Weekly Howl

Welcome back to our students, faculty, and staff, after a few days off for Thanksgiving break. I hope your Thanksgiving celebration was fabulous and filled with time for fun and relaxation with family.

We are officially in the Advent season. This morning and each morning for the rest of December, the students will arrive, and the school will be dark. Keeping with the School's Advent tradition, the students will enter the building quietly, greeted by Christmas music, middle school students and teachers with Christmas candles (battery operated). This atmosphere gives the students the opportunity to reflect on the season of Advent before their class begins. I am looking forward to experiencing this SFCS tradition as we prepare our hearts for Jesus' birth!

This afternoon we also kick off the Knights of Columbus Tip-Off Classic Basketball tournament. SFCS will host nine schools and 16 teams for basketball play throughout this week. The SFCS girls play at 7:00 p.m. tonight and the SFCS boys play tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Plan to join us in the Wolves' Den and support our teams!

We are grateful for your prayers and ask that you continue to lift our students, faculty, and staff in prayer as a very busy yet meaningful Christmas season approaches.

Yours in Christ,

Andrea Smith, M.Ed., LPC, NCC

Principal

Thank you to Rileigh Knight and Heather Quinn, FSA co-chairs, for organizing the first annual Thanksgiving pie sale! The pies were baked by the Marmalade Baking Company and looked absolutely scrumptious! We hope everyone who ordered a pie enjoyed theirs!

Sincerity: Be truly sorry for any wrongdoings. Tell the truth and build trust by your words and actions.

Our Prayer :

Dear Jesus,

Please give me the grace to be honest in all my words and actions.

Amen

The week of December 12 will be Christmas themed dress up days for all SFCS students.

Monday - December 12 - Christmas Sock Day (uniform top and bottom)

Tuesday - December 13 - Christmas Hat/Scarf Day (uniform top and bottom)

Wednesday - December 14 - School Mass - Mass Uniform

Thursday - December 15 - Christmas or Ugly Christmas Sweater Day (uniform bottom)

Friday - December 16 - Pajama Day and Breakfast with Santa

Join the St. Francis Catholic School community at St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church for School Family Sunday Mass on the following Sundays:

December 18, 2022

January 29, 2023

February 19, 2023

March 19, 2023

April 16, 2023

May 21, 2023

The SFCS annual Christmas Advent Concert is planned for Thursday, December 15 at 6:00 p.m. in the gym. Please plan to attend this beautiful schoolwide event celebrating Christ's birth.

We are excited for our 2023 SFCS Gala on January 27. Sponsorship information was emailed out last week. There are wonderful sponsorship packages to consider. Please contact fsa.sfcs@gmail.com for more information.

Yearbook orders are due on or before Wednesday, November 30. The cost of the yearbook is $20. Order forms were emailed out to families so please check your email for the form. Don't miss out on reserving your copy!

Our official Facebook page is "St. Francis Catholic School". In an effort to consolidate communication, and have one central Facebook page for SFCS families to find announcements and learn about upcoming school events, the "St. Francis Families (St. Francis Catholic School, Hilton Head Island)" Facebook page is now inactive. As a reminder, the use of St. Francis Catholic School, or St. Francis by the Sea names, logos, etc., must be approved before associating any group with either name or SFCS. We appreciate your cooperation and partnership with this important policy and ask you to contact Mrs. Smith for school related requests, and the SFBTS Parish office for church related requests. Please join our school Facebook page! (scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter and click on link)

Melissa Markey is the School Nurse, Office Manager and Safe Environment Coordinator at SFCS. She started working at St. Francis 18 years ago where her daughter, Anna, a K-8 St. Francis Alumnus was entering 5th grade. Melissa arrived after a nursing career at Hilton Head Hospital working on the Medical/Surgical unit and then Emergency Room. From there she also worked in private practice in Pediatrics and Oncology. She is also a Eucharistic Minister at her Parish, St. Francis by the Sea. Melissa and her husband, John, graduated from Penn State University, and have been married for 31 years. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys spending time with family, reading, cooking, traveling, hiking and any activity on the water. She also loves animals. We are so grateful for Mrs. Markey, her institutional knowledge, and the many hats she wears!

Wearing the turkey hats they made, the Pre-K students gobbled their way around the school to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

The 4th grade students made placemats for the Pines retirement home across from the school. Items on the placemats included Thanksgiving images, puzzles, jokes, Bible passages, and notes from the students.

The 5th Graders made Thanksgiving Day cards for the residents at The Pines. We are reminded that some people experience loneliness and the absence of loved ones. Our prayer is that we can be the Light of Christ to others and brighten their day. We are proud of these exceptional and virtuous students!

Students used Slinkys to model two types of earthquake waves. The students were able to determine which type of wave traveled the fastest and the type of motion that each wave would cause on the surface of the Earth. This lab made it easier to understand why and how the Earth shakes during an earthquake.

The fourth grade studied bas - relief. Bas - relief is the principle surviving art form of ancient Mesopotamia. From clay, the students created an art piece out of clay, poured plaster of Paris on top and let it dry. The students then separated the clay from the plaster which created a low relief sculpture. Finally, the projects were painted and left to dry.

3rd and 5th graders created their own paper float replicas inspired by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade floats after listening to the story Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet.

The bake club had a blast making marshmallow pops!

Ella Quinn's piecrust making skills at bake club were put to good use over Thanksgiving as she baked a delicious apple pie for her family! Way to go Ella!

Thank you to all who have given to the SFCS annual fund so far! We are excited that the SFCS faculty has reached their goal of 100% participation! The annual fund is one of the most important gifts we ask of our St. Francis community. Gifts to the St. Francis Catholic School Annual Fund provide students access to opportunities that distinguish the SFCS educational, spiritual, and social experiences. Your gift to the SFCS Annual Fund today, will make an impact on the lives of many young people at our school. During this season of giving, please consider a monetary gift to SFCS' annual fund.

SFCS will host the KOC Tip-Off Classic beginning Monday, November 28. Nine schools and 16 teams will rotate play throughout the week. SFCS girls will play at 7:00 p.m. tonight, and the boys at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday). Additional games and times this week depends on bracket results. The concession stand will be open serving lots of goodies! Plan to come and support the SFCS Wolves and basketball tournament!

The SFCS cheerleaders made an appearance during halftime at last week's basketball game. Thank you cheer squads for showing fantastic school spirit! G-O W-O-L-V-E-S!!

If you would like to be a part of the FSA community, please contact fsa.sfcs@gmail.com to learn how you may get involved!

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Email: school@sfcshhi.com
Website: sfcshhi.com
Location: 45 Beach City Rd, HHI, SC 29926
Phone: 843-681-6501
Facebook: facebook.com/sfcshhi