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The Roman Catholic School/Church is located in43-19 30 Avenue Astoria, NY 11103

History:

St. Joseph Parish dates back to 1879 when the first church was erected as a mission of St. Mary in Winfield. The parish buildings, circa 1907, included a convent, a new church and a rectory – all along 30th Avenue. The current rectory was built in 1928; the current convent building in 1938.

In 1880, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityvillepurchased a plot of ground to build an orphan home on 43 Street, opposite the parish property.  The house accommodated as many as sixty children at a time and still stands.  At that time, Father Eisele approached the Sisters and asked if they would also take care of educating the children of the parish, and they agreed.  Therefore, it may be said that St. Joseph’s School dates back to 1880.

The current main school building was erected in 1917 and the new wing was dedicated by Bishop Kearney in 1954.  From the late 1950’s through the next decade there were yearly over 1600 students enrolled in Kindergarten to eighth grade.

Today, St. Joseph remains one of the largest of the parochial schools within the Brooklyn diocese with an enrollment of approximately 500 children in Nursery through eighth grade.Class sizes averaged 55 students in the sixties in comparison to an average class size today of approximately 25.  The first lay principal was appointed in September 1998.

School:

St. Joseph School has been recognized twice by the United States Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

The school offers an early childhood program which includes a two-hour-per- week Toddler Program for two-year olds, a full-day and half-day Nursery Program for three-year olds, and a full-day and half-day Pre-Kindergarten Program for four-year olds. The classes from kindergarten through fourth grade are self-contained; grades five through eight are departmentalized.  The school offers an early morning program beginning at 7:15 a.m. and an extended day program until 5:45 p.m. daily.

St. Joseph offers a comprehensive instructional program that includes classes in religion, English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, computer skills, music, art, and physical education.  Latin is studied in seventh and eighth grade as a means of providing a strong foundation for English syntax.  Global language study in Italian, French, or Spanish is offered as enrichment to sixth, seventh and eighth graders who have earned an achievement certificate for their effort at their regular studies.  The course of study in each discipline complies with national and state standards.

Services/Organizations:

They also hold events such as the annual Parish carnival in honor of their St. Pio. In addition to catering to the needs of the Parish they also accommodate Hispanic and Italian community. The church hosts outreach charity programs to poorer countries such as Paraguay. They even arrange themselves into groups in order to cater to the needs of the several races. One example of these groups is the group “Groupo Guadalupano”, they engage in prayers and traditions that would feel more homely to Hispanics. They organize similar groups for the various other elasticities as well.

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