Dear Academy Families,

Happy Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day!

Each day during morning prayers we hear the song of Hosea. In this Lenten hymn, we hear the call to, “come back to me with all your heart.” Here at St. Francis, we are on this journey of Lent through prayer, sacrifice, and almsgiving. 

This year we will continue our Lenten journey of giving alms with our annual collection of mite boxes for the Propagation of Faith.  A mite box will be sent home with each child, and we ask that students return them no later than Friday, March 31st. It is not about how much is given in the box, it is about the children learning to give a little bit to those who are less fortunate than we are. Every penny is helpful. 

Starting next week all grade levels will be praying the Stations of the Cross in church as well.  Speaking of the Stations of the Cross, many of our 7th-grade students and faculty members have been working hard to produce this year’s Passion Play.  This year’s performance will be held for the entire school community on Tuesday, April 4th. 

Finally, we are participating in a school-wide Lenten Service Project

We are partnering with the Life Center in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and the Women’s Center at St. Rose of Lima.  The mission of both organizations is to help women in crisis choose life by providing aid to mothers and their newborn babies.  The Life Center currently is in need of assistance for a woman who is expecting twins at the beginning of April. In order to gather supplies, each grade will be asked to donate a specific baby product or a monetary donation to be used to purchase a designated item. The collection will begin on Monday, March 6th, and run till Friday, March 24th. Please email Mrs. Hayes [email protected] with any questions. Below are the items each grade is asked to donate. Thank you in advance for your support.

Nursery and Pre-K  - Baby Soap

Kindergarten -  Baby Wipes

1st Grade - Baby Lotion

2nd grade  - Baby Formula 

3rd Grade - Diapers (Newborn or Size 1, 2 & 3) 

4th Grade - Onesies (Newborn or 3-6 month Gender Neutral)

5th Grade - $5.00 for each student to purchase 2 Pack n Plays

6th Grade -$5.00 for each student to purchase an Infant Car Seat

7th Grade - $5.00 for each student to purchase a double stroller

8th grade - $5.00 for each student to purchase an Infant Car Seat

Onto another busy week at the Academy…..

Middle School Math Bee: We will be having our annual 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Grade Math Bee on Wednesday 3/8 at 1 pm. Congrats to our classroom winners.

3rd Grade

Seamus Brucella

Liam Fahn

Jack Keenan                             

Emma Layden        

Michael O’Neill                 

Kieran Ruskin                       

4th Grade

Daniel D'Agostino   

Jenna O’Brien        

Charlotte Daly

Susanne Gallagher            

Nathaniel Rodman                          

Nathaniel Mondello

Emma Vuono                

Shane Tubridy                

Michael Vitale

5th Grade

Adriana Allen                

Kate Graves

Noah Lourde                        

Brendan McMahon

Timothy McDonagh                    

Zoe Sclafani

The families of the participants are invited to join us on Wednesday, March 8th at 1 pm.

DiVinci’s Last Supper: The 7th grade is doing a recreation of DiVinci’s Last Supper to celebrate Lent and the relationship they share with the Apostles in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

They will be doing this in St. Francis de Sales Church at 1 pm on the following dates. Parents of students in that class are welcome to join us. 

Friday 3/10- 7A

Tuesday 3/14- 7C

Thursday 3/16- 7B

Any questions please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Attansio. 

Catholic Action Network: The Catholic Action Network (CAN), an arm of the New York State Catholic Conference, gives us all a larger voice in the halls of government. Through their email and social media alerts, CAN reaches tens of thousands of Catholics like you to provide educational updates on the important issues being debated and to provide you with the tools to simplify the process of contacting your elected officials.

As lawmakers work out the details of the New York State budget, it’s vital that we fight for funding to support tuition-paying families and critical services to our Catholic schools. With only five weeks left before the budget is due, now is the time to add your voice so that our parents and students get their fair share.

Please click the link below to email your state representatives about the importance of funding all schools. 

Click Here to email your representative

Class of 2024 Ring Order Form: Two weeks ago, the 7th grade was given an order form for their Class of 2024 Rings. All orders are due back to the office by March 8th. More information is available by clicking the form below. 

Class of 2024 Ring Order Form

First Penance: Good luck to many of our second-grade students who will be receiving first Penance next week on Saturday, March 11th at Blessed Trinity Parish. We ask that you keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue on their spiritual journey and prepare to receive the Eucharist for the first time.

7th Grade Parent Meeting: We would like to invite all Grade 7 parents to a short yet important meeting about the high school process for next fall. We have learned many different aspects of the ever-changing process these past few months, and we think it is important for all parents to hear before the spring when families begin to finalize their three choices. This meeting will take place virtually Monday, March 6th at 7 pm. We hope you can make it. 

Topic: Grade 7 Parent Meeting (High School Process)

Time: Mar 6, 2023 07:00 PM 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84656963794?pwd=T3B6ZTFzTVI1YnVERncyK3ZhS3VSQT09

Meeting ID: 846 5696 3794

Passcode: SFDS2024

Report Cards: Please note that all 2nd-trimester report cards are digitally distributed on Wednesday, March 22nd at about 3 pm via the FACTS Parent Portal. All conferences will be done in person and will take place on Thursday,  March 23rd. More information about signing up for these conferences will be forthcoming.  

Board of Trustees Update: Our Catholic Academy is governed by a two-tiered board that is composed of a Board of Trustees and a Board of Members.  The Board of Members are composed of pastors aligned to the academy, in our case Father Bill Sweeney and Father Michael Gelfant, the Vicar of Catholic education,  the Bishop, and the Superintendent. Together, they function as prime sponsors of the academy. They appoint the Trustees and ensure the overall Catholic identity of the academy and all its programs.

The Board of Trustees is composed of lay people who function as the governing body of the academy. They select the principal and serve as the immediate supervising body. They are passionate about Catholic education and share their expertise in areas of finance, facilities management, institutional advancement, marketing, and public relations. Our Board of Trustees has been in existence since September 2014. We are happy to announce that our board over the last two months has installed two new members. We welcome Mrs. Christina Lynch and Rebecca Carey. The administration looks forward to working with Mrs. Lynch and Mrs. Carey and continuing the great work being done at the academy.

SAVE THE DATE 

Easter Recess: This year St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy breaks for Easter Recess starting on Wednesday, April 5th and returns from break on Monday, April 17th. 

Sweetheart Dance: Please save the date for Friday April 21st (6:30pm-8:30p) for this year’s Sweetheart Dance. This will be an opportunity for the girls of our school to have their Sweetheart (Dad, Uncle, Grandfather, etc) join them for a special night out. 

Summer Uniform:  Starting on Monday, May 8th students can begin to wear their summer uniforms. This is just a reminder if anyone needs to purchase summer uniforms you should think of ordering them soon. 

Have a great weekend!