Joyfully Embracing Our Mission

St. Clare School Family News | 11 January 2020

Come! Live in the Light!

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?

It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;

it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.

Just so, your light must shine before others,

that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

~ Matthew 5:13-16

Dear St. Clare School Families,

Congratulations! We all survived our transition into the first week of 2020. The Student Council and choir did a wonderful job reminding us of the importance of The Epiphany. On Monday, we begin the first cycle of Ordinary Time in our new Liturgical Year. You will see evidence of this in our classrooms and in the main prayer space in the hallway with tables dressed in “green” from the “white” of Christmas and the “purple” of Advent. Ask your students if they know where their liturgical calendar is in the classroom and whether they know the liturgical colors.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK BEGINS JANUARY 26, 2019

In a few weeks, we will begin celebrations and festivities for Catholic Schools Week. Please invite friends and family to join us on January 26 for Sunday Mass at 9 A.M. followed by the Pancake Breakfast. Bill’s will provide the batter and Neto’s, the sausage. New this year to add to the delicious breakfast will be scrambled eggs!

All are invited to tour the school and visit the classrooms and speak to teachers and other families about what makes St. Clare School special. Your children receive a free dress pass for every prospective family who identifies your family as having referred them to St. Clare School.

Students who come to the Family Mass in their formal school uniform will receive a Free Dress pass. Claim the free dress pass from the school office after mass.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Serving St. Clare

At this midpoint in the year, your family should be at least half way through your commitment of 30 hours for the year. There is always a need for yard duty help. We may also have opportunities to do work on the weekends and at home. If you need help fulfilling your hours, please contact Ms. Teresea so she can point you in the right direction. Remember that we will need lots of help with the Golf Tournament on April 27. Please contact Margarita Guizar for this. Kristi Britt also needs your help at the Pancake Festival. Please contact these leads and check out the posted volunteer sign ups on ParentSquare. Remember to log your hours as you complete them so that we have a record of your contribution. Hours unfulfilled by May will be billed to your FACTS account. Thank you for your attention to this!

2020-2021 REGISTRATION

The portals to register for the 2020-2021 School Year and to apply for Tuition Assistance using FACTS are now available. Amount allocated to St. Clare School by the Diocese of San Jose depends on the need surfaced in FACTS. If you do not apply, our funders do not see your need and therefore will not give us the allocated funds that you might be qualified to receive.

Your Registration Packet which will include the 2020-2021 Tuition Agreement will be sent home soon. If you would like to be considered to receive the Catholic tuition discount, please be sure to save a copy of the tax (donation) letter your parish will be sending you shortly. Please stay tuned for more information in the next couple of weeks. Tuition Agreements will be due back on February 25, 2020 and Registration Fees will be collected via FACTS at that time.

An Update on Andy

Some of you may have seen the news about the impending indictment for the young men involved in the Fillmore shooting which forever changed the life of my nephew Andy.

PRACTICE SELF-REGULATION

This week’s focus habit comes from the cardinal virtue (also known as moral virtues) of temperance which is essentially moderation in action, thought or feeling: Practice Self-Regulation or Self-Restraint. For our younger students, it might be easier to refer to this as practicing self-control. However, I am partial to using the term self-regulation, with an emphasis on “SELF”. Even for our youngest students, this is important to note. Often, we see students who “act out” because they feel that they do not have “control” of the situation. Helping our children recognize that their choices are within their locus of control is critical to their social and emotional growth.

In 2018, I chaired an ACS WASC team at The Laurel School in San Francisco. (The Laurel School serves students with mild to moderate learning needs.) During the visit, I had the pleasure of interviewing five boys who were in the fifth grade at the time. Each of them beautifully articulated their strengths and their challenges, as well as recognizing each others’ strengths and challenges. They “checked” themselves and one another during the interview and seemed to know when it was appropriate for them to “self-regulate”.

Practicing self-regulation is practicing the virtue of temperance. Rather than blowing up because of fear, anger, sadness or frustration, or overreacting to someone else’s decision or action, it will serve the community better if self-regulation is practiced. Temperance, along with the other cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude and justice, coupled with the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity (love) help in our transformation to become better humans.

Presume positive intentions and practice self-regulation. We are, after all, a community working together for the good of our students.

We hope you will join us tomorrow to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord at the Family Mass at 9 A.M.

Peace,

Mrs. Cecile Mantecon, Principal

Gospel Reflection | 12 January 2020

A voice from Heaven said, "This is my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

We have just celebrated the birth of Jesus, (Christmas), the Epiphany of our Lord three days ago, (three Wise Men journey to honor the Prince of Peace), and this coming Sunday, January 12, we leap forward to the Baptism of Jesus as a grown man.

As John the Baptist is baptizing Jesus, God acknowledges His beloved Son in a dramatic way, with the heavens opening up, and the Holy Spirit hovering. What an amazing sight, especially when you hear the voice of God the Father!

This is another key event in the life of Jesus, and signifies the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry---preaching, teaching, healing, doing the will of His Father in heaven.

In this New Year, as many of us contemplate New Year's Resolutions, we can imagine Jesus' baptism as "the start of His New Year resolution," doing what God wants for the salvation of all. So we too, remembering our own baptism, can resolve to "live temperately, justly, eager to do what is good" (Titus) no matter our ministry. Jesus is giving us excellent example, and helps us daily as we work for the benefit and good of others.

A big Grazie to the 3rd grade class for hosting this past Thursday's faculty luncheon. Once again we were treated to a wonderful feast enjoyed by all.

UPCOMING EVENTS and THE SCHOOL CALENDAR

The 2019-2020 St. Clare School is now available for public consumption. You will find the calendar in a number of places. They all sync to the Google Public Calendar for our school, so you can trust that these calendars are current.

To find the calendar in our school website, go to https://www.stclare.school/ and scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Calendar" icon (third from the left) or visit https://www.stclare.school/calendar.

To find the calendar in ParentSquare, go to your HOME page and look for "EVENTS" and click on "view all".

To subscribe and add the St. Clare School Public Calendar to your calendar app, use this link:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/drexelschools.org_u0vj6uj1r91qlk8hu9uk1t7qro%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics