Dear Academy Families,

We have had a wonderful first week here at the school! Your children arrived on Wednesday with big smiles across their faces. The first couple of days were filled with excitement, introductions, and reuniting with friends, teachers, and peers.  As Mrs. Hayes and I walked around the building, it was so nice to see both our students and teachers hard at work. And of course, we began the 2022-2023 school year with a joyful Opening of School Mass this morning.  I know next week we will hit the ground running for our first full week of school. 

We are so happy that you have chosen what we feel is the best investment a parent can make in a child’s future; a Catholic education. That choice and investment don’t end each week on Friday afternoon. We as parents are all called at our children’s baptism to be the primary caretakers of our children’s faith formation. 

When our kids go to Mass, they are physically in the presence of Christ. When our kids go to Mass, they hear the word of God and prayers praising Him. Those precious phrases expressing the foundations of our faith are repeated week after week, and they will stay with our kids forever. When our kids go to Mass, they will see that the Communion of Saints is made up of real people all united in the same act of worshiping God. It’s invaluable to see that reality played out in person every week. 

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mk 10:13-14

As parents, we are called to ensure that our children come to Mass every Sunday and to educate them in participating in the main divine worship event of the Church’s week.  We are called to help them celebrate and learn about their faith. Please know that the Pastoral Staff of both Blessed Trinity and St. Francis de Sales invite and encourage our families to participate in the Mass each and every weekend. 

Finally, we have assembled some websites, information, and digital forms pertinent to the start of a new school year.  These links along with the Family-Student Handbook and our Acceptable Use Policy are our way of keeping everyone “in the loop.”  Please note that some digital forms are optional and others are mandatory to be filled out. They are noted next to the name of the form. Any questions please call the main office. We encourage parent communication and involvement, please feel free to contact us with any concerns or questions you may have. 

Digital Forms

• In the FACTS Family Portal please make sure that you fill out (new families) or update (returning families) the Demographic, Medical, Custodial, Emergency Contact, and Transportation Forms ASAP. 
• Handbook Agreement Form (Mandatory Form)- Due 9/16/22
• Height and Weight Form (Please fill out one for each child) (Mandatory Form)- Due 9/16/22
• Parish Affiliation Form (Mandatory Form to qualify for affiliated tuition rate) – Due 9/23/22
• Class Captain Sign Up Form (Optional Form)
• Absence Note Form (Please note that a written absent note still needs to be sent into your child’s homeroom teacher to record the absence correctly in FACTS and for our legal records).

Please look below for a few updates and reminders for the first full week of the school year 2022-2023 school year. 

September 11th Day of Remembrance: It is difficult to believe that so much time has passed — it seems like yesterday — since we heard those first unbelievable reports that a plane, then another plane had crashed into the buildings of the World Trade Center. The anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, offers a time to remember, to reflect on this unforgettable moment in history, and to reconsider the effect that September 11 has had on our country and the world. This Monday as an academy community we will have the opportunity to pray as a school community at 1:15 pm in our Prayer Garden and learn about those horrific events to make sure that the next generation, “Never Forgets.”

NYC Yellow Bus Service: The New York City Department of Education provides transportation to all eligible New York City students in public, charter, and non-public schools. This includes the students of Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Academy. This year NYC Yellow bus service will start this Monday, September 12th. On Friday information about routes was sent home with those students who have signed up for bussing in the past and for those students who have signed up and qualified for bussing for the first time this school year. Please be patient with the bus on the first few days of bussing especially in the morning as routes are always being changed by the city at the last minute. Any questions please contact Mrs. Kenny in the main office. 

Back to School Nights (Meet the Teacher): 

All parents are invited to meet their child’s teacher(s) on the following dates:

• Tuesday, September 13th at 6 pm (Grades 1-4) 
• Thursday, September 15th at 6 pm (Grades 5-8)

On both Tuesday 9/13 and Thursday 9/15 from 6 pm-6:30 pm there will be a plenary session where the administration and the Academy Family Association Executive Board will present to families. At 6:30 pm families will be able to go to classrooms and “Meet the Teacher”. We hope to have 100% attendance at these important nights of the school year. 

This night is an information night. If there are any pressing issues or matters that need to be discussed with the teachers please make an appointment to see them at another date. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate individual conversations on Meet the Teacher night but would be more than happy to set up a time to discuss your child(ren). The teachers will be presenting the same information twice to accommodate those families that may have more than one child in the school. 

Pre-K and Nursery Start: This week Pre-Kindergarten and Nursery students both begin here at St. Francis. Families are asked to follow the schedule, drop off and pick up guidelines that were discussed at Back to School Night this week. Any questions please contact your child’s teacher via email or through SeeSaw. 

“Cool the School” Project: We are happy to announce that Phase 1 of the “Cool Our School” Air Conditioning Project was completed over Labor Day weekend. Phase 1 enabled us to install air conditioning in 13 classrooms on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th floors along with the Small Hall and the Main Office. 

We look forward to continuing with Phases 2 and 3 (2nd and 3rd Floors) during this school year.

A special thank you again to the Academy Family Association and all the families that helped fundraise last school year to help get this project up and running. Also a special thank you to one of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Sal Almedo, who spent hours the last two weeks making sure that this project was completed before our students returned to school. 

Academy Family Association: Speaking of the Academy Family Association we wanted to let the school community know that Mrs. Lisa Hayden, our AFA president is stepping down from her role to take a new part-time position in our school community. Starting next week Mrs. Hayden will be St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy’s Advancement and Marketing Coordinator. This new position will work very closely with the AFA on its fundraising initiatives. Mrs. Hayden will be overseeing the major 4-5 fundraiser events that our school has each year and also assist and help organize all volunteer recruitment. This position will look to expand our Alumni outreach, and fundraising events while also taking on the role of admissions for new students and various other office tasks. 

With Mrs. Hayden stepping down Mr. Timothy Henning (Vice-President of the AFA) will be assuming the presidency for the 2022-2023 school year. At our Back, to School Nights we will be discussing the next steps of filling the vacant Executive Board position in a timely manner. 

Summer Uniform: This week we were very accepting of students out of uniform or that did not get their Back to School Haircut, yet we do expect that corrections will be made by Monday. For any uniform or dress code questions please contact Mrs. Hayes at [email protected]. For more information about our Dress Code please click here.

Go Gold for Childhood Cancer: As many people know September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. This Friday 9/16  all students may dress down for $1 and Go Gold for Childhood Cancer. Students are asked to wear Gold or yellow shirts on this dress-down day. All proceeds from the dress-down day are going to the 4th annual Catch a Cure 5K Race. Catch a Cure is a community non-profit charitable organization that benefits local families dealing with cancer. 

Order Forms: This week order forms for Pizza and Bagel Lunch Days for Grades K-8 along with a ¼ zip pullover order forms were emailed to all families. These forms are all due by the end of next week and can be found by clicking here.

Peanut/Nut Free: We Are a NUT Aware School! Unfortunately, our school cannot guarantee a nut, milk, or “allergen-free” environment. The risk of exposure is always present. Instead, we have an “allergy aware” policy, which empowers everyone.

Children with allergies become aware of what they can and cannot eat, and school staff is alert and careful about each student’s allergies. As we have students with SEVERE LIFE THREATENING ALLERGIES, we ask all families to avoid bringing in items such as nut butters, Nutella, or any other nut-based products.

We ask that you be very aware of any items brought into our school which: may contain nuts/may have been processed or manufactured in a facility which uses/contains nuts. Finally, please remind your children to never share snacks, food, or drinks with anyone.

Change of Plans: We all know that life gets in the way at times and plans change. For your child’s safety, please inform the office if there is a change of pickup or usage of the bus by note or email (before 9am). If it is last minute it will have to be by office phone. 

Tuition Accounts: Starting a few weeks ago all families should have begun to pay their families tuition through our FACTS system. Tuition payments for the 2022-2023 school year can be paid online, by phone, or by mail. You may also sign up for auto pay as well. The second payment of the year is due this Wednesday 9/15. 

For those families that have an Invoice Payment Plan, each month, 20 days before your payment due date, FACTS will send you an email or mail invoice letting you know that your invoice is ready.  If you want to mail in a payment, you will need to log into their FACTS account and click on the Actions button and choose the Mail In a Payment link.

Any questions please feel free to call FACTS at 1-866-441-4637

Any questions about your account please reach out to our Bookkeeper Mrs. Marguerite Kazalski at [email protected]

Special Education Services: We do anticipate that the majority of students’ special education services will start this week. Please note that if you are new to the school and your child has an IEP or IESP please make sure that is sent in to Mrs. Buckley as soon as possible. If any IESP’s were updated over the summer we do ask that an updated copy be sent to Mrs. Buckley as well.

Enrichment Programs: We are delighted to once again partner with our friends at Mad Science, Crayola, Abrakadoodle, and Paul Effman Band to offer various enrichment programs this upcoming school year. For more information about any of our enrichment programs please click here. If you have any questions, please send an email to Mrs. Endall at [email protected]

After School Program: We are happy to announce that starting September 19th, 2022, the After School Program will begin. For more information about our after-school program please click here. If you have any questions, please send an email to Mrs. Kenny at [email protected]

Early Morning Drop Off Program: We are happy to announce that continuing on Monday, September 12th we will be offering an Early Morning Drop off program from 7 am-7:40 am each day. For more information about this program please click here. If you have any questions, please send an email to Mrs. Endall at [email protected]

8th Grade TACHS Registration: 8th Grade Parents, if your child is taking the TACHS exam (entrance exam for Catholic High Schools) please register as soon as possible. For more information including how to register please click here. Any questions please contact Mr. Scharbach at [email protected]. Just a reminder that this fall, the TACHS exam will be administered as an online, remote, at-home test.

Football Frenzy: Football Frenzy is a fundraiser sponsored by St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy. All proceeds directly support the activities of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy. The fundraiser is based on the 2022-2023 NFL football season with a donation of $20 per ticket. Each ticket includes a different set of three NFL teams each week of the regular season, with a chance of winning cash prizes each week. For more information on this raffle please click here.

To order tickets for this raffle please click here.

Any questions please contact Mrs. Hayden at [email protected]

Birthdays: There are a variety of ways in which we celebrate birthdays at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy.  Celebrations are at the discretion of the teacher but may include handmade cards, storytelling, the sharing of a book, etc. 

Please communicate with the homeroom teacher beforehand.  Families/guardians may drop off party goods (cookies, cupcakes, small plates, napkins, etc.) with Security at the beginning of the school day.  

The Diocesan policy is that all food items shared be store-bought. The reason for this rule is strictly to serve as a safety precaution, allowing the school to know the ingredients of any item.  We ask that no toys, lollipops, goody bags, frozen treats, or drinks be brought into school. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 

2022-2023 School Year Volunteering: We anticipate that parent/family volunteers will be fully allowed in our building this school year. For the safety and well-being of each and every child in our school, all volunteers must go through the following process:

1) Read and sign a code of conduct

2) Have a background check

3) Take part in the VIRTUS program. (Register at virtusonline.org. Download the registration guide.)

After completing the VIRTUS Program, we ask that you bring a copy of your certificate to the office to add to our database. We hope that this is not an inconvenience for anyone, but we need to be sure that all adults who interact with students are in compliance. 

St. Francis de Sales will be hosting two VIRTUS training sessions onsite on Monday 9/26 at 7pm and on Monday 10/24 at 7pm. Both sessions will take place in the Small Hall. You can sign up for these sessions or any session in the Diocese of Brooklyn by clicking here.

SAVE THE DATES

Catechetical Sunday: Catechetical Sunday is when those designated to serve as catechists are called forth to be commissioned for their ministry. Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays by virtue of Baptism, in passing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. All are welcome to join the Saint Francis faculty and Saint Francis Religious Education faculty at this very special liturgy at 10:00am on Sunday, September 18th.

Catholic High School Fair: 7th and 8th Grade Students and Families are invited to St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy’s Annual Catholic High School Night on Monday, September 19th from 6pm-7:30pm. Come and meet with representatives (Students and Faculty) from various High Schools such as Holy Cross, Sacred Heart (Hempstead), Xavier, St. Francis Prep, Christ the King, Archbishop Molloy, The Mary Louis Academy, St. Saviour, St. Edmund Prep, Chaminade, McClancy, Fontbonne Hall Academy, Xaverian, and more.

IReady: We are excited to share that our Kindergarten through 8th-grade students are continuing to use a Mathematics and Reading program called i-Ready. Below, you will find information about the program and how we will be using it in the classroom.

What is i-Ready?

i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.

The i-Ready Diagnostic that students in Grades 1-8 will begin to take next week (Week of September 19th) is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

Have a great weekend. We will see everyone on Monday!