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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. 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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| Logan R. |
KB |
| Abraham V. |
KB |
| Nicholas B. |
2A |
| Luke V. |
3B |
| Savannah D. |
3A |
| Juliana B. |
1B |
| Aubree G. |
2A |
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October 25, 2017
Dear St. Francis of Assisi Parents and Guardians,
A timely opportunity provided a nice follow up to last week's message about preparing our students for success in high school and beyond.
Last week I attended a middle school collaboration meeting at JSerra Catholic High School where I had time to talk with three SFA graduates, Emma Sills (2015), Kristiana Duran (2015) and Ryan Sills (2017). All three have successfully adjusted to high school. When asked about what St. Francis did to prepare them for the demands of high school, they mentioned strong organizational and time management skills, high expectations, and quality teachers. Despite the increased demands, all three are thriving and stretching their boundaries by taking challenging classes and participating in extracurricular activities. They have demanding schedules that include Honors and Advanced Placement classes and activities that require long days, often arriving to school early and staying late to attend practices and meetings before heading home to complete hours of homework. Their schedules are similar to other SFA graduates attending high school.
Friday night, I attended the Mater Dei - JSerra football game. Watching from the sidelines, this was another example of the quantum leap from middle school to high school. The students who attend Servite, Rosary, Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, and JSerra participate in activities at the highest level. These Catholic schools are members of the Trinity League, arguably one of the most competitive athletic leagues in the country. Mater Dei is currently the #1 ranked high school football team in the country and it is normal for several Trinity League schools to be ranked in the county top 10 in every sport. At any Trinity League athletic contest, you will see student athletes who will play sports at the collegiate level. Over the years, several SFA graduates have played on Trinity League teams and one is currently playing professional baseball. In addition to sports, these schools have outstanding fine arts, enrichment (i.e. Model United Nations), and academic programs. Their AP pass rates are high, the colleges where their graduates are accepted is exemplary, and the amount of scholarship money awarded is impressive. These outcomes are the result of hard, hard dedication and commitment to be the best you can be. Our goal is to prepare SFA students to achieve great things in high school. The preparation does not start the summer before entering high school. It starts the moment you enter St. Francis School.
Every graduate has their own story about course load, extracurricular and co-curricular activities, and of course, the social activities. When speaking with our graduate
s, I
am impressed by their poise, confidence, and excitement about the things they are doing. High school is a dynamic period of growth very different from elementary and middle school. In order for students to be successful in high school, they must have a strong academic foundation, strong school/life skills - organization, time management, and an ability to multi-task, as well as strong personal characteristics - perseverance and a positive attitude. Based on what I've seen from our graduates, a St. Francis education prepares our students to be successful in all these areas. This is due to strong teachers and programs as well as a strong partnership between school and home. This is the spirit of St. Francis School!
Tom Waszak
Principal
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Thank you for supporting St. Francis of Assisi's fall fundraising efforts - the Cookie Dough / Yankee Candle Drive and Fall Fest. Both activities were very successful thanks to your generous support. All funds raised from the proceeds of these activities support our students.
We would like to evaluate the effectiveness of our fundraising efforts so we would appreciate your feedback to help plan activities that are appealing to our school community. Please click here and complete a brief Fall Fundraiser Survey by Tuesday, October 31. Thank you for your support!
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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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Red Ribbon Week
October 23 - 27 |
This 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 for the remainder of the week:
Thursday: Put a Cap on Drugs - Wear a Hat with your uniform.
Friday: Lei Off Drugs - Wear a Hawaiian shirt and/or Hawaiian accessories with your uniform.
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Halloween Costume Parade
Tuesday, October 31 - 9:30 am |
Please join us for our annual Halloween Costume Parade, on
Tuesday, October 31
beginning at 9:30 am on the basketball courts.
Guidelines:
- Students should arrive on campus already dressed in costume.
- Costumes should be modest - skirts no shorter than fingertips with long shorts/leggings under the costume. (no short, tightly fitting shorts)
- T-shirts should be worn under costumes that are immodestly cut on the sleeves and neckline.
- No ghoulish, evil, bloody, violent costumes or profane or vulgar language displayed on costumes.
- No clown costumes.
- Props that are not weapons may be carried only during the parade.
- No weapons, swords, guns etc. at all.
- Heads and masks may only be worn during the parade.
- Minimal makeup appropriate to your costume may be worn. Makeup may not cover the entire face.
- Hairstyles and accessories should be appropriate to the costume.
- Tennis or athletic shoes should be worn all day for safety reasons.
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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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Extended Day Care During Parent - Teacher Conferences
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Please be advised that on Parent - Teacher Conference days,
Thursday, November 16 and Friday, November 17, Extended Day Care will be available
7:00 am - 6:00 pm.
Check-in and check-out will be in the Extended Day Care room for these two days only!
We will be providing lunch for the children for a fee of
$5.00, on both
Thursday and Friday.
Please contact
Mrs. Dean with any questions or concerns.
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| DC Kidsitting During Parent - Teacher Conferences |
Students from grades K - 7 may drop-in for kidsitting in the Seamus Glynn Center during conferences for a donation to our East Coast Study Trip. Parents and 8th grade students will entertain your students so you can enjoy your conference kid-free!
Hours for kidsitting are:
Thursday, November 16:
7:10 am - 3:40 pm
Friday, November 17:
7:10am - 2:00 pm
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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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WOLF NEWS - Student Journalism Program
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The Evolution of Technology and Education
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By: Jake M.
Take a moment to think about how much you use technology in your daily lives. You spend maybe six, seven, or even eight hours a day on your phone, computer, or tablet. That's almost one third of everyday. The fact that modern technology has become a necessary part of our daily lives is undeniable. The question is when did this increase happen?
Our consumption of technology has greatly increased in the past decade. What is surprising is the rapid rate our usage has increased in such a short amount of time. In the year 2000, only 52% of U.S. adults used the internet and in 2011, only 35% of U.S. adults owned a smartphone. This is a significant differences from the most recent statistics of 2016, showing that 77% of U.S. adults owned a smartphone and 88% used the internet.
This adoption of technology in our daily lives is not only apparent in adults but also in children. A 2015 survey produced by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) found that there were a significant percentage of parents with children up to age 8 with access to modern technology such as tablets, video games, and even smartphones. 52% of parents said their children had access to smartphones and video games, and 59% said their children had access to tablets. This a very surprising percentage considering how young they are, and it shows how much of an influence technology has become in our daily lives and how much more all people are using it, including children.
Luckily these advancements in technology are not just simply used for scrolling through your facebook or instagram feed. Many people are actually reliant on this technology for basic, daily tasks such as travel directions, entertainment, and news. We no longer have a need for past items that provided these things such as maps, newspapers, or radios since it is all on our phones.
Clearly our modern technology has been ingrained in our daily lives but, it has also risen in usage for the education of children in this decade. Today, you may find students researching a famous historical person on their tablets, smartphones, or computers. While 20 years ago, many students would not have access to the computer so they would have to find biographies in their local library. Advancements in technology have made information much easier to obtain which directly translates to students being able to have access to much more educational material. Due to this easy accessibility of information, schools have given students access to school tablets, allowed use of their smartphones, or at least have school computers for students to use.
This evolution of how students learn has also partially changed the role of the teacher in many schools. For a very long time, teachers have been seen as the primary source of information in a classroom. Now though, much teaching is done through the internet with online e-books or websites, so teachers have become slightly more of a guide to the educational curriculum. These new ways of teaching through technology have made the lessons and concepts much more accessible and simpler, yet many students do not feel their schools are using it to their full potential. In a recent technology survey done by the CDW-G (Computer Discount Warehouse - Government), there is a clear divide between the students' and teacher' interpretations of how often they use technology in the classroom. 75% of teachers said that they use technology regularly in the classroom while only 40% of students agreed. The opposite results were seen for homework assignments when 94% of students say they use technology in their homework assignments while only 46% of teachers say they incorporate the use of technology in homework. Only 40% of all the students surveyed felt that their schools were meeting their expectations in use of technology. Although this seems like a large roadblock in the growth of technology use in education it has a simple solution. Schools could simply ask for feedback from the parents and the students on how they think technology should be implemented. At SFA, this idea has been prevalent for a few years now with the introductions of new technology such as classroom iPads, the iMac Technology Lab, Apple TV in each classroom, and now the brand new Innovation Center which looks to expand upon the growth of technology at SFA.
The idea of use of technology in learning really started up at SFA with the introduction of iPads. Most of the upper grade parents were sold on the idea of iPads which started the upper grade one to one iPad program where each student has their own personal iPad they use for schoolwork. Then, SFA decided to update the computers in the technology lab to Macs because SFA wanted to become an all Apple school and to use some programs that were inaccessible on the iPads. The most recent step SFA has taken in advancing its technology is the new Innovation Center. The Innovation Center has many features such as flexible seating, a digital library, and even an Innovation Bar inspired by Apple's Genius Bar. A large component of this new Innovation Center is the recording booth. SFA wanted to include a recording booth in this redesign because of the amount of students struggling to record on windy days. They found the need for a nice quiet place for the students to record and Mrs. Lambert, the Vice Principal of Curriculum and Technology at SFA, visited many other schools with similar setups to get ideas. SFA also sent out a form to the students for what they would like to use this new space for at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. Some students decided to take full creative liberty with this opportunity and designed some things they would truly like to see come to fruition such as a Starbucks kiosk. Some ideas were put to use though from this form such as movable seating and robotics. Movable seating is already present in the Innovation Center with chairs and tables with wheels, but robotics will most likely be implemented later this school year in an after school program or even during technology class. This is not the end for updates to the Innovation Center though. SFA plans on continually changing the new space depending on how the students use it and adding whatever it seems like they need, maybe even a Starbucks kiosk! Jokes aside, Mrs. Lambert said, "I'm super excited about seeing the students in there during all periods of the day. I can't wait to see the projects that you guys create and to see where our school goes in the next year." It seems like this year will be a great year for technological advancements at SFA and that technology has really changed it for the better.
Clearly in past decade we have become quite dependent on technology. We use it in a majority of our life from work to school to free time. Education has especially been affected by this with the transition in many schools, including SFA, to becoming more technology based. It will be interesting to see what advancements are made to technology in the next ten years and how they will make our daily lives so much easier.
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Pre-K Dad
dy Me Pumpkin Carving night was a blast last week! Thank you to all our families who participated.
Pre-K A and Pre-K B will be having Center Day this
Friday, October 27. Please ask your child's teacher if you would like to help at a center.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday students are having Halloween Parties on
Monday, October 30.
All School Halloween Parade is Tuesday, October 31 at 9:30 am.
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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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Schedule Updates for this Week
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Wednesday, October 25:
Girls A and B Volleyball vs St. Norbert CANCELLED
Boys A and B Football @ St. Jeanne CANCELLED
Thursday, October 26:
Girls A and B Volleyball and Boys A and B Football @ St. Norbert IS ON
Girls B 5th Grade Volleyball vs. St. Julianna IS ON
Friday, October 27:
Boys A and B Football vs. St. Cecilia make up game from Tuesday, October 24 will be at
3:30 pm and
4:30 pm.
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Angel Bin Shoe Fundraiser
November 1 - 15 |
Our second collection period for our Angel Bin Shoe Drive begins next Wednesday, November 1 and runs through Wednesday, November 15. Please place all donated shoes in buns located by the entrance gates. Our final collection window will be Monday, January 15 - Wednesday, January 31. All shoes are accepted in pairs.
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In-N-Out Family Lunch
Tuesday, November 14 |
Our annual In-N-Out Family Lunch Fundraiser benefitting the Academic Decathlon Team is just around the corner. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 14 and then print and submit your orders as soon as possible!
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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. Next week we are serving Costco pizza.
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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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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 Clara de Asis - Children's Faith Formation
Volunteers Needed! |
For more information please contact
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| JSerra High School Upcoming Events |
10/26
- Open House
11/12
- Athletic Open House
Shadow Days- ongoing
For more information please click
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| Santa Margarita Catholic High School Upcoming Events |
For more information please click:
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Servite High School - Upcoming Events
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1. Athletics Open House
Monday, November 13, 2017
Starts at
6:30 pm in the gym
2. Discover Servite Open House
Sunday, December 3, 2017
From
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
3. Yorba Linda Admissions In-Home Information Night
Tuesday, November 14
From 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm.
Prospective students and their parents are invited to spend an informative evening learning more about Servite High School through one of our information nights. Meet current students, parents, faculty and administrators in the comfort of a Servite family's home. While you get to know the Servite community, your son will have the chance to spend time with current students. Hosted by Sprenger, Arrington, and Mercado families in Yorba Linda on Tuesday, November 14 from 6:30 pm -8:30 pm. Click here to RSVP
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
.
5. 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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Cornelia Connelly School Open House
Sunday, November 19 |
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 |
Servite High School - Credo 5K
October 28 |
St. Lucy's Christmas Boutique
November 5, 2017 |
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