Dear Students, Parents, Guardians, and Friends,
I hope you are enjoying the start of the summer break as much as I am. It has been a busy time around campus with cleaning, painting, hanging new signs, Animas Leadership meetings, summer football, and cheerleader uniform fittings. In all, our students are creating a palpable buzz of excitement, as they have hit the ground running with a passion that is infectious.
We had an exceptional New Student Orientation on June 5th with over 2/3’s of our incoming students present along with their parents. Our student leadership team, Animas, and our student Ambassadors greeted all students; together they played games, ate pizza and ice cream sundaes, and they made friends with our 10th-12th Student Ambassadors. Each of the area managers spoke along with our Admissions Officer, Ms. Marie Marheineke, and towards the end of the night we provided a fun introduction to our Friday Night Bingo – all were welcomed across the street at the Kennedy Center. Dinner was provided as all parents were introduced to the Bingo Management Team, various jobs at Bingo, and they were informed on the value bingo plays in assisting all families. We do not charge a cost-based tuition, so the discounted tuition we charge (To make it more affordable) is facilitated by the fundraising bingo provides. Students and parents had a fun and informative night, as they were welcomed into our Sharks Family.
This is a year of change. From the silent phase of our VISION Capital Campaign, to sanding and painting buildings and benches this summer, to changes in staffing. As a matter of practice and policy, all staff that is not returning next year is announced at our annual Awards Ceremony (i.e. Ms. Green retiring). If we are notified after the May 18th Awards Ceremony we notify our entire community in an electronic newsletter along with the new hires. Now I am able to make the announcements concerning our staffing changes. On behalf of the Diocese of Monterey, the Salesian Society, our alumni, students, parents, and donors, we would like to thank and acknowledge the contributions each member of our family has made in making this school one of the top schools – not only in the area – but also in the state. The following staff members are retiring, returning to school, or changing schools/careers:
• Lutricia Green, Academic & Personal Counselor
• Wes Bare, Social Studies Chair and teacher
• Cameron White, Physics and Algebra 1
• Carolyn Cmaylo, English Department Chair and teacher
• David Cmaylo, Assistant Principal of Academics and AP Biology teacher
Your love and passion for our young people, as well as the mission of the school, is greatly appreciated and will always be remembered. Each of you has been instrumental in helping us grow up as an institution, and we will never forget that commitment. Mr. Cmaylo will continue to work as the AP of Academics through July and still continues to assist with scheduling, teacher interviews, and our WCEA accreditation. All will have access to their emails through the end of summer, so please reach out for your personal thank you’s and to obtain future contact information. As someone who worked as a teacher, coach, and administrator at my last school for 23 years, I know change is hard. But, the move was great for me and I think it has been great for my last school. They not only survived, but they have thrived. To that end, here are the new highly qualified staff members we have secured to support our continued trajectory of growth and success:
• Chris Croghan, Service Hours Coordinator and Theology teacher
• Anthony Valdivia, Social Studies teacher and Varsity Football Coach
• Hannah Dailey, Science teacher
• Patricia Gutierrez, Head Guidance Counselor and 10th-12th Academic/College-Career Counselor
• Haydee Lemus, 9th Academic/College-Career Counselor
• Marisol Gutierrez, Bookkeeper
• Sergio Ambriz, Soccer Coach
We are still interviewing potential English teacher and AP of Academics candidates. Our goal is to not only retain our high academic status in the area but also continue to improve it; like James C. Collins says so eloquently, “we want to go from good to great!” If you have questions or employee recommendations, please notify me prior to me taking part of our staff on our annual Salesian professional development and formation (SES) July 19th-23rd. It happens at the same time we take students to our Salesian leadership camp (SYLC). Attending SES with me this year are the following employees:
• Shannon McLeod
• Michele Bowling
• Heidi Alonzo
• Anthony Valdivia
• Haydee Lemus
• Patricia Gutierrez
• Patrick Lee
Attending SYLC with the students are the following employees:
• Anthony Castaneda
• Vince Monroy
Our Summer Bridge Program for incoming 9th graders is preparing to start in the middle of July. For those incoming freshmen who struggled with 8th grade English or who want to be better prepared for academic reading and writing this fall, we highly recommend the July 17th-28th summer bridge program; for students who want to qualify for Geometry or Honors Geometry, or who struggle with basic math facts, we highly recommend the summer bridge program. There is still time to register. We will also have another Robotics Academy and Virtual Reality Academy offered the same dates this summer (July 17th-28th). Either one of the academies can be taken by 5th-12th graders.
Along with these changes and events we have been busy hand selecting the student population at St. Francis for the 2017-2018 school year. As we graduated a smaller senior class, I am glad to share that the number of Sharks continues to grow under the direction of Mrs. Marheineke. Even with the new growth, we are committed to maintaining personal relationships amongst the students, parents, faculty, and staff. We will still maintain a high level of connectivity – both electronic and personal – that will continue to be the hallmark of this great school. As I have stated at parent meetings and recruiting nights, the #1 indicator for success with high school students is whether they feel known by name and nurtured for success. This is also the value proposition of our patron saint and founder, St. John Bosco; and, this is the value added for our educational experience versus any other public, private, or charter school in the central coast.
I celebrate the opportunity to welcome all of our students to St. Francis High School – Salesian College Preparatory this fall. It is a blessing to watch them grow day by day. I pray each of our students have meaningful, life-altering experiences like this and the ones talked about by our two 2017 Valedictorians – Nathaniel Ramos (Stanford bound) and Riley Scherr (Santa Clara University bound) that help them grow in faith, knowledge, compassion, confidence, leadership, service, and love to each other and to God. We are truly the home of scholars, champions, and leaders! Like a proud parent, I am honored to share in the successes of our students and our staff.
A good friend and mentor of mine, Fr. John Roche at Don Bosco Hall of UC Berkeley, explains our Salesian family and spirituality well in terms of Saint John Bosco’s life and work:
“Any reading of the life of Saint John Bosco will lead immediately to the conclusion that there were many key figures in his own life and throughout his life which became for him both friendly companions and spiritual guides. Various moments along his own journey of life are marked by a capturing of his heart and imagination spurring him into an uncertain and often frightening future with courage and faith. These touchstones along the path often became models from which he would draw inspiration and guidance and by which he would, in turn, offer both gifts to the young people considered his…[mission’s] focus. In the details of his own encounters, we find substance and precise characteristics of his particular spirituality: spirituality marked by the ability to attract the young, win their hearts, and shape their lives and souls to good purpose and holiness.”
This is our promise to you - Don Bosco’s Spirituality of Accompaniment to win and guide young hearts! Our staff commits to mentor your son or daughter; to love what they love; and, to get them to love what we love – reason, religion, and loving-kindness. As a result, each will be a better person, more confidant, and ready to make an impact in their community and in our world.
Here, at St. Francis High School, we form a family in the spirit of Don Bosco. He reminds us that we are on loan to each other. In this life we are given to each other temporarily, just for a time. That in no way lessens, but rather enhances, the relationships we have, encouraging us to live each day and each moment to the full. This, I think, is at the heart of Don Bosco’s spirituality. He found God in daily life. He found God in events as they unfolded, in the young to whom he was sent, in the colleagues with whom he worked. Don Bosco promoted a religion of ordinary life, spirituality for the young of just completed homework, of responsibly done chores, of well played games, and beautifully crafted music and drama. As a product of this educational system for the last 37 years, I have found that it’s a good spirituality for all of us - both young and adult. May we live it daily this summer, finding God in all things. For now, I hope each of you have a summer that offers rest as well as the opportunity to do good for others.
Yours in Christ,
Patrick Lee
President and Principal
President and Principal