Our Catholic Identity
Homerooms take turns reading at weekly Mass.
Students have the opportunity to help celebrate Mass as an altar server.
We keep Christ at the center of all that we do.
St. Joseph Jr. High School is a Catholic, co-educational, inclusive learning community in which students learn and grow in respect for God, themselves, and others, engage in academically rigorous curricula and a wide-range of meaningful service and enrichment experiences.
As Manchester's only Catholic school dedicated solely to teaching 7th and 8th graders, St. Joe's provides an environment finely tuned to early adolescents in terms of academic challenge, social environment, and faith formation.
Students in this age group are moving to a heightened level of social awareness, and their childhood perceptions are giving way to an often bewildering world full of many challenges and choices. This time may be the most formative in terms of a student's character development.
Through the religion classes, morning, noon and dismissal prayer, the Celebration of the Eucharist, Adoration, prayer services, liturgical calendar observances, retreats, and service to others, our students learn the fundamentals of Christian faith and Catholic traditions to nourish them with the answers to life's challenges that can come from deep faith.
Students attend:
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Weekly Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Parish
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Opportunity for weekly confession with our Chaplin
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Weekly Eucharistic adoration
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Liturgical cycle & observance of Holy Days of Obligation
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Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3:00 pm on Fridays
Both 7th & 8th grade classes have a "Theology of the Body"
class once a week from January - February.
Service Projects
Our students participate in a number of service projects throughout the year, including our Warm Hearts Knitting Club. Everything we make is donated right back to families in need in our local community. Each homeroom has the opportunity to get creative and choose a project that personally resonates with them, including making cards and collecting essential items for the homeless. Scroll through the photos above to see more!
St. Joe's Monthly Catholic Traditions
Students are recommended by teachers when they have observed students acting on behalf of our mission statement, acting selflessly, practicing caring and kindness, showing respect for others, themselves and God through service work and interactions with peers. The Gold Cross winners are recognized immediately after mass.
Classroom Projects
Honoring St. Joseph
Patron Saint of Workers
We remember and honor St. Joseph in our daily lives and celebrate The Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19th and his feast day on May 1st. . Though commonly referred to as Mary's husband and the father of Jesus, we also remember him for his work ethic as a carpenter and woodworker. He was a loyal husband and father, and served the Lord above all else. He reminds us that our faithfulness to God comes before all other connections, and that we can turn to him for guidance in our times of need.
Prayer to St. Joseph:
St. Joseph,
watch over me
and care for me
just as you cared for
the child Jesus;
and by your help,
may I come to know
your Son,
and so grow
in strength
and wisdom
and the favor of God.
Amen.