Dear Parents,

Save the date! On Friday, September 17th, Stella Maris Academy will celebrate our 75th Anniversary! This is a BIG DEAL!!! Please join us at 8:15 on the sports court that morning for a pep rally where we will celebrate this wonderful school with some special guests. We will be “kicking off” an “Acts of Kindness Challenge” to all of our students, sing some of our favorite songs and celebrate with our mascot, Rory the Lion. Even though this is an outdoor event, we are asking all adults and students to wear facial coverings due to the large number of people within the court area. After our event, parents are invited to come over to the office lawn area and join us for refreshments. We plan on carrying this celebration over to our spring Gala. We have so much to be thankful for…God is Good!

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Dear Parents,

As we look forward towards the upcoming 3-day Labor Day weekend, we can celebrate a wonderful beginning to our school year. 

Today we had our first fire drill of the new school year.  Mr. Guay has also walked many of our classes to visit our three “Rally Points” this week. These are places of safety for our students to go to in case of an evacuation emergency.  Some additional excitement is also going on in both our junior and senior yards.  Our, long awaited and much anticipated, shade sails are being installed this week.  The poles will be set in concrete tomorrow and sails to be installed early next week.  A million thanks to our teachers and students for their patience during all of the jack-hammering during the school day in preparation for this project.

Fr. Mark will be our celebrant for this Friday’s school Mass.  Please note …we LOVE having parents attend our school Masses.  In order to assure the safety of our children, we ask that all parents that choose to attend Mass with us must wear facial coverings while in the church.  Students will be sitting 5 to a pew.  Therefore, in order to accommodate all students, we ask that parents please sit in the side sections or in the side chapel near the tabernacle.   As always, we thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Dear Parents,

Too many blessings to count!!! Happy, happy first day of school to all of us! To see parents and grandparents walking students to their classrooms was priceless. The positive energy made my heart happy! I feel a great school year coming on!

One person missing on this special first day of school was our pastor Fr, Pat. His brother is very ill and he had to catch a plane, unexpectedly yesterday. Please keep Fr. Pat’s family and his brother, Mark, in your prayers. Fr. Pat loves the first day of school as much as I do (well almost as much).

Please listen for more update phone calls from me tomorrow and Friday to help get you all through the “reentry” process. After this week the calls will be less frequent, an average of one every one to two weeks. Communication is paramount during these ever-changing times and you can count on us to keep you informed. Please feel free to call or drop by the office at any time. My door is always open to hear suggestions, concerns and commendations regarding how we are doing. We look forward to growing together to make Stella Maris Academy the very best it can be.

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Want to come back to school in the fall and attend our ice cream social? What about having the math department serve you pancakes? If either of these options interests you, please take a moment and check out the information below.

Every summer our students are asked to read and complete math assignments (grades 4-8) to help prevent the summer slide. Below you will find the links needed for these assignments.

Middle School Reading (6-8) – We are asking all students to read at least two books, one fiction and one non-fiction, over the summer and choose an activity to complete for each book (Click above or have your child go to the ELA Google Classroom).

Mrs. Zack’s Ice Cream Social Summer Reading Log – Students in kindergarten through second grade are asked to read and record 10 picture books. Students in third through 5th grade are challenged to read 5 chapter books. Middle school students are asked to read 3 books, two for their middle school reading assignment and one additional book. 

Summer ALEKS assignments (4th-8th) – Students in fourth through eighth grade are asked to complete 8 ALEKS assignments over the summer with a score of 90% or higher. If students score lower, they can use the Quick Retake option to simply redo the problems they missed. Assignments can be found in the upper left-hand corner of ALEKS by clicking on the three lines and selecting “Assignments”. It is strongly suggested that students complete the 8 ALEKS topics before working on their personal pie if they are close to finishing their pie so as to not lose their work on the assignments.

Thank you! We hope you have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, August 18th!

Dear Parents,

Well this certainly is an exciting week! So much spirit…so much fun! It is wonderful to celebrate and have fun again!

Our eighth graders have had a week filled with special activities amid graduation practices and many “final” moments with their teachers. This is definitely a bitter-sweet time of the school year. I applaud these young men and women for their strength and tenacity during a year filled with challenges at every turn. Well-played Class of 2021!

As our other students prepare to end their school year next Friday, The article below has some great tips on helping them with this transition. Many children, especially the young ones, become very attached to their teachers. Saying “good-bye” even just for the summer can be upsetting for them. Believe it or not, many teachers and principals have the same feelings!

We all have so much to be proud of. Completing a full year of in-person learning during a pandemic is not a feat for the faint-of-heart! With God at our side…anything is possible.

As we send our 8th graders off this Friday, I ask all of our school families to join us keeping them in our prayers as they continue on their academic journey into high school.

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Click here to read article

Dear Parents,

As you are all well aware, there are many conflicting opinions surfacing regarding the multiple COVID -19 restrictions that we have been abiding by over the course of this past school year. We have decided to continue to the “finish line” of the 2020-2021 schoolyear remaining consistent with the safety protocols that have successfully gotten us through this trying time. We have kept the health and safety of our students, staff and school families at the forefront of every decision we have made. Granted, occasionally they may have seemed excessive, but those decisions got us to where we are today…2 ½ weeks until we can claim victory over our COVID-19 year! So I invite you to remain vigilant in the safety practices we have in place for the remainder of this school year. We could not have done this without your support and relying on our faith that God is Good…All the Time!

Please note that in place of an article this week, I am sharing a brief video message from Mr. John Galvan, the Director of Schools for the Diocese of San Diego.

Stay, Strong, Stella!

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Dear Parents,

As we prepare to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, we focus on the promise of him coming again. This fills us with hope for a future of everlasting life with God in heaven. At a time when we are beginning to see a light at the end of this “pandemic tunnel”, let us cling to our hope for a return to life as we once knew it. Our school year is nearing an end. We have so much to be thankful for. We have remained strong and are a closer community for it. Many thanks to our teachers, staff, parents, parishioners and of course, our students for the Stella Maris Academy… We may be small… but we are MIGHTY! Stay Strong Stella!

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Click here to read article.

Dear Parents,

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather! Spring has arrived and the future looks brighter. We are seeing much of our lives returning to more of a sense of “normal”, which is definitely a trend in the right direction. There has been much talk about the necessity for masks to be worn while we are outside. This topic was brought up in yesterday’s public health Zoom meeting that I attended. This recommendation is only for fully vaccinated individuals who are not in crowed situations. Therefore, we will continue our current masking protocols for all students and adults to remain masked while on campus. I pray this mandate will be lifted by the beginning of the new school year.

One of the things that make Stella Maris such an amazing school is the cooperation and communication between parents, teachers and administration. I would like to thank those of you that participated in the survey regarding “Parents as Primary Educators” that was sent out last week. We have reviewed the results and will take the suggestions into consideration when planning for the new school year. Due to COVID restrictions, we have been unable to bring guest speakers to campus to meet with parents regarding parenting skills and spiritual growth of children. We hope to bring these opportunities back next year. It was definitely one of several requests that we identified within the survey results. I am already planning on scheduling one evening per trimester for parent education. If we get a good turnout, we can add more sessions. Many thanks again for your input, patience and respect. We are a great school…but there will always be room for improvement.

Please take some time to read through the article below. I have chosen the Easter season to focus on spiritual growth of children and the parent’s role in this area. I enjoyed this piece because it breaks the development down by age range. One aspect that we will be focusing on next year and for years to come is that of service. Giving thanks for all we have and, in turn, helping those who are less fortunate builds character, compassion and a sense of responsibility for all of our brothers and sisters.

In closing, I would like to thank the incredibly generous parishioners of Mary, Star of the Sea parish for providing a majority of the funding needed to purchase the additional laptops needed for our increased student enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year. What a blessing to be part of this wonderful community!

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Please click here to read article

Dear Parents,

Excitement is building with our new gym nearing completion within weeks. Please watch next week’s newsletter for news on our upcoming ribbon cutting ceremony. Additionally, our wrought iron gates are in the process of being replaced and the extension of the junior yard walls should be complete within a couple of weeks. Great things are happening at SMA!

Beginning with today’s newsletter, I will be sharing articles with parents addressing topics of interest. If you have any topics that you would like to see highlighted, please feel free to reach out to me. This week’s article is on “Parents as Primary Educators”. We often reiterate this phrase, but seldom follow-up with an explanation. The most important point is to “be involved” in every aspect of your child’s academic, social and faith life. 

Stay Strong Parents…Stay Strong Stella!

Blessings,

Francie Moss