St. Francis Principal s Newsletter August 2, 2017 School Mass First All School Mass Friday, August 11, 2017 9:00 a.m. Don t forget your $0.25 for the collection Sunday All School Mass Sunday, August 13, 2017 11:00 a.m. School Mass Holy Day of Obligation The Assumption Tuesday, August 15, 2017 9:00 a.m. Don t forget your $0.25 for the collection We begin this year excited to lead St. Francis of Assisi School students to learn fully, serve freely, lead joyously, and succeed abundantly! We are ready for an amazing, prosperous, and blessed school year! We have been working all summer long to prepare our staff for a spiritual, productive, and successful school year! Our kindergarten classroom and our front landscaping have been updated! With that being said, let us give prayers of thanksgiving and praise to our God for all the great things He has provided for our school! We ask Him to bless St. Francis and the mission we have in building His kingdom!
Prayer God of wisdom and might, we praise you for the wonder of our being, for mind, body and spirit. Be with our children as they begin a new school year. Bless them and their teachers and staff. Give the strength and grace as their bodies grow; wisdom and knowledge to their minds as they search for understanding; and peace and zeal to their hearts. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI STAFF 2017-2018 Prekindergarten -Gina Giorsetto/Rebecca Bonadona (Erika Garcia on Maternity Leave) Kindergarten - Victoria Gresham/Irene Frankart First Grade - Ariel Olea Second Grade - Sister Hannah Johnecheck Third Grade - Theresa Whitman Fourth Grade - Heather McGowan Fifth Grade - Dena Swift/Ana Zazueta Sixth Grade - Jennifer Casanova Seventh Grade - Eva Castro Eighth Grade - Shara Castro Middle School Catechism - Charlotte Luckerath Library - Mary Slater PE/Computer - Yesica Lopez Intervention - Viola Lopez/Marcela Macias/Grace Martin Primary Instructional Coach - Alena Ibarra Homework Club Coordinator - Ashley Taylor Custodians - Jose Valdez/Victor Sanchez School Secretary - Stella Ochoa Office Assistant - Sister Mary Beth Kornely Administrative Secretary - Alma Lopez Principal - Veronica Lopez REMINDERS 1. As the summer months in Yuma are SUPER hot, please make sure to send your student with a water bottle! 2. Enclosed in your brown envelope is the August Calendar, please refer to the calendar for daily uniform dress and/or activities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school office. 3. Dress Code : Shoes such as Bobs, Toms, Vans, or other casual shoes are not considered dress shoes and should not be worn on Full Dress Uniform Days. 4. Homework Club will begin Monday, August 14, for any family who needs after school child care. The students who will be attending Homework Club will be needing an end of the day snack. They will need to be picked up promptly at 5:30 to avoid an additional fee. 5. Happy Birthday! If you are interested in having your child s birthday celebrated by placing their name on the school marquee or having a birthday song sung over the morning
WELCOME TO OUR ST. FRANCIS FAMILY We would like to welcome all of our new families to St. Francis School! We are excited that you are becoming a part of a tight knit family who share in the love of God, our Church, and school! St. Francis of Assisi School staff and parents are all here to support your transition and make your school year a successful one. Never hesitate to ask any one of us to clarify questions! We were all new once! ORIENTATION Orientation will be held on Tuesday, August 8th from 7:30-11:30 and 12:30-4:30. Please stop by the school first so that you can meet your child s teacher and drop off all school supplies! Once you have dropped off your supplies walk to the parish hall to begin the orientation process. Please enter through the southeast door, where you will meet with Mrs. Lopez, principal, and be given your St. Francis Parent/Student Handbook and directions to complete your orientation. On Orientation Day you will be paying the following Home and Schools fees of $235, Dads Fee $10, and purchases through Booster Club ($25 per sport or $85 for all four sports, non refundable and/or $10 concession snack cards for Tuesday and Thursday snack purchases at lunch recess). All the fees listed can be paid by cash, check, credit card, or debit card to Home and School Treasurer, Kelly Mayfield. Classes will officially begin on Wednesday, August 9, at 8:00 am. announcements, please fill out the Student Council Birthday Form, located in the front office or website. Cost for the marquee is $5 and $5 for the birthday song and $10 for both. REMODELING OF THE KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM We are excited about the remodeling of our kindergarten classroom! Thanks to Todd Taylor, St. Francis of Assisi Parish Business Manager, and Jose Valdez and Victor Sanchez, St. Francis of Assisi School Custodians, for all of the hard work, blood, sweat, and some tears they put into the remodeling of the kinder classroom! If you have the opportunity, please stop by and see our new kinder classroom! FRESH LOOK Thanks to the Dads Club who has created a new fresh look to the front landscaping of St. Francis School! We are so proud of the vision Dads Club has in making our school have great curb appeal! We so appreciate what our Dads Club does in supporting our school! UPDATE OF LIBRARY AND WINDOW RENOVATION As we worked through the process of expanding our library and redoing our prekindergarten and kindergarten windows, we found ourselves relooking at our timeline. We were hoping that both projects would have been completed by the deadline, but we all know that all things happen in God s time! Our library design encountered challenges in the permitting process which resulted in significant delays but also in an improved design. We were able to accomplish the large open floor plan that was desired and avoid any interior partitions through additional engineering. Our permit has been issued and construction is underway.
In order to find the most cost effective design that provides safety, aesthetics, and energy efficiency, the window renovation project in prekindergarten and kindergarten has been postponed until Christmas break. We understand that God has control of the big picture and He will continue to guide us through the process of renovating our school and creating a great learning environment that supports our students success. NEW LUNCH SCHEDULE 11:00-11:20 - Pre-Kindergarten-Second Grade Lunch 11:20-11:40 - Kindergarten-Second Grade Lunch Recess *Drop off lunch into bins between 10:30-10:55 11:40-12:00 - Third-Fifth Grade Lunch 12:00-12:20 - Third-Fifth Grade Lunch Recess *Drop off lunch into bins between 11:00-11:35 12:05-12:25 - Sixth-Eighth Grade Lunch 12:25-12:45 - Sixth-Eighth Grade Lunch Recess *Drop off lunch into bins between 10:35-12:00 Hot lunch menu is available to order lunches from August 14th - 24th. Order forms are due by August 11th. The cost per lunch is $4.50 per lunch or $5.50 for an extra serving. You may pack a sack lunch for your child and send with them or drop off a lunch in bins located in the school lobby. DROP OFF and PICK UP PROCEDURES Drop Off Procedures Students in grades 1-8 arriving between 7:30 am and 8:00 am should be dropped off in the south church parking lot. Cars will enter through 6 th Avenue and exit onto 19 th Street. If you need to park, park vehicles on the designated parking spots on the west side of the church parking lot. Students must use the sidewalk to enter the playground. Parents with Prekindergarten - Kindergarten students and their siblings may be dropped off in the parking lot on the west side of the school near the kindergarten classroom. If parents are walking their child to the classroom they must park in a regular parking space. Prekindergarten parents MUST walk their child to the classroom and sign them in. Students arriving before 7:30 am are to wait quietly in the lobby until released to the playground. Any student arriving after 8:00 am must be dropped off in front of school. K-2 grade students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian into the school.
Students who are dropped off in front of the school should be dropped at the curb closest to the school. Do not drop students off on the north side of 18 th Street. THE AREA DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL IS A RED ZONE AND VEHICLES SHOULD NOT PARK THERE. Pickup Procedures Kindergarten students must be picked up in their classroom. Kindergarten students with older siblings will be picked up at the south parking lot. Students in grades 1-8 who have prekindergarten siblings will be picked up at the Ramada after prekindergarten students are signed out from the classroom. Siblings in grades 1-8 MAY NOT sign out prekindergarten students. Cars will enter through 6 th Ave. and exit onto 19 th Street Families whose last name begin with A- M will be in line A (closest to the school), those whose last names begin with N- Z will be in line B (near 19 th Street). Vehicles will form four rows of cars facing west. Students must be picked up from the pick-up area and may not be picked up from 17 th Street or the west parking lot near the kindergarten class. IF THE VEHICLES ARE MOVING THE STUDENTS ARE NOT. IF THE STUDENTS ARE MOVING THE VEHICLES ARE NOT. PARENTS/GUARDIANS ARE TO STAY IN THEIR VEHICLES. The line that is loaded first will move first Homework club students will walk out with their class and will remain in a designated area and will be escorted back to the building when the staff returns to the school building. Staff members are visible to prevent accidents and to help with a quick and smooth pick up. Please be courteous when following our staff s safety directions. Please follow all pickup and drop-off procedures for the safety of our children. Please make sure to follow our drop-off and pick procedures in order to avoid any accidents that may cause injury to a child! These procedures were thought out carefully and we expect our parents to understand the importance of the procedures and avoid creating their own procedures to accommodate your family. If accommodations need to be made, please speak with Principal Lopez.