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St. Francis High School
Salesian College Preparatory
2400 East Lake Ave.
Watsonville, CA 95076
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Important Dates for October 2013
Saturday, October 5: Burgundy and Gray Event
Monday, October 7: School Holiday
Wednesday, October 16: Frosh Retreat (meet at Aptos Village Park at 7:45am)
Sophomore and Junior PSAT Day (be at school by 7:50am)
Seniors have no school
Friday, October 18: 1st Quarter Ends
Friday, October 25: Student Holiday/Faculty-Staff Inservice
Monday, October 28: Progress Reports Sent Home Through RenWeb
Athletic Eligibility Determined this week
Tuesday, October 29: Parent-Teacher Conferences from 5:30-8pm
Thursday, October 31: Halloween Dress Up
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Early Start Dates for October 2013
Remember on these dates students don't start school until 9:25am
10/9, 10/18, 10/24.
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Academic Insight: How Can I Help a Child Who Does Not Like to Read?
From Ms. Brockschmidt, in collaboration with Counseling and English Departments
As parents, we celebrate the report card that brings home straight A's, or comes as close to that as possible. This might lead us to believe that every student should be equally strong in each academic area. However, our high schoolers are in transition from learning very general knowledge in their middle school to becoming high specialized at the university. In these four high school years, a student should discover his/her strengths. This discovery is aided by an awareness of likes, dislikes, and natural talents.
What if it is becoming clear that reading is not one of my child's strengths? It is important to understand that most people will likely peak in one of eight different areas of intelligence. Linguistic, which leads to a love of reading, is just one of the eight areas. You might find your child's desire to read overshadowed by his mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, or naturalistic abilities. (Multiple Intelligences, by Howard Gardner)
Commonly, when a parent expresses concern that their child hates to read, this child is very athletic. If kinesthetics is your child's greatest expression of his intelligence, just think what reading means to him. He must sit still, totally motionless, and concentrate on just words. We do not expect everyone to spike a volleyball, or kick a field goal, but we ask each child to read the same number of pages in each school year.
What can you do?
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Remember that you child has outstanding intelligence in some area.
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Find out why your child doesn't like to read. Is it the particular content or reading in general?
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Help your child to see reading as a life skill, not just an academic exercise.
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We naturally like to do the things we are good at, so even small improvements in reading ability might help. Reading ability is improved through practice, so encourage reading, even it is a sports or fashion magazine.
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Try other methods of processing written text, including audio books and reading aloud.
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Is something happening when you child reads that is interfering? Do the words move on the page? Does a colored cellophane overlay help with processing?
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Talk to your child about what he reads. It makes it more interesting.
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Try a simple reward system for completing required reading.
If you find something that works for your student, let us know so we can share it. Also, if you have an academic question or issue, that might be interesting to our learning community, please do not hesitate to send it to brockschmidt@stfrancishigh.net.
Follow-Up: Denise Clark Pope
If you were able to join us (or weren't able to but are still curious) about our guest speaker on September 30, Dr. Denise Clark Pope, author of Doing School, please visit www.challengesuccess.org to learn more about Dr. Pope's research and tips for parents.
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 Athletic News: Stay up to date by visiting our Department of Athletics site |
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Upcoming Events
Athletics News: Alumni Basketball on November 27
The St. Francis Athletic Department is excited to announce the first men's and women's alumni basketball game! On Wednesday, November 27th in the BAC, the current women's team will face alumni at 5:30pm, followed by the men's team and alumni at 7pm. It will be a great night to see some basketball action and catch up with old friends. Tickets for fans are $5 each, and players are free. All alumni will get a shirt to play in at the game. Open to former varsity players who completed their senior season with the Sharks. Invitations to alumni are being sent, so watch your mailbox and RSVP to let us know you're coming to play. Follow the link for more information and to RSVP
St. Francis High School Alumni Basketball Game 2013
Frosh Retreat: Wednesday, October 16
The Frosh Retreat will be held on Wednesday, October 16 at Aptos Village Park (100 Aptos Creek Rd). All freshmen should arrive at the park at 7:45am. The day will include group and individual reflection, prayer time, and activity time. Lunch will be provided, and the day will conclude at 2:00pm. Please plan on prompt drop off and pick up. Students, please wear closed-toed shoes and dress warmly. Aptos is often foggy in the morning and may warm up later in the day. Please contact Mr. Marheineke at marheineke@stfrancishigh.net with any questions and any information regarding food allergies, sensitivities, or other health concerns.
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Admissions Update: Shadow-a-Shark
The "Shadow-a-Shark" Program is a great opportunity for prospective students to visit our campus and spend the day as a St. Francis student. Each shadow visit is a full school day at St. Francis during which you will view classes, eat lunch with your host, and meet St. Francis students and faculty. The Shadow-a-Shark dates for 2013-2014 are as follows: October 8, 17, 23, and 30; November 5, 11, and 15; December 4, 6, 10, and 12; and January 9, 15, 17, 22, 28, and 30.
Contact Ms. Marheineke in the Admissions Office to schedule a Shadow day admissions@stfrancishigh.net or visit our website www.stfrancishigh.net.
Admissions Dates to Remember
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Early Commitment Application Deadline: November 8, 2013 LINK
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Presidential Scholarship Application Deadline: November 24, 2013 LINK
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Open House: November 24, 2013, 1-4PM
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Applicant Exams: January 11 & 18, 2014
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Regular Admissions Deadline: January 31, 2014
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Student/Family Interviews: February 8, 2014
Applications now available apply online at www.stfrancishigh.net
Admissions Family Information Nights
During October, the Admissions office will be hosting family information nights in various locations. Our first event will be hosted in Gilroy, on October 9th at 6:30pm.
Additional Family Information Nights are as follows:
October 14th @ The Rose Family home in Watsonville
October 16th @ Resurrection Catholic Church in Aptos
October 21st @ Sacred Heart Parish School in Hollister
October 30th @ Holy Cross School in Santa Cruz
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Counseling Department: October News All Student Reminders
The month of October is a busy and important one because it marks the period when standardized testing begins for many of our students and due dates for many college applications for seniors.
For Seniors:
CSU application timeline: October 1- November 30. A school workshop was held after-school on October 3, but all seniors are invited to see Mrs. Green if they need help applying.
UC application timeline: November 1-30. The UC website opened on October 1, but application submission will not be available until November 1. An after-school workshop will be held on Wednesday, November 6, at 2:35PM. Seniors applying to a school in the UC system are strongly recommended to attend this workshop.
Common Application timeline: Vary according to colleges. Check college websites for specific information. An after-school workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 8, at 2:35PM. Seniors applying to colleges using the Common Application are encouraged to attend.
Some scholarships are currently available for senior students. Check with Ms. Green for the latest information.
Seniors can continue to take SAT/Subject and ACT tests until December 2013 for college applications. Remember to include future dates on which you plan to take the SAT or ACT on your applications. Remember that you must send your score reports to those colleges you are applying via the College Board or the ACT websites. St. Francis cannot send official score reports to your colleges.
For Sophomores and Juniors: PSAT on Wednesday, October 16
The PSAT is given to allsophomores and juniors to prepare them for the kinds of questions they will be expected to know for the SAT and to help them determine where their individual skill levels are in relation to other students locally and nationwide. It provides important insights about what your student needs to know and do in order to improve in those areas of concern. It also provides the school insights into potential curriculum areas to improve upon.
The sophomores are given the test as a practice in standardized testing protocol. Juniors, who score very high (99th percentile) on the PSAT test become eligible for National Merit Scholarship recognition. This type of recognition can be very valuable when they apply for college as seniors.
The PSAT testing date this year is October 16. Your student should be bringing home a PSAT practice test booklet. Please encourage him/her to work on a few questions every evening to help improve their scores. Teachers will also be using various questions from the booklet and other strategies in the classroom to assist in this process.
The test day will be a special schedule shortened to a half-day program. Students need to be at St. Francis from 7:50am - 11:15am. in regular school dress. They will be asked to report to assigned classrooms to take the exams. Parents and students will need to make arrangements for student pick-up to accommodate this early release schedule. This is a mandatory school day for juniors, sophomores, and freshmen.
Freshmen and Seniors: Wednesday, October 16
On Wednesday, October 16 while the sophomores and juniors will be taking the PSAT, freshmen will be attending their class retreat.
Seniors are not required to be in school this day. This will give them the opportunity to work on their college applications, which will need to be concluded in early November. Remind your student to complete the Senior Profile by early October and make copies or send via e-mail to Ms. Green and the teachers from whom they are requesting letters of recommendation.
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Special Visitors to St. Francis: Fr. John Alexander, SDB and Sr. Kathleen Taylor
Homecoming Week saw St. Francis receive two extraordinary visits by guests from outside the United States. The first came on September 25 when Fr. John Alexander came to visit St. Francis. Fr. John Alexander, SDB is the rector and correspondent of Don Bosco High School, Egmore, Chennai (India) and a Provincial Council member of the Salesian Province of Chennai (INM). He is on a worldwide tour to meet with alumni and visit other Salesian sites. During his visit, he met with Fr. David and Mr. Lee to see the school, meet some of our students, and have an informal conversation about possible future exchange programs between our two Don Bosco Schools. Fr. David also took him across the street to meet with Fr. Marc and Fr. Joseph.
As seen in the picture, on September 26, Sr. Carmen, Sr. Thuey, and Fr. Marc escorted Sr. Kathleen Taylor to meet with the staff and students of St. Francis. She is visiting from Ireland on her Canonical Visit of Salesian Elementary and Junior High School during this week, and Sr. Carmen wanted Sr. Kathleen to tour our school and meet with the leadership to demonstrate our extended partnership in mission. Sr. Thuey and Mrs. Marheineke were busy snapping photos while the school leaders met, dialogued, laughed, and met with students. Mrs. Marhenieke provided an extensive tour of the school along with a richly detailed history.
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Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead is an important event for many cultures around the world, and each culture has its own way of celebrating loved ones who have passed on. Watsonville and Santa Cruz County is no exception. In fact, even in our own community, we can observe a variety of ways to celebrate the lives of beloved family members and friends who are no longer with us. Mi Casa Es Tu Casa is an annual exhibit inspired by Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a traditional Mexican holiday in which people celebrate their ancestors and those who have passed away by constructing altars in their homes to remember the dead. Since 1996, the Pajaro Valley Arts Council has been inviting the community into their "home gallery" to build an altar to remember and celebrate those who they have lost.
This year, St Francis students are creating an altar. The entire St. Francis community is welcome to provide a photo of a family member to be remembered. Original photos might not be returned so email or print a copy of a photo to Mrs. Alonzo at alonzo@stfrancishigh.net. Photos must be turned in no later than Tuesday, October 15 to be included. Please contact Mrs. Alonzo if you have any questions or would like to help build the altar. For more info about PVAC: http://www.pajarovalleyartscouncil.org/
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Drive For Schools Tickets
St. Francis will be participating the Drive For Schools fundraiser sponsored by Toyota of Santa Cruz, Subaru of Santa Cruz, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Each family should have received their tickets in the mail. Since 2005, this annual car give away drawing has raised more than $2.3 million for Santa Cruz County schools. 100% of the proceeds from our sales of the Drive For Schools tickets go directly to St. Francis. Your tickets have already been paid for through your registration fee. This year the grand prize winner can choose between a new Toyota Prius or Subaru Outback including tax, title, and license. If you are not in the market for a new car, you can opt for the $25,000 in cash. There are also over 100 additional prizes. The drawing will take place at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk on Sunday, October 27 (you need not be present to win). You must be 18 years of age to enter. You may keep all of the tickets for yourself or resell them. In either case, all of the ticket stubs need to be filled out and returned to the front office by October 11. Ticket stubs need to be returned to Toyota of Santa Cruz by a school representative. Please do not return ticket stubs to Toyota of Santa Cruz. If you need additional tickets, please call Michele Bowling at 724-5933 x221, or email her at bowling@stfrancishigh.net. We do have additional booklets available.
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ParentsWeb
RenWeb School Management Software gives you, the busy parent, an opportunity to get more involved in your child's academic progress and future success - all via the Internet!
Parents are strongly encouraged to partner with the school by using RenWeb. One way to do that is to use the RenWeb accounts and regularly check your students' grades. Know what your student is doing well, and what s/he needs help with...and follow up with him or her daily. Parents can also keep aware of assignments and other important class-related issues through the "Calendar" and "School Home" sections. All students received an orientation in August about the use, and usefulness, of this online program; students can also assist their parents in utilizing their accounts.
Grades for each class are updated on RenWeb on a regular basis, and they can be reviewed in the Student Home under Student Information.
RenWeb's ParentsWeb is a private and secure parents' portal that will allow parents to view academic information specific to their children, while protecting their children's information from others. You can see your child's grades, attendance, homework and conduct, as well as other useful school information. You c-an also communicate with teachers and other school staff online whenever necessary. All you need is an Internet-capable computer.
To login and set up your parent account please go to this LINK
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"Do good while you still have time." -St. John Bosco
Sincerely,
Newsletter Team
St. Francis High School
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