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2017 - 2018
School Year
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Jan. 12
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No School - Teacher In-service |
| Jan. 15 |
MLK Holiday |
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Feb. 19
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Presidents
Day
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| March 10 |
Auction Gala |
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March 29 - April 6
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Easter Break |
| May 28 |
Memorial Day |
| June 15 |
Last Day of School |
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| Abraham V. |
KB |
| Allesandra D. |
KA |
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January 10, 2018
Dear St. Francis of Assisi Parents and Guardians,
Happy New Year! I hope you and your family had a joyous Christmas and a terrific New Year's celebration.
My Christmas was wonderful, thanks in part to the generosity of the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School community. I was overwhelmed with delicious treats and thoughtful gifts. I am grateful to the students, faculty, and parents for bringing the Christmas spirit to my home and to our school community.
I went to the movies over the break to see the latest Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. I have been a fan of the series since the first Star Wars movie premiered in 1977. Over the years, I have enjoyed the cinematic journey that includes special effects, action, humor, interesting characters, and a blend of science fiction, technology, and fantasy, to create a world that sparks my imagination and energizes my inner child. Beyond the entertaining story lines and my sense of wonder, I love the overarching themes depicting the struggle between good and bad, and the classic hero's journey storyline. The Last Jedi included the usual themes about learning the secrets of the Force, but there was a scene that I found particularly interesting and connected to my work as an educator. In this scene, Yoda appears to Luke Skywalker as he struggles with a paralyzing sense of failure. Luke has lost hope and, as a result, has lost his sense of purpose and his drive to move forward. Yoda, the wise mentor, senses this and says to Luke: "The greatest teacher, failure is."
I know it's a stretch to compare the inability of the Resistance to defeat Darth Vader and the First Order to the struggles our students experience with academic work and personal relationships, but this is how my mind works when I am inspired by a good book or movie. To experience success, we need to experience failure first. Many times over. That is how the Jedi learn to control the Force and that is how our students will learn to face their challenges. Overcoming failure is hard to do. It requires discipline, perseverance, and tolerance to failure. To learn, one must embrace failure and know that success is a product of failure, not the absence of failure. The entire Star Wars series encapsulates this message. At school, our teachers replace the amazing special effects used in movies with teaching techniques, hard work, patience, love, and passion. In the end, we hope to achieve the same goals- celebrate the successes and learn from the mistakes.
It is an honor and a privilege to partner with you on this amazing journey of educating your children's hearts, minds, and souls. Wishing you and your family a year filled with learning, love, and laughter. May the Force be with you!
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2018- 2019 School Year Enrollment
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An email was sent on Monday, January 8, from our Admissions Office regarding the intent to continue enrollment for children currently enrolled in our Preschool and Pre-K Program. It is critical that we receive your response by Tuesday, January 16, in order to continue your child's enrollment for the 2018/2019 school year. If you do not respond by the due date, your child's seat will become available to new incoming students. You may also access the Preschool and Pre-K Program Intent to Return by using this link:
https://goo.gl/forms/tNG2PdBf9Ifucjhr1
A second email was also sent home for those wishing to enroll a new student not currently attending St. Francis School in Preschool - 8th Grade. It is critical that we receive your response by
Tuesday, January 16, in order to secure your child's enrollment for the 2018/2019 school year. If you do not respond by the due date, your child will not be guaranteed enrollment. Any available seats will be offered to new incoming students. You may also access the Sibling Interest form by using this link:
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Come celebrate your child's Catholic Education at our Open House on
Sunday, January 28, between
9:30 am-1:30 pm. You won't want to miss this special day as we celebrate our school and showcase what makes St. Francis School such an amazing "home" for our visiting families.
In order to have a successful Open House, we are in need of some friendly parents to serve as tour guides during Open House. These parents play a critical role by serving as ambassadors to visiting families, welcoming them and answering questions. You are the face of St. Francis School to new families visiting us for the first time; it's an inspiring and fun role to play as you may be the one that helps a family make that important school decision. Please visit our link to Volunteer Spot on our school website and scroll to bottom of the volunteer opportunities available in the Open House section and sign up for a shift or two! Should you have any questions, please contact Tammy Clarida in our Admissions Office for more details.
In preparation for Open House, all three parishes will be promoting St. Francis School and encouraging families to visit our Open House event by sharing more about our school at all masses the weekend of
January 20 and 21.
If you are one of our tri-parish families, you should have received an email from your parish liaison identifying some fun ways to get involved. Please consider signing up to serve as an ambassador. All St. Francis students should be dressed in full "Mass Uniform" when participating and/or attending mass during Promotional Weekend. All students dressed as ambassadors of St. Francis, in school uniform, will earn a "Relaxed Dress" privilege for
Monday, January 29.
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| Musical Production, "Aladdin Jr." |
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School will be presenting its 2nd musical production, Aladdin Jr., February 8th- 10th. The production will be managed by Mrs. Lambert and Stagelight Family Productions and will be held at the Servite Theatre.
Rehearsals for next week are:
Tuesday, January 16
4th-8th: 4:00-4:45 pm.
Leads: 4:45- 6:00 pm. |
| Auction Items and Baskets Needed |
 Our annual Auction Gala is the largest fundraising event of the year. This exciting affair is open to all school and parish families. In addition to raising money to support our school, it is a great evening with fun and friends. The 2018 Auction Gala is set for Saturday, March 10, 2018 at the Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa, CA.
As we prepare for this event, we need your help!
Please consider making a donation to our school's largest fundraising event and take advantage of one final opportunity for a tax write off in 2017. Your gift can make a difference for our students!
Below are samples of the types of items you or your business can donate to ensure a high level of bidding participation:
- Technology - i.e., wireless headphones, Google Home or Amazon Echo, Apple Watch Series 3, drone, Fitbit, bluetooth speakers, GoPro
- Access to timeshares or vacation homes - i.e., Big Bear, Mammoth and Palm Springs or other desirable locations
- Rounds of golf at a country club
- Tickets to sporting events, theater and/or cultural events - i.e., Ducks, Angels, Dodgers, Lakers, South Coast Repertory Theatre and Pantages Theater tickets
- Gift certificates to restaurants or department stores - i.e., The American Girl Store, Nordstrom, Macy's, William-Sonoma, etc
- Passes to Legoland, Disneyland, SeaWorld or Knott's Berry Farm
Also, we are in need of baskets for these items. If you have any for donation, please drop them off in the front office.
Please contact Sherry Shandra at sherryshandra@gmail.com for more information! |
| Reminder: Parking Lot Rules |
We wanted to remind everyone to please follow the parking lot rules: DO NOT PARK IN THE RED ZONES IN THE HANDICAP SPOTS UNLESS YOU HAVE A PLACARD and DO NOT DOUBLE PARK. The only exceptions are when making a delivery and when directed to park temporarily in the red zone during pick up.
We need your cooperation and support to ensure emergency vehicle access. Our kids, staff, and visitors deserve everyone's cooperation. |
| The Innovation Center computer lab is open for students in 3rd - 8th grade to work on ALEKS, Mathletics or Reflex on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:50 - 3:30 pm. Students must be picked up promptly at 3:30 pm or they will be sent to daycare. |
Session Two (8 weeks divided into two 4 week blocks):
November 27 - December 22
January 8 - February 2
NOTE: No School on Friday, 1/12 and Monday, 1/15 (MLK Holiday)
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| Logic Club will take place on the second and fourth Mondays beginning this month. |
Order Your Yearbook Today!
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Online ordering of 2017 - 2018 Yearbooks is open at a cost of
$45.00.
Order now to avoid the final price increase!
The final date to personalize yearbooks is January 31, 2018. The final date to order yearbooks online is May 14, 2018.
Click
here to place your order!
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Welcome back to school Pre-K Families!
Pre-K also has no school on
Friday, Jan. 12 and Monday Jan.15.
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Below is an order form for DC Dining for Trimester 2 at St. Francis. You may fill out the entire form at once, or print and order on a weekly basis. If you are ordering weekly, please be sure to turn the form and payment in to the office by Monday of the week you are ordering a meal. Next week, January 17, we will be serving McDonald's.
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AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support our school every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at
smile.amazon.com
, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School. Simply click here to begin shopping through AmazonSmile.
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| Hot Lunch Volunteers Needed! |
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Volunteers for hot lunch are needed for
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11 am to 12:30 pm. This volunteer opportunity can help you earn two hours of volunteer AND lunch credit. If this is something that you're interested in, please reach out to Jenny Lagazo at jlagazo@sfayl.org. Thank you!
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| Classroom Treasure Donations |
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Classroom Treasures family donations are due
now.
Each classroom is working with their Classroom Treasures volunteer to put together a beautiful themed basket for this years auction. We still need your help. If you haven't turned in your family donation, it's not too late. Donations are still being accepted in your classroom. Attached
here is the sheet to fill out your information.
Please reach out to Tawna Khamo at tawna.khamo@gmail.com for additional questions or to join.
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Santa Clara de Asis - Children's Faith Formation
Volunteers Needed! |
| Mater Dei High School- Upcoming Events |
For more information, please click:
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| Santa Margarita Catholic High School Upcoming Events |
Servite High School - Upcoming Events
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For students interested in experiencing Servite first-hand, a
Shadow Day
can be arranged. This gives them a glimpse of "a day in the life of a Friar." They do this by attending classes, exploring our campus, and spending break and lunch with their host. A brief presentation and campus tour is also offered for interested parents once the Shadow students head to their first class around 9:00 am. You may sign up by completing an inquiry form
HERE
.
2. Application Process
Servite High School is accepting applications for the Fall of 2018. You may find details regarding the Application process by clicking
HERE
.
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Anaheim Ducks Host Catholic Night
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| The Anaheim Ducks are hosting Catholic Night Friday, February 9. Click here to see further information on the event. |
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