Don't' miss the teachers' weekly blogs!  Lots going on!

Dear Parents,

Thanks for your great participation in Fall Conferences!  We had a wonderful turnout and I know many students set new learning goals and heard some great reports.  The partnership between home and school is powerful.

This week found our Pastor, Fr. Paul Feela, sharing a story of St. Francis with our fourth graders.  Fr. Paul's middle name is Francis and he showed the students a lovely medal of St. Francis that he has had for many years.  The students enjoyed his visit!  (I think Fr. Paul did, too!)

Jane Schmidt
Principal

Spectacular Stained Glass

Please don't miss the new display of Highland Catholic School student art in the Lumen Christi Community hallway.  You will find gorgeous Tiffany inspired stained glass windows created by our 5^th graders under the direction of art teacher, Alice Stahlman.

Cake and a New Book...What Could be Better?

Don't miss the launch party for HCS parent author, Tim Kehoe's book, "The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow."  It will be at 2:00PM on November 15th at the Red Balloon Book Store on Grand Avenue. Mr. Kehoe will speak, answer questions and sign books.  Great Christmas present!  You can even enjoy a slice of cake featuring the new book cover. 

Seminarian Visits

Every Wednesday, you can find seminarian student, Peter Akudugu, in one of our classrooms sharing stories of his growing up in Ghana, call to the priesthood, a Bible story or gospel reflection.  We have enjoyed getting to know Peter.  I hope you will have a chance to introduce yourself to him as he continues his work at LCCC.  This week, Peter spent time with our 6^th graders and led a discussion on the Beatitudes.

ADD/ADHD Presentation

Parents or guardians interested in knowing more about ADD/ADHD are invited to join the faculty next Wednesday in the school cafeteria from 3-4:30 p.m. for a presentation from Susan Hallam, from LDA.  Several people have heard her speak and she comes highly recommended.  Please join us if you are able.

What is Black and White and Cute and Cuddly?

Our third graders tried their hand at naming a baby.  The San Diego Zoo's new panda cub, born in August, needs a name.  Chinese custom dictates that pandas are named when they are 100 days old, so the zoo recently announced a contest to name the new baby male panda.  The two names created by our third graders were ShuoLong (chubby dragon) and TaiYongyu (peaceful and courageous).  This great activity came about as part of the third grade's monthly current event assignment.  Thanks to Oliva Kinne for reporting on the new panda cub, and her dad, Robert, for helping with the brainstorming and getting the names translated into Chinese.  Both entries were submitted to the San Diego Zoo.  The new panda cub's name will be announced on November 17^th.

A Spot of Spanish Help

Spanish Teacher, Marian Pradas, is offering extra help time for 7^th and 8^th graders on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the end of the day during homeroom time.  Any student can participate.  This is a great time to review, study, practice a group presentation, or even get caught up from an absence.  Sixth graders are able to participate on any Tuesday or Friday.  Students need to ask their homeroom teacher for permission before attending.  What a great opportunity!

Don't Miss This!

The evening of November 16^th promises to be exciting, as our Home and School Committee has arranged for a wonderful parent speaker, Mrs. Barb Neren.  Mrs. Neren spent time with three groups of students on Monday gathering information about what they appreciate about their parents, things they would like to ask their parents, etc.  She will work their confidential observations into her presentation.  How interesting it that?  Hope to see many of you there.  It begins at 7:00 p.m.  You can learn more about this presentation at http://competentparents.com.

This is Your Destiny

Our school library has upgraded to Follett's Destiny, a comprehensive, browser based system.  The library software upgrade features a number of significant improvements.  (A visual OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) that displays book cover images.)  The enhanced graphic search is designed to appeal to elementary level students.  In addition, the program helps students who may have misspelled a search term by showing a "Did you Mean?" prompt that gives up to five alternate term suggestions based on data cataloged in the collection.  The options displayed are guaranteed to return a hit.  Plus, there are many behind the scenes improvements for the librarian to enjoy!  A wonderful upgrade for our school library!

Dear Garden Club Members,

Thank you for inviting us to the soup luncheon.  It was great!  Your planting, weeding and harvesting, produced some wonderful vegetables.  Thanks for sharing them with us.  You learned a lot about gardening.  Thanks to Sandy and her helpers. 

With appreciation,

Keith and Lee Rehfeld
P.S. The service was excellent.