L.O.V.E. (Living Our Values Everyday)

St. Joseph School has a values education program in addition to its regular religious education curriculum. The program is centered around an annual theme and monthly or quarterly values to be emphasized. The selected values are displayed on posters listing and defining them, classroom lessons provide direct instruction about the values and take advantage of "teachable moments". Students are recognized for being "caught" practicing the values, are given "LOVE notes" to share at home, and have their names placed on the theme symbols for display in the hallways. Typical values highlighted are: courtesy, gratitude, respect, consideration, service, responsibility, kindness, honesty, integrity, self-control, and cooperation.

St. Joseph School participates in the Fight-Free Schools program. Students are trained in conflict resolution techniques and are working to resolve problems peacefully. We have a school flag and individual classroom flags that fly high as long as all students in the classroom or in the school are fight-free. We define a fight as any time two or more students do not keep their hands, feet, and all other objects to themselves. We also stress the unacceptable nature of verbally aggressive encounters. Students involved in a fight must report to the office and after reviewing ways they could settle differences peacefully take down the fight-free flag. The next morning they again report to the office to put up the flag, promise to resolve conflicts peacefully, and start anew. Since the program's implementation, our annual fight-free days rate has been 95 percent or better.

To remind and reward students in the younger grades, we have Master and Miss KHFAAOOTY. These teddy bears are dressed in the St. Joe uniform and visit classrooms that have been fight-free.