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December &
January Calendars
December 1
National Honor Society
Coffee House 3-5 p.m.
December 2
Grade 9 Student Council Elections
Evening of Stars Meeting
Cafeteria
7 p.m.
December 5
Fontbonne Academy &
BC High Concert
Fontbonne Auditorium
5 p.m.
December 6
Tony Kenny's
Christmas Time in Ireland Concert
Fontbonne Auditorium 3 p.m.
December 8
Immaculate Conception Liturgy, all are welocme 8:30 a.m.
December 10
Christmas Concert
Fontbonne Auditorium
7 p.m.
December 12
Parents Guild Giving Tree
Gift Wrapping
10 a.m.
Cafeteria
December 14
Christmas Raffle Card Campaign Ends
December 18
Early Dismissal
12 p.m.
December 22
Christmas Recess begins
2 p.m.
January 4
Classes Resume
January 14
Early Dismissal
12 p.m.
Alumnae Association Meeting
Fontbonne Library
7 p.m.
January 18
Martin Luther King Day
No Classes
January 22
March for Life
Washington, D.C.
January 23
Parents Evening Out:
Pot Luck Dinner & Bowling
Cunningham Hall
6:30 p.m.
January 31
International Festival
Fontbonne Auditorium
4 p.m.
Financial Aid Applications Due
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Important Reminder!
Financial Aid
Applications Due
January 31
Financial aid applications are due at the end of January 2010
for priority consideration.
Paper applications in English or Spanish are available by request
after January 4. |
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from the School Nurse,
Ms. Susan Katchpole
We have had no confirmed cases of H1N1 this fall at Fontbonne Academy. This is most likely due to the lack of laboratory testing being done on healthy adolescents with flu like symptoms. There has been a slight increase in the number of flu like illnesses at Fontbonne over the past two weeks. This is consistent with a majority of schools in the Boston area.
We are still awaiting the arrival of the H1N1 vaccine and will distribute permission slips as soon as we receive the order to proceed from the Milton Board of Health. We continue to follow infection control procedures and ask you to keep your children at home if they are ill.
Please remember to call the school each morning and report your daughter's absence. You will be asked to provide information on the nature of the illness. This information is used for careful surveillance and tracking of the virus.
I would like to thank all community members especially the students and the parents who are working with us to keep Fontbonne a healthy learning community. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the nursing office.
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December Update
Many parents gathered for a fun night out in November to bowl at Cunningham Hall in Milton.
The Parents Guild hosted a potluck dinner and bowling on Saturday, November 14, at Cunningham Park Hall in Milton. After enjoying a lavish buffet of food and lively conversation, the parents had a hilarious time candlepin bowling. There was a fair amount of friendly competition as teams switched up and spouses bowled against each other. For those parents who were unable to attend...fear not! Another night of bowling is scheduled for Saturday, January 23!
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Holiday Raffle Card Fundraiser
A group of juniors performed on Spirit Day which kicks off the annual student-led fundraiser, Holiday Raffle Card.
Our traditional Spirit Day celebration kicked off the 18th Annual Holiday Raffle Card campaign. Our hope is that every student participates in this school-wide project in order to reach the ambitious goal of $45,000. The drive will end December 14, 2009.
Your daughter will be responsible for the 12 holiday raffle cards she has been assigned. All raffle cards have been numbered and recorded. All unsold holiday cards, or the monetary value of $10 each, must be returned by Monday, December 14.
As an incentive for selling 12 raffle cards, your daughter will not be required to wear her uniform for the remainder of the calendar year (through December 31, 2009). If the school meets its goal, the Christmas vacation will begin two days earlier than scheduled: the last day of classes will be Friday, December 18.
Our student-driven fund raiser has always been a great success! It helps not only to raise funds to support Fontbonne Academy, but it also fosters a wonderful sense of community spirit.
Thank you for your cooperation and support. We appreciate your help. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Office of Mission & Ministry at 617.615.3041.
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Highlights from the
Athletic Department
Natalie Falco '10 signed a National Letter of Intent with Coker College in North Carolina. She will be on their golf team and study art there next year. Congratulations, Natalie!
Fall State Tournament Highlights:
Volleyball made it to the State South Section Semi-Finals, losing in the most exciting match of the season to Bourne High School. Bourne went on to win the South Sectional.
Ducks swim to the top!! Congratulations to Clarissa Palmer who finished #1 in the state for the 50 yard freestyle over the weekend! She also finished second in the state in the 100 yard freestyle and was named to the Boston Globe All Scholastic team. Sam Sliwinski finished 3rd in the state in the backstroke. Great job!
Winter sports have just begun. We look forward to strong seasons from basketball and ice hockey this year!
The Volleyball Team after a post-season win versus Cardinal Spellman High School on November 9.
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Tony Kenny's
Christmas Time in Ireland Show
in the Fontbonne Auditorium
December 6,
General Admission tickets are still available at $25 each. Checks can be made out to "Fontbonne Academy" and purchased through the Main Office. | |
From the Head of School
Dear Parents and Families,
At this time of year we find ourselves very busy preparing for upcoming holidays. We can lose sight of the reason for the season. Wisely, the Church created the season of Advent to remind us that Christmas is first and foremost a holy day. During Advent we await and look for the birth of Jesus in our own time, in our daily lives wherever we find ourselves. In this coming, our worlds are made brighter in the joy we experience with those we love, just as Mary and Joseph awaited and were profoundly changed by the birth of Jesus so long ago.
Within our Fontbonne walls, we are also preparing for our world to be transformed and made brighter. In January, the exchange program with Northlands School in Argentina will bring three girls to Fontbonne Academy for three weeks. This is a reciprocal visit as Fontbonne students visited the Northlands School last summer. In late February and early March, Fontbonne students will host students from Lycée Saint-Louis de Gonzague in Paris, and then travel to their school in June. Girls from Colegio-Jesus Maria in Buenos Aires will visit in April and Fontbonne students will travel to Argentina in June. These exchange programs enlarge the Fontbonne experience for all students. The young women from Argentina and France will bring their unique cultures to Fontbonne along with our Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese students who study with us throughout the school year. Daily, they remind us that we are citizens of a world that is so wonderfully diverse. What an opportunity we are given to personally experience this richness in daily life here at Fontbonne. What a gift these precious students are as they teach us about their worlds and strengthen our school's goal to make all of our students aware of their global citizenship.
We continue to educate students globally. New technologies, like the wikis you can read about in this issue, allow our teachers to reach far beyond the classroom walls. Our fine faculty ensures that 21st century skills are in place to propel our students' quests into that wider world and prepare them for the many new challenges they do and will face.
We have much to celebrate. I wish you and all those you love a blessed Christmas and joy-filled New Year. May we continue to experience the joy of recognizing God as we meet and learn about new people and discover what we hold in common.
Sincerely,
Mary Ellen Barnes
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Monthly Spotlight:
Mr. Welch's Theology IV Class
Mr. Welch is leveraging wiki technology in his Theology IV Social Justice Class, comprised of seniors.
Mr. Welch has begun using wikis as a tool for sharing class information in his Theology IV Social Justice class. A wiki is an interactive web-based technology that allows users to contribute to the content; a well known wiki, for example, is Wikipedia where users contribute to a web-based encyclopedia. Mr. Welch set up a wiki for his Social Justice classes which is private and secure, so that material is not available to anyone else on the internet. It can be viewed and edited only by Mr. Welch and by the members of his Social Justice classes.
The wiki tool allows a great amount of information to be shared among students, as well as providing additional learning opportunities. Mr. Welch began using this technology when discussing the issue of healthcare. Students gave presentations to their classes about various aspects of healthcare reform, and then uploaded their presentation slides to the class wiki, which were then available for the whole class to use as reference material. Students have also responded to questionnaires on the wiki and participated in wiki-hosted discussions. Finally, various media, including video clips or primary source documents, can be embedded in the wiki and used as reference for student assignments.
"One advantage to using the wiki is that it provides an additional forum for students to contribute and to respond to each others' ideas. Sometimes, students post a thought on the discussion board that becomes a springboard for class discussion," said Mr. Welch. "An additional advantage is that the two different sections of my Social Justice classes can be in communication with each other. When a student from one section responds on the discussion board, a student in the other section, who is a member of the same wiki, can read and respond to it."
Mr. Welch's classes are now using the wiki as they turn their attention to their next topic, consumerism, once again using the discussion boards to comment on class concepts as they see them in action in the real world. In addition to the students' own input, the class is interested in learning about changes in consumer trends across generations. A questionnaire the students filled out on the wiki has been modified and posted on Mr. Welch's website so that parents, alumnae, and other friends of the Fontbonne community can fill it out and contribute to a livelier discussion among the students.
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National Honor Society Induction
Held on November 19
A newly inducted group of National Honor Society students wear their stoles for the first time.
Congratulations go to the newest members of the National Honor Society who were inducted during the annual Mother Saint John Fontbonne prayer service on November 19.
From left to right, back row: Indira Rivero'11, Maredith Richardson '11, Meghan Collins '11, Nicole Derba '11, Kelly Leavitt '10, Olivia Kajencki '10, Caitlin Gemma '11, Alanna Sparagna '11, Anne Marie Keane '10, Jessica Delahunt '11.
Front row: Lina Tran '11, Taylor Doherty '11, Skye Ellement '11, Mary McGunnigal '11, Katherine Nguyen '11, Catherine Vu '11, Christina Ferrera '11, Alexandra Rezendes '11, Julie Sullivan '11, Emma Byrd '11.
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"A Christmas Carol"
Fills the Auditorium with Christmas Cheer
Congratulations to The Good Fountain Players who put on a wonderful rendition of "A Christmas Carol" the weekend of November 20-22. The Fontbonne auditorium was packed for all three performances, and the audiences were not disappointed with the lively and well-acted show. Many thanks to all the hard-working actresses and crew and the faculty and staff members who offered voluminous time and energy to the production. Thanks also go to the ever-present Mrs. Fortier and Director, Mr. Emma, for their notable efforts!
Carolers sang throughout the performance, at times winding through the auditorium. Their beautiful voices serenaded the audiences with Christmas carols.
Mackenzie Furash '11 played the Ghost of Christmas Present and Jackie Zahn '12 played the lead role of Ebenezer Scrooge.
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2010 Exchange Programs
Two exchange programs will be in effect in 2010, one with a school in Argentina, and one with a school near Paris, France. Below are descriptions from the World Languages Department.
Argentina Program Description: The program is open to students completing grades 10 and 11. Only four students will be accepted this year. Students from Fontbonne Academy will leave after exams and stay for four weeks with a host family from Colegio Jesús Maria (an all-girls Catholic school). For more information on the school, the website is http://www.jmbaires.edu.ar/sitio/inicio/index.php. Students who are accepted will be hosting Argentine students in April 2010.
During the four weeks in Argentina, students will attend classes with host families' daughters. Sra. Bond will accompany students on the flight to Argentina and serve as a contact while in Argentina. She will also work with the school to be sure that the exchange is successful.
France Program Description: The program is open to students completing grades 10 and 11. Only four students will be accepted this year. The approximate travel dates for the students from Fontbonne Academy are June 18 (departure) and July 7 (return). During their time in France, students will stay with a host family from Franklin (a Jesuit school in Paris). For more information on the school, the website is http://www.franklinparis.fr/index.php. Students who are accepted will be hosting French students who arrive Feb. 17 and depart March 8.
During the 2 ½ weeks in France, students will live with the host families, take a 2-3 day trip to the Normandie / Bretagne region, and explore the city of Paris. The Fontbonne chaperone will accompany students on the flight to and from Paris, will accompany them on the trip to Normandie / Bretagne, will accompany them on visits to Paris museums and cultural attractions, and will serve as a contact while in France. The Fontbonne chaperone will also work with the school to be sure that the exchange is successful.
Academic Credit: Fontbonne Academy will offer ½ credit to its students who participate in these programs. In order to receive the academic credit, students will meet with Sra. Bond or Mme. A. Herbert on a regular basis to work on conversation skills and to develop a stronger awareness of the culture and the contemporary issues of the country. During the hosting of students, Fontbonne students will serve as gracious hosts and will work to make a positive cultural experience for the visiting students. Throughout the trip to Argentina or France, students will make the most of the opportunity by experiencing family life, improving speaking skills, and participating in family activities. In addition, after the trip, students will write a reflection paper and will make presentations in order to share this cultural experience with our students.
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Spirit Day
Fun and frolic filled the air on Wednesday November 25, as the annual Spirit Day activities began. Classes were clad in vibrant color with creative accessories, and the auditorium was filled with captivating performances.
Freshwomen wore pink...
Sophomores wore blue...
Juniors wore green...
And the Seniors wore black. | |
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Fontbonne Academy 
