Joyfully Embracing Our Mission

Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

- Matthew 11:28

Prayer is in many ways the criterion of Christian life. Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is "Do your best and God will do the rest." When life is divided into "our best" and "God's rest," we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our resources are depleted. Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience. Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern.

-- Henri Nouwen, Compassion

Forgive me for avoiding you, dear Father,

and help me make prayer indispensable in my life.

It’s a week of being reminded to be grateful to belong to a community of committed and caring families.

On Wednesday, our 7th grade parents feted us with Christmas cheer.

On Friday, many parents came to support our students as we announced the Young Christian honorees in TK-8 and the middle school students receiving academic recognition.

The Young Christian Award is presented at the end of each trimester to students who embody our Catholic school philosophy and Schoolwide Learning Expectations (SLEs). This trimester, we congratulate the following students:

• TK Genevieve Thunnissen
• K Rhea Ko
• Grade 1 Luke Nguyen
• Grade 2 Tanya Liu
• Grade 3 Ryan Lind
• Grade 4 Olivia Luera
• Grade 5 Kian Hernandez
• Grade 6 Gavin Zelaya
• Grade 7 Lily Gibson
• Grade 8 Mateo Cardenas

On Thursday and Friday this week students in grades 3-8 were able to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (those who are baptized) and others were invited to come forward to ask for a blessing from the priest. We are grateful for grace afforded us through this experience.

On Friday evening, you received report cards thoughtfully prepared by our dedicated teachers to continue the partnership began this August. As many of them noted, with your help, our students will continue to thrive and grow academically, socially, emotionally and in their faith.

On Saturday, about a dozen parents came to participate in our first in-person work day since March 2020. Thanks to their hard works, we now have seating appropriate for 4-year olds and enough for all our students on the elementary side. There are now enough picnic tables on the 4th and 5th grade play areas.

On Sunday, the Gebala family, Noah Reyes, Mrs. Martinez and I with our spouses represented St. Clare at the closing mass of our 40th Jubilee Year. Gabrielle and Noah received a lantern as a symbol of our continuing work to light the path in our diocese.

Truly, this first week of Advent reminds us that there is so much to be hopeful about and for which to be grateful.

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Please continue to read posts from Mr. Joey and from PTG regarding our Christmas Program. Recording information will come from Mr. Joey while the Watch Party being planned by PTG will be communicated by Katy Kerns. Please make sure you saw the DATE CHANGE of the Watch Party: Wednesday, December 15 at 6 P.M. in the tent.

OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS TO NOTE

• Monday starts the CHANGE in Drop Off and Pick Up protocols. Please see my original post from last week.

• RSVP for Tuesday’s PTG meeting. Please see Katy Kerns post from last week.

• 6th Grade Parents: RSVP for a Walden West information meeting on Wednesday. Consult Mr. Lin’s original post.

• There will be a Math Club Fundraiser on Friday to benefit Stand Up 4 Kids. Please see post from Ms. McKinnon.

• Dialog with students about the importance of supporting Stand Up 4 Kids. See post from Katy Kerns.

• Continue to read to and with your children. We are already seeing tremendous growth in students who have adopted this habit! It’s quite impressive. It is the most impactful way to make up for the challenges presented by the pandemic.

• If you are traveling or gathering with different households, kindly continue to test regularly, stay home (or keep your child home) if you are sick and report any changes in your health to the office if you are absent. This helps us plan accordingly and act swiftly for the health of our community.

Please keep our 8th graders in your prayers this week as they complete their High School Admissions packets. All but one of our students are applying to Catholic high schools this year. We are very proud of their accomplishments and we look forward to seeing more great things from them as we launch a few exciting projects like the Catholic Social Teaching Fair, the Design-Thinking Challenge and the Capstone Projects. But, before that, they will be simulating HSPT (high school placement testing) shortly.

May this second week of Advent remind us to look back in order for us to be able to look forward.

Grateful for your partnership,

Mrs. Cecile Mantecon, Principal

For volunteers who are registered for onsite testing the next testing date will be December 17th, volunteers will have the first time slot at 8:30 A.M. enter through the Santa Clara st. gate. Check the school calendar for upcoming testing dates link is below.

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=drexelschools.org_u0vj6uj1r91qlk8hu9uk1t7qro@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles

Students arriving once the school assembly has started and drop off gates have been closed must proceed to the School Office and be signed in by a parent before heading to class or assembly.

CleanAir4StClare

Until last year, most of us took clean air for granted. Then came Covid, a deepening drought worsening allergies, and a wildfire season lasting months. For over a century at St. Clare School, our classrooms were cooled by the South Bay breeze, but we learned this is no longer reliable. Last fall we scored some of the worst air quality in the world after the lightning storm caused hundreds of wildfires, so windows had to stay closed. Our central boiler which provides heat in the winter is also no longer reliable.

Our school is working to upgrade the heating system and add air-conditioning to maintain a steady climate and a clean learning environment inside the classroom. Beyond good health, several academic studies have found a link between clean air and academic performance. In the Covid era, we know that continually cleaning air and maximizing airflow is the most important way to reduce viral transmission, even more important than surface disinfection.

Please support our efforts to improve our school air quality for students and staff. In coming months there will be several opportunities to be a part of this effort, which will require considerable financial resources. We ask you to remember our students and staff in your prayers, participate to the best of your ability, and consider a sustaining gift that will pay dividends to our community for years to come. Thank you for your generosity.

If you can help spearhead this effort, contact Michael Adams who is coordinating the multifaceted efforts to bring HVAC upgrades to St. Clare.

Below, you will find the Calendar Grid for the school year. Some find this difficult to navigate, so I’ve created the Calendar Highlights document which I hope will make it a bit easier for you to consume.

Some changes since the end of the school year: we added September 20th as a NO SCHOOL DAY and our School Year will end a day earlier. The original calendar had us attending 183 days of school, knowing that we had three days over the required 180 days. We are keeping the 181 days in the event we have to close for an emergency due to poor air quality.

Other options to view the calendar include a Google calendar synched to ParentSquare, or subscribing to the St. Clare School Public Calendar below:

Google Public Calendar

You are invited to subscribe to the St. Clare School *PUBLIC* Google Calendar which is also synched to ParentSquare.

PUBLIC URL TO ACCESS FROM A WEB BROWSER

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=drexelschools.org_u0vj6uj1r91qlk8hu9uk1t7qro%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FLos_Angeles

PUBLIC ADDRESS IN iCAL TO ACCESS FROM OTHER APPS

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

Dec. 7 | PTG Meeting 6:30 P.M.

Dec. 10 | Math Club Fundraiser Stand Up For Kids

Dec. 15 | Christmas Program | 6-7 P.M. via Zoom

Dec. 20 - Dec. 31st | Christmas Break

Jan. 3rd School Resumes Welcome Back

Jan. 14 | No School | Teacher In-Service Day

Jan. 17 | No School | Martin Luther King Jr. Day Observed

Photo by Ed Carlo Garcia www.edcarlogarcia.com

Forming hearts and minds since 1856.

Email: office@stclareschool.org
Website: https://www.stclare.school
Location: 750 Washington Street, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone: 408 246-6797
Facebook: facebook.com/stclareschoolsantaclara