First quarter grades are in and we completed a wonderfully attended Parent-Teacher Conference night, so I am pleased to share that the 2nd quarter is off to a great start. Because of our rigor and our caring staff, along with the use of all-school studies and daily tutorial periods, we have reached an unprecedented level of academic success. On the heels of this observation I am thrilled to have received the news that two of our seniors have been named National Merit Program Commended Scholars based on their outstanding scores on the PSAT exam taken during junior year. Congratulations to Marissa DeVogelaere and Andrew Kreeft for this fine honor. We are very proud of these two students and their achievements! This year’s PSAT was taken on October 14th and both the Math and English departments worked diligently to maintain their content rigor and standards as well as prepare your 10th and 11th grade students for success with this exam. We all know that one test does not make or define a student, but these tests are used as benchmarks for future success on the SAT and AP tests and also place your student on the radar for some of America’s top universities and scholarships.
This November we will have our NHS Induction Ceremony led by Mr. Falcone. The date is November 18th and he will send out invitations to those accepted students for their participation in this important event. Also, we will have our Parent Campus Beautification Day on November 14th from 9 am to 12 noon. Please come help us beautify the campus for our November 15th fall Open House the next day. Besides completing those necessary parent service hours, it more importantly helps us maintain a beautiful campus as the leaves begin to fall and we transition into winter. This day makes the campus beautiful from now until the Christmas Break.
With the research done by Mr. Brankovich, the Director of Sports
Performance at Menlo College, when he spoke at our fall SFPA Meeting, we hope your son and/or daughter is getting the necessary sleep and eating/drinking the right nutrition daily. We know this time of year can be stressful with the college application season, end of fall sports, VAPA one-act plays, start of winter sports, KAIROS, and semester exams. Any one of these can be overwhelming for even for the most confident student.
As all of our signage says, this year we are fostering excellence in all we do. Consequently, we want to celebrate those successes with each of you. Please continue to use the brag button on our website www.stfrancishigh.net and continue to support all of our students efforts to strive for excellence. Speaking of signage, it is with great pride that I share that our name change has officially gone through the State of California. With this acceptance, we are compiling a list of all of the agencies we need to notify that our official name is St. Francis High School – Salesian College Preparatory. The prior name, including “Central Coast Catholic,” will still be in use with the common application, the CCS, etc. until you hear otherwise from us.
As part of our recognitions, I want to thank Mrs. Megan Martinelli and Mrs. Cynthia Baylis for their leadership with our 4th annual Burgundy & Gray event. We saw a record attendance this year and record fundraising as we honored two critically important figures in our school’s life – Mr. Vic Suarez, our retired Vice Principal of Academics, and Mrs. Heidi Alonzo, current teacher, VAPA Chair, and Yearbook Moderator. We added more than 27% in ticket sales and grossed over $130,000. After all expenses were paid we netted over $90,000. Along with this tremendous success we garnered over $18,000 towards our Fund-a-Need goal to add HVAC systems in 4 classrooms this winter break. Thank you to all of our sponsors, donors, auction winners, and volunteers for making this the best event ever. This event continues to grow as our signature SFPA fundraiser for the school. The SFPA Board will begin working on the next community and fundraising event for the school. Look to hear from your grade-level representatives for our committee meetings, philanthropic efforts as a school, and other opportunities to get involved in the lives of all of our students. Our wrap up meeting/celebration will be this Thursday, November 4th in B4 at 6 pm. All are welcome.
Our next SFPA Board meeting is Monday, November 9th at 6 pm in B4. All are welcome! We will be distributing our locally famous lawn signs to market our fall Open House. If you want to earn service hours then you can get lawn signs that night or any time next week from Mrs. Marie Marheineke. The signs are only good the week of the event (Open House is November 15, 2015) because we intentionally left off the date; we did this so the signs may be re-used year after year. For every 3 signs you take, place around your business/parish/neighborhood, you will get 1 service hour. We ask that you bring them back to Mrs. Marheineke after our event. This commitment to presence and the brand allows more of the communities in the 4 counties we serve to feel they can join our family – even if they live in a different city, county, or diocese. It extends the St. Francis family.
This Friday, November 6th, we will be launching the Harvard Graduate School of Education survey for students and staff. Once these 2 surveys are completed, Harvard will send us the parent survey. The surveys are directly tied to our Salesian School Climate Committee and focus our attention on how we are ensuring all are welcome at St. Francis. Our goal is to do an excellent job ensuring students and staff feel safe and nurtured. The surveys will be completed during Homeroom this Friday, November 6th.
I want to thank the coaches, parents, and student-athletes who have competed with character and passion this fall. Tennis, volleyball, and football have competed well; they have led us with their presence, poise, and passion. I also want to celebrate our top ranked division 5 cross-country team. All are positioning themselves to compete in the CCS playoffs except for football because of our independent schedule. But, for the first time in years, we have 2 football teams. We have the fall sports banquet this Sunday, November 8th and the winter sports parent meeting Tuesday, November 10th. Please make sure you review the athletics portion of the website, contact Mr. Hazel, or contact your sport’s head coach for further details.
Finally, we are ready to launch our 2015-2016 Annual Fund Campaign. I am happy to say that our 2015 alumnus and Sister Laura Goedken scholarship winner, Isabella Shahmirza, wrote this year’s appeal. Whether you are on tuition assistance or not, our goal is 100% participation from our families. This year we will use our SFPA Grade Level Representatives to facilitate each grade level’s participation. The class with the highest % of families participating will get a free dress day. Every dollar counts in bridging the gap between what we charge for tuition versus the actual cost of what tuition should be charged. We want to offer the best Catholic college-prep education in the smallest classroom sizes with the best teachers who genuinely care about each and every student.
Yours in Christ,
President and Principal