All school information
*PSAT: The PSAT will be administered at Mercy on Wednesday, October 19th. JUNIORS and SOPHOMORES will take this test as a practice for the SAT. FRESHMAN will take the PSAT 8/9 which is more geared for students in their first year of high school (please see two attachments below for more information about the PSAT for our 9th grade students). This is simply a way of gaining practice with standardized testing and becoming more comfortable with the thought of taking the official SAT or ACT later on. More information about understanding the scores and future test prep opportunities will be coming soon. Seniors do not have school the 17th, 18th, and 19th of this week and are encouraged to visit colleges and work on their applications.
____________________________________________________________________________  *Thank You to the Mercy Community for a Successful Student Driven Fundraising campaign! Collectively Mercy students exceeded the $55,000 Goal and raised $56,500! The total amount raised is close to $10,000 more that last year!
Advisory and Individual Prizes were announced last Thursday and Individual Prizes were given out Last Friday. Congratulations to our winners! 1st Place: Grace Winningham T-215R $1,420 2nd Place We have a three way tie for 2nd Prize:
Ella Ragusa S-121 $1000
Kelsey Popa F-119 $1000
Bronwyn Miguel F-115 $1000 3rd Place: Maire Rock T-104R $870.00 The Top Advisory that has collected the largest amount of money who will receive 3% of the total amount back to their Advisory is: F-119 who raised $4,922.00 ____________________________________________________________________________  *Halloween Carnival: We will be hosting a small Halloween carnival for St. Peter's first graders on Thursday October 27th. We need donations of candy for our trick or treating walk. If you can donate a bag of candy we would greatly appreciate it. Have your daughter drop it off in the Campus Ministry Office. Thanks Ms. Simonetti
____________________________________________________________________________ *Host Families Needed for French Students in the Spring
As French Week at Mercy winds down, I would like to announce that again in the Spring we will be hosting high school students from France. We are hoping to find host families for 8 girls who will come to school everyday with a Mercy 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. We have had many wonderful memories with these girls and long-lasting friendships have been made. Please consider this. The tentative dates are March 29- April 12. Once we have interested families, we will be sent profiles of girls so as to find compatible matches to our Mercy girls. 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. ___________________________________________________________________________ Tri-School Poverty Simulation (Supplemental Hours)
Poverty Simulation is a program put together by a church group to educate both young an old on the homeless situation in our country and right here in the Bay Area. Students will get a first hand experience of what it is like to be poor by participating in a simulated program. Date: October 12; Wednesday
Time: 6pm-8pm
Place: Mercy High School, Burlingame (Great Hall)
Contact: Mr. Diaz, pdiaz@mercyhsb.com Junior parents 
Save the Date!
Junior Ring Ceremony
Tuesday, October 25 - 1:30pm
Mother House Chapel
Reception in the Great Hall
click HERE for invite
Upcoming events
Tri-School Productions presents
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Oct. 21, 22, 28, 29
7:30 pm - Serra Theatre Get your tickets now (www.trischoolproductions.com) for our upcoming Fall Play, Midsummer Night's Dream! Come see Shakespeare's classic performed by our delightful cast and supported by hardworking crew members as they bring to life the fairy tale, the revels and complicated love lives of ancient Athens. The show opens on Friday October 21st at 7:30 p.m. in the Gellert Auditorium at Junipero Serra High School and runs through the following weekend as well. Come to the first weekend and then come again! Athletics
*Make sure to follow all of our team results as they happen via our athletics twitter page. Mercy Athletics @MercyAthletics
*SPECIAL NOTICE: SAVE THE DATE: October 18 event is now postponed. The topic: Prevention of Knee ACL Injuries. Last week this was posted, however, due to no school on the day of the event, we will be rescheduling the presentation at a later date. *Conditioning will take place on Monday Oct 17 even though there is no school. Varsity Volleyball will condition from 3-4pm. All other athletes should condition from 4-5pm. 
*Mercy Athlete of the Week:
Senior Water Polo player Marena Kibblewhite
Marena was stellar in the goalie position for our team in the big win over Notre Dame Belmont this past Saturday. She had 17 blocks and countless steals at the 2 meter line. Her presence in the pool is a difference maker for our defense. Great job Marena! *If you missed the interest meeting for basketball or soccer, come see Mr. Dougherty so he can explain what the expectations are for each of the sports prior to the start of tryouts. Tryouts for the Winter sports teams will start on Oct 31. Please make sure you have been cleared for sports participation prior to the start of tryouts as no student will be allowed to start basketball or soccer unless they are cleared in the Appryse system. *If an athlete wanting to play soccer or basketball is not involved in a fall sport, they are expected to participate in our conditioning program on Monday and Wednesday from 4-5pm. The Conditioning for basketball will also take place on Saturdays from 9:30am-11am…… If you have any questions, please come see the AD. *Softball fall conditioning is in full swing. The team will be gathering on Wednesday and Saturday thru Oct 29. So far, the number of girls out there has been outstanding. Any girl who is interested in playing and is not signed up, please contact Coach RG in the SBO office 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 fall 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. 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 October 13-19 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 2016/17 with Mercy athletics. Charlie Dougherty
Athletic Director College Counseling Naviance: Senior Students should be updating their college lists in Naviance to reflect where they are applying and by which deadlines they plan to submit. This is the official list that will be used when submitted transcripts and other documents on your daughters behalf. If your students need any help with this, please encourage them to see Ms. Mahalak!
*Helpful Reading: The Washington Post published an interesting article about the state of the College Admissions process and the ways we can best help our students navigate it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/01/20/to-get-into-college-harvard-report-advocates-for-kindness-instead-of-overachieving/. In addition, seniors met on Monday this week to discuss the Deadline Management process for their college applications. Click here to view the powerpoint presentation.
FAFSA Application Now Available: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now available to access and complete. Please note that colleges and universities will have different deadlines for this form so it's important for your student to be aware of and manage the deadlines for each. The FAFSA can be accessed here: https://fafsa.ed.gov/ *Tri-School College Fair: Serra will be hosting the Tri-School College Fair on October 19th at 6:30pm. This event is great for getting more information about different colleges and for meeting college representatives. Plan to attend! Click here for a list of colleges attending. You can also view the flyer for the event here.
*Tri-School Financial Aid Night will be on Wednesday, October 26th at 6:30pm in the Great Hall. This event is intended for senior parents to review important information about how to complete the FAFSA, review the different types of aid available as well as other relevant information. Upcoming Events: Serra will be hosting the Tri-School College Fair on October 19th at 6:30pm. This event is great for getting more information about different colleges and for meeting college representatives. Plan to attend!
College visits: This year we will be hosting a number of colleges on campus. These visits will be posted on Schoology, the parent page of the school website, and the College Visit calendar. It can also be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/a/mercyhsb.com/document/d/1T4-DxBXQt9U8pnLB33vVmUj-qnI7A8oua75y2PjIeQE/edit?usp=sharing.Students will need to give their teacher's one day notice that they will be attending the visit. Connecting with the college admissions counselors is an important part of the application process. The more these counselors interact with your daughter, the more they will know about them when they read their applications. Please encourage your daughters to attend.
Register for the fall SAT at www.collegeboard.com. Students may take any SAT up until the December date for Fall admission. Be sure to register ASAP.
Register for the ACT at www.actstudent.org.
Helpful Links:
Library News
Tinkerspace and Engineering Club The library is developing a Tinkerspace for use by the Intro to Engineering club and others interested in tinkering at lunch times and after school. We are seeking some basic tools and materials to help get the space established. If you might be in a place to donate tools we would be very grateful! In particular see the list below for items that we could use in the near future. In addition if you know of someone who has a career in engineering of any sort who might be willing to share their experiences in some way with the club please let Sarah Murphy in the library know - smurphy@mercyhsb.com.
Tools list:
- basic tool kit - needle nose pliers, wire cutters, wire stripping tools, pliers, screwdrivers, especially small ones of various types, adjustable wrenches,
- cutting boards
- third hands - a tool for holding lots of fiddly wires together securely in place
- soldering equipment
- storage boxes (preferably plastic see-through)
- xacto knives
- clamps and vises
Materials list:
- electronics components of any sort
- small stuffed toys with electronic parts - so they move or speak that we could take apart (any condition)
- electric motors (small)
- old broken electronic equipment for taking apart
- batteries and batteryholders
- duct tape
- cardboard
- cardstock - letter size for printing
- dowels and toothpicks
- popsicle sticks.
- felting wool
- scrap wood pieces
Thank you in advance for any donations. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know - Sarah Murphy - Library coordinator smurphy@mercyhsb.com. 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.
 Mercy Students & Parents
Join us for an evening of beautiful music.Music at Kohl Mansion offers exciting opportunities for Mercy & Serra students and parents to attend concerts as volunteers, helping in the front of house, distributing programs, taking tickets, ushering patrons and to set up, prepare and serve at post-concert receptions where musicians and audiences mix and mingle over delicious refreshments. You will be able to watch some of the performances by our world-renown musicians, while getting to know other students, parents and community volunteers. This long time Music at Kohl Mansion tradition offers Mercy and Serra students and parents an opportunity to perform worthwhile community service. Service is needed from 6-10 on the below listed Sunday evenings. Concerts are held in the Kohl Mansion at 7pm. Volunteers help to keep music alive on the Peninsula!
Our 34th Season Concert Dates: October 16, November 6, December 18, January 29, February 12, March 26, April 9, April 30
Please contact Yvonne Wun Program Administrator at 650.762.1130 or admin@musicatkohl.org if you'd like to join us this season - come for one concert, or all eight! Hope you will join us this season.
Education travel
 Wanna throw a shrimp on the barbie??? Fancy petting a koala??? How about boxing with a kangaroo??? Just kidding with the boxing!
This summer the Visual and Performing Arts department will be traveling down under. We will begin our 15 day journey with stops in both New Zealand and Australia. For more information or to sign up visit: www.eftours.com/1812821vb or contact Mr. Ferguson at gferguson@mercyhsb.com for more information.
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 *Iceland is calling. We are still trying to secure our school trip to Iceland.
It is 5 days and 4 nights. The departure date will be Saturday April 15th, 2017. The price is about $2400 per student. This includes air, lodging, meals, transportation and much more! This is not just a sightseeing tour (although there is a chance you will witness the Aurora Borealis!) We pride ourselves on the STEM aspects of this trip such as geothermal and hydroelectric energy, geography, geology, earth science, volcanology and history.
Please take a moment to check out the details. This link will take you to the detailed itinerary, power point and a short video:http://visionsineducation.co.uk/stem-discovery/fire-ice-iceland/
If you are interested, please contact Pat Bradley at pbradley@mercyhsb.com. We will need to secure spots ASAP with a $200 deposit. This is open to all grade levels!
THE DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS OCTOBER 21 _____________________________________________________________________________  Science Research Opportunity through
Ecology Project International
Join us for a trip to the Galapagos Islands to explore their unique biodiversity! There's no better laboratory for conservation and biology field studies! From the waters teeming with species found only here, to the highlands inhabited by giant tortoises, you'll work to understand and protect this fragile ecosystem. We will be working behind the scenes at the Darwin Research Center, collecting data on the baby tortoises, snorkeling around various islands, and helping to clear out invasive species. Students will receive 20 core service hours. The trip will be from July 10 – 21, 2017. Details can be found by clicking HERE. Parents and alums are welcome to attend! Please contact Jennifer Lambdin,jlambdin@mercyhsb.com, if you have questions. Here are some photos from our 2012 trip! 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, 9/29: Foccacia Burgers
Friday, 9/30: Meat or Spinich Calzones *NEXT WEEK's Menu Oct. 17-21
Monday: No School Tuesday: No School Wednesday: National Testing Day Thursday: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce Fresh 92%/8% Ground Beef , cooked in our own toasted herbs and spices in a rich Marinara Sauce, Served over Spaghetti Noodles. Served with Green Salad and Ranch dressing Friday: BBQ Chicken with Mash Potatoes Our own dry rub blend of BBQ seasoning on 2 Drumsticks, served with our creamy mash potatoes and side | 
