All School Dear Students and Parents:
Mercy High School is pleased to present to you the 2017-2018 Course Catalog. Here you will find the course offerings for the next academic year, as well as the planning tools and information needed to complete the course request process. We invite you to carefully and thoughtfully consider the course offerings with your family before making your requests. Course requests will open on Feb. 8 and remain open until March 3. Counselors will meet with each student to ensure a rigorous, yet balanced course-load. Students requesting an AP course should complete and hand in the AP Contract by Feb. 8. Students requesting an off-campus Tri-School class should complete the contract by April 30. Should you have any questions about the process, please contact your academic counselor. Best, Lauren Conklin Assistant Head of School for Academics _____________________________________________________________________________
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. _____________________________________________________________________________  *Collecting for Casa de las Madres in January!
Next Tuesday, January 24th will be the last day!
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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 Clean out your bookshelves!
Book Drive at Mercy High School to support
St. Vincent de Paul’s Books 4 Hope
Mercy High School is running a BOOK DRIVE, January 12-27, to support St. Vincent de Paul’s Homeless Help Centers. All books received will help support the Homeless Help Centers.
Bring in gently used books and leave them in the bins in the cafeteria and library between January 12 and 27 or leave them in the Main Office.
This is a great opportunity to make some space in your bookshelves for new books! Click HERE for flyer
Thanks for supporting Mercy and St. Vincent de Paul!
_____________________________________________________________________________ For Mercy’s Formal on January 20th and
Other Transportation Needs… Introducing ZUM Mercy High School has been working with ZUM to transport students to school and on some field trips. We highly recommend that you use their services for transportation to the Formal on January 20th and for other transportation needs – rides to and from school and athletic venues, to events and activities, etc. ZUM has an app that you can use to schedule a ride any time for your daughter. The app will let you know the driver and make of car that is picking her up, what time she is picked up and dropped off. We feel that ZUM provides greater safety and the kind of information on their app that parents want to know. As a special introductory offer ZUM is providing a coupon with every Mercy Formal ticket for $20 off a ride (coupon restriction: rides must be scheduled the day before).
You can access the Mercy ZUM information at the following link: https://ridezum.com/schools/mercyb/index.html
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Students from France arriving March 28
Again in the Spring we will be hosting high school students from France March 28-April 12. We have four Mercy families who have accepted to host students and we are hoping to find host families for at least 2 more girls. Profiles of the French girls will be available soon so as to choose among them who would be a good fit for the family. Each girl will come to school everyday with her Mercy host student and be part of the family. She will be expected to do chores, go out with the family, and participate in family life. It is asked that she have her own bed; it is not necessary to have a private room and bath. She is expected to pay for incidental expenses, her lunch at Mercy, tickets to events, etc. We have had many wonderful memories with these girls and long-lasting friendships have been made. Please consider this. The French girls do speak English well enough to communicate. They are always eager to improve their English. There is no need for your daughter to be enrolled in French in order to enjoy this opportunity. Any questions please email me at lbarthe@mercyhsb.com. Merci! Liz Barthe, French teacher. 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
Please RSVP at:
http://tinyurl.com/MercyFatherDaughterDanceRSVP
MPC Need’s Your HELP to
Make this Night Special for all
Daughters and Dads!
Please sign up below to donate your time
Father Daughter Dance Volunteer Sign Ups
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 Mai Tais at the Mansion
Kick-off Planning Meeting!
TONIGHT! Wednesday, January 18th
6:30pm - Kohl Mansion, Reception Room
Interested in getting involved in Planning or Voluteering for Mai Tais at the Mansion? Kick off meeting next Wed., January 18th at 6:30 pm in the Great Hall for anyone interested! Questions contact Jennifer Munsey at jmunsey@mercyhsb.com.
Save the Date for
Mai Tais at the Mansion!
Saturday, March 11, 2017 Spring Musical
*Official Start of Stage Crew for Spring Musical
The official start of Stage Crew for our Spring Musical will be Sunday, January 22. If you would like to be involved in set building, painting, and all the back stage things that make Tri-School Productions so great, please come to this first meeting. Some people will be getting a head start this Sunday but ALL interested should come to the crew meeting on the 22nd at 10 a.m. with a parent in tow--they need to sign off on a few things and hear a bit about our shows and the commitment but then are free to leave. Crew will be approximately 10-6 p.m This has been a wonderful opportunity for students in the past: Mercy students have loved the involvement in theater and a number of graduates have gone on to use the skills they acquired with Tri-School. If you have any questions contact Pam Matthews at pmatthews@mercyhsb.com
senior parents 
ATTENTION SENIOR PARENTS:
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
_______________________________________________ Reminder for Spring Sports: 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. If you have played on a team in the fall or winter, you are cleared. *All girls interested in participating on the swim team this spring are requested to come to a meeting on Monday January 23 at 2:30pm in the Grassilli Center. The new swim coach Heidi Smookler will be present to meet the girls and go over expectations for the season. *Spring Sports will start on Monday Jan 30. Details of times/locations for tryouts/practices will be posted in the coming weeks. 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
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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 Spring 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 Jan. 19 - Jan. 25 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 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. _____________________________________________________________________________
 VOLUNTEER AT MUSIC AT KOHL CONCERT - JANUARY 29
Music at Kohl Mansion will be presenting the Enso String Quartet on Sunday January 29 at 7 pm. Volunteers are needed to help with front of house duties (distributing programs, taking tickets, ushering) and reception preparation and clean up (preparing food trays and beverages, setting up, serving and cleaning up). Come join other Mercy and Serra students and parents for an enjoyable evening of music and camaraderie. It's a fun way for students to earn service credit and all others to enjoy the company of others.
 If you are available and interested in helping with the concert and reception from 6-10 pm, please contact Yvonne Wun, Program Administrator at admin@musicatkohl.org
Summer Volunteer Opportunity
-1.jpg) *Are you looking for a summer volunteer opportunity? There are some summer volunteer opportunities at the Hiller Aviation Museum for High School Students. Beginning June 12th and running through September 1st (13 weeks) they run a science day camp at the museum. To help facilitate a fun and exciting summer camp we search for teen volunteers with an interest in working with kids and an enthusiasm for science. This is a great opportunity for High School students to gain leadership experience and foster an appreciation of science within their community.
Teen volunteers help with camp in a number of ways; as aids to the teaching staff, as outdoor activity organizers and as helpers when building projects with the campers. We ask for a minimum volunteer commitment of two half-day weeks or one full day week, both equal to two shifts.
Please see the attached flyer about this teen volunteer program. The application for teen volunteers is available from their website by following this link: www.hiller.org/join-and-support/volunteer/ OR for your convenience Click HERE a volunteer application. If you have any further questions please email jen@hiller.org or call (650)654-0200 x219.
We are looking forward to an exciting summer of science and aviation!
cafeteria specials Lunch Order Form - to save time, students may fill out this form and drop off at the Cafeteria in the morning. Please Visit the cafeteria for our daily salad selections
Thursday, 1/19/17: Open Face Tacos, Chicken or Carnitas
Friday, 1/20/17: Tomato Macaroni Soup with French Bread Pizza *NEXT WEEK's Menu Jan. 23-27
Monday: Open Face Greek Chicken Sandwich (Chicken Gyro) Greek flat bread filled with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and Greek seasoned chicken, drizzled with Feta yogurt dressing and sprinkled with feta cheese Tuesday: Foccacia Burgers Our Secret Recipe All Beef Burger Grilled to perfection served on our soft and fluffy home made Rosemary and Chives Foccacia bread. Aside of Spring mix salad and our home made Balsamic Vinaigrette will complete this gourmet meal. Wednesday: Shredded Beef Chimichunga, served with Chips and Salsa Baked , NOT fried Flour Tortilla stuffed with our shredded beef, beans and cheese. Served with Chips, Salsa and small salad Thursday: Our Homemade Mac and cheese Our gourmet cheese sauce over Italian Pasta with Broccoli OR Homemade loose Sausage Friday: BBQ Chicken with Mash Potatoes and Corn. Our own dry rub blend of BBQ seasoning on 2 Drumsticks, served with our creamy mash potatoes and side of corn Please visit the café for our daily changing selection of Salads Don't forget to pre-order :=) | 
