August 5, 2020  |  PARENT ENEWS 

Dear Mercy Families, 

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year! We are so excited to welcome your daughters to a new year. Regardless of what comes we know they will experience Mercy in both traditional and new and creative ways.

Our Foundress Catherine McAuley was a firm believer that  "No work of charity can be more productive of good to society than the careful instruction of women," and we couldn't agree more. Our work is so important, and educating Mercy girls to become women of mercy has a life-giving and life-changing effect on our society. 

What we do together this year in our parent-school partnership matters tremendously. What we do this year will impact your daughters for years to come. In a year where so much feels out of our control and it is easy to feel powerless, we cannot forget the gifts that the year will bring. The experience of an education rooted in the Mercy mission in the midst of a pandemic will result in your daughters becoming women of Mercy with tremendous resilience and empathy. This year your daughters will be known, they will be challenged, and they will be transformed. What a gift it is to be with you on this journey.

Thanks,
Natalie

Calendar & Important Dates

Important dates for the first semester can be found on the Calendar Page of the Mercy website. You will find the Mercy Calendar as well as instructions on how to add it to your own personal calendar. 

2020-2021 Book List

The Mercy Book List is posted online, and you will notice Mercy has a new procedure for apps, books, and supplies provided through the school. Families with students enrolled in the classes highlighted in yellow will be billed for the book through the FACTS system on August 30. Mercy will no longer collect checks for these items. You can email your teacher or the department chairs with any questions. 

Use our Amazon Associates link on the SHOP FOR MERCY page to earn money for Mercy as you do your back-to-school shopping! 

Service Learning Hours

Please click here to read a letter from Mr. Diaz, Service Learning Coordinator, regarding service learning hours for the 2020-21 school year.

Reminder: Students are expected to dress professionally in uniform and in free dress, with proper appearance at all times. Dyeing the entire head of hair an unnatural color is not allowed, but one, one-inch colored streak is permitted. Students should have their hair within dress code by the first day of classes Aug. 19th. Please see the Student and Parent Handbook on our website. Email Coach RG  with questions.

Click HERE for Mercy's Uniform information.

Summer Book Clubs will meet the morning of Aug. 18 instead of later in the month, as originally planned. Exact details will be sent in August. Summer Book Clubs were determined before the end of the year for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Incoming freshmen and transfer students were given the opportunity to join a book club, but are not required to. Other community-building activities will take place for freshmen and transfer students who are not in book clubs. 

Welcome to the 2020-21 School Year! We are looking forward to getting to know each of you and for you to get to know one another. We want to engage all parents this year - virtually or, when possible, in person. We invite you to take a few minutes to complete this survey about your interests to help us get to know you. Don't hesitate to reach out at any time!

Jennifer Munsey                                      
Constituent Engagement Manager         
650.762.1199     

Mary Lund

Director of Advancement

650.762.1191                     

It's back-to-school time and we know that means shopping lists for the family! Mercy earns a percentage when you shop on Amazon, shop for groceries, eat out, travel, etc. at no cost to you! Visit our SHOP FOR MERCY page to learn more. 

In Gratitude: Welcome Prayer Service
Tuesday, August 11th at 7:00pm
All students and their families are invited to an evening of prayer, welcoming our freshmen and transfer students to Mercy.  Please join us as we welcome them to Mercy and all of our students and families back to the 2020-21 school year.

Join Via Zoom link (password: welcome)

Tuesday, August 11th at 7:00 pm.

If you have any questions please email Chris McMorrow, Director of Admissions or Angie Simonetti, Campus Minister.

Freshmen Welcome Day

Wednesday, Aug. 12 - 9:30am - 11am  

Please check email for more details and Zoom links

Transfer Student Orientation

Wednesday, August 12 - 10:00am - 12noon

Details and Zoom links will be emailed

All School Orientation 

Details and Zoom links will be emailed

• Freshman Orientation and Community Day
  Thursday, August 13th
• Sophomore Orientation and Community Day
  Friday, August 14th 
• Junior Orientation and Community Day
  Monday, August 17th
• Senior Orientation and Community Day
  Tuesday, August 18th

Welcome back! If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me - Charlie Dougherty, Athletic Director

Follow Mercy Athletics on Twitter for game updates and scores!

Sports Update

• Fall Sports Update: On July 21, the Central Coast Section announced the new start dates for the 2020/21 school year. Fall sports have been postponed: Cross Country, Gymnastics, Volleyball, and Water Polo will now have a Dec 14 start date. However, as that is Finals Week, we will not have sports convene until Dec 18. Tryout dates will be determined and posted in the coming weeks. Please click HERE for the approved CCS Calendar.
  **Please note that all of these Season 1 sports will have some sort of practice scheduled during the Christmas break. If you plan to participate, you must commit to being at practices and games when scheduled during that time period. It should be noted in advance, Volleyball will most likely practice and/or play games for the greater part of the break.
• We will be holding Athletics interest meetings once school starts, and we will share more details regarding practice and game schedules as they are finalized.
• Soccer, Tennis, and Cheer will have a start date of Feb 22. It should be noted that Cheer will be competing at CCS events for the first time.
• Basketball, Golf, Lacrosse, Softball, Swimming/Diving and Track and Field will have a start date of March 15.
• We encourage all of our athletes to be taking advantage of our Virtual Conditioning Program, led by our athletic trainer Keri Sotak. The schedule is listed on our athletic website. Please note that we will continue our program through the beginning of August. 

Health Forms

• If your daughter is planning on playing a sport during the school year, please make sure they are fully registered and cleared thru the Magnus system. You need to re-register each year your daughter plays a sport. Thus, if you are a returning student, you are required to update all your information in the Magnus system. Parents must register through the Parent portal of Powerschool. A current sports physical is required to show clearance. A sports physical is only valid for one year following date of examination. No athlete will be allowed to start tryouts unless they show clearance in the Magnus system.
• All Magnus Health Portal forms must be completed along with an uploaded Mercy Pre-Participation Physical Exam. Instructions and forms can be found on the Athletics Forms & Qualifications page.
• A Mercy Pre-Participation Physical Exam must be completed and in hand for incoming students attending their first open gym, strength & conditioning session, skills development, or other Mercy Athletics related activity.

Welcome
Varsity Volleyball Head Coach

We are pleased to announce Kaylin O'Leary will be the new Varsity Volleyball head coach. Kaylin grew up in Burlingame and attended St Catherine's, Notre Dame Belmont and Canada College. She played Volleyball and Basketball all 4 years at NDB. She played Volleyball for 2 years at Canada. She also played club volleyball.  Kaylin started her coaching career at St Catherine's in 2015. Kaylin comes to Mercy with very strong recommendations from her former coaches as well as from those who she has coached. Kaylin will be conducting an interest meeting for all athletes interested in learning more about her program. This meeting will be scheduled once we have settled into the school year.