New School Building Archive October 31 2023

This has been a spectacular year in the life of the school and for our school building project. With COVID behind us, we have finally been able to host our full calendar of school events and fundraising activities. These events are the heart of our community and what helps to differentiate us from other schools. They take a lot of effort but the return on our investment in terms of the community boost is tremendous. The best way to become one with the community is to serve the community – so don’t be shy, come and speak to anyone of our PEC or Special Events committees to see how you can become involved.

With our recent Imagine Gala as a catalyst, the $1.5M We’re Building for the Future Capital Campaign has now reached the halfway mark. This has been a huge team effort and we would like to take this time to thank again our Capital Campaign Committee; the gala project leads; and our major gift donors including the Rizzardo family, the Smith family, Smith Brothers Wilson Construction, and the Saint Group of Companies. We remain committed to our goal of securing the final half of the funding required over the course of 2023. While this will not be an easy task, it is an achievable goal if we all open our hearts and wallets.

To make your donations easier to process, we have re-launched our back-end credit card payment system accessible via the school website or via this link. We are now able to accommodate recurring credit card payments (with some caveats) and have been able to reduce our service fees. This system is fully secure and keeps your information private and the terms of your gift in your control. There are some subtle variations from the original gift card so if you have any questions, please contact your Capital Campaign team directly. If you have not already done so, please go to sfaschool.ca now to make your Capital Campaign gift.

While the names and faces at St. Francis of Assisi will continue to change with each year that passes, our essential heart remains the same. The last 13 years at St. Francis of Assisi have been some of the best years of my life and I am proud of what we have accomplished during this time. The finish line for our new Gymnasium addition is in view and I am confident that Father Juan Lucca’s fresh perspective and energy will soon see the completion of our long-held dream as a new St. Francis of Assisi facility. My heart will always be with St. Francis of Assisi. Thank you for your prayers for my rest and recovery.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

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Spring has finally arrived and what a difference these months have made to the status of our school redevelopment project. We are so close now! While final project costs remain estimates we now have committed and uncommitted sources of capital totaling $14.0 Million of the current budgeted $15.0 Million that will be required to build our new 13,500 sq ft wing addition and gymnasium.

Just over half of the $14.0 Million will come from the sale of the parish garden lands. Our subdivision application for the back-garden at the parish has been submitted and reviewed by the COV. In addition to the subdivision application, the COV has requested SFA submit a Development Permit application package for the parcel of land that we will be retaining (where the church and rectory reside). We are diligently working on this now so we can have the land under contract with a purchaser, and we hope this will not result in any further project delays.

As most of you who attended our school AGM will be aware, we have also submitted our Building Permit application to the City of Vancouver (COV) in March having now completed and met the criteria and feedback from the COV for our Development Permit. We expect that it will take about 9 months for the application to be processed and the Building Permit to be issued. From a permitting perspective, we are ready to start construction once we have our Building Permit.

We are hosting our 1st Gala since COVID-19 on Friday, May 5th and it is our hope that this fun fundraising event will play a large role in closing the $1.0 Million gap in our funding. With a new format and venue, this event is open to all members of our school and parish community, alumni, and neighbors. Please buy your tickets and join us if you have not done so already.

Connect with old friends, make new ones, and support the future of the SFA community.

We remain grateful for our St. Francis of Assisi community. We are amazed every day by the generosity of our community and by the hard work of our many parent volunteers. Please open your hearts and minds to our Capital Campaign volunteers and if possible, please return your donation Gift Cards before the IMAGINE Gala.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal

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We are now drawing to the end of our academic year and as such many of you may now have been contacted by one of the members of our “We’re Building for the Future” Capital Campaign. Our efforts to raise the remaining $1.2 Million that we require to bridge the gap in our development financing are unlike a ‘typical fundraising’ activity in two key respects – timing and pledging. The Capital Campaign is based on the idea of PLEDGING now and fulfilling that pledge over a NUMBER OF YEARS from 1 to 5 to create financial flexibility for our donor families. We are optimistic that the ability to support the project over a flexible timeframe will allow us to reach the financial goal that we require.

Attached below is our Scale of Giving, this chart shows the numeric breakdown of the number of gifts in each dollar category from highest to lowest that we estimate we need to reach in order to achieve our goal. The largest donation category is based on 10% of our Campaign total – $150,000 – right down to our smallest gift amount on the Scale of Giving at $1,500. The Scale of Giving also shows how many of each of these donor categories we need to achieve this goal. It is a clear illustration that our success will require everyone in our community to come together to consider what would be an appropriate gift on behalf of their own family.

All gift amounts on the Scale of Giving will be recognized within the school on our donor wall, with the larger gift amounts of $30,000 and above eligible for specific recognition beside one of the gleaming new spaces that will be remembered for decades to come.

Our team will not be booking any further meetings now until the fall, but when you hear from them this September please help to secure the future of our school and give our volunteers the courtesy of meeting with them when they contact you to schedule these visits.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal

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Last week we received our “Prior- To- Letter of Notification” from the City of Vancouver which is another positive step forward. This feedback from the City provides our architectural and project team with comments and next steps for planning refinement prior to the final issuance of the school’s DEVELOPMENT PERMIT expected within the next couple of months.

The We’re Building for the Future Capital Campaign is now underway to collect pledges for the final 10% of the total project cost. We only have the final $1.5 Million out of the total $12.0 Million budget outstanding.

We are grateful to the following members of our SFA community who are a part of the Capital Campaign Committee led by Father Gino and Barbara Broughton our Capital Campaign Director:

• Paul Kingsbury
• Carla Hudson-Kam
• Glenna Pollon
• Lily Leung
• Michelle Burns
• Meri Macia
• Tom Rukavina
• Kim Ashford

 
The goal of our committee will be to meet individually with all the parents in our school. These meetings will help us to continue to build our SFA community; to provide parents with a more in-depth knowledge of the project and the Campaign; and to consider what they will be able to thoughtfully and proportionately pledge to the We’re Building for the Future Capital Campaign.

Please give our volunteers the courtesy of meeting with them when they contact you to schedule these visits.

The rebuilding of St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and will leave our entire neighbourhood stronger as strong and vibrant schools are a key component of strong vibrant communities.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal

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We hope you all had an enjoyable summer with some quality family time. September is a wonderful month in the school calendar as the weather is fair – and staff, parents, and students are fresh and excited to be back.

We have very good news to share. We are pleased to announce that the subjects were removed on the sale of the convent site in early July and the initial deposit has been paid to the parish – so that site is officially sold. And with this sale, we now have an initial capital investment of $4.7 Million for our school building project.

Also, over the summer we secured our loan agreement with the Archdiocese and have now received in writing final approval to proceed with the school redevelopment from Archbishop Miller. Our “Approval in Principle” is for a 14-year loan of $1.5 Million dollars with the requirement that the school community also raises at least a further $1.5 Million via school fundraising activities and a capital campaign. As most of you know, many years of parent fundraising have already occurred, so we already have a starting project balance of $300,000. To be financially prudent, we must, however, raise the remaining $1.2 Million, or have donors committed, before we break ground.

And the final piece of the financial structure will include funds from the subdivision and eventual sale of the under-utilized garden space at the back of the church and rectory. We will be proceeding with the sale of this land over the next year committing most of the proceeds to the school with a small amount held in reserve to address some critical repairs that are required in the church and rectory.

Financial Summary

With these important milestones achieved, we have directed our team to commence work on the Development Permit (DP) submission and will start planning for the forthcoming Capital Campaign. We will share more on this in the coming months, but in the meantime, if you want to be part of the team that helps to rebuild our school, please contact any member of our teaching staff, the parish office, Barbara Broughton, or reach out to us at buildsfaschool@sfa.ca.

If you are new to the school and want to familiarise yourself with SFA’s redevelopment plans, please go to the school website for further background.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal

As the end of the school year is upon us, we want to thank our parish community, school staff, families, and supporters who have drawn together to make this most unprecedented school year a success. Our children enjoyed a safe, successful, albeit altered academic year, led by our Grade 7 class who had their graduation ceremony on June 23rd. We wish them much success as they move forward to other schools, friendships, and adventures.

On the redevelopment front, we submitted our financial business case to Archbishop Miller and the Archdiocesan Finance Council last week and are in the process of negotiating the terms of the loan. In the expectation of this, we have our architectural firm, KMBR, on stand-by to start our Development Permit (DP) submission. The DP allows the City of Vancouver to “ensure the livability and functionality of neighbourhoods by regulating the built form and ensuring land uses are appropriately located.”

The continuing positive news on COVID should mean that in September we can all come back as a community and renew our cherished values of community building via volunteerism and engagement. Starting this fall we hope that all our long-standing school and parish traditions such as the open celebration of masses, the Welcome BBQ, gala, family dance, and carnival will be back with renewed vigour and focus so we need our families to please come forward to lead and support these events. If you want to be part of the team that helps to rebuild our school, please contact us over the summer at buildsfaschool@sfa.ca

We wish you all a happy summer with your friends and family.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal

We hope that you all enjoyed a safe and happy spring break and Easter.

As you know the convent site was listed for sale at the end of February and we accepted offers in early March. We have had several offers but as this is a land development sale, not a residential sale, the subjects and timelines to completion are longer. Our realtor is continuing to negotiate on our behalf and we will let you know once the sale is finalised.

The City of Vancouver has completed an initial review of Phase 1 of our ‘New and Renew in 3 Phases’ school redevelopment plan and indicated that “it is supportable” and that “we may move forward with the formal Development Permit (DP) application and submission”. The DP submission is a 4-month design process whereby we engage the architect, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers along with a landscape consultant to further develop our drawings to a DP level. The DP will be based on these current schematic drawings. Click Here. The new 2-story wing (with basement) will double the square footage of indoor space of the school. It will contain the new gymnasium and change facilities along with the new school entranceway, administration space, library, a multi-use/music room, and the new kindergarten room. This large new addition will dramatically improve the learning environment for our children by giving them some much needed extra space for play, learning, and bathroom breaks!

Once the new wing is completed, as part of Phase 2 some of the classes will be rearranged in the current school so that the primary grades will be on the bottom floor and intermediate grades will be on the main floor. We will have a clearer understanding of the project timelines once our DP has been submitted to the City. We note that DP approval from the City could be up to 6-8 months after submission. The present target date for school opening is the 2023 school year.

If you are wondering how you can get involved and support our school, please support the 75th anniversary St. Francis of Assisi Cookbook. The finished product will be a wonderful keepsake for your family but will also be a way to show the commitment of our school to our community and future donors. The team is now compiling, formatting, and printing the book with the aim of having sales start in June.

 
With blessings,
 
Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor
 
Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal
 

During the season of Lent, which began this year on February 17, we make our Lenten sacrifices and sometimes it feels like a long time until we celebrate the joy of the Resurrection. We can draw a parallel with the building of our school as we make our sacrifices and wait a long time for the joy of realizing our new school – but it will come.

We have received approval from the Building Commission of the Archdiocese of Vancouver to proceed with the development of the school as proposed and as outlined in January’s update. As such, we will now begin to work in partnership with the Archdiocese to develop an achievable financial plan with a Capital Campaign.

We have heard back from our planner at the City of Vancouver who, as expected, has requested some further information, so we are in the process of complying with this request. We are planning a meeting with the Director of Planning to ask for relaxation for the need for on-site parking and for some easements with regards to set backs on our boundaries.

The convent site was listed on the MLS last week. As you know, the funds from this sale will form the cornerstone of the money that will be required to “Renew and Refresh” our school building so we ask that each and every one of you pray for its successful completion.

Like you, we are enjoying the first signs of spring, and hopefully the ability to share in-person Masses once again with our community. Be well and be safe.

With blessings,

Father Eugenio Aloisio
Pastor

Mrs. Anne Yam
Principal