Senior Saints

Hello, fellow 2021 graduate families and friends,

The last 10-12 months have been a true rollercoaster-emotions, daily changes, and learning of life’s lessons.

We have a small and mighty group of Senior Loved Ones (parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors) who have and continue to plan events for our kids this school year with the many curveballs thrown at us.

If you are wanting and able to help us brainstorm, plan and make events happen for our Fighting Saints Class of 2021, please contact Nikki Humphrey at the information below.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Nikki Humphrey
Proud Mom of ’21
All Night Party Chair

jnhumphrey74@yahoo.com
Classof2021eventpage@gmail.com

 

David Bank Photography has posted the pictures that were taken at the St. Francis High School Commencement ceremony on June 11 to their website. You can view and/or order the pictures at the link below: 

https://galleries.photoday.io/add-gallery

The access code is: 21STF

OR by texting code 21STF  to  90738

Cap and Gown:

• Cap & Gown order deadline is quickly approaching. Please make sure to submit all orders and payments by next Wednesday, April 7.  If you do not order by April 7, the custom stole for graduation cannot be guaranteed.
  
  Please make sure to pay any outstanding invoices for caps and gowns as soon as possible as invoices will need to be paid in order for you to receive your cap & gown.  Cap and Gown Orders - The website now requires payment be made up front ($39). Order yours NOW! SFHS Seniors https://www.gradsmn.org/st-francis.

• Josten’s is scheduled to be here this Thursday to distribute Cap & Gown Packages! 

  Who: SFHS Graduating Seniors who already ordered their Cap & Gown Packages 
  What: Cap & Gown Distribution 
  Where: PAC Hallway 
  When: Thursday, May 6 - (11:00-2:30) Lunches until end of school day 

• Please arrange to pick-up your cap & gown at that time. If you are unable to pick it up during school on Thursday, you will be able to pick up from 7:00-2:20 on Friday, 5/7 (no school day) at Door 10 (PAC Hallway). 

  If you are quarantined, please do not pick up your cap & gown until you are out of quarantine.

  Saints Online & Saints Academy graduates will be able to pick up their cap & gown at SFLC on Friday 5/7/21

• All students who choose to wear the traditional graduation attire wear a cap, gown, stole and tassel for the commencement ceremony. Students have the option of wearing a dress shirt and dress pants.
• Honors students will wear either a gold or silver cord in addition to the cap and gown and will replace their standard tassel with either a gold or silver tassel for the ceremony.
• Honors cords and tassels will be purchased for these students by the school
• Honors qualification will be determined in late spring based on student cumulative GPA.
• If students are using the cap and gown from an older sibling or friend, they will still need to purchase the correct stole and tassel for their graduation year. Please contact Randy Storts to order these items.

May 17, 2021

Dear Senior Class Students and Families:

We are pleased to announce that St. Francis High School (SFHS) commencement ceremony will be Friday, June 11 at 7:00 p.m. on the SFHS stadium field. Many current social distancing and size capacity regulations for schools end on June 9, the last day of school. So, this ceremony will be similar to the previous outdoor graduations. If there is inclement weather on June 11, possible make-up date(s) for the ceremony are scheduled for Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13. Please note, the start time on the make-up dates will remain the same, 7:00 p.m. The ceremony will be broadcasted live on YouTube.

We would like all qualified seniors to participate in the graduation program. To be eligible, a senior student must have satisfactorily completed credits. If you have any questions about your student’s graduation status, please confer with your school counselor.

Each student will receive four tickets to the graduation ceremony. Guests will be allowed to sit in the main stands on the south side of the stadium, with additional seating on the stadium field. Tickets are for general admission seating, and gates will open at 6:00 p.m. There will be no assigned seating. Below is the distribution schedule for seniors to pick up their graduation tickets. Tickets will be handed out in SFHS Student Union (Media Center):

 

If a senior is enrolled in Saints Online or Saints Academy but plans to attend the SFHS graduation ceremony, they will need to pick up their guest tickets at the Saint Francis Learning Center. 

Seniors must take care of reconciling bills, justifying lunch accounts, returning any Chromebooks, library books and/or textbooks, etc., before June 4, the last in-person day for seniors. If a senior needs additional time to complete course work, they can make arrangements with their teachers until Wednesday, June 9.

COMMENCEMENT PRACTICE 

This practice is mandatory for all seniors planning to participate in commencement. Commencement practice is a school event. All school rules apply. Any violation of these rules may result in removal from the commencement ceremony.  

On Friday, June 11, seniors need to meet in the gymnasium at 10:00 a.m., and then we will put students in rows and proceed to practice outside on the stadium field.

CAPS AND GOWNS

Caps and gowns have already been distributed. If you have not received yours, please pick them up at school between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. If you have not ordered a cap and gown, you may purchase the complete set through Jostens. Students are not required to wear a cap and gown to attend the ceremony.

Cap and Gown Package can be purchased using the link below. It includes: cap, gown, tassel (with grad year charm) and stole. https://www.gradsmn.org/st-francis

GRADUATION CAPS APPROVAL PROCESS

• Neutral colors: white, black, or silver only
• “SFHS” & “2021” are acceptable
• NO logos, sayings, colors, or anything attached or hanging from the cap
• Any requests for exceptions should be presented to an administrator (Austin/Thompson)

INCLEMENT WEATHER

The Administration will be watching the June 11 weather forecast throughout the week for possible storms. If storms are predicted, the alternate days of June 12 or June 13 will be used. The ceremony may proceed if light rain is forecast. If there is a chance of light rain, no umbrellas would be permitted as it would block spectators’ view of the ceremony. Please bring ponchos or other rain gear.

Watch the district and high school webpages, and Facebook for information in case of inclement weather.

DATES TO REMEMBER

June 4            Last Day of School for Seniors, if they have completed work for trimester three classes

June 11          Commencement Practice will start at 10:00–11:00 a.m.

June 11          Commencement Exercise starts at 7:00 p.m. Students are asked to be in the assigned room by 6:15 p.m.

June 12, 13    Make-up dates

Commencement is a formal event that celebrates the tradition of excellence at St. Francis High School. There is no mask mandate for this event. Although wearing a make is still encouraged for students and guests.

Your full cooperation will ensure another excellent end to the school year. Thank you to senior families and students for a great school year. We will send additional detailed graduation information the week of June 7-11. 

Sincerely,
Doug Austin
SFHS Principal

More information to come.

Click here for Commencement Speaker Application

From the St. Francis High School Counseling Office

Congratulations and welcome to senior year! This is a big year with a lot going on. It is important that parents ensure their student is on track to graduate.

Letters were sent to parents to inform them about the credit status of your high school senior in relation to graduation.

The graduating class needs to earn a total of 57 credits in all required areas and meet the state graduation assessment requirements in order to participate in the graduation ceremony and receive their diploma.

To view graduation requirements, visit www.isd15.org/graduation.

Parents, please encourage your student to keep working hard and to remain focused toward the goal of graduating. Please call the high school counseling office at 763-213-1590 or visit www.isd15.org/hscounseling for assistance.

Families of graduating seniors may request a refund from the student’s lunch account or transfer the balance to a sibling’s account.

Click here to fill out the form

For St. Francis High School Junior and Senior Students

The Prom committee is excited to announce our plan for the SFHS High School Prom. Over the past six weeks, we have had several meetings to develop a Prom that will allow our students to experience this time-honored tradition. This plan considers the guidance given to us from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) during the March 31 statewide meeting and conferring with local schools in the surrounding area. Over the past two weeks, we have also received input from a committee made up of parents, students, and staff. Below is our plan for SFHS Prom.

Please note that this plan can change based on input from MDH and MDE.

PROM
Saturday, May 15, 2021
St. Francis High School

MDH and MDE regulations for prom:

• Masks must be worn at all times, if not eating or drinking, in a seated position.
• Dancing is allowed but limited to groups of no more than six students (student group).
  • This is important because if we don’t stay in groups, then we would need to quarantine ALL the students at the dance. This would have a potential negative impact on co-curricular activities.
• Groups of six must stay at least six feet apart from other groups at all times. The student group you are signed up with can mingle as usual in your designated area.
• Eating and drinking are allowed. Students must be seated in their designated areas.
• Limit participants by not allowing guests from outside the school community.

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Event Information

Grand March:

Grand March will take place from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Two groups of six students each will start by going through the grand march in the gymnasium. Each student will be allowed to invite two family members to take pictures.

Dinner:

Dinner will not be served at Prom. The break is intended for students to have time to get dinner within their student group.

Dance:

The dance will take place in the Cafeteria Commons/Bridge Street room from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Students that signed up first for the Grand March will enter the dance first. Students will enter in student groups of six and go to designated spots for the dance in the Cafeteria Commons/Bridge Street room.

If we have a large number of students sign up for Prom, then we might need to have two dances, one from 6:30-8:00 p.m. and another from 8:30-10:00 p.m. Attendance will be split according to Grand March sign-up times. If your group goes through Grand March from 4:00-4:55 p.m., you will attend the first dance. If your group goes through Grand March from 5:00-6:00 p.m., you will attend the second dance.

Prom Sign Up Process:

The last day to sign up for Prom was May 5. Payment and waiver forms needed to be completed and turned in by Monday, May 10.

Hello Seniors!  As we are winding down to the end of the year, it is now time to complete your My Life Plan requirement of checking out with Ms. Abraham.

Here is what we will need from you:

1) Click on the link below to complete the Senior Exit Survey.  This survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete, but is important for us to know what you thought of your high school experience.

Senior Exit Survey

2) Next, click on this link below to complete your senior slide!  This is going to be a fun way for us to see what everyone plans to do after high school!  Be as vague or as detailed as you wish!

Senior My Life Plan Slideshow

3) Come to see Ms. Abraham, and she will do a quick check in to make sure you are good to go, and don't need any additional help, and at that time you will get to pick up your Future's Prep Folder that you made in 9th grade!

4) That's it! Now just finish your senior year with a bang!   And remember if you have any questions at all, please stop by my desk or email me at dawn.abraham@isd15.org.

FINAL TRANSCRIPT INFO -  If you are attending a college, tech school, or university, you will need to send them your final transcripts.  PLEASE log into your Parchment account, and put in the request now.  Choose "hold for grades", which will indicate to us that this is the college you will be attending and we will wait until final grades are posted before sending.

See the 2020-21 Scholarship recipient list.

Click here for More

Follow this checklist for St. Francis High School seniors graduating May 2020

Senior Year - Timeline

August

• Set academic goals for Senior year
• Add more challenging courses to your senior schedule
• Retaking ACT? Register for Sept/Oct. ACT www.actstudent.org (SFHS CEEB Code 242190)
• Prep for ACT? Log in to MCIS (MN Career Info System) www.mncis.intocareers.org
• Review your transcript- all graduation requirements met and scheduled

September

• Finalize plans for after high school (Workforce, College, Military etc.)
• Retaking ACT? Log into MCIS to study and improve your ACT score www.mncis.intocareers.org
• Arrange College Visits (you have two excused days) and check College Rep Schedule with College & Career Center
• Attend SFHS College Fair
• Start College Applications
• Make spreadsheet to track colleges applied, deadlines, additional application requirements (Essay /Letters of Rec./ACT Scores)
• NCAA Athletes- check in with counselor to review requirements
• Ensure you’ve talked with Athletic Director/ coaches and register at www.eligibilitycenter.org
• Get involved in extracurricular activities; keep a list of these
• Start and keep a list of your high school involvement; activities, awards, volunteer work, organizations and offices held

October

• College Knowledge Month
• Talk to teachers, school counselors, parents about their college experience
• The Financial Aid website is open beginning October 1. Please refer to the Financial Aid page.
• Attend Senior Day (last week in October)
• Set goals towards post-secondary career path
• Complete College Applications (many are free this month) and request initial transcripts at www.isd15.org/transcript
• Request Letters of Recommendation now!
• Fill out Letter of Recommendation Request Form (give recommenders your resume and letter of recommendation form)
• Make sure to write a thank you note!
• ACT Scores- Log in to www.ACTstudent.org to ensure your official scores have been sent to the schools of your choice
• Start researching scholarships if you haven’t already. Suggestions:
• Set reminder for January- local scholarships will be in the Counseling Office
• Find local and national scholarships: www.isd15.org/scholarships
• National, individualized college search: www.fastweb.com

November

• Retaking ACT? Register for December. ACT www.actstudent.org (SFHS CEEB Code 242190)
• Be aware of College Application Deadlines
• Financial Aid Night/ Workshop - Gain information and utilize computers to start FAFSA form
• Bring your parents and family for tax returns from the appropriate year
• Finals! Study. Study. Study!

 December

• Many college application deadlines are coming up!
• University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is December 15
• Stay focused! Senior grades can affect admittance into the college of your choice.

Attention Seniors: All colleges/universities will require your final transcript once grades have been posted for third trimester. You can make that request now in parchment.com and enter your request as "hold for grades."

Do not hold up your college registration process because your college/university does not have your final transcript. Check that off your list of things to do and order that now! 

Requesting final SFHS Transcripts

Final transcripts are REQUIRED by all colleges showing your third trimester grades. Your fall admissions will be delayed if not obtained by your college. Please go to parchment.com and order today. Your final transcript will be sent to your college once all grades have been posted.

Final transcripts MUST be requested through Parchment.

 

Cost per Transcript

Current Students: $6.00
(If there is some financial hardship, please see your counselor to discuss a fee waiver)
Alumni: $8.00

To graduate, seniors must have 57 credits total:

• 8 English credits
• 8 Social Studies credits
• 7 Science credits
• 5 Math credits (2 credits Geometry, 2 credits Algebra 2, & Problem/Statistics)
• 3 Physical Education credits
• 1 Futures Prep credit (unless you transferred here)
• 1 Health credit
• 2 Art

It is ultimately your responsibility to know that you received the appropriate credits for graduation. Your counselor is your facilitator.

If you are completing recovery credits at Saints Academy/Guided Studies, check in there to be sure you are on track there as well.

You WILL NOT participate in commencement if you have not completed all graduation requirements.

Requesting College in the Schools Transcripts

Sign in to your College Accounts using you Star ID to request
 — OR —
Go to http://www.getmytranscript.com/ to order Official Transcripts from each school

St. Cloud State University
Southwest Minnesota State University

Distribution

Yearbooks will be distributed for SENIORS only on Tuesday, June 1, during Senior Sunset, which will take place in the back gym beginning at 6:30 p.m.

General distribution for all grades will be on Thursday, June 3, and Friday, June 4, before and after school in the PAC lobby (7:10-7:40 a.m. and 2:30-3:00 p.m).

After that, yearbooks can be picked up from Mr. Olson in room D213.

Extra yearbooks are available for sale at all distribution events. The cost is $90 and must be paid in cash or by check made out to SFHS Yearbook. (Sorry, no cards accepted.)

Question about the yearbook? Email yearbook adviser Joel Olson.