Dear Parents,
I have chosen to fill this week’s Principal’s Message with love and prayers to you all for a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year! No calendar reminders, no requests for volunteers, just the warmest of Christmas blessings to you and your families. May your holiday break be filled with special times with those you love. Safe travels to those who are leaving San Diego . I look forward to a wonderful 2024!
Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
The season of Advent is officially upon us. We will continue to focus on prayers for peace in our world by praying the Prayer of St. Francis each day. I hope you have all been able to pray this prayer as families. We are still collecting new, unwrapped toys to donate to Fr. Joe’s Villages. There is still time to donate. We will be collecting toys in our classrooms throughout this week and through Tuesday morning of next week. I encourage you to participate in these two activities to help foster a stronger relationship with Jesus this Advent and Christmas season.
We had planned on dedicating our new statue of Mary for our junior yard this Friday. Unfortunately, she has not arrived yet. We are hoping delivery will be by 9:00 PM Thursday night. Therefore, we have postponed the dedication ceremony until after Christmas. If she arrives Thursday, we will take our students to church on Friday morning to see her and pray a decade of the rosary with our parishioners to welcome her.
I hope to see many of you at our celebration of las Posadas this Friday at 1:30. We will begin in the parish hall. Many thanks to Senora Pina for all her work on yet another event to celebrate such a beautiful cultural tradition.
Many more thank yous are in order for all our volunteers that worked tirelessly on our SMA float for this year’s La Jolla Christmas parade. All our hard work paid off…we won Best Overall! Way to Go SMA!!!!!
I keep telling myself what an amazing school we have. It is all because of supportive families (both current and alumni), dedicated staff, and the blessings of our God and our parish community. God is so good!!!
Advent Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. A great big THANK YOU to Coach D for an incredibly successful Turkey Trot to send us off to our holiday break! We will share the final number of funds raised in next week’s newsletter. Coach “D”…you ROCK!!!
The season of Advent begins this Sunday. SMA will join our Mary, Star of the Sea parish family by celebrating this Advent as a time of PEACE through prayer, service, and relationship.
PRAYER – We will focus on praying the Prayer of St. Francis for peace in our world and our communities. All students will bring home a prayer card with this prayer on it and an Advent poem booklet this Friday. I encourage you to pray this prayer nightly as a family for peace in our world.
SERVICE – Please participate in our Toy Drive for Fr. Joe’s Village. Take time to bring your child shopping for a gift for a child that is less fortunate than them. The toys will be collected in the classrooms until the arrival of a truck to pick them up the final week before Christmas break. All donations must be received no later than December 12.
RELATIONSHIP – As we gather as a school community, or as families at night, and pray for a peace-filled world may we encourage our children to thank God for the blessings he has bestowed on us all. We have so much to share with those who have so little. Remembering that Jesus told us that whatever we do for the less fortunate, we do for Him. Service and prayer bring us closer to Him and therefore, strengthens our relationship with Him.
I wish us all a PEACE-FILLED Advent Season!
In closing, I hope to see many of you at the La Jolla Christmas Parade this Sunday to cheer on our SMA float, along with many of our 8th graders, cheerleaders and SMA students. It’s not too late to help with the float so your child can be one of the lucky ones to ride on it in the parade. Please contact the office for more information.
Peace-filled Advent Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
During this special time of the year when we pause to count our blessings, I give thanks to God for all the gifts He has blessed me with, a wonderful family, dear friends, good health, and my strong faith that He will always be by my side. I have had the honor to be of service to thousands of students and their families over my 40 years of working within the Diocese of San Diego Catholic Schools. I began as a volunteer catechist and instructional assistant, moved on to earn my degree as a teacher, then a master’s degree and on to administration. Now it is time to end this part of my journey and begin my next adventure…retirement at the end of this school year.
I want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Fr. Pat, my incredible staff, our students, and to all of you. The love and support I have felt from this school and parish community has made such a positive impact on my life and on the final year of my career in education.
Please know that I am acutely aware that my job here is not done. I love the saying…” It’s not over til it’s over”. I assure you that I will finish strong. I am committed to giving SMA everything I’ve got until that final day. I look forward to a successful accreditation and will continue to promote challenging academics steeped in the virtues of our Catholic faith while celebrating all our students’ successes along the way.
May God continue to bless Stella Maris Academy. Mary, Star of the Sea, pray for us.
Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
It feels like the days are getting shorter and our calendars are becoming “fuller”! It is beginning to feel like there is just not enough time in the day to accomplish all that we plan for. During the holiday season routines are interrupted for celebrations and bedtimes can sometimes suffer a bit as well. Please note that we will try to keep our daily schedules as consistent as possible to allow for maximum learning for our students. Any support you can give us, such as plenty of sleep and refraining from sending excessive sweets to school in lunches, would be greatly appreciated. Together, we can make this holiday season a wonderful experience for our students.
Please plan on joining us this Thursday at 8:05 AM in the junior yard for a prayer service in honor of our veterans and active military. We will lift them and their families up in prayer and raise a new American flag to fly proudly over our school. May God continue to bless those who sacrifice so much so that we may enjoy the freedoms this country has to offer us.
Our annual Parent Conferences will take place next week. Please remember that Tuesday-Friday will be minimum days with 12:30 dismissal to allow for the meetings to take place. Please be on time for your scheduled conference. Due to very tight schedules, late arrivals may have to be rescheduled for a later date. After care will be available through Thursday. There will be no after care NEXT Friday, November 17 to allow for the beginning of our Thanksgiving break.
In closing, I would like to send out a big THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to Senora Pina for another successful Dia de los Muertos celebration. She is filled with boundless energy and such positivity! We are so blessed to have her here at SMA!
Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
What a wonderful way to celebrate the Saints whom we try to model our lives by! Today’s assembly, parade, and parish/school Mass were such a beautiful expression of our faith and of those who have lived and modeled their faith to us all. It was amazing to see so many parents join us as well. Your support means the world to us!
As we move forward into November, we are looking forward to the Celebration of our Veterans and Active Military in the junior yard on Thursday, November 9 at 8:05 AM. CALLING ALL PARENTS, RELATIVES, and FAMILY FRIENDS…if you are a veteran or active military, please plan on joining us for this very special prayer service.
The holidays are upon us! It is such a magical time of year where we will be joining our parish family by focusing on “AN ADVENT OF PEACE”. I look forward to us all pulling together as one parish and school community to model peace to our brothers and sisters; through prayer and service.
Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
It is wonderful to be back on campus following my trip to Spain and Italy with some of our middle school students. History literally came alive for us! But it is so nice to be back home and into a routine once again.
This is such a busy time of the year for us all! Some upcoming activities are as follows:
Tuesday, October 31 – Halloween! Students may wear Halloween add ons or orange and black add ons to their uniforms.
Wednesday, November 1 – All Saints Day! All students are expected to come to school dressed as a saint. We will hold our annual “Saints Parade” prior to our 11:20 school Mass on that day.
Wednesday & Thursday, November 1 & 2 – We will celebrate Dia de los Muertos with special activities prepared by Senora Pina for the entire school. Please watch for an email from her regarding that schedule.
Thursday, November 9 – We will honor our veterans with a prayer service in the junior yard. All parents are welcome. I encourage any parent that is active military or a veteran to attend in uniform so we can show our appreciation for your sacrifice.
Whew, I am tired just writing about these wonderful activities! As always, your support and attendance to our activities is always welcome and appreciated.
On a final note, as an additional layer of security for our school Masses, we will limit entrance and exit into the church to one door. Our weekly security officer will be at that door throughout our celebration.
Autumn Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
My message for the next two newsletters will be brief due to my travels with some of our middle school students to Spain and Italy. I am sure I will have much to share upon my return. Please keep our 6th graders in your prayers. I am confident they are having a wonderful time at 6th grade camp. Please note that this Sunday, October 15, is our October parish/school family Mass. Please plan on attending 9:00 Mass to celebrate our wonderful school with our parish community. If your child wears their school Mass uniform to Mass on Sunday, they can find Mrs. Whitten at the end of Mass for a free dress certificate.
Blessings from Barcelona,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
Believe me when I say that this morning was a “zoo” in the junior yard! We enjoyed a wonderful “Blessing of the Animals” with our furry and scaly friends which was led by Fr. Pat. Thank you to all that attended. What a great way to begin our day as we celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi.
Just a reminder that this weekend is a 3-day weekend in celebration of Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day. Because of the holiday weekend as well as the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival in the Village, there will be NO Aftercare this Friday. Before you begin your long weekend, stop by the junior yard for the final day of our Halloween costume sale. $5.00 per costume…what A DEAL!
Finally, please keep Mrs. Zack and our 6th graders in your prayers as they head off to 6th grade camp on Tuesday. Additionally, please keep me and a group of our middle school students in your prayers as well as we head out on Monday for a 10-day Catholic Focused trip to Spain and Italy. There will be many stories to share as both groups return from their journeys.
Blessings,
Francie Moss
Dear Parents,
What a wonderful Family Fun Night! We took a bit of a risk by eliminating the carnival games to encourage the students to have fun dancing and enjoying the music. That “risk” definitely paid off! It brought me such joy to see our younger students out there dancing with our middle schoolers. Even our parents and teachers joined in the fun. I was so happy to see so many of our graduates come back as well. I am confident that next year will be just as enjoyable. Have I mentioned how blessed we are to have such an amazing school family?
Looking forward to next week, we will be celebrating our Mother Mary as our role model during the month of October. The month will begin with a Living Rosary in the church on Tuesday morning, October 3 at 9:30. Please note the date change. Parents are encouraged to join us for this beautiful prayer. On Wednesday, October 4 we will celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi with the “Blessing of the Animals”. Please feel free to bring pets of all shapes and sizes to the junior yard by 8:00. Fr. Pat will bless them all in honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis. All animals must be leashed or crated at all times when on our campus. Please plan on taking all pets home following the blessing. Many thanks to Fr. Pat for helping us to celebrate this special feast day!
Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Francie Moss