St. Mary's 2022 Fall Magazine

Head Of School: Doug Patterson

Managing Editor: Heather Wilkins

Dear St.Mary’s Community

,

I am really proud to introduce St. Mary’s Fall Magazine. This piece beautifully shares our mission, vision and values. Every magazine tends to have a theme associated with it. This magazine’s theme is balance, and it couldn’t be more appropriate and relevant to where we are in our community, society and world.

We all strive for balance. It is one of the IB Learner Profiles our students, faculty and staff work to embody and demonstrate. Dr. Anderson’s article about cultivating wellness shares with us how we can be more present, have quality relationships with our children and how to find balance. In Ms. Harmon’s article, she announces the glowing NAEYC Accreditation our Early Education Program earned, proving how hard our faculty works to deliver a best in class education for our youngest Falcons. You will read how our leadership works diligently every day to provide a safe and secure campus. This magazine is full of examples where we deliver and seek balance at St. Mary’s.

Our mission continues to ground and guide us: world-sized hearts and world-class minds. That in and of itself is balance. Our parent volunteers demonstrate this every day—with work, life and volunteering. Our PTF has led so many outstanding events already this school year. Thank you parents for serving our school and modeling balance.

Throughout all divisions, our Falcons are learning, acting, playing sports, assuming leadership roles, making friends, challenging each other and more. We are fostering future generations of well-rounded people, and I couldn’t be prouder of our students, faculty and staff.

I hope you will find time this winter to come to campus and experience all St. Mary’s has to offer from the Winter Market to holiday celebrations, classroom gallery walks and more. Enjoy these pages as they are wonderful examples of worldsized hearts and world-class minds in action.

The Board of Trustees is the governing body of St. Mary’s School. Individual members serve as lead advocates of St. Mary’s mission and guardians of its well-being. The Board’s main purposes are to ensure the financial security of the institution, protect St. Mary’s legacy and mission, support the strategic vision and policy positions and hire and support the Head of School.

Board composition reflects the strategic expertise, resources and perspectives — past, present, future — needed to achieve the mission and strategic objectives of the school. As such, the trustees are volunteers from diverse backgrounds within and outside the St. Mary’s parent community. Individual members serve a three-year term and participate in ongoing trustee education, evaluation and board leadership succession  planning. The Board works to ensure all members are actively involved in the work of the Board and its committees. St. Mary’s is grateful for the service and commitment of Keith Buckley, and Jeff Van Hoosear for serving as trustees.

On behalf of the Board and leadership, we are thrilled to welcome Liz Kraninger and Camille Pedigo as trustees.

Liz Kraninger

Liz Kraninger, her husband, Matt and their children Ella (Grade 9), Chris (Grade 7) and Cat (Grade 4) have been at St. Mary’s since 2020. Both Liz and Matt are active volunteers in their community. Liz serves on the St. Mary’s Development and Strategic Planning committees, and Matt has coached 30+ teams in soccer, football and basketball and will be coaching the Grade 7 St. Mary’s boys’ basketball team this season.

Liz joined the St. Mary’s Board of Trustees in May 2022. She has more than 20 years of experience in strategy and management consulting and financial services and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at the TCW Group, a global asset management firm. Liz earned her B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Liz is devoted to her family, friends and a good pickleball game.

St. Mary’s Welcomes Two New Trustees

Camille Pedigo

Camille joined the St. Mary’s Board of Trustees in April of 2022. Camille, her husband Bill, and their two daughters, Kayla (Grade 8) and Kourtney (Grade 5) have been proud members of the St. Mary’s community for the past eight years.

Camille is a Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for Pathway Capital Management, LP, a leading private markets solutions provider with over $85 billion in assets under management. Camille has been with Pathway for over 20 years, helping grow the firm’s business across four offices worldwide. She has been responsible for negotiating hundreds of private market investments for its institutional investors, assisting with her company’s regulatory compliance as an SEC-registered investment advisor and generally advising the firm and its employees on an array of legal matters, including the legal aspects of regulatory, marketing and tax compliance. Camille graduated from the University of San Diego, cum laude, with a double major in economics and political science. She also received her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School where she served as the senior production editor for the Loyola International and Comparative Law Review.

Camille and Bill met in Newport Beach, have raised their family in Orange County and recently celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. Bill has worked as a sports business executive for most of the major Southern California sports teams over the past 20 years and is currently an Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for the Anaheim Ducks and ocV!BE. Camille and Bill place importance on giving back to the community and volunteer as much as they can for various local charities. Camille is also on the Board of Directors for the Filipino-American Humanitarian Foundation, and Bill is on the Board of Directors for the Orange County United Way.

“I really enjoyed the 2022 France Field Study because I got to bond with my classmates who are now my good friends. I liked exploring over 10 different cities in France, learning about different cultures and making memories. It was the highlight of my year.”

2023International Field Studies

by Arturo

Assistant Principal, Middle School

We are thrilled to share St. Mary’s 2023 International Field Studies. As an IB World School, St. Mary’s is always looking for opportunities to apply the concepts taught in classrooms to the world outside our campus. Our International Field Studies provide meaningful, hands-on, extraordinary experiences for our students to gain greater awareness of other communities, people, cultures and themselves. All four trips will take place during Intersession (late March through early April) and are open only to Middle School students.

Interested Middle School students must apply for an International Field Study. Don’t miss out on these transformational experiences!

was such a unique and incredible experience I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. The people, the food, the farm, the animals and the service activities were all outstanding.”

—Lana Khouri, Grade 8 Student

“The Field Study to the Galapagos Islands encourages students to direct their energy into a variety of activities such as environmental conservation, community service and social programs. Students stay on an organic farm and work in an organic greenhouse, take care of cattle and horses, plant seeds and trees, tend to giant tortoises and cooperate with the Science Department of the University of Ecuador in multiple projects. This field study expands education and fosters an intercultural exchange of ideas in addition to the positive, unique and life changing experiences that our students get to experience.”

—Leila Volkmann,

7

Grade

Science Teacher & Galapagos Lead

“I loved the Galapagos trip so much. It

—Margaux De Allen, Grade 8 Student

Valdez

Balancing Arts: One Season at a Time

After a phenomenal spring season, the Arts Department and Falcon Theatre Company are thrilled for all that is to come this arts season. In December, we will see our Arts students showcase their work at the inaugural St. Mary’s School Winter Market. A lineup of performances will include our Middle School Band and String Ensembles, our St Mary’s Christmas Carolers, The Falcon Dance Ensemble and the premier of our first Falcon Theatre Company Fall Play, A Christmas Carol. We will also have several gallery tents showcasing our Middle and Lower School Visual and Media artwork, including student photography, commercial art projects, immersive artwork and the St. Mary’s School Christmas card submissions.

by Rob Warren Director of the Arts

St. Mary’s Parents Arts Alliance

An additional highlight this fall has been the formation of the St. Mary’s Parent Arts Alliance. The St. Mary’s Parent Arts Alliance is a group of parents dedicated to stimulating creative and enriching Arts opportunities throughout the school community. They serve by providing support, promotion, education and advocacy for the arts in consultation with St. Mary’s School Director of the Arts and Arts Faculty.

The Arts Alliance envisions a school community that invests in creative and enriching Arts opportunities with our city, state, county, national and international partners to explore creative pathways for integrating the arts into the curricular and co-curricular framework of the school’s mission.

With 35 members, this parent body will truly enhance and support our St. Mary’s Arts Program while helping enrich our student Arts experiences. If you are interested in becoming a member of the St. Mary’s Parent Arts Alliance or have any questions about this year’s Arts season please contact Rob Warren, Director of the Arts at rob.warren@smaa.org.

Here is a guide to all the goings-on this year in our 2022-23 Arts Season. You’d do well not to miss them!

Balancing Arts:

One Season at a Time

Arts in Action

Within the PYP and MYP Arts curriculum, students have been engaged in a variety of units and creative projects investigating different arts movements and genres in Music, Dance, Theatre, Visual Arts and Media Arts. Students have been engaged in developing the necessary skills and processes to present and create artwork for a range of audiences while also learning how to appraise their artwork or performances to enhance it further.

Students in K-8 have reflected upon their own development as artists and why studying the arts is important in an IB education. Students are learning how the Arts reflect our history, traditions, cultures and ourselves. The Arts allow us to dive deep into different topics, emotions, and they provide the opportunity to reflect on who we are and what we believe in. While studying the Arts, students develop life skills, motor skills, language skills and social skills like decision-making, risk taking, empathy and inventiveness just to name a few. The following highlights capture what our Middle and Lower School students have been exploring this fall.

Middle School Media Arts Highlights

• Grade 6 has been creating analog animations and becoming familiar with the concept of persistence of vision.

• Grade 7 students have been examining how technology has changed our experiences of viewing a moving image by creating digital loop animations through praciscopes and gifs.

• Grade 8 Media Arts students have had a deep dive into photography creating a series of photos where they can connect conceptually with an artist’s intent. This is an introduction to cinematography and film.

Middle School Dance

• Grade 6 recently finished an origins study looking at dances from around the world based on their personal connections to them through their own points of origin.

• Grade 7 students are crafting movement studies based on the relationship between color and emotion. They have created and performed two short movement solos in opposition to one another based on these opposing categories of color.

• As part of their Dance as Narrative Unit, Grade 8 students have constructed solos and group pieces based on either character deconstruction or plot abstraction of a known “winter” story of their choice.

Middle School Visual Arts Highlights

• Grade 6 has been studying the elements and principles of design and using one- and two-point perspectives to develop pictures using line techniques and values.

• Grade 7 students have been studying watercolors by creating a sampler and doing a self study of artists to inspire their own work.

• Grade 8 students have been looking at form versus function and the artist’s intent over the product’s function. Students are creating consumer art to be displayed and/or purchased at the Winter Market.

Middle School Theatre & Instrumental Music

• Grade 7 has been inquiring into how understanding their own identity can innovate new work and express new roles. Students have created original performances by looking into their own family heritage, their interests and beliefs.

• Grade 8 Theatre students have been exploring the craft of improvisation by learning the necessary skills to perform TheatreSports™. Student improvisation provides avenues for play, creativity and innovation that extend beyond the boundaries of the stage to everyday life.

• Middle School Instrumental Music students have been developing their techniques and honing their musicianship while working on a repertoire of holiday music for performance during the upcoming Winter Market.

Fall Round Up: Lower School Visual Arts

• Kindergarten has been exploring numbers and the ways artists such as Charles Demuth (“The Figure 5 in Gold”) and Jasper Johns (“0 through 9”) have used numbers strategically to tell a story. Students have created two number-inspired, mixed-media pieces.

• Grade 1 students have discussed the ways Picasso used shapes in an exciting way (Cubism) in art and the way Matisse painted like a wild beast using unusual colors (Fauvism) and symbols in his creations. We explored the relationship between these artists. Students produced wax-resist “Fauve Leaf” paintings, inspired by Matisse and “Good Witch and Wizard Collages” inspired by the works of Picasso.

• Grade 2 students are currently working on “Family Quilt Sections” after reading “Tar Beach” by American quilt artist Faith Ringgold (the book tells the story of her family, as she was growing up in New York City.) Students are telling their own family stories in imaginative ways using mixed media to produce an individual, paper-based quilt section.

• Grade 3 students have looked at the repetitive patterns evidenced in Escher’s intricately designed tessellations and also reviewed the works of William Morris who used repetitive designs for fabrics/textiles. Students invented individual repeat designs using a variety of media, which could be inspirational for use as the board of a board game.

• Grade 4 students are currently in the final stages of creating three dimensional “visages,” which depict their individual personalities through naturalistic or abstract modeling and painting techniques.

• Grade 5 students have completed work on mixedmedia pieces inspired by the works of Andy Warhol and Wayne Thiebaud, depicting either processed or fresh food.

Fall Round Up: Lower School Music

• Kindergarten students have been exploring the idea that rhythm is an organized sound represented by symbols. They have also been singing songs and playing rhythm instruments.

• Grade 1 students have been exploring how music is similar to a map. One way is with symbols that represent different lengths of sound and silences that come together to form rhythms. They also created musical maps using rhythms. They made symbols to represent different instruments to play along with a song of their choice.

• Grade 2 students have explored their opinions about various types of music and why people might feel differently about each one. They also worked on developing a deeper understanding of how many beats can go in a measure of music and how to count them.

• Grade 3 students have been exploring game songs and how they teach us skills and cooperation. They are now working on playing piano.

• Grade 4 students just completed a design thinking project where they designed a study tool for fellow students to work on memorizing pitches and counting rhythms. They are now designing their own instruments.

• Grade 5 brass and woodwind players have been exploring how to read music and using proper skills and techniques to play their chosen instruments. They are working on playing simple songs with their new skills. Grade 5 Treble Makers have been exploring compositions and wrote two using two different forms and two different meters.

Falcon Pride: Student Athletes

“Athletics is a great opportunity to try new sports and make new friends other than just in school. It’s unique because we develop more teamwork when working as a team and we develop new life skills.”

—Briggs Colburn, Grade 6

“I play to be healthy and to have an after-school activity where I can make new friends and try new things. It’s important to help show that our school is a very good community when it comes to athletics.”

—Dashel (Dash) Brown, Grade 6

by Dustin Mittelsteadt Director of Athletics

The hype surrounding Falcon Athletics is something that can be seen and felt throughout St. Mary’s campus. With over 155 student athletes participating in athletics this fall, blue and gold are everywhere at St. Mary’s. The excitement and pride are in the air on game days! Students, faculty, staff, parents, cheerleaders and athletes are all dedicated to representing their school and showing their Falcon Pride.

The fall athletics season ended on some extremely high notes with two football teams winning their league championship. Our Mountain B football (Grades 5-6) put their stamp on a 10-0 season! All teams dominated with their ability to play the right way – having fun and showing true sportsmanship.

Girls’ volleyball rocked the house with our Falcons fielding six robust teams, including two new teams of Grade 5 students who were eager to begin their tenure in PAL. Every athlete, whether on the field or the court, grew as an individual and a teammate and kept our amazing Falcon spirit alive and well.

Lastly, how about our cheer and song teams! We had two outstanding cheer teams this fall. One, being our spirit team, a group of 25 cheerleaders who took the field to support our sports teams. Another, our competition cheer team, led our school during our Cancer Awareness Program. Finally, our song team has been working extremely hard during their Middle School Discovery blocks to get ready for its first competition.

With winter sports quickly approaching, it is time to change uniforms and gear! From the hot field to the cool afternoons, lacrosse is ready to take off! In the gym we will be warming it up with basketball practice. We are looking forward to getting athletes out there and competing in one of the strongest leagues in South Orange County.

Every week in the Falcon Flyer our entire community can follow our team scores.

Jog-A-Thon

With Healthy Heart Awareness Month taking place in February, it is a great time to run in our annual Jog-A-Thon! This year, we will be using an online platform to collect pledges, allowing friends and family near and far to support their Falcon. The Jog-A-Thon is an exciting day to promote physical fitness and build school spirit while raising funds that support our extensive athletic programs. This event actively involves our students and allows them to share a sense of pride and accomplishment by contributing their own “sweat equity” to improving their school.

We have been able to purchase new uniforms, scoreboards and most recently, our Falcon Athletic Network equipment to live stream our athletic events. Two items we are raising money for this year are headphones and mics for our Falcon Athletic Network team.

by Shelly Harmon Head of Early Education

Balancing the Heart and Mind In Early Education

– Generation Mindful

One can hope and dream that the next generation will be named Gen M, short for generation mindful. St. Mary’s Early Education Program is taking steps towards this goal. We have implemented a new social-emotional curriculum in all our EEP classrooms called just that, Generation Mindful. Timeouts are a thing of the past and are associated with punitive and disciplinary measures. They do little to motivate a child or to help them learn how to recover from an unfavorable situation. In EEP we see “poor choices” or “poor behaviors” as learning opportunities. Our goal is to provide our students with a secure and nurturing environment where children feel connected and safe to make mistakes. This is when the best learning happens.

The first step in supporting our children when dealing with strong emotions is shifting from controlling to connecting with our children. At school, we have identified and created a Calming Corner in each classroom. This space includes components from the Generation Mindful Time-In ToolKit, which helps children learn how to name, regulate and navigate their feelings while building skills that promote lifelong well-being. We also include materials for the children to use as they learn calming strategies. These materials include squeeze balls, calm down jars, crayons and paper, books, puzzles, pop-its, fidgets and SnuggleBuddies. Once the child has calmed, we can then take advantage of the teachable moment and work with them.

Now that the children have used this space successfully, the Calming Corner has become such a part of the classroom landscape that children seek it for needed quiet time during the day. With all the tools and language around regulating emotions, friends also become well-versed in helping each other through their big feelings. They intervene when they see friends who are sad or angry. They work the tools together. The Calming Corner becomes a place of soothing, health and empathy. This curriculum is a wonderful way to make a home-to-school connection. If you would like to use it at home, visit genmindful.com.

Early Education Program Achieves NAEYC Accreditation

The Early Education Program voluntarily participated in a comprehensive process of internal self-study and continuous quality improvement, which culminated with a two-day, on-site visit in March 2022. In May 2022, we received our NAEYC Accreditation Decision Report and were overjoyed to be awarded a five-year accreditation term with an impressive passing score of 97.82%.

As an NAEYC Accredited facility, we are committed to offering a high-quality program, providing a safe and nurturing environment while promoting healthy development of young children. This is demonstrated through meeting the 10 NAEYC Early Learning Program Standards, which are research-based best practices for young children’s development and learning. According to these standards, we are committed to the following:

1. To promote positive relationships for all children and adults to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth.

2. To implement a curriculum that fosters all areas of child development: cognitive, emotional, language, physical and social.

3. To use developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching practices

4. To provide ongoing systematic, formal and informal assessment tools to provide information on children’s learning and development.

5. To promote the nutrition and health of children and protect children and staff from illness and injury.

6. To employ and support a teaching staff with the educational qualifications, knowledge and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and to support our families’ diverse needs and interests.

7. To establish and maintain collaborative relationships with each child’s family to foster children’s development in all settings.

8. To establish relationships with and use the resources of the children’s communities to support the achievement of program goals.

9. To provide a safe and healthful physical environment

10. To implement policies, procedures and systems that support stable staff, strong personnel and fiscally responsible program management, so all children, families and staff have high-quality experiences

Our NAEYC Accreditation is a great supplement to our outstanding PYP IB Programme in the Early Years. The standards, values and philosophies align to make for a unique, comprehensive program based on relationships and best practices.

What if “Stop crying” turned into “I’m listening” for an entire generation?

Founder’s Day

The St. Mary’s School Founder’s Day celebration on September 30 was a huge success! We had over 500 community members come together and celebrate our Founder, Father Sillers, with food, music, fellowship and community service. Some of the event highlights included students and families creating heartfelt cards for local nonprofits to deliver to the populations they serve; the very popular cakewalk, which created a buzz for many students with over 75 cake donations enjoyed by the winners; and interactive games and activities for all ages.

PTF Welcome Back Coffee

On Friday, September 9, The Parent Teacher Fellowship (PTF) Board hosted a Welcome Back Coffee to kick off the new school year. Our Falcon community enjoyed reconnecting with friends, meeting new people and learning about volunteer opportunities on and off campus. We have over 75 different ways to volunteer with hundreds of volunteer opportunities, and we loved seeing most of them filled that day!

St. Mary’s Gala 2023

Saturday March 25, 2023

Balboa Bay Resort

Our annual Gala is a significant fundraising event for our school. More than 300 guests rally together to raise more than $300,000 every year for St. Mary’s. This event not only raises contributions for key programs and offerings that enhance our school but also is an opportunity to come together and celebrate our community.

We encourage all families to attend and enjoy a wonderful night with their fellow Falcon parents. Stay tuned to hear the theme for this year!

St. Mary’s is a special place. It is made up of a team of educators and families working together to provide learning opportunities that allow our students to cultivate their world-sized hearts and world-class minds. With a vision of preparing and inspiring our students for their future, we remain steadfast in this journey. One of the many ways our community comes together is through gifts of support to our school. Giving back to St. Mary’s allows our leaders and educators to say yes…. for our students.

Our strategic initiatives give us the avenues to fulfill our mission and vision. The generosity of our families shows us that together, we can do great things. Our current campus spaces and innovative programs are the direct result of families who came before us and believed in our dream for St. Mary’s School.

There are many opportunities to support the St. Mary’s Community. Here are some ways our families and friends can do so this year.

Capital Giving

Periodically, St. Mary’s will embark on a capital campaign with the goal of reshaping our learning spaces or building long term endowment. In the spring of 2017, we launched the Imagine More Campaign. This transformational campaign brought us the Bhathal Merage Academic Center, Green Family Commons, Bauer Arts Wing, Purcell Family Science and Technology Wing

Giving Back

At St. Mary’s

Annual Giving

Arts

Athletics

St. Mary’s Fund

Scan here to learn more about our St. Mary’s Fund and how to support this crucial program.

Academic Programs Faith Development Faculty Professional Development Science, &Technology Innovation

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We are extremely thankful for giving our children the opportunity to attend St. Mary’s School. Everyone is very professional, kind, considerate and helpful. It is a beautiful experience for all of us. We are grateful to the families who help children, like mine, attend this wonderful school. Their generosity and this scholarship will help my children have a better education, a better future and a better life.

The St. Mary’s Scholar Program

The St. Mary’s Fund is the single most important priority for our school. If you make one gift to the school each year, please make it to the St. Mary’s Fund. Each year, the school depends on gifts from the St. Mary’s Fund to support, enhance and impact every aspect of a St. Mary’s education. The funds are put to work immediately each year and directly support our Strategic Pillars and our beloved programs. Our St. Mary’s Fund launched in October and runs throughout the year and significantly supports six important areas of our school:

— Parent of a St. Mary’s Student, Recipient of the Scholar Program

Launched in 2019 by a generous St. Mary’s family, our Scholar Program provides access to our unique learning environment for students who otherwise would not be able to attend our school. The program offers full support in every aspect of school life. From tuition to athletics to arts and our field study program, our scholar students are fully immersed in a St. Mary’s experience. Through these scholarships, we see first hand how a child’s life can change, as well as our greater school community.

Passport to Positive Behavior

During the first few weeks of every school year, I always make sure to schedule a visit to each homeroom class. As the Head of Lower School, these visits are valuable because they give me the opportunity to get to know the students in their classroom environment, and it also gives them the chance to know a little about their Principal. During my time in each classroom, I always ask the students to share with me what they think the job of a Principal is. I usually hear answers like, “You take care of the people in the school” and “Kids who are bad are sent to your office.” But sooner or later one of the students will usually say something like, “Your job is to keep people at school safe.” “Yes!” I say back to them. “That’s a huge part of my job, but it’s also a job that ALL of us at St. Mary’s—teachers, students, families—do together.”

I go on to remind them that St. Mary’s has a stellar reputation as a school with a close-knit community and students who are kind and caring. But this doesn’t just happen on its own. To establish and maintain a culture and climate that is physically, emotionally and socially safe, we have to be intentional. Our community has to have a common goal and common language to create an environment where everyone feels safe, secure, respected and valued.

The way we do this at St. Mary’s is by adhering to our school’s Code of Conduct. Our Code of Conduct is a set of positively stated, school-wide behavior expectations not only for our students, but for all stakeholders at our school. These expectations focus on three areas of respect: Respect Yourself. Respect Others. Respect the Environment. Our Code of Conduct states that for each of us as school stakeholders to exercise our rights, it is necessary for us to acknowledge our individual responsibilities. For example, when looking at respecting others, we might say: We all share the right to be physically and emotionally safe and healthy; therefore, we have the responsibility to honor and preserve the safety of others.

Our Code of Conduct is the foundation for the culture of respect, kindness and caring found at our school. However, for it to be effective, our students need to be aware of what our Code of Conduct states, and they need to know what it means to respect themselves, others and the environment. This is partially accomplished by classroom discussions between teachers and students, as well as having Code of Conduct posters mounted around our campus.

One of the most effective ways we have of informing our students of our school’s expectations is through issuing all our students a passport at the beginning of the school year. This Positive Behavior Passport not only lays out our Code of Conduct, but also gives students specific examples of what it means to respect themselves, others and the environment in a variety of different environments on the St. Mary’s campus. These essential agreements are clearly and positively stated and ensure that students know exactly what it looks like to follow the Code of Conduct in places like hallways, the gymnasium, bathrooms, the playground, the IB Hub and more.

During the first week of the school year, our teachers tour the campus with their students discussing with them how to show respect in each of the different areas. As they do so, the students stamp or initial each page of their passport indicating they know and will follow the conduct expectations. Finally, each student takes their passport home to share with their parents. The students and parents both sign the completed Positive Behavior Passport showing they understand and agree with the essential agreements listed. Throughout the school year, teachers and students will occasionally revisit the passport to review and clarify the ways in which we are all working together to create a campus climate of respect and kindness.

St. Mary’s is made up of a wonderful and eclectic mix of students, teachers, staff and families who all strive to live and learn together in a respectful way that is mutually beneficial for all. Following our school’s Code of Conduct is one very effective way all members of our school community are able to achieve this goal.

For more information about the Code of Conduct and Lower School behavior expectations at St. Mary’s, go to the LS Resource Board and click on Positive Behavior Support Policy.

School Positive Behavior Passport

by Tom Spence Head of Lower School

Lower

Our Code of Conduct is the foundation for the culture of respect, kindness and caring found at our school.

Aligning with the work of Daniel Pink, in his book Drive, the IB MYP framework fosters a culture of learning by promoting purpose, autonomy and mastery, the core principles of motivation and engagement. Highlighted here are just some of the incredible ways St. Mary’s Middle School is using these core principles to extend Learning Beyond the Middle.

When students are genuinely interested in and curious about what they are learning, they have purpose. Purpose is knowing why they are doing something and gives students a reason to engage and do their best.

The IB framework and the purposeful experiences and projects designed within it engage students in a way that challenges them academically, extending beyond mere acquisition of discrete facts and disciplinary knowledge. This type of work prepares our students beyond the typical Middle School experience by setting a clear purpose, so they can develop and use knowledge and skills with depth and intentionality.

When Grade 8 students studied the concept of immigration, they took their learning beyond the text and created a podcast to capture the immigration stories of individuals in our community. Although they were engaged in the process of inquiring into non-fiction texts, learning how to interview primary sources and writing scripts for their podcast, what drove them to excel was the “why” of their learning. They were immersed in an exciting, real-world application of sharing someone’s universal story of overcoming hardship to inspire greater empathy and open mindedness.

Another aspect of motivation and engagement is that of autonomy. Students who are autonomous over aspects of their learning experience increased motivation and learning outcomes. However, without high academic expectations or higher-order thinking, student autonomy alone won’t produce the productive struggle that yields better outcomes.

Striking the chord of high expectations and personal autonomy, Grade 7 Language and Literature students craft realistic fiction stories that honor voice, choice and self-direction. Students use their own lives as inspirations along with the narrative writing ideation process to create story ideas that resonate and connect with who they are. Students are the decision makers, writers, editors and authors in this process deciding the themes and messages they want to communicate through their stories. This approach to writing goes beyond responding to contrived prompts as students grapple with the complexities of effectively telling narrative stories. The deep critical thinking and analysis of this approach to writing sets students up for success because it inspires them to produce original work that is of interest to them while incorporating the targeted skills.

by Rebecca Zipprich & Head of Middle School

Jillian Kearney Middle Years Programme Coordinator

Learning Beyond The Middle

The last element of motivation and engagement is mastery, which is the urge to continually improve at things that matter. The cyclical, ongoing process of mastery development demonstrates to our students that they must visit and then revisit content through the lens of feedback received.

At St. Mary’s, we believe that developing future-ready students requires us to take Learning Beyond the Middle.

In Middle School Science, students progress through a familiar and repeated construct to improve mastery – the lab report. Students engage in varied hands-on experiments and are tasked with communicating their results, modeled after how scientists may share their findings in the real world. Teachers provide feedback on these reports, formatively and summatively, allowing students to make significant improvements over time.

Students learn that the skills introduced in Grade 6 and further developed in Grade 7 are building towards mastery in Grade 8. Throughout the program, students engage in intellectually challenging projects that purposefully pair with labs and investigations. Recently in Grade 8, students used their practical knowledge of speed, velocity and force to design persuasive presentations about a form of transportation, convincing their audience how and why this form of transport is relevant, efficient and beneficial today. These types of projects integrate the outcomes of learning for mastery as students synthesize their skills across a variety of experiences in the class. When students are given the opportunity to develop mastery in important and relevant skills, engagement and motivation increases.

These are just a few of the ways in which we encourage Learning Beyond the Middle. What makes St. Mary’s unique is how we design intellectually rigorous learning experiences that challenge our students to go above and beyond standard expectations of what school should be. By creating environments and curriculum for purpose, autonomy and mastery, we are preparing our students to thrive in whatever context they find themselves as future-ready graduates.

by Dr. Carmen Anderson School Counselor

Fresh air, social gatherings, face to face contact, live conversations and shared experiences. It seems as though we’re breathing more easily and a little more deeply as we reconnect. Living in Southern California affords limitless opportunities for us and our children, so how do we take advantage of said opportunities to cultivate wellness? Let’s take a look at how we as parents can help our children thrive and what we do as a school to help students become their best selves.

How Do We Cultivate Wellness as a School?

The PTF hosts a Parent Education Series where speakers are selected based on parent input and key topics relevant to our community. Each speaker will offer a 45-minute virtual webinar with a Q&A session after their engaging presentation.

A link to join the presentation will be sent out the week of the event. Please plan on joining the following sessions.

Wednesday, February 8, 6pm

Throughout the school year, we encourage children to take risks and expect mistakes will be made. Cultivating wellness shouldn’t be equated with an absence of struggle. This applies in the classroom as well as socially. If children are completely protected all the time, they won’t have an opportunity to learn their own strength. You have to stumble before you can pick yourself back up. The wonderful thing about St. Mary’s is there are many caring adults on campus who guide students through this process and understand everyone can learn something during trying times. If your child is excluded or picked on, they may need help to develop an assertive voice or find friends who treat them the way they deserve to be treated. If your child struggles with impulse control, they may need to identify tools that will help with self management skills. These “soft skills” are what teachers work on daily in the classroom. They are what Pastor Mark, Mr. Camargo and I teach during Chapel, Community and Character Education.

EEP starts each day with Circle Time, Lower School begins the day with Morning Meetings and Middle School has Advisory. Each of these structures has been put in place to create safety, grow students’ sense of community and highlight faculty/staff availability for students. Academics are important, but learning is significantly more effective when students feel safe enough to take risks and are known. Being well means embracing our strengths and weaknesses and feeling confident enough to try things that may expose our weaknesses.

fall he swore off public speaking. Then, lo and behold, he earned the honor of addressing a large crowd at graduation! His confidence and wit hid any apprehension he may have been experiencing as he addressed the crowd that evening. Luke is just one example of a student who was pushed outside their comfort zone and has gone on to do great things.

Another way we cultivate wellness is by teaching kids conflict resolution skills. Whether students have different opinions about what to play at recess, while tackling a group project or when they struggle to navigate friendships, conflict resolution happens on a daily basis. Our teachers are skilled at modeling for children how to communicate when their feelings are hurt. They encourage students to look at situations from multiple perspectives, and they give students permission to calm down and take a break if that is necessary. We also understand kids won’t always get it right especially after having been out of practice the last couple years. Sometimes they make choices that cause us to wonder if they’ve been listening at all, but then we take a step back and remember their prefrontal cortex is still under construction, and it all makes sense! So then we ask students to reflect on their missteps, take accountability for their actions and do their best not to repeat the mistake, all while understanding learning requires lots of repetition.

Wednesday, April 19, 6pm

Emotional Lives of Boys’ Self-Concepts, Peer and Parent Relationships and Emotional Learning

At St. Mary’s we’re constantly looking to develop students’ potential. Sometimes we see promise in them they don’t yet see in themselves. Our 2021-22 Legacy Award winner, Luke Friedl, spoke during last year’s graduation about how he was pushed to apply to be an Ambassador even though that was outside his comfort zone. After having given a speech at Open House last

We can’t forget about fun! EEP and Lower School movie nights and Middle School socials have returned. Sports, MUN and Theatre productions are up and running. Field trips and Field Studies are back. These experiences form some of our students’ fondest memories. Encourage your children to find their passions and get involved. In closing, cultivating wellness requires you as parents and us as educators to stay open minded and reassess if what we’re doing is working. Wellness shouldn’t be equated with perfection or a lack of struggle because beauty is often born out of struggle. Mistakes will be made, but they provide opportunities for growth. Let us continue this year with open hearts and minds, a continued sense of responsibility to care for one another and gratitude for opportunities to create memories as members of this wonderful community.

Barb Steinberg, LMSW Raising Girls’ Self Esteem and Friend Dynamics

Michael Reichert, Ph.D

Cultivating Social Emotional Wellness

QUALITY TIME

This is a no brainer, but it’s important to spend quality time with your children. Quality time to you might mean something different than it means to them, so ask. It doesn’t include driving kids from one activity to another. I’ve heard countless times from parents that they spend hours in the car each week with their children shuttling them around from one place to another. While that is certainly one of the responsibilities that comes along with parenting, it is not synonymous with quality time. Quality time means participating in an activity of your child’s choosing while giving them your undivided attention. By doing this you’re showing your child you value their opinions and enjoy spending time with them for who they are, not what they’re accomplishing. Your willingness to put down your phone or step away from your computer shows them they’re a priority, and this kind of focused attention cultivates wellness.

WHAT ARE YOU INTERESTED IN?

Another way to develop emotionally healthy, well-rounded children is to foster their interests, not your interests for them. Cultivating wellness means seeing your children for who they are and who they want to become. All too often children have talents that may not match the thing they’re most passionate about, but wellmeaning parents push the talent believing it will go to waste if it’s not used. That may be true, but this is where it’s important to ask what you want for your child. Ideally, giving them freedom to follow their passions at a young age will give them the space to discover talents that will lead to success later on. Give your child permission to explore and try new things while they still have the opportunity to do so. There will be plenty of time later to specialize in one area of interest.

How Can We Cultivate Wellness

As Parents?

ARE YOU HAPPY?

Finally, take a moment to ask yourself if your child seems happy. Sometimes we get so caught up running from one thing to the next, we forget to stop and ask if the way we’ve organized our lives is still working. We overlook the fact that we have a choice to stop and change direction if necessary. I encourage you to stop and take inventory of whether or not your children are well.

Student Life Balancing:

World-Sized Hearts & World-Class Minds Outside the Classroom

Service in Action

ASB philanthropic efforts promoted Cancer Awareness during the month of October through fundraising. They designed and sold Cancer Awareness shirts to raise funds to donate to the American Cancer Society. ASB looks to our St. Mary’s community to help donate eight inches or more of their hair to benefit children with hair loss. All these efforts culminate in an assembly where our community gathers to celebrate the successes of those with cancer, honor the memory of those lost to cancer and provide support to those battling cancer and their family and friends.

Our philanthropic efforts don’t just stop in October but continue over the holiday season with the sponsoring of Community Candy Canes. This is a community outreach event where EEP through Grade 8 adopt a cause from Thomas House of Garden Grove to the Southwest Community Center of Santa Ana. Students learn about the causes they are sponsoring and understand the organizations that are trying to meet a specific need from tending to seniors to feeding those who are food insecure.

St. Mary’s prides itself on its powerful and tangible sense of community. A critical component is our vibrant student life not only in the classroom but outside of it. Our school is bursting with opportunities for students to foster community through our curriculum, serving others and stepping up to be leaders.

Houses

When students, faculty and staff are new to Middle School, they are inducted into one of the four mighty houses: Africa, Asia, Europe or South America. Each house has its own identity shaped by a mascot, color, chants and song. Students and their fellow teachers gather several times a semester to compete in House games to see who in the end will carry the championship cup trophy. A competition could entail students wrapping up their teacher like a mummy or attempting to decorate their House Christmas tree while wearing oven mitts! The House games foster camaraderie and healthy competition while uniting our entire Middle School.

Lower School Community

In Lower School student activities are shaped through Community Enrichment where on most Fridays we gather to learn about an IB profile while fostering community. During Community Enrichment, students interact with their buddies—an older Lower School student paired with a younger student —to strengthen bonds and connections across grades. Depending on the IB profile, students could explore how to

Student Leaders

be more reflective by conducting their own self assessment or how to be more of an inquirer by asking more questions.

In spring, EEP has an opportunity to partner with Middle School students during the Week of the Young Child to participate in a variety of activities celebrating children.

All this helps foster our students’ worldsized hearts and world-class minds by providing a variety of opportunities and experiences that enrich not only their lives but our community as a whole.

Student life in Middle School stems from many student led activities. ASB—our student elected governing body—is largely responsible for shaping the culture of Middle School outside the classroom through events, including pep rallies, philanthropy, socials and House games. These student leaders spend months preparing for more than 40 activities throughout the school year. St. Mary’s student-run pep rallies provide an opportunity to

by Marco Camargo Student Activities Coordinator

celebrate not only our athletic accomplishments but also our many extra curricular achievements such as Model United Nations and more. In addition to ASB, our Ambassadors play a critical role in serving as liaisons to prospective students and their families. Ambassadors will often facilitate the transition of new students into our community by advising them and being present when they need support.

Language Acquisition Comprehensible Input

“I had Spanish for a few years in high school, but I don’t remember any of it!” How many of you have had a similar experience to this?

What is St. Mary’s doing to enhance language acquisition for your students?

At St. Mary’s, we are dedicated to improving our students’ language acquisition skills through research-based methods using comprehensible input. Dr. Stephen Krashen is a linguist and educational researcher who coined the “comprehensible input.”

This just means having “meaningful interaction in the target language.”

Over 40 years of research has proven that traditional memorization of vocabulary lists and verb conjugation is not the best way for most students to learn a language. Rather, students learn best by making second language acquisition as natural as possible.

by Señora Lucy Foerster and Señorita Amy Reede Language Acquisition Teachers

Señora Foerster (K-2 Spanish) and Señorita Reede (3-5 Spanish) work together to create a curriculum built on comprehensible input that aligns with the IB units of inquiry and guidelines from WordReadiness Standards for Language Learning (www.actfl.org) from Kindergarten through Grade 5.

One of the ways comprehensible input shows up in their classrooms is by ensuring they are speaking in the target language at least 90% of the time in a way that can be comprehended using vocabulary, high frequency grammar structures and gestures. Then they create new opportunities for students to engage in the target language through different strategies like singing songs, building a story together, playing games and many other methods to expose them to the target language. All of this exposure leads students to acquire language and increase motivation to continue learning.

Our hope is for our students to leave our classrooms saying, “I had so much fun learning Spanish today! I can’t wait to learn more.”

Our Spanish classes are just the first step in creating lifelong learners with world-sized hearts and worldclass minds.

by Adrienne Bononi Director of Technology and Innovation

Making Our Classrooms More Interactive

As part of a multi-year classroom upgrade, St. Mary’s School is outfitting classrooms with interactive display boards called BenQ Boards. Designed for active engagement and participatory learning, BenQ Boards provide new methods of content delivery and open up unique opportunities for teaching and learning experiences.

BenQ Boards provide teachers with a versatile range of resources for effective teaching. In addition to easy navigation and a userfriendly interface, the boards integrate with Google Workspace and provide easy access to teachers’ own files as well as key Google tools including docs, slides, etc. There is a scalable whiteboard that lets teachers zoom in on important details, zoom out for the whole picture and add more pages as needed. The boards include countless backgrounds and templates for targeted and subject-specific instruction. Whiteboarding sessions can be saved and shared with students to reference or revisit.

BenQ Boards provide a truly interactive classroom experience. Dynamic lessons support learning retention and active engagement. Up to 20 students can wirelessly connect to the board and up to 20 interactive touchpoints. Students can also independently navigate the whiteboard at their own pace.

In addition to the host of educational features, BenQ Boards support a healthy learning environment by providing germ-resistant screens and pens, anti-glare screens with low blue light and flick-free technology to reduce eye strain to create a comfortable viewing experience. St. Mary’s plans to roll out the boards throughout the school over a three-year period. Teachers in several divisions have already received their boards and are reaping the benefits.

“The

Adam Goehle, MS Technology Design Teacher

“I

St. Mary’s teachers’ favorite features about the BenQ Board

“I can prepare lessons in advance that students can interact with during class, and those interactions are saved for future viewing.”

Dr. Robert La Londe, MYP Math Teacher

“The touchscreen allows the students to play whole or small-group interactive educational games that engage them in their learning.”

Kimberly Moraitis, Kindergarten Teacher

responsiveness and amount of options for customization are awesome.”

enjoy the students’ interaction with our lessons. Our students love showing their creativity by drawing on the board.”

Catherine Nguyen, Kindergarten Teacher

Balancing Campus Spaces

New Media Arts Room & Sillers’ Seeds Garden

As we strive to have an innovative 21st century campus that is flexible and environmentally responsible, we continue to expand and reinvent our current spaces to further enhance our International Baccalaureate curriculum. One of our newest spaces is the Middle School Media Arts Room. St. Mary’s is one of the few IB schools that offers all five Arts disciplines as part of its curriculum. And now Visual Arts, Media Arts, Dance, Music and Theatre each has its own designated space. During the development of the Media Arts classroom, we learned it needed to consist of a flexible and appropriate space to help foster our student’s imagination to curate a variety of media pieces. From animations, film projects, special effects, immersive art, a news broadcast station, photo, light and sound studio, the space has been designed to adjust for any creation. The desks and stools can easily be stacked and moved to transform the room in minutes. There are many opportunities for students to create as this multipurpose room allows students to explore their creativity through technology and new media.

by Patty Siegman Digital Marketing Coordinator

The Sillers’ Seeds Garden is another one of our newer spaces on campus. The idea behind the garden was initiated from our partnership with FLIK Dining, our food service provider, and our commitment to the concept of farm to table. It was built on an under-used piece of grass near the campus entry. This area was transformed with the financial support of FLIK to contain five large key-hole gardening systems built and maintained by FLIK and members of the St. Mary’s faculty, staff, students and alumni. As part of our IB curriculum, the garden is now one of our outdoor learning environments where Grades K - 5 have it implemented into their Units of Inquiry. We believe it is important for our students to understand how to propagate from seeds, harvest crops and enjoy eating the “fruits” of their labor. We are excited to reflect Sillers’ Seeds produce in the Green Family Commons on a consistent basis. From herbs to seasonal produce, St. Mary’s is able to learn, experience and enjoy our farm-to-table partnership.

The following units have been developed or modified to utilize the garden:

Kindergarten: The garden is used in Grade 5 during its Community Unit when the Grade 5 students teach Kindergarten students how to plant seeds.

Grade 1: In the spring, Grade 1 students plant seeds in the garden. During this time they study plants and insects in Science. This ties into their Small Steps Big Changes Unit as well as the Rainforest Unit.

Grade 3: During their Ancient Civilizations Unit, students study genetics in science. They use the garden for comparing traits.

Grade 5: They use the garden during their Farm-to-Table Unit exploring soil testing, soil amendment, planting and harvesting.

St. Mary’s Chapel

by Pastor Mark Chapman School Chaplain

At St. Mary’s these values are expressed in a variety of meaningful ways:

†Chapel service is provided for all our students in EEP through Grade 8. Chapels are creative and inclusive. Chapel is an integral part of the student experience nurturing character, grace, community fellowship & spiritual wellness. It is a regular part of school life for faculty and students.

†Middle School Religion Courses are meaningful, academically substantive and age appropriate. Classes foster dialogue and discussions about individual faith traditions and purpose.

†Christian Enrichment revolves around the IB Learner Profiles and Attitudes and how it relates to spiritual and moral issues. Class time is intended to provide a solid base of character and spiritual education and is reflective, engaging and supportive of our Christian values.

†Everyday interaction is commonplace among students, parents, faculty and staff. Our school values are honored and cultivated for the spiritual health of all.

Since the beginning of St. Mary’s, there has been Chapel, but it has looked different over the years. In the early days it was held outside in the courtyard. It has been all school, just Kindergarten through Grade 2, Grade 3 through Grade 5 and Middle School separately. It has had singing performances and special guests. It has hosted Jewish Rabbis, Muslims and atheist speakers. It has been a place for celebration and a place for grief. It has given many in our community—students, faculty, staff and parents —a place to pause and reflect. It has been a place to go to wear your very best clothes. It has opened hearts, minds and eyes. It has been a place of comfort for many and stretched the comfort zone for others. It has brought our school together. It has been a place to say prayers to God in unison, a place to practice what we preach and a place to recognize accomplishments and those living out our mission. It has given students leadership opportunities and public speaking practice. During the 2022-23 school year, we have been looking at how Jesus helped other people. Making others a priority gives us a more fulfilling life. We are rooted and guided by our Faith Identity Statement: Chapels are creative and inclusive. Chapel is an integral part of the student experience nurturing character, grace, community fellowship and spiritual wellness.

St. Mary’s was established by Father Ernest D. Sillers as a diverse community for people of all faiths and backgrounds. We invite all who attend and work at St. Mary’s to seek clarity about their own beliefs and religions and to honor those traditions more fully and faithfully in their own lives. We also strive to respect, understand and celebrate the traditions and beliefs within our community.

We are unique in our study of faith as we provide our community with opportunities to develop the tools to examine and articulate their own ethics and character. Our goal is to nurture the spiritual development of our community, allowing for a varied and inclusive population. By developing spiritually, we gain compassion, a sense of meaning in life and inspiration to serve those in need.

Our Christian values guide and challenge all students who attend our school to build lives of genuine meaning, purpose and service in the world they will inherit.

We recognize the unique worth and beauty of all human beings as creations of a loving, empowering God. Our community is populated by a variety of families with diverse religious, cultural and economic backgrounds.

by Lauren Sterner & Primary Years Programme Coordinator Jillian Kearney Middle Years Programme Coordinator

Importance Of An IB Education For Both Students And Parents

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a global leader in international education—synthesizing best practices in teaching and learning from across the globe into progressive frameworks that flexibly accommodate the unique cultures and contexts of every school. These programmes empower students to take ownership of their own learning and help them develop high level, future-ready skills to make a difference in an evolving world.

IB schools are charged with the exciting and rigorous task of making these frameworks come alive by tailoring specific policies, practices, standards and curricular elements within the visionary construct.

As part of our strategic plan, St. Mary’s is dedicated to providing our students with a premier International Baccalaureate education with each component carefully designed and crafted to equip our students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions to thrive in high school and beyond.

To create a common understanding and ensure our students receive support aligned with our IB programmes, we have developed a series of workshops targeted especially for our parent community. Our parent community is one of our most valuable assets through the important perspectives and support they bring to the learning community. Our hope is parents will become knowledgeable partners equipped to advocate for our exciting and innovative IB programming.

IB 101: PYP

Five years ago after the IB evaluation visit, we identified a need to educate our community further about the Primary Years Programme (PYP). Lauren Sterner, our PYP Coordinator, created the IB 101 Parent Education Series to mirror a college course. The goals of these informative sessions are to provide context to what our students do everyday within their classrooms and how the PYP framework supports them. This year, we will focus on three aspects of the programme:

• An Introduction to the PYP

• The PYP Unit Planner

• Transdisciplinary Learning in the PYP

During each of these sessions, parents will have the opportunity to dive into core components of the PYP.

In the Middle: MYP

As part of a larger parent engagement series titled “In the Middle,” which will focus on multiple dimensions of the Middle School experience at St. Mary’s, the academic and curriculum sessions will aim to educate our parent community about the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). Jillian Kearney, our MYP Coordinator, will lead these sessions and share about the MYP curricular framework, what makes it unique and how it is implemented at St. Mary’s.

Look to the Falcon Flyer for dates and times of when you can expect sessions about specific aspects of the programme.

A Balanced Approach To IB

Following the IB Evaluation visit in 2010, one of the recommendations was to create a space for parents to gather and speak their mother tongue languages. Within the IB self-study, the standard states “the school places importance on language learning, mother tongue, host country language and other languages.”

Mimi Yogaratnam, the Director of Information Services, and Lauren Sterner, the PYP Coordinator, discussed how best to meet this IB recommendation.

After brainstorming a fit for our community, Global Coffee & Conversations was born. These intimate events create opportunities for families who share a common language or culture to meet and chat with each other in their languages. Families are encouraged to bring a dish from their country/ culture to share and invited to wear clothing that represents their culture.

The first Global Conversation was hosted in 2016 in the newly renovated IB HUB. Two families from Hungary who previously had never met joined Mimi and Lauren to discuss their journey to St. Mary’s. It was beautiful to see their idea grow into a friendship between these two families.

Since then, St. Mary’s has hosted 24 Global Conver-

sations and cultural celebrations including Chinese, Korean, Farsi, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Vietnamese, Arabic, Tagalog, Greek, Italian, Indian Subcontinent, Nowruz, Black History Month, Lunar New Year and Hanukkah, to name a few.

These events have built a caring community where people celebrate each other and our diverse cultures. Global Conversations is a valued part of our school and is cherished by all stakeholders within it.

We have recently taken the ideology behind Global Conversations one step further. Our student activities coordinator, Mr. Camargo, invites families to help us embed these cultural experiences for all students in every division, faculty and staff. Committees composed of parents and faculty are formed to showcase wonderful cultural experiences. These special moments and assemblies have included: Nowruz, Lunar New Year, Black History Month, Dragon Dancers, Mariachi Bands and a Gospel Choir.

We have already hosted three celebrations in 2022, including Spanish, Indian and Italian and look forward to hosting three more this school year, including Vietnamese, French and Portuguese. Thank you to everyone who helps make these conversations happen and supports their growth and importance.

by Mimi

Director of Information Services

Yogaratnam

These events have built a caring community where people celebrate each other and our diverse cultures.

St. Mary’s 2022 Christmas Card

Every year St. Mary’s produces a beautiful Christmas card that shares a seasonal message while inviting our community to our holiday celebrations. This card is created from student artwork. This year we asked all students (Early Education through Grade 8) to consider submitting a piece of art to be featured in the official St. Mary’s Christmas Card. A small committee reviewed— comprised of our community, including leadership, faculty, parents and students— and selected a variety of art that best represents our school, our mission, values and International Baccalaureate Programme. The selected artwork is included in the final design of the St. Mary’s Christmas card.

All artwork submitted will be featured at the Winter Market on December 8. Congratulations to everyone whose artwork is featured in this year’s Christmas card! :

Logan Lowell (Grade 6)

Kirra Manuel (Grade 7)

Cyril Zhu (Grade 7)

Josh Yang (Grade 4)

Frankie Goffman (Grade 8)

by Jim Cox Director of Operations

Balancing Health, Safety & Security in Our Community

Health, safety and security are always at the forefront of our daily operations. We continually look to assess and improve the protocols and physical features for the safety of our community. In developing our safety program, we have partnered with local and national government safety organizations, such as the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Homeland Security. Recently, we engaged a private company specializing in safety and security solutions for independent schools nationwide. Its services include emergency preparedness planning, security plan implementation, staff training and educational programs. Employing an extra set of eyes allows us to continue to identify areas of improvement to keep us as safe as possible.

We have added and planned several improvements over the last year to upgrade our overall Health, Safety and Security Plan:

• Upgraded camera and surveillance system by Verkada throughout campus. Verkada provides facial recognition, motion detection, high resolution video, cloud storage and app based remote access.

• Improved training and procedures for faculty and staff on threat assessment. Early identification of threat risks improves the mitigation of emergencies.

• Upgraded perimeter fencing with no-climb fencing and installation of vegetation along fencing for a deterrent and privacy hedge.

• Installation of landscape and security lighting for added visibility when dark.

• Addition in the Health Office of Narcan for the treatment of a known or suspected opioid overdose emergency, which is recommended by the state.

One of the differentiating features of our security program is the familiarity and relationship between our security team and the community. We know your families, so here is a brief introduction to our incredible security team.

Ruvna Safety Communications Platform

We are proud to share that St. Mary’s has partnered with Ruvna, a real-time school communications platform focused on helping schools communicate critical information with their communities. In the event of an emergency, we will use this system to text, email and call families. We have tested the system twice this fall and are confident in its reach and efficiency. This is another investment St. Mary’s has made to strengthen our safety procedures and flow of communication.

Bradley Blunt

Bradley was born in Washington and raised in Southern California. He has several years of experience in the private security field working in a wide variety of areas including schools, hospitals, hotels, shipping ports, sporting/concert venues, residential gated communities and shopping centers. He spent the majority of his career in the security field as a security supervisor for a major shopping and entertainment center at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., prior to joining the St. Mary’s family in 2014.

Eric Rodriguez

Eric was born in Texas and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began a career with the United States Navy in June 1999 and honorably served for 20 years. During those years of service, he was fortunate to have visited 22 countries and to experience their unique cultures. One of the most rewarding experiences during this time was being a crucial part of Operation Tomodachi in which the aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) provided humanitarian assistance to Japan following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. After retiring from the Navy, he worked for the Walt Disney Company at Disneyland as a security officer for three years. In September 2021 he joined the St. Mary’s family as part of the security team and has enjoyed building a close relationship with our families and the community.

Bradley Di Tommaso

Brad was born and raised in Lake Forest, Calif., and is one of seven siblings. He attended El Toro High School playing baseball and football all four years. Continuing his education and sports career, he attended Saddleback Community College playing baseball and football. After obtaining an associate degree, he moved onto California State University Fullerton where he is currently pursuing a degree in criminal justice. Brad joined our St. Mary’s team this fall, and he is looking forward to getting to know all our friends and families.

Class Notes

Marisa Pla ’14 graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in 2018 and Seton Hall University in 2022. She received her B.S. degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences with a minor in Business Administration. Marisa was the 4-year recipient of the Seton Hall Servant Leader Scholarship. She graduated cum laude, was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma (National College Athlete Honor Society), is a sixtime Dean’s List recipient and was a 4-year member of the Big East All-Academic Team while being an outfielder for the Seton Hall University Division 1 softball team. She led the team in stolen bases and ended her 2022 campaign with a .333 batting average. Upon graduation, Marisa was accepted into the Occupational Therapy Graduate program at Seton Hall but has decided to defer and play her 5th year of softball at Seton Hall while receiving a graduate degree in IT, Education and Human Services. This California girl loves being in Jersey. Go, Pirates!

Christian Sieck ’14 graduated from JSerra Catholic High School in 2018 and Bucknell University in 2022, where he majored in electrical engineering.  While at Bucknell, he rowed all four years for the Bucknell Bison Varsity Crew Team and served as team co-captain his senior year. Although Christian is relocating to Pittsburgh to work for Eaton Corporation as a field engineer in its Early Talent program, he has promised his Dad and Mom he will never become a Steelers fan.

Henry Lew ’18 was the recipient of one of six prizes in the Haiku Society of America’s Nicholas Virgilio Memorial Student Haiku Competition. This is the 30th anniversary of the Haiku Competition, and “the student observations, experiences, emotions and insights evident in these haiku are a wonderful testament to the fresh voices and vivid imagery of young people.” Henry graduated from Sage Hill School and is attending Brown University. He is considering a major in sociology because of his love for history, psychology and economics.

Cali McKenna ’18 graduated from San Juan Hills High School, where she was captain for both Varsity Song and Advanced Dance Production. After recovering from summer surgery for a torn ACL, she returned to dance and finished her senior year as Solo Choreographer of the Year, receiving Best Performer and Coach’s Choice awards. She was also a member of NHS and CSF, graduated with distinction in the Two-Way Immersion in Spanish Program and was active in the mother/daughter organization R12 (Romans 12). Cali attends Texas Christian University in the Nursing Program and will minor in Spanish and continues to dance.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Darius Mahjoob ’19

Holds Music Theory Camp at St. Mary’s Darius Mahjoob, a Santa Margarita Catholic High School senior, and two friends earned a $5,000 community service grant through the Dragon Kim Foundation. The students used the funds to conduct a local summer camp called Music Composition 4 Kids. The two-week camp for Middle School students taught the fundamentals of music theory, common chord progressions, melody lines and how to compose original music. Darius approached St. Mary’s and asked if he could hold the camps on our campus, and we happily agreed. St. Mary’s hosted two Music Composition 4 Kids camp sessions in the Bauer’s Art Center.

Darius was the project’s mastermind and used the design thinking process to make his vision a reality. Darius, who plays the piano, violin and steel drums, set out to create resources after realizing the need. “I came up with this idea because I wanted to learn how to compose music but couldn’t find any online resources. After I learned on my own, I wanted to help others learn how to compose music, so I created this camp to facilitate that.”

Darius was also in charge of planning, creating materials, managing the budget, writing the curriculum and teaching the course. The camp partnered with organizations like the Boys and Girls Club to provide access to underserved communities in Orange County. St. Mary’s was thrilled to be part of this community outreach program, and we could not be prouder of Darius and his world-sized heart.

Christopher Vlok ’18 graduated from Crean Lutheran High School and attends the University of San Diego (USD). While in high school, Chris was part of Crean’s MUN leadership team, NHS, SNHS and its 4-year Ambassador Program. He earned Business Cohort distinction, is a CSF Lifetime member and graduated magna cum laude. Chris has been serving the Pediatric Cancer Community for nine years, is an avid competitive alpine skier, loves the outdoors and fishing and hopes to continue these activities in college. Chris plans to study International Business. He was named a USD Designated Honors Illuminate Scholar and awarded the Alcala Award, USD’s top merit. Congratulations!

Sebastian Pla ’18 graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School and attends University of Wisconsin, Madison, in the Business Program. In high school, Sebastian was a member of the National Honor Society, the California Scholarship Federation, an Eagle Gold Scholar and a Link Crew Leader. As a six-year member of Lion’s Heart, he contributed over 420 hours of community service and received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award and Torchbearer Award. While at SMCHS, Sebastian played football and basketball and ran track. He was the Varsity Track Captain and received the 2022 Coach’s Award. His 1600m Sprint Medley Relay Team competed at the Arcadia Invitational and broke a 21-year school record with a time of 3:34.72. Sebastian enjoys being a Badger and cheering on his Green Bay Packers. He does the Jump Around on Saturdays and the Lambeau Leap on Sundays!

Sophia Elizalde-Rendon ’20

a junior at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, was a two-time OC Champion last year, finishing first place in two events, 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles, at the FS OC Track and Field Championships 2022. Sophia, a prior track star at St. Mary’s, consistently improved her personal best in both events in every race throughout the season. In both events, she finished 4th in the Trinity League Varsity Girls Finals 2022.  Sophia received the “Varsity Girls Coach’s Award” for her hard work, improvement and commitment to her team. She also received an Academic Athlete Award for her academic excellence while participating in Track and Field 2022. Congrats to Sophia!

Marcus Vlok ’20 is currently a junior at Crean Lutheran High School. This summer he was an exceptional speaker advising students at the Summer Resort Jr. Model United Nations Camp. Marcus shared his experiences with St. Mary’s MUN, including traveling to Singapore with the St. Mary’s MUN team. Marcus spoke with students about how to use collaboration, research, open-mindedness and effective public speaking to be good diplomats. We love when our alumni give back and share their passions and knowledge with our students.

Alden Morales ’22 competed in the Middle School Nationals at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in June. At the event, he ran in the mile with a time of 4:45 minutes. Alden came in tenth place and had a personal best time. He enjoyed the experience of running at a world-class college track facility and participating in a national event.

Cooper McCloskey ’22

Congratulations to Cooper McCloskey for making the playoffs as an octofinalist at the U.S. Geography National Championships in Orlando, Florida, in June. All that work in St. Mary’s Geography Club paid off!

The St. Mary’s Alumni Association enthusiastically serves over 1,700 St. Mary’s alumni and their families. The goal of the Alumni Association is to create unique opportunities for our alumni to connect as they transition through high school, college and beyond. We are proud to welcome the Class of 2022 to the St. Mary’s Alumni Association.  In the following pages, you will see updates from fellow alums. Please continue to share your accomplishments and updates, so we can celebrate alongside you and you can join our annual events.

Alumni Association Events

Parents of Alumni Holiday Party – December Alumni Holiday Party – December 5-Year Reunion – July

Send updates to Virtue Byrd at virtue.byrd@smaa.org

Alumni At Summer Resort

Every summer, alumni come back to campus to support our Summer Resort program. We appreciate our alumni who help provide a fun and unique experience for our campers. Thank you,  Kelly Lester ’15, Julien Kechejian ‘19, Matthew Kechejian ‘19, Kellen Cox ‘21, Maggie Cox ’18, Mandy Taylor ‘18 and Phoebe Principale ‘18 for being camp counselors.

We also want to thank Darius Mahjoob ‘19, Logan Mickelsen ‘20, Maibre Edwards ‘21 and Davis Lester ‘15 for volunteering their time and passion with our campers. Thank you, alumni, for returning to the nest to support our Falcons!

5-Year Class Reunion For The Class Of 2017

In July we held the 5-Year Class Reunion for the Class of 2017. Over 35 students from the class joined faculty and staff for lunch at Stadium Brewery in Aliso Viejo. The joy of reconnecting and seeing old friends was seen on everyone’s faces. Next July, we will hold the 5-Year Class Reunion for the Class of 2018!

St. Mary’s Class of 2022

On June 9, 2022, St. Mary’s held its 28th Grade 8 Commencement Ceremony. Students, families, faculty and staff assembled in Coast Hills to celebrate the Class of 2022. Class Valedictorian Noah Mooney delivered world-sized remarks to his classmates. Attendees also heard from IB Scholar Matthew Hull, ASB President Gianna Grass, Legacy Award winner Luke Fiedl and Salutatorian Sara Boswell.

Each graduate received the traditional class blanket, officially welcoming our graduates to the St. Mary’s Alumni Association. We wish the entire class success and look forward to seeing you on campus soon! Here is where our alumni are attending high school this year:

Sofia Abraham

Jeremy Ahn

Layla Allen

Tyler Anderson

Augustine Awadalla

Marisol Bahena Torres

Caleb Beadel

Alex Bekis

Arthur Bernardin

Alexia Beyrath

Carter Bihm

Brody Blattman

Gavin Bos

Sara Boswell

Carson Brandenberger

Casey Callison

Colin Cannon

Maddie Jo Chapman

Teagan Dumain

Luke Friedl

Annika Gaffaney

Brianna Gorski

Gianna Grass

Jules Guerdat

Katie Guinosso

Zaiden Gurusamy

Blake Herman Matthew Hull

Aashman Jain

Susan Jia Harper Jones

Lexie Karnick

Andrew Kirchhoff

Maiya Konetzke

Ella Kraninger

Sienna Lawton

Kaitlyn Letien

Alex Marsh

JSerra Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Sage Hill School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Orange County High School of the Arts

Pacifica Christian

Fairmount SJC

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

San Juan Hills High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Orange County High School of the Arts

Mater Dei High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Pacifica Christian

JSerra Catholic High School

Laguna Hills High School

Capistrano Valley Christian School

Mater Dei High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Malia Mazer

Cooper McCloskey

Jack McDaniel

Gavin McNeill

Leonardo Merage Logan Minhas

Myles Mittelsteadt

Noah Mooney

Alden Morales

Lucus Morgan

Thomas Moro

Austin Mulchay Reece Myers Cade O’Connor William Oh Henry Ontiveros

Alexander Park

Izzy Pedroza Aidan Pla

Sloane Quealy Hannah Quinn Mason Reeves Seji Ro

Annabelle Sandford Cameron Shahrokni Orion Sigaty Christian SIgaty Hogan Sprague Brielle Surgener

Sophie Thompson

Cannon Van Daele

Roman Van den Bosch Liem Vo

Cassie Wang Mia Wensinger Adele Xia Constantin Zerza Emily Zimmerman

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Corona del Mar High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School Gap Year

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Corona del Mar High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Pacifica Christian Gap Year

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Westwood High School - Texas

JSerra Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Capistrano Valley High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

JSerra Catholic High School

Sage Hill School

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

JSerra Catholic High School

Sage Hill School

Sage Hill School

JSerra Catholic High School

Top Private Schools Attending

St. Mary’s Class of 2018 College Falcons

When our students graduate and leave the nest, we continue to support them from afar. We are proud of the St. Mary’s Class of 2018 and wish them health and happiness as they continue to embark on their college journey.

Allison Baldwin Olivia Blanco Adam Boserup Mason Bowles Leyton Breese Luc Carter Maggie Cox Kate Flanagan Mia Foerster Shervin Fotouhi Nathan Gannaway Isabella Goffman Madeleine Greger Kiley Gryziewicz David Harkins Lulu Hill Charlie Ho Abby Isaly Evita Kaldowski Amelia Kang Tyler Kelly Julia Kelly Sean Kramer Davis Lester Henry Lew Kaiden Martinez Genevieve Masson Cali McCanna Ryan McCloskey Grace McNeill Gabe McNeill Sydney Moran Dylan Oliver Brad Orcutt Daniel Palfi Jacob Pearson Adam Pellini Sebastian Pla Macy Place Ashley Prentice Phoebe Principale Milan Ramezani Natalie Rief Davis Rogers Skylar Rooney Jon Salmi Ian Shin Bella Simic Michael Skibsted Kerrigan Stewart Tatum Tatch Amanda Taylor Maya Vanek Chloe Vautrin Christopher Vlok Vaughn Vogel Hannah Woolgar

University of California, Davis Belmont University University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado Mesa University University of California, Los Angeles Arizona State University University of Oregon University of Georgia California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo University of San Diego University of Utah Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) University of Oregon University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Saddleback College San Francisco State University Arizona State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo University of Washington, Seattle Trinity College Cal Poly Pomona University of Miami University of Wisconsin University of Oregon Brown University Worcester Polytechnic Institute University of Oregon Texas Christian University University of California, Los Angeles Loyola Marymount University University of California, Los Angeles Southern Methodist University Arizona State University University of Wisconsin Johns Hopkins University Saddleback College University of Utah University of Wisconsin University of Colorado, Boulder Cornell University Baylor University University of the Pacific University of Oregon Texas Christian University Texas Christian University Irvine Valley College University of Notre Dame Michigan State University University of Georgia, Moorehead Honors College California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo George Washington University Purdue University Marist College Elon University University of San Diego University of Miami University of Mississippi - Ole Miss

St. Mary’s First Ever Winter Market

We hope our entire community will join us for our inaugural St. Mary’s Winter Market on Thursday, December 8, from 5 to 8 p.m. This festive and joyous event is designed to bring our entire community together to celebrate the holidays among a European-style market setting. Over food, fellowship, entertainment, shopping and activities, the spirit of the season will be felt throughout our St. Mary’s campus.

Event Overview

•A Christmas Carol

The Falcon Theatre Company cast and crew will perform A Christmas Carol  for all to enjoy.

•Entertainment

There will be a variety of immersive and stage performances throughout the evening.

•Displays

All student art submitted for the St. Mary’s Christmas Card as well as other student work will be on display.

•Photo Opps

We will have holiday themed spaces to take photos of and with your children.

•Shopping

A selection of vendors will be selling gifts for purchase.

•Food

A mix of food choices will be available for purchase to enjoy as a family.

•Activities

Throughout the evening there will be fun, age-based activities for students to participate in and enjoy.

Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID

Laguna Niguel, CA Permit No. 1091