Celebrating Catholic Schools Week at St. Joe’s

Written by SUZANNE MARINO Monday, February 04, 2013 05:49 pm

Grandpa Thomas Innocente of Somers Point turned out to be a pretty good bingo player. He came as the guest of his two grandsons Michael Innocente, 5 and f year-old Tommy III for the grandparents bingo at St. Joseph Regional School, Thursday, Jan. 31.

SOMERS POINT—Nationwide the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 1 was Catholic Schools week. While many Catholic Schools are merging or closing altogether; St. Joseph Regional School in Somers Point is thriving. With an enrollment of over 500 students, including those enrolled in the pre-school program, Principal Ted Pugliese characterized his school as healthy and said a healthy school is able to grow and evolve.

The week was marked with many events that brought families and prospective students to the school Thursday morning the cafeteria was packed as the school held its first ever grandparent bingo. Students whose grandparents were able to attend the session got to spend a really fun hour playing bingo.

For some of the grandparents it was like old home week. Dave and Pat Sweeney sent all three of their children through St. Joe’s back in the 1980’s and now they are back with their grandson, Justin. Just across the table from the Sweeney’s were the Mulhern’s and their kids were best friends with the Sweeney kids all through school and now the grandkids are friends. “Really we love St. Joe’s,” said Pat Sweeney, a recently retired librarian from the Jordan Road School. “It is a wonderful environment.”

Pugliese said of the events held for Catholic School Week, “Nationwide and diocese wide Catholic Schools Week is a celebration of who we are and what we are about.”