Volume 3 - APRIL 2011ADMINISTRATIVE NEWSP

HOENIX

FLASH

St. Francis Catholic Secondary School

Niagara Catholic District School Board

Mr. K. Griepsma, PrincipalMr. T. Marshall and Mr. A. Soares, Vice Principals

541 Lake Street, St. Catharines, ON L2N 4H7(905)646-2002 Phone (905)646-1452 Fax

will be with us on May 10th.- St. Francis staff will be taking part in a Faith Formation activity after school on May 12th.- St. Francis will host its Sidewalk Chalk Arts Festival on the evening of May 18th.

- The Grade 9 EQAO Math Assessment will be conducted on Tuesday, June 14th and Wednesday, June 15th.- Final Exams will run from Wednesday, June 22nd to Tuesday, June 28th.- Graduation Exercises will take place at Niagara College, Niagara-on-the-Lake campus, on Tuesday, June 28th and the prom will take place at Jon Michael's Banquet Hall in Thorold on Wednesday, June 29th.

Congratulations to Erica Agnino, this years recipient of the Catch the Spirit Award.This recognition goes to a student who has demonstrated qualities in the following areas:

Catholic LeadershipCatholic Faith and Catholic School PhilosophyFamily CommitmentSchool Community RelationsInvolvement in School Affairs and ActivitiesInvolvement in Community ActivitiesCommitment to a Difficult Task or SituationHigh Degree of Academic Excellence

Erica will be recognized by the Niagara Catholic District School Board at a special gathering on Monday, May 2nd at St. Michael Catholic High School.

Chastine Pantin and Christopher Pasquale, the two winners of a $100 Best Buy gift card.Thank you to all those students who paid their Activity Fee for the 2011/12 school year, online.

April is a time of renewal. The rains renew our fields and wash away the evidence of winter. Jesus’ resurrection is another sign of renewal in our Catholic faith.

As we continue in the Easter season, we thank God for our many blessings and ask that we continue to have the strength, stamina and focus to continue our mission of living the Gospel values as a Catholic Secondary School community.

Mid-term reports have been sent home with students and we ask parents to review their child's progress. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

We would also ask that you complete a short survey regarding our uniforms by following the link on our school website www.stfrancisphoenix.com. This feedback will allow us to continue to work with our supplier to provide the quality and service the St. Francis community deserves.

Please note that a number of activities will be taking place at St. Francis in the coming weeks.

- May 1st – May 6th is Catholic Education Week and there are a number of activities planned: Catch the Spirit Awards, Staff Excellence Dinner and the St. Francis community Easter Mass, to name a few.- Norbert Georget, a former paramedic and speaker on “youth choices” concerning alcohol and drug abuse, and peer pressure,

Make Me An Instrument Of Your Peace

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SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWSMrs. P. RempelSchool Council Chair

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and I would like to thank all individuals who participated on School Council, and actively volunteered their time and talents. We hope to see most of you back next year, along with some new faces!

School Council contributes generously to the year end Grade 12 graduation activities. This includes a luncheon after the Graduation Mass at St. Alfred’s, and serving up treats after the Graduation Ceremony at Niagara College. We will continue the tradition this year and are always happy to welcome new volunteers to help at these events. If you are interested please contact Suzanne Yule in the Main Office at Ext 2305.

Our next Nearly New Uniform Sale will be held on Wednesday, June 29th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria. Students who have outgrown their uniforms, or graduates not returning, are reminded that we would appreciate the donation of your “used uniforms” at the end of the school year. Many thanks to Roxanne Daoust, Sue Hendriks and our Special Education Department for mending and cleaning uniforms and for organizing the sale.

Our final School Council Meeting of the year is on Thursday, May 26th at 6:15 p.m. in the staff room. We are always happy to welcome newcomers.

Clubs & Activities

the design of our Catholic Education Banner on HOPE. The finished product is striking and will be on display at our local malls during Catholic Education Week, the first week in May. Thank you, Paige Au, Siobhan Deary, Marcella Kotarska, Andrew Lee, Kelly Lim, Yasmine Mahmoud, & Andrea Zappata.

Our community Personal Symbolic Timeline weaving is well on the way. Thank you to our grade 11 and grade 12 Visual Art class, who have contributed their personal strips. Feeling creative? Please feel free to complete a strip for this art piece. The finished project will be hung on display in the Library Information Centre, this coming June, as a permanent display. A special heartfelt thank you to Alexa Wall from one of our feeder schools, who completed a beautiful strip!

The Bye Bye Birdie set is well under way. We have overcome many obstacles in our preparation but are looking forward to a successful production. We think our set this year looks great!

The Art Club is also working on spreading our Phoenix spirit by painting our new eight rowing oars. Regatta audiences will be awed by our flash of purple and Phoenix motifs! Go Phoenix Go!

Come enjoy an evening to celebrate Music and Fine Art at our third annual Sidewalk Chalk Festival known as “Art in the Park” on May 18th from 6-8 p.m., located on the back parking lot and field of St Francis CSS. Refreshments will be available for purchase. This outdoor Art Gallery will have seating and musical entertainment. Admission is $1.00 and proceeds will be added to our Pilgrimage fund. (Rain date May 19th)

Personally, I am inspired by all the artistic and creative voices that fill the Art room on a daily basis. Thank You.

ART CLUB 2011Ms T. Lambert

I would like to extend a special thank you to a few Art Club members who contributed to

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VOLUME 3, April 2011

Chess Club Results Mr. M. Venneri

Junior Division Champions – Holy Cross Chess Tournament

Ryan Phillip, Leina Elfaki, Gage LeBlanc, Joel Chouinard, Michael Mason and Justin Sambajon

Ryan Innamorati, Philip Ross, Jason Yang, Paul Cha, Rob Ventresca and Bryce Beechman

Senior Division Champions – Holy Cross ChessTournament

Grade 9 Team: Silver Medal - NCDSB Chess Championships

Michael Mason, Justin Sambajon, Ryan Phillip, Mackenzie Brown, Joel Chouinard and Gage LeBlanc

Grade 11 Team: Silver Medal - NCDSB Chess Championships

Paul Cha, Brayden Gerard, Bryce Beechman, Brandon James, Joseph Song and Nicholas Lorenzi

Grade 12 Team: Bronze Medal - NCDSB Chess

Ryan Innamorati, Philip Ross, Kevin Phillip, Harrison Cole, Tim Lee and David Donnelly

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Co-curricular NewsGirls Hockey TeamMs J. Frendo (now Brennan) Congratulations on your marriage!Ms S. Weigert and Mr. N. Preiner

The St. Francis Girls Hockey Team had a great season. We have three balanced lines, two defensive lines and very good goaltending.

The forwards were played by Emily Cornelius, (Captain), Jessica Walsh and Sydnie Fiocca (Assistant Captains), Trish Jolicoeur, Erin Brown, Cailee MacDougall, Kelsey Fish, Alessandra Peters, Shannon Galway and Sarah Galway.

Our defensive lines were run by Taylor Morris, Marissa Steinbergs, Taylor Newhouse and Kiersten Craig. Our goalie, Selena Aita, brought us through many tough games.

All of our rookies came a long way this year. They consisted of Alessandra Peters, Shannon Galway and Sarah Galway.

During our regular season, we won 9 out of 10 games placing first in our division. We also won the McDonald’s Tournament and came in second in the 3 on 3 Holy Cross tournament, as well as the Canlan Toronto Tournament. We also won the Zone 4 Championship defeating Eden in two straight games. The girls then went to Caledonia to compete in SOSSA where they came up short in the finals.

We want to thank the girls for their outstanding performances this year, as well as all the parents who stood by them helping with driving and participating in the running of the games. We also appreciate all the wonderful baking done by Grammie.

Badminton Team Mrs. D. Rozman, Ms D. Scull and Mrs. S. Labrovic

The Badminton Team has been selected and is working hard for upcoming sub-Zone and Zone tournaments. This year the team consists of 36 players in three different divisions. Senior: grades 11 and 12, Junior: grade 10 and Midget: grade 9. Players have been working hard during after school practices. We wish the team well and are looking forward to many personal bests and team performances. The Seniors begin their tournament play on April 14th while the Junior and Midget teams begin the following week on the 20th.

GO PHOENIX!

Senior Girl’s Volleyball Mrs. Lucchetta and Mrs. O’Leary

With many new players added to this year’s Senior Girl’s Volleyball Squad, the girls showed incredible improvement and determination throughout the 2010-2011 season. The girls faced many tough opponents during regular play, and they had strong finishes in both the Niagara Catholic Tournament as well as the Notre Dame Catholic Tournament. Hard work from all team members, and the leadership of senior players Alicia Marconi, Kal Rozman and Sarah Slattery, paid off as the girls competed in the Zone Finals. They fell just short to Eden. Coaches Mrs. Lucchetta and Mrs. O’Leary are proud of the team and their many accomplishments this season.

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VOLUME 3, April 2011

Senior Boys BasketballMr. P. Sullivan

The Senior Boys Basketball team captured their tenth Zone 4 title in the past eleven years, then followed that by winning their seventh SOSSA title in the past 8 seasons. The team advanced to OFSAA where the Phoenix won their opening two games but were eliminated by the eventual champion in the quarter finals in a hard fought game. Special thanks to Josh Rempel and Keegan Dunlop for their dedication to St. Francis basketball as they will be leaving us this year. Josh will attend St Francis Xavier University and Keegan will be attending a Prep school in the United States to pursue his goal of a division 1 scholarship. Best of luck to both of you. We have big plans for next year. In addition to the 50th anniversary Standard Tournament, the team will return to Florida and will also host the OFSAA Basketball Championships in March for the first time in school history.

GO PHOENIX!

Curling TeamMr. Y. Freve

Both of St. Francis’ curling teams had a great time throwing rocks at houses. This year we were blessed with two very talented curling teams comprised of a mix of new and experienced curlers. Both our teams participated in the Gore Mutual Bonspiel, with the boys making it to the Regional’s. In the regular season, the girl’s team finished by making it all the way to the Zone finals. The boy’s team completed the regular season finishing 2nd in the league and 2nd at SOSSA. Next year should be another exciting season.

CURLING ‘ROCKS’!

Swim TeamMs F. Latcham and Ms D. Scull

The intense competition at SOSSA saw Mike Kruek just miss the mark, by literally fractions of a second, and he was unfortunately denied a trip to OFSAA. Alex Evans on the other hand, our para-swimmer, travelled to OFSAA in Etobicoke, two days in a row, and triumphantly brought home a hard-earned gold medal! His achievement inspired Mr. Mateyk to sing a special song to him, performed over the PA, for the entire school to enjoy. Alex's achievement will be celebrated by proudly having his picture displayed on the Wall Of Fame.

Congratulations and thank you to the entire team! Your hard work and perseverence paid off with many personal bests and lots of laughs during the long swim season. Your spiritwear should be arriving quite soon!

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Department NewsSchool Reach SquadMrs. A. Cheng

Another exciting season has ended for the Reach Team coached by Mrs. Van Kralingen, Mrs. Cheng and Mrs. Casburn. For those who do not know, Reach members compete in squads of four against the other Catholic Secondary schools, testing their trivia knowledge. The season consists of six tournaments where teams play three games at each tournament. Reach players are divided into two age groups; Intermediates, who are in grades 9 and 10, and Seniors, who are in grades 11 and 12. The following students comprised our teams:

St. Francis Intermediate 1 St. Francis Intermediate 2Christy Rohaly (Captain) Justin Sambajon (Captain)Jessica Zugic Troy PerraultLaura Fillingham Ryan PhillipPaige Au Braydon MironAltaf Nurie Michael Mason Mark Wegrzyn

St. Francis Senior 2 St. Francis Senior 1Jake Rigby (Captain) Stephen Balanowski (Captain)Alex Sowrey Philip RossTravis D’Arcey Jason YangBrian Rankin Saja ElfakiKevin Phillip Tanya Hendriks Alex Zimic The top four teams from the league were invited to compete in the final round robin tournament held at St. Francis on Wednesday, March 30th. We had a very successful season, with the St. Francis Senior Team #2 moving on to the finals. After three grueling matches, the Senior team ended up in second place overall. Congratulations to all the team members for a great season and we hope to see new and returning players next year.

FSF/INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGESMme. M. Marshall

The FSF/International languages department has been quite busy preparing for the 12th Annual French/Italian/Spanish Public Speaking Contest. The contest was held on April 5th at Club Roma. This contest is open to all students within the Niagara Catholic District School Board. The event was a huge success with well over 100 participants and judges from

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VOLUME 3, April 2011

Brock University, who included many retired teachers and Program Chairs. Congratulations to André Riel, who came in 2nd place in the FSF core grade 11 category and to Sarah Chan and Elizabeth Song who both tied for 3rd place in the grade 11 FSF core category.

The grades 11 and 12 French students will also be participating in the Annual Brock Niagara French contest to be held at Brock University on May 4, 2011. This contest is open to all grades 11 and 12 French students from the entire Niagara Region. Students will be tested on their written, oral, and communication skills. Bonne chance à tous les participants!

Students from the IDC 30 course (Italy Travel Credit Course), have returned from two fantastic weeks in Italy. The students visited Rome, Assisi, Pisa, Vinci, Siena, Florence, Padova, and Venice. They experienced the life, culture, history, art, music and language of Italy. The students presented their ISU’s on site giving their classmates an experience that they will remember forever.

Information meetings for Italy 2012 (IDC 3O), will be held at the end of June and again at the beginning of September, when we will have the official registration for the course.

The French and Italian classes will also be travelling to Toronto to experience the St. Lawrence Market and visit City TV/OMNI Television Station. They will see first-hand the importance of studying and learning a second language and what an asset it is in the workplace.

The aim of our department is to demonstrate how languages are an asset to our future, and how the knowledge of a second language will open many doors and opportunities for all those embracing the experience.

Special Education DepartmentMs A. De Cicco

It has been a very exciting semester so far for the St. Francis Special Education Department. The months of February and March were packed with many wonderful activities beginning with the Valentine’s Day Dance, which was held at St. Michael Catholic High School. Students enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by the St. Michael Culinary students, and participated in a much anticipated dance. March brought its own adventures as students were treated like celebrities at the Lakeshore Catholic High School "Oscars" Celebration. Students sat back and enjoyed some movie magic created by each of the 8 participating high schools. Students are looking forward to April 15th when they will be participating in a day of beach volleyball at Holy Cross Secondary School.

Many students at St. Francis, including some Special Needs students, have begun co-op placements at various businesses in the community. This is a great opportunity for students to gain some knowledge as well as new experiences in the workplace. They also continue to make muffins for the P3 Program, which runs every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in our school Library, helping to nourish the hungry stomachs of many students hard at work.

On March 31st, many students in our school participated in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. The test was written in designated areas throughout the school, with all grade 9 students writing the Mock Literacy Test in their morning classes. This is just the beginning of Literacy preparation

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English DepartmentMrs. D. Rozman

The English Department has had an eventful semester so far. The primary focus of this semester has been the preparation and organization of the Literacy Test, which took place on Thursday, March 31st.

At the beginning of semester two, grade 10 English students received their Literacy Test practice booklets from semester one. Grade 10 classroom teachers then gave students specific instruction on how to better prepare themselves for the Literacy Test.

The Literacy Test day was truly a school community event. While the grade 10's were writing the formal test, all grade 9 students were writing a mock test. The mock tests will be marked at the upcoming staff meeting by all members of the

that will take place for students who will be writing the test next year. We wish all students who wrote the test, the best of luck in their results.

In conclusion, the Special Education Department would like to thank everyone involved in making the start of this semester so enjoyable. We are looking forward to an even more exciting end to the school year. Please look for your son's or daughter’s Mid-Term Report, which will be sent home at the end of this month.

St. Francis teaching staff. The data collected from this important exercise will be used to create a class profile of learners for next fall. While the grade 9 and 10 students were writing, the grade 11 and 12 students were treated to a morning-long session of guest speakers. Also, a Zumba session with our very own Zumba instructor Mrs. Meisner, and some entertainment by our school musicians, was provided. The focus of the morning talks was mental health, since this is the year designated to Mental Health Awareness. Overall, it was a highly successful, organized and trouble free day. The cooperation and support of the entire staff was evident and much appreciated. The results of this years test will be made public in early June.

This semester, there are a number of English trips planned for students. Mrs. Wall’s and Mr. Gandola’s grade 10 English classes will see Macbeth on Wednesday April 6th. A trip to Hamlet is also planned for Mrs. Wall’s and Mrs. Meisner’s grade 11 classes. Finally, Mrs. Rozman’s grade 10 English class and Mr. Payne’s Media Tech classes are planning a visit to Playdium and Much Music in May.

On Thursday April 7th, the Niagara Catholic First Annual Writer’s Conference will be held at the Parkway Hotel on Ontario Street. Grade 12 Writer’s Craft students from every high school in the board are invited to attend a series of workshops by published Canadian authors on a variety of topics that range from 'How to Get Started as a Writer' to 'How to Get Published'. Mr. Chalmers' first semester students will attend this Board-wide event that has been planned by the Program Department and the English Heads of all eight high schools. It is our hope that this event will become an annual tradition for our graduating students and young writers.

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VOLUME 3, April 2011

Library Information CentreStudent Writer’s Craft Conference ReportMs F. Latcham

On April 7th, English Department Heads, Writer’s Craft students and teachers, and Library Technicians, had the opportunity to attend the first annual Student Writer’s Craft Conference. The Conference was organized by the NCDSB Program Department and English Department Heads. Of the workshops offered by seven different Canadian authors, I chose to attend Finding your creative voice, delivered by Dean Serravalle and Weeding your word garden: The gentle art of slash and burn, presented by Natale Ghent.

The morning began with Keynote Speaker Allan Stratton, who set the tone with an introduction on where creative ideas can come from. He read aloud, an excerpt from his award winning

novel, Chanda’s Secrets. He confidently punctuated the text with paces, pauses and whispers that captivated the audience. For Chanda’s Secrets, he travelled to South Africa for true inspiration and then asked local people to read his story so that he could use their feedback to verify not just the facts, but also to ensure the “surface feel of things.” After a brief Q & A, he closed with the inspirational message “where there is life, there is love and where there is love, there is hope…”

Dean Sarravalle, a teacher at St. Michael CHS, provided a worksheet for attendees to encourage them to get in touch with their “signature” and to illustrate where emotions can

come from when writing creatively. Mr. Sarravalle explained that writers should recall experiences that influence who they are and explore how those influences impact our lives. It’s those smells, sounds, touches, sights, tastes, and emotions that we can draw on to use in our creative writing. He emphasized that “sincerity” in ones writing was the most important factor in producing quality fiction and that publishers will be looking for your “signature” in all of your writing.

Natale Gehent’s presentation focused on one the most important aspects in the creative writing process, that being the editing. She encouraged students to start by only writing a chapter at a

time and then putting it away for a week, so that the work could be re-read with fresh eyes. Her carefully prepared Power Point presentation included many examples of writers’ work to illustrate how and where to find the “bunnies” and “darlings” (the good writing) and how to weed out the “dragons” and “excess baggage”. As well as reading out loud to yourself, Ms Gehent pointed out that discipline and hard work; not magic, are also key aspects to producing quality fiction.

Both authors emphasized the importance of learning and understanding the basics of written language, including sentence structure, tense, spelling and punctuation, but that there are always exceptions to the rules. They were both excellent and provided a unique perspective on the craft of writing.

Perhaps, Natale Gehent’s closing remarks inspired students the most: “the world is a better place because you are in it!!”

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From the Chaplain’s Desk…Ms D. McCaffery, Chaplain

A few highlights from second semester:Development & Peace Workshop: J.P. Tabios, Joe Song, Jeremy Espino, Karling Nenadovich, Kevin Gryp, Jenna Silta, and Emily Murphy attended a workshop on February 16th to learn more about the D & P education initiative on bottled water. They will be making a presentation to all religion classes to help raise awareness about this very important problem in our world today.Grade 11 Retreats took place February 28th, March 1st and 3rd. Fr. Paul MacNeil was our guest speaker, challenging students to consider life through the lens of faith.

Our Ash Wednesday Liturgy was celebrated on Wednesday, March 9, with special thanks to our music ministry for enhancing our worship. Reconciliation was celebrated with grade 11 and 12 students in April. Our thanks to Msgr. Leo Clutterbuck, Fr. Walton, Fr. Basque, Fr. Fernback, Fr. Gillen, and Fr. Oliver who were present to hear confessions. Stations of the Cross were prayed as a school community during Holy Week. Special thanks to Mrs. Phelan-Savage’s drama class for their meaningful presentation, and to Mr. Mancuso and our school choir for their beautiful music.Respect Life News: Melissa Ohden, Right to Life Speaker, spoke to all grade levels on February 25th, sharing her own story of survival. Melissa miraculously survived a saline abortion and today shares a message of hope and life which touched all our hearts. Sarah Scappaticci, Jessica Maloney and Sarah Quan represented St. Francis at the Annual Right to Life Dinner on February 26th. PhilipRoss and J.P. Tabios represented St. Francis at the Annual Mass for Life, celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Catherine on the Feast of the Annunciation, on March 25th.

And yet to come…Grad Retreat will take place on May 11th at Balls Falls. Our special guest speaker will be Andy Thibodeau. Pray for sunshine! Our Easter Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Peter Walton on Wednesday, May 4th.Year End Mass will be celebrated on June 2nd with special recognition of our graduates.

Catholic Education Week – May 1 - 7 “Celebrating the Spirit”

Throughout our school community during this week, our classes will be celebrating the affirmation of Luke. 4: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and the challenge of Psalm 104: …renew the face of the earth.

Some highlights of the week: Monday, May 2nd – Grade 7 Education Week Mass at the Cathedral of St. Catherine. Music ministry

provided by St. Francis Choir Wednesday, May 4th – Easter Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Walton and Buddy Day, welcoming public

school students who will be attending St. Francis in the fall. Fairview Mall display – Thursday, May 5th. Holy Cross and St. Francis families will be highlighted,

through static displays and dynamic presentations, the spirit of Catholic Education is alive in our schools.

Morning prayer each day will focus on a different aspect of the theme, plus a school-wide trivia challenge will take place through the week.

Please pray for our community during Catholic Education Week that we will be drawn closer to God through the message of the Gospel!

Christ is risen, alleluia, alleluia! May your family experience the joy of the resurrection during this Easter Season!

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VOLUME 3, April 2011

CALENDAR OF EVENTSAPRIL

Friday, April 22Good Friday

Sunday, April 24 Easter

Monday, April 25Easter Monday

Thursday, April 28Assoc. Elem. School DanceMidterm Reports Sent Home

Friday, April 29Casual Dress Day

MAY

Monday, May 2College Offers must be ConfirmedMonday, May 2 - Sunday, May 7 CATHOLIC *EDUCATION* WEEK

Thursday, May 5Buddy Day

ST. FRANCIS EASTER MASS

Friday, May 6McMaster Smiles for KIDS

Wednesday, May 11Grad Retreat

Friday, May 13Spirit Wear Day

Wednesday, May 18Sidewalk Chalk Arts Festival

Thursday, May 19Board Grad Celebration

Monday, May 23Victoria Day

Thursday, May 26Catholic School Council Meeting (6:15 p.m.)

Friday, May 27Casual Dress Day

Markbook Reports Sent Home

JUNE

Thursday, June 2CLOSING SCHOOL MASS

Tuesday, June 7 - Thursday, June 9EQAO Math Prep & Exam Review

Friday, June 10Casual Dress

SEM 2 Community Serivce Hours Due

Monday, June 13 - Friday, June 17Modern Languages Speaking Exams/Arts

Performances Exams

Tuesday, June 14 - Wednesday, June 15Grade 9 EQAO Assessments

Tuesday, June 21Last Day of Classes SEM 2

Markbook Reports Sent Home

Wednesday, June 22 - Tuesday June 28Exams

Wednesday, June 29Grad Prom

Professional Activity DayNearly New Uniform Sales from 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Thursday, June 30Professional Activity Day

"May God continue to bless the St. Francis community as we progress toward our year end activities."

Mr. K. Griepsma, Principal

Thank Youto

Ozzie MucciarelliAVONDALE STORES

Make Me An Instrument Of Your Peace

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ST. FRANCIS CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL GRADUATIONTUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011 AT 6:00 P.M. AT NIAGARA COLLEGE, NOTL

Keep this sheet in a handy place for reference to important dates!

Graduation is the culmination of a student’s high school years and should be a happy and memorable event. We are anxious to provide a program that our graduates will always remember and have arranged the following activities: (**Please note that these are the only school sponsored graduation activities. ANY OTHER EVENTS ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY ST. FRANCIS AND WILL NOT BE CHAPERONED BY SCHOOL STAFF.**)

REQUIREMENTS: In order to participate in Graduation, each student must successfully complete 40 hours of community service by May 13, 2011 and attain 30 credits (including Religion) by Friday, June 24, 2011. Failure to satisfy these requirements will exclude the student from the Graduation exercises.

GRADUATION RETREATSEach student will be expected to participate in a one-day school retreat on May 11 and The Board Grad Celebration which is tentatively scheduled for May 19.

GRADUATION REHEARSAL:Rehearsal for the graduation exercise to take place at Niagara College has been scheduled for TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011 AT 9:00 A.M. ATTENDANCE AT REHEARSAL IS MANDATORY.

GRADUATION EXERCISES:The Graduation exercises will be held at Niagara College, NOTL campus on Tuesday, JUNE 28TH AT 6:00 P.M. All graduates must be at Niagara College by 5:00 p.m. sharp. Each graduate will receive four guest invitations to the Graduation Exercises.

GOWN PICK UP:Gowns must be picked up at Niagara College on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 following the rehearsal.

PICTURES:Each grad will receive 1- 11x14 class composite in a vinyl grad folder, 1- 5x7 diploma photo taken at graduation and 1- 5x7 prom photo taken at the dinner.

GRADUATION DRESS FOR FORMAL EXERCISES: Both male and female graduates will wear academic caps and gowns. Students must return the gown & stole but they may keep the cap and tassel. Note: Failure to return the gown & stole immediately after the grad exercises will result in the student being responsible for the cost of the gown as established by the company. In order to participate in the graduation ceremonies, the dress code is as follows: Males: A shirt, tie, dress pants, socks and dress shoes. Recommended black socks/shoes. Females: A dress, skirt/blouse or long dress pants and dress shoes.

GRADUATION PROM DINNER AND DANCE: The graduation dinner and dance will be held on Wednesday, June 29th at John Michael’s Banquet Facility.Photos will be taken between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Dinner will be served at 7:00 p.m. followed by dancing until 11:00 p.m.All graduates are responsible for acquiring their own appropriate attire for the graduation prom. This attire is not included in the graduation fee. It will be necessary for non-graduates accompanying graduates to pay a $50.00 fee by May 27, 2011. A Graduation Dinner contract must be completed and submitted by all students attending the dinner.

Students are not permitted to leave the hall during the evening. Students found to be under the influence of alcohol/drugs will be removed from the hall and a call to the parent will be made to pick up the student.

FEES:Graduates must pay a fee of $160.00. These payments cover the rental of academic gowns, purchase of academic caps, invitations,certificates, programs, pictures, graduation prom and dinner, and the grad retreat. Please pay Mrs. Conway in Student Services as soon as possible. The Graduation Dinner contract must accompany your payment.

THE GRADUATION FEE IS DUE April 1, 2011.