Dear Academy Families, 

We hope everyone is having a great last week of summer. Happy Labor Day Weekend!

If this is your first year at St. Francis de Sales, welcome to our school.  To our returning families, welcome home.  It is the belief of the St. Francis community that establishing and maintaining open lines of communication between school and family strengthens the feeling of support all children need to be successful in school.   We encourage parent communication and involvement; please feel free to contact us with any concerns or questions. We are excited to welcome our students to a school year that promises to be both challenging and rewarding. 

Please look below for a few updates and reminders as we are now just a few weeks away from the 2024-2025 school year. 

FACTS Student Information System: We’re excited to continue to use our school management system – FACTS SIS (Student Information System). We are putting the finishing touches on this year's FACTS Family Portal – a private and secure online platform that will allow you to see academic information specific to your children while protecting their information from others. All you need is an internet-capable device to view information such as Attendance, Daily Grades, Transcripts, Discipline Issues, School calendar, and Tuition Accounts. You will find the Family Portal link on the school website under the STUDENT/FAMILY RESOURCES section or by following the steps below:

FACTS Family Portal Login Instructions

• Please go to the website https://www.factsmgt.com/ 

• Click on “Parent Log In” at the top, then “FACTS Family Portal.”

• Enter district code, username, and password and click Login. Returning families please use the same username and password that you used last school year. New families please use the username and password that you used when registering your child. 

• Just a reminder that our District Code is SFDS-NY

Starting on Sunday, September 1st  you can find on the FACTS parent portal your child's teacher assignment for the 2024-25 school year. If for any reason you have trouble logging in please email [email protected] The FACTS Parent Portal will continue to provide access to your child’s classes, progress report cards, and attendance throughout the school year. 

Since it is our goal to minimize and balance class size on all grade levels it is to be noted that class change requests will not be honored under any circumstances. The administration and faculty worked hard to ensure that all students were equitably placed into classes that were academically heterogeneous to ensure all levels of intellectual ability were represented in each class. Thank you in advance for your continued understanding and cooperation. 

First Week of School Schedule: Please see below the special schedule for the first three days of school next week.  

Wednesday, September 4th 2024 7:55 am – 12:00 noon 

• This is the first official school day for all students in grades 1 through 8. Beginning at 7: 40 am until 7:55 am, students in grades 1 through 4 are to report to the schoolyard  and students in grades 5 through 8 are to line up on 129th street. Students are to come to the school in complete school uniform, with their supplies.

• No NYC Yellow Bus Service 

• Faculty Professional Development 12:30pm-2:45pm 

Thursday, September 5th 2024 7:55am – 2:30pm 

• Full day instruction begins today for students in 1st Grade through 8th Grade. The school day begins promptly at 7:55am. Students will be marked late if they arrive in the building after 8:00am. 

• No NYC Yellow Bus Service

• Early Childhood Meet the Teacher for Nursery, Pre-K and Kindergarten Parents at 6pm 

Friday, September 6th 2024 7:55am – 2:30pm 

• This is the first official school day for students entering Kindergarten. Kindergarten students begin at 9 am and are to report to the schoolyard and will be dismissed at 12:00pm.
 Students are to come to the school in complete school uniform.

• No NYC Yellow Bus Service 

2024-2025 School Year, Summer Assignments, and Supply Lists: On our website there is a landing page for all information about the next school year (Calendar, tuition,  yellow bus, uniform, etc.) 

All supply lists and summer assignments are available  and can be found by clicking here. Please note that all summer assignments and school supplies are expected to be brought to school on the first day unless otherwise noted. 

Parent Pulse School Surveys: At St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy, we seek to constantly evaluate our school from multiple perspectives, all in an effort to make this an even better place for your child and your family.

Because the parent perspective is so important to us, we've partnered with ParentPulse, a company that specializes in collecting feedback for Christian schools.

Going forward, each parent in our school will receive an invitation every few months to respond to a short survey. These surveys will be staggered – parents will receive the invitations via e-mail or text at different times.

We simply ask that you'd take five minutes to complete the survey. We have done longer surveys in the past, but we want to capture your thoughts and feelings in shorter surveys – and at multiple points over the year – so we can understand how things are evolving and how we can best adapt!

So, please be on the lookout for an e-mail or text from ParentPulse. The subject line will clearly identify St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy.

The information you provide is collected solely for our analysis, and your personal contact information will not be used or shared by ParentPulse. There is also an option at the end of the survey to submit your responses anonymously.

Thank you for partnering with us in Catholic education!

NYC Yellow Bus Service: The New York City Department of Education provides transportation to all eligible New York City students in public, charter, and non-public schools. This includes the students of Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Academy. This year NYC Yellow bus service is scheduled to start on Monday, September 9th. On the first few days of school, information about routes will be sent home with those students who have signed up for bussing in the past and for those students who have signed up and qualified for bussing for the first time this school year. 

Dismissal: All students in Grades K-8 are dismissed on Beach 129th Street. Students in Grades K-4 will be dismissed each day on the South side of our School Yard.  Students in Grades 5-8 are able to walk home or are responsible to meet their guardians outside at a designated area. Our Kindergarten students will be dismissed at 2:25pm each day and Grades 1-8 will be dismissed at 2:30 pm each day. Our Nursery and Pre-K students will get more information about entrance and dismissal at their Back to School Night on Thursday, September 5th.

Special Lunches: The Academy Family Association is happy to announce that  our special lunches (Weekly Bagel and Pizza Day and Monthly Baya Bar and Chicken Finger Day) will be available once again this school year. Order forms will be sent out digitally on the first day of school. Please take a moment to look at our school calendar for the dates of operation. 

Attendance: The Academy has developed our attendance policy in accordance with New York State Education Law. It will help us uphold the philosophy and mission statement of our Academy. Should a child be absent from school on a given day, it is imperative that a parent/guardian either use the absence form on our website or call the school (718-634-2775) and notify us of the absence by 8:30 am on the absence date. Please note that a written absence note still needs to be sent in to your child’s homeroom teacher to record the absence correctly in FACTS and for our legal records. 

Main Office Open on Tuesday 9/3: The main office of the school will be open Tuesday, September 3rd  from 10:30am-2:00pm. As always if there are any questions before the school year begins please give us a call or send us an email. 

Back to School Nights (Meet the Teacher): 

All parents are invited to meet their child's teacher(s) on the following dates:

• Thursday, September 5th at 6pm (Nursery-Kindergarten)

• Tuesday, September 10th at 6pm (Grades 1-4) 

• Thursday, September 12th at 6pm (Grades 5-8)

We ask that parents of Nursery-Kindergarten students bring all supplies for their children to Back to School Night in a labeled bag. 

Students in Grades 1-8 should bring their supplies on the 1st day of school. If there are too many supplies to bring in one day, please feel free to have your child bring the supplies on the first few days of school. 

Birthdays: There are a variety of ways in which we celebrate birthdays at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy.  Celebrations are at the discretion of the teacher but may include handmade cards, storytelling, the sharing of a book, etc. 

Please communicate with the homeroom teacher beforehand.  Families/guardians may drop off party goods (cookies, cupcakes, munchkins.) with Security at the beginning of the school day.  

The Diocesan policy is that all food items shared be store-bought. The reason for this rule is strictly to serve as a safety precaution, allowing the school to know the ingredients of any item.  We ask that no toys, lollipops, goody bags, frozen treats, or drinks be brought into school. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 

Beach Mass: All our welcome to join St. Francis de Sales Parish and Bishop Brennan on Sunday 9/1 at 9am on Beach 129th and the Beach for the final beach mass of the summer. For more information please look at the flyer below.

8th Grade TACHS Registration: 8th Grade Parents starting on Monday, August 26th you can begin to register your child for the TACHS exam. If your child will take the TACHS exam (entrance exam for Catholic High Schools) please register as soon as possible. For more information including how to register please click here. Any questions please contact Mr. Scharbach at [email protected].

High School Meeting: There is a special 8th Grade Parent High School Meeting on Monday, September 9th via a Zoom Webinar. Please come to ask any last-minute questions on the high school admissions process (Catholic High Schools and Public High Schools). This meeting will be recorded in case any family cannot attend. 

Topic: TACHS and High School Information

Time: Sep 9, 2024 06:00 PM Eastern Time 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88210119346?pwd=zePJ8wuDuIx2RmNbWX088GmSZgD3Oh.1

Meeting ID: 882 1011 9346

Passcode: SFDS2025

Early Morning Drop Off Program: We are happy to announce that continuing on Monday, September 9th we will be offering an Early Morning Drop off program from 7:00 am-7:40 am each day. For more information about this program please click here. 

After School Program: We are happy to announce that starting September 16, 2024 the After School Program will begin. The goal of the After School Program is to provide a safe, nurturing, fun environment for children who need care after the regular school day. On most days the program will include time for play, snack, homework help, and an activity for the day (arts & crafts, board games, etc.).

The program will run Monday through Thursday on most days when school is in session and will be staffed by members of the faculty assisted by 7th & 8th Grade students and 6th graders (starting in January 2025). Children in Grades PreK-5 may attend. After school is not in session on 1/2 day dismissal days. For more information on our After School Program and our registration form for those that are interested in using the service please click the links below. 

After School Handbook

After-School Registration Form

Immunizations: We wanted to inform you of important vaccination requirements from the New York State and New York City Departments of Health that must be completed before your child(ren) return to school this September 2024. Please use the reference sheet as a guide for the immunizations required for returning to school this coming September. 

2024-2025 School Year Volunteering: For the safety and well being of each and every child in our school, all volunteers must go through the following process:

1) Read and sign a code of conduct

2) Have a background check

3) Take part in the VIRTUS program. (Register at virtusonline.org. Download the registration guide.)

Please note that St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy will be offering two sessions of the VIRTUS program on 9/30 and a second date TBD. 

After completing the VIRTUS Program we ask that you please bring to the office a copy of your certificate for us to keep track of in our database. We hope that this is not an inconvenience for anyone, but we need to be sure that all adults who interact with students are in compliance.

Also a reminder that VIRTUS now requires anyone working with children to complete “re-certification” training every seven years.  

If your VIRTUS certification was more than seven years ago (before December 2016), please log on to www.virtusonline.org and complete the self-paced module, Protecting God’s Children On-Line Awareness Session 4.0_Brooklyn and also complete an updated background check if indicated for your account.  

If you need assistance with your account, such as user name and/or password, please contact the VIRTUS Help Desk at 1-888-847-8870.  For further information or assistance, or if you are unsure if you were trained before 2016, please email Lisa Hayden at [email protected].   

SAVE THE DATES

Catechetical Sunday: Catechetical Sunday is when those designated to serve as catechists are called forth to be commissioned for their ministry. Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in passing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. All are welcome to join the Saint Francis faculty and Saint Francis Religious Education faculty at this very special liturgy at 10:00am on Sunday, September 15th.

Blessed Trinity Confirmation: On Wednesday, September 18th many members of St. Francis de Sales Grade 8 will be blessed by the Holy Spirit at Blessed Trinity Parish for the Sacrament of Confirmation. May the gifts of the Holy Spirit be with our 8th grade and lead them to be the future leaders of the church. God Bless! Those students receiving the sacrament at Blessed Trinity please refer to the BT Parish instructions in regard to your Retreat and practices. 

 Catholic High School Fair:

Have a great week. We look forward to seeing everyone back in school next week.