Working In Mercy
April 23 - 29, 2020
Sent Every Thursday at 7 a.m.
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(Human Resources messages are at the end)
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All Employees - News & Announcements
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All school events, activities, games and practices have been canceled through May 1 (tentatively), and will be rescheduled where possible.
The school calendar is currently updated to April 30, 2020. Updates to the May calendar are forthcoming.
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Mercy's Campus is Closed
In response to the order from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Mercy's campus is CLOSED. If you need to come to campus for any reason, please call or text Sister Carolyn in advance at (650) 823-6005.
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Intersession Reimbursements
Any faculty or staff member still needing reimbursement for an Intersession expense needs to send the receipt/invoice (as a pdf via email or USPS to the school address) to Carole Touye, ASAP.
Thank you in advance for your speedy response!
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Resources to Support Your Wellness
As we continue to do our work from home, it is paramount that we all maintain our own health and well-being. Below are some resources for our colleagues.
Exercise at Home
- Go to your App Store and download the Down Dog app! Raquel registered Mercy High School with the app, providing all of us with free wellness practices. The app is free until Wednesday, July 1 for all students, teachers, and staff (K-12 and college) to access through the end of the semester.
- Molly generously shared her Workout Creator that she created for her Health and Wellness class.These are simple exercises you can do at home with very little or no equipment. She added links that demonstrate how the exercises are performed.
Your Health and Wellness from Yen
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Supporting The Lantern Families
Dear Colleagues,
As many of you know, for the past two years Mercy students have been doing service work at The Lantern Center. This program was founded by the Sisters of the Presentation and is now directed by Kathleen Purcell, an old friend of mine and excellent mentor to our students. At the Lantern, our students have been assisting immigrant families through helping with homework and creative play. Many of the program recipients are undocumented and several of these families are in particular crisis right now.
Kathleen is organizing help for them. Using resources from donors, she has been able to write some rent checks for families. She is also in need of $50 Safeway cards for food.
If you are able to assist, here is the link to donate gift cards. When you checkout, use the following address to have them sent directly to Kathleen.
Kathleen Purcell
584 Castro #365
San Francisco, CA 94114
Thank you!
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Earth Day 2020 - Watch Earth Day Live
It's a 72-hour celebration of Earth Day's 50th anniversary! There is an online mobilization called, Earth Day Live which will be held from April 22 - 24. The four-day Livestream focused on fighting back against the climate crisis.
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Virtual Spirit Week - Begins Monday, April 27
Next week is Virtual Spirit Week!
Check out the slides to see what our themes are and see how your household can get involved.
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Legacy eMagazine- Special Quarantine Edition
Legacy, Mercy’s literary Magazine, is an annual publication of selected student writing and art. This year's publication will be a special edition eMagazine with a short slideshow!
Staff and faculty are welcome to participate in this edition, too! If you have artwork or any other literary masterpiece you want to share with our Mercy family, please send to
Raquel with the subject: LEGACY Submission
Please also encourage students to submit poems, essays, lyrics to songs, art work, photos, and other creative works to
Raquel no later than May 7.
Quarantine COVID 19, Haiku
by Mrs. Oliva-Gomez
Stay at home order
Learning from home to stay safe
We will get through this!
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Jeopardy: Mercy Homeroom Edition
Students will play a special edition of Jeopardy in their homerooms next week. If you want to be one of the questions to one of the answers in our Faculty and Staff Category, please send a fun fact about yourself to
Raquel by Sunday, April 26.
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Parent Connect Content Deadline - April 27
NOTE:
Parent Connect is now publishing weekly.
The next Parent Connect newsletter will go out on April 29.
Please submit any news you need to share with parents through the
Share Your News Form
by
Monday, April 27.
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Working in Mercy Content Deadline - April 28
The next issue will go out on Thursday, April 30.
A friendly reminder that this internal newsletter is for non-urgent news and messages. Please submit your items no later than the Tuesday prior to the Thursday publication date through the
Share Your News Form
. The content deadline for the next Working in Mercy newsletter is
Tuesday, April 28.
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Faculty - News & Announcements
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UPDATE: Online Learning, Supporting You & Helping Our Students
Thank you for all the work you've done in preparing for your distance learning classes. I’ve shared a
document of student feedback that you can all view and edit.
Also, please add assignments to Canvas
at least two days before the assignment is due. Add more time for longer assignments and be sure to keep assignments unlocked so that students can see them.
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We are here to help you! Please contact Margaret, Siobhan, Raquel, Yen, Cynthia or Marianne if you see anything going on that concerns you or if you are having trouble getting a student to do their work.
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Scheduling Final Exams & End of Year Projects
Please check Mercy's Google Calendar for updates of the AP exam schedule. Be sure to plan your final projects and final so they do not conflict with these days.
Let Marianne know your final exam schedule for your classes and/or what day your final project will be due.
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Update: AP Exams Dates and College Board Resources
The College Board has launched a
free, teacher-led AP courses and review sessions in late March and have moved AP exams online so students can take them at home. The 45-minute online exams will be given from May 11–22 with make-up tests available from June 1–5. Students will be able to take these exams on a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
To ensure students can access the online courses and the exams, the College Board is working with partners to provide access to devices and connectivity. April 24 is the deadline to
request assistance
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Maintain Good Ergonomics: Healthy Posture for Virtual Instruction
Here are some tips for posture and eLearning that were shared with families but also apply to all of us.
- Sitting up straight allows for fuller breaths, increasing ability to focus on and comprehension.
- Use a chair with a back support. Be sure the seat is low enough that your feet rest comfortably on the floor.
- Opt for a 135° leaning back position. This angle can help prevent back strain, says on Scottish study.
- Rock back and forth. This movement boosts concentration and release pressure on the spine.
- Place your laptop at chest level when sitting. Using a a higher surface causes less strain and reduces the impulse to slouch forward.
- Find a surface that will allow you to stand/create a standing desk top space
- Adjust the monitor so the neck is neutral and relaxed when looking at the screen.
- Stretch when you can!
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Human Resources - News & Announcements
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How Guardian is Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak
You have direct access to dedicated behavioral health, financial and legal specialists for personalized, individual support via telephone or video:
- You can benefit from professional counseling that may be particularly needed at this time to help address your emotional well-being.
The COVID-19 Action Center is updated regularly with relevant webinars, videos and educational content for you.
As always, comprehensive online tools and resources are available to help you with day-to-day challenges around work, health, family, finances and legal issues.
- Access the COVID-19 Action Center and other online tools and resources:
- Go to ibhworklife.com
- Username: Matters
- Password: wlm70101
- Access work-life counselors at 1-800-386-7055 for more in depth assistance and to help schedule an appointment with a specialist
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Job Search Assistance
Mercy is committed to assisting you as we transition toward the closure of the school in June. Below is new information to let you know what is transpiring.
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Take a Look at the Job Vacancy Spreadsheet
Job Vacancy Spreadsheet updates are made on a daily basis. If a listing has included a contact name, please direct your cover letter and resume to the person named.
If you see “Send cover letter and resume and include "MERCY" on subject line,” please follow that instruction. These are schools and contacts that reached out directly to Lorelei for your resumes, which will be given review priority. Please check this document regularly as it will be updated when new information is received from schools.
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Life Long Learning Assistance:
- Resume development and review
- Phone consultations
- Coaching interview responses
- Portfolio development
- Letters of recommendation
Recommended Reading:
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Letters of Recommendation
The best letters of recommendation come from people who are:
- Familiar with your work, and feel strongly positive about it.
- Have the time to write a letter that will truly impress a hiring manager.
- Are in a position of authority or otherwise have a reputation that will mean something to the employer. Ideally it would be your direct supervisor/department chairperson, dean, or head of school.
When requesting a Letter of Recommendation from the Dean of Academics, please let Marianne know so she can schedule a visit to your class for the purpose of writing a better letter.
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