As we celebrate our Lenten journey, we share a wonderful story of living our faith. For the past four years, seniors (and twin brothers) Isaac and Isaiah Rush, under the guidance of Ski Club advisor Val Sharritts and assistant advisor Chris Brimmer, have volunteered their time to assist the Adaptive Sports Connection (ASC) at Snow Trails. The ASC offers skiing and snowboarding to those who need adaptations to participate in snow sports, including vests to alert people of a blind skier, a mono ski for wheelchair bound people as well as ways to help teach disabled people of all ages how to ski with one leg. Isaac and Isaiah have provided support to the ASC by volunteering every Saturday for the past four winter seasons. Their brother Austin, who is a sophomore at SFD, has helped for the past two years, and just recently sophomore Aiden Zacherl has joined the team.

Four years ago the Rush twins established a goal of donating $1000 to ASC, and through their persistent efforts (and the SFD appetite for Schneider Donuts!) coupled with Ms. Sharritts augmenting their efforts with donations from her Central Ohio Motorcycle group, they achieved their objective. They were successful in raising $1000. On Saturday, February 13th they presented the ASC with a fitting Valentine Day gift; the $1000 was more than just a monetary donation but was a gift from the heart. During this Lenten season may we all be so inspired to give in ways that can make a difference. 

Poetry Out Loud Update: Senior Monserrat Tlahuel-Flores won the regional competition! She will compete in the State Finals on March 5th.

This week we are celebrating World Cultures Week at SFD. During all lunch periods there will be free treats that accompany the theme of the lunch each day. Remember, you can always find our lunch menu on our school website at https://www.sfdstallions.org/lunch-menu.

Congratulations to wrestler Rebekah Oladokun on finishing 4th in the Girls State Wrestling tournament on Sunday.

Congratulations to swimmer Libby Ruff for finishing 8th in the 500 freestyle in Districts on Sunday and qualifying for the State meet. Also, congratulations to Brady McInerney for winning the District and qualifying for the state meet next week in the 100 and 200 freestyle. 

Congratulations to bowlers Skyla Blumensheid, Caden Lester and Bryan Ritzler for competing in the District meet.

Good luck to the wrestling team who will compete this weekend, February 26 and 27, in Sectionals at Licking Valley.

Good luck to the boys basketball team in the Sectional Final vs. the winner of Centennial/Horizon Science Academy on Friday.

For the past 10 years during the month of February, SFD faculty, staff, and administrators participate in our Faculty and Staff Annual Giving drive. Once again they demonstrated their dedication to the school by achieving 100% participation in this year’s drive and increasing donations over last year by 16%. This year marked the largest giving total, raising $20,407. The money raised goes towards six $1,000 Tradition of Excellence scholarships plus the faculty and staff established a new fund to support students who demonstrate a need for food stability at the school. 

Nationally the average participation rate for faculty and staff giving drives for academic institutions is approximately 55%. Appropriately, "Rise by Loving" is the school year theme, and the 100% participation rate is a true testament by the faculty and staff of their love and devotion to our students and their faith in our great school. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences for Quarter 3 will be held virtually via Zoom meetings on Thursday, February 25th from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Please utilize the Sign Up Genius link below to establish meetings with your son or daughter’s teachers:

Once you have gained access to the Sign Up Genius document, follow these steps in order to ensure that you have signed up accurately for conferences:

If you need or want to meet with multiple teachers, you will have to follow steps two through four in order to sign up for conferences with each individual teacher.

You will receive a confirmation email from Sign Up Genius for each scheduled conference that will include the direct “Zoom Meeting link." The link will be located next to the word “Location” in the body of the email correspondence.

Sign ups will close on Wednesday, February 24th at midnight.

Below are links to the scholarship applications available to current freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Deadline is March 15, 2021.

Reminder: the application process is not finalized until the school receives a completed online recommendation from a non-family member. The recommendation form can be found at https://www.sfdstallions.org/sfdscholarships.

APPLICATIONS

Please note: some scholarships have required criteria and/or an additional essay question.

Freshman Scholarship Application - Class of 2024

Sophomore Scholarship Application - Class of 2023

Junior Scholarship Application - Class of 2022

SFD alumnus Fr. Stash Dailey is the pastor of Holy Family Church on the west side of Columbus. They run a very busy soup kitchen that serves a large number of impoverished families in their neighborhood.

Fr. Stash has asked if our community can collect candles for the homeless population they serve. These are used for light and warmth on these very cold winter nights, and their supply is almost gone.

There are collection bins near both entrances to the school. If you have any extra candles around (even if they are well-used!), please bring them in by Friday, March 5.

We look forward to a great new opportunity to support our co-curricular programs in 2021. The Stallion WishBook is an online, interactive way for you to get behind the programs you value and help fund exactly what each program needs most.  

When: Monday, March 1 through Sunday, March 14. Link coming soon!

Please keep your child home if they present with any of the symptoms listed below and contact the School Nurse, Kelli Fitzpatrick at (614) 267-7808 ext. 435 or email fitzpatrick@desales.co.

Any of 1 the following:

Two or more of the following:

If a household member is being tested for COVID-19, students and siblings must stay home until results are received.

Keep your child at home until the following criteria are met:

Students who attend the Student World Virtual Fair will be able to chat with the representatives from top universities from all over the world via text message and audio-video calls and learn about the numerous unique opportunities that come with studying abroad. The event will take place TOMORROW, Wednesday, February 24th between 5pm - 9pm and is free of charge. Learn more here.

OACAC is proud to present free virtual college fairs and information panels. Check out TONIGHT and TOMORROW's sessions at https://www.strivescan.com/ohio/. More sessions will be available in March. Click here for more information and to register.

We are excited to host the Sophomore Retreat next month. It will be held on March 30 (for all girls in the Class of 2023) and March 31 (for all boys in the Class of 2023). Parents: students received a permission form for the retreat from their Theology teacher; please review, sign, and have your student return the form to their Theology teacher. If you need another copy of the form, please click the link below.

Permission form link

Prior to the first day of tryouts/practice for the spring season, every student athlete must complete the Spring Activity Registration. This simple online form conveniently streamlines all necessary paperwork to ensure your student's safety and a successful season.

The Spring Activity Registration is located in your PowerSchool Parent Portal under the "Forms" tab. To log in, visit the SFD Website or go to desales.powerschool.com. This must be completed through a web browser; the PowerSchool Mobile App will not work.

The registration is made up of 7 parts, please make sure you complete all of them (A-G). Students will need to log into their student portal to sign off on parts F and G. Part E will remain "pending" until processed by the Athletic Department. All physicals must be uploaded or turned into the main office prior to the first day of practice or tryouts.

If you have any questions, you may contact the Enrollment Office at admissions@desales.co or the Athletic Office at sports@desales.co.

St. Francis DeSales High School is looking for a new team member in the Advancement Office. This opportunity is for the Director of Alumni and Family Engagement. Interested candidates should contact Tim Jewett, Director of Advancement at jewett@desales.co for more information.

We will hold our spring Grandparents Day Mass on March 3 and 4. As we did this past fall, we will display photos of our students with their grandparents on our Grandparents Day webpage; if you have a photo to share, please email a copy to cofojohn@desales.co. Note: if you already shared a photo this fall, we will include it again this spring; no need to resend.

Please submit photo by March 1, 2021.