Dear SMA Community,
Happy Advent! In the life of the Church, we have transitioned from the Season of Ordinary Time into the Season of Advent. Moreover, in this first week of Advent, we are also in a new Church year, which began on Sunday, December 2nd. I spoke a bit about this in my “Welcome back” email to the school community that same day, so please go back and read it if you missed it.
Concomitant with our focus on Advent, we may find ourselves caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations and all of what that means (e.g., decorating, shopping, party planning/attending, etc.). Hence, I encourage each of us to take intermittent breaks amidst these “distractions” to pause and reflect on the truly special meaning of this season.
This morning, our students in grades 3-8 attended an Advent Penance Service in the church. Fr. Pat spoke briefly about the importance of Advent, and then he, Fr. Mark and Fr. Clement were available to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation (“Confession”) for the students. Those who are not Catholic (or those who have not received their Sacrament of Baptism/First Holy Communion) were invited to receive a blessing in lieu of confession and absolution.
Two of our students, Mac and Harper Belmonte (members of our Junior High Academic Decathlon team), spearheaded and organized a giving campaign in which students were asked to donate their gently used sports equipment. There was a box outside of every classroom during the week before Thanksgiving break, and each one was either full or close to full–in fact, 2nd, 5th and 6th grades collected the most items! Mac and Harper delivered these items to a local organization for children in need.
We do have another giving campaign happening now in 3rd grade: as part of their class service project, the students have organized a canned dog food drive to benefit “Frosted Faces”, a wonderful non-profit organization dedicated to helping senior dogs find their forever homes and receive essential care. See this newsletter for more information.
THE BIG AND MOST IMPORTANT EVENT forthcoming is this Sunday, December 8th: the La Jolla Christmas Parade! A committee of parents (including our previous principal, Mrs. Moss and her husband, Vic) have been working on our Christmas float since before the first day of school! I am very excited about our entry for this parade, as well as the special opportunity to showcase our school. We hope ALL SCHOOL FAMILIES AND STUDENTS will join us for the parade on Sunday. WE STILL NEED PARENT VOLUNTEERS FOR THE DAY OF THE EVENT–contact Karla Onstott! Please see this newsletter for all of the details (and call the school office with any questions).
Finally, in the life of the Church, we honor the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother Mary on Monday, December 9th. This is a holy day of obligation for Catholic Christians, so we will have a school Mass that morning at 10:30 am. We welcome and encourage parents to join us for this special Mass. All students shall wear their Mass uniforms to school on Monday, December 9th.
Thank you for entrusting Stella Maris Academy with your children’s education.
With blessings and gratitude,
Jamie Brandt
Principal