Dear parents,
The morning crisp weather lets us know that we have entered the fall season. The fall is one of my favorite seasons and one of those reasons is that it just seems to be so peaceful. It reminds me of the inner peace all of us seek and the peace we should always strive for in the world. We celebrated the International Day of Peace a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful day full of learning and coming together as a community. On that day we challenged our students to be peacemakers in the world. I reminded them that as students of a Catholic, bilingual school, being peacemakers is not an option, it is our responsibility. Pope Francis said, “make peace, create peace, be the example of peace. We need peace in the world.” As the fall settles upon us, let’s challenge ourselves to be the examples of peace for our students, our children and each other. I think Mother Teresa put it best when she said, “Peace begins with a smile.” I wish you all a wonderful fall season full of peace and smiles.
Blessings,
Mrs. Oseguera
Principal
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IMPORTANT DATES
- October 4: No School - Diocesan Professional Development Day for Teachers
- October 9 & 10: Parent Academy # 1: Otus Presentation
- October 17: Great American Shakeout
- October 20: Open House
- October 21: No School
- October 24: Virtues Recognition for October
- October 31: Trunk or Treat
- November 1: All Saints Day-Mass with MDCHS
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Dear Parents,
The end of the 1st quarter is quickly approaching. This quarter our teachers have put their summer learning to work as they created authentic standards-based tasks and assessments. During weekly collaboration meetings, I have worked with teachers to ensure the needs of all learners are met. As a result, our students are becoming scientists, mathematicians, historians, theologians, and authors. Seeing all the learning happening on a daily basis motivates me to continue to be a learner as well. Albert Schweitzer once said, “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lit the flame within us.” I am deeply thankful for the light that the students have ignited within me.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Torres
Vice Principal
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Our first Parent Academy is quickly approaching. It will be held on Wednesday, October 9 at 5:30pm and Thursday, October 10 at 8:30am in the Lecture Hall. We are excited to offer this session with Otus, our student information system. Our guest speaker, Mr. Zach Fodor from Otus, has trained our faculty and will now have the opportunity to support you. This is a great opportunity to learn how to utilize the parent portal and maximize communication between school and home. Please RSVP
here
.
We have planned various Parent Academy nights throughout the school year which will address academics as well as the social-emotional well-being of our students.
Together with Mrs. Salter, we will also be planning a Religious Retreat for parents. Please save the date for November 23, 2019 for our Advent Retreat. This will be a great opportunity to prepare your heart and mind for the Christmas Season. We look forward to continuing to support our parent community through these Parent Academies.
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As you know, we are using Otus as our student information system (SIS). Otus facilitates communication between our school and families in the areas of behavior, academics, attendance and general classroom information. Each family will need to set-up their account and link their students to the family account using codes provided to them by their child’s teacher. The flyer provides directions on how to create your family account. Teachers will provide the student codes the first couple of weeks of October to all the families so they can link their students to their account. Please also note that teachers will be posting their newsletters in Otus for you to review, as well as homework and other announcements. A trainer from Otus will be on our campus on October 9 & 10 leading a parent academy to support all parents who need help accessing and navigating Otus.
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Open House will take place on Sunday, October 20 from 11:00am to 1:00pm. We ask that you please help us promote this event. On Tuesday we sent home postcards with the students. We ask that you please distribute them to friends, neighbors or family members that you think might be interested in joining the MDJDA family or in finding out more information about our school. We are also looking for parent volunteers who can act as parent ambassadors to help us greet families and offer a parent perspective. Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering that day by contacting Mrs. Figueroa.
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Trunk or Treat will take place on Thursday, October 31 in the Mater Dei Parish parking lot from 11:45am – 1:00pm. Please note that because it falls on a Thursday, this will be a minimum day for the students. Students will come to school already in their costumes. Please make sure that the costumes are school appropriate, no references to violence, no weapons and no masks. Also, their shoes must be safe for school. Please read the flyer for more information. We will send sign-up information to parents regarding Trunk or Treat soon.
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Flag football is continuing to improve moving into the last full month of competition. Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:45pm. Please be on the lookout for more information about MDJDA sports such as Co-ed PeeWee Soccer (K-4) and JV Girls Volleyball (4-6) which will begin practice at the end of October. Practice days are being finalized, but we require more coaching support for the K and 3-4 teams. If you are interested in coaching, please contact Coach Smith,
rsmith@mdjda.org
. If you haven't already completed your volunteer requirements, please contact Ms. Figueroa.
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MORNING DROP OFF
You may drop off students starting at 8:00am. There is no supervision before then, therefore any children being dropped off before that time must remain accompanied by an adult or go to ECEP. ECEP opens at 7:00am Monday through Friday. The gate will close at 8:15am. At that point, parents do have to park and walk their students into the office where they will be issued a late slip. All students need to be in their classrooms by 8:15am.
If you are using the roundabout in the morning please follow these guidelines:
- Pull up as forward as you can to allow more cars to enter the roundabout.
- Make sure the students exit the car on the right hand side only (the passenger side).
- Make sure the students have their backpacks and any other supplies with them (not in the trunk).
- Make sure the students are ready to exit the car as quickly as possible.
- Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t cut in front of other people. Be respectful.
If you are walking with your children:
- Feel free to drop them off at the gate.
- If you walk them to their classrooms, please say good-bye at the door.
- Do not enter the classrooms or have long conversations with the teachers. Teachers have to devote their full attention to the students at this time.
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Mater Dei is excited to announce a partnership with Code Ninjas Chula Vista to bring STEM and coding learning to our kids. Below is some information on the program, length, curriculum and price. You will find links to a flyer as well as the course outline.
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GAME BUILDERS CLUB
- Every Tuesday from October 15 – November 19, 3:30 – 4:30pm
- $125 for a 6-week program (includes book)
- Kids 1st to 6th grade can attend one hour a week
- Each session includes:
- Game concept discussion
- Coding time making video games
- Hands-on STEM activities
- Curriculum is based on the ‘Code your own games’ book by Max Wainewright
- Space is limited to 20 children
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Tutoring in English Language Arts, Spanish Language Arts and Math has started. Teachers have contacted families directly to inform them if their student has been identified as someone who would benefit from this small group support. Tutoring is being lead by a teacher or instructional aide with the support of additional instructional aids and high school student volunteers.
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Please remember that all parents who want to volunteer in any capacity must be cleared. You can volunteer in different capacities. Please contact Mrs. Figueroa for all the details of this requirement and for volunteer opportunities.
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Save the date, Mater Dei’s Giving Tuesday will take place on November 19. This will be our major fundraising effort this semester. We are excited to share more information soon.
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LUNCH MENU
Please remember to place your order for the following week by emailing
schoollunch@mdjda.org
by Sunday at 6:00pm. New families who would like to use the cafeteria service have to create an account with Aramark, our food partner. Once your account has been set up and you have established a payment method, you will then look over the menu and email Aramark at
schoollunch@mdjda.org.
For step by step directions on how to create your account, please visit this website:
https://mdjda.org/parents/school-lunch/
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VIRTUE OF THE MONTH: RESPECT
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