This page contains our most up-to-date reports on the goings-on of St. John's Academy. Visit often, and subscribe to the RSS feed below to be notified immediately when new materials are added! |
posted Jul 27, 2010 6:40 PM by Ryan Thompson
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updated Jul 28, 2010 3:39 PM
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What has happened to the office? Have we been robbed?? Where is everything and why is Mr. Thompson grinning from ear to ear??? Did he do it???? Fear not. All is well. The school office is undergoing a much-needed remodeling. This week, the layout will be fully modified, allowing for efficient movement and usage of space. Teachers will have free access to materials and resources, while the administration will have a confidential and consolidated work space. With the help of parents and students, the office was cleared today of
all contents, making way for a new coat of paint. God willing, by
Thursday night the new and improved office will be up and running. The Administration would like to thank everyone involved with this project and we hope these improvements will enhance life at St. John's Academy. |
posted Jul 27, 2010 1:20 PM by Ryan Thompson
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updated Jul 27, 2010 7:47 PM by Maria Kotar
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The virtue of charity was alive at St. John's Academy this past year. It was clearly demonstrated with the students' collection of over 278 pounds of food for the San Francisco Food Bank. That is more weight than the entire Kindergarten class. Good job, kids. Let's aim for 500 pounds next year. (A letter from the San Francisco Food Bank.)July 12, 2010
Dear Fr. Irenei,
Thank you for organizing a food drive on behalf of St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy, resulting in the donation of 278 pounds of food.
By providing the gift of food to children, seniors, and working-poor families of San Francisco, you are advocating that every resident deserves to have a healthy, sustainable life. Your support enables us to be an agent of change in the San Francisco community - transforming the lives of over 147,000 San Franciscans who face the threat of hunger each day.
Every single contribution makes a difference in the work that we do. Through a network of 400 local non-profit agencies including 200 neighborhood pantries, the San Francisco Food Bank will distribute 36.5 million pounds of food this year - more than half of it in the form of fresh produce. Every single day, we provide enough food for 78,000 meals, an accomplishment that would not be possible without community partnerships from individuals, congregations, businesses, schools, and other non-profit agencies.
For the one in five adults and one in four children at risk of hunger in San Francisco, the Food Bank is truly a lifeline. Please thank every participant of this food drive for their generosity and confidence in our work and for their help in building a stronger, healthier San Francisco.
Sincerely,
Jessica Brittsan
Food Drives and Events Manager
San Francisco Food Bank
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posted Jul 26, 2010 10:41 AM by Ryan Thompson
Dear Parents, We would like to thank everyone who responded to the appeal for help during the office remodel. Your 'let's-get-it-done' attitude is greatly appreciated. Work will start on at 4PM this Tuesday, July 27th, and should wrap up the following evening. Tuesday we will clear the office, prep the walls, and apply the primer. This evening will require some heavy lifting, so bring your elbow grease. If you have offered to bring supplies, please bring them. The painting itself will be done on
Wednesday the 28th.
We have already found a willing victim to build a privacy wall. We are still in need of someone with experience to act as foreman during this project.
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posted Jul 26, 2010 10:27 AM by Ryan Thompson
Dear Parents, The annual book fees are soon due. Please drop by the school office for a visit or post your payment prior to the 1st of August. These fees cover the cost of your child's assignment book, yearbook, textbooks, art supplies,
and all Xeroxed material given during the school year. Click here for the Book Fee Schedule. The summer office hours are from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Monday through Friday. We do like our lunch breaks, therefore please call in advance of any visit. |
posted Jun 29, 2010 10:25 AM by Hieromonk Irenei
The Stanford Test results are in for the
2010 testing period, and as usual performance by St. John's students has been outstanding! As a reminder, the Stanford-10 Achievement Tests are a nationally recognized series of examinations, administered to students in 3rd-8th grades, used by educators across the country as a norm-referenced means to offer teachers and parents information on their pupils' achievement. The Stanford tests also provide comparisons based on nationwide results. These tests offer us a great opportunity to assess our students' knowledge and academics skills in reference to the national average, as well as determine the level of success of our teaching and curriculum vis-a-vis each student's performance and national norms. In every category, St. John's has shone through our students. The test results have also clearly demonstrated what we as a school have always known: that St. John's has particular strengths in educating students to a high standard in mathematics, social studies and other core fields. Beginning with the 3rd
grade, the class as a whole scored on the average on the level of 6th graders.
Individually, however, we had students who scored on the level of 9th graders
in Work Study Skills, 12th graders in the Social Sciences, and two students who
scored Post High School level in two fields!
In the 4th grade, we also had two students
who scored Post High School, one who individually averaged an 8th grade level for the complete
test, one who averaged a 10th grade level.
The 5th grade averaged an 8th grade level
across the board. Many students
did very well, four extremely well, scoring Post High School in many subjects,
and one did exceptionally well by scoring Post High School in all but one
subject.
The 6th grade did outstandingly, averaging
an 11th grade level. Every student
in this class had at least two PHS scores. Their highest scores were in Social
Sciences (history) where their class average was PHS.
The 7th grade excelled in Mathematics, as
did all students in the school. In this particular grade, all students scored
PHS for the Total Mathematics Score. Again, the scores ranged from 2 PHS scores
to all PHS for these students.
The 8th grade also saw some surprisingly
outstanding Math results. The students in this grade scored in the 91st
percentile of the country for Total Math and 95th percentile for Math
Procedures (some individuals scoring in the 99th percentile!). These are extremely impressive results, that would be the envy of any school in the country.
We congratulate our students once again for
their hard work!
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posted Jun 29, 2010 9:18 AM by Ryan Thompson
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updated Jun 29, 2010 10:41 AM by Hieromonk Irenei
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June 28, 2010 – San Bruno, CA
A freshman-to-be this fall at Saint John’s High School, Anthony Triantafillidis, (a.k.a. “Tony Trianta” by his baseball peers) has been playing baseball in various leagues around the Bay Area for several years now. The last two years he has been with the San Bruno Muscats, a team in the San Bruno PONY (“Protect Our Nation’s Youth”) Baseball League (http://www.pony.org) and is showing some promise in his pursuits. Prior to PONY League, Anthony also played in the Pacifica National Little League (in 2008) and with the Junior Giants (2006-2007).
Earlier this year, Anthony, who normally plays the center fielder position, was selected as an All-Star for his league based on recommendations from his coach, Jim Thiel. Jim has been coaching San Bruno PONY League for many years and selected Anthony for his improved skills in fielding and batting. Anthony, who wears jersey number 23, was promoted to the lead-off spot in the batting order and held that spot for the duration of the season. Unfortunately, Anthony was unable to compete in the All-Star Tournament he was selected for (scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend) due to prior family commitments.
When the San Bruno Pony League season completed a few weeks ago, the Muscats were second in the overall standings and earned a berth into the city championships. The San Bruno City Championship Series included the top four teams in the city and after two consecutive wins, the Muscats took the championship in the knock-out round.
Next up for Anthony was the Northern Peninsula PONY League Championship Series a 3 Game Series against the winners of the South San Francisco league, the South City Canes. This was a huge challenge for the Muscats who fell behind in the first game and had to battle to stay alive in the series. In Game 2, Anthony went 3 for 4 with two singles and a double to help the Muscats even up the series 1-1.
On Sunday, June 27, the Muscats had to rally from a 4-0 deficit. Anthony led off the late inning rally with a stand-up triple to deep right-center. By the last inning (only 7 innings are played in PONY) the team was still within striking distance. They were trailing only by two runs. After loading the bases in the bottom half of the inning and with one out a ground ball would have ended the season for them, but thanks to some timely hitting a double brought in 3 runs to win the Series in dramatic fashion.
Anthony, who thoroughly enjoys playing the sport, intends to pursue baseball in the coming years, while continuing his academic achievements at Saint John’s. |
posted Jun 28, 2010 10:25 AM by Ryan Thompson
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updated Jun 29, 2010 10:44 AM by Hieromonk Irenei
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This past week, hundreds of San Franciscans toured the visiting Russian Missile Cruiser Varyag. The Varyag is the first Russian Naval ship to make a goodwill visit to San Francisco in 147 years. The visit was made in part to commemorate a little remembered piece of
Russian-American history. During the American Civil War, Tsar Alexander II sent a fleet to San
Francisco and New York to show
support for the union. During her tour of the ship, St. John's student Sasha Zharchuk was interviewed by KGO-TV. You can watch Sasha's interview in streaming video format from the ABC news website by clicking here.
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posted Jun 18, 2010 7:32 AM by Hieromonk Irenei
The A cademic Calendar for the 2010-2011 school year is now on-line, here on the St. John's Academy web site. This calendar spells out the key dates in the academic year for St. John's students and families, including trimester and semester dates, holidays, Church feasts and celebrations, and other activities.
Dates of which to take special note now include the Family Retreat day on August 29th (a critical day for all families and teachers, to discuss new policy and practical changes for the new school year), and the first day of classes on Tuesday, September 7th.
St. John's calendar is routinely updated as new events and activities are planned for our students. The most up-to-date version is always found here on the web site. |
posted Jun 16, 2010 9:14 AM by Hieromonk Irenei
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updated Jun 16, 2010 9:54 AM
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On the evening of Thursday, 10th June 2010, the St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy marked the close of the current school year with its annual Promotional Ceremonies.
Each student who had completed his course and passed his subjects was promoted to the next grade level, while students who had earned honors were awarded certificates, medals, pins, badges and other signs of their achievements. These included numerous Presidential Education Awards, Presidential Awards for Service, awards in science, math, literature, and languages, awards in sport, and the much-coveted St. Elizabeth Award for service, which this year went to Mr. Alexander Nowak.
During the ceremonies, teachers and staff at St. John's were also honored, as well as various individuals who had contributed to the life of the Academy over the current school year, including its Parents Association.
Students in various grades receive their certificates and awards.
Following the short film, the Academy's Principal, Hieromonk Irenei, spoke of the school's delight in the achievements of its students, and of the many advances taken by the Academy over the past year. The majority of his talk, however, focused on the future and the contours of the year ahead at St. John's. He outlined a number of exciting new developments in the life of the Academy that will be in effect from the new school year, including a stranded curriculum providing variation in study and honours-track courses at the high school level; a new food programme to provide healthy and delicious catered lunches and snacks to St. John's students; a new Honours System to replace the approbation/demerit procedures; the hiring of new staff to launch an entirely new music and art program, leading toward AP Art in the high school; and a host of other new developments. Further information on all these, and other developments, will be provided here on the Academy's web site over the coming weeks and months of summer.
Left: the end-of-year excitement starts to show; Center: the St. Elizabeth Award is presented to Alexander; Right: the year ahead is outlined by the Principal.
The evening's celebrations culminated in the performance of 'Silver Finger': a three-part melodrama (and the Academy's first theatrical venture into the 'Wild West') staged and performed by the 6th-12th grade students under the direction of the Academy's Dean of Students, Mr. Seraphim Winslow.
This performance proved to be one of the great highlights of the evening, as students adopted their roles with a flare and gave astounding performances. No one present will soon forget the lead character's receipt of a 'home-made fly swatter'; the sudden arrival of three gun-slinging cowboys (whose excellent western accents came as a surprise to all); the secret saloon that served poetry instead of 'distilled spirits'; and any number of other memorable moments from the performance.
Congratulations are due to all the students who took part in producing this wonderful play - not only the actors under the lights, but the many students who served as stage managers, prop designers, musicians, and in other behind-the-scenes roles to make the production the success it was.
A few memorable moments from 'Silver Finger'.
The actors receive their applause at the play's end.
Finally, the evening concluded with a pot-luck dinner provided by parents and families of our newly-promoted students. An opportunity for congratulations, photographs, friendly words and fellowship was enthusiastically taken up by all present in our crowded great hall.
All of the faculty, staff and administration of St. John's Academy would like once again to congratulate our students on their achievements over the 2009-2010 school year, and to congratulate as well your families. We are proud of your dedication, hard work, achievements, and - above all - the spirit of Christian joy in which you have brought this year to a wonderful close. We wish you all a blessed, refreshing and pleasant summer holiday, and look forward to welcoming you back to school on September 7th!
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posted Jun 16, 2010 9:00 AM by Hieromonk Irenei
On Friday, 11th June 2010 - the last day of school - students in this year's victorious House of Constantinople spent the day at Raging Waters. The day's outing to the water slide park was occasioned by their winning this year's Great House challenge, in which the Academy's three Houses (Constantinople, Jerusalem and Alexandria) vie for points throughout the school year in categories of logos, sophia and agape.
It was a closely fought race this year, but Constantinople pulled ahead in the final days to secure their much-coveted place on the water slides.
Students in the two runner-up houses of Jerusalem and Alexandria were not entirely bereft, however, and spent the last day of school with movies and sushi in the great hall.
Congratulations to all our students and their Houses on a year of positive spirit and growth!
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