St. Francis Weekly Email - September 5

Dear St. Francis of Assisi students and families,

Rise to blessing. Rise to gratitude. Rise to potential. Rise to goodness. Rise to generosity. Rise to appreciation. Rise to hopefulness. Rise to new life. Rise like Jesus did, for God has blessed you with a day too beautiful to miss. Amen.

Our first couple of weeks back at school with all our learners went quite smoothly. Students are now settling in to their routines, and the school has an atmosphere of positive energy and excitement for learning. It has been wonderful to re-connect with our returning students and to welcome many new students to our school.

Parking
A reminder to parents and students regarding parking, morning drop offs and afternoon pickups. The drop off loop is on the north side of the building; the first turn off when travelling on Duke Rd from Lewes Blvd. We are asking everyone to use this location to ensure safety (the staff parking lot is not designed for drop offs). We would also like to remind students to park their cars in the student parking lot. Thank you all for your cooperation in this matter.

Field Trips
Teachers are planning many Off-site experiential activities for this semester. Please look out for any field trip forms that students may bring home, and promptly fill them in, sign them and return them to the school. Thank you.

Outstanding School Materials
There are many students who have not yet returned textbooks, library resources and English novels which were used last year.  These items remain on a student’s record and may prevent them from having access to new resources.  We ask for your help in having these items returned ASAP.

Confirmation
Parents of Grade 8 students who would like to register for the Confirmation preparation program through Sacred Heart Cathedral are encouraged to attend the information session on September 25 at 7:00 pm at the CYO Hall. Please click here for more information.

Invitation from Bishop Vila
In celebration of the start of this school year, I would like to personally invite you, your staff, parents and students to Holy Mass on Sunday September 10th, 2023, at 10:30am at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Whitehorse. The Mass will be followed by a ‘Beautiful Breakfast’ in the CYO Hall hosted by Sacred Heart Parish. You can find more details about the breakfast closer to the date at sacredheartcathedral.ca.  - Yours in Christ, Bishop Hector Vila.

Student Clubs, Activities and Athletics
For an overview of the many student clubs and activities we have at St. Francis, please visit our school website, or click here.  To see the dates and times scheduled for the upcoming week, students should visit the Hallway on Teams, or click here.

Grads
Parents and grads, the first grad meeting will take place on September 27th at 7:00 pm in the small gym.  You should be receiving an email today from this year's Grad Advisors about it.  If you don't see that email, please contact the school to make sure they have the proper contact information on file.

Student Tutoring
All St. Francis students can receive tutoring from other students for assistance in course work, assignments or organizational skills. The students requesting tutors are self-identified, or identified by their parents or teachers. To receive tutoring the student simply needs to fill in an application in the Skills Room (Room 3).

Students in Grade 10, 11, or 12 can apply to be a tutor. Tutors can earn either service learning hours or an hourly wage. Peer tutors are paid on a graduated scale, which increases with grade level and number of hours tutored. Potential tutors need to come in person to the Skills room and fill in an application. Students will be matched one on one by the Learning Assistance Teachers.

At the present time, there are MANY senior students who are experienced tutors who are willing to work with grade 8 and 9 students before school, at lunch time, or after school. If you have a junior student who would benefit from some academic support, organizational support, or even peer mentorship, please have them fill out the bright orange form from the skills room and give it to Ms. Cann. For more information, or to get the form, parents can also email Ms. Cann at: [email protected]

School Council
School Council will be holding the first meeting of the school year on September 5th. The meeting will take place in the evening at 6:30 pm in the school Learning Commons. Please visit our page on the school website for more information.

Volunteer Hours
Students who are looking for volunteer hours or opportunities to earn some money through sporting events can contact Executive Director Kristen Johnston at YSAA. You may contact her through Teams or email [email protected].
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Please do not hesitate to call the school at 667-5901 if you have any questions or concerns.
 
Blessings,
The St. Francis of Assisi Admin Team,
Alethea Wallace, Principal and Mia Ouellette, Vice-Principal