Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Parents,

The great liturgical season of Advent was traditionally a time of penance, fasting, and increased prayer, a season to ready ourselves for the remembrance of Christ’s birth and preparation for the Second Coming. The fasting laws of Advent have been relaxed and a spirit of expectation, anticipation, preparation, and longing permeate this lovely season.

Here at St. Francis Academy our Advent wreaths remind us of God’s mercy which has no beginning or end, the green symbolizing eternal life, and the candles the light of God entering our world. Our students are praying the Christmas Novena begun on the Feast of St. Andrew, this novena is an excellent way to focus ourselves on the Advent season. Please join your children in their prayer, light the Advent wreath each night before dinner, making this holy season a special memory of goodness for your family. Don’t allow the hysteria of Black Friday shopping and rampant commercialism to taint the beauty that should be Advent.

On the feast of St. Nicolas, December 6th, we will be blessing the candy canes. The class of 2012 will receive their rings on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, the chapel glowing with candlelight enhancing the mystery of the Advent season. Each morning a different class attends Mass, listening to the Advent readings from the book of Isaiah.

Field trips abound at SFA: the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City (which was truly spectacular), a production of the Christmas Carol at Drew University, Hansel and Gretel at the Metropolitan Opera, and the Nutcracker starring our own Catherine Brucaliere. The 1st and 2nd grade students are studiously memorizing their lines for our Christmas pageant as carols echo through our halls in anticipation of the concert. Our hat & glove drive and toy drive will be sure to make someone’s Christmas more joyful. My favorite event during Advent is the Blessing of the Stable in our awesome chapel.

As you can tell the true spirit of Advent and Christmas fill all hearts here at St. Francis Academy. The doors of hope are open, please enter them as a family and make this Advent and Christmas a truly special season.

God bless you,

Deborah Savage

Dear Parents,

At the end of our lives we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by: I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in.

Hungry not only for bread –
but hungry for love.

Naked not only for clothing –
but naked of human dignity and respect.

Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks –
but homeless because of rejection.

This is Christ in distressing disguise.

(St. Teresa of Calcutta)

I am always impressed by the Saint Francis Academy community’s generosity when called upon to help those less fortunate. In the past we have sent school supplies to the Katrina stricken gulf states, supported an orphanage in Haiti after the earthquake, provided ice cream and cookies at a Maryknoll orphanage in Bolivia, and each Christmas we provide many “hoodies” which are given by the Franciscan friars at their daily breadline in NYC.

Again we call upon you to help the residents of Union City through the good works of Sts. Joseph & Michael Food Pantry. Our Food Drive will begin on Monday, November 7th and end on Monday, November 21st. All non-perishable food is greatly appreciated.

During the month of December we will sponsor a new toy drive for the Sts. Joseph and Michael Youth Ministry. These toys will be given to the needy children of Union City. We are always delighted to support the youth ministry for most their leaders are St. Francis Academy alumni and we are incredibly proud of these young men and women as they act upon their faith. We will also be collecting hats and gloves for the Franciscan friars to distribute to the homeless during the winter. They request dark colored, knit, one size fits all, unisex gloves and hats. Please do not send these items until the Food Drive is over.

We at Saint Francis Academy have much to be thankful for this year: the generosity of all our families, the unstinting work of the Guild and the class mothers, the diligent work of our sisters, teachers and staff. Most of all we are thankful for the precious gift of your children. Thank you for entrusting them to our care. Their joy, inner beauty, and loving natures are an inspiration to us each day.

God bless you, Happy Thanksgiving!
Ms. Deborah Savage

Roald Dahl
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

Dear Parents,

We’ve had a wonderful first month of school here at St. Francis Academy. Your beautiful children have been hard at work along with their dedicated teachers. Progress Reports will be distributed this week, we will be planting bulbs in our garden, and the excitement of Halloween is rapidly approaching. Our upper grades are writing original plays on the lives of the saints, fourth and seventh graders are preparing for the National Writing Assessment, and our eighth graders are finishing their high school applications. Our littlest students are settling into the routine of the school day and hopefully the playground will be finished on October 17th!!

As I visit the classrooms each day, I am impressed and invigorated by the children’s love of reading. Each child has a book atop their desk ready to read when they have a moment. Many gave finished their “Book of the Month” and are on to a new novel. A lovely fifth grader is finishing the final installment of the “Mother –Daughter Book Club” series, she’ll be delighted when she sees the most recent edition “Home for the Holidays” on our library shelf today. There is a list of students waiting to check “Darth Paper”, the sequel to “Origami Yoda”, out of our library Rick Riordan’s newest 544 page tome “The Sound of Neptune” is being devoured by some of our most voracious readers in a day or two and they are searching for more books on Greek Mythology.

As a reading teacher I could not be happier with these outcomes to our Middle States “Bookworms” project. A true love of reading can only be developed with the support of caring parents who value books, quiet time for reading, and a cozy nook to curl up in with the next great story. In a perfect partnership our excellent teachers, parents, and students have succeeded in becoming a community of readers. Let’s continue to read the books our children are reading so high quality “book talk” abounds in our school and homes.

William James, the psychologist and philosopher wrote, “So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky.”

Soar, SFA student, soar!

Peace,

Deborah A. Savage

Now let us do something beautiful for God.
—- St. Teresa of Calcutta

Dear Parents,

I sincerely hope your summer was a restful and joyous interlude. I am sure the children wiled away the hours outdoors playing, splashing each other as they swam, and, of course, reading those wonderful summer books! One of the great memories of a well spent childhood should be the unstructured weeks of a leisurely summer vacation.

St. Francis Academy has been scrubbed, polished, waxed, plastered, etc. in anticipation of our dear students return to school. Workmen have been on the roof, in the basement, and anywhere else you can think of ensuring the safety, comfort, and aesthetic sensibility of all who enter our building. As anyone who has ever faced a construction project knows timetables are unpredictable. Our schoolyard project was not begun until the end of August due to unforeseeable delays. I am assured it will be finished in a prompt manner. When you meet the Sisters please thank them for their effort this summer. They admitted the workmen each morning and supervised until the day ended. Sr. Una was actually on the roof in a thunderstorm! Our sisters are always doing something beautiful for God and His beloved children.

Please take note of the wall surrounding our school which was repaired, our roof is being prepped for solar panels (keep praying!), and the second and third floor corridors and classrooms have been painted or wallpapered. As I write this letter the carpets are being cleaned and the windows washed. Textbooks have been delivered and unpacked awaiting the beginning of the school year. All at St. Francis Academy walk in the footsteps of our founding sisters who did so much, for so many, with so little. Your children learn not only reading, writing, religion, and math at SFA, they learn to be cheerful stewards of all God’s gifts.

During this first week of school we sadly commemorate the 10th anniversary of the fateful day when terror struck our nation. Our present day 8th graders were only three or four years old, far too young to remember. That morning one of our mothers arrived exceptionally early, to exchange her second graders bookbag. Dressed in a red blouse and a black skirt she was rushing to get to her job on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center. Little did we know that this would be her final motherly duty. So as we begin the school year let us appreciate the morning filled with missing shoes, misplaced homework, tummy aches, or tears knowing how blessed we are to be a family. Then each day as you drop your precious children at the doors of St. Francis Academy you will be doing something beautiful for God.

Peace,

Deborah A. Savage

“A Moveable Feast” is a marvelous memoir of Ernest Hemingway’s years in Paris as part of the American expatriate writers of the 1920’s.  The title was based on a comment made by A.E. Hotchner, one of Hemingway’s close friends, “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.  “A wonderful book, if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend this slim volume.

Another “moveable feast” is usually celebrated in June.  In fact, the entire month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart.  Since the great feast of Easter was do late this year the Feast of the Sacred Heart is not celebrated until July 1^st.  In the year 2038 the Feast will be celebrated on July 2^nd, the latest date possible.  Your children consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart at First Friday Mass on June 3^rd, beginning a devotion toward the love of God as symbolized by the heart of Jesus.  Please join them in their prayer of consecration each day and strengthen the spiritual bonds of your family.

Our exceptional 8^th Grade class graduated on Saturday, June 4^th with great pomp and honor.  Their final scholarship total was $630,000.  They leave a legacy of strong academic achievement, a competitive athletic and academic spirit, the joy and beauty of the written word, art, and music, and a deep and abiding faithfulness to God.  As these fine young men and women move on to the finest Catholic  high schools in New York and New Jersey they take with them a piece of St. Francis Academy.  Wherever they go they will shine with goodness and light for, as the hymn says, they are God’s great wondrous works of art.

We sadly bid farewell to the 8^th Grade families whose youngest children are graduating, some have been at St. Francis Academy for many wonderful years: the De La Cruz, Hernandez, Leon, Malki, Melgarejo, Tyson, Carrasco, Dato, Giacchi, Placeres, Quintanilla, and Quispe families, you will truly be missed.

Wherever your summer vacation takes you, dear families, may your moveable feast be graced with the beauty of a Parisian afternoon, the laughter of your children, and the joy and grace of the risen Christ.

God bless you,
Deborah A. Savage