St. Joseph's Parish strives to assist our parents with the faith formation of their children by offering a variety of programs to support our families.  We offer four different programs of faith formation for children from first grade through eighth grade:

• St. Joseph’s Religious Education Classes: (Grades 1-7) Children participate in classes on a weekly basis in the school building. Weekly classes for all grade levels are scheduled from September to May for  1 1/2 hours:

2010 - 2011 Religious Ed Program & Schedule
Monday Session 4:00 - 5:30PM or 6:00 - 7:30PM
Tuesday Session 4:30 - 6:00PM
Wednesday session 4:00 -:30PM
Thursday Session 4:00 -5:30PM

Director - Rita Retzlaff  914-276-1067

• St. Michael’s Community Program: (Grades 1-7) Children participate in classes on a weekly basis in neighboring homes. Parents take an active part in this program as Catechists, Liturgy Planners, and Assistants.
   

  Grades 1-4 Meet at 8:30AM in St. Michael's Chapel
  Grade 5 - Bittner Hall at 8:30AM
  Grades 6 & 7 Bittner Hall 5:30PM to 7PM

  
   

• The Family Program: (Grades 1-7) Parents and their children participate in this program together. The parents “Home-School” their children with the assistance of the Religious Education department. The family community gathers for two Saturdays each month from 8:30AM-11:00AM.  Any family new to this program must meet with a priest before being accepted into the program.

Parental Involvement:

• Given that “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children in the faith, prayer, and all the virtues. and The home is well suited for education in the virtues;” Parents will provide 14 hours of one-on-one instruction with each of their children for each of the Religious Education Programs listed above. 

• First Holy Communion:  This is a two-year program that requires the Child to attend first and second grade religious education before receiving the Sacrament.

  FIRST HOLY COMMUNION 2010 Dates for Communion:

  Communion:
  First Holy Communion 2011 Dates

  April 30th
  Rehearsal to be announced

  May 7th
  Rehearsal to be announced

  May 14th
  Rehearsal to be announced

  May 21st
  Rehearsal to be announced

  
   

• Confirmation: Having completed religious education for Grades 1-6, Confirmation Preparation is a two-year program that requires the Student to be enrolled in St. Joseph's seventh grade religious education and perform Community Service.  In the eighth grade the Student will attend Spirit Day October 10th or 17th Receive reconciliation October 24th, Attend retreat in October Confirmation needs to be completed and turned in by June 30th 2010.
  CONFIRMATION 2010 2.
  COMPLETING PROJECT BY MAY 3, 2010
  ORGANIZATION LISTING
  no later than March 25, 2010 
  Completed Confirmation packet no later than June 25th, 2010

Registration Policy:

registration for 2010 -2011 is now open for both existing and new families as members of St. Joseph's Parish

The schedule is as follows:
Register the Week of April 12th if you want Monday or The Family Program
Register the Week of April 19th if you want Tuesday or St. Michael's
Register the Week of April 26th if you want Wednesday or Thursday

Student Information Letter                       Student Registration Form

• As of October 2006, in order to register a child/children in our program, a family must be registered parishioners of St. Joseph's AND live within the territorial boundaries of the parish
  (See Enrollment Policy) 

For information/registration, please contact:

• Please contact Rita Retzlaff/John Corrao at 914-276-1067 or email sjcfre@yahoo.com or stjosephscrotonfalls.org