The Weekly Howl
St. Francis Catholic School - Saturday, July 14th
Dear Parents and Friends of SFCS,
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July and has been able to keep cool in the high summer temperatures. While walking through a few stores this week I see that the preparations for Back-to-School shopping have already begun. Included in this edition of the Howl again are the Classroom Supply Lists for the 2018 - 2019 school year and some advertisements for uniform sales from a couple of our suppliers. These will assist you if you are going to get an early start shopping.
Construction on the new playground resumed this week with the turf company beginning their portion of the project. The artificial turf should be completely installed in a little over a week. Please mark your calendars for Sunday, August 19th! There will be a New Playground Blessing and Ribbon Cutting following the 9:00am School Family Mass!
With the summer recess halfway over I would like to remind and direct your attention to our summer learning opportunities. In case you missed the Parents...Have you heard about the "Summer Slide"?! article in the June 2nd edition of the Howl, it is included again in this edition. With 5 weeks left it is not to late to motivate your child to participate with Mrs. Safe's summer reading program, order another Summer Solutions workbook to earn a NUT Card, or try some other engaging activities.
I know I can speak on behalf of the entire SFCS faculty & staff when I say that we are looking forward to seeing the children return and hearing about all of their summer adventures. The next edition of the Weekly Howl will not be published until Friday, July 27th. Keep cool!!!
Sincerely in Christ,
Brian Pope
Principal
Sunday, July 15th
- Mrs. Freisen's Birthday!
Monday, July 16th
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- School Office is Closed
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- 9:00am - 2:00pm: School Office Open
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- 9:00am - 2:00pm: School Office Open
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- 9:00am - 2:00pm: School Office Open
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- School Office is Closed
- Rising 7th & 8th Grade DC Trip Registration Deadline
Monday, July 23rd
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- School Office is Closed
- Happy Birthday Mrs. Safe!
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- 9:00am - 2:00pm: School Office Open
- Feast Day of St. James the Apostle
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- 9:00am - 2:00pm: School Office Open
- Feast Day of St. Joachim and St. Anne
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Summer Day Camp
- 9:00am - 2:00pm: School Office Open
- 8:00am - 5:00pm: Last Day of the Summer Day Camp
- School Office is Closed
- Happy Birthday Mr. Holstein!
Upcoming Events
- 8/1 - School Council Training
- 8/7 - FSA Board Meeting
- 8/13 - Faculty In-Service Week
- 8/13 - 8/17 - Girls Volleyball Camp, Grades 5 - 8, 3 - 5pm
- 8/16 - 5:30pm New Family Orientation in Library
- 8/16 - 6:00pm Back to School Night in Mutli-Purpose Facility's Gym
- 8/16 - 6th Grade Orientation immediately following Back to School Night
- 8/19 - 9:00am School Family Mass
- 8/19 - Blessing of the Playground immediately following the 9:00am mass
- 8/19 - New Family Social in Family Center and Playground
- 8/21 - First Day of School - 11:30am Dismissal
- 8/30 - Lowcountry Community Dinner for Catholic Education in Multi-Purpose Facility's Gym
Sports Physicals
Pre-Kindergarten
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
Middle School: Grades 6-8
Summer Day Camp
Playground Construction
Attention New Families!!!
Parents...Have you heard about the "Summer Slide"?!
"Summer Slide" has become a term to describe the amount of learning that is lost during the summer months with the current activities that our children occupy themselves with.
Did you know research has indicated that...
- 2.6 months of math skills are lost over the summer.
- the equivalent of 1 month of overall learning is lost after summer vacation.
- 6 weeks in the fall are spent re-learning old material to make up for summer loss.
- 2 months of readings skills are lost over the summer.
- 2 - 3 hours per week during summer vacation is all that is needed to prevent any learning loss.
- as early as grade 1 summer learning loss can be recognized.
- by the end of grade 6 students who have experienced summer learning loss over the years are an average of 2 years behind their peers.
- 2/3's of the income-based achievement gap is attributed to summer learning loss by the start of high school.
- it can take up to 2 months from the 1st day of school for a students brain development to get back on track.
So what are some ways that you can prevent this "Summer Slide"?
- Read, read, read.
- Take trips to the local library.
- Schedule a reading time for in the morning before other plans cause distraction.
- Incorporate physical activity like signing your child up for a team sport, introducing a new skill/activity or go on family walks.
- Teach your children new tasks like cooking, baking, etc.
There are a wealth of resources for parents out there to provide you ideas on strategies and activities to assist you in preventing summer learning loss. At St. Francis we have a couple opportunities to assist you.
- Order the Summer Solutions workbooks. Schedule a time each day for your child to work on them and monitor their completion/progress. DO NOT let them procrastinate and cram completing the whole book or large sections the weekend before school starts. That can even be counterproductive.
- Have your child participate in our Summer Reading program. Again do not have your child try to read the total amount of hours at the very end of the summer. Schedule a reading time each day. Keep a routine and schedule.
- Consider signing your child up for the Summer Day Camp or one of the Summer Sports Camps. Keeping your children active and in a safe structured environment is important as much as having them "hitting the books".
Prevent "Summer Slide" with Faith Activities
The 'Summer Slide' can also apply to our children's faith activities. Will the students remember their prayers on the first day of school? Summer can be busy but let us not forget to continue the religious formation that is most important for raising our children and nurturing their commitment to live a life rooted in virtue. So below is a list of suggestions and activities that you can also do this summer to continue your child's faith formation.
- Go to Mass. Of course on Sunday but consider attending the daily masses with your children if your schedule permits. Daily masses are at 8:00am and 12:15pm Monday through Friday at St. Francis by the Sea.
- Read the bulletin to search for parish faith formation or service activities that our offered. We have a wealth of ministries in our parish and they would love to see our families and students participate.
- Pray with your children. During school our students pray at the beginning and end of the day, between class transitions, before and after lunches and snacks, and at many other times. Keep up this practice so the children see that prayer is not just a school activity.
Summer Solutions
Remember to order your Summer Solutions workbooks!
Go to www.SummerSolutions.net
Enter your school code: H29926FRA
Summer Reading Program - "Psyched about Science!"
Updated 2018 - 2019 SFCS Calendar Overview
Uniform Information
FACTS and RenWeb Merger
This October, FACTS and RenWeb will be officially combining into a single brand: FACTS.
Since FACTS acquisition of RenWeb in 2014, they have been working to integrate their systems with a focus on elevating the education experience for their schools and the families they serve.
For more information about the merger and what this means for our school please click the following link.