The transition from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood isn’t easy. At St. Joseph, we are committed to nurturing the values that you have instilled in your son or daughter since birth.
St. Joseph School is a Catholic college preparatory school, emphasizing Christian formation and quality academics grades 5-12. Our student body includes all races and creeds from every socioeconomic group in the Jefferson County area. Students come to St. Joseph seeking a strong educational program conducted in a nurturing, religious atmosphere.
We are dedicated to providing moral and spiritual training along with academics. All students are enrolled in a religious lecture course and attend a weekly religious service.
St. Joseph Catholic High School is located on West 73rd Avenue in south Pine Bluff. Open since Fall 2000, the campus comprises a main classroom building, an athletic building, and a second educational building housing two classrooms. The main educational building includes office facilities, six classrooms (including a fully-equipped science lab), a library, and a computer lab completely updated in 2011 with state of the art computers and peripherals. The athletic building serves St. Joseph’s basketball and volleyball teams and includes a gymnasium, a weight-training facility, and concession and locker-room areas.
STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
St. Joseph Catholic High School is a Catholic institution committed to the teaching of Catholic doctrines and Christian values, and dedicated to providing a quality academic and athletic program to meet our students’ needs. The school recognizes the rights of individuals as children of God deserving honor and respect. We work toward the following goals and objectives with the involvement and cooperation of the students, parents, or guardians.
These goals are as follows:
1. To provide St. Joseph Catholic High School students a well-rounded academic program in the Catholic tradition.
2. To provide quality education to all those children in the parish who desire to take advantage of such an opportunity.
3. To instill a positive attitude towards lifelong learning while providing students with the opportunity to achieve academic excellence.
4. To promote and practice Christian morals and values, and instill in our students the importance of using their knowledge and education to benefit themselves as well as to serve others.
5. To promote unity, love, respect, and understanding among all people regardless of race, religion, or socio-economic group.
6. To foster positive self-esteem and mature, responsible behavior with the purpose of arriving at the fullness of Christian life.
7. To encourage teachers to strengthen their commitment and professional growth, and become lifelong learners.
St. Joseph Catholic Junior High reopened its doors in August 1993, after a 19-year span during which no Catholic school existed in Pine Bluff. The original Catholic was Annunciation Academy, which was located next to St. Joseph Church and established by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky, in 1880.
When St. Joseph opened, it had two sections of seventh grade and one eighth grade class. A ninth grade class was added in the fall of 1994.
In the fall of 1999, St. Joseph Catholic High School was created, with the addition of a tenth grade class. The Senior High campus, located in south Pine Bluff near Rosswood Country Club, opened its doors in the Fall of 2000 with 33 students enrolled in grades 10 and 11, and expanded to include a twelfth-grade class in the 2001-2002 school year.
In January 2003, the ninth grade class was relocated from the junior high campus to the senior high campus. In May 2003, the second graduating class, comprising thirteen seniors, received their diplomas from SJC.
In the spring of 2005, it was decided that St. Joseph’s students and families would be better served if all students in grades 7 through 12 were housed at a single campus. Beginning with the Fall 2005 semester, both junior high and senior high students attended classes together at the senior high campus on West 73rd Avenue. The junior high facilities continue to be used by religious education programs at St. Joseph Catholic Church.
St. Joseph Catholic High School is a Catholic college preparatory school, emphasizing Christian formation and quality academics. Our student body includes all races and creeds from every socioeconomic group in the Jefferson County area. Students come to St. Joseph seeking a strong educational program conducted in a nurturing, religious atmosphere. We are dedicated to providing moral and spiritual training along with academics. All students are enrolled in a religious lecture course and attend a weekly religious service.
St. Joseph Catholic High School is accredited by the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association (ANSAA) and holds a membership in the National Catholic Education Association.
St. Joseph Catholic School includes grades 5-12, and is built on a foundation of core subjects that lead into a college preparatory program. A small teacher-student ratio is maintained by placing a limit on total enrollment. Strong emphasis is placed on five “core” basics– math, science, language, social studies, and religion– with several electives offered. Commensurate with the goals of college-preparatory education, St. Joseph students are required to enroll in courses from all five core subject areas during each year of their high school careers.
St. Joseph Catholic High School participates actively in the College Board’s Advanced Placement program, which gives high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to take college-level courses and potentially receive college credit while still in high school. Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered at St. Joseph are: AP English Literature and Composition and AP United States History.
Students nearing graduation receive extensive individualized attention from the guidance counselor and other administrators to assist them in the college selection and admissions process. St. Joseph’s graduates collectively receive a very high sum in scholarship monies each year, a credit to the overall atmosphere of academic excellence that is fostered every day at SJC.
Students at the junior high level (grades 7-8) are prepared for the rigorous college-preparatory secondary environment by taking the same five”core” subject classes– math, science, social studies, language, and religion– beginning in seventh grade. Close cooperation among junior high and senior high teachers within common academic disciplines is also encouraged in order to ensure that skills needed later are emphasized at the junior high level.
St. Joseph Catholic School offers a variety of extra-curricular activities for its students including athletics and the ability to join multiple clubs and organizations.
Our athletics program includes girl's volleyball, boy's and girl's basketball, baseball, golf, and track. If you would like to know more about our athletics program, click here or call the main office at (870) 540-0413.
In addition to participating in our athletics program, students have the opportunity to join multiple organizations and clubs, including the National Honor Society, Quiz Bowl, Key Club, National Beta Club, and student council. For a full list and more information on all of our clubs and organizations, click here.
