The last week of January was special for St Rose of Lima School, as students, staff, and families came together to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.

Catholic Schools Week, observed this year from Sunday, January 25 through Saturday, January 31, sees catholic schools across the nation commemorate Catholic education with a wide variety of events and activities.

St Rose was no exception, as it celebrated with assemblies, service projects, pep rallies, themed days, and more.

Director of Mission Advancement Lisa Jackson called Catholic Schools Week a wonderful reflection of “who we are as a school community — rooted in faith, strong academics, and enriched by service, tradition, and school spirit.”

The week began with a bit of a road bump, as school was closed on Monday, January 26 due to a major snowstorm that blew through town the day before. With Newtown receiving 14 to 16 inches of snow overall, Jackson said the peaceful snow day gave everyone time to rest before the big week ahead of them.

The celebration kicked off with Student Appreciation Day on Tuesday, January 27, when St Rose teachers transformed their classrooms into mini movie theaters. Not only did students watch a movie of their choice, but they even had no homework or assessments.

Wednesday, January 28 was St Rose Spirit Day, which saw students and staff line the hallways to cheer for the school’s student athletes. They waved red and white pom-poms as volleyball, track and field, cheerleading, and basketball students walked by with big smiles on their faces.

The excitement continued with a pep rally and what Jackson called one of St Rose’s most beloved traditions — the Eighth Grade versus Faculty Volleyball Game. Students dressed in either red to support faculty or blue to support eighth grade, hyped to cheer for their respective team.

Everyone took a moment during the game to recognize the school’s custodian and luncheon heroes for their role in supporting the St Rose community.

Then came Thursday, January 29, when students and staff crowded inside the school’s Gathering Hall for the annual St Rose Knowledge Bowl.

Overseen by St Rose teacher Valerie Petrillo, the Knowledge Bowl is a trivia competition that divides students from all grade levels into four teams: red, blue, yellow, and green.

The St Rose Home & School Association, a community-focused fundraising organization made up of the school’s parents, faculty, and staff members, provided students with colored T-shirts to represent their respective teams.

Students faced off in rounds based by grade where they hit a trivia buzzer to answer questions and earn points for their team. The questions varied in difficulty by age group and covered topics such as religion, mathematics, grammar, science, and history.

Newtown Police Department (NPD) Chief David Kullgren, along with Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic Schools Superintendent Stacie Stueber, and NPD School Resource Officers Hugo Rojas and Stephanie McDermott, were among some of the guests invited for the special occasion. They were treated to a luncheon beforehand, and even got to compete in an “adult” bonus round of the Knowledge Bowl.

The event also doubled up with St Rose Principal Bardhyl Gjoka’s birthday. Right before the students left to go home, everyone, children and adults alike, came together and sang “Happy Birthday” to Gjoka.

St Rose finished the week with two events on Friday, January 30. The first was a Breakfast of Champions service project, a cereal box challenge supporting FAITH Food Pantry, in which students Camden Schaff and John Monckton created a domino display using the donated cereal boxes.

They ended the day with a school mass, with students and staff sporting their favorite sports team’s jerseys. Father Peter Cipriani delivered a homily connecting teamwork in sports to the school community’s shared faith. In the sermon, Cipriani reminded everyone that they are all part of Christ’s team, called on to serve, grow, and practice their faith together.

Gjoka, now in his eighth year as St Rose’s principal, said it is incredibly special celebrating Catholic Schools Week every year.

“It feels like I came here yesterday ... and the school has an incredible community,” Gjoka said. “We so grateful to serve our community.”

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.