Star of the Sea School

January 17, 2012

Dear Parents and Students,

Growing up in the 1960s was an eye opening experience. There was a real social movement for equality that took place not just at the grass roots level, but in the halls of Congress and the White House as well. The teachers I had at Holy Name and Sacred Heart did not shy away from explaining how Church teachings supported the desire for equality and justice.

Yesterday we celebrated Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I was in 8^th grade when Doctor King was taken from us and I was aware that the ideas of “brotherhood” and “justice” that he expressed were considered “radical” by some in our country. Even then I was confused by the reluctance of some to accept and celebrate his teachings. After all, they seemed very much in line with the teachings of Jesus that the Sisters of Mercy and Christian Brothers put at the center of their curriculum.

The years have past. Some things have improved; some have not. But Martin’s dream is still alive in my heart (and I suspect in yours too).

‘I HAVE A DREAM THAT MY FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN WILL

ONE DAY LIVE IN A NATION WHERE THEY WILL NOT BE

JUDGED BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN BUT BY THE CONTENT

OF THEIR CHARACTER. ‘

We try every day to live this dream, in Religion class and in every moment we interact with our students.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday. I hope you slept in, had a great breakfast and a leisurely day. But most of all I hope you spent a few moments talking to the kids about why we celebrate Martin Luther King Day and how we need to keep his dream of peace, brotherhood, and justice alive.

Sincerely,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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January 9, 2012

Dear Parents and Students,

The sixth graders have been preparing a student body Mass to be celebrated this Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.  As you know the readings (both Hebrew and Christian Scripture) are determined by the Church calendar and the first reading this Wednesday is a very special one for young students. It is taken from the Book of Samuel and tells the story of Samuel hearing a voice late at night as he slept in the Temple.

The gentle voice called Samuel by name. Waking up, Samuel assumed that his mentor Eli had called him. Samuel ran to Eli and asked why he had called. Eli told him that he had not called. This happens several times before Eli realizes that it is God calling Samuel. Eli instructs Samuel to respond if the voice calls again, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” God did call Samuel again and Samuel did listen and did serve the Lord.

All too often we are inclined to think of God as a giant being in the sky, with a thunderous voice. Just as often, we think of prophets as great magicians who foresee the future. But the voice of God came to Samuel gently and he grew to be a prophet who spoke the truth to God’s children.

When do you hear the voice of God? How do you respond?

Please join us Wednesday for 9:00 Mass.

Terrence Hanley

Principal

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January 4, 2012

Dear Parents and Students,

Happy New Year! I hope that your vacation was both fun and restful and that the Christmas season brought a strong sense of being loved to all of you. Although it was quiet here at school, we did pass a major milestone yesterday. On January 3, 1909 Star of the Sea School opened its doors for the very first time to children of the Richmond District. So our little school is now 103 years old and still serving the children.

Another big event, this one on the parish level, also took place over the last few weeks. Working with Catholic Charities, the City of San Francisco, and Salesforce, the old convent has been brought back to life. There couldn’t be a better time of year than Christmas to open our hearts and our doors to families in need.

The plan is to host families who need a little time, some job training and a chance to get back on their feet for 3-6 months. Other similar programs have been very successful and we pray this one will be too.

Somehow, I just can’t avoid comparing this to the Holy Family searching for a place to stay in Bethlehem. There probably won’t be three wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but we can provide shelter and hospitality.

God Bless You All,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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October 17, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

In recent weeks I have written about the new Report Card format, the Iowa Test Scores and our eighth grade’s high rate of acceptance into Catholic high schools.  A few parents have asked what specifically the high schools are looking for, so here goes.

The Catholic high schools and most private high schools will ask to see each applicant’s 7^th and 8^th grade transcripts. They carefully review grades but also are interested in Conduct (now called Behavioral Expectations) and Effort (now called Learning Skills).

There is also a two-page form for us to fill out and that is attached to this letter. Reporting grades is a simple task, but this form takes a lot of effort to complete. Every January the junior high teachers (Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Quintilian, Mrs. Hill, Mrs. Lundy and me) spend approximately 8 to 10 hours discussing each eighth grader and filling out the forms so each of our students is presented in an accurate and positive light. (Yes, we root for them all!) Usually Mr. Quintilian gives his 7^th graders a copy of this form so they know what the high schools expect from their future students. But we’ve attached it here for all of you to see.

Sincerely,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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October 10, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

Now that Iowa Tests are finished, while we await the results, I thought it might be a good time to share with you what goes on in eighth grade this time of year.

Admissions Directors from every Catholic High School in San Francisco have been invited to visit our eighth grade class and make presentations to the students. Some of them even bring along a few of their students who used to be our students in an effort to best reach their audience. Some schools have visited already; others are on the schedule. Eighth graders are also aware of any high school Open Houses they and their parents might want to attend.

For most of the students, this is the first major decision they will make and it is very important that they have every opportunity to make informed choices. Star allows each student two days to “shadow visit” high schools. In most cases Admissions Directors pair up an eighth grader with a sophomore and they spend the morning attending classes together. This gives our kids a real feel for the schools they are considering. Eighth graders are also encouraged to attend sporting events, plays and concerts at the high schools on their list.

Most high schools want applications turned in before Thanksgiving (but please, check the dates of each specific school) and Star sends copies of transcripts and recommendations at the end of the second quarter. In mid March the letters of acceptance are sent out. This can be a very stressful time for the eighth graders. The good news is that the vast majority of Star grads who apply to Catholic high schools are accepted.

Last spring 11 of our students were accepted at Mercy, 9 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, 4 at Archbishop Riordan, 3 at Saint Ignatius, 2 at Immaculate Conception, 1 at Convent of the Sacred Heart. We also had 5 accepted at Lowell (second year in a row).

As an old eighth grade teacher, though I value the Iowa Test results, the acceptance rate of our students into Catholic high schools and Lowell has always been the major factor in gauging our academic success. Star grads do very well!

Sincerely,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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October 3, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

As mentioned at back To School Night, the Archdiocese has reformatted our Report Cards. The faculty has been reviewing the new cards for a few weeks and today I want to share the cards with you. There will be five different Report Cards from now on: Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, Third – Fifth Grades, and Sixth – Eighth Grades. A brief description of each follows.

K, 1st, and 2nd Report Cards are all “standards based” which means that they reflect the standards set forth by the State of California and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Though each grade has a slightly different Report Card, the format is the same. The new Marking Code is:

E for Exceeds standard

M for Meets standard

W for Working toward standard

N for Not at grade level standard

No Mark for standard not addressed during current marking period

These grades cannot be translated to A, B, C, D, F as the previous grades were. In fact the most common marks will be W or M. This is in part because the curriculum calls for only so much at each level and because some standards simply cannot be exceeded (K and 1st, Knows how to make the Sign of the Cross).

The old Conduct Grade will be called Behavioral Expectations and the old Effort grade will be Learning Skills. Both of these will be graded as before:

1 Exceeds expectations

2 Meets expectations

3 Improvement needed

4 Unsatisfactory

Art, Music and Technology grades will be P for Participates or NP for Does Not Participate for grades K-2. PE will still be given a letter grade.

3-5 Report Cards are very similar to the old model. Conduct and Effort are now called Behavioral Expectations and Learning Skills. The grades for them will be

1 Exceeds expectations

2 Meets expectations

3 Improvement needed

4 Unsatisfactory

Music grades will be P for Participates or NP for Does Not Participate. Art, PE and Technology will be given letter grades.

6-8 Report Cards have changed only slightly. Each subject will receive a letter grade as before (except Music which will be P or NP) and there will be a line for Remarks from the teacher. Since many schools (including Star) will be printing Report Cards on computers, there is a list of several Remarks on the card (areas of strength and areas for growth) that teachers can enter.

All Report Cards will be sent home with the students at the end of each quarter and we ask that you review and discuss the grades with your daughters / sons. Please sign and return them to school the week after you receive them. This helps us keep track of communication. Also, any mark that is followed by a + means that the student is doing a little bit better than that letter. So an M+ is a little better than an M. Any mark followed by a – means that the student is not doing quite as well as the mark. So a 2- is not quite as good as a 2.

I’m sure these new cards will work fine, but if you have any questions please email them to me at thanley@staroftheseasf.com and I will print all the questions and answers next week. Finally, if you haven’t already done so, please fill out and return a conference request form. Thanks

Sincerely,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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Dear Parents and Students,

It was a slow week last week with so much time devoted to the Iowa Tests. But I did want to say thanks to a few people. First let me thank Mrs. Marilyn Bridon for volunteering to be our Head Yard Duty Parent every day at lunchtime. With her help, and so many of you volunteering when you can, lunchtime runs smoothly. Thanks also to all of you who attended International Night. I left early but I heard the show really rocked. Special thanks to the grandparents who lead the little ones in a Hula performance. Finally, thanks to the junior high students (and others) who represented Star at Coastal Clean Up Day. We need to learn to be good stewards of our planet.

Sincerely,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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September 19, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

At Back To School Night I mentioned that one of our goals for this year is to increase the size of our donation to the San Francisco Food Bank. I hope the following story helps you to share my feelings about the need for that project.

Thanks,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

Four-Foot Forks

One night a man had a dream that he had died and gone to heaven. Or at least he thought so. After all, there he was standing with Saint Peter who was leading him down a long hallway. Peter opened the large doors into an elegant dining hall. The man couldn’t believe his eyes! He stood just inside a beautiful room that was ornately decorated and the table itself resembled nothing he had ever seen in his life. There were delicious hors d’ oeuvres, platters full of luscious vegetables, a wide variety of meats cooked to perfection, and desserts to die for! The man knew he must be in heaven, for only God could create such a banquet!

Peter gently pulled the man aside and said, “You need to see this.” The man watched as the large doors opened again and this time a crowd of people headed for the dining hall. But something was wrong! They walked in silence, with their heads down. The man couldn’t comprehend this. How could anyone approach such a delicious meal so somberly?

Again, Peter gently told him, “Watch this.” The crowd took their seats, the maitre de rang the dinner bell and each person seated at the table picked up a fork. That was the problem! Each fork was four feet long. Try as they might, not one person could manipulate the fork to pick up even a single delicious morsel and guide it to his own mouth!

The man realized he was not in heaven at all. Indeed, he was a dinner guest in hell!

Peter gently took the man by his elbow and guided him out of the dining room, across the hall, and into another dining room equally as beautiful as the first, with a meal just as delicious waiting to be devoured. Again, Peter whispered, “Watch.”

The man’s eyes immediately went to the table where he saw that these forks were also four feet long. His heart sank as he heard another crowd of people heading toward the door. But something was different. He heard conversation and laughter coming from the people. They walked briskly into the dining hall and took their seats. The man realized that they did not know that their banquet would be ruined by the unmanageable four foot forks. This seemed too cruel and the man turned his head away to avoid seeing their hopes dashed.

Once again, Peter whispered, “Watch.” The maitre de rang the dinner bell and each one picked up a four foot fork and ……….. fed the one seated across from him.

The moral of the story is that heaven and hell may not be geographical locations so much as states of mind, and it may be time to feed our sisters and brothers.

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September 12, 2011

Dear Parents,

One of the great joys of my life has been growing up in a relatively sheltered environment. As demanding as Catholic school curriculum may be, there has always been a sense of sheltering the students from some of the harsher realities of the world. That doesn’t mean we were kept ignorant of social justice issues. To the contrary, we were well informed of the problems in our world and our responsibility to address them. But there was always a sense of nurturing. I truly believe that my colleagues continue this trend with our own students today.

Reading the Chronicle yesterday and watching the news this last week has reminded all of us of the flaws in this world. It’s ironic that one of God’s great gifts to us, free will, can produce some of the most horrible suffering this world ever sees. But free will is a gift, and it is up to each of us to use that gift wisely.

I do not see the world in black and white. There are innumerable shades of gray in the events of every day. But some days simply come down to right and wrong. Ten years ago, a lot went wrong. It is here that I choose how to exercise my free will. Rather than dwell on the cruelty, violence and injustice we all saw on September 11, 2001, I choose to remember the good done that day.

Firefighters, police officers, E.M.T. s and other first responders saw evil, and instead of running from it, heroically ran full speed into the conflagration. They put the safety of others ahead of their own. Perhaps only those who were saved that day truly appreciate the courage of those men and women. But each one of us can recognize the spirit of love in their risking all to save others. I’d like to think that each of those heroes was a Catholic school graduate, but that’s not accurate. I’d like to write that they showed good Christian values, but I have no doubt that there were good men and women of all faiths who responded that day. Regardless of their religious affiliation, or where they were on their personal faith journey that day, they all acted out of love for their sisters and brothers. What a beautiful story that is to remember and share.

Be at peace this week. Hug the kids an extra time or two. Remind yourself that God created you (and all of us) out of love. Do your best to share that love with everyone you meet.

Sincerely,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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September 5, 2011

Dear Parents and Students,

I hope you enjoyed the Labor Day Holiday! The Catholic Church has a long history of supporting working men and women and you have all certainly earned a day off from your labor to spend time with family and friends.

This Thursday, at Back To School Night, I will share my belief that the value of a community can be judged by how a community lives its values. You all know that I profess that our academic and extracurricular success is built on the foundation of a loving, supportive community and that we should all be proud of the community spirit we have at Star. Our Christmas tradition of “adopting” less fortunate families and buying them gifts is another way we live out our call to love each other. Every spring, the Leukemia / Lymphoma Society helps us kick off the Pennies For Patients Campaign.

This year we are adding a new program to help us help the larger community. On Saturday, October 22 we will be taking part in the 14^th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. You can join us by going on line to

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/StaroftheSea

and click “Join Our Team”. Please wear your Star sweatshirt and we can all march together.

My final request is a similar one. Last year the San Francisco Food Bank acknowledged three schools as being the most generous schools in The City. They were Lincoln High School (enrollment 2500), Aptos Middle School (enrollment 1000), and Star of the Sea (enrollment 222). We filled nearly nine barrels with donated food. Our enrollment is up, the number of hungry people in San Francisco is up and federal funding for food banks is down. So our goal for this year is to fill twelve barrels. I plan to ask the parishioners, neighbors and even some local merchants to join us. The barrels are in the lower hallway already, so please donate what you can.

God Bless You,

Terrence Hanley
Principal

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