Dear St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy Families,

🎓 Congratulations to the Class of 2025! 🎓

"Congratulations! Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose..."
— Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

The time has come to celebrate the incredible journey of the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy Class of 2025. This outstanding group of students will officially graduate next Friday, June 13th at 6:00 PM, and we couldn’t be prouder of all they’ve accomplished.

Before that special night, we look forward to celebrating with them at the Graduation Mass and Dinner Dance on Friday, June 6th—a time to reflect, give thanks, and enjoy one last evening together as a class before they begin their next adventure.

We send our heartfelt congratulations and prayers to the graduates and their families. May the Class of 2025 continue to shine their light wherever life takes them! 🌟

As we approach graduation and celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2025, this season of endings and new beginnings brings with it several bittersweet farewells within our school community.

First, we would like to honor two remarkable staff members who will be retiring at the end of this school year:

🔬 Mrs. Gayle Norton, our 5th and 6th grade Science teacher, will retire after 8 years of inspiring our students with her passion for science and her steady guidance. We will remember her for always having her students strive for excellence and doing so with care. We will miss her deeply, but we are excited for her to enjoy the well-earned rest, adventures, and time with loved ones that retirement brings. Please join us in thanking Mrs. Norton for her years of extraordinary service, and for the profound and positive impact she has had on so many young lives.

💐 Mrs. Cathy Kenny, our wonderful Administrative Assistant, will be stepping into retirement after years of dedicated service to the Diocese of Brooklyn. Her attention to detail, hardwork and tireless support have been a daily gift to our school, and she will be deeply missed.

In addition, we share heartfelt congratulations—and a fond farewell—to Ms. Kelsy Smith, our beloved 2nd grade teacher, who is getting married this weekend at her home parish in Delaware. 💍 We wish her and her fiancé, Tyler, all the joy in the world as they begin this exciting new chapter.

As life would have it, Tyler, who works for the U.S. Government, has received a new assignment and will be transferring to Florida later this summer. As a result, Ms. Smith will not be returning to our school in the fall. Though we are sad to see her go, we are overjoyed for the future that lies ahead for her.

This time of year reminds us how truly blessed we are to have such dedicated and caring individuals shaping the lives of our students. As we celebrate our graduates, we also give thanks for those who have nurtured, guided, and supported them along the way.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Dr. Christopher Scharbach
Principal

Onto to some other important updates for our school for the Week of June 9th 2025……

We are excited that our Annual St. Francis de Sales School Band Spring Concert will take place on Tuesday, June 10th at 7:00 PM in the school gymnasium. This special evening will feature performances by our talented student musicians who are part of the Paul Effman Band Program.

Our band students have been working hard all year under the direction of their instructors, and this concert is a wonderful opportunity for them to showcase their growth, dedication, and musical achievements. Families, friends, and all members of our school community are warmly invited to attend and celebrate the gift of music with us.

Band members and families—please mark your calendars and plan to join us for an evening of great performances and school spirit!

🎽 St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy Uniform Swap 👚👖
📅 June 18th & June 20th
🕙 10:00am – 12:00pm

Time to swap and save! Bring your gently used SFDSCA uniforms to our Uniform Swap and pick up what you need for the upcoming school year.

✅ Drop Off Guidelines:
• Items must be official Flynn & O’Hara SFDSCA uniforms and have the current logo. Please note that starting in September 2026 (14 months away only uniforms with the current logo will be allowed to be worn.)
• No rips, stains, or fraying – clean & in good condition with all name tags removed.

• CYO sports uniforms, belts, and shoes (good condition) accepted

📦 Uniform Drop-Off Dates: June 10th–June 13th ONLY
Drop-off boxes will be in the main lobby

Let’s recycle, reuse, and support our school community!

How can I access my student’s results?

1. ­­­Log in to your student’s i-Ready Dashboard using their portal credentials by visiting i-ReadyConnect.com and log in using the credentials they were given this year.

2. Click on the For Fami­lies dropdown and select the For Families report.

3. Enter the following code: V49818

For more information and support, visit the i-Ready Family Center: Understanding Diagnostic Results.

Thank you again for your continued partnership and support of your student’s learning. Of course, if you have any questions please be in touch with your child’s teacher and/or the administration.

All students going into grades 1-8 will need to complete I-Ready lessons this summer in math as a part of their summer work. More information to follow in the coming weeks.

As we come to the home stretch of the end of the year we have our end-of-the-year beach parties to celebrate the close of another year of learning. The parties are scheduled as follows

June 10th- Grade 3

June 11th- Grade 1

June 12th- Grades 2 and 4

June 16th- Grade 7

June 17th- Grades 5 and 6

Please follow the directives that the classroom teacher and class parents gave out in earlier correspondences.

1) Please note that the day your child has their beach party it is a dress down day. Students are NOT to wear bathing suits.

2) Students should pack a towel, flip flops (flip flops cannot be worn to school) and
sunblock.

2) No swimming/access to the water is allowed.

3) If your student would like a beach chair they cannot bring it to school. A parent can drop off at the beach for them during set up.

4) Although the beach is a public area please note that no drinking of any alcohol, vaping, or smoking is permitted at any school events where minors are present.

🎉⚾️ SAVE THE DATE: SFDSCA School Spirit Night at the Brooklyn Cyclones! ⚾️🎉

On Wednesday, June 25th, 2025, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy is hosting a SCHOOL SPIRIT EVENT at Maimonides Park during the Brooklyn Cyclones game! The Cyclones will be taking on the Jersey Shore Blue Claws, with first pitch at 6:40 PM and gates opening at 5:30 PM.

👕🎓 Students, faculty, staff, families, and friends of SFDSCA are all invited to join us for a night of baseball, fun, and school spirit!

🎟️ Tickets are only $20 EACH!
➡️ For every ticket purchased, $2 goes back to support St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy!

💥 Want to upgrade your experience? Choose the $25 ticket option, which includes a Dr. Chris Scharbach and Mr. John O'Brien Bobblehead—part of the Brooklyn Cyclones Catholic Schools Night celebration!

🧢 PLUS: Everyone in attendance will receive a FREE Brooklyn Cyclones hat!

If you have any questions about the event, feel free to reach out to Helen Endall at (718) 634-2775 or via email at hendall@stfrancisschoolbh.net.

🎟️ To purchase tickets, please click the link below:
👉 https://www.gofevo.com/event/Stfranciscsn

Let’s pack the park with SFDS blue and gold spirit! 💙💛

On Monday, June 9th at 6pm, we will be hosting a Pre-K information night followed at 7pm by a Kindergarten Information Night. On this evening the early childhood teachers will be sharing all the details of what is in store for children who are entering their early childhood years. Parents will be receiving supply lists and summer ideas during this meeting as well. We hope to see everyone there.

Summer Tech Mini-Chat!

A half-hour webinar focused on trends and tips to assist your family in finding a healthy balance with a live chat to follow!

Friday 6/6 at 9:30am

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81021314889

Tuesday 6/10 at 7pm

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85827551170

Thursday 6/12 at 12pm

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83253791405

Myself, Mrs. Hayes, and our faculty work diligently to make sure each and every child is placed with a teacher that best fits their needs. No matter which class your child is placed in, they are in good hands. Everyone of our teachers is intelligent, loving, and hardworking. As stated each year before, we cannot take requests for class placement. Writing emails or making phone calls to request a specific class all receive the same response: we cannot honor any requests for placement and that your child will be in very good hands wherever they are placed. We thank you for your cooperation.

Please note that this week our Bagel Days and Pizza days come to an end. The last bagel day is this Monday June 9th and the last pizza days are on Thursday June 12th and Friday June 13th.

There are no special lunches the week of June 16th.

As our special lunches are winding down, we have to give our sincere thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers who lead these weekly and monthly days for our students.

Bagel Day:

Judy Aiken

Aileen Brucella

Kelley D'Antonio

Moira Mullen

Meg Riley

Pizza Day:
Meg Anderson

Colleen Brady
Coleen Donohue

Callie's Chicken Finger Day:

Christina Coyle

Panino Rustico/Baya Bar Day:
Chrissy Carlin

Jaclyn Gentile

If anyone is interested in helping out with special lunches next year, please email, lhayden@stfrancisschoolbh.net and we will contact you in September!

Come and see our online school store. We have some great items with our school name and Franny, our Mascot.

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.

🎓✨ You're Invited to Celebrate Our Youngest Learners! ✨🎓

Join us at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy as we proudly honor the incredible growth and achievements of our Early Childhood students at their Step-Up Ceremonies!

📍 Location: School Gym
📅 Dates & Times:
👶 Nursery A – Monday, June 16th at 8:30 AM
🌼 Pre-K Step Up – Monday, June 16th at 10:30 AM
🧸 Nursery B – Monday, June 16th at 12:30 PM
🎒 Kindergarten – Tuesday, June 17th at 10:00 AM

Let’s celebrate the joy of learning and the journey ahead for our little ones! 🎉💛

Please use the links that were sent out earlier this week to sign up an older sibling who goes to St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy to be brought down to sit with their family to watch these momentous occasions.

Wednesday 6/18

• ½ Day dismissal: All grades 1-7 will be dismissed at 12pm

• Uniform Swap: 10am-12pm

• Algebra Regents: Those 8th grade students who are taking the Algebra Regents exam will need to be at Xaverian at 12pm

Thursday 6/19

• Juneteenth (School Closed)

Friday 6/20

• ½ Day dismissal: All grades 1-7 will be dismissed at 12pm

• Uniform Swap: 10am-12pm

• Algebra Regents: Those 8th grade students who are taking the Algebra Regents exam will need to be at Xaverian at 12pm

Monday 6/23

• Last Day of School

• End of the School Year Mass at 10am

• 11am dismissal: All grades 1-7 will be dismissed at 11am

• Report Card Distribution: All Report Cards will posted via Email at 11am for Grades 1-7. Any issues please contact the teacher at their email address by Tuesday 6/24

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