 Welcome to the start
of a new year!
We have had a busy summer getting ready to start a new year in only eight days. Where did June and July go? Let me tell you about our summer. Beginning in June the Tools for Schools middle schoolers arrived eager to learn new math skills, read new books, try their hand at cooking and computer coding, ready to build and tinker with hands-on activities, discover American Sign Language and sing and dance. Their ending show featuring Broadway show songs and dances was a huge hit. A new slate roof on half the mansion – the area overlooking the lawn – replaced the original slate from 1914. So we are ready to keep going for another 100 years! The elevator received major upgrades and will, fingers crossed, pass inspection early next week. The cafeteria received new paint and lighting and additional round tables, new microwaves and other items are on order thanks to a generous donation from the Mercy Parent Club. The third floor bathroom was gutted and completely renovated. The hallway outside of the Main Office has new paint, flooring and carpet that matches the elegance of the main rooms of the mansion. Lots of cleaning has happened everywhere on campus. This has all been done under the very hands-on direction of our Facilities Director, Darrell Justus. He is a miracle-worker! Three new faculty members are joining us next week – Sarah Boragno and Ryan Offield in English and Bonnie Barron in Spanish. We will introduce them in future issues of the e-news. The last few days we have had our Student Body officers at school to plan their activities for the year. I have been so impressed by their insight, their enthusiasm and the ideas they have generated. They will make this new year special. Next week we will be meeting with faculty and staff to introduce a comprehensive and exciting new marketing campaign, prepare for a productive new school year, and start preparations for our WCEA/WASC evaluation in the spring of 2016. Lauren Conklin, Natalie Cirigliano and I look forward to having the opportunity to see and talk with you over the next few weeks at the Freshman Welcome Mass, Welcome BBQ, Back to School Night and the first Parent Club meeting in mid-September. As always we are available to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. Enjoy the remainder of summer break…a new school year is about to happen! Karen Hanrahan
Head of School __________________________________________________ Dear Students, Parents, and Mercy Community: On behalf of the Mercy Burlingame faculty and staff, we would like to welcome you to the 2014-2015 school year. Whether you are returning or joining us for the first time, we are very excited to begin a new school year with all of you as integral members of our community. This is the time to reconnect with our Mercy family, and we hope to see you at the Head of School’s Welcome BBQ, Back to School Night and the many other events that we have planned throughout the school year. To our new parents and students, we extend a warm welcome and look forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming events, especially the Welcome Mass and Reception and the Student Life/ Athletics Meeting. Over the summer our teachers have continued to work on exciting curricular updates that will provide a challenging, engaging, and innovative academic experience for our young women. Our coaches, club advisors, and program directors have been diligent in expanding our student life and leadership opportunities for students. With the support and guidance of our faculty and staff members, we are so very excited to be a part of the intellectual and spiritual growth of our Mercy students.
Sincerely,
Natalie Cirigliano, Assistant Principal for Student Life
Lauren Conklin, Assistant Principal for Academics ______________________________________
New Students & Parents
Welcome Mass, Reception, &
Student Life/Athletics Meeting
Sunday, August 17th - 3:00 pm
On Sunday, August 17th, all incoming freshmen and their parents are invited to join us for the Welcome Mass to be held in the Chapel at 3:00 p.m. with a reception to follow in the Sequoia Room. During the reception there will be a brief New Student/Parent Student Life Meeting that will cover Athletics, Drama, Clubs & Student Government. Please park down by the Chapel and Mercy Center for this event. For more information please contact Francesca Mallegni Ohanessian, Director of Admission, at 650.762.1114 or FOhanessian@mercyhsb.com _________________________________________________________ Order Your Daughter's Back-to-School Photos In preparation for the start of the school year we would like to provide you with some information regarding how to order your daughter's Back to School photos. Please visit www.orderschoolportraits.com/MercyHighSchool to order photos. This link will remain available until 24 hours prior to picture day on Monday, August 18. You can also use this PDF of the flyer and have your daughter bring it with her on Picture Day. If you have any additional questions regarding how to order pictures please contact Assistant Principal for Student Life, Natalie Cirigliano, at ncirigliano@mercyhsb.com. Thank you! ______________________________________________________
Mercy Block Schedule 2014-2015 Start time 7:55AM Click here for schedule
Monday, August 18th
Full Uniform Orientation and Photos
Freshmen and Juniors – 8:30am - 11:30am
Sophomores and Seniors - 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Special Schedule August 19th
Click here for the special schedule we will follow for our first day of school on August 19th which at has a special dismissal time of 2:15PM. We will have 30 minute classes with 5 minute passing times. Please note that our Tri-School classes do not begin until August 20th, but Mercy students will still be expected to meet in their tri-school 1st and 2nd periods on August 19th. Zero period classes will begin on August 20th. _____________________________________________________ School Supply Drive
August 18 - August 22
The Campus Ministry Department will be collecting school supplies for resident students at Mercy Housing's affordable housing units in Visitacion Valley. The drive will be held from August 18 - August 22. Students can drop off their donations in front of the Mansion between 7:40-8:00 am. Items needed include: binders, divider tabs, notebooks, two pocket folders, pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, markers, rulers, binder paper and glue sticks. If you have any questions please contact Angie Simonetti at 650 762-1149.
_____________________________________________________ Dear Freshman Parents, Please come and join Guidance Department Chair, Camilla Behnke on Tuesday, August 19th, at 7am in the Great Hall to learn more about what the Mercy Guidance office offers to your daughters. There will be coffee and pastries. If you have any questions prior to the event, please contact Camilla Behnke at cbehnke@mercyhsb.com. We look forward to seeing you there! Mercy's Guidance Department _____________________________________________________
Dear Sophomore Parents, Please come and join Guidance Department Chair, Camilla Behnke on Thursday, August 21st, at 7am in the Great Hall to learn more about what the Mercy Guidance office offers to your daughters. There will be coffee and pastries. If you have any questions prior to the event, please contact Camilla Behnke at cbehnke@mercyhsb.com. We look forward to seeing you there! Mercy's Guidance Department
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Fall Sports Tryouts
10th, 11th, 12th graders only - 8/18/14-8/22/14
Freshman Tryouts: will begin on Monday, August 25, 2014
and will continue through August 29, 2014.
For tryout dates, times, locations and more click here. _____________________________________________________ Join the Athletic Booster's Club! We are very excited to begin our Booster Club this year and we need your support!!! The purpose of the Mercy Booster Club is to provide financial support and to promote parent participation and camaraderie at many school events, games, tournaments, and other student activities. The Board will meet on various Wednesdays of each month during the school year at 6:00pm on campus, in classroom 109. The first Booster Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 3rd at 6PM. All Mercy parents are invited to join and help us as we kick off our new club. Any parents who are interested in serving in a leadership role on the Booster Club Board should contact Athletic Director, Daniella Matteucci, at dmatteucci@mercyhsb.com. Leadership positions include President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chair, Athletic Funddraiser Chair, Spirit and Promotions Chair, Sports Physical Night Co-Chairs, and Alumnae Representative. GO CRUSADERS! _____________________________________________________ Freshman and Transfer Parents
Final Report Cards from your daughter's previous school must be submitted to the Admissions office prior to the start of school. Please have them mailed to Mercy High School Burlingame Attn: Admissions Office 2750 Adeline Drive Burlingame, Ca, 94010. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Francesca Ohanessian fohanessian@mercyhsb.com or 650-762-1114. ________________________________________________________
Back to School Night
7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4
Join us for Back to School Night on the Mercy campus for an opportunity to take a walk in your daughter's footsteps. A schedule of the night's events will start with your daughter's first class and follow her entire schedule.
Freshman families are invited to an information session about Mercy’s service learning program and expectations. This meeting will give families an opportunity to obtain information and ask questions about the program. This session will begin at 6 p.m. in the Great Hall.
Check back for the Aug. 13 eNews for a full schedule of events. ________________________________________________________
NEW! Mercy Backpacks and More Items!
Show your Crusader pride with a Mercy backpack, messenger bag or iPad/notebook cover. Click here to download an order form, or buy the items the first week of school. 
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Attention Mercy morning shuttle riders
The morning Mercy Van shuttles from the Millbrae CalTrain/Bart station will begin on the first full day of classes, Tuesday, August 19. To accommodate the new starting time, we will have vans at the station beginning at 7:00 am. We look forward to seeing you next week. Kathy McKay
Shuttle Driver
kmckay@mercyhsb.com _______________________________________________________ Junior and Senior Student Parking Information
Mercy High School has a limited amount of student parking. Seniors will have priority in applying for parking until Friday, August 22nd. If there are still available spots juniors may apply for parking between Tuesday, August 26th and Friday, August 29th. On Tuesday, September 2nd, a random drawing will be done to determine which juniors, if any, will receive parking. Please note that extreme family circumstances and carpooling will be taken into account. If the drawing does not have the outcome your family was hoping for your daughter also has the option to park at the Millbrae BART each day and take one of the two shuttle options. The first shuttle option is the Mercy sponsored shuttle which our Shuttle Driver, Kathy McKay, manages. This shuttle picks the students up from BART and drives them to Mercy. The second shuttle is sponsored by the City of Millbrae and takes the girls before and after school to the front of the chapel. The schedule can be found at Burlingame-North BART/Caltrain. Please contact Shuttle Driver,Kathy McKay, at kmckay@mercyhsb.com, for further information. Please note that Mercy High School has a Conditional Use Permit with the City of Burlingame that states that Mercy High School students may not be picked up or dropped off outside the school gates. This permit also prohibits Mercy students from parking on surrounding streets. Please be sure to adhere to the terms of this permit. Any student found going against the permit will face immediate disciplinary consequences. _________________________________________________________ Morning drop off and afternoon pick up... Welcome to the 2014-15 school year! We hope that your daughter has a great start to her high school experience. In preparation for our first week of school, we would like to offer some suggestions that will help ease the traffic congestion at morning drop off and afternoon pick up throughout the year. Each day there will be two campus supervisors, assisting with traffic flow in order to move all vehicles through at a smooth pace. The following suggestions will help keep traffic from becoming a problem inside and outside of campus. - Please enter the campus through the school entrance at Adeline and Alvarado as this is the only high school entrance. (The other entrances to the campus are for the Sisters of Mercy and Mercy Center; therefore, we ask that you not drop off or pick up at these other entrances.) For safety purposes we have an agreement with the City of Burlingame that all students will be dropped off and picked up inside of the campus. Please do not drop off your daughter or pick up your daughter outside of the gate.
- Consider dropping your daughter off between 7:20 a.m. and 7:40 a.m. when the traffic is lighter.
- After school, we'd recommend that you wait and pickup 15 minutes after the school day has ended. With the juniors and seniors leaving campus it is very congested immediately after school.
- When you arrive prior to the school's dismissal time we will ask you to park in any available parking spaces. This will allow us to use as much space as possible and allow more cars to enter the campus.
- Please consider carpooling whenever possible.
- Lastly, the streets on campus and outside of our campus are very narrow. Please drive slowly and courteously while entering or exiting the campus. Please stop if neighbors are trying to enter or leave their homes.
Thank you all for your cooperation. I believe that if we can all work together we can improve our traffic flow on campus. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions you may contact Natalie Cirigliano, Assistant Principal for Student Life at ncirigliano@mercyhsb.com. Please note that Mercy High School has a Conditional Use Permit with the City of Burlingame that states that Mercy High School students may not be picked up or dropped off outside the school gates. This permit also prohibits Mercy students from parking on surrounding streets. Please be sure to adhere to the terms of this permit. Any student found going against the permit will face immediate disciplinary consequences. _____________________________________________________
New School Uniform Policy
Please take a moment to review the new School Uniform Policy. Please note that the flats required for the formal uniform are defined as non-tennis shoe footwear that is entirely black. Black TOMS will be acceptable. Please also note that school socks may not have any logos on them. For questions regarding the school uniform please contact Assistant Principal for Student Life, Natalie Cirigliano, at ncirigliano@mercyhsb.com.
__________________________________________ Fill out your Bowl-a-thon Form! Bowl-a-Thon/Phone-a-thon permission slip Your daughter won’t want to miss this year’s Bowl-a-thon! Make sure you’ve sent in her permission slip, as she cannot participate in the Bowl-a-thon during Mercy Week if her permission slip is not on file. Phone-a-thon is a wonderful service opportunity for your daughter which is held annualy in November. If your daughter is interested she will be able to sign up to work this event at a later date. Please submit the form by Friday August 16. Click here to download the form. __________________________________________ Welcome Barbeque!
Wednesday, August 27, 2014 - 6:30 p.m.
Head of School Karen Hanrahan and the Mercy Parent Club invite you to be their guest at this fun and casual kick-off to the new school year! Get to know other Mercy parents from the Classes of, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as our 2014-2015 Mercy Parent Club officers. Find out about MPC events, get signed up for volunteer opportunities, pick out some Mercy gear and enjoy some delicious barbeque! The MPC Officers look forward to seeing all of our Mercy parents/guardians there! If you would like to sign-up to help or be part of the Barbeque Team, please contact Patricia Glasser at 650-762-1199 or pglasser@mercyhsb.com. For more information on the event click here.
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Mercy Parent Club Meeting
Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - 7:00 p.m.
Join us for the first MPC meeting of the school year which will feature Head of School Karen Hanrahan, Assistant Principal for Academics Lauren Conklin and Assistant Principal for Student Life Natalie Cirigliano. All parents/guardians are welcome. Enjoy refreshments, find out about upcoming MPC events and meet other parents. And who knows, you may be a lucky raffle winner! Click here to see all future MPC meeting dates. _____________________________________
Gardeners wanted! There is a plot of land right outside the cafeteria we want to turn into an herb garden. We would really appreciate any parent or guardian volunteers to do some initial clearing and preparation. If interested, please contact, Mr. Diaz via email at pdiaz@mercyhsb.com Thank you for your consideration! _______________________________________________________ Mercy's Cashless Card Program
Sign ups for the new school year are now available! Mercy High School, Burlingame sponsors a cashless card program through Myschoolaccount.com which allows students to make purchases on campus quickly, easily, efficiently, and helps our families reduce the need for checks and cash. The program provides a convenient alternative method of payment with just a swipe of a student’s ID card. There is NO fee to enroll!! Ready to get started? 1. Current families who are already enrolled in the www.myschoolaccount.com program can continue to use the same username and password on Myschoolaccount.com to access their account and load funds. 2. Enrollment for incoming freshman families, or any family not yet registered for the cashless card program, can be completed by going to Myschoolaccount.com. You will need your daughter’s unique student ID to enroll which is located on your daughter’s school ID card or you can contact David Burns in the business office,dburns@mercyhsb.com or 650-762-1132. 3. For detailed instructions and a list of frequently asked questions on our cashless card program, please click HERE.
_______________________________________________________ Sign Up for eScrip to benefit Mercy! Add Mercy Burlingame to your Escrip account and help Mercy earn money! Register your grocery club cards (like Safeway or Mollie Stones) and your debit and credit cards* and Mercy receives a percentage of your sales! Sign up by visiting www.escrip.com and follow their easy online registration process. Mercy Parent Club ID# 137617387. Use Escrip online mall for back-to-school shopping like your Apple ipad needs, Amazon books and more! This extra step earns free money for Mercy. If you are already a member, designate Mercy to receive proceeds from your purchases. Also make sure to update your expired cards on your eScrip account. We would like to get all families to participate. To increase eScrip activity, encourage grandparents, aunts, uncles, inlaws, neighbors, etc. to participate also. *eScrip maintains strict cardholder information security and participating merchants follow the same protocol. Your card will never be shared and used for anything by eScrip. To review eScrip’s privacy commitment, please visit: http://groups.escrip.com/promo/privacy_all.pdf. If you have any questions, please contact Judy Ajam, MPC Treasurer. Happy shopping with eScrip! _______________________________________________________
Office Depot Rewards When back-to-school shopping at Office Depot, make sure to give them our Mercy HS number so we can earn 5%! Our Office Depot number is: 70006324. Or ask the sales associate to look it up by the name of the school. For more details, visit the Office Depot website: www.officedepot.com Scroll to the bottom; under Specials click 5% Back to Schools Program ________________________________________________________ Students who ride SamTrans to or from school can take advantage of bus tokens and save money. The tokens can be used on all regular SamTrans bus routes and have big advantages for students: - No need for exact change, each token good for one local ride
- Tokens sold at a discount - $10 for 10, a 20% savings!
- Tokens never expire
Tokens can be purchased at SamTrans sales outlets, in person or by mail. For more information go to www.samtrans.com/youthtokens. _________________________________________________________
Save Gas! Save Time! Save the Environment!
GET $25! In partnership with Commute.org, Mercy High School, Burlingame encourages all of our families to carpool whenever possible. Carpooling is a green alternative to a daily drop off or pick up and saves gas PLUS you can make $25!!! Click here to check out the Commute.org “Straight A Savings” program where you can receive a $25 gas card just for carpooling. Check out www.commute.org or click here for more information.
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