Dear Students, Alumni, Parents, & Friends of St. Francis,
Welcome back to St. Francis and welcome to the 2020 spring semester. For Freshmen, it is a chance to restart and reboot your academic Avatar (Playable Character) now that you know the schedule, teacher expectations, and balancing the demands of your arts and sports schedules. For Seniors, it is a chance to wear your college sweatshirts and revel in the joy that this is your last semester of high school. For all four grade-levels, after a lengthy and relaxing break, it is a chance to improve you in all areas – spiritually, emotionally, physically, artistically, and intellectually. Be the best you…you can be!
To that end, we want to thank Mr. Sanda for his service to the school and we wish him well on his next educational endeavor. At this time, we want to welcome Mr. Keith Ducker (pictured right). Mr. Ducker is a Princeton and UC Berkeley grad and he will be teaching biology, chemistry, chemistry honors, and the year 3 PLTW MI classes. We thank him for stepping in mid-year, and we will work with him and your students to ensure a smooth transition.January starts with a bang and winter sports are in full effect. Report cards will come out in a little over a week, the 4.0 Luncheon will take place on Wednesday, January 22nd, and all are invited to attend the January 31st Feast of St. John Bosco Mass. At the end of that day, we will do the Annual Raffle Drawing at 3 PM in the Front Office. Please pay attention to the calendar this semester. The Tuesday through Friday block schedules have been flipped – i.e. a Tuesday in the fall semester were blocks 4, 3, 2, & 1. For this spring semester, it will be the opposite – Tuesday will NOW be blocks 1, 2, 3, & 4. Mr. Valdivia and I will be at the gates to remind students until they get used to it.
We mailed the Annual Appeal at Thanksgiving, and in February we will publish the Annual Report with another donation envelope. This, too, will be a part of the Annual Appeal. Please find it in your heart to donate. All donations are tax deductible and directly impact this year’s student programs and services. If your child is in leadership, campus ministry, sports, the arts, and/or clubs, then we need your help to bridge the cost of what we charge for tuition versus the actual cost to educate each student. Every donation counts – from $20 to $20,000 all makes a huge difference. $20 is just about $0.05 cents a day, annually. We can all do at least this much for the great teachers and coaches we have supporting your sons and daughters. Even if you are on tuition assistance, our goal is 100% participation from our families. This year we will once again use our SFPA Grade Level Representatives to facilitate each grade level’s participation in the Annual Appeal. The class with the highest percentage of families participating will get a free lunch and free dress day on Holy Thursday, before Easter.
Finally, I want to reiterate the value of Friday Night Bingo and why we need all Freshmen families and all families on merit-based or need-based tuition assistance to work their assigned days; it takes collaboration between all of us to make it successful. Friday Night Bingo also helps keep tuition costs down, allows us to keep the school new and clean, and in the end assists with need-based or merit-based assistance. Embrace our community; embrace the Friday Night Bingo experience; and, don’t leave your fellow parents covering for you. When we work together, we make this enterprise a successful part of the SF High School experience.
Coming this weekend…the Winter 2020 HoCo HYPE video…
Coming this weekend…the Winter 2020 HoCo HYPE video…
Yours in Christ,
Mr. Pat Lee
President and Principal
President and Principal