The school year is definitely in full swing as we move from the freshness of a new school year to the calmer days of autumn – though I must admit the extreme southern California heat reminds me of home. As I write this newsletter article today, a few days before Halloween, I am touched by the playfulness of our student body and our staff. Our community embraces the playground and creates a nurturing home where all are welcome – current students, potential new shadows, and alumni.
1st quarter grades are in and we completed a wonderfully attended Parent-Teacher Conference night. I am pleased to share that the 2nd quarter is officially off to a great start! Because of our rigor and our caring staff, along with the use of all-school studies and daily tutorial periods, we have reached an unprecedented level of academic success. On the heels of this observation I am thrilled to have received the news that one of our seniors has been named a National Merit Program Commended Scholar based on his outstanding scores on the PSAT exam taken during junior year. Congratulations to Adam Khan. Along the same lines, we want to recognize Maya Talavera for being identified as a student in the National Hispanic Recognition Program for the same reasons as Adam. We are very proud of these two students and their achievements! This year’s PSAT was taken on October 11th and both the Math and English departments worked diligently to prepare all of their students for the content rigor and skills necessary for our students to feel comfortable and be successful.
This year we ensured all 9th-11th grade students were exposed to the test; we all know that one test does not make or define a student, but these tests are used as benchmarks for future success on the SAT and AP tests as well as a tool to place your student on the radar for some of America’s top universities and scholarships. Thank you to Ms. Gutierrez and Ms. Lemus for running a well-oiled machine that day, including the necessary accommodations for students who needed the extra time.
This November we have many activities – cross country, tennis, volleyball, and football playoffs for sure; the winter sports season is just about to get under way; here are a few key dates to calendar:
- The fall sports banquet is November 5th
- The winter sports parent meeting just happened on October 23rd
- 2017-2018 Early Commitment Interviews are November 6th-7th
- Coffee with the Principal November 6th in B4 (NEW!)
- Parent-Campus-Beautification Day on November 11th from 9 am to 12 noon (This day counts as double service hours)
- November 12th fall Open House from 1-4 pm
- All school liturgy that all members of our school community are invited to on November 16th
- Finally, the coveted Thanksgiving Week Holiday – November 20th – 24th. We have much to be thankful for and this week gives us a chance to stop, reflect, and say thank you
- If you want to earn service hours then you can check-out fall Open House lawn signs any time this week or next (October 30th -November 10th) from Ms. Marheineke. The signs are only good the week of the event (Open House is November 12th, 2017) because we intentionally left off the date; we did this so the signs may be reused year after year.
For every 3 signs you take, place around your business/parish/neighborhood, you will get 1 service hour. Heck, if you want to put up 30 signs in your community you can earn 10 service hours! We ask that you bring them back to Ms. Marheineke after our event, too. This commitment to presence and the brand allows more of the communities in the 4 counties we serve to feel they can join our Sharks family – even if they live in a different city, county, or diocese. It extends the welcoming arms of the St. Francis family.
As part of our recognitions, I want to thank Mrs. Lisa O’Rourke, Mrs. Deanne Cagnacci, Mrs. Frances Basich Whitney, Mrs. Carmen Velasquez, and Mr. Edward Kelly for their leadership with our 6th annual Burgundy & Gray Gala. We again saw high attendance this year and record fundraising as we honored two critically important figures in our school’s life – Sr. Laura Goedken and Fr. Dave Purdy. Our goals were simple: add ticket sales and attendance as well as net $100,000. We exceeded both. Thank you to all of our sponsors, donors, auction winners, and volunteers for making this the best event ever. This event continues to grow as our signature SFPA fundraiser for the school. The support for the event also saw us complete our 4th annual fund-a-need goal to retrofit 4 more classrooms with efficient LED lighting. We will install the new lights this holiday season; then, we will add the rest of them as planned for next summer. Our B&G wrap up meeting/celebration will be November 15th at the school in room B4. All are welcome.
Our next SFPA Board meeting is Monday, November 13th at 6 pm in B4. All are welcome! Your attendance also counts for the mandatory SFPA meeting requirement, but more importantly it connects you to the pulse of the school. Come share your ideas with like-minded parents who truly care about our Salesian mission and the vision of St. Francis High School.
Finally, we are ready to launch our 2017-2018 Annual Fund Campaign – affectionately re-labeled THE ST. FRANCIS FUND; and, I am happy to say that we collected many touching and meaningful testimonials for the new trifold brochure. The stuffing and mailing for the annual fund trifold will take place next week. Please notify Ms. Lina Silva or Mr. Nick Guerrero if you can come in during the day to stuff the mailers.
Whether you are on tuition assistance or not our goal is 100% participation from all of our families. I am so impressed with our community; we currently have families give as little as $25 a year through twenty-four payments of $1.04 every two weeks. Every donation matters to each of our students now. We also have families give the opposite end of the spectrum; we just ask that you make St. Francis the priority of all of your philanthropic giving and give what you can. This year we will again use our SFPA Grade Level Representatives to facilitate each grade level participation. The class with the highest % of families participating will get a free dress day and a free lunch. Every dollar counts in bridging the almost $2,000 gap between what we charge for tuition versus the actual cost to educate each student. We make an effort to keep tuition affordable and THE ST. FRANCIS FUND’s success means we manage it even better.
We are committed to offering the best Catholic college-prep education in the smallest classroom sizes with the best teachers who genuinely care about each and every student. I heard this exact statement and felt this at our alumni Homecoming gathering for football.
I want to leave you with the start of a great ode by one of the best Romantic writer’s in the world…enjoy the start and look up the rest as you stop, reflect, and respond to the world around you this fall:
To Autumn
John Keats, 1795 - 1821
SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells…
Yours in Christ,
Mr. Pat Lee
President/Principal