"Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory."

~ Isaiah 60

Greetings from Manila, Philippines!

This Sunday, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In Spain and Latin American countries or countries once occupied by Spain, this feast is a treasured tradition, sometimes more so than the western tradition of Santa Claus. El dia de los Tres Reyes Magos, celebrated on January 6, is when children receive their "Christmas gifts" by leaving slippers and a treat for the camels and the Kings.

This Sunday begins the final week of the Christmas season. Jesus has come to be our Light and in some ways, the ultimate Gift given to us by the Magis...for if they had returned to share his location with Herod, the story would have had a different ending altogether.

AND SO WE BEGIN 2019...

On Monday, January 7, we return to school, excited to see friends and teachers and look forward to new learning and new experiences. We can't wait to see what the new year has in store for us!

Please take a moment this weekend to check to make sure uniforms still fit: skirts and shorts are the right length and fit; P.E. uniforms and sweats that have become worn are replaced with ones that are not as worn. Please let us know if this is a hardship so that we can help find some replacements from the uniform "closet".

Please take some time to replenish supplies and clean out backpacks. Remind students to take great care of technology loaned by the school: iPads that were taken home (7th and 8th graders) are returned charged and wiped down.

More importantly, remember to order from CHOICE LUNCH, our new lunch provider for the new year. There are some great choices including pizza. Check it out and sign up today: https://www.choicelunch.com/

Be sure to select Santa Clara as "CITY" in order to select St. Clare. You will need to preload your account with an amount in order to place an order. There are some great selections. I've already ordered my lunch for the week.

SHEA HOMES VISITS ST. CLARE

On Wednesday, January 9, a representative from our benefactors, Shea Homes | J.F. Shea Company, Inc. will be visiting our school with Superintendent Jennifer Beltramo and Vicar General for Special Projects Fr. Brendan McGuire. Our student council officers are preparing a video and presentation to show our gratitude for the dual-pane, custom-crafted windows. We are grateful for the opportunity to improve our facilities to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for our students. Our students are preparing some thank you notes to send back with them.

WHILE YOU WERE AWAY

Our diocesan technology crew was on site to install our new wireless network and VOIP phones. Thank you to your tremendous Jog-A-Thon response, we improving our safety protocols, our learning environment (no more interruptions from radio during class instruction time!) and the ability for our teachers to communicate across campus and with parents more efficiently and effectively.

SAVE THE DATES!

A number of very important deadlines and due dates are coming up.

• OPEN HOUSE: January 27 from 9:30 A.M. to 1 P.M.
  
• SCHOOL TOURS: January 29 from 9 A.M. to 11:30 P.M.
  
• INTENT TO RETURN NOTICE for 2019-2020: February 1
  
• TUITION ASSISTANCE APPLICATIONS for 2019-2020: February 5
  
• SCREENING OF PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS TK-K, 1-8: February 9 from 9 A.M. to Noon
  

AMBASSADOR INCENTIVES

You are the best ambassadors for St. Clare School. Increasing our enrollment allows us to maintain student-centered programs as well make tuition accessible for those who desire a Catholic education at St. Clare. With that in mind, we would like to offer some incentives for families who refer new families. Here are a couple:

• Bring a new family to Open House to complete an Interest Form (the family indicates your family as the referring family) and your child(ren) will receive a Free Dress Pass.
  
• If a family completes an Application for Enrollment and indicates your family as the referring family, your child(ren) will receive a Free Dress Pass and your family will receive 2 hours of credit towards service hours.
  

Further incentives may become available for your family if the family you referred is admitted and enrolls for 2019-2020. Stay tuned!

Stay tuned for a post regarding registration information for School Year 2019-2020!

TUITION ASSISTANCE

The FACTS Tuition Assistance Portal is now open for those who desire financial assistance with tuition. Please be sure to complete an application for School Year 2019-2020. Enter as much information as you know and update it with information as it becomes available until the deadline of February 5, 2019. This early deadline date allows the diocese to seek out grants for reported need by our families. The more need we surface, the better the chances of increasing our funding. TK families and new families may also apply for Basic Fund grants for 2019-2020. Please contact the School Office for more information on the latter (the application is a separate form from the FACTS portal).

INTENT TO RETURN

Your prompt response regarding your intent to return is a valuable component of our budgeting process. Because we rely on tuition income to operate our school, an accurate projection of our enrollment for 2019-2020 allows us to make important decisions regarding our programs (textbook adoptions, staffing, programming expenses). In the next week or so, look out for a post asking you to return information regarding your intent to re-enroll. We ask for your cooperation in completing and returning the form promptly. Thank you!

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

Stay tuned for information regarding activities during Catholic Schools Week. It's an opportunity for us to celebrate who we are as a community.

In the meantime, enjoy the next few days before we ramp up for a very exciting and very busy January! Rain is in the forecast next week, but we will do our best to stay focused and stay healthy as we begin 2019.

Many blessings of good health, good fortune and joy this year. May love surround us all!

Peace and all good things,

Mrs. Cecile Mantecón, Principal

We're currently looking for photos to be added to the yearbook. All grades are needed. Photos from school events, functions, school sports games, field trips, classroom activities, volunteer events, etc. All photos are welcome (i.e. silly or action shots) Please submit the photos via email or a usb drive to the School Office or Becky Allison (rb_allison@yahoo.com). Highest picture format/resolution is best.

This year, we will also be accepting photos taken by students. Photos submitted should only be of fellow St. Clare students. Please note, no malicious photos or photos in poor taste will be accepted.

For privacy purposes, none of the photos will appear on any social media platform. This is strictly for the yearbook.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Becky Allison at rb_allison@yahoo.com

• 1/7 Choice Lunch Begins | Order Online!
• 1/7 School resumes
• 1/8 PTG Meeting | 6:30 P.M. | All are invited!
• 1/11 Prayer Service | 7th Grade Leads Ministry
• 1/12 Saturday Work Day ***NEW DATE
• 1/12 High School Placement Test for those applying to DSJ High Schools
• 1/15 School Advisory Council Meeting | 5:30 P.M. | Faculty Room
• 1/18 NO SCHOOL: Teacher In-Service | CKZ CAMP Available for a Fee - See Registration
• 1/21 NO SCHOOL: MLKJr. Holiday Observed | NO CKZ Camp
• 1/25 Faith Family Group | Buddies Meet
• 1/25 8th Grade Graduation Photos
• 1/26 High School Placement Test for those applying to DSJ High Schools
• 1/27-2/2 Catholic Schools Week | NO FREE DRESS during this week
• 1/27 OPEN HOUSE | 9:30 P.M.-1 P.M. | Pancake Breakfast after 9 A.M. Mass
• 1/29 SCHOOL TOURS | Formal Uniform Please
• 1/31 NO FREE DRESS TODAY
• 2/1 School Mass Led by the 8th Grade
• 2/1 INTENT TO RETURN FORMS due to the Office
• 2/5 Tuition Assistance Applications due in FACTS
• 2/9 TK-K Screening; Prospective Student Screening for All Grades

FACEBOOK | @stclareschoolsantaclara

Go find us on Facebook! Make sure you LIKE the page and share the link with others.

Please share the ALUMNI GOOGLE FORM link https://goo.gl/forms/pEtJxf8h5OBlnMF93

with all the alumni you know so that we can continue to tell the story of St. Clare!

Email: office@stclareschool.org
Website: drexel.dsj.org/stclareschool
Location: 725 Washington Street, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone: 408-246-6797