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2017 - 2018
School Year
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Nov. 16 - 17
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Parent - Teacher Conference
Days
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Nov.
20 - 24
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Thanks-giving Break |
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Dec.
25
- Jan. 5
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Christma
s
Break
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| 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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| Dexter H. |
1B |
| Dominic S. |
1A |
| Tatum W. |
3B |
| Michael G. |
2B |
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October 18, 2017
Dear St. Francis of Assisi Parents and Guardians,
I love talking to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School graduates and their parents. I ask questions about classes, workload, pace, extra-curricular activities, and future educational goals. I am excited to hear about their success and I am also interested to know about the challenges they encounter. My objective is to encourage them on their journey and to learn things that will help us do a better job of preparing our students for life beyond St. Francis School.
Based on my conversations with our graduates and their parents, I am confident that we do a great job preparing students for the cognitive expectations of high school. Our students are academically well prepared to be successful in high school. We have a 100% accept rate at the local Catholic schools where most of our students matriculate and many are accepted into honors level and accelerated courses at entrance. More important, they leave St. Francis School with a moral compass based on Catholic teachings and Christian values. Gospel values are embedded in our Catholic identity that permeates everything we do. A St. Francis School graduate possesses the skills and experience to lead and make good decisions. I am proud to hear that St. Francis School graduates are viewed as excellent students and even better people.
In addition to cognitive and moral development and faith formation, another core element of a St. Francis School education is personal emotional growth. I am just as concerned that our students possess the emotional skills recognized as being critical for children to become successful academically and socially. These skills include: self awareness, self regulation, social awareness, healthy relationships, and responsible decision making. In addition to being a good thinker and a good decision maker, I want our kids to have the personal skills necessary to live healthy, productive, and balanced lives and the empathy to help others do the same.
As a long time educator and parent of two daughters who have navigated school through college, I have come to believe that a very critical skill we need to teach our children is perseverance. Perseverance means fighting through challenges and not giving up when the task reaches a level of difficulty you did not believe it would. It means trying things out of your comfort zone. Perseverance encompasses what it is to fight until the end of something; to finally reach completion. It's a "never give up" attitude. I am not as confident in our level of success in this area. I hear about talented students who did not succeed at something and offer a list of excuses to explain why. I see parents who step in to address an issue that prevents the student from learning how to work through the problem themselves or experience the consequence of a poor decision. I am all for building self esteem. Self esteem is critical for confidence. Kids will develop positive self esteem and confidence when they are encouraged to use their skills to overcome a challenge. Kids have to learn how to get up on their own when they fall down or push through when they face a challenge. It is critically important, and not at all easy, to keep going after failure and disappointment.
In addition to being part of our school motto, I want perseverance to be one of the many skills we teach our students. I look forward to talk more about developing a perseverance mindset in future newsletters.
I value our partnership in forming students and developing their talents. Together, we can help our students to become the best version of themselves.
Tom Waszak
Principal
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| Notice of Street Closure - October 20! |
Notice of street closure for street work (slurry seal)
Friday, October 20, 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm
On Friday, October 20, Eastside Circle will be closed from Avenida de la Paz (lower entrance to Santa Clara de Asis Church) to the top of the street from 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm. During the closure, no parking or driving will be allowed in this section of the street. This means that there will be no car access to or from the school or the park during this time. Between 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm, parents and guardians will need to park at Santa Clara Church and walk to school.
The school parking lot will be closed at 12:30 pm and will reopen at 5:00 pm. Please know that emergency responders will be able to access the school and park during this time.
When parking at Santa Clara Church, park only in designated marked spaces. Do not stop or park in red zones or along the grass area.
Friday is a noon dismissal.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
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| Notice of School Calendar Change! |
Instructional School Day
Friday, November 3 (noon dismissal)
Non-Instructional Faculty In-service Day
Friday, January 12 (student free day)
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Scholastic Book Fair
October 17-19 |
Make plans to join us at our Fall Book Fair held in the Seamus Glynn Center this week. Students will be visiting our Wild West themed store to browse and make purchases with their classrooms through Thursday, October 19.
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Innovation Center Grad Opening
October 20 |
Everyone is invited to drop-in for the Grand Opening of our Innovation Center on Friday, October 20 from 8:20 am - 11:50 am. We will honor our Recording Studio Donor, The John Family, at morning prayer. Immediately following community prayer, guests are welcome to stop by the Innovation Center to observe how students at all grade levels are using the Recording Studio, visiting the SFA Innovation Bar, working in collaborative groups, and attending classes in the computer lab. Stop by for 10 minutes or stay for an hour. We are looking forward to sharing the outstanding work of our students!
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Red Ribbon Week
October 23 - 27 |
Next week is Red Ribbon Week at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School. Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention awareness campaign. This means, SFA is going to focus on healthy lifestyles not just now, but throughout all our lives!
We are incorporating fun ways to remind our community about living a healthy lifestyle with the following activities next week:
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The St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School Student Council will be hosting a Pumpkin Decorating Contest October 30 - 31.
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Order Your Yearbook Today!
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Online ordering of 2017 - 2018 Yearbooks is now open! The cost if ordered today is $40.00.
The price goes up to $45.00 on November 19.
The final date to personalize yearbooks is January 31, 2018. The final date to order yearbooks online is May 15, 2018.
Click
here to place your order!
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Daddy and Me Pumpkin Carving - October 19!
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Pre-K Daddy and Me Pumpkin Carving night is this Thursday from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. There is still time to let us know if you'd like to join us. We will be having pizza, fruit, and water for the dads and kids. We are asking for $5.00 to offset the cost.
We are looking forward to a fun night with our Pre-K dads and the kids at Daddy and Me Pumpkin Carving night!
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No School for Pre-K on Friday, October 20!
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There is NO school and NO extended care this
Friday, October 20 for Pre-K ONLY
. The Pre-K staff will be at our Annual Early Childhood Fall Institute Conference.
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Parent - Teacher Conferences November 16-17
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There is no school on
Thursday, November 16 and Friday, November 17
for Parent-Teacher Conferences. If your child is registered for extended care please email
Mrs. Martinson
so she can send you a confirmation form for parent conference days.
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| Flag Football Tournament - October 21-22 |
St. Francis is hosting a flag football tournament Saturday, October 21 - Sunday, October 22. Please come out and support our teams as we compete.
We are also looking for volunteers to help with set-up, admissions, snack bar, and more. Please click here to view the schedule and sign up for a shift.
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Tricks, Treats, and Tacos
October 25 |
Wednesday, October 25
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
St. Francis of Assisi Courtyard
Tricks, Treats, and Tacos is the largest St. Francis community event of the school year. Children are encouraged to come in their Halloween costumes and bring a bucket/bag for trick-or-treating across campus.
Families will enjoy games and dancing under the stars in our courtyard!
Taco dinners must be ordered no later than Monday, October 23. The cost for dinner is
$10.00.
Order forms can be downloaded
here or picked up in the front office.
Tasty treats and glow sticks will be available for cash purchase.
All proceeds support the 8th grade class.
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As part of our fundraising efforts for the Annual 8th Grade East Coast Study Trip, a variety of food vendors offer fun lunch options for only $5.00 each Wednesday. Parent volunteers collect and tally orders at the start of each week, arrange for pick-up or delivery of meals, and handle distribution from the kitchen during lunch period.
Below is an order form for DC Dining for Trimester 1 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.
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| Join the Development Committee! |
Are you interested in being a voice on our campus for Fundraising activities? The Development Committee is looking to add a few more parent volunteers to our team.
We're flexible with time commitments. We meet one day a month right after drop off from 8:00 am - 9:30 am.
Please consider volunteering to this important committee. The funds raised during these events support our children's Catholic Education.
Please reach out to Tawna Khamo for additional questions or to join.
[email protected]
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| Alumni Recognized in National Merit Scholarship Program! |
St. Francis Alumni, Eamon Morris and Jakob Decano, who now attend Servite High School were honored as National Merit Commended Scholars earlier this month. Read more about their accomplishment here.
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St. Martin de Porres Trunk-or-Treat 2017
October 27 |
St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church's Ministry of Moms (MOM) is only a month away from it's 6th Annual Trunk - or - Treat event on Friday, October 27. The group is looking forward to this wonderful event and hopes to see your family there to join in the fun.
As planning is underway the following volunteer opportunities are available:
- Donation of trunks (Cars to be parked in the lot and candy provided by you to be handed out to Trunk-or-Treaters)
- Help with set-up anytime between 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm (The event starts at 5:30 pm)
- Help with clean up 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm (The event ends at 7:30 pm)
- Pumpkin donations for decor
- Balloon donations for decor
- Gift card donations (Costco, Trader Joe's, Party City, Stater Bros., Vons, Ralphs, etc.)
- Candy bag donations
Again, we hope to see you there. The kids have an absolute blast playing with their buddies and making new friends. We are planning on having a costume parade, music, a photo spot and dinner for purchase.
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| Santa Margarita Catholic High School Upcoming Events |
For more information please click:
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Servite High School - Credo 5K
October 28 |
Mater Dei High School Visit Day
Tuesday, November 7 |
| Mater Dei Admissions Information |
Admissions Applications
Future Monarch Information Night #1 -
October 26
Meruelo Athletic Center
Campus tours begin at
6:00 pm
Presentation begins at
7:00 pm
7th and 8th Grade Visit Day - November 7
Come as an individual attendee or with your school
*Students who come as an individual attendee must have an adult chaperone with them
Family Campus Tours - Year-Round
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Rosary Academy Open House
November 12 |
| JSerra High School Upcoming Events |
10/26
- Open House
11/12
- Athletic Open House
Shadow Days- ongoing
Also, John Rodrigues, ADHD and Dyslexia advocate and author, is coming to speak at JSerra on
October 18. He will discuss his book, "From High School Dropout to Harvard," and also give an ice sculpting demonstration. Rodrigues is the found of ThinkLexic, a non-profit that works to rethink and reframe education for the 8 million K-12 students with dyslexia.
For more information please click
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St. Lucy's Christmas Boutique
November 5, 2017 |
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