Porter's Post...
...where we present the most current personal missive from our Founder and Head of School, Ms. Barbara Porter. We never know what she is going to say, but it's always interesting, informative, and fun. And always delivered with her inimitable, Anglo-American flair!
Welcome to the new school year. I hope the first week went well for all concerned! I'd like to offer a special welcome to our new St. Francis families. I look forward to a long and happy association.
We had a wonderful turn out for Orientation, the week before school began, and the reception immediately following it. We had over four hundred adults socializing in the gym and over two hundred and fifty students eating pizza in the cafeteria and watching movies. It was a great opportunity for our new and old families to get to know each other.
We begin the new school year with an enrollment of 380 students - the largest ever! We continue to have two sections of pre-kindergarten through third grade and three sections of fourth through eighth grade.
We are very happy to welcome Karla Dunda who has joined our faculty. Her own children have been St. Francis students for several years. She will be teaching fourth grade as a replacement for Kristen Burke who awaits the arrival of her first baby. Ann Parker has also moved to fourth grade replacing Polly McLean who has returned to the Reading and Language Arts Learning Center. We also welcome Kirsten Brenna to the Learning Center as Kathleen Hoyt moved to New Orleans to join her daughter and family. Telisa Young is now a full time teacher and coach in our P.E. department. She worked with us last year as a Track & Field coach. Her son, JR has also joined St. Francis as a fourth grader. In the middle school, Karen Ray is our new Life Science and Math teacher. Her face is familiar to many as a St. Francis parent and an often used substitute at our school. We wish all our new teachers a successful and rewarding experience at St. Francis.
