Exciting news from Saint Joseph Academy! We’re thrilled to announce that Ari Aguirre and Sofia Guerra, both 11th graders, have been accepted into the BigFuture® Ambassadors program for fall 2024! BigFuture is a fantastic resource that helps students explore careers, colleges, scholarships, and more, all for free. Plus, with the BigFuture® School app, they can access personalized guidance and connect with educational institutions. Additionally, we’re proud to share that Iker Balli has achieved a significant milestone by being accepted into the MIT program after a lengthy application process that included essays and letters of recommendation. He will be visiting MIT soon! Please join us in congratulating our new ambassadors and Iker on these amazing achievements!

This summer, our campus was enhanced with a new outdoor gathering space designed for students. Thanks to the generous funds raised during St. Joseph's Day, we were able to invest in high-quality outdoor furniture that now adorns this inviting area. The new space provides a refreshing environment where students and teachers alike can unwind and engage in conversation amidst the beauty of our campus. The decision to use these funds for creating an outdoor gathering spot was a collective one, reflecting our community's commitment to fostering a vibrant and supportive environment. The thoughtful design of the area not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of our surroundings but also encourages more frequent interactions and leisure activities outdoors. This new addition will become a cherished part of our campus, offering everyone a perfect blend of functionality and scenic enjoyment.

Campus safety is at the top of any school's list. With that in mind, a PA system is one of the most critical assets a school needs. With the need for up-to-date communications and state-of-the-art security systems, SJA has made a massive move to achieve a safe and secure campus with the inclusion of a brand-new PA system. The fantastic organization that helped achieve this goal is PAWs (Parents at Work). Funds raised by PAWS in the 2023-2024 school year through their revenue from the Bloodhound Café went to purchase this new system for the school. SJA can now send announcements to the school mass or even an individual classroom if necessary, thanks to this new and more updated system. Public address, intercom, paging, mass notification, emergency notification, and synchronized clocks are only a few things that this new PA system will bring us. This system, which can be used on a desktop, laptop, and smartphones, will significantly enhance our school's safety and communication. Additional speakers and new / updated hardware will increase the sound and make it more audible, providing a sense of reassurance and confidence in our safety measures. In addition, new infrastructure is being installed to ensure this system will be completely new inside and out. This new PA system, called Telecor, is currently being fitted across campus. With the help of PAWs and our amazing SJA families, we have made gracious bounds to ensure that SJA continues to be the best choice for our students. It's a testament to our collective efforts and commitment to school safety and communication. We are proud of what we have achieved together.

This week, we held our annual College Signing Day for the Class of 2024. We are so proud of our graduates. We are happy to report a 100% college acceptance rate. Even more so, we are happy to share that the Class of 2024 obtained over $12 MILLION in college scholarships, effectively becoming the largest amount earned by an SJA graduating class.

SJA Performing Arts presents our 2023 Spring Musical, DISNEY'S NEWSIES - April 21-23 at Saint Joseph Academy in the Brother Francis Garza Student Center at 8:00 PM, with an additional matinee performance at 3:00 PM on Sunday, April 23. Newsies, the smash-hit, crowd-pleasing, Tony Award-winning musical. Newsies is an extraordinary story, inspired by actual events. When a band of underdogs became unlikely heroes and stood up to the most powerful men in New York, it shook the world. It’s an energetic tale about fighting for what’s right… and staying true to who you are. 

Dr. Adriana Babiak-Vazquez, PhD '81 has been confirmed as keynote speaker for this year's Saint Joseph Academy 12th Annual Community Prayer Breakfast. The SJA Alumna is currently the Lead Epidemiologist in the Biomedical Data Reduction & Analysis (BDRA) Group, within the Space Medicine Division with KBR at NASA Johnson Space Center. She formulates and executes strategic plans for data capture and analysis related to disease prevention and occupational surveillance of space travel risks to astronauts (e.g., radiation and microgravity exposure). She frequently collaborates with fellow NASA experts on scientific research papers, abstracts for publication and internal/external presentations. One example led to the first joint research collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and NASA. In addition to our keynote speaker, this year's Community Prayer Breakfast will present the President's Distinguished Community Service Award to Dr. Emilio Hernandez '72 and Amanda and Patricio Sampayo '00 on Friday, March 3rd. 

We are exc ited to announce that Amanda and Patricio Sampayo ’00 and Dr. Emilio Hernandez '72 have been selected as this year’s recipients of the 2023 President's Distinguished Community Service Award. They will receive this award during the 12th Annual Community Prayer Breakfast on Friday, March 3rd. At SJA, Amanda chaired the Religious Studies Department and taught Social Justice, World Religions, and Women’s History. She served on the United Way Board from 2012-2018 and currently serves on Brownsville Wellness Coalition, Planned Parenthood Cameron County and Friendship of Women. After graduating from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics, Patricio partnered with his father and brother to start Centro Medico Internacional in Matamoros, where he has been managing director since 2005. In 2011, Patricio was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of Brownsville, where he helped preserve and develop affordable housing for our community’s most vulnerable families as its Chairman for 9 years. Dr. Hernandez has been practicing dentistry for over 40 years. He was the first chairman of the inaugural SJA school board in 1998 and then later served from 2012 to 2019. He served on the Finance committee for 21 years from 1998 to 2019. He has served the community by sitting on over 10 different boards. He is a founding member of the Academy for Sports Dentistry created in 1981. For 42 years now, every August, he fabricates 25-30 mouth guards for each of the six football programs at BISD and SJA.

Earlier this week, the SJA Sweethearts Dance Team was named State Champions at the 2023 TAPPS Dance Competition in Waco where they earned a superior rating in their division and placed at the top. Several members of the team even made it onto All State Teams. Division IV - 1st Team Maria Sarmiento Gabriela Ortiz Miranda Villafranca Division IV - 2nd Team Leslie Herrera Turn Company Frida Zedillo Maria Sarmiento

Jaime Andrés Díez has accomplished a lot since his graduation from Saint Joseph Academy in 2014. The Southern Methodist graduate is currently starting up the first scrap tire recycler in the Rio Grande Valley in an effort to eliminate the numerous abandoned tires seen through out The Valley. With Valley Tire Recycling, Díez hopes to eliminate the problem and public health issues that abandoned tires cause. Water collected inside tires is used as a breeding ground for vermin and insects like mosquitoes which can spread West Nile, Dengue, and Zika Virus. The operation plans to collect and intake scrap tires in order to convert them into rubber granule and sold in various markets, including asphalt crack sealer, surface treatments and steel to be sold to foundries and nylon fibers to be sold as cement aggregate. In June, he competed in the StartUp Texas Pitch Competition to get funding for his scrap tire recycling project. Out of 9 teams, Valley Tire Recycling was selected as the winner and received $25,000 to use towards permitting, machinery installation, and electrical. Q: What has life been like after graduating from Saint Joe? A: There’s a quote that goes, “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” I graduated from Saint Joe almost 9 years ago and a lot has happened since, some things good and other things bad, however, Saint Joe taught me the skills to always be able to make the most and get value out of each experience I’ve had. Q: How has Saint Joe contributed towards your success thus far? A: When I started my college application process with Mrs. Cisneros, my college counselor, my plan was to only apply to UTB and stay in Brownsville. Mrs. Cisneros motivated me to apply to other school so that if I changed my mind I would at least have other colleges to choose from. With her encouragement I ended up applying to other schools and I was able to get into other universities. After graduating from SJA, I initially decided to attended George Washington University in Washington, DC. I had the opportunity to intern at the U.S. Capitol with Congressman Filemón Vela Jr. However, I ended up transferring out of GW to attend SMU and changed my major from International Affairs to Mechanical Engineering, I grew tremendously during my time in DC and Dallas and I would’ve never had this opportunity without the encouragement of Mrs. Cisneros. Thank you! Q: What is one achievement you accomplished while attending SJA? A: While at Saint Joe, my favorite class was always art. In high school my art teacher was Mrs. Rodriguez. My senior year I took art portfolio as one of my electives. The purpose of this class (since I’m not sure it’s still offered) is to give student the chance to complete art projects and compile a collection of works that they can then submit to art colleges for admission. I was able to complete my portfolio and get accepted into an art school. Although I ended up going down a different path, I have always been extremely proud of the art portfolio I was able to complete while in this course. Reminiscing about this time, I always feel very happy. Q: What were some of your favorite things about Saint Joe? A: Without a doubt my favorite thing about Saint Joe was the lifelong friends I made. To this day, I’m still friends with a lot of the people I was friends with while in high school. Having a group of people, you can lean on during hard times is invaluable especially because those people always have your long-term best interest at heart. When things get complicated it can get difficult to discern the things that truly matter vs the things that simply don’t and sometimes all you need is a good friend to help you restore that clarity. Q: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? A: Honestly, I have no idea but I’m optimistic about the future.