We are a school with a very strong Catholic Identity.  One can feel it upon entering the building. But what does it really mean? How does it exhibit its presence in the daily lives of our students and staff? 

Catholic Identity is one of those phrases that can have a different meaning for everyone who speaks about it because it is very personal.  That being said here at St. Joseph the Carpenter we have some very definite beliefs as to what it means and how it is made alive in the life of our school community. 

First of all, we are a Catholic school that believes that Jesus is Lord and has revealed himself through the teaching of His Church which is based in Scripture and Tradition. We participate in the New Evangelization which brings lifelong Christians into a loving relationship with their Lord.   All of our students and staff know that we are a Christ centered and Spirit led community and that once on this property they are standing on holy ground.  Daily we pray, study scripture and participate in the liturgical life of the church.  We rejoice in the special days of our faith and of our school. 

But Catholic Identity is more than that.  It is having prayer partners in another grade and helping each other grow in wisdom and knowledge.  It is comforting a sad classmate or friend.  It is raising money for medical research and packing food baskets for the poor. It is marching for life and walking to honor Jesus and His Mother. It is singing loudly the praises of our God and listening quietly to his message through Scripture and the words of the priest. It is a way of living that believes that we, no matter our faith background, are all God’s children and worthy of our respect and interest. It is knowing that we live the fact that we have a loving God and that we are special, holy and because of that wherever we are God is also. 

It is learning, caring, sharing, growing, correcting, loving, and praying. It is learning to be Jesus to all we encounter. It is being alive in faith. This is the Catholic Identity of St. Joseph the Carpenter School.