Dear Parents,

Christmas is coming. If we take a moment

to think about it, Christmas is the reason for being in

our Christian Community. We pray that the message

of the gift that the birth of our Lord at Christmas, the

time that God became one of us, continues to live in

your life throughout the year 2015. May the seniors

find these final months toward May 23, 2015 to be

blessed and faith filled.

In our Catholic Church we prepare for

Christmas starting with the season of Advent and the

new liturgical year. During this special season we take

time to renew our relationship with God. We will give

the students the opportunity to prepare their hearts

with a reconciliation service, scheduled for December

10th.

On Wednesday December 3 at 7 pm in

the Athletic Center, Notre Dame Professor Dr. Brian

Collier will speak on “Save our Schools, Save our

Country, and Save Your Family.” All parents, friends

and students are invited. This will be a humorous

history based lecture which promises to send everyone

home with ideas about how to change their own family

structure. The event is part of the Hesburgh Lecture

Program and is sponsored by the Notre Dame Club of

Los Angeles.

Monday December 8th will be the Damien’s

Tree Lighting ceremony in the quad at 6:30 pm. Come

out to enjoy some early Christmas season celebration

in music and fellowship. This is a tri-school event with

Pomona Catholic and St. Lucy’s.

We will also celebrate the Feast of the

Immaculate Conception on Monday December 8th

with a Student Body Mass during the school day.

Friday December 12th the ASB is

sponsoring their “Ugly Christmas Sweater Dance.”

PrinciPal’s Message

There will be movies, a photo booth, couple and group

pictures, cookies, popcorn hot chocolate and a candy

bar. It will be held in the Activities Center.

Monday December 15 at 7 pm in the Activity

Center Damien and St. Lucy’s High Schools will co-

sponsor a presentation called “Recruiting Realities.”

The intent is to help student-athletes, parents, and

coaches understand the college recruiting process.

Nationally renowned coach, speaker, and author,

Jack Renkens will be the guest presenter. Current and

potential student-athletes, parents, and coaches are

invited.

For your planning during this busy season,

on Wednesday December 17 at 7 pm in the Activity

Center an information night about the International

Baccalaureate Programme will be held. The presenter,

Louis Marchesano, is an experienced IB teacher

who will give an informational evening for parents

and prospective IB students who want to know more

about the IB Programme; This especially significant

for members of the Class of 2018 who could be the

first students taking the program at Damien, pending

our authorization.

Final exams for the first semester will take

place December 16-19 according to the published

schedule. We remind parents that tutoring continues

to be available regularly after school. We have been

making every effort to keep the library open late

Monday-Thursday to accommodate those waiting

for rides, etc. who need a quiet (and warm) place to

study. Unfortunately eighteen weeks’ worth of material

cannot be grasped overnight. It takes a conscientious

effort over the full term for the greatest success.

Just as we prepare for the final semester

for the seniors of 2015, we are making final

preparations for the entering Class of 2019. If you are

Damien High SchoolPa r e n t ne w s l e t t e r

DeceMber 2014

2280 Damien Avenue • La Verne, CA 91750 • 909-596-1946

aware of any candidates for Damien High School in

the fall, there is a special test-taking seminar offered

on Saturday December 13th in preparation for the

Placement Exam on Saturday January 24th. Detail

information is available on the school web site under

the “Prospective Students” tab. We generally entertain

about 330 applicants for an entering class of 260 in

the fall.

For our seniors there are no more

important days than the four days spent on a Kairos

retreat. The next Kairos will take place from January

26th through 29th. There are still openings for the

March (2-5) retreat as well. For Juniors we will offer an

Emmaus Retreat in January (13-14) and March (17-

18). The Emmaus retreats build community and are

an outstanding preparation for the Kairos experience.

So that you can plan to attend, on Tuesday,

January 20 at 7pm in the Activity Center Damien High

School will present The Protectors Program. A group

experienced in addressing issues related to bullying

will be on campus to offer a program for Damien. We

invite parents interested in the topic and supporting

our efforts to eradicate bullying on our campus to the

evening program. Students will have a presentation

during the school day.

We are reminded, when we are thankful,

we give back. We are continuing awareness of the

many on-going service opportunities that are available

to Damien students. Please continue to encourage

your students to become involved in one or more of

the many school sponsored activities this time of the

year. What we want for our students is to experience

the personal fulfillment that comes with looking into

the eyes of those whom they serve.

All Damien clubs are also asked to give

back to the local community in service. Some do CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Damien High School • Parent newsletter De c e M b e r 2014

FroM the counseling DePartMent

ALL STUDENTS: FINAL EXAMS ARE ALMOST UPON US

The Department would like to remind ALL families of the importance of preparing well for the upcoming First Semester Final Examinations. Remember that semester grades become permanent on the students’ academic history.

FRESHMEN & SOPHOMORES:• Instructors will be distributing their Final

Exam Study Guides by next Monday (12/8/14). We encourage all students to take advantage of these study tools in order to make sure they are as prepared as they can be.

• Also, there will be a freshman and sophomore Final Exam Study Hall held Thursday, 12/11, in the Activity Center from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. Teachers from ALL academic departments will be on hand for help and review. Don’t miss this chance.

SENIORS: Your final exams are especially important. Colleges expect you to continue your academic achievement right through graduation. There’s no greater bit of urban legend “out there” than to think you can “take it easy” during your final year.

caroling at convalescent homes at Christmas; others

seek out club-related activities as part of their local

program. When looked at the total picture of service,

Damien students permeate the Pomona Valley giving

back to the community in which we live. We observe

this and we are most grateful for their efforts and for

your support as parents.

On another note, it is useful to mention

that we are now entering the winter season of sport

during which we seemingly have so many contests

with basketball and soccer and wrestling. Ice Hockey

continues its season as well. There are Damien athletic

contests to watch nearly every day of the week except

Sunday. We congratulate our fall sports coaches and

players and pray for continued success in the quest

for excellence this winter season. We are grateful. We

share our talents.

Have a wonderful celebration of the

greatest service and miracle of all, the birth of Jesus.

God Bless,Merritt Hemenway, Ph.D.Principal

calenDarDeceMber:5-9 Winter Play - Our Town

8 2nd Annual Christmas Tree Lighting

10 8th Grade Open House

10 Advent Reconciliation

12 ASB Ugly Sweater Dance

15 Athletic Recruiting Presentation

16 Period 4 Final Exam

17 Periods 1 & 2 Final Exams

18 Periods 3 & 5 Final Exams

19 Periods 6 & 7 Final Exams

20-Jan 4 Christmas Vacation

January:13-14 Emmaus Retreat

19 MLK Jr. Day - No School

26-29 Kairos Retreat

SENIORS - LETTERS OF REC.

If your college application (generally for pri-vate colleges) requires them, you should have requested ALL letters of recommenda-tion both from the faculty and from Mr. Coray (for the School Report or Counselor Evalu-ation) by this time. In fact, the due date for requesting these items was 11/1/14. (Please see pp. 1, 6, and7 in the College Hand-book.) If you still need to talk to teachers or to Mr. Coray, you need to have done that by Friday, December 5th at the LATEST. After December 5th, all bets are off.

FRESHMAN ACADEMIC PLANNING NIGHTS- FEBRUARY 2 & 5

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE CONTINUED:

SENIORS: COMMON APPLICATION REMINDER

From p. 12 of the Processing College Appli-cations Handbook:• If you apply to a Common App School

you must use the Common App. This is the only means by which Damien will send your transcript, school profile, secondary school report, and teacher recommendations to the college. There are no exceptions.

If you apply to a Common App school by a process other than the Common App, we will require you to re-submit your application us-ing the Common App; so please make sure to check carefully whether the colleges to which you are submitting an application use the Common App.

We are looking forward to, the Department’s Freshman Academic Planning Nights either on Monday evening, February 2, or on Thurs-day evening, February 5. Both evenings’ pre-sentations will be held in the Activity Center from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. We host identical/re-peated events so students and parents can choose the option best fitting their schedules and allow us to achieve 100% attendance. We ask students and parents to attend presenta-tions together.

The presentation will include segments on the first semester, upcoming course selection for the sophomore year, and other important top-ics (including an overview of college admis-sions, as early as that sounds!)

We encourage all freshmen and their parents to save the dates!

JUNIORS AND SOPHOMORES: RESULTS FROM NATIONAL TESTING DAY

We are unable to know precisely when the PSAT scores will be sent to us. We generally expect the scores to arrive near or du¬¬ring the Christmas Holiday. Scores will be mailed to families in the new year. Additionally and where available, interpretive guides will be distributed to students in classes in the new year.

SENIORS & SENIOR PARENTS: NAVIANCE DOCUMENT LIBRARY

Senior families are reminded that information distributed at ALL senior presentations can be found online in the Naviance Document Library. These documents contain important information regarding the college application process as well as information regarding the processing of applications, transcripts, and test scores. These documents include the Col-lege Handbook (a copy of which was given to all seniors on August 8th, and a second copy of which was distributed to all senior families at the College Night presentations on August 19th or 20th).

Damien High School • Parent newsletter De c e M b e r 2014

FroM the counseling DePartMent (cont.)

All members of the Damien community are

invited to the Drama Club’s performance of

Our Town. Multiple performances will be held

during the month of December. Ticket pricing

and schedule are as follows:Pasta Dinner and Performance

Dec. 6 & 7: dinner @ 5 PM, show at 5:45 PM

Performance Only

Friday, Dec 5 @ 7 PM

Tuesday, Dec 9 @ 3:30 PM

Presale tickets: $10 (performance ONLY); $15

(dinner and performance)

Non-Presale tickets: $12 (performance ONLY); $20

(dinner and performance)

DAMIEN DRAMA PRESENTS:OUR TOWN BY THORNTON WILDER

DAMIENlHigh Schoo

CAMPUS MINSTRY:UPCOMING RETREATS

Registration for the January retreats is open. Seniors the next Kairos is open and spots are still available. Juniors, it is not too late to register for the Jan-uary Emmaus Retreat. Registration for these retreats will close prior to the Christmas Break. You must register online through the Damien Homepage under the Faith tab and retreat regis-tration. Register ASAP to secure your spot.

Activities to Include:• Sale of Pizza, Hot Chocolate and Desserts to support the Class of 2015’s senior gift • Decorating activities for kids • Christmas carols from Damien’s Band & the Pomona Catholic and St Lucy’s Choirs. • Pictures with Santa!

C

or

Unum Et Anima Un

a

DAMIENHigh School

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS:

Damien High School • Parent newsletter De c e M b e r 2014

conDolences

anthony King ‘63

Please Pray for the deceased members of

the Damien community and their families.

College Athletic Recruiting: Everyone wants to give advice and everyone believes they know all the answers! Finally, a program that does just that! It gives the answers in a straightforward, no nonsense, entertaining 50-minute presentation. Damien and St. Lucy’s Priory High Schools have made an investment as a community to provide our student-athletes and parents with information about playing college athletics. If your son or daughter truly has aspirations to play at the next level, this is a “can’t miss” event. Former college coach and recruiting expert, Jack Renkens has helped thousands of families around the country head down the right path of finding scholarships. Often it’s down a path they didn’t know existed. Any doubts or reservations about attending? Simply check out the Recruiting Realities website at www.recruitingrealities.com.

The True FacTs abouT college recruiTing

Ugly Sweater Dance December 12 at 6:30 to

10:30, in the Damien Activity center. Don’t miss

out on this fun time, there will be a DJ ,photo

booth couples and group pictures, cookies,

popcorn, hot chocolate, a candy bar, a movie

and much more. Get that Ugly Sweater and

come have some fun. Tickets will go on sale

staring December 4. Ticket prices are $20.00

but if you bring a $5.00 toy then $15.00.

UGLY SWEATER DANCE: DEC. 12

For your holiday shopping convenience, the

Student Store will be open special hours

Saturday, December 20th from 9:00 am to 12:00

pm. Choose from a wide variety of items for

the entire family. It’s not too late to add Damien

items to those on your gift list!

STUDENT STORE:HOLIDAY HOURS

CROSS COUNTRYALL LEAGUE HONORS

Congratulations fo the following cross-country runners for earning All

League Honors!

Patrick BruceTim CorveseRyan Tessier

St. Monica’s Guild will be holding it’s annual Christmas Mass and Dinner on Wednesday, December 10th,

6:00pm. We will celebrate mass in the chapel followed by dinner in the Activity Center. Join us for some

holiday fun! The evening will include a catered dinner, wrapped white elephant gift exchange, if you wish to

participate please bring a wrapped gift value between $10 and $15.

ST. MONICA’S GUILD:ANNUAL CHRISTMAS MASS & DINNER

“The Realities of College Athletic Recruiting” - Presented by Jack Renkens Damien HS Activities Center

Monday, December 15, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.

In support of our Damien students Christian Service project, you are invited to also bring an unwrapped toy gift.

The cost for the dinner is $10.00. Please RSVP by emailing lyndacooper100@gmail.com (so we may

get an accurate count for dinner). You may pay at the door or drop off a check at Advancement Office Building 300.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Check

back in January for our New Years’ Resolutions

from the International Baccalaureate office.

IB COORDINATOR’S CORNER