The Weekly Howl
St. Francis Catholic School - Sunday, January 31st
Dear Parents & Friends of SFCS,
This past week we experienced a higher level of positive and close contact cases in our school community. Many of each were in the middle school. This week we made the decision to convert the middle school (grades 6 - 8) to attend virtually until Monday, February 8th.
Currently we have 3 faculty members and 3 students who tested positive for COVID-19. We currently have 27 students, faculty and volunteers that have either been identified by the school or have been notified from families that have been close contacts. While these numbers may seem high, many of these close contacts are not related to each other and are from community transition outside of the school. With that being said most cases were isolated to the middle school students and faculty and that is the reason why it was decided to have the students for this area of the school to attend virtually.
Elementary school siblings of students in the middle school are still able to attend school. Ideally it would be best if the students in the elementary school can isolate from their middle school siblings. If any elementary school students having siblings that have tested positive then they must quarantine for 14 days once they are able to isolate from their sibling. Once their quarantine period is over then they may return to school. It is important to note that not all of our middle school students are close contacts. Meaning they are not required to begin a quarantine period at home.
Please continue to notify either Mr. Pope or Mrs. Markey if your child has become a close contact or has tested positive for COVID-19. This includes students who may already be attending virtually at this time.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have in regards to how we are keeping our students and faculty members safe.
I am looking forward to celebrating Catholic Schools Week with our community this week!
Sincerely in Christ,
Brian Pope
Principal
Week of 1/31 - 2/6/21 - Catholic Schools Week
Sunday, January 31st
- CSW Celebrate Our Parish: Wear your school Mass uniform to Mass, take a photo, send it to Mr. Pope, and get a NUT card.
Monday, February 1st
- CSW Celebrate Our Community: Wear PAJAMAS to school, and show support for the babies and moms in our community who are helped by the Pregnancy Resource Center. Bring in diapers, wipes, socks, onesies, pacifiers, bibs, etc., to donate to the PRC.
- PE Uniform for 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th Grades
- 3:00 - 4:00pm: Yearbook Club in Library
Tuesday, February 2nd
- CSW Celebrate Our Students: Come to school with CRAZY HAIR!
- Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
- Groundhog's Day
- PE Uniform 3rd Grade
- 3:00 - 4:15pm: Bake Club Group A in Fine Arts Building - Cancelled
- CSW Celebrate Vocations: Wear your “SUNDAY BEST” fancy church clothes to school. (Boys 3-8 must wear ties, girls 3-8 must wear dresses or skirts.)
- 10:00am: School Mass
- CSW Celebrate the Nation: Wear RED, WHITE and BLUE with uniform pants or skirts.
- PE Uniform for 5th, 6th & 7th Grades
Friday, February 5th
- CSW Celebrate Faculty, Staff & Volunteers: Honor our school by supporting Sharing Thy Bounty and local food pantries. Wear ST. FRANCIS SPIRIT WEAR to school. During lunchtime, enjoy the Kona Ice in the front loop!
- Memorial of St. Agatha
- PE Uniform for 3rd, 4th & 8th Grades
- Memorial Saint Paul Miki and Companions
Prekindergarten
Kindergarten
The Kindergarten had the best time celebrating that we are “100 Days Smarter” this week! The students enjoyed preparing our Kindergarten banner for Catholic Schools Week (every single hand was traced and cutout by our kindergarteners!). They brought in sets of 100 items, then compared how 100 can look the same and different. On the 100th Day, kindergarten tested their mental and physical strength by doing certain tasks for 100 seconds, dressed-up like 100 year old grandmas and grandpas and enjoyed an ice-cream celebration.
1st Grade
Wolf Pack Updates
The SFCS Developmental Basketball League has suspended their sessions until Saturday, February 14th. An addition two weeks will be scheduled for March 6th and March 13th.
The Middle School Basketball Tournament hosted by Hilton Head Prep for February 17th has been cancelled.
New Family Virtual Focus Group - Monday, February 1st at 9:00am
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76610975789?pwd=Z3lPSFJTclplUkpUbEVYZE9vd0RiUT09
Hope to see you there!
10:00am School Mass for Wednesday, February 3rd
School Family Mass
Catholic Schools Week Annual Fund Update
Parish Updates and Information
- The Parish Lenten Mission has been cancelled for March of 2021. If I get any further information on additional activities for Lent, I will get those to you asap.
- Feast of St. Blaise is February 3rd. A general blessing will be given during the Mass. There will be no candles used.
- On February 9th, the Columbarium, niches, and walkways will be power-washed. If you have placed personal items on your loved ones niche, please have them removed by February 8th. Items left after that date will be collected and placed in the Parish Office for two weeks. After that date, they will be disposed of. Thank you for your help!
- The Bishop's Annual Appeal will be kicking off the first weekend in February. Please click on this link to read more about the 2021 BAA. Newsletter--1.pdf
- We are delighted to announce that Eleanor Bell, the Women of St. Francis’ Catholic Woman of the Year, was also recently named Catholic Woman of the Year for the entire Beaufort Deanery (Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, and Beaufort)! Eleanor is a daily Communicant and Cantor, a dedicated volunteer at the St. Francis Thrift Shop, and has held several leadership positions in the Women of St. Francis. Eleanor’s selection is the fifth win for the Women of St. Francis in the South Carolina Conference of Catholic Women in the last 12 months. We received four state awards at the 2020 convention, for Service, Spirituality, International Project, and Best Scrapbook. Eleanor will now be the Beaufort Deanery’s nominee for the State Catholic Woman of the Year award, competing with other nominees from Rock Hill, Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Aiken, and Greenville. We’ll keep you posted!
- For those who need assistance in scheduling a Covid Vaccine Shot, the Hilton Head Computer Club and Hilton Head Regional Health Care will be on site at the Hilton Head Senior Center (70 Shelter Cove Lane). Dates are Friday, February 5th from 1 until 4 p.m. and Tuesday, February 9th from 1 until 4 p.m. Call 843-842-4475 weekdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to reserve your visit for assistance. Please help pass this along to those you know have no e-mail address or an device to connect to the internet. Thank you for your help!
- Lastly, I received an urgent update from LifeLock Services this morning that there is an important security update for all Apple products. Please click settings, scroll down to General, and click on Software Update.
- Thank you all for your patience as we navigated our new reservation program. It is now up and running. At this time, Mrs. Reczycki is only posting Ash Wednesday as I am not finished with plugging in volunteers for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, or any of the Easter Masses. We still have a little time for those. Please St. Francis Mass Reservations to access our new reservation system. After you have made a reservation, it will send you a confirmation. Please be sure to look at your confirmation to be sure you have put the correct Mass and the correct number in your party.
It’s Admission Season at John Paul II Catholic School
Important Dates:
Feb. 15 - New Student Applications Due
March 1 - Re-enrollment Contracts Due
March 5 - New Student Acceptance Letters Mailed
March 15 - Tuition Assistance Applications Close
March 31 - New Student Contracts Due
Interested in learning more or/and a school tour? Call Anne McClure, JPII admissions coordinator, at (843) 645-3838 or visit the JPII website at johnpaul2school.org.
St. Francis Catholic School
Email: school@sfcshhi.com
Website: sfcshhi.com
Location: 45 Beach City Rd, HHI, SC 29926
Phone: 843-681-6501
Facebook: facebook.com/sfcshhi