Joyfully Embracing Our Mission

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

Happy Lunar New Year and welcome to the Year of the Metal Rat.

We honor the traditions of many of our school families and join them in their celebration of this very auspicious time. Growing up in the Philippines, we were exposed to Chinese traditions as many of our friends and families share the ancestry. (My maternal grandmother’s last name is Jao-Sy.) I still read the Chinese Zodiac for fun and definitely still consider some of the superstitions shared with me as a child (eating noodles for long life, cleaning the house before ushering the new year). These are marvelous traditions that focus on the family, being a good human being and respect for the elderly. We are grateful to have these guidelines to live that align with our gospel values so incredibly well.

As you’ve seen from a recent post, we will have our Lunar New Year celebrations on February 25th. It’ll be an opportunity for us to honor these traditions and at the same time, prepare for the Season of Lent. We thank you for signing up for volunteer opportunities.

2020-2021 TUITION AGREEMENT DUE BACK BY FEBRUARY 10

Yesterday, your students should have brought home an envelope that contains the 2020-2021 Tuition information (letter, schedule/rate and fees, agreement). Please read through it carefully.

As always, if you have any questions or if you have concerns you would like to discuss, please contact me directly. Returning the signed tuition agreement by February 10, 2020 signifies that you would like to reserve a spot for your child(ren) for the following school year. If you are not planning on returning, I ask for the courtesy of a letter or email indicating the reason or the request for a meeting before February 10.

In addition, if you would like to be considered for tuition assistance, please complete a FACTS Grant & Aid application (online: FACTS) as soon as possible. This will help us determine what your award might look like to help you make a determination. A confidential conversation with me regarding your concerns is highly valuable in making this determination. Let’s work together to make sure your child(ren) can continue to access the benefits of a Catholic education. Thank you for being open to this conversation.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK | 27-31 JANUARY | We Celebrate Catholic Schools

Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed

This Catholic Schools Week theme from the National Catholic Education Association is a great reminder of why our parents choose to send their students to St. Clare School and why our teachers choose to fulfill their vocation within our community. St. Clare is a place to learn skills that will empower them to serve, lead and succeed in our global society.

This week, we are highlighting all the good things that affirm our choice.

Sunday: We Celebrate Our Parish

• Family Mass at 9 A.M.

• Formal uniform for students; claim Free Dress Pass in the office after mass

• Pancake Breakfast after Sunday morning masses (PTG event to benefit scholarships)

• Alumni welcome and check in (reconnect with your second home) in the Hall after 9 A.M. Mass

• Open House, 9:30 A.M. to 1 P.M. (visit classrooms and speak to teachers and room reps about each grade level; view student work in halls and the classrooms)

• Alumni, families, speak at Sunday masses regarding their St. Clare experience

• Challenge: post on social media (including FB, Instagram, Twitter, Yelp and greatschools.org) why you chose St. Clare School

Monday: We Celebrate Our Community

Student Council and musicians represent St. Clare School at the Diocesan Catholic Schools Week Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph.

Student Council visits St. John XXIII Center in downtown San Jose to learn about the ministry to the population in the area. Crew socks and travel size hygiene (toiletries) products as well as sandwiches will be delivered. Any donations should be in the school office by 7:50 A.M. Donations received after this time will be delivered at another time. Thank you for your generosity!

Buddy classes have selected to prepare a “Basket of Gratitude” to present to community partners:

• 6th Grade and 1st Grade: Mission Library

• 2nd and 5th: Santa Clara Police Department

• K and 4th: Santa Clara Fire Department

• 3rd and 8th: SCU (Work Study Program)

• 7th grade & TK: Bright Smilz Preschool/Daycare

Please look for posts from your homeroom teacher or room rep asking for items to donate. Thank you for your support and generosity.

Tuesday: We Celebrate Vocations

We value the commitment made by ordained ministers, men and women religious and married people whose vocations make up the Body of Christ, the Church. At morning assembly on this day, we will honor Fr. Tad and Sr. Ann Marie as representatives of their vocations with a blessing and a prayer of gratitude.

All our teachers will also be out at drop-off to greet you (parents, families) and present you with a small token of our appreciation for your awesomeness!

Wednesday: We Celebrate Our Nation

At morning assembly, we will honor those who serve or have served in our armed forces. In the classrooms, teachers will lead an activity writing to our elected representatives in Congress to let them know about the value of Catholic education in the context of civil service, preparing future servant leaders and social justice advocates.

Thursday: We Celebrate Our Students | Students Come in Spirit Shirts and Appropriate Free Dress Bottoms

Student Council will be serving donut holes and chocolate milk at morning recess. (If your child has dietary needs, please communicate this to the homeroom teacher and send an appropriate snack for them on this day.)

At 11:15 A.M., join us for a fun all-school rally planned by Student Council for the first appearance of our school mascot on St. Clare grounds (elementary blacktop)!

Friday: We Celebrate our Faculty and Staff

Show your appreciation to our faculty and staff with a simple note of thanks on this day. They are a wonderful bunch and deserve the honor!

Choice Lunch, courtesy of Christina Nolan, will be serving up some good eats for our teachers, paraeducators, office and CKZ staff. In order for them to be able to celebrate together, we are asking for your help.

Please call Teresea and let them know if you can help “substitute” for them at lunch duty and during silent reading time. If you have signed up for this day already, please consider extending your duty time from 11:45 to 1 P.M.

This will give our teachers an extra 15 minutes of lunch together. If you can spare one hour and 15 minutes on this day, please call Teresea on Monday to let her know. We will need enough coverage for at least each classroom: 3 in middle school, 7 in the elementary wing.

Students will be dismissed for lunch as usual. TK and K teachers and paraeducators will leave their post at noon. Yard duty will bring students to the classroom as usual at 12:45 and stay with them for silent reading until the teacher returns at 1 P.M.

We appreciate your commitment to St. Clare School and we acknowledge the sacrifices you are making to give your children the opportunity to benefit from a Catholic education. We celebrate the fact that we are a community joined together in this mission!

Next week, you will learn more about February’s “ONE LOVE” Drive to benefit LifeMoves, Sacred Heart Community Center and to strengthen our formation and focus on servant leadership as a school community.

This week, in honor of Catholic Schools Week and our celebrations, our focus habit is "Live Joyfully". This habit of the heart will remind us to be grateful for all that we have an praise God with joy for our gifts.

I am grateful to the Student Council, Student Ambassadors, Girl Scouts, PTG, the teachers and staff for working together to truly make it known that, “We Are Christians by Our Love.”

Joyfully in Christ,

Mrs. Cecile Mantecon, Principal

In today’s Gospel, Matthew wants to confirm that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Matthew goes from talking about Jesus as the light to talking about the coming Kingdom. The new Kingdom will be made present through the mission and ministry of Jesus and it will be fully realized at the Second Coming.

What parts of our hearts or souls are in darkness? Sometimes we resist looking at those places. They become like the scary part of the basement where we’re afraid to shine a light in case we see spiders or mouse droppings. But God tells us not to be afraid! He wants to shine his light into our lives so that we can be cleansed and healed. Light is a natural disinfectant, and God’s light is a spiritual disinfectant. What place in your life is dark today and in need of God’s light and healing?

Tomorrow's Family Mass begins at 9 A.M. followed by the Pancake Breakfast and Open House to kick off Catholic Schools Week. See flyer below outlining the events of each day. We like to thank Gabrielle Gebala for her awesome flyer she created!

On Tuesday, February 25th we will be celebrating Lunar New Year at St. Clare. This is an annual tradition that embodies SCS's mission statement "cherish and celebrate our diverse backgrounds and cultures," by honoring one of the most important holidays in Chinese and Vietnamese cultures. Clink link below too original post outlining the days events and sign up for service opportunities..

https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/2365268

Click HERE to read the original post for more details.

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

• 1/26 Catholic Schools Week Mass at 9A
• 1/26 Pancake Breakfast following Sunday morning masses
• 1/26 January Open House, 10A-1P | Welcome, alums!
• 2/3 "ONE LOVE" Drive begins
• 2/10 Tuition Agreement DUE BACK to the School Office

• 2/13 Free Dress for those with PASSES
• 2/14 No School | Local Holiday
• 2/17 No School | Presidents Day
• 2/18 No School | Local Holiday
• 2/20 Free Dress for those with PASSES
• 2/25 Lunar New Year Celebrations | WCEA One-Day Visit
• 2/26 Ash Wednesday Mass at 9 A.M.
• 2/27 Free Dress for all students
• 2/28 Spirit Shirts with Uniform Bottoms
• 2/29 "ONE LOVE" Drive concludes with Day of Service, 10A-2P
  

Email: office@stclareschool.org
Website: https://www.stclare.school
Location: 725 Washington Street, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone: 408 246-6797