SFX NewsBlast

Smartboard Video

Watch Miss Howard and the 5th graders demonstrate all of the amazing features of a Smartboard.

 

Internet Safety Night

Please be sure to join us for Internet Safety Night on Thursday, May 27, at 7:00 p.m. in the Xavier Room.

A representative from the Cook County Sheriff's Office will be leading the presentation.

Blog Updates

As the NewsBlast blog approaches the one-year mark, it's a good time to update your e-mail subscriptions and consider your approach to communication from the school. A year ago we had one blog, the NewsBlast; today we have over twenty! There are blogs for each homeroom and for several special activities. We are in the process of updating these blogs for the new school year, and you can expect to see a welcome statement from each homeroom teacher before the first day of school.

Those of you who take advantage of the email notifications provided by feedburner should update your subscriptions at this time. There is an unsubscribe option at the bottom of every email reminder that you receive that you can use to stop the emails from last year's classes. You can sign up for new subscriptions using the form on each web page.

Another easy way to keep track of new blog posts is to sign up for a service like Google reader. Google reader is a free service that tracks new content on any sites and blogs that you choose. You simply type in the site that you want to follow (such as the School Lunch blog), and the reader will check it regularly for new content. This means that instead of checking multiple blog pages each day, you can simply check your Google reader page and see new content for ALL of your blogs.

Any questions or suggestions about the blogs should be directed to Mr. McKenna and Miss Kelley.

Thank you!

Apple Update

 
An update on the progress of our Apple program, along with some photos of the computers in use, has been posted on the Technology blog. Please click here to check it out (or click on the SFX Technology link in the left column.

Apple Movie

For those of you who missed it on Saturday night, here is the video that our seventh graders made about Apple computers:

Please note that you will need the QuickTime player on your computer in order to play the video. You can also find a larger copy of the video to download by clicking here.

If you have any questions about our initiative with Apple computers or would like to make a donation, please contact Mr. McKenna in the school office.

It's All About Tim and Moby

The NewsBlast is pleased to share with parents a recent addition to our technology program that has proven to be very popular with students: Tim and Moby!

BrainPop has agreed to let us host Tim and Moby here on our site, so each week you and your family can check out a new movie by clicking on BrainPop in the right column of the NewsBlast, in the new section "Links for Kids". The link underneath the video will take students to BrainPop, which is a safe site with games and other online activities. BrainPop is designed for students third grade and up, and younger students can click on BrainPopJr., which is designed for kindergarten through third grade students.

St. Francis uses both BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. with students of all ages in a variety of classes. Our subscriptions to these two sites gives us full access to the movies and activities during school hours; unfortunately, students cannot use our subscription during the evening hours.

Be sure to check out these and other resources that we will be adding to the "Links for Kids" section. If you need help with a user name or password for either netTrekker or DiscoveryEducation, feel free to e-mail Miss Kelley, or better yet, ask your child! Most older students know the St. Francis user name and password that all of the sites share.