A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ST. JOSEPH’S SCHOOL SYSTEM

Catholic Education has been a tradition of excellence in Greenville since 1888. In that year four Sisters of Mercy came up the river from Vicksburg at the request of Father Korstenbroek, Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish. The new school located next to the Church was named St. Rose of Lima. St. Rose was the standard of Catholic Education in the Delta for sixty-two years. By 1949 the enrollment had exceeded the space of the building that had withstood floods and fire for over fifty years.

St. Joseph Elementary and High School was opened in 1950. It housed thirteen grades for fourteen years. Once again the enrollment and needs of the school family called for another school. A new elementary school was built on Reed Road in 1964 and was staffed by the Sisters of Mercy, Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, Ireland, and lay teachers from the Greenville area. St. Joseph’s remained as a Junior-Senior High School. The new elementary school was named Our Lady of Lourdes and has built two additions in the past nineteen years.

In 2016, Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Joseph Catholic School were reunited onto one campus.  The new state of the art elementary facility consists of 11 classrooms, a resource room, music room, art room and library.  Each classroom is equipped with apple tv, computers, overhead mounted projector, and whiteboard.

STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

Catholic Education is an expression of the mission entrusted by Jesus to the Church, which He founded. Our Lady of Lourdes School responds to this mission by seeking to prepare its youth to proclaim the Good News and to integrate into all learning the fourfold dimensions of Catholic Education: Message, Community, Worship and Service.

The philosophy of the Catholic School is to educate the whole person as an individual in a loving, Christian atmosphere by offering a quality education program and guiding each one in becoming a moral, productive person in a modern changing society.

The staff believes Christian growth to be a total community effort involving formal instruction, the local community, the parish, and especially the home. The School works cooperatively with parents to assist them in their role as the primary educators of their children.

The School’s administration and faculty believe in the individuality of the learner and are committed to providing a broad flexible program designed to meet high standards of academic excellence. Programs suitable for individual student differences are included in the curriculum and are constantly evaluated and updated to meet the changing needs of students. Special attention is paid to creating a positive self-concept within each student and providing appropriate learning experiences, which will aid the child’s total growth and development.

Faculty members share in the catechetical ministry; therefore, teachers with appropriate qualifications and dedication to the Catholic School’s apostolic goals and charter are selected.

It is the desire of Our Lady of Lourdes School that its students go forth with an understanding of their potentials as persons whose destinies not only include, but also transcend this life. Each individual will grow to be a responsible, self-disciplined citizen in a vacillating democratic society, be equipped to make not only a living, but also more importantly, a life.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES SCHOOL

The statement of philosophy is implemented in the St. Joseph School System through the following goals and objectives:

• To promote the best means to impart the message of Jesus to our students in such a way that they can identify, accept, and live the Christian faith.
• To search with administrators, board members, faculty, and parents for a fuller understanding of the message of Christ so that their lives and work may reflect that message.
• To provide the opportunity for an education in a Catholic school to those who so desire it, regardless of race, color, sex or national origin.
• To give consideration to families unable to pay the fixed rate of tuition so that no child of St. Joseph Parish is excluded due to financial reasons.
• To develop an awareness of God's love for each student so that he will grow in his commitment of service to God, to his neighbor, and to the world as he functions as part of the St. Joseph Church community
• To maintain a standard of excellence in education where the "whole person" is considered within a diversified curriculum in an environment where Christian principles and values predominate, enabling the student to acquire skills necessary to make a living in a democratic society.
• To aid the student in acquiring knowledge in a learning environment and to develop his ability to think, evaluate, and become a productive self-reliant and self-controlled citizen.
• To consider the individual differences in students and encourage academic performance to the fullest potential of each one by developing a positive, healthy self-concept; by providing programs beyond the regular courses for the different levels of learning; by helping each to respect his own ability and the ability of the other in the attempt to perform at the fullest academic capacity.
• To elicit parent participation in the education process--both in ongoing activities and in volunteer work
• To offer a variety of continuing education classes/programs in the field of Religious Education for parents to assist them in their role as the "primary educators of their children."