Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy

The first days of the 2008 school year were blessed by the presence of two miracle-working icons of the Mother of God. On September 2, 2008, the Kursk Root icon arrived at the Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco where the Academy is located, and the opening moleben for the school year was served in its presence. On the third day of school, the Hawaiian myrrh-streaming icon of the Iveron Mother of God arrived at the school. This icon has been miraculously streaming since September 27, 2007, and all students and faculty were anointed with myrrh from the icon. The appearance of the Mother of God at St. John’s this year is especially fitting since the Academy, the only full-time, K-12 school under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, is beginning its 15th year and depends solely on the grace of God and the financial and spiritual support of generous Orthodox faithful throughout the world.

See photo album for more photos of the opening of the school year.

June 5th, 2008

The Very Reverend Protopriest Serge Kotar
and the Students and Teachers of St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy

Dear Father Serge,
Beloved in Christ Students and Teachers of the Academy,

Please accept my heartfelt greetings wit the holy Feast of our Saviour’s Ascension.

Thank you so much for your kind words of greeting and congratulations on the occasion of my election to the position of First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. I was very moved to receive the congratulatory letter with the signatures of so many teachers and students.

I am in need of your holy prayers before our Lord and the intercessions of our holy father among the saints, John of San Francisco, as I assume the many responsibilities of this office.

May God richly bless all of you with His grace. I look forward to seeing you, God willing, in the not-too-distant future.

With love in Christ,

+ Hilarion
Metropolitan of Eastern American and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

On Thursday, May 15, students in grades 7-11 participated in a Literary Dinner at Mrs Maximova’s home, which was decorated with a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme. Students came dressed as one of their favorite literary characters. During dinner, students presented their character, and afterwards students played literary games.

St. John’s senior graduation ceremony was held on Thursday night, May 29. There were well over 100 people in attendance to honor the two graduates, Artur Gazaryan and Mikhail Yakovlev. Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, the school’s Headmaster, spoke briefly about education and the Christian life, comparing them to a marathon race requiring perseverance and commitment. David Jepson, the Dean of the High School, also spoke briefly, quoting Shakespeare, Blake, Oscar Wilde, and a Greek monk named Elder Porphyrios in a passage that concluded: “Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet.” After the graduates gave their brief speeches and the diplomas were handed out, there was a sumptuous banquet.

Next came the “final exam” for Artur and Mikhail: they led their dates out onto the dance floor for a waltz that lasted at least 5 minutes and was wonderfully choreographed, with the boys lifting up the girls and spinning around with them, getting on one knee with the girls twirling around them, etc. (The old Russian tradition is that graduation from secondary school is seen as an entry into “society,” and hence, this formal dance by the graduates.) The remainder of the night saw both ethnic and contemporary dancing lasting well into the night.

On Friday, April 4, a five-person delegation from Yekaterinburg, under the auspices of the US Dept. of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, visited St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy. Two priests and three officials from the Ministry of Education and various city educational departments were part of the Civic and Ethical Values in Schools Project for Russia. The delegation was interested in learning about moral and ethical education and how it is implemented in an Orthodox school setting. Hieromonk Ieronim is Principal of the Royal Martyr’s Secondary School in Yekaterinburg; Father Igor Bachinin is the priest at the Novo-Tikhvinsky Convent.

On May 19, at St. John’s annual “I Know” contest, Team B took the honors by answering 24 questions. Nina Avroneva, Sasha Kondratyeva, Jessica Makhlin, Daria Mushtaev, Steven Philipoff, Terence Triantafillidis and Captain Anya Jackovich were Team B’s winning members. The other three teams finished in a near dead heat for the runner up spot with two teams scoring 19 while another took 18. This year’s format was slightly different from previous competitions. Each team got to choose the category of its question much like contestants on the famous TV show Jeopardy.

Congratulations to all who engaged in another spirited “I Know” match and to all parents and staff who volunteered.

Creative Communication from Logan UT has announced that 10 students from St. John’s have had their poems accepted for publication in the Spring 2008 poetry anthology. Since 1993 Creative Communication has sponsored writing contests for students across the United States and Canada.

The students and their poems are as follows:

• Elizabeth Bozhich: “Spring”
• Anya Jackovich: “Spring”
• Paulie Jajeh: “Happy”
• Christian Jajeh: “The Seasons”
• Yevgraf Jakimowicz: “God is 1, 2, 3″
• Mia Kalo: “Noise”
• Anastassia Mushtaev: “My Garden”
• Steven Philipoff: “Spring”
• Anastasia Triantafillidis: “The Peacock”
• Anthony Triantafillidis: “The Dream”

More information about Creative Communication is available at their web site.

On April 17, 2008, an Educational Specialist from the National Marine Sanctuaries gave a presentation with hands-on activities to the elementary school students of St. John of SF Orthodox Academy. The name of the program is Webs Under Waves, and targets student in grades third through fifth. The program aims to increase awareness of the effects of plastic chemical disposal on coastal and marine environments, and to empower students and teachers with knowledge that will stimulate them to take action and to ensure the health of San Francisco Bay and the north central California coast. All the students had a fascinating time. See photo album for more photos.

The Chess Club was started at the beginning of Great Lent and include participants from Kindergarten through 5th grade. The club meets every day except Tuesdays from 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. Supervised by Mrs. Triantafillidis and Mr. Winslow, the competitors play three intense rounds in best-of-three tournaments.

So far, the leader in the tournaments is Maria Bekbulatova with a record of 7-0. Second and third places are currently held by Theodore Winslow and Terence Triantafillidis.

On March 9, the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, our beloved Metropolitan Laurus reposed peacefully in the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York.

Seventh grade students Steven Philipoff and Alex Nowak represented St. John’s Academy in the 26th annual San Francisco Science Fair, held at the Randall Musuem in late February. Over 250 students from 29 San Francisco middle schools paticipated this year. Steven won third place in the category of behavioral science for an experiment with silver polish, and Alex won fourth place in the category of physical science for his home-made weather station. The awards ceremony was held at the Randall Museum on Saturday March 1st. Steven’s achievement qualified his project for entry in the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair on April 2nd at the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. Congratulations to Steven, Alex, and their St. John’s science teacher, Mrs. Helen Solomonoff.

Mrs. Kotar, Administrator, and Mr. Jepson, Dean of the High School, attended the 2008 Western Region College Board Forum in Newport Beach from February 25-27. The conference gave Mrs. Kotar and Mr. Jepson the opportunity to hear presentations from other educators about the challenges facing college preparatory schools like St. John’s as well as to meet representatives from California colleges and universities.

The College Board is well known as the organization responsible for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), the Advanced Placement tests (AP), and the College Scholarship Service (CSS). There were several workshops that explained the latest findings and issues in these areas in addition to a “College Fair” where admissions officers displayed information about their schools to high school administrators.

One of the more interesting presentations was the Keynote speech by Dr. David Conley of the Education Policy Improvement Center on the topic of College Readiness. He spoke about the importance that a college degree will have for young people in the 21st century and about the need for high schools to ensure that their graduates are genuinely prepared for the academic demands of higher education. Dr. Conley expressed his concern that too many graduates of public secondary schools were not really ready for college. Learning facts alone was not enough, Dr. Conley said; the real key to college success was “cognitive strategies,” or thinking skills.

Mrs. Kotar and Mr. Jepson picked up important insights into the current state of secondary and higher education at the conference and also were encouraged to hear confirmation that the academic program at St. John’s is essentially the right one for college-bound Orthodox students.

Nine St. John’s students in grades 8-12 visited New York City from Feb. 19-22. Chaperoned by Latin teacher Anna Brenneis and Dean of the HS David Jepson, the group arrived early on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20. Upon arrival, Mrs. Brenneis took the rest of the students sight-seeing while Mr. Jepson and one student went to The Hewitt School, a private girls’ school, to give a presentation about Russian Orthodoxy to the combined Russian History and Comparative Religion classes. The presentation went well, and the Hewitt students asked a number of good questions afterwards. The St. John’s group met up later at the Empire State Building and then traveled to Times Square and an early pizza dinner.

Thursday was devoted to visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For the first 90 minutes, the group was given an excellent guided tour of the Greek and Roman galleries. Then the students had time to fulfill their assignments to locate various objects in the museum, draw at least one of them, and write a descriptive essay. There was also free time to explore the impressive Egyptian rooms and European Painting galleries and to browse the huge gift shop.

On Friday, the plan had been to visit the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in NY, but a serious storm blanketed the city in snow that morning, causing various complications and disruptions, and leading to the decision to abandon this part of the program. Instead, the group made its way through snowy Central Park and then headed for the airport. The flight was one of the few that day which was not seriously delayed, and the students and teachers arrived back in San Francisco on Friday evening. See photo album for more photos.

This last January the San Francisco Opera guild brought Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold to our first through third grades. After being briefly introduced to the opera, the students were taught one of the opera’s main musical themes to actively participate while other students volunteered to come on stage and act. By turn, the main theme of the opera was acted out by all the students using beautiful costumes and expressive props. As kings, queens, princesses, river maidens, and giants, all the students acted out sections of the opera coming together in a slightly modified moral ending: the relinquishing of the all-powerful ring as selfish Wontan is reminded that the love of one’s family is more important than all the riches of the world. The visit was as loved and appreciated as last year’s. See photo album for more photos.

On January 21, 2008, St. John’s welcomed a guest speaker, Mr. Bryan Smith, the headmaster of St. Peter’s Classical Christian Academy in Fort Worth, Texas. St. Peter’s is a small K-12 Orthodox Christian day school like St. John’s, and consequenlty Mr. Smith had a good perspective on the kind of school we are. After visiting classes during the school day, he spoke to the faculty about character education and the importance of thoughts, words, and deeds in the development of good habits. During the evening, Mr. Smith spoke to the parents about the state of American education today and the challenges and benefits of small, private, Christian schools like St. Peter’s and St. John’s. His talk was followed by a lively question and answer session that everyone found very beneficial and enlightening.

On the feast of Theophany of our Lord, January 19, it is customary to bless the waters after the liturgy. As is usually done in the Cathedral, the procession around the church stops in the church courtyard, where a large font is set up full of water to be blessed. This year, the church administration also decided to bring in doves for children to release during the singing of the troparion of Theophany. Students of St. John’s lined up eagerly to take their turns. It was wonderful to see so many of our students participating in the service, singing, serving in the altar, or just praying! See photo album for more photos.

St. John’s students collected toys for less fortunate children of the city and together with Mrs. Triantafillidis, hand delivered the heavy load to the San Francisco Firefighters. Thank you to these students who helped bring gifts and a happy Christmas to deserving children of San Francisco.

This year’s Christmas Program (Yolka) was a musical version of the Nutcracker, directed by Mr. Seraphim Winslow and Mrs. Veronika Bozhich. Students from grades K-6 participated by singing, dancing and acting. The wonderful performance was full of truly gifted actors and dancers. Following the play, St. John’s was honored with a visit from the General Consul of Russia and his wife, Vladimir Nikolaevich and Lyubov Vladimirovna Vinokurov. The Consul had come to congratulate the students of St. John’s with their studies in Russian language and literature and to give awards to those who had excelled in these classes. This was followed by a visit from Ded Moroz, who brought gifts, riddles and laughter to the children awaiting him. Many of the children spontaneously performed by singing and reciting poetry. A pot luck dinner was shared by all the families attending after Ded Moroz went on his way. See photo album for more photos.

This year the 7th graders read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in English class and were fortunate enough to attend the ACT production. Unlike past years, this years’ production was special in that our 6th grader Mia Kalo played one of the characters. Under the guidance of their English teacher Mrs. Maximov, the students decided to put on their own version of the story. The performance was on the last day of the semester and was much enjoyed by their fellow students. See photo album for more photos.

St. John’s students from grades K-6 are rehearsing for the annual Christmas school production of “The Nutcracker,” which will be performed on January 8 at 7:00 p.m. The performance is being directed by Mr. Seraphim Winslow, with the singing conducted by Mrs. Veronica Bozhich. The 5th grade students created a special poster for the event under the guidance of their Art teacher Mrs. Elena Winslow. See a larger image of the poster here.

This week, the students of St. John’s collected clothes, toiletries, icons and toys for orphans in Romania. The St. Philothea Project is a non-profit organization that supports orphanages in Romania, and is collecting money and packages for the poor for this Christmas. One of our teachers, Nicholas Kotar, has spent two summers working in Romania with orphans, and he showed a slide show to the students of the orphans for whom they would be collecting. Thank you to all of our wonderful students and parents who are bringing a wonderful Christmas to these children!

St. John’s student Mia Kalo is a member of the cast of the American Conservatory Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol, currently (December, 2007) playing in downtown San Francisco at the A.C.T. theater. Mia plays Belinda Cratchit in this adaptation of Charles Dickens’ much-loved story. A 6th grade student at St. John’s, Mia has been a student in the A.C.T. Young Conservatory for the past two years. She is fluent in three languages and a talented piano player, writer, and ice skater. She enjoys shooting her own short films and is now working on her first novel!

On October 29, 2007, the city of San Francisco hosted its 2nd annual Russian Arts Festival at City Hall. St. John’s students contributed a display of artwork produced during the year under the direction of Mrs. Armine Mukaelian and Mrs. Elena Winslow. After the festival, the school was presented with a Certificate of Honor recognizing the students and teachers. The Certificate concluded by saying: “Your art-work exemplifies the artistic abilities of the people that make San Francisco such a wonderful city. Thank you and good luck in your future endeavors!” See photographs of the art exhibit here.

Eight students, three teachers, and one parent from St. John’s Academy made a pilgrimage to the Monastery of St. John of San Francisco in Manton, California from November 5-7, 2007. Although both are dedicated to the same patron saint, the Monastery is affiliated with the Orthodox Church of America (OCA) and has no direct relationship with St. John’s Academy. Nevertheless, Abbot Fr. Jonah and the community of monks in Manton were very hospitable and welcoming to our group, many of whom had never been to a monastery before.

The students and teachers participated in the normal monastic routine during the trip. They attended Matins services (which began at 6:00 a.m.) as well as Liturgy and Vespers, and they shared meals with the monks. During the afternoon of Nov. 6, Fr. Silouhan from the monastery led the group on a three-hour hike through Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park, where the students and some teachers had a snowball fight in the bright, warm sunshine and saw the mysterious boiling pools still steaming and bubbling on the old volcano. Then after dinner, Fr. Silouhan took the group on a night hike under a brilliant starry sky in the dark forest surrounding the monastery.

After Vespers on Nov. 6, Fr. Jonah spoke to the group about the challenges of living an Orthodox life as an American teenager. He reminded them that wheras Christians in general try to avoid the pressures and temptations of the world around us, Orthodox Christians are called to something more: to live the life of Christ, which means respecting and valuing each other, never judging each other, and always forgiving each other. Fr. Jonah did not minimize the difficulties Orthodox young people have in today’s world, but he encouraged them to hold fast to their commitment.

Despite (or maybe because of) the absence of everyday conveniences like television, computers, and even cell phones, there was something powerfully attractive about the way of life at the monastery. If the students were unanimous in one criticism of the trip, it was that it was too short! They found the simplicity of the monastic life (especially the goats and chickens) fascinating , the beautiful English-language services impressive, and the overall atmosphere of quiet gentleness and joy a striking contrast to the noise and speed of “normal” life. They came away with much to think about and are hoping to return sometime soon.

Click on the Photo Album link to see more pictures.

The 2007-2008 school year was blessed at the very beginning with a visit by the miraculous “Reigning” or “Derzhavnaya” icon of the Mother of God. This icon left Russia for the first time in history to visit parishes of the Church Abroad in celebration of the reestablishment of communion between the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Icon was accompanied by a delegation led by Metropolitan Onuphry of Chernovitsk and Bukovino, and Archbishop Evgeniy of Verey, who both visited St. John’s Academy. Metropolitan Onuphry spoke briefly to the students, blessing them and exhorting them to study well, to love God, and to obey their parents and teachers. Students participated in the truly magnificent services, when hundreds of people came to pray in front of the icon. The students of the Academy all venerated the Mother of God and had their picture taken with the Icon. We are all truly grateful to God that He sent the blessing of His pure Mother to our cathedral and school. (see photos in photo section). For more information on the visit of the  “Reigning” Icon see www.synod.com or www.wadiocese.com

This summer two of our graduates, Alaythia Calhoun (2006) and Nicholai Goncharoff (1998) both had weddings. Alaythia was married in the Kazan Church of the Mother of God on August 12, and Nick was married in the Holy Virgin Cathedral on September 9. We wish them God’s blessings and Many Years!

Read about her accomplishments since graduation here.

St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy is proud to announce Mr. David Jepson as our new Dean of High School. Mr. Jepson comes to us from the TASIS school in England (england.tasis.com) where he has had over 25 years of experience both in teaching and administration. We are looking forward to Mr. Jepson’s vast knowledge and expertise in the field to help our high school grow and become known for its students and their accomplishments.

June 8-9 the Administration of St. John’s Academy attended the first annual Conference on Orthodox Schools held in Fort Worth, Texas, presented by St. John of Damascus Academy (whose students visited us in May, 2007) and St. Peter’s Classical School in association with the OCEC: Orthodox Independent Schools Project. The focus of the conference was on starting and maintaining Orthodox schools. This was truly an inspirational meeting for all involved. The speakers were some of the best minds in American education today, and they were all Orthodox. We came back renewed and with a hopeful vision of the future of Orthodox education in America.

May 24 - CONGRATULATIONS! St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy Class of 2007 Graduates - Nicholai Casey and Alexandra Iwaszewicz. The Senior class parents hosted a lovely graduation ball. Valedictorian Alexandra Iwaszewicz received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence and President’s Award for Service. Both students received certificates for Math Achievement. Alexandra has been accepted at USF, Dominican University, San Francisco State and several UC’s. She has decided to attend St. Mary’s College, where she has received a full scholarship. Nicholai Casey has been accepted at Dominican University and San Francisco State. He has decided to attend St. Mary’s College where he also has received a scholarship. We wish our graduates success in their future!

May 8 the 4-8th graders, led by Mrs. Iwascewicz and accompanied by a few intrepid parents spent the day and night aboard the Balclutha, an early 20th century ship. It was an exciting and rewarding experience for everyone involved, but the highlight for the students seemed to have been the hoisting up of Mrs. Iwascewicz! A huge hurrah to Mrs. Iwaszewicz for arranging this tremendously educational adventure for the students. See the photo section for pictures.

Every year our students take the California Math League Contest in grades 4-8. This month the 4th graders took the contest. Paul Richter won First Prize and Eugene Lytnev received a Certificate of Merit . Congratulations!

St. John of SF Orthodox Academy students will have their art exhibited at the De Young Museum May 5-13 at the Young at Art Exhibit in a project with the SFUSD. Artwork will be shown in the education gallery. There will be a Gala opening on Friday, May 11 5:30-8:00pm. For questions call the SFUSD at 695-2441.

Three students of St. John’s Academy passed the audition for the San Francisco Opera Guild Summer Conservatory. Anya Jackovich, Liza and Yuliya Bozhich were chosen to participate in a summer opera training camp where they will receive training from experienced and qualified industry professionals in singing, acting, musicianship, etc. culminating in an original performance at the SF Opera. Congratulations!

The 7th and 8th grade students attended the ACT production of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.

The school students went on a 4 day camping trip with Mrs. Brenneis to Los Angeles where they visited the Getty Villa, which houses various antiquities, and they were able to share their experiences from their Latin classes. They also stopped at the Reagan Library, UCLA and other interesting places, camping along the way. Thank you Mrs. Brenneis for her long-suffering and patience in making this trip a possibility for the students.

April 20

Today we had a visit from students and administration from St. John of Damascus Orthodox Academy in Santa Barbara. The students were middle school students in grades 6 and 7 who were accompanied by their Headmaster Mr. John Van Fossen and two other guests. We were very happy to welcome representatives of another Orthodox school and hope that this will become an annual event!

March 23

Today we were visited by some Russian orphans who came from a small Russian orphanage located outside of Vladimir. Our students prepared small gifts for them and spent some time talking to and playing with them at recess.

March 16-17 A few of our middle and high school students went away on a weekend retreat sponsored by St. Christina of Tyre Orthodox Mission (OCA) in order to participate in community service with other Orthodox youth.

Fr. Justin, a monk from St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, visited the school and explained the icon exhibit which he brought to the Getty museum (see photo page). Fr. Justin is also one of the authors of the book on the Sinai icon exhibit which was published for the Getty exhibit. Thank you Fr. Spyridon for arranging this wonderful visit!

The High School students flew to L.A. with Mrs. Kotar on a one day field trip to the Getty Museum to see the Icons in Sinai Holy Image Holy Ground Exhibit. Photos will be posted soon.

Our seventh grade student Anya Jackovich participated in the 15th Annual U.S. Open Music Competition held Feb. 19-25 in Oakland, California. She won 4th place in the Showcase open solo and 3rd place - a bronze medal- in the Treasure baroque intermediate. Congratulations to Anya!

The younger elementary students were treated to The San Francisco Opera’s The Magic Flute presented by a docent of their education department, who happened to be Orthodox! (see photo page).

Jonathan Kathrein of Future Leaders for Peace will be doing a workshop for students and parents. Jonathan has been featured on numerous local and national news programs and magazine articles. (See photo page)

September 26, 2006

Today our students participated in an Art Exhibit held at San Francisco City Hall. We received a Certificate of Honor from Mayor Gavin Newsom, recognizing and honoring St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy for our hard work and dedication at the First Russian Art Show held at City Hall. Thank you to Armine Mukaelian, our art teacher, for her hard work and enthusiasm which made this possible for our students.

Saint John’s Academy has been approved by the Schools Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges as a Candidate for Accreditation.