Joyfully Embracing Our Mission
St. Clare School Family News | 24 April 2022
Journeying in Hope and Love: Building a Culture of Accompaniment
The Road to Emmaus
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us]
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
~ Luke 24:28-32, 35
Dear St. Clare School Families,
Happy Easter! Peace be with you.
I hope that this Octave Week of Easter provided you opportunities to slow down life and reflect on the many things for which we should be grateful. I spent most of the week at the NCEA (National Catholic Education Association) Conference in New Orleans. Educators, Administrators, and Clergy gathered from all over the country to connect, learn, and celebrate Catholic schools. It is always affirming to gather with those who have committed their energy and continue to work to sustain the mission of Catholic education.
Today, at the 10:30 A.M. Family Mass, three of our students were fully initiated into the Catholic Church! Congratulations to Nicholas Hoh, Sophie Honarvar, and Rudy Acosta and their families. It was truly a special moment to witness their joy as they were welcomed by our Catholic community at Saint Clare.
We look forward to welcoming our students, teachers, and families back with a whole host of community-building events starting this week with Jog-a-Thon. Below, you will find a one-stop reference of events for the next few weeks for you to attend, volunteer your time, and invite others to experience our community. These events, your invitation, and your testimony are key to enriching our community with new members. As a principal, I am grateful to all of you for dedicating time and effort to promote, prepare, put on our events, knowing full well that it is our community that makes our school unique and the people who truly care and give are who make us who we are.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
As we’ve shared in past posts, we are in the middle of our accreditation Self-Study, refining our Mission Statement and our Schoolwide Learning Expectations (SLEs)/Graduation Outcomes. It has become more and more evident that it makes every sense to align the work started by the School Advisory Council (SAC) towards developing a current and relevant Strategic Plan with our accreditation efforts. SAC Chair Pedro Espinoza Matty, Finance Committee Chair Lea Lind, and the school’s administrative team will come together to align this work with the help of an outside firm that specializes in developing Strategic Plans. We are currently assessing our needs to give the school the best plan forward.
TECHNOLOGY USE CHALLENGE: HOW DID YOU DO?
Before we left for break, I posted a concern regarding the use of technology by some of our younger students. I’d love to hear how conversations went with your student(s), what your “logs” showed about technology use, whether or not boundaries are set and followed, and whether you have a good sense of the type of language and the connections being made online (gaming comments/exchanges–both verbal and written). I hope that you will continue this conversation with your children. Below is a study on The Roles of General and Technology-Related Parenting in Managing Youth Screen Time. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940341/
I’d like to highlight these two paragraphs under the DISCUSSION section.
Youth screen time far exceeded the 2 hours recommended by AAP for all age groups. Based on a literature indicating that excessive screen time by youth is associated with a host of behavioral and physical problems, we examined if technology-related parenting focused on behavioral control would be associated with child screen time and serve to link general adaptive parenting strategies to screen time. We also examined if parenting would have less influence on screen time as children age. Our model was supported for the young childhood age range and received increasingly less support as children increased in age.
Parental use of rules and enforcement strategies for screen time access was associated with less child screen time for children in the young, and to some extent middle, childhood years, in our primary SEM analyses, echoing the importance of parental rules and enforcement strategies for technology use (Ramirez et al., 2011; Vandewater et al., 2005). Our assessment of these strategies include not only rules around technology use, but also the use of parental controls and passwords to prevent access to media devices in the home. Prior research suggests that the use of parental control devices may improve the efficacy of intervention efforts to reduce child screen time (Maniccia, Davison, Marshall, Manganello, & Dennison, 2011). Overall, the present findings suggest that, at least for young children, screen time may best be managed through rules and enforcement strategies around technology use in the home, guided by parents who utilize warmth and clear communication with their children.
ON-SITE TESTING TOMORROW
Understanding that many of us traveled out of the area and connected with family and friends in person, we are asking everyone to be extra mindful before coming to school tomorrow. Please conduct the usual health self-assessment before leaving your home. When in doubt, you may want to use the antigen test we sent home the week before break. Tomorrow, those who were registered with CTT will be eligible for onsite testing. We ask parents registered for onsite testing to come join us for morning assembly and then stay for testing. CTT will turn around results within 24-48 hours.
As an additional layer of protection, we strongly recommend that students, especially those who are not vaccinated wear face coverings for this first week back. Thank you for talking with your students about the need to consider the safety of the community. Below, you will find the latest C19 snapshot from county public health.
UPCOMING EVENTS | Click on the link to take you to the ParentSquare post
April 27 Jog-a-Thon | you are invited to come and cheer us on; send filled refillable water bottles; students dress in athletic wear (PE bottoms) with PE tops, spirit shirts or theme dress (decided by the class). If you haven’t yet sponsored a student or teacher, there is still time. We are just under $7,000 away from our $50k goal. The electrical upgrade necessary to begin HVAC work for the elementary building will be costly. Your help is greatly appreciated to make this a reality for our littlest ones as quickly as possible. Our middle school HVAC upgrades will begin as soon as summer break begins. Thank you to those who have supported us so generously!
May 2 May Crowning | join us at Morning Assembly on Monday, May 2 to crown Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth | Middle School Lot. Send students to school with blossoms or greenery from your garden. Two students (one boy and one girl) will be selected to represent each class in the Honor Guard. Eighth graders will be selected to crown Mary’s statue and serve as the Coronation Court. More info to come from your homeroom teachers.
May 6 Multicultural Dinner | you invited to cook, volunteer | stay tuned for ticket purchasing information (available at the door or online)
May 6 VIP Day | RSVP to attend this special day honoring grandparents and special friends. The event starts at 9 A.M. with a reception and entertainment, followed by classroom visits, and then a mass presided by Bishop Cantú at 10:45 A.M.
May 23-26 Book Fair & May 25 Ice Cream Social | Scholastic Book Fair preview day with homeroom. Books will be on display for purchase in the school hallway during this time period.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT:
Fridays when school is in session, Weekly Mass at 10:45A
31st Annual Jog-a-Thon, April 27
First Holy Communion May 1 and May 8 at 10:45A Family Masses
May Crowning, May 2nd at Morning Assembly, 8:10A - Middle School Lot
VIP Day, May 6 (reception, activities, mass with Bishop Cantú) 9-Noon
Multicultural Dinner, May 6 (5:30-7:30P)
Graduation Events, week of May 30
Bridging Ceremony, week of June 6 at Morning Assembly
End of the Year Prayer Service, June 9 at 10:45A
End of the Year BBQ, June 9 at 11:30A
If you are interested in volunteering for any of these events, we advise that you get your fingerprinting requirements completed along with other DSJ volunteer requirements. Please contact Ms. McKinnon if you have any questions (teresea.mckinnon@dsj.org OR stclare-office@dsj.org).
Our 2022-23 Calendar has been approved. I will publish the calendar separately to highlight dates that might be important for you as you plan for next year.
If you haven't already registered for CKZ Summer Camp, please do so ASAP so we can plan for staffing accordingly.
This week, those of you who are requesting to be considered for the Catholic discount (student is baptized Catholic, family is actively practicing the faith by coming to Sunday mass regularly and supports the spiritual and financial well-being of the parish of attendance) will receive a reporting of the Serving St. Clare hours recorded thus far, along with evidence giving to ADA or the parish of attendance (having submitted a letter reporting amount of contribution). If you have not yet completed the requirements, it's not too late:
- Record your hours in ParentSquare
- Donate to the Annual Diocesan Appeal or send your donation evidence
- Use your Parish envelope of donate online and/or send a report of your contributions
We will make the final determination and allocation before your first tuition installment in July. The sooner you complete your requirements, the sooner we will be able to confirm your discount eligibility.
As always, your partnership in our work to form moral and ethical critical-thinkers and social justice advocates is greatly appreciated. God bless us all who have not seen, but believe; those of us who plant the seeds that one day will grow, for we are prophets of a future not our own.
Gratefully,
Mrs. Cecile Mantecon, Principal
31st Annual Jog-a-Thon Sponsors
Support your favorite teachers and students!
SERVING ST. CLARE REQUIREMENTS: Parent Service Hours
As part of each family’s financial commitment to St. Clare School, all are required to complete AND record 30 service hours per year (15 hours for single-parent households). By this time, you should have recorded around 24 hours of service (9-10 hours for single-parent households).
Ordinarily, hours left unfulfilled by April 30 of each year will be billed via FACTS by May 20 at a rate of $30 per hour. We are extending the deadline for hours to be served and recorded by June 10, 2022. Unfulfilled hours will be billed via FACTS by June 25 at the rate of $30 per hour.
Take the opportunity now to record hours you’ve served and take advantage of the available sign ups for upcoming events to complete your commitment. Contact room reps, PTG officers and Ms. McKinnon to find out how you can fulfill service hours.
If you are interested in volunteering for any of these events, we advise that you get your fingerprinting requirements completed along with other DSJ volunteer requirements. Please contact Ms. McKinnon if you have any questions (teresea.mckinnon@dsj.org OR stclare-office@dsj.org).
Thank you to those who have already fulfilled their service hours requirements. Families who have fulfilled their 2021-22 commitment may begin to count service hours towards next year’s requirement starting May 1, 2022.
Use the link below to the ParentSquare post outlining how to log your service hours.
Parents As Partners
Our goal is that 100% of our families participate!
We thank the 30 families who have donated. Although Most of our gifts have come from Friends of St. Clare. No matter the amount that your family is able to contribute, your engagement in our efforts to raise funds to complete this project signifies your partnership and commitment. I thank you in advance to consider a donation as soon as possible!
Donations are tax deductible and eligible for matching. Please send a check in any amount to the School ℅ CleanAir4StClare or visit https://www.stclare.school/cleanair4stclare to make a donation.
2021-22 School Calendar
Below, you will find the Calendar Grid for the school year. Some find this difficult to navigate, so I’ve created the Calendar Highlights document which I hope will make it a bit easier for you to consume.
Some changes since the end of the school year: we added September 20th as a NO SCHOOL DAY and our School Year will end a day earlier. The original calendar had us attending 183 days of school, knowing that we had three days over the required 180 days. We are keeping the 181 days in the event we have to close for an emergency due to poor air quality.
Other options to view the calendar include a Google calendar synched to ParentSquare, or subscribing to the St. Clare School Public Calendar below:
Google Public Calendar
You are invited to subscribe to the St. Clare School *PUBLIC* Google Calendar which is also synched to ParentSquare.
PUBLIC URL TO ACCESS FROM A WEB BROWSER
PUBLIC ADDRESS IN iCAL TO ACCESS FROM OTHER APPS
DATES TO REMEMBER
Apr. 14 | Holy Thursday Prayer Service | 10:45A
Apr. 15 | Good Friday | No School
Apr. 18th - 22nd | Easter Break | No School
Apr. 27th | 31st Annual Jog-a-Thon,
May. 2nd | May Crowning
May. 6th | Multicultural Dinner, (5-8P)
Our Beloved St. Clare
Photo by Ed Carlo Garcia www.edcarlogarcia.com
St. Clare School
Email: office@stclareschool.org
Website: https://www.stclare.school
Location: 750 Washington Street, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone: 408 246-6797
Facebook: facebook.com/stclareschoolsantaclara