Aug 4 2025
Back to School Information for Senior Parents
Dear Class of 2026,
Welcome to your senior year! We hope this message finds you enjoying these last days of summer before school resumes. Our educators have been hard at work preparing to welcome our students and families back to campus, and we are excited to share more information about the opening of the school year with you today.
Senior Leadership
We know that our seniors are eager to develop and lead their own traditions as they start their final year of high school. One of the opportunities of the last few years has been to imagine new ways to connect, engage and lead, and we are grateful to have an outstanding senior class who is already leaving its mark in the way our students have mentored and supported our incoming ninth graders and their fellow students on campus. If you are interested in helping out with any of our welcome events for the Class of 2029, please sign up here.
As we begin a new school year, we encourage our seniors to think about ways they can get involved, try something new and engage on our campus. Please know that we are excited to offer new leadership opportunities for your class this year, and we are committed to supporting you in leading our Lancer family.
As you prepare for your last “first day of school” at Saint Francis, we encourage you to think about how you can make each day count - in the ways you show up for one another, welcome and support your Lancer family members, and show gratitude for the mentors and educators who walk this journey with you. Know that we are very proud of you and look forward to a great year together!
First Week Details
We will have a special schedule on the first day of school, August 13, with our day beginning in the Quad at 9:15 a.m. for an all-school welcome. Seniors will be done by 12:45 p.m. or whenever they finish taking their school photo. Students need to wear their liturgy shirts for school photos.
Regular classes will start with a Gold Day (Periods 2, 4, and 6) on Thursday, August 14. You will notice that we have shifted our academic calendar to follow a Gold/Brown day cadence instead of our previous Brown/Gold cadence. This change was made to allow all students access to a full collaboration prior to assessments, and has been well-received by teachers and students alike. While we know it will take some getting used to, we are confident it will support student success in the classroom.
Seniors will celebrate the first of many senior year traditions with their Senior Sunrise on Friday, August 15 at 6:00 a.m. Check your Saint Francis email for more details from our Activities Office!
Lancer Family Connection
As a current Saint Francis family, you are part of Lancer Family Connection and are an integral part of creating a welcoming, joyful and inspiring experience for all families on our campus.
Our vision of ensuring that every family is engaged at Saint Francis has guided our leadership in developing the innovative structure of Lancer Family Connection, and we are excited about continued advancement in our plans. This year we will be focused on creating and sustaining an exceptional volunteer experience that encourages further family engagement, and we hope that you will join us as volunteers and leaders in our events and programs throughout the school year. We will also be sharing more information soon about our upcoming development of new structures to support LFC in communication, event support and data management, and we will be relying upon the talents and experience of our parents to help lead these efforts.
We encourage you to join us on campus throughout the year for any and all family activities and to visit the Parent Dashboard often to discover pathways for involvement and engagement with our community. For questions or more information, please contact lancerfamilyconnection@sfhs.com.
Schoology Parent Groups
Grade-level parent groups in Schoology provide an opportunity for connection between parents, particularly with parents of your student’s classmates. Group members can ask questions of other parents, post opportunities to connect at events and share resources.
We are excited to offer this tool encouraging connection and conversations between parents, and continue to be committed in supporting our parent community in building better opportunities for communication. For more information and to learn how to get started, visit the Schoology Parent Groups page and log on to Schoology here.
Please click on the link below to access important information for the start of school, including the schedule for the first day of school, updates from counseling and additional details to help you prepare for the start of the 2025-26 school year.
Please know how grateful we are for your commitment to Saint Francis, your trust in our educators and for the gift of your supportive partnership with our entire school community. We are truly excited for the upcoming school year.
In Holy Cross,
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Katie Teekell ‘00 |
Jason D. Curtis |