Saint Francis High School

Exciting news from Lancer Locker: Our new collections have arrived, and we are offering a 10% discount on all of our merchandise through November 15, 2020! The discount code is SFHS10. Check out our new Children’s Collection featuring sizes 12 Months 4 Toddler, full- zip pullovers in white, grey and pink. We also have Youth Pullover Sweatshirts, sizes X-Small Medium in white and grey. We are now featuring a Final Few Collection. This includes Gear, Tri Mountain and many ...more to come. Amazing merchandise, limited quantities. Face masks are here! Yes, you can now purchase our Saint Francis High School masks. STAY TUNED for our Annual Flannel Wear. Every year, we feature a new pattern to enjoy during the holidays and the cool weather. This year, we have matching flannel blankets for an added degree of coziness. The flannel wear will be making its debut soon. Don’t forget to purchase your P.E. gear. P.E. shorts are available in Brown 7 and Brown 9. The reversible P.E. shirt is available in all sizes. Shop the Lancer Locker online store at sfhs.com/lancerlocker.

#GivingTuesday is just around the corner, and every dollar that we raise will benefit our students and educators. Be part of this international day of giving! #LancersGive

We are heartbroken to share that Sally Leitch Holden, a beloved counselor at Saint Francis from 1995-2019, passed away yesterday, October 29. Sally was admitted to the hospital over the weekend after a brief illness and went home to God. As a counselor, Sally had the gift of connecting with students. They sensed her authenticity right away, and she made it easy for them to trust and confide in her. For her last six years at Saint Francis, she was a freshman counselor who help...ed our newest Lancers make the adjustment to high school. Many upper-classmen returned to share with her how her support helped them to grow and develop at Saint Francis. Sally cared for her students as if they were her own children and was the epitome of a Holy Cross educator. Counselors inevitably have rough days, but Sally was known for injecting positivity in the Counseling Office. She reminded her colleagues that each day was a new opportunity to impact and guide a student, and she brightened countless days with her trademark smile and genuine warmth. In addition to being a freshman counselor, over the 24 years she worked at Saint Francis she also served as a college counselor, a social studies teacher and English teacher. She was also the moderator for Chess Club, Interact Club, Teen Awareness Program and Women’s Club. If you would like to honor Sally’s legacy, you can make a gift to the Holy Cross Educators Fund in her name at https://www.sfhs.com//what-to/financial-aid/honor-a-legend.

Drawing the first sketches of my pieces is like opening up a portal to a whole new world. I can make an alternate reality come to life with one pencil. It is very satisfying to see an image from my head come to life. Ceci Montgomery-Eder Freshman Ceci Montgomery-Eder earned second place in a national art contest with a self-portrait that shows the contrast between life before the pandemic and now. She took part in the Mathemartist contest, and her winning piece will be auctioned off to raise money for the Oakland Public Education Fund.

Prospective families, if you missed our Open House, you can still visit our campus virtually! https://www.sfhsopenhouse.com/ #Lancers2025

The Saint Francis Science Olympiad team kicked off their competition, and several members placed in the top 20 in their events at the recent BearSO Invitational Tournament, which attracted more than 200 teams nationwide. Congratulations to: Connie Xu ’21 and Jessica Lin ’21, 6th place in Write It CAD: a writer looks at a complex model and writes out instructions to replicate it. The partner must reproduce the model using CAD software.... Kaushik Tota ’21, 17th place in Circuitry Lab: this event tests participants on circuitry and electronics concepts. Elise Yang ’21 and Kelly Lu ’21, 20th place in Computilever: competitors must design with CAD software a structure that hangs from a wall and bears weight while being light itself.

When it’s time for students to choose their courses this spring, they may have another option when it comes to textbooks. Students typically use social media to advertise their used books at competitive prices, but that process is decentralized and inconvenient. Still others go through an online textbook seller, but high prices and policies that discourage reusing books leave students and families with few viable options. Dhruv Jatkar ’21 and Rithik Jain ’20, a freshman at Ri...ce University, created an app to make it easier for fellow Lancers to buy and sell textbooks. Called Sahara Books, the app connects buyers and sellers, who make their own arrangements for book sales offline. The app was designed specially with Saint Francis students in mind, and the pair is happy to provide this service to their peers. They also hope to make an environmental impact by promoting reusing books. At a fundamental level, we intend to provide a service for students by students, says Dhruv.

The next Common Ground presentation will focus on having conversations that matter, and it will be held tomorrow Tuesday, Oct 20. This virtual presentation is free of charge to Saint Francis parents. https://www.commongroundspeakerseries.org//www.commongroun

Find information on our academic departments and co-curricular programs at sfhs.com/openhouse. Hear from students, teachers, counselors and coaches live throughout the morning! #Lancers2025

Prospective families, join us for our virtual Open House this Sunday, October 18, 9 am-noon, and explore our school at your own pace. See you then! sfhs.com/openhouse #Lancers2025

Softball coach Mike Oakland and his daughter Jessica, a junior, were recently featured on 49ers Cal-Hi Sports. The Lancer softball team is expected to be a force again this season, and this dynamic duo is a big reason why. https://www.youtube.com/watch

A special shout-out to the Campus Ministry team (Father Tony, Ms. Ruebusch, Mrs. Franco, Ms. Frankovic, Mr. Pompei and Mr. Brown) for continuing to spiritually nourish students, parents and educators during this time of social distancing. Like all of us, Campus Ministry has modified how it operates. Members of Campus Ministry have live-streamed celebrations, shifted liturgies outside, altered student retreats to better fit remote instruction while encouraging students to think how they can continue to support underserved populations during these times. We are grateful for the leadership, work and creativity of Campus Ministry, allowing us to come together in community even when we must remain separated.

As a member school of the Common Ground Speaker Series consortium, Saint Francis High School is pleased to offer Lancer parents the opportunity to attend all Common Ground presentations, which are virtual and free of charge. The next presentation will be October 8 on building teen resiliency and agency. Parenting teens is not easy, even in ideal circumstances. But parenting with imposed social distancing when adolescents thrive on face-to-face interactions creates unprecedented challenges. Dr. Laura Kastner, clinical psychologist and author, articulates how resilience and personal agency the ability to plan and act toward realistic goals are key strengths that can help both parents and teens successfully adapt in these complex times. Event details: https://www.commongroundspeakerseries.org/laura-kastner-phd

Lancer families, read our community update for information on today’s liturgical celebration, our Lancers on Campus program and our upcoming fall break Oct. 12-14. Check your emails or visit https://www.sfhs.com/cf_enotify/view.cfm?n=2207.