A Message From Our Principal

Dear Parents,

As we reach the midway point of another week, we continue to see your children growing in enthusiasm and enjoying their time at school with teachers that truly care for them and work hard each day to promote a rich academic environment where your children can grow and experience academic success.

 I hope these weekly newsletter messages and my weekly videos have been helpful to you by keeping you up-to-date on new protocols or just providing clarification on existing regulations.  It is understandable that you may continue to have questions, especially if you are new to our wonderful school.  Therefore, I will be hosting a Zoom, “Coffee with the Principal” meeting on Tuesday, October 6 from 5:30-6:30 P.M.  I encourage you to email me any topics that you would like covered so I can be prepared and respectful of your time.  As always, my door is always open to meet with you in person if that is your preference.  Communication is the key to a positive, productive home/school relationship.  I remain committed to serving all of our school families through listening, action, and prayer.  We are blessed to be together in this very special place. 

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Click here for Spanish

A Message From Our Principal

Dear Parents,

As we approach the second half of this second full week of in-person learning, thankfully, many things are beginning to fall into place. The children are smiling, laughing, and seem to be genuinely happy. This makes all of our hard work over the summer months well worth the effort.

There were some concerns and suggestions regarding drop-off and pick-up procedures that were shared with me following my Friday video message. I would like to thank those of you that reached out to me in the spirit of working together to find a solution. I want to let you know that I have been monitoring the before and after school carlines this week. So far, they seem to be going fairly well, with a couple hiccups. There has not been any back up on to Torrey Pines Road. This is a good sign. A couple recommendations would definitely help with the traffic flow to the senior yard alley…

1. Please do not make a left turn into the alley from Kline. Waiting to get in the line this way can quickly back up traffic. Instead, please make a right on Torrey Pines and then right on Herschel then proceed to Kline.

2. I have noticed that the final 5 minutes of drop-off and pick-up are fairly light traffic times. If you can schedule dropping off a bit closer to those times, it may help as well.

I will continue to monitor the traffic for the reminder of the week and revisit this in my Friday video message. I am also exploring the possibility of requesting that the entire curb in front of the senior yard be marked as a loading zone just as the junior yard is marked. The parking regulations have not been enforced recently due to the pandemic. I have heard that enforcement will start up again on October 1. This should clear the curb for pick-up in the junior yard.

I attended a Zoom meeting with the San Diego County Office of Education this morning. The protocols have remained relatively unchanged. One change is that if a student has any symptoms that could possibly be related to COVID and they do not see a doctor or get a COVID test, they are now obligated to remain home for 10 days, instead of 14 days after the symptoms have been resolved. We’ll take it!

As always, a million thanks to our amazing teachers, rock star students, and over-the-top supportive parents! We are so blessed to have this wonderful school and each other!

Autumn Blessings,

Francie Moss

Click here for Spanish

A Message from Our Principal

Dear Parents,

We are half way through our first full week of school and all is well. Needless, to say, we are all exhausted!!! But it is so worth it! Your children have adapted beautifully. Please know that we are aware of the difficulty of getting back to a school day routine for all of us. One way that you can help is by making sure your children are getting plenty of sleep. Breaking the habit of later bedtimes during the summer is always a difficult adjustment to make. But we are finding out that the masks and all of the new protocols, tend to take their toll on the children.

Just a reminder, that if your child is experiencing any kind of difficulty adjusting to school “re-entry”, we do have a counselor on campus 2 days per week. If you are interested in taking advantage of this service that we are providing to our students, free of charge, please contact the school office for a consent form.

Finally, I would like to provide a bit more clarification on the policy issued by the local and state public health organizations regarding the procedures to be followed if a child or staff member is experiencing cold or flu type symptoms or loss or taste or smell or if they have a temperature of 100 or higher. We are obligated to follow the following steps…

>The child will have to remain at home and may return to school depending which of the following actions are taken…

*You may take your child to the doctor and request a test for COVID-19. If the results are negative, the child can return to school 72 hours after the symptoms are resolved.

*If you choose not to seek out your child’s doctor, the child must remain at home for 14 days

Please refer to the Decision Tree below for additional information regarding positive test results and chronic issues.

I am aware that I have sent this information home previously, but there are still many questions that are completely understandable.

I cannot stress enough how much we appreciate your understanding and cooperation regarding these procedures. I can imagine how frustrating it must be, but we must all fight this fight together to keep our school open and healthy.

Ending on a happy note…Tomorrow SMA celebrates its 74th birthday! We will have signage up, balloons flying at each gate and a special (pre-packaged) treat for our students as they leave school at the end of the day. 74 years and still going strong! We are so blessed!

Blessings,

Francie Moss

Decision Tree

***Pulsa aqui para Espanol***

MASS UPDATE

Please feel free to call the parish office if you have any questions!

WAIVER APPROVED!!!

For those of you who have kept up with our waiver process, we have some great news! We have been approved! What does this mean for Stella Maris Academy? We will go through with our re-opening as planned on September 8th for in-person instruction. Should the city of San Diego get itself back on the watchlist and the schools close down again, we have been granted permission to remain open.

Of course, we will continue to maintain all necessary health and sanitation procedures as well as closely monitor the wellbeing of each and every student and staff member at the school. Health and safety is our top priority but so is your child’s education. We are blessed at the school to be part of a team that believes in quality education and are excited to see what this school year has in store for us all!

Please see Mrs. Moss’ weekly video update here for the process in which we will be letting students in by phases. Have a great day!

Summer Work

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 interest 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 three books over the summer and be ready to give a Book Talk (directions attached) when they return to school.

Mrs. Marcelino’s Ice Cream Social Summer Reading Log – Students in kindergarten through third grade are asked to read and record 10 picture books or 3-4 beginning chapter books. Students entering fourth through eighth grade are asked to read three chapter books.

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 19th

A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of your summer break. I would like to remind you of the dates and times for pick-up of your student’s personal belongings.

Pick-up day is this Friday, June 5
Please note that times are assigned according to the first letter of your last name. Items will be placed in a bag with your child’s name on it. The bag will also contain your child’s report card and year book as well. Please pick-up in the junior and senior yards according to your child’s grade level. TK families may pick-up items in front of the school office. We are trying to maintain a safe environment for this procedure; therefore, we ask that a minimum number of people enter the school grounds and that masks be worn.

Pick-up times
9:00-10:00 A – F
10:00-11:00 G – L
11:00-12:00 M – R
1:00-2:00 S – Z

Important Note:
Please remember to return sports uniform and library books in to designated boxes when picking up personal items. All Chromebook borrowed to assist with distance learning must be returned to the school office.
Enjoy your summer with family and friends! We will see you in August!

Blessings,
Francie Moss

A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents,

The end to this “eventful” school year has come to an end. I must admit it is bittersweet. It is always a celebration to complete one school year and look forward to a fresh new year on the horizon. But completing the year without “closure” is difficult. My first year at SMA has gifted me with an amazing faculty and staff and a pastor that has been there every step of the way. The children and all of you have made me feel so incredibly welcomed and supported. Words cannot express my gratitude. I look forward to next year with hope and excitement. By the grace of God, we will all be together in our classrooms once again. The laughter of children will fill the air and we can move forward, taking the lessons we have learned throughout this ordeal and using them to make our school a safer place for all of us.

A huge shout out to our graduates. You have weathered a storm that no one could have prepared you for, and you did it with “class”. Bravo to all of you amazing young men and women. Your futures are bright…you will remain in our prayers…and always remember that you be welcomed here with open arms anytime you need us. We are family…always!!!

May God bless you all and keep you safe and healthy over the summer months. I pray that we all return to this wonderful school in August, refreshed, revitalized and filled with gratitude and anticipation for a strong, successful reopening. We believe this is possible because…
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

Many Blessings,
Francie Moss