Saint Francis High School held the final ceremony of the year to celebrate and acknowledge student-athletes who have made the commitment to continue their athletic and academic careers on the college level by signing a national letter of intent or attending an Ivy League school. The following 24 students were recognized:

Lancers score with 20 seconds in regulation to force overtime.

The Saint Francis robotics team finished the 2012-2013 season on a high note, going further in competition than they ever had, and consequently, they have high expectations for next year.

Saint Francis was well represented again in the annual Rotary Club art contest. Juniors Cindy Wang and Sophia Xiao were named winners of the Young at Art competition, and their work will be on display in downtown Los Altos.

Junior Cynthia Sun was one of three winners of a recent piano Beethoven competition, where her technical abilities and emotional expressions shone.

Students collected more than 400 pairs of new socks and 700 pairs of shoes for the 24th annual Saint Francis Good Shoe and Sock Drive, which concluded May 3.

Father Mark graduated from Saint Francis in 1982 and returned as our chaplain in 1993, ministering to our students for ten years. He was a beloved chaplain who loved Saint Francis, Saint Francis students and Lancer athletics. He remained friends with many faculty, staff and alumni over the years, marrying them and baptizing their children. He will be greatly missed by all. Click the link above for details about the memorial services.

Seniors Kathryn Burke, Adriana Fernandez, Taylor Ford, Evan Glessner, Gabby Guslani and Rachel Torre sailed to victory as the winners of the14th Annual Milk Carton Boat Race presented by the Science and Engineering Club.

Saint Francis High School is pleased to announce that Greg Calcagno ’83 has been hired as the new head varsity football coach. A graduate of Saint Francis High School, Greg brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to the position from his time as a player and coach at Saint Francis and at Santa Clara University.

Special thanks to the Saint Francis graduates who returned to campus to share their personal career stories with our community! More students than ever attended the career information sessions hosted by graduates in 28 industries ranging from medicine and banking to entertainment and technology.

Thank you to the Saint Francis community—students, parents, teachers and staff—for donating nearly 100 pints of blood during this year’s Service Club annual blood drive.

For the second year in a row, a Lancer will be representing Saint Francis High School in the United States Biology Olympiad Semifinals.

Congratulations to sophomore Amberlin Chen for having been accepted into the prestigious 2013 All-State Honor Orchestra. Her recorded audition was selected from a pool of over 1,600 applicants representing schools from throughout the state.

If your stock portfolio is suffering from sluggish returns, you might want to seek the advice of the Saint Francis Stock Market Club, a group of fiscally savvy student investors who have seen better performances in their portfolios this year than some of the best professional hedge fund managers.

Heath Matters is a resource brought to you by Saint Francis students committed to promoting student health - the key to social, emotional, physical, spiritual and academic well-being. It is part of the school's wellness initiative meant to help students be healthy and stay healthy.

Congratulations to the girl's varsity basketball team for defeating Lynbrook High School 44-19 for the NorCal Championship. The title is the first for the girls in school history! The Lancers take on Lynwood High School for the State Championship Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.

Korpontinos Newcomer of the Year, other Lancers recognized.

Kingman named Cal Hi Sports Player of the Year, Daily News Offensive Player of the Year, more Lancers honored.

The Science Bowl team achieved great success at this year’s U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl regional competition. The five-member team representing Saint Francis was undefeated in the round-robin, qualifying them for the double elimination round.

Hoping to gain a firsthand look at current efforts to lessen global dependency on petroleum-based transportation, members of the Environmental Club toured the Tesla Motors headquarters in Palo Alto.

Heath Matters is a resource brought to you by Saint Francis students committed to promoting student health - the key to social, emotional, physical, spiritual and academic well-being. It is part of the school's wellness initiative meant to help students to be healthy and stay healthy.

Congratulations to freshman Krista Buzolich who was recently crowned Miss Santa Clara’s Outstanding Teen 2013.

Saint Francis held a ceremony to acknowledge eight student-athletes who made the commitment to continue their athletic and academic careers in college.

Motivated by the desire to see history unfold before their eyes, Saint Francis junior Ashley Harunaga and freshman Naveen Shastri both flew to Washington, D.C. to attend this year’s Presidential Inauguration.

Hundreds of adults and children will receive a much-needed reprieve from the harsh winter weather thanks to the concerted effort of the Saint Francis Service Club.

Two Saint Francis teachers and 10 members of the International Club honored the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by volunteering at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose.

The Saint Francis community is pleased to welcome 23 students and two teachers from Sinolink Primary School in Shenzhen, China.

Author and educational consultant Ana Homayoun ’97 spoke to freshman and sophomore parents about how they can help their children make the most of their high school years.

Returning to Saint Francis to talk about his experience after high school, Tim Lessler ’02, a recent law school graduate, gave students a glimpse into what law school is like and shared how his Saint Francis education prepared him for his journey.

With plenty of Christmas spirit and cheer, drama students entertained local elementary school children with original or adapted plays they performed with Children’s Theater.

Environmental Club members are doing their part to think globally and act locally. They have recently planted the first seeds in the club’s new vegetable garden, located behind the portables.

Researching colleges can be a stressful and time-consuming process. To help make it easier for students, the Guidance and Counseling office recently hosted a college fair, inviting 15 out--of-state colleges to speak to students.

More aggressive defense leads Saint Francis to the CCS title game

10 student-athletes were recognized for committing to continue their athletic and academic careers in college.

Members of the school community made sure that many local families will be able to enjoy their own Thanksgiving meal this week, as students and staff donated more than $20,000 for the Food Drive.

ASB students organized a lunch time auction to raise money for Holy Cross High School, a sister school of Saint Francis that sustained damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Congo may seem very far from Saint Francis, but members of Stand Up! Speak Up! have devoted a week to making students more aware of what’s happening in the African country.

To spread awareness that genocide still happens around the world, Stand Up! Speak Up! invited students to create bones out of clay as an easy way to introduce them to the issue.

Freshmen Arpita Singhal and Anjini Karthik recently received special recognition from the mayor of Sunnyvale, honoring them for their independent research project that won first place in science competitions.

Xu set a record for low score in the West Catholic Athletic League tournament, shooting a 3-under 68 at Poplar Creek Golf Course in San Mateo. Xu earned a spot on the all-league team and a berth in the Central Coast Section tournament.

For five years, junior Anmol Thiara’s heart has been in supporting low-income families through an organization called Sunday Friends. Recently, Anmol has dedicated his efforts to helping the group expand its services.

The rain could not extinguish Lancers’ school spirit during Homecoming Week, as each day featured creative costumes, activities at lunch and in the evenings and fierce competitions between the classes.

The 1:1 iPad program has gotten off to a strong start this year, but occasionally, students experience technical issues with their devices. Whether they have trouble uploading files or need help troubleshooting in other areas, the iPad squad is here to help.

The Saint Francis chamber choir was invited to perform with the Santa Clara Chorale in its 51st season opening concert “Autumn Serenade.”

Educational technologists are an invaluable resource

The 1:1 iPad program at Saint Francis High School has taken off, with students and teachers embracing the tablet in their classwork. Students are using it to take notes, make presentations and draw sketches. They have used the built-in camera to determine velocity of a projectile, scanned QR codes to reach websites and made movies about the school’s historical figures.

Two seniors who are board members of the Saint Francis Interact Club have received big appointments to serve on the Interact district board.

The thriving Mandarin program at Saint Francis allows students to spend two weeks in China for a cultural and language immersion. Two students who took part this summer are sophomore Connor Doyle and junior Sophia Gustafson. Read on to find out more about their experiences.

Six Lancers attended the annual Challenge Success conference held at Stanford University, which brought students, parents, teachers and administrators together to address ways they can reduce the stress and pressures that students face while encouraging them to be engaged in learning.

Congratulations to sophomore Lauren McHugh who designed the winning poster to illustrate this year’s motto of “Reflect. Respect.”

Theme Day brought two different assemblies on respect to Saint Francis, and students were separated by gender to better address sensitive issues.

Wild finish as bad snap thwarts field goal try.

Members of BRIC Brothers attended the 8th Community Nonviolence Conference at Santa Clara University and left with newfound strategies they can use to build an environment of peace, starting with themselves.

Working during whatever spare time he had, senior Paul Kim has finished translating a POW’s harrowing memoir from Korean to English.

Freshman Anjini Karthik was named a finalist for the prestigious Outstanding Young Scientist Award for her independent research project on green nanotechnology.

The Saint Francis speech and debate program has been recognized for placing in the top 1 percent of all National Forensic League chapters nationwide.

Saint Francis High School is immensely proud of its 24 accomplished seniors who were named National Merit semifinalists. According to the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist report, this number is the most from any Catholic high school in California this year.

Several students were selected to be Saint Francis delegates and attend various conferences this summer. These opportunities gave them hands-on experiences in leadership, government and environmental issues.

Sophomore Caitlin Cunneen had one birthday request for her friends and family: instead of gifts for her 16th birthday, she asked for donated items that could be given to Goodwill.

Drama director Laura Rose has announced the two main stage shows for the school year: the fall drama will be “Chicago the Play” (Nov. 8-10, 15-17) and the spring musical will be “Legally Blonde” (April 12-13, 18-20).

Senior Simrin Das journeyed to the mountains of Nepal to be an integral part of the Sight Back for 100 Eyes Campaign. Representing Saint Francis High School’s Stand Up! Speak Up Club!, Simrin raised almost $2,000 and worked with Dr. Ruit and the Himalayan Cataract Project, providing 95 sight restoring surgeries.

In the midst of all the summer work and camps, a group of 18 Saint Francis juniors, led by Shreya Ramamurthy, Naeha Haridasa and Shravan Grandhi, worked tirelessly to pull together a charity performance to benefit two deserving organizations, the Madhuram Narayanan Centre and Operation Smile.

Challenging herself this summer, senior Elizabeth Down got a taste of political activism and social justice issues through her internship with an organization that works on women’s issues.

Senior Shawn Esmaili, who has been raising money to build a medical facility in Haiti, raised $25,000 this summer to help make this goal a reality.

The school year at Saint Francis has started with a bang. In the first week, 450 freshmen and their parents were welcomed into the community, students attended their first assembly, and countless practices were held after school. Furthermore, the Sobrato Family Learning Commons is abuzz with activity daily, and all 1,700 students have received their iPads.

Saint Francis held its first school-wide event this week -- the Holy Cross Assembly, which set the tone for the year. Students were encouraged to live out Holy Cross values, and speakers expanded on the year’s theme of respect.

Saint Francis High School welcomes six new faculty members this year. Among this group are an alumna of Saint Francis, a youth minister who serves at local parishes and a former member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

The Spirit Squad had another amazing performance at cheer camp this year! The team earned a Spirit Award on the second day and a Superior ranking (the highest level) for the week overall. Because of these accolades, the Spirit Squad was invited to perform at the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando and the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. In addition to the team's achievements, Emma Crawford '14 was selected as a United Spirit Association All American and was invited to perform in the New Year's parade in London. Great job, ladies!

Over 200 members of the Saint Francis High School community gathered on the school campus to celebrate the dedication of the Sobrato Family Learning Commons, the newest facility at the high school that is expected to become the heart of Saint Francis.

A Saint Francis group has safely arrived in China for a two-week cultural and language immersion in Shenzhen. The students, accompanied by Mr. Conley, are staying with host families who have students attending Sinolink Primary School.

For the first time in 31 years, seniors graduated on campus, ending their high school journey where it started, and they relished their moment. In their last time together, graduates received their diplomas on Bro. Fisher Iwasko C.S.C., Field, walking past the familiar bay tree.

Longtime friends and supporters of Saint Francis were recognized at the President’s Dinner this spring. Imi Blatz was honored for her commitment to the students of the Holy Cross Achievers program, and Linda and Howard Graham received praise for their dedication and philanthropy to Saint Francis.

Twenty-two seniors announce college plans

Thursday May 24th 12:30-3:30 and Friday May 25th 10:00-2:00

In Front of the Wrestling Room