La Salle Parent Newsletter For Parents and Friends of La Salle College Preparatory • Pasadena • California December/January 2020
Principal Ideas Hello. I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to celebrate with your family and friends. Before going into my usual updates about school happenings, I do want to follow-up on the lock down that occurred on November 22.
Courtney R. Kassakhian Principal
Reflection Prayer St. John Baptist de La Salle
“The young should be able to see in your wisdom how they should behave.” -Meditation 132.1
As you know, over the past two years, we have taken major and multiple steps to make La Salle a more secure campus. That began with the electronic gate at the entry of the lower parking lot and continued with the additions of an after-hours security guard, surveillance cameras and the RAVE app. The RAVE app is an app that faculty and staff have downloaded on their phones that enables employees to alert first responders and school personnel to an emergency situation with the touch of a button. This system was put in place due to the fact that we do not have phones in every classroom and therefore need a way to get an alert out quickly and easily in the case of an emergency. The app, however, is so easy to use, that unfortunately, on November 22 it was inadvertently set-off, without the employee being immediately aware of it. In our discussions with the company that produces RAVE, they said, although such an event is unlikely, it is very possible and was in fact the case on November 22. Although those of us in the main office quickly came to believe that the alert was a mistake, we were not about to take any risks with the safety of our students and employees and therefore went into lockdown mode and awaited clearance by police. Ultimately, this meant we had the most realistic drill that we never planned for or wanted to have. The upside of the event is that we learned a lot about what we were really prepared for and good at and where we need to make better preparations. On the downside, it was, for everyone, a very scary 30 or so minutes that will not be quickly forgotten. A few of the outcomes of our learning from the day include: - We will be doing retraining of the RAVE app and protocols with employees before we leave for Christmas break; - We will be adding speakers to some areas that we found did not hear the PA announcements;
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December/January 2020 - We have contracted with 3rd party source for additional emergency training for all employees which will happen over two sessions in December and January I want to thank all of our parents again for their support during and after the lockdown. Many of you sent emails following the events and I know I did not get back to everyone, but please know the emails were read and appreciated. We came back from the Thanksgiving break and jumped right into a busy and fast moving December. The first weekend in December was action packed with the distribution of Christmas trees for our annual student life fundraiser, the winter dance concert, the AP Art Show and the Jazz Band Concert. The festivities will continue the second weekend of December with our annual Adopt a Family party the morning of December 14 and the Band, Choir, and Strings Concert at 7 p.m. that evening at Porticos Art Space. And, after all the fun of course, the end of December brings first semester finals. Finals take place Tuesday, December 17 - Friday, December 20. All classes meet during exam week and all final exams are mandatory and must be taken at the assigned time. A teacher cannot arrange for a student to take an exam at any time other than the published time. Finals will end at 11:20 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday and at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. In order to accommodate extended time finals, the Blakeslee Learning Commons will not be open during finals week. And although the Dining Hall will be open as a place for students to gather, there will be no food service from Bevaris during final exams. To help prepare our students for finals, there will be review days for all classes on December 13 and 16. On these days there will be no new assignments given or collected. This will enable teachers to have all assignments entered in the gradebook by the end of the day Friday, December 13, so that students will know what their grade is going into finals week. If your child has a question about any grade in the gradebook up to that point, they need to ask their teacher during finals week and before the Christmas break begins. PowerSchool will stay open throughout the Christmas break, so students will be able to see their grades on the final exams and their final course grades. Please remember, teachers are on break from December 21-January 6. So if you or your child have questions about final grades or final exams during the break time, you can send an e-mail or leave a voicemail, but know that it will likely not be returned until teachers resume work on January 6. Please take the Christmas vacation to truly take a break from school. All questions about final exams and grades will be answered when school resumes. If a student has any questions about a grade, they can initiate a petition no later than five days after report cards are postmarked. (See page 15 in the Student-Parent Handbook.) After the last final exam is over on December 20, many of our students will be heading home to get ready for our annual Snow Ball. This year the Snow Ball will again be at the Chandelier Room at Santa Anita Park. This semi-formal event is open to all La Salle students and a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the first semester. And there was a lot to celebrate. We had a successful fall athletic season, with 24 of our Lancer athletes receiving all league recognition this season:
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December/January 2020 Varsity Cross Country: Alex Alvarez, Josefina Alvarez, Odalys Martin, Maya Magluyan and Lia Shaw named First Team All-League Varsity Football: Cesar Gudino, Lorenzo Holmes, Richie Munoz and Marcus Powe named 1st Team AllLeague; Gio Butteri and Warren Fowler named 2nd Team All-League Varsity Girls Golf: Vicky Wang and Vanessa Zhang named 1st Team All-League; Sara Holguin, Josephine Lo, Celeste Perez and Gennaka Valarao named 2nd Team All-League; Vanessa Zhang named league MVP Varsity Girls Tennis: Tracey Gibbs and Isabelle Core named 1st Team All-League and league Doubles MVPs Varsity Girls Volleyball: Chloe Howell, Danielle Nathan-Thomas and Vanessa Ramirez named 1st Team All-League; Carly Kejmar and Michelle Zhao named 2nd Team All-League. Congratulations to all of our athletes and coaches on the fall season. As we move into a new season, I hope you will join us in cheering on the Lancers in our winter sports: boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, and girls water polo. When we return from Christmas Break the new semester begins, and, believe it or not, it will already be time to begin planning for the 2020-2021 school year and graduation. As such, on Thursday, January 9th we will have meetings for the parents of our juniors and seniors at 6:30 p.m. Senior parents will meet to review all things graduation. Junior parents will meet to review PSAT score reports and begin discussing what would be the right course selections for students, especially considering the different realities of what colleges will be looking to see in the senior year. Academic advisors and administrators will be there to present and answer questions. We hope to see all of our junior and senior parents at this special event. The following month we will have a meeting for the parents of our freshman and sophomores. This meeting will take place Wednesday, February 5th at 6:30 p.m. The evening will focus on demystifying the course selection process and helping parents guide their students in choosing what courses to request for the upcoming year. Again, academic advisors and administrators will be there to present and answer questions. Please look for links to RSVP to these events in upcoming Friday e-mail blasts. Lastly, although it seems like ages ago already, I’d like to say thank you to the many, many parents who helped with our annual Open House last month. With about 900 visitors on campus that day, there is no way we could have pulled off such a successful event without the help of all of our parent volunteers. So, thank you for helping us to show off our wonderful school to the many prospective families that visited us. And of course, I’d like to end by wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope that this Christmas season is one filled not only with gifts bought from the store, but more importantly the gift of time spent making memories with family and friends. And I hope that 2020 brings you and your families much joy. Courtney Kassakhian P.S. Don’t forget to ring in the new year by watching the Rose Parade and seeing our very own Queen Camille!
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La Salle Matters
Patrick Bonacci, AFSC, P'94,'97 Acting President
I added this section to my Newsletter following the “Active Shooter� alert that was activated, on Friday, November 22 at 10:32:54. As you know, thank God, it was subsequently determined that our emergency electronic alert system was inadvertently activated. Even though this was fully determined within a few minutes by school administrators, the whole campus, per our training, was already in full lock-down mode within the initial seconds of the alert and all safety protocols were in effect. When the First Responders from Pasadena Police arrived, they found us in full lock-down. Moreover, even when they independently determined and agreed that the initial alert was activated in error, they made the decision to keep our students and adults in classroom and office lockdown until they did a full and very complete sweep of the whole campus and every building. I will add, that during the initial alert and through the subsequent clearing action on the part of the police, every member of the Administration Team were fully involved and demonstrated the highest degree of calmness, professionalism and ability. The very same can be said about every teacher who was locked-down with their students and every counselor and staff member who was in lock-down, often with students a well. I am extremely proud and grateful for the actions taken by our adults. And, I am exceedingly proud of how our students responded. They were initially very concerned and worried, as they should have been, but there was no excessive panic on their part they followed their training and the directions of the adults caring for them. In terms of our notifications to our parents and other publics, the following is a timeline of the various emails sent out by the Administration during the morning of November 22: 10:46: We are currently on lock down and police are on campus. We will alert you as soon as we have more information.
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(Note: Students and school adults were notified, prior to the following two emails, that the alert was in error and that all were safe; but the police wanted everyone to stay in the classrooms. Students were instructed to notify immediately, via their cell phones, their parents regarding this all clear message. I assume most of you received a phone message from your student at this time. ) 11:17: Police have lifted the lock down at La Salle. It was determined that the notification we received was a false alarm. There was no actual threat at any time today. Further information will follow. 11:47: Dear Parents, We are all safe here at La Salle. The active shooter alert was a false alarm. We have just spoken to all the students, faculty and staff in the Duffy Lewis Gymnasium as one family. Obviously, we are still a little anxious but extremely grateful and blessed there was no actual threat on campus. Our active shooter alert was triggered inadvertently and the police arrived within minutes. Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do in a lock down situation and we are very proud of our brave students and employees. We will be reviewing the events of this morning to determine how a false alarm occurred. All students, faculty and staff are back in their classrooms. Counselors are available to any students or parents. We understand many parents will want to pick up their students. For those students who remain, we are continuing with our normal school schedule. Thank you again for your patience and support of La Salle. On behalf of all the faculty and staff, we would like to wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. I had the opportunity to speak to numerous responders and subsequently with their ranking officers and watch commander. To a person, every responder indicated that they were impressed with the way our adults and students so appropriately reacted to what they, initially, believed was a real event. This was encouraging and comforting to hear. Having said this, I do not want to minimize the high anxiety that this inadvertent alert caused for all involved and under no circumstances do I want to suggest that it was a “good thing” – for it was not. However, we have already identified that the majority of our processes and protocols worked extremely well and a small few we will likely modify and change. A better procedure to “manage” the pick-up process by parents whom, post clearance, arrive on campus to take custody of their student being a major one. Mrs. Kassakhian will also be sharing her comments regarding the alert in this Newsletter.
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Moreover, we will discuss this event and the lessons learned from it at the January 14 Parent Association Meeting. My more “normal” Parent Newsletter follows: You received, prior to Thanksgiving, an email update from the Presidential Search Committee regarding the status of the search process. I want to follow-up with a few date/time specifics regarding the process that will affect our current parents: The expectation is that during the first two weeks of February the selected top three finalist for the La Salle Presidency will be interviewed separately at La Salle by members of our community - students, faculty, staff, administration, Board members and current parents. The time and location for the parent interaction with each finalist is 6:30pm to 7:30pm in the Blakeslee Learning Commons. The three interview dates with the finalists are: Finalist #1 on Monday, February 3 Finalist #2 on Thursday, February 6 Finalist #3 on Tuesday, February 11 (Note: The monthly Parent Association Meeting will be from 6:00pm-6:30pm and the Booster Club Meetings will begin at 7:30pm) The Search Committee will subsequently provide you with information on how you can submit your comments and thoughts regarding the finalist, via an online survey. Not counting my two times as acting president, La Salle has only had two Presidents since the President/Principal model was initiated in the early 90’s. Therefore, I cannot emphasize enough how important your input is to this very important search process. I am giving you the above dates and times as early as possible so that you can, hopefully, put aside the time to be actively involved in this process. As is my custom at this time of the Liturgical Year, I share with you the following Advent Prayer, with my hope and prayer that you have a Blessed and Family-filled Christmas! Come, O long expected Jesus born to set Your people free; From our fears and sins release us, free us from captivity. Israel’s strength and consolation, You the Hope of all the earth, Dear Desire of every nation, come and save us by Your birth. Born Your people to deliver, born a child and yet a king! Born to reign in us forever, now Your gracious kingdoms bring. By Your own Eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone, By Your all-sufficient merit raise us to Your glorious throne.
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Advent Liturgy On December 4, 2019, we gathered for an Advent liturgy in the Dining Hall. Music for the Masses sang a beauriful rendition of "Mary Did You Know". The presider, Father Tom Baker, a pastor of St. Rita's presided over the mass.
Clockwise from Top Left: Rhyen Hunt gives the welcome, student receives a blessing during Communion, Music for the Masses, Students Announce Snowball, Father Tom Baker
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Parent Association Report I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. I am very grateful that the decision was made to give us the entire week off. It made all the difference in the world. We entered the break with a little bit of a bang. The Friday lockdown was an eye opener in many ways. Gratefully, we know that our emergency protocol works. The police were very complementary to our faculty, staff and students. Jacky Samartin, P'15,'19,'21 Parent Association President
However, I need to adjust my emergency plans. I had stepped away from my desk for a moment and had not checked my emails. I received a frantic call from my daughter in Arizona notifying me of the alert. When I looked at my phone, I had already heard from my son that he was fine - it was false alarm. In the matter of two minutes, the range of my emotions was vast. I realized that my personal emergency plans were not updated. My emergency contact has broken her leg and is currently unable to drive. My older son, who is the closest in proximity, is not on the emergency contact list. As a family we really don’t have a plan. This afforded us an important gift of time to reevaluate our family plan for all emergencies. I thought after Thanksgiving I could sail into the Christmas holiday. Wrong! We are still so busy with activities at the school. We had an amazing Open House. Nearly, 900 people came and toured our school. It was so nice to see old and new faces of what the future of our school will look like. I always love this event. I love taking a moment and watching our faculty, staff, students and volunteer parents in action. It is La Salle at its finest. We have many activities still to happen to finish out the fall. We have the Crystal Ball Holiday Party, Dance Recital, Jazz Concert, Faculty/Staff Christmas lunch,
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Christmas Tree Distribution, Adopt-a-Family and the Snowball dance, just to mention a few! I want to take this time to convey how very grateful I am for all of our parent volunteers. We have had a very busy fall. It seems like every week there are several volunteer opportunities and somehow, all of the slots get filled. Thank you for always helping. I have been at the school for almost 10 years now and I think this is the most volunteer active group of parents I have seen. We had a very busy November Parent Association meeting. Athletic Director Brian Walsh and Camile Kennedy ’20 were our featured speakers. We had a yummy barbeque dinner hosted by Mr. Bonacci and facilitated by our hospitality moms Sheri Muro and Bobbie Curly. In January and February, our Parent Association meetings will be focused on The President’s search. Mr. Bonacci will go over the status of the search process. At our February meeting, we will have the unique opportunity of meeting and interviewing one of the final candidates. During the two weeks surrounding the February meeting, we will have the opportunity to meet all of the final candidates. We hope you will join us for both meetings. We know this is time out of your evenings so again we will be serving a light dinner. As usual, our Booster groups will have their monthly meetings. I hope we all will take time this Advent season to praise God for all of the blessings we each have. In the craziness of the season, it is so easy to get bogged down and not take a moment and breathe. I wish Peace to all of you and your families during this holiday season and always. Many Blessings, Jacky Samartin P’15, P’19, P’21 La Salle Parent Association President
Attendance Hot Line 626.696.4406 A parent or guardian must call before 8:00am the day of the absence to notify the School if a student will be absent, or if the student needs to leave school early for an appointment. Please state student’s name, date, time, and reason for the absence. Note that the Tardy Policy has changed this year. Students will be allowed up to five tardies to the first block each semester. At the sixth tardy they will automatically receive detention for that tardy and future tardies. On return to School, the student must stop by the reception desk prior to 8:00am with a note from the parents or guardians stating the reason for the absence. Notification of any planned absences, (college visits, etc.), must be in writing prior to the absence, given to the attendance office and approved by Mr. Michael Stumpf, Dean of Students.
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Open House 2019 On November 17, 2019, La Salle welcomed over 900 guests to our campus for the annual Open House. Prospective and returning families were able to get a glimpse of what it's like to be part of our Lancer Family through the tours, performances, and interactions with our students, coaches, faculty, and staff! Applications are available online now at www.lasallehs.org under the Admissions tab. Visit our Flickr Page for more photos!
Clockwise from Top Left: Student Ambassadors (L to R Marilyn Garcia, Kelsey Albino, Marcos Vargas), Mr. Z, Cheer and Band in the Amphitheatre, Student Ambassadors (Lexi Peyson and Sofie Wolfe)
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Clockwise from Top Left: Tour Check-In, Gym, Baseball Team and Coaches, Tour, Student explaining the STEAM Program
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Year End Gifting & Planning in Support of La Salle The Planned Giving program at La Salle College Preparatory provides donors and supporters opportunities to contribute to the School’s endowment through one of many Planned Giving Instruments. Though this is available throughout the year, it can be especially strategic and helpful to donors and supporters as the end of the year approaches. Some of the most common examples of Planned Gifts that are typically utilized at or near the end of the year include: The donation of appreciated securities (held for over a year) (1) avoids capital gains tax, and (2) creates a tax deduction for the full value of the securities donated. The stock market has experienced ups and downs in 2019, but it is still up over 10% for the past 12 months. As such, this strategy is a very strategic and effective manner of year-end charitable giving. This same strategy can be used for appreciated real estate (held over a year). The transfer of up to $100,000 of one’s IRA (for taxpayers having attained age 70½) to La Salle can serve to reduce the taxation of other attributes being reported on one’s tax return in addition to avoiding the tax due on all or part of one’s required annual IRA distribution. Funding a Charitable Gift Annuity allows the donor to receive not only a tax deduction but also a stream of income at a very competitive rate of return, part of which is received free of income tax. The rate of return paid on a Gift Annuity is almost always in excess of that paid on a bank savings account. Naming La Salle as a full or partial beneficiary of a life insurance policy and/or a trust is a common estate planning strategy. This can be established without incurring any out of pocket cost to the donor/owner of the policy; there is a potential tax deferral from such a strategy. Unlike a traditional donation of cash, most year-end giving strategies require additional time to execute, so timely planning for these donations is highly recommended. Consultation with one’s tax advisor is suggested as part of the consideration of a Planned Gift, particularly with the impact of the federal tax legislation that went into effect for tax years beginning in 2018. These are some of the common examples of a Planned Gift to be considered as the end of the year approaches. Please review the Planned Giving articles in future publications of both the Parent Newsletter and Lancer Magazine for ongoing updates in the Planned Giving Program. IN SUMMARY La Salle College Preparatory can provide more information, both generically and specifically, regarding the benefits available through Planned Giving. For more information, please contact Jon Keates, the Major Gifts Consultant at (626) 696-4344.
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Academic Decathlon at Yale Members of the Academic Decathlon team travelled to Yale from November 8-12 to compete in the Tournament of Champions round of the World Scholars Cup. Over 2,000 students from around the world competed, and La Salle did exceptionally well. The team of Christina Chen, Franklin Cheng, and Adam Lewczuk finished 25th (in the world) in the arduous 180-question multiple choice section named "The Scholars' Challenge." They finished 23rd overall in the "Scholars Bowl", the audio-visual trivia spectacular at the end of the competition. They combined for seven golds and five silvers in the individual tests. Christina was the leading scholar on the team who ultimately finished in 38th place overall. The second team of Colby Stenzel, Matt Day, and Ewan Painter did an amazing job overall. They finished "The Scholars' Challenge" 10th overall. Colby led the way in Debate as well as in the Individual Writing as he finished 4th overall among all the competitors. Furthermore, Colby finished 5th overall of the thousands of scholars at this competition. He, by far, was the highest scorer from the American delegation. Our La Salle scholars also served as American ambassadors as we hosted the American booth at the Cultural Fair. Senior Ewan Painter also received the honor of entering with the American flag for our delegation this tournament. Congratulations and well done to all of our decathletes!
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BMX Bullying Prevention On November 19, 2020, La Salle welcomed the BMX Bullying Prevention team for an assembly. The assembly focused on showcasing BMX athletes doing tricks while also presenting facts on bullying as well as how to see signs and prevent it from continuing. An interesting presentation that kept students on the edge of their seats concluded with a BMX Rider jumping over Mr. Rand Laird!
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College Center News College Counselors Tam Ly, Owen Hou '90, P'21, Marcia Yu P'21
Stop by the Counseling Center for any questions
College Applications At this point, all University of California applications are completed and submitted, as are the Cal State applications. Parents, please remind your seniors to submit their official SAT / ACT scores to the schools where they are applying. In order to do so they need to log into their College Board or ACT account and select the option to send scores. Colleges only accept official scores sent directly from the testing agency. Students applying to multiple UC campuses may send the SAT or ACT scores to only one of them and they will share. The same is true for the Cal States. For all the other schools, students need to send the scores to each of them directly. If students are completing the Common Application, they must match their Common Application and Naviance accounts which will allow us to submit their transcript and letter of recommendation electronically. This matching is made on Naviance, under ‘Colleges’, ‘Colleges I am applying to’ and then ‘Match Accounts.’ Please remind your student to check their email and application portal regularly to monitor the status of their application and to report their application results (acceptances, denials, deferrals, waitlists) to their college counselor and on Naviance. Letters of Recommendation From the counselor: All seniors should have turned in their College List to their College Counselor by November 15th. If your student applies to a college not on their list and that has a January 2018 deadline, they must inform their college counselor by December 6th to allow sufficient time for the counselors to submit the required forms and letters of recommendation before the Christmas break. From the teachers: All seniors should have asked teachers to write their letters of recommendation in November. All forms & envelopes (if needed) must be given to the teachers by Friday, December 6th. The teachers must complete
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December/January 2020 forms/letters of recommendation to colleges before Christmas break to meet most deadlines. College Counselors and teachers will not be able to write letters of recommendation or fill out school/counselor reports over the Christmas break. Please plan ahead. FAFSA & Cal Grants Please note that La Salle has already submitted our senior GPAs to the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC). This means parents who have submitted their FAFSA will be notified if their student is eligible for the Cal Grant. Our College Counselors strongly encourage parents to submit their FAFSA early to ensure that your student is considered for the maximum amount of financial aid. Kick-off of College Planning for Juniors College Counselors will begin the formal college counseling process for juniors in January. On December 13th, the college planning survey for juniors will be released on Naviance. The completion of the online survey will start the one-on-one college counseling process for juniors. SAVE THE DATE - College Night for Parents of Juniors We will meet the parents of juniors on Thursday, January 9th, at 6:30pm in the Dining Hall. Parents will receive a packet of information that includes materials explaining the college application process. We strongly recommend that parents attend this meeting, which will cover the following topics: • • • • •
College Planning Process UC & Cal State admissions Utilizing Naviance PSAT Review Q&A
SAVE the DATE – College Fair & College Forum for Freshman, Sophomore & Junior families La Salle’s College Fair & Forum will be held on Wednesday, April 1st. College admission representatives from many colleges will present important information to our families (see tentative sessions below). The College Fair & Forum is a great opportunity for students to learn about the college admission process and how to research and identify the right college for them. So please highlight the College Fair & Forum on your calendar. The following were the presentation topics from the 2019 College Fair & Forum. While a majority of presentations will stay the same, some presentations will be different. Please advise if there are any specific topics you would like to see presented. • Getting In: Tips for Admission to Highly Selective Colleges • Dollars & Sense • Understanding UC & CSU Admission
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December/January 2020 • • • • • • • •
All Juniors will be taking the ACT on February 8.
• • • • • •
Studying the Physical Science and Engineering How to Find the Right College Fit The NCSS, the Student Athlete & Admission Preparing for Health Related Careers Parent Forum (Panel) The Arts: Application Process, Portfolios & Auditions ROTC and Service Academies Success Transition to College for Students with Learning Differences Standardized Testing Overview College Quickstart: Naviance Basics College Admissions from the Colleges’ Point of View International Colleges and Travelling Abroad Nursing Program Admission Western Undergraduate Exchange & Other Scholarships
More detailed information will be published in the February and March newsletters. Classes of 2021 and 2022 - College Tours We are offering the following college tours in the spring: San Diego College Tour Friday, February 21, 2020 University of San Diego, UC San Diego, San Diego State University Bay Area College Tour Monday and Tuesday, March 16-17, 2020 UC Davis, UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, Stanford University, San Jose State and Santa Clara University Registration will open on January 6th, 2020. For more information, please contact Mrs. Yu. Standardized Testing All freshman, sophomore and junior students took standardized tests in October. Freshman and sophomore students will receive and review their PreACT results during their first Mentor lesson in January. Juniors students can access their PSAT scores online starting December 9. Paper PSAT results and test booklets will also be returned during the College Night for Parents of Juniors on January 9. Please do not hesitate to contact your student’s college counselor if you have any questions about test results.
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December/January 2020 February 8th ACT for all Juniors All juniors have signed up for the February 8th ACT at La Salle. They MUST also do the following in order to be admitted to the test site: All students have created their own account on www.actstudent.org. Students must have their photo uploaded on their account by January 31st Once their photo is uploaded, they need to print out their Admission Ticket Bring the Admission Ticket and a current picture ID to the February 8th ACT Photo requirements and directions to upload photos can be found at http://www.actstudent. org/regist/add-photo.html. Your student may change the test location and/or change to a later test date if they have a school event on the same date. Please note La Salle has already paid for this test and there is no expense on your part. Please call the ACT directly at (800) 553-6244 if you have any technical issues. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Congratulations, Beto! La Salle Senior Thomas (Beto) Clavijo was named the 2020 National Hispanic Scholar by the National Hispanic Recognition Program. To qualify, students must score in the Top 2.5% on the PSAT/NMSQT among all the Latino and Hispanic high school juniors who take the test in the region. Congratulations to Beto on this wonderful achievement!
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Christmas Trees On the morning of December 6, 2019, a total of 526 freshly cut Christmas trees were delivered to our campus. Members of student life spent their morning unloading these trees from the truck. A couple of hours later, soldiers from Fort Irwin came by to pick up over 200 trees that were kindly donated by members of the community. Campus smelled of pine trees and Christmas. To see more photos, visit our Flickr page!
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Speech and Debate Win Big at Fullerton Union Speech Competition On the weekend of December 6 and 7, La Salle competed at the Fullerton Union speech competition and took home many medals and trophies! Junior Rhyen Hunt got to semis in two events: Extemporaneous speaking and Program Oral Interpretation, junior Maddy Cahill was a semi finalist in Impromptu speaking and got 2nd overall in extemporaneous speech. Sophomore Cameron Coolidge got 1st in Oratorical Interpretation. Sophomores Adrian Lossada and Lillian Nguyen were semi-finalists in Dramatic Intepretation. All the aforementioned students got a bid to the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Houston, Texas, and Maddy and Cameron got a bid to the Tournament of Champtions in Kentucky.
Top: Speech and Debate team, Right: Maddy Cahill and Rhyen Hunt
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THE LA SALLE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESENTS
THE RETURN OF THE MUCH ANTICIPATED
SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020 AN EVENT FOR THE TASTEBUDS FEATURING UNLIMITED TASTES FROM Mt. Lowe Brewing • Fantasy Frostings • Altadena Town & Country Club • El Portal San Antonio Winery • Domenico’s • RT Rogers Brewing Co. • Sierra Fusion Johansing Farms • Craft Beer Cellar Eagle Rock • El Cholo Pasadena Nothing Bundt Cakes • Casa del Rey • The Four Seasons Tea Room Pasadena Sandwich Company • Patticakes: Bakery and Coffee House AND MANY MORE! Sponsorships, Underwriting Opportunities and Event Tickets are available online at
www.LancerNetwork.com/Taste2020 Buy your Opportunity Drawing tickets NOW for a chance to win a fabulous prize like “Eat Out for a Year” featuring Gift Cards to local eateries • Pampering Stays at the Langham Huntington Hotel • “Stock Your Bar” featuring premium libations plus many more! Opportunity Drawing tickets are discounted between now and January 31st - 2 for $10, 10 for $25, 25 for $50, 60 for $100. Winners will be drawn at the event and do not need to be present to win.
www.LancerNetwork.com/Draw2020
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Senior Tribute Ads Senior Parents You should have recently received a packet in the mail with the Centurion 2020 Senior Tribute layouts and order form. If you cannot locate this packet please see the La Salle website. A senior Tribute is a wonderful way to add to the memories of La Salle and honor your student. Please send your information to yearbook moderator, John Blackstock at jblackstock@lasallehs.org.
Lancer Armory The Lancer Armory is your one stop shop for Lancer Gear! Fully stocked with La Salle t-shirts, mugs, tumblers, sweatpants, polos, and hoodies - you'll be sure to find what you need! Questions? Contact Sonya Froio at sfroio@lasallehs.org or call 626.696.4336
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Amazon Wishlist Plans for the 2020 Crystal Ball are well underway! The Crystal Ball committee is working on every detail to make this an event to remember! With that said, we know it doesn't happen without team work and we need your help! You can contribute by donating items from our Amazon Wish List and earn credit toward your parent hours at the same time. It's quick, easy and fun! To see our 2020 Crystal Ball Wish, please visit www.lasallehs.org/crystalball
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December/January 2020
December/January Highlights December 4 Dress Uniform Liturgy Schedule MADD Parent Association Event 7:00pm Grinstead Theatre December 6 Dollar Dress Day Special Schedule Christmas Tree Distribution 4:00-7:00pm Grass Field Crystal Ball Holiday Party 6:30-9:30pm Sierra Madre Dance Concert 6:00pm Porticos Art Space December 7 Christmas Tree Distribution 9:00am - 12:00pm Grass Field Alumni Adopt-a-Family Gift Wrapping Party with Santa 10:00am - 12:00pm Grinstead Theatre Armory Holiday Sale 9:00am - 12:00pm Art Honor Society Art Show 4:00 pm Blaskeslee Learning Commons December 8 Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Jazz Concert 5:00pm Porticos Art Space December 14 Adopt-a-Family Christmas Party 11:00am Dining Hall Band, Choir, Strings Concert 7:00pm Porticos Art Space December 17-20 Semester Final Exams
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December 20 Snowball Dance 8:00-11:00pm Santa Anita Racetrack December 21 - January 6, 2020 Christmas Vacation January 7, 2020 (Tuesday) Classes Resume Second Semester Begins January 8 CSF/NHS Applications Available (Closes January 14) Spring Sports Parent Meeting 6:00pm Dining Hall January 9 Junior/Senior Parent Reception 6:30pm Dining Hall
LA SALLE COLLEGE PREPARATORY 3880 E. SIERRA MADRE BLVD. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91107-1996 • TELEPHONE 626.351.8951 FACSIMILE 626.351.0275 WWW.LASALLEHS.ORG • LA SALLE PARENTNEWSLETTER
January 10 Rally Schedule Winter Rally January 14 Parent Association Meeting 6:30pm Blakeslee Learning Commons Parent Boosters Meeting 7:30pm Campus Locations January 20 MLK Holiday - No School
IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY EXCEPT JANUARY AND JULY BY LA SALLE COLLEGE PREPARATORY © 2019
• EDITOR, NICOLE CARLOS '12 COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING COORDINATOR TELEPHONE: 626.696.4429 • EMAIL: NCARLOS@LASALLEHS.ORG
January 21 Dress Up Day Academic Awards Senior Retreat leaves after school (Jan 21-23) January 27-31 Catholic Schools Week
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