Dear Parents, Advent is a wonderful time to spend in prayer and reflection on Christ’s miraculous entry into our world. While December is sure to be a busy month for us all, let’s take a few moments to remember what matters. Let’s reflect on all the blessings present in our lives, on the importance of family and friends and the hope the birth of Jesus represents. Luke 1:14 reminds us of this joy and hope. “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord”. May we always remember the true meaning of Christmas. May this month bring you many blessings, joy and hope.  In gratitude, Leticia Oseguera

IMPORTANT DATES December 4: Advent Prayer Service, Theater 8:15am December 4-15: Advent Pajama and Book Drive December 6: Feast of the Immaculate Conception Prayer Service, Theater 8:15am December 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Morning Assembly in Fatima Court - No Mass December 13: Christmas Program, 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm December 16-19: Christmas themed Spirit Week December 17: Mid-Year Awards  December 18: Las Posadas Celebration  December 19: Last day of School, minimum day December 20-January 6: Winter Break January 7: First Day of School

Dear Parents, Advent is upon us and soon we will celebrate Christmas. As we prepare for the birth of Jesus, we thank the Lord for all he has given us. John 1:4 says “The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone”. Thank you for being a light to our community, to our school, to me. Continue to shine bright! God bless,  Cristina Torres

DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM We are committed to the professional growth of our teachers Strengthening and supporting our dual language program continues to be one of our main goals this year. This past November Mrs. Teri Massa, Mrs. Monica Varela, Mrs. Elsa Bremer, Mrs. Lauren Lee and Mrs. Leticia Oseguera had the opportunity to attend, La Cosecha , the top Dual Language Conference in the nation. At this conference, the nation’s leading dual language educators, researchers and specialists present their latest findings, best practices and educational materials. In addition, Mrs. Laura Bistric and Ms. Nelly Ortega had the opportunity to attend a two day training on GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) strategies that support all students in developing biliteracy in English and Spanish.

STANDARDS REFERENCED GRADING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Mrs. Torres, along with 8 teachers, had the opportunity to attend a 2-day workshop on Standards Referenced Grading. This 2-day workshop was led by Rick Wormeli, a renowned author and National Board-Certified teacher. He reminded us that grades communicate what has been learned in the classroom. He inspired us to continue to differentiate learning and assessment for our students. As Mr. Wormeli said, “Popcorn kernels pop at different rates, but when each one pops, it's accorded full status as a piece of popcorn not something less than popcorn because it popped later”. Standards Referenced Grading allows each student to “pop” at their own time and fosters a growth mindset for all.

SPORTS UPDATES

Our Winter Sports are preparing to begin their respective seasons this month while moving into the New Year. We are excited to introduce Girls’ Volleyball and Boys’ Basketball for the first time here at MDJDA and are ready to compete in PeeWee Soccer at a high level. If you are interested in coaching or supporting the team, please contact Coach Smith, rsmith@mdjda.org .

TOREROS Saturday, January 25 USD will be hosting their “Catholic Schools Night.” This is a great Division 1 basketball game between two awesome Catholic institutions in California: University of San Diego vs. Santa Clara. The game will be in Jenny Craig Pavilion with tickets priced at $10. The time of the game is TBD.

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SECURITY UPDATES

Dear Parents, With our students safety always in mind, I would like to mention that with holiday greetings and well wishes, along with the hustle and bustle and necessity of getting somewhere in a hurry, we can sometimes get distracted when watching our little students. Please try to keep them close to you while exiting campus so we can easily see who they are leaving with. Remember to also use the crosswalks and not walk across the traffic circle to get to your parked cars. I regularly witness vehicles driving faster than they should through our traffic circle, and not crossing in the crosswalk poses a real danger of you or your child being hit by a moving vehicle. These are my safety tips of the month and I wish you all a very healthy, safe and blessed Advent season.  John Rodinec Security Director of the Mater Dei Campus

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

You are all cordially invited to attend our Winter Arts Show, which will be comprised of an Art Exhibition and our Christmas program, a Gleeful Christmas , on Friday, December 13. To accommodate everyone, there will be two performances in which all students will perform. Students will have an early release day, with dismissal at 11:00am. Childcare will be provided from 11:00am -1:00pm for those parents who need support in this area. Please RSVP for childcare below.

RSVP for Childcare

The first performance will go from 1:30-2:30pm and it will be for all families with student’s last names A-Lomelí. The 3:00-4:00pm performance will be for all families with student’s last names Longoria-Z. Families will reserve their seats in advance via a link that Mrs. Oseguera will share with all families. Families with one students enrolled will be able to reserve up to four seats. Families with two or more students enrolled will be able to reserve up to five seats.  We will have a minimum day schedule so that students have time to go home, get something to eat, get some rest and return. The afternoon will consist of an art exhibition in the theater lobby, followed by a performance by our choir and our dance classes. Overall, it will be a special afternoon showcasing our visual and performing arts program. For those families that don’t want to return home during the performance they are not assigned to attend, you may watch a livestream of the show on campus or sign up to volunteer with check-in, as an usher or backstage supervising the students.

Volunteer Signup

SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY: 1:00-4:30pm: Art Exhibition in the theater lobby. Enjoy pastries and coffee. 1:00-1:20pm: Drop off students in designated rooms 1:30-2:30pm: First Performance, A Gleeful Christmas 3:00-4:00pm: Second Performance A Gleeful Christmas 4:00-4:15pm: Parents pick up their students from designated rooms

ADVENT PAJAMA AND BOOK DRIVE

In the spirit of service, MDJDA’s new Faith in Action Group is sponsoring an Advent Pajama and Book Drive to benefit Polinsky Children's Center. We encourage families to please donate one pajama and one book for a child that's the same age as your student. Students can drop off their donations in their classrooms or in the front office from December 4-15. Please also let us know if we can place a donation box in your business or office. For more information, please contact Mrs. Teresina Ruiz, truiz@mdjda.org .

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The week of December 16-19 will be a Christmas themed spirit week. Monday December 16: Ugly Sweater Day (any bottoms) Tuesday, December 17: Elf on the Shelf or Stuffed Animal Day (with regular uniform) Wednesday, December 18: Christmas Outfit Thursday, December 19: Pajama Day

After school activities for January.

KALI FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS We have a new after school activity coming to MDJDA in January, Kali Filipino Martial Arts. This activity will be open to students who are at least seven years old. The class will take place on Mondays and Thursdays after school. Families can choose to enroll in one or two days a week. The program will run all year long and families can sign up on a monthly basis. At this point we want to gauge interest in the class. Please sign-up here to let us know you are interested in the class.

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Signup Form

CYT, Code Ninja and Robotics will return in January. Sign-up information will be emailed in mid December.

Our partners would also like to invite you to their free events this December:

1. HOUR OF CODE Code Ninjas Chula Vista is hosting Hour of Code all week 12/9/19 to 12/13/19 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm for FREE/open to the public. This initiative is part of the Computer Science Education Week and Code.org effort to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming. The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. There will be special activities in block-based programming, JavaScript, and C++ for ninjas of all skills to discover the wonders of coding. No coding experience needed! Hour of Code is a Global Initiative being organized by Code.org, all Mater Dei families are invited to participate in this event by RSVP’ing here:

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RSVP Now

2. BULLYING PREVENTION FREE SEMINAR Pride Martial Arts would like to invite all Mater Dei families to this free event. The bullying prevention Seminar will take place on December 7, 2019 from 1:00-3:00pm.

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VIRTUE OF THE MONTH: COMPASSION

LUNCH MENU FOR DECEMBER: Here is the lunch menu for December. You can also find the menu on our website.

Lunch Menu for December

UNIFORM EXCHANGE: Please drop off any uniforms in good shape in our front office. The uniform exchange will take place December 4-6. Feel free to stop by and take anything you would like.

LOST AND FOUND: Our lost and found is overflowing. Please take a look and claim your items by December 15. We want to clean up this area prior to our winter break.

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