SFSS Family Newsletter

Welcome to the new year! (School year that is.)

Don't panic, yet. We still have 4 more weeks, until we are packing lunches, completing homework assignments, and so much more.

Yesterday, we mailed out a paper mailing of the following:

• family/school handbook
• need to know sheet (a.k.a Frequently Asked Questions)
• family event calendar (most events are on there)
• how to order lunches (not open, yet, but stay tuned)
• fundraiser information sheet

I've attached digital copies of these.

We have been slowly working on better utilizing our school website. There is a great webpage that has lots of common information: school supply lists, uniform ordering information, and past newsletters. The link is https://www.stfrancisststephen.org/family-resources/

As in the past, each week there will be a family newsletter full of information and of course good news of our school. Please make sure to look for this and check your spam folders.

Last year, being new and coming out of Covid, we adopted a theme of "with God's help, watch us grow" based on psalm 92:13 Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

We grew so much as a school from 84 students in September to 99 students in June. Our staff grew, as well, in adding new teachers and they grew in knowledge to better serve the students. Our students grew in personal development, faith, and knowledge. We are also growing the image of the school inside the building and out in the community. We have just begun our work.

This year, we are expanding on that theme because we want to keep growing using psalm 65:10: The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

The image above explains a little about what seeds (our mission) are and what we see are the outcomes of our work throughout the year and career of each student. On behalf of the staff, I hope you will join in our efforts to help our school grow in academic knowledge and opportunities, building the kingdom of God through faith formation and stewardship, and develop our students to discover their God given talents to find fulfillment and purpose.

When you come to visit our school, you may notice some changes and updates.

We are still in the works of completing several projects that have been planned since January. These include:

• updated desks and chairs
• 3 additional water fountain filling stations
• new stall dividers in the boys' and girls' bathrooms in the original school
• new pre-Kindergarten room
• new library space
• updated faculty workspace
• new roof
• 6 new smartboards
• new Chromebooks for 2 of our classes

All these projects and donations were made possible by several donors, Harry J. Touhey, Holy Family School, Bison Technology, Proctor Enterprises, Massa Construction, Chuck Bruzee, Pete Liberatore, and Jim Babb. We are so ever grateful for all of these people who made everything possible and completing the work before school starts.

You may have known that we had to hire a new administrative assistant and business manager. We have offered the position to a new hire and she will be learning the ropes and get caught up with FACTS and our school in two weeks. We greatly appreciate your patience during this time of transition.