January 2022 SPRING SEMESTER
C H R I ST IA N B R O T H E R S H IG H S C HO O L
E N T E R T O L E A R N , L E AV E T O SE RV E
FALCON FAMILY NEWS A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL DEAR FAMILIES: Happy New Year and happy World Peace Day! Every year on January 1, beginning in 1968 with Pope Paul VI, the Holy Father marks the World Peace Day with a special message inviting all people to reflect on the important work of building peace. This year’s theme, “Education, work and dialogue between generations: tools for building lasting peace,” resonates deeply for us as Lasallians as we look to the sacred role we hold in touching the hearts and minds of our students who will take their places as the leaders and peacemakers of tomorrow. For our students to be peacemakers for others, they need to experience their own inner peace first. Unfortunately, there is growing concern across the country and in our own CB community over increasing signs of anxiety and unhealthy stress experienced by students. Put simply, it is not easy to be a teenager. One of our key responsibilities is to equip our students with the values and life skills that will allow them to live happy and fulfilling lives in the present, in college, and beyond. With this aim in mind, we have begun gathering data about students’ perception of their lives at the school to see where we can make changes to our school environment that will best serve their health and well-being, while remaining committed to our fundamental Lasallian core principle of Quality Education.
Zoom link: https://stanford.zoom. us/j/91428913064?pwd=aTlUTjZzZFNzSVpKdEQ2YnEyNkZwdz09 Passcode: 133495 (rarely to never needed, we include it just in case) I look forward to seeing many of you there as I wholeheartedly believe that in working together, we can and will, create a healthier, happier, and more educationally enriching environment for our students. Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!
Annemarie Bacich, Ed.M. Principal
Some of the ways we are doing this are through partnering with Challenge Success at Stanford University, and through the Educational Visioning process we began in the fall. We will use the data collected through these initiatives to help our school redefine what success means, underscoring wellness and deeper academic engagement, while remaining rooted in our Lasallian Catholic mission. Please mark your calendars for an important meeting: The WellBalanced Student for CBHS Parents with Jen Coté on Thursday evening, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. for 75 minutes, including Q&A. In a high-stakes, high-pressure culture, parent and school expectations may have unintentional but damaging effects on students. Increasing demands on students may lead to unhealthy stress, resulting in burnout, disengagement, or poor physical and mental health symptoms. This interactive webinar examines the tension that parents, students, and teachers often experience over issues such as homework, grades, and the culture of competition, and offers tools for creating a healthier school climate. We will also be looking at some of the data from the recent Challenge Success Student Survey.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE • Counseling • Athletics • Lasallian Student Life Office
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | WWW.CBHS-SACRAMENTO.ORG
• Media, Visual and Performing Arts • Challenge Success
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COUNSELING Parents, if your child has D’s or F’s on his/her report card, PLEASE READ THIS! As pages 14-15 of the CB Parent-Student Handbook emphasize, ‘D’s’ and ‘F’s’ are bad news on report cards! It is important for you and your student to understand that neither ‘D’s’ nor ‘F’s’ are acceptable. ‘F’ grades must be repeated for credit to graduate from Christian Brothers High School. ‘D’ grades, though worth five credits towards graduation, are not accepted by four-year colleges and universities. All California State University campuses, University of California campuses, and most private institutions require a ‘C’ or above in all core courses (core courses are approved History, English, Math, Lab Science, Foreign Language, Visual and Performing Art, and Elective courses - also known as the “a-g” list of approved courses - see chart below for these requirements). If students have ‘D’s’ on the transcript in any a-g courses and do not remediate them, they are not eligible to apply for admission to CSUs and UCs, and therefore are seriously limiting their choices for college.
above at the end of the spring semester. CSU and UC will “validate” (count as successful) the whole year of a math course or a world language course if the student shows marked improvement the second semester (i.e., goes from a ‘D’ to a ‘C,’ ‘B,’ or ‘A’). Therefore, students have a choice – work very hard this semester in math and/or world language and bring the grade up or repeat it in summer school or next school year to raise the grade. Since a full four years of English is a basic requirement for eligibility to a four-year college, any ‘D’s’ in English should be remediated in the summer. One year of World History is the minimum requirement for eligibility, so students should be sure to have a ‘C’ or above for at least two of the four semesters of Frosh/Soph World History. Any U.S. History ‘D’s’ should also be remediated. Please contact your child’s grade-level counselor if you have questions about remediating grades. If you intend to register for summer school, registration will be available online. Check the CB website in February for more information.
Subject
Requirement for UCs and CSUs
Attention Seniors and Parents
a
Social Science
2 years (1 year World History and 1 year U.S. History or 1 semester U.S. History/1 semester Government)
b
English
4 years, including frequent writing
c
Mathematics
3 years, including Algebra II; 4 years recommended
Please remember to turn in copies of your admission decisions and scholarship letters to Cynthia Grajeda, Melissa McClellan, or April Melarkey in the Counseling Center as you receive them. It is also very important that students update their admission status on Family Connection.
d
Laboratory Science
2 years; 3 years recommended (one must be a life science and the other a physical science)
Sport Passes
e
Foreign Language
2 years (of the same language); 3 years recommended
Sport passes are on sale for the 2021-2022 winter season. They can purchased on the CB website in the Ticket Hub.
f
Visual & Performing Arts
1 year
Holy Hoops
g
College Prepara- 1 year; More recommended tory Electives
If your child would like to keep his/her options open and remain eligible to apply to a four-year college, the Counseling Department highly recommends that he/she remediate (repeat for credit) any ‘D’ grades earned in a-g approved courses. Students may enroll in a variety of classes during the 2022 CBHS Summer School session to remediate a grade. While previous grades are never removed from a student’s transcript, if a student completes the course in summer school with a ‘C’ or above, his/her transcript will reflect the new credits and the new grade will be used when calculating the grade point average. For example, if your child is currently enrolled in Biology and received a ‘D’ the first semester, he/she should consider repeating Biology this summer. If he/she is currently enrolled in a math course or world language course and received a low grade the first semester (D or F), it is important to receive a ‘C’ or
ATHLETICS
The Holy Hoops game against St. Francis is scheduled for Saturday, January 8 at St. Francis. Game times are 3:00 p.m. (JV) and 5:00 p.m. (varsity). Please check the CB website for ticket information.
Holy Court The Holy Court basketball games against Jesuit High School will take place at Christian Brothers on Saturday, January 22. Game times are 3:30 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. Tickets will be available online for Christian Brothers’ families, students, and staff beginning Saturday, January 15. Tickets are $7 each with $1 service charge and are print-at-home. Please check the CB website for ticket information.
Live Streaming Every freshman, JV, and varsity home basketball and JV and varsity home soccer games will be live streamed on the nfhsnetwork.com. The link is also on the CB Athletics web page. You must create a username and password and all games are free, except for the playoffs.
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | WWW.CBHS-SACRAMENTO.ORG
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LASALLIAN STUDENT LIFE OFFICE
MEDIA, VISUAL, AND PERFORMING ARTS
Happy New Year, Falcons! The LSLO rings in 2022 with many exciting January events. Our second semester commences with another charitable drive hosted by our Social Action Leadership Team (S.A.L.T.). In partnership with the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, we humbly ask for new or slightly used jackets to support those in need during these cold and rainy winter months. Designated barrels for your donations will be in the main hallway from January 4 through 7. Thank you, in advance, for your generosity!
Happy 2022, everyone! CB artists had the joy of getting back to the events we love last semester.
Welcome Back In-Person VENAVER After a nearly two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the LSLO is so grateful to welcome back our in-person VENAVER Immersion Program. We have invited students to participate in four different VENAVER trips in 2022: El Paso, Los Angeles, Yakima, and Blackfoot. Three dedicated faculty and staff members, Ms. Anna Fernandez, Mr. Bernie Eckel, and Mr. Manolito Jaldon, will lead 12 student participants on our first VENAVER of the new year, VENAVER, El Paso. From January 9 through 14, Cathedral High School will host our students during their five-day stay in Texas. During this meaningful immersion experience, our CB students will explore various border issues through personal interactions with those invested and educated in the debate, such as the immigrant craftsmen and border patrol. In addition, our 12 participants will cross the Mexican border as another means of developing their own perspective on this complex issue. Please join us in wishing them a safe and enriching experience!
Kairos The LSLO will host our third Kairos Retreat of the year from January 11 through 14. Over 50 seniors will explore their relationships with themselves, others, and God during their final retreat as Christian Brothers students. We pray that, with the support of student and faculty leaders, our Kairos participants will find strength in vulnerability, make amends with their past, and seek to live out our Lasallian Core Principles.
Freshman Retreat Our first Freshman Retreat will take place on January 25 at Sacramento State’s Newman Center. “Becoming,” the lead off experience in CB’s comprehensive retreat program, encourages our freshmen to observe their own goodness and who they are becoming as they navigate high school life. Furthermore, they will explore their connection with the Lasallian community and their new identities as part of the Christian Brothers family. Later in the year, the second half of our freshman class will attend this mandatory retreat. The second semester begins in a big way for the LSLO, ensuring that the New Year will be a very busy, but very joyous one! We wish you all a wonderful and safe 2022!
Open Mic hosted two fantastic events filled with a variety of acts from our talented students. The Choral program sang for sold out Christmas concerts, and the Instrumental students serenaded a full house at their own Christmas concert. The Theatre program ran two weekends of the musical comedy, “Call Me Madam,” and is now looking to the next project, the Lenaea Festival. This is an annual theatre festival held at Folsom Lake College in which high school theatre students from over 60 schools perform monologues, scenes, songs, and one act plays for their peers and theatre professionals. Every year, CB sends its most advanced students as well as a student written one act play. This year’s play is “Questions for the Dinner Table” by Adam Sunderman ’24 and directed by Cooper Davey ’22. You can catch all of the Lenaea performances at the CB Theatre Showcase on Friday, February 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the George Cunningham ’40 Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $5. February also marks the return of the Student Television Network (STN) Convention. Mr. Brendan Hogan ’95 and students involved in our KBFT student broadcasting program will be traveling to Long Beach where they will be competing in a several timed challenges and facing off against student broadcasters from across the country. This semester will also have two Open Mic Nights; our spring play, “The Merry Wives of Windsor;” spring Choral and Instrumental concerts, and the La Salle Art Exhibit, featuring the best works from our visual arts students. We hope you can join us and enjoy all that the arts at CB have to offer!
The Well-Balanced Student for CB Parents & Guardians with Jen Coté from Challenge Success, on Thursday, January 6, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. (75 minutes, including Q&A) In a high-stakes, high-pressure culture, parent and school expectations may have unintentional but damaging effects on students. Increasing demands on students may lead to unhealthy stress, resulting in burnout, disengagement, or poor physical and mental health symptoms. This interactive webinar examines the tension that parents, students, and teachers often experience over issues such as homework, grades, and the culture of competition, and offers tools for creating a healthier school climate. We will also be looking at some of the data from the recent Challenge Success Student Survey. Zoom link: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/91428913064?pwd=aTlUTjZzZFNzSVpKdEQ2YnEyNkZwdz09
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | WWW.CBHS-SACRAMENTO.ORG
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