Inspiring. Loving. Thriving. Together
Sr. Claire Graham, an alumna of St. Francis, had a single saying that sums up everything that St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School embodies… “No matter the question, the answer is always Love!”
This simple statement, an extension of our patron St. Francis, is the essence of our school. One of trust. One of faith. One of compassion. One of belonging. One of love. We try, to the best of our ability, to live this way of life with our students, parents, families, and community in all we do.
Belonging is what makes everything we do work. When students feel they belong, they are engaged, they learn, they take care of each other, and they thrive. When families feel they belong, they trust in what happens at school, they feel their children are safe, and they are part of a community that watches out for one another.
St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School is a community, first and foremost. A community in which everyone belongs regardless of background. Our goal is to set young people into the world who take care of others first, have deepened their own faith journey, work as hard as possible at all times, tackle challenges, contribute to the world around them, and most importantly, LOVE!
Welcome to St. Francis!
We are parents of a 1st grader and started at St. Francis when she was in kindergarten. Coming from a different preschool, joining a class that had already been together for a year, and starting in the middle of the pandemic, we were a bit apprehensive about our daughter meeting people and feeling welcomed by a new school community. But the St. Francis community was amazing. From the first day, she was greeted by name at drop off by the principal, teachers, and staff. She was included in activities, staff helped her meet people and make friends, and she was accepted as part of the group by her class. The apprehension about starting at a new school turned into excitement about going to school each day, and our family could not be happier with our experience at St. Francis.
We really appreciate the emphasis on the Schoolwide Learning Expectations and the focus on educating the whole person. The academics have been outstanding, and our daughter has been challenged to do her best academically each day. But in addition to strong academics, we appreciate how St. Francis has built a community that allows students to be unique, ask questions, and acknowledge the diversity of the world around them. Students are taught to think for themselves; not that there is one correct way to think. Difficult conversations are had directly with students, not avoided. St. Francis emphasizes a curriculum of kindness, understanding, open-mindedness, and acceptance of all people, and there is a focus on how our differences make our community better and more interesting. These are not empty words on the school’s website or mission statement; there is a top-down commitment, starting with the principal and staff, and reinforced with the students, to recognize and discuss the diversity and uniqueness of each person’s experience, background, and ideas.
We could not be happier at St. Francis, and are looking forward to many years ahead at the school, Mike & Flo - March 2022 (1st Grade Parents)
Our journey to St. Francis Elementary was a circuitous one with stops at three different schools by the time our oldest was in third grade. Frankly, our focus has never been on a "traditional" curriculum. Instead, we have been looking for a school that emphasizes- and teaches- toward intellectual, social, and emotional growth. Our girls are academically eager but also goofy and playful and we did not want a school to teach that out of them. We could not have anticipated the Covid-19 issue which struck the world so powerfully but even with this, the teachers and administration did a great job of preparing the kids in a way that did not create fear but instead helped them understand that education, even in the absence of classroom learning, is never about any one person. On the contrary, it's about helping to create a better, kinder, more thoughtful world. We really believe our girls will grow up to be better people than we are because of this St. Francis community", Brady - May 2020 (Kinder & 3rd Grade Parent)
