Panther Cheer & Dance Clinic!

It was great seeing so many student-athletes back in the building learning new skills, building friendships, and working hard while learning what it means to represent Panther Athletics with enthusiasm, respect, and character.

A huge thank you to all of our parents for your continued support of SJCS Panther Athletics. We are also incredibly grateful to Coach Lunsford, Coach Hammel, and Coach Barnes for investing part of their final week of summer break into the lives of our student-athletes. A special thank you as well to Coach Case and Coach Joe, and our SJCS alumni who volunteered throughout the week and helped make these clinics a success. Your encouragement, time, and investment in our students create opportunities that extend far beyond athletics and help shape the next generation of Panthers.

The countdown to a new school year and SJCS Panther athletic season is officially on.

“ It’s a GREAT time to be a Panther!”

This morning’s voluntary summer workout provided our student-athletes with a much-needed break from the summer heat and humidity. In the photos below, you’ll see our Kestrel Heat Stress Tracker (Wet Bulb Thermometer) in action.

At SJCS, we use the Kestrel to determine whether conditions are safe for outdoor workouts and practices. Unlike a standard thermometer that only measures air temperature, the Kestrel calculates Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which factors in air temperature, humidity, sun/radiant heat, and wind speed

This provides a much more accurate measurement of the environmental heat stress placed on the human body and how effectively it can cool itself through sweating. Using the Kestrel helps us reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke and properly follow Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) heat guidelines

For example, an 89° day with high humidity can be more dangerous than a 95° day with low humidity. The Kestrel helps us identify those risks and make the best decisions for our student-athletes.

The safety and well-being of our athletes will always come first. By monitoring WBGT conditions daily, we can provide a safer environment while continuing to help our student-athletes grow stronger, faster, and healthier.

It’s always a great day when our alumni come back and spend time with our student-athletes! Today, SJCS Class of 2024 graduate and recent University of Arkansas Razorback Volleyball commit Caroline Stallbaumer joined our JH team and helped out during defensive drills by hitting balls into our serve receive practice. Caroline is a rising junior middle hitter at Shiloh Christian HS, and it was great to have her back in the DeBriyn Center sharing her talent and experience with our young student-athletes.

We are incredibly proud of Caroline and all of our SJCS alumni who continue to represent our school so well. If you have SJCS alumni news to share, we’d love to hear it! Email us at [email protected].