Dear Families and Friends,

Early registration continues until May 15. Encourage a friend to register and you could earn $100 on your child’s account.

Applications for the 2008-2009 school year are now being accepted. The application and all registration forms can be found online at www.sfasonline.org.   

When you have the forms filled out, please return the forms to school with your registration fee for next school year.

The deadline for early registration is May 15. A $50 application fee must accompany your application. The application fee will be applied towards your registration fee. A registration fee is also need to complete the registration process this summer. The early registration fee is $375 until May 15. After that the registration fee is $400.

Some families may wish to make an appointment with our accountant, Mr. Jayme, to talk about finances.  He may be reached by phone at (510) 541-7114.

If you have not submitted your BASIC Fund renewal forms for us to finish filling out , please bring them by our office just as soon as possible.

In addition, loans for private elementary education are also available through Wachovia. Information about this loan can also be found under the finance page of our school’s website. 

Information on Wachovia loans...

We’re looking forward to another great school year starting in August.  

For our school to continue to grow and to provide quality education to all the students, it is important that we reach out to let the community know what the school can offer. The school is relying on you as our ambassadors to recommend our school to other families you may know. Brochures are available in our office to share with your neighbors, coworkers, and friends.

SFAS will credit $100 to your account next fall, if any of your friends enroll their child in the 2008-2009 school year. All you need to do is to let them know about our school and then have them list you as a reference on their application form.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to another great school year!

Sincerely,

Robert J. Robinson, Principal
Teacher, Kindergarten/1st Grade
San Francisco Adventist School

Treating Symptoms

Physicians are trained to trace symptoms to their root causes. Then it is the root cause – not just a presenting symptom – that gets treated. We can all be grateful for that. What would happen, for example, if headaches simply got aspirin and belly aches got antacids without further tests?

The obvious answer is that many people would die from the serious underlying diseases behind their relatively minor symptoms. Symptoms are like the red lights that appear on the instrument panel of your car. Don’t smash the annoying light. Change the oil or find out why the engine is overheating. To focus on the symptoms rather than what is behind them just isn’t very bright.

Without wanting to be unkind, let me try to be clear. We human beings aren’t terribly responsible when it comes to the basics of living. Forget belly aches for a minute. Let’s talk about financial responsibility, intact families, or our spiritual lives. Are we treating symptoms or addressing some of the root issues that are much deeper?

A single mom with two children explained why she needed a vacation with her girlfriends. “I’m so stressed out about money!” she said. “My credit card is maxed out, and I am a month behind on my rent. I’ve just got to have a break.” My suggestion was that she forget the vacation, put the money she had saved for it to catch up her rent, and start paying down her credit card by taking a sandwich to work rather than eating lunch at restaurants.

Her problem wasn’t stress. It was debt –  debt that she could take steps to eliminate. She took the advice. She tells me I was a real friend to her by insisting she treat the disease rather than the symptom.

It’s not so different with trouble in a marriage or one’s spiritual life. “We’re not happy and don’t laugh like we used to. Maybe we should take a trip together – a second honeymoon, so to speak, and reconnect.” No. Find a competent counselor both of you trust, get honest about the things that have broken down, and do your part to try to rebuild the relationship. Get to the root of things.

It’s a bit like the fellow who kept telling me he couldn’t pray, didn’t like to read the Bible, and hated going to church. I knew enough of what was going on to ask the right questions. So he finally started coming clean about the affair and the drugs. It was the beginning of the healing of his spiritual life. He quit talking about trouble praying and not liking church and faced up to an out-of-control life.

Symptoms are helpful things. They let us know something isn’t working right and invite us to seek the cause. Then, with the real issues taken care of, it’s amazing how quickly the symptoms resolve.

--Rubel Shelly

School Calendar and Hot Lunch Menus

Click on the calendar above to access this month's calendar.

Upcoming Events

April 20
Tuition Due

April 22
K-1 Class to Petco

April 23
Gr. 7-8 to SF Zoo

April 26
SFAS at Rainbow Church
10:30 am

April 28
No School
Teacher’s Day

May 2
Free Dress

May 18
WALK-A-THON

See Full Year Schedule

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