All School  *With thanks and appreciation
for your support
As we celebrate the Christmas season I would like to thank all of our parents and families for your generous donations and your countless volunteer hours. Your support enables Mercy to continue to offer an outstanding Catholic education, with state-of-the art programs, as
well as provide financial assistance to our families in need.
Please remember Mercy High School when making your year-end tax-deductible gift. You may send in a donation or better yet, make your gift online through Mercy's secure website.
Your generosity will have a lasting impact and is deeply appreciated
by the students, faculty, staff and administration at Mercy.
I would like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and many blessings in 2017.
Mary Lund
Director of Advancement
_____________________________________________________________________________ *PowerSchool will be offline from 12/22/2016 through 1/11/2017 as teachers complete their semester grading process. PowerSchool will be back online by 1/12/2017. If you have any questions regarding your PowerSchool access, please contact Stephanie Montoya by email or at 650 762 1111. _____________________________________________________________________________  *Collecting for Casa de las Madres in January! If you are traveling over the holidays, please collect all travel size shampoos, lotions, body wash etc that are offered in your hotels. Upon returning to school bring them to the Campus Ministry Office. Sophomore, Victoria Ortiz will be bringing these things to Casa de las Madres, which is an emergency shelter for abused women. Please remember these women as you travel this holiday season! Merry Christmas! Click HERE for a list of other items that we will be collecting.
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 *BOOKS 4 Hope Book drive at Mercy
Jan 11 - 26 2017
In support of the St Vincent de Paul Books 4 Hope Program we will be collecting books in the Cafeteria and the library from Jan 11 till Jan 26. The winter break would be a good time to look through your bookshelves for those books you won't be reading again. All books will contribute to St Vincent de Paul's programs, and each book sold can provide up to three meals in their Homeless Help Centers. Any questions please contact Mrs Murphy in the library. smurphy@mercyhsb.com. _____________________________________________________________________________ PSAT scores are now available for students to access using the score reporting portal. Learn about your score reports by watching this video. Academic counselors will work with students to help understand their scores after the break.
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How the Grinch stole Christmas pictures can be viewed and purchased here. Enjoy!
http://www.rpphotosf.com/MyGallery/Events/How-The-Grinch-Stole-Christmas/n-VnS3fm/
financial assistance Financial Assistance Program for 2017-2018
Mercy High School recognizes that families have varying financial needs and make financial sacrifices which include adjusting spending priorities and maximizing both parents’ earnings to provide their daughters with a strong academic education. The Financial Assistance Program at Mercy strives to help those families who, even with personal sacrifices, have a difficult time meeting the full tuition obligation. Awards are made for a one-year period, families must re-apply each year. The application process is fair and confidential. Assessments are done by an outside firm (TADS) that specializes in school financial assistance programs. Financial aid awards are made based on a family’s demonstrated need and the availability of school funds. All families who would like to be considered for financial assistance for the 2017-2018 school year must complete an online financial aid application. Applications must be submitted by February 10, 2017* with all necessary documentation. This link https://www.mercyhsb.com/admissions/financial-aid-clone will direct you to our website for further information and the online TADS application. Late applications are processed and reviewed, but meeting the appropriate deadline is strongly recommended to be included in the first round of aid awards. Please contact Lynn Beal at 650-762-1101 or lbeal@mercyhsb.com if you have any questions. *Please note returning 10th, 11th and 12th grade families must apply by February 10, 2017. Families that have both an applying 8th grader and returning student must meet the December 12, 2016 deadline. mercy Parent club 
Father Daughter Dance!
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017
8:00PM
(Please note: Date change from original school calendar)
Click HERE for invite - Invitations are being mailed this week!
Please RSVP at
http://tinyurl.com/MercyFatherDaughterDanceRSVP
educational travel 
Iceland - Looks like we are set to go during Spring Break (actually need 2 more sign ups, but we will be positive in our thoughts that two more students will step up and want to do this fantastic trip)!!! All students planning on going, we will need a second deposit of $500 as soon as possible. We will need a final head-count by our holiday break. If you didn't sign up originally and are interested, please see Dr. Bradley. See the itinery on Schoology.
senior parents 
ATTENTION SENIOR PARENTS:
Early Bird Pricing is being extended until the end of Dec.
That is correct! You will have until Dec. 31st to get your ads in.
Click HERE for details on how to submit the dedication. Randall Watts
Yearbook Advisor
rwatts@mercyhsb.com It's that time of year to show your daughter how proud you are of her accomplishments by placing a dedication in their Senior yearbook.The website has guides and videos to help and there is a help desk by the company in case you get stuck. So start gathering your pictures (they will need to be digital and at least 300kb) that you would like to use. Parents sometimes use baby up to now, others have family photos, and other have pictures of their activities in high school with friends; it is up to you. If you need any help or have questions please contact me, Randall Watts, yearbook advisor at rwatts@mercyhsb.com. athletics
*Make sure to follow all of our team results as they happen via our athletics twitter page. Mercy Athletics @MercyAthletics
_______________________________________________ All fall team members should have returned their uniforms to the Athletic Director by now. Any uniforms not returned will result in the family being charged a replacement fee. __________________________________________________________________________
Winter Conditioning will be held for the following spring teams:
We will start back up on Jan 10.
- Softball: 3-4pm on Monday and Wednesday. Meet at the Grassilli weight room.
- Lacrosse: 4-5pm on Monday and Wednesday. Meet at the Grassilli Center weight room.
- Track and Field: Tuesday 3-4pm and Thursday 3:45-4:45pm
_____________________________________________________________________________ Every athlete must be fully registered in the Appryse system and cleared to play sports before they are placed on a roster. A physical is required to get cleared. You can go onto the Mercy website and go to quicklinks and find the drop down for Appryse. Simply click and start your registration process. Please remember if you are a returning student you still have to re-register. Any student athlete participating in a sport must turn in both the athlete and guardian contract. If the signed forms by both student and guardian are not turned in, the student will not be allowed to play in any event until they have turned in the paperwork. The forms are available on the Mercy website at https://www.mercyhsb.com/athletics/forms-athletic-qualifications. Click on the link and print the contract after you have read the Handbook. Completed forms must be returned to the Athletic Director or to the main office. All student athletes who are currently on a Winter sport roster should be purchasing their Crusaderwear gear designed specifically for their respective team. The site to purchase the gear can be found on the Mercy website under Athletics. Any Parent who is available and/or willing to drive students to games must turn in all the paperwork to the main office in order to be cleared to drive. This would be for your own car or a school van. The form can be downloaded from the Mercy website on the Athletics page. We have upgraded the 2 elliptical machines and a treadmill machine in the weight room. This is in addition to the purchase of a rowing machine and a couple of exercise bikes for the Grassilli Center weight room. All girls are encouraged to utilize the facility. All girls need to check with the AD office to coordinate times for use. All results of each team can be found in the Mercy scoreboard-
https://www.mercyhsb.com/athletics/scoreboard-enews *Click HERE for the schedule for team events for the upcoming week of Dec. 22 - Dec. 28 If you ever have any concerns/comments, please feel free to contact me at anytime. I can be reached at my office at Mercy at 650-762-1107. I am looking forward to a great 2017 with Mercy athletics. Charlie Dougherty
Athletic Director COUNSELING DEPARTMENT
*Happy Holidays!
From all of us in the Counseling department, we wish you a warm, joy filled, and festive holiday! Enjoy the time with friends and family. We look forward to seeing everyone in the new year! College Counseling
SAT and ACT Prep Class!: Mercy High school has partnered with AJ Tutoring to offer a SAT Prep Course this spring semester in preparation for the March 11th SAT. This course utilizes classroom instruction and full-length practice exams to fully prepared students for the SAT. Please click HERE for flyer with specific dates and information on how to enroll.
College admissions and scholarship decisions: It's getting to be that exciting time of the school year when college and scholarship decisions begin to come in. While some schools won't release decisions until the spring, many will work to return early action answers during the next few weeks. Students will need to let college counseling know of the their decisions so we can celebrate with you, help to plan "next steps", and populate Naviance with this helpful data for future classes.
Curious about scholarship opportunities?: Naviance has a full list of possible scholarship opportunities that are worth checking out. Keep an eye on local businesses, clubs, and organizations as well as they often provide scholarship funds to local students. College Counseling will be sure to share any information regarding scholarships that comes our way. Not sure where to start? Fastweb.com is a good resource for identifying scholarships that are specifically tailored towards your student.
Helpful Links:
service opportunities  *Click HERE for Service Opportunities as posted to students through x2VOL for 2016-17 School Year.
Looking ahead to Service Opportunities sponsored by Mercy High School. Click HERE 2016-17 for dates and times. If you have any questions about service opportunities please contact Mr. Diaz at pdiaz@mercyhsb.com. _____________________________________________________________________________
*CORE Opportunity! Calling all students to work in the student garden and open field over Christmas break!
Date: Jan 3rd
Time: 9am-12pm
Place: Mercy Student garden by the cafeteria _____________________________________________________________________________
 *THANK YOU, VOLUNTEERS!
Music at Kohl Mansion thanks the following volunteers for helping with our concert on Sunday night, which featured the Aulos Ensemble and soprano Julianne Baird: Brandon Gregg, Mike Popa, Nancy Popa, Esteban Thumas, Tatyana Thumas, Carol Winton and Paula Wong. We had a beautiful reception after our festive holiday concert and thanks to our small but very hard-working and efficient staff, all went well.
We want to wish our Mercy family a very happy holiday season and a special thank you to all our volunteers this season!
Our next concert is on January 29, 2017. If anyone would like to volunteer to help with that concert, please contact Yvonne Wun at admin@musicatkohl.org. kohl mansion 
Volunteers needed to help take down the Kohl Mansion holiday décor - Thursday, January 5, 2017. Interested volunteers please email Terri Baldocchi at tbaldocchi@mercyhsb.com! miscellaneous  Windows of the Soul
Think about the New Year that is coming our way – we have much to prepare for and to be nourished by. Please join us at Mercy Center for 7 unique sessions called “Windows of the Soul.” These sessions are meant to help us look inward and outward to the many ways spirituality enhances our lives. The world and our own souls need deep spiritual touchstones in these turbulent times. Facilitator: Sr. Mary Waskowiak, RSM Registration deadline January 5, 2017.
Click HERE for flyer with more information
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 Visit the Mercy Center Bookstore for Unique Christmas Gifts
The Mercy Center Bookstore has many wonderful gifts for Christmas. Nativity sets, jewelry, CDs, books for all ages, children’s gifts and more. Enter the Mercy Center door and follow the signs to the bookstore. Store hours are Wednesday through Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. | 
