St. Francis of Assisi School-Gates Mills, Ohio

Thank you to all the new families who came out for our New Families Pizza Party🍕. After a beautiful blessing from Father Chris, current and new families had the chance to mingle, play and enjoy a meal. A special shoutout to our incredible volunteers who helped make the night run so smoothly. Your hard work truly shows what makes our SFA community so warm and caring! ❤.

We had such an amazing time watching our rising kindergartners make new friends, conquer the balance beam and get ready for their big school adventure ahead! Seeing our future cougars build confidence and connection was a highlight for parents and SFA staff. A huge thank you to The Little Gym in Highland Heights!

Thank you to all who joined the Annual Bishop's Convocation last week. It was a wonderful day of faith, unity and fellowship. It was a blessing to celebrate together and connect with so many members of our community!

🎉We are excited to announce Mr. Elijah Cool as the Dean of Students. After five years of teaching and being deeply involved in many different parts of the SFA school community, Mr. Cool is looking forward to taking on this new challenge and finding new ways to support our students, teachers, and families. He is especially excited to help build a positive school culture, support our students as they grow, and continue making St. Francis a place where students can learn, love and serve like Jesus. Please join us in celebrating this new chapter for Mr. Cool!

To register please click the link https://www.VIRTUSonline.org/VIRTUS/reg_0.cfm?theme=0

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or 440.449.7880

Please join us in giving a huge congratulations to Ms. Amy Hassing, who is stepping into a new role as our School Receptionist. Ms. Hassing will continue to work with EdChoice at SFA.
After bringing warmth, endless patience, and big smiles to our kindergarten classrooms as a dedicated aide, she’s bringing that same magic to the front office. While our little learners will certainly miss her daily high-fives in the classroom, we are thrilled that her friendly face will now be the very first thing welcoming students, parents, and visitors every morning.
Congratulations, Ms. Hassing!

We are thrilled to welcome Ms. Joelle Palladino to our staff. She will be assisting Ms. Drenski in the preschool room. Growing up in Catholic schools, Joelle discovered her dream of becoming a teacher at an early age. After graduating college, she spent time working in the design field - but her true passion for teaching never faded. She is most looking forward to guiding and inspiring students in a faith based community. Welcome Ms. Palladino!

Thank you to all the families that joined us for playtime last Sunday! The kids had a great time and many memories were made ❤. Please join us for the next SFA Young Families playdate - Sunday, August 23rd after the 10AM Mass. We hope to see you there!

Please join us in celebrating a wonderful new chapter for St. Francis of Assisi school. We are thrilled to introduce our new principal - Ms. Susan Previte! Her school and parish leadership runs deep - with 34 years of dedicated service to SFA and a role within the Diocese since 1981.

Over the decades, our new principal has worn many hats. In the early 1980's, Ms. Previte worked on Bishop Pilla's team helping gather data for a "letter to the youth of the church" and helped facilitate churches in organizing and starting youth groups. She is an alumnus of Ashland University, Kent State University, and Cleveland State University.

During her years at SFA, Ms. Previte has pioneered milestone programs, such as the first official computer lab with internet, the Entrepreneurship program and the trout program. Ms. Previte's roles at SFA include STEM/Tech teacher, Dean of Students and Assistant Principal. She has been awarded the Diocesan Teacher of the Year and is a proud St. Francis of Assisi parishioner. Ms. Previte is proud to share that her son is a graduate of SFA.

In her free time, Ms. Previte enjoys attending Mass, gardening, walking, hiking, sharing meals with family and friends, reading and traveling. Her moto is "Don't complain, narrow down the problem and be a part of the solution".

Congratulations 🎉 Ms. Previte, we are excited to have you lead our school and community!

Please help us congratulate 🎉 Mr. Josh Skilton as the new SFA STEM teacher for this upcoming school year. Mr. Skilton is excited to step into this new role and bring his personal passions and creative talents into the classroom through hands-on lessons and innovative projects. We can't wait to see what he and our students accomplish together!