Dear Academy Families,

This Friday we will celebrate All Saints’ Day. Our 2nd Grade Saints will be leading us in our All Saints’ Day Mass on Friday, November 1st at 10am. We will also be visited by our Superintendent Deacon McCormick that day and he looks forward to seeing all of our Saints.

As mentioned at Back to School Night and many times this year our school will be going through Cognia Accreditation this year. (similar to Middle States Accreditation) The Accreditation Process helps institutions make the most of their talents and resources. On November 12th and 13th, a team of evaluators will be visiting our school to work through the Accreditation process. They will be interviewing various students, teachers, Board members, administrators, etc. as well as visiting classrooms for observations. We will be preparing extensively for their visit and look forward to a successful few days. Please note that both on 11/12 and 11/13 the administrative team will not be available for any meetings on these dates and will have limited access to their email and phone.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Dr. Scharbach

Just a reminder that Tuesday, November 5th is a scheduled day off for students for a professional development day.

Next week on Thursday, 11/7 for Nursery-Grade 3 and on Thursday, 11/14 for our 4th through 7th graders is individual picture day. All those students who are getting pictures may remain in their school uniform or dress up for their picture. Please remind your child that dressing up for pictures is very different than dressing down. All those students who are not getting pictures taken are to be in their full school uniform. If your child has gym on picture day please have them wear sneakers if they are dressing up or bring a change of shoes so they can participate in gym. To order pictures please use the link below.

Last year the Academy Family Association hosted a Veterans appreciation prayer service. We would like to continue this tradition Thursday night, November 7th at 6pm. There will be a brief fellowship in the small hall afterwards, until 7:00PM.

This is a great opportunity to show our gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices our veterans have made for our country and for each of us.

We encourage you to invite any family, friends and neighbors who are veterans.

Please RSVP to lhayden@stfrancisschoolbh.net prior to Monday 11/4.

We sincerely hope you will join us for this worthy event!

St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy is happy to bring back our popular Sherwood Forest Farms Christmas Wreaths and Evergreens sale. Earlier today your youngest child was sent home with a brochure that details the items available for sale this year. For 2024, families can choose to have items shipped directly to the Academy for distribution, or have your items shipped directly to the recipient! Within the brochure are pricing details as well as the particulars regarding local/Academy distribution or Direct Mail gift items. Products under the local/Academy distribution are priced more competitively due to the reduced shipping costs.

The direct delivery gift items are perfect for out of town family and friends. If you annually purchase gifts for co-workers and business associates and never know what to buy, consider one of the Direct Delivery items which can be shipped directly to their home or business. These beautiful wreaths, garlands, and centerpieces are made with lush and fragrant greens from the Pacific Northwest and are delivered fresh.

Local Distribution items will be delivered to St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy before Thanksgiving. The school will notify purchasers when they can pick up their items. Direct-delivery items are shipped individually and start arriving the week of Thanksgiving. Arrival is guaranteed no later than two weeks after Thanksgiving Day.

All orders are due by Friday, November 1st. Orders must be placed online.

Place your order by clicking the link below.

St Francis De Sales Church next Family mass will be held on Sunday 11/3 at 10am. The mass will feature Grades 1 and 7. Please join them with your family. There will be light refreshments served afterwards.

Hope to see you there as we celebrate our faith.

With all the kids Trick and Treating we know that in the next week we see more candy sent in as a snack then usual. With this fun and exciting time comes a significant safety concern for many students in our school building. We are asking for your help in providing a safe school environment for all students.

For some of our students any exposure to peanuts/nuts may cause a life-threatening allergic reaction that requires emergency medical treatment. To reduce the chance of this occurring, we ask that you do not send any peanut or nut containing products to school with your child. If your child has eaten peanuts/nuts before coming to school, please be sure your child’s hands and face have been thoroughly washed before entering the school. It is very helpful to leave the candy at home and send the children in with a traditional snack. We appreciate your support with these procedures.

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 past few weeks has installed a new member. We welcome Mr. Terrence Mullin P'15, P‘16, P‘19, P‘22, P‘24. The administration looks forward to working with Mr. Mullin and continuing the great work being done at the academy.

Last week we sent home to our current 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who took the test at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy last spring. If your child was in another school last year and took the state tests, please reach out to them directly to receive your child’s score.To see how our school achieved compared to the other schools in Distrcit 27 please click the link below for a comparison chart.

Come and see our brand new online school store. We have some great items with our school name and Franny, our Mascot. Right now we are having a great offer: 20% Off Everything. Please use the Code: PLAYOFF20

This offer ends on 10/25

Choose your own designs! These are great items to wear on dress-down days, weekends, Blue and Gold Day, or just around the house.

Great brands (Nike, North Face, Under Armor, Puma, and more) and great quality. All orders are shipped directly to your home.

Today marks the start of our 2024-2025 Yearbook Sale! The yearbook is a great way to remember special events throughout the year! All students will be featured in the yearbook on their class page!

If you would like to order a school yearbook, (delivery in June) please fill out the following form.

After you submit your order you will be charged on your FACTS account during the month of January.

Payment is expected within 20 days of posting.

The completed form(s) is due by Thursday, December 5th. Since we have to send in our yearly order soon after there will be no orders accepted after this date.

**Class of 2025 Families, any graduate that has $130 (cost of a full page age) worth of ads in the yearbook will receive a free yearbook, up to two free yearbooks. Please keep this in mind when placing your order.

St. Francis de Sales parish is collecting money again this year to sponsor Thanksgiving dinners for those in need. Last year, with the help of your generosity, the parish was able to purchase Thanksgiving dinners for families in need. If you’d like to help out, please send a $25 check (made out to St. Francis de Sales Church) or $25 cash in an envelope. Thank you again for your unwavering generosity.

Families, please see what is needed for this year’s Christmas Show costumes for students in Grades K-8 on 12/16 and 12/17.

Students in Kindergarten will get specific instructions from their child’s teacher.

If you have any questions about costumes or dress, please contact Mrs. Maureen Hayes at mhayes@stfrancisschoolbh.net

Information on how to order tickets to this year’s show will be given out before Thanksgiving.

All parents who are interested in helping to fundraise and plan for the Class of 2025 are invited to join the administration on Monday, November 18th at 7pm to begin the process of creating committees for this special event. This meeting will be via Zoom please see the invite below.

Topic: Class of 2025 Dinner Dance

Time: Nov 18, 2024 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83961948834?pwd=aMcon9hy0hm5QeM0foVwgi0zAAGM4m.1

Meeting ID: 839 6194 8834

Passcode: SFDS2025

This is just a reminder that St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy has a half day on Wednesday, November 27th with 12 noon dismissal. This is then followed by Thanksgiving Recess on November 28th and 29th. Happy Thanksgiving!

With the Christmas season approaching, as we look forward to the birth of our Lord, we should remember those less fortunate than us. In the spirit of giving, we are asking that students donate a gift for other children. Please bring in an unwrapped toy or game after the Thanksgiving Holiday. All donations will go to children in need. Thank you for your generosity. All donations need to be made by Friday, December 13th.

Please note that all report cards are digitally distributed on Wednesday, 12/4 at about 3pm via the FACTS Parent Portal. This year conferences will take place on Thursday, December 5th from 12:45pm-2:45pm and from 6pm-7:30pm. On Monday, November 25th we will send out information on signing up for time slots for conferences. All families in Nursery-Grade 4 will have until Sunday, December 1st to sign up for the conferences on Thursday, December 5th.

We are so excited to announce that we will have our annual Christmas Movie Night this year in the Small Hall and Gym on Friday, December 6th. We will be having three sessions this year.

1) The first session will be only for Kindergarten students from 4pm-5:45pm in the Small Hall. Our Kindergarten students will be watching the classic Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and make a Holiday Craft after.

2) Our second session will be for our 1st-2nd graders from 4pm-5:45pm in the Gym. Our 1st-2nd grade students will be watching the 2018 Version of Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

3) Our third session will be for our 3rd-5th graders from 6:30pm-8:15pm in the Small Hall. Our 3rd-5th grade students will be watching the Christmas classic comedy Elf.

All three sessions are $5 admission for each child. We are looking forward to a great night.

We are also happy to announce the dates of our Christmas Boutique this year. The Christmas Boutique for our students will be December 11th- December 12th. More information to follow closer to the dates.

St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy

Asst. Principal: Mrs. Maureen Hayes

Email: admin@stfrancisschoolbh.net
Website: https://stfrancisacademybh.org/
Location: 219 Beach 129 Street Belle Harbor, NY 11694
Phone: (718) 634-2775
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SFDSCA