The upcoming school year is just around the corner. Throughout my life, this time of year has always been one of my favorites. The weather is warm, vacations are concluding, plants and vegetables are ready to harvest, and the fall activities in leadership and sports are starting to percolate on campus. I am literally thrilled to see all the Back-to-School displays and colorful stacks of supplies in the stores - not just to buy for my two sons but for the excitement known as the start of a new school year. For me, this is as exciting as the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

As a "Seasoned Salesian Educator," my present enthusiasm differs from my youthful sense of expectation only in its focus. There is still a vibrant sense of personal renewal, but as the President/Principal, I am keenly aware of our responsibilities to provide our students with an exemplary educational experience - one that is relevant, memorable, and Salesian in every respect. The excitement of a new school year brings hope and renewed commitment to mentor each of our students and their families to fulfill their child's spiritual, academic, athletic, service, performance, and leadership aspirations.

The sense of renewal extends to our campus as well. The movement and renovations to offices and classrooms is expected to be on schedule for the start of school. The front office was reconfigured and painted, the gym floor redone, and the lakeside switchbacks have been planted. While the staff and I have been reviewing data, examining policies, and assessing resources as we plan our programming for the coming year, our facilities team have been painting lockers (our school color) and sprucing up our facilities in anticipation of the new school year.

In June, as I do every year, I attended a professional development session at Don Bosco Hall at UC Berkeley that brought Salesian administrators together from various works in the Western Province.  Also in attendance from St. Francis were Mr. John Marheineke, our Coordinator of Youth Ministry, and Ms. Kirsten Brockschmidt, our Assistant Principal of Academics. The program is called SES-Salesian Education Seminar -- an annual conference designed to educate more fully to the maintenance of Salesian identity on our high school campuses.  Sprinkled throughout our time together were presentations on the history and vision of St. John Bosco as well as the practical application of his educational philosophy in the 21^st century; as is typically the case, we each came away with a renewed zeal for the educational process as articulated by Don Bosco and an ever-increasing admiration for the saint.  He was, indeed, a visionary about institutions (parochial schools, high schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, missions, and colleges) that mean to serve youth. 

Certainly, all Salesian works, by intentional design, measure their work's success by the degree to which they are in touch with the concerns and interests of the youth and the degree to which they respond with loving care to the challenges faced by our young people today.  More evident here than in any private or public school setting, we gear all that we do to the educational mission of being fully present to our students in their journey towards adulthood. 

In the middle of the 19^th century, St. John Bosco observed, that it was not enough that a mentor/teacher loved one's students; rather, that the students must know they are loved.  Even now, after decades of educational research during the late 20^th century, the number one factor in student success, more than school funding, demographics, or other indices of differences in schools, is whether the students believe their teachers care about them.  It is my observation that our students genuinely feel this care. From your comments and my observations, students like it here, and they like their teachers.  Most significantly, students know their teachers like and care about them.  By personal experiences, by countless anecdotes, and by objective survey, we know that our students see the genuine, abiding, personal-yet-professional respect and care we have for them.

Before I conclude my welcome, I want to celebrate some St. Francis success stories:

1.The class of 2013 had a 100% graduation rate and college acceptance rate. They earned $2.9 million in scholarships

2. Over the past ten years, 99% of St. Francis graduates attend college, with 85% choosing to attend a 4-year university and 14% choosing a 2-year college.

3.   Annually, 25% of the total student population has a 4.0 GPA or better.

4.   100% of our students participate in at least one or more extra/co-curricular activities. These activities include leadership, service, clubs, theater, music ministry, cheer/dance, or athletics.

5.    Annually, 75% of the total student population participates on one or more athletic teams. With that said, 54% of all varsity student athletes maintain a 3.0 GPA or better.

6.   Our students test well above average on the AP, PSAT, and SAT exams. Our six-year SAT scores are 110 points higher than the national average, and the five-year AP pass rate is 78%. This is 19% higher than the national average.

7.   Congratulations to Ms. Denise Colosi and her AP Calculus students and Ms. Beth Madia and her AP English Literature students for a 100% pass rate on their AP exams last May.

I hope all students are wrapping up their summer reading assignments. All students must have completed their reading by the start of school and be prepared for the follow-up assessments. Some AP students have assignments due on or before the first day of school. If you have any questions about the reading assignment, you may review the complete details on our website. I am also very excited to have the author of our all-school read, Doing School, Dr. Denise Clark Pope, speaking to our students and parents in September.

Please read this newsletter carefully - it contains important back-to-school information, including calendar and schedule information as well as important upcoming events and updates from our Counselor, Dean of Students, and the two Assistant Principals.

Finally, I wish to extend a warm welcome to our new incoming students and their families. You are about to become part of a remarkable community of Salesian students, and I look forward to the opportunity to get to know each of you in the years ahead.

This year's school theme is "Living the Dream."  This year, each of us will get the chance to live the dream by leading, serving, and inspiring our communities - both our St. Francis High School community and our home town communities. It is an honor and a privilege to work with each of you at the greatest high school in the universe.

I hope to see all incoming freshman parents at the Freshmen Parent Orientation on August 12^th and all other families at the Booster BBQ on the 16^th and/or the Back-to-School Night on the 27^th.  

Yours in Christ,

Patrick Lee

President and Principal