Christ the King School Newsletter

October School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:45:00 +0000

Ruth C Anderson, Vice Principal
October is Respect Life Month, and Christ the King School did its part on raising student awareness on this important topic. Junior High students wrote essays on this year's theme, "Hope and Trust in Life," while grades K-5 designed posters based on other Respect Life subjects. Our 2 nd and 3rd grade students also
collected baby items which will be donated to single mothers.

Standardized Tests: Our students earnestly completed the nationwide ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) tests. The school has enjoyed strong and consistent improvement in standardized test scores over the past several years. We are confident that this year's results will continue that trend.

High School Night: CTK hosted representatives from nine high schools to help our students make informed decisions about prospective high schools. The auditorium was packed with Junior High students and their parents who had the opportunity to hear individual presentations from participating high schools.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels: Junior High students, teachers and parent chaperones joined thousands of students from other Catholic schools for a special Thanksgiving Mass, organized by the Holy Childhood Association in celebration of World Mission Sunday. After the Mass, our students enjoyed a stimulating and informative tour of the Cathedral.

Child Safety Art Competition: We congratulate our 4th grade student, Valory Banashek who won 1st place in the Child Safety Art competition, sponsored by Keller William's Realty and in conjunction with Child Photo ID and Fingerprinting service. Valory will receive a gift certificate from Toys 'R Us. Her drawing is on display at Wells Fargo Bank in Larchmont Village.

Family Movie Night: A large and appreciative audience enjoyed watching the movie The Journey of Natty Gann on the big screen in our school auditorium. This event's popularity has prompted us to plan more evening movies to our families in the future.

Sports: We congratulate our Girls' Varsity volleyball team who won the CYO Sunset Division and are now League Champions! Our Junior Varsity placed first in the recently held St. Joseph's Tournament and are currently undefeated in the Sunset League. We wish them luck in their upcoming games!

Larchmont Fair: CTK parents and teachers can be very proud of their contribution to the Larchmont Fair last weekend. We would like to thank our creative and energetic parent board members, our many committed volunteers and teachers who worked so industriously to make the event successful.

Back to School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Ruth C Anderson, Vice Principal

Our year is off to a great start. Refreshed and eager students returned after the long summer ready to take on the challenge of another exciting school year. We had a gratifying turn-out of parents at our Back-To-School Night. Our teachers did a great job explaining their goals and expectations for the academic year. Father Paddy Tuffy led us in the opening prayer. His participation was much appreciated.

Welcome Breakfast.
Kindergarten and other new parents were welcomed to the Christ the King community with a hearty breakfast hosted by our Parent Board. While the croissant sandwiches were being prepared, the Kindergarten class entertained with Rise and Shine, one of the songs that they had learned during their first month in our school. The new parents also enjoyed a big-screen slide show of kindergartners on their first days in school.

New Technology.
Last year, our 7th and 8th grade classrooms were fitted out with SMART Boards. This year, this transforming new technology has also been installed in our 5th and 6th grade classrooms. With computers and ceiling-mounted projectors, our students are able to take advantage of the latest interactive teaching methods and materials. Many thanks to the Ahmanson Foundation, whose continued generosity has made all this possible.

San Gennaro Festival.
September 19 was the Feast of San Gennaro (also known as St. Januarius) the
martyred bishop of Naples during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. He is the patron saint of our beloved pastor's home town. A number of families turned out for the 7th annual Los Angeles San Gennaro Festival. They enjoyed good food and great music. We are very grateful to our acolytes, Jessica Bautista, Marc Caraan and Krystal Von Seyfried who helped lead the procession along Hollywood Boulevard and then assisted Bishop Clark and Fr. Antonio at the outdoor Mass.

Hurricane Ike.
We are very proud of our students' response to help the children affected by this disaster. The student council organized an ice cream sale. The profit was sent to Save the Children Relief Fund.

Fiftieth Anniversary.
On Wednesday, September 24, Father Antonio - rejuvenated after his sabbatical leave - offered Mass in celebration of our School's 50th anniversary. Many parents joined the students for the Mass and refreshments which followed. The school is planning a number of activities throughout the coming year to celebrate this great occasion.

End of the year school news 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:42:00 +0000

As the school year draws to a close, we look back at all we have accomplished throughout the year and thank God for the many blessings we have received. We are very grateful to all those who contributed to a successful academic year.

Active parent participation made possible a number of rewarding field trips. Thank you to all the generous and willing parents who served as chaperones and provided logistical support for class field trips to the Museum of Tolerance, the Natural History Museum, the San Gabriel Mission and other cultural resources. Our end of year field trip to the El Capitan Theater proved to be a very successful and appealing outing. Our students thoroughly enjoyed C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, especially those who had already read the book.

A team of our seventh grade students traveled to Notre Dame Academy to compete against a number of other schools in a Spelling Bee competition. We congratulate our seventh grader, Stephanie Kim, who placed first in the event! We were very happy to welcome a number of alumni and parishioners to our International Festival - a weekend of good food, music, games and dance. We thank all those who worked so hard to make it a success. We were very proud of our spirited students who danced so impressively to the music of the seventies and eighties.

We are all looking forward to our annual Sports Night on June 4, when many of our student athletes will receive well-deserved recognition for their achievement in sports throughout the year - volleyball, basketball, football, track and field.

It is now time to say good bye to our eighth grade class as they prepare for graduation on June 7. We are very proud of their many accomplishments. They concluded the year with a Retreat at St. Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo. We wish these students continued success in their high schools and God's blessing in the future.

We hope everyone has a safe, happy and constructive vacation. Our summer school classes begin on June 16. We would like to remind all our students to turn off their television sets, computers and video games and spend more time reading and enjoying the great outdoors. We thank our pastor, Father Antonio, who is currently on sabbatical leave in Italy for the continued love and commitment he has given to our school. We welcome Father Patrick Tuffy, who is here from Ireland to take Father Antonio's place. We thank our parent board, under the leadership of Captain Beatrice Girmala, all our families and parishioners for their generosity and support throughout the year.

May God bless you all.

Yours sincerely,
Ruth C. Anderson

March School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:57:00 +0000

Spring. Eastertide. Life is renewed. Our students responded well to the call to serve others. During Lent, they collected more than five hundred dollars to help feed starving children in Ethiopia. Our eighth graders also visited and entertained the elderly at Hancock Park Convalescent Home for Easter.

Meanwhile, the normal rhythms of the school year continue to provide our students with the foundation of their maturing into responsible Catholic young people. Our second grade students made their First Confession on March 11. It was gratifying to see so much family participation in that important step in the children's spiritual formation. The class is now preparing for their First Holy Communion on April 19.

Our eighth grade students have much to celebrate. They received letters of acceptance to an impressive array of Catholic High Schools. Most were accepted to schools of their first choice: Bellarmine Jefferson, Bishop Alemany, Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto, Cathedral, Crespi Carmelite, Holy Family, Immaculate Heart, Loyola, Marymount, Notre Dame Academy, Notre Dame High School, Providence and St. Genevieve's. We congratulate all our eighth grade students on their success and especially those who received honors at entrance.

We are also very proud that a team of our eighth graders competed in this year's Junior High Academic Decathlon at the Sports Arena on March 18. We congratulate William Louie who placed 5th in Science and Janette Lee who placed 6th in Social Studies. That's a major accomplishment against a field of the best students from 105 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese.

March was also a month for field trips. Our first and second graders enjoyed a live production of Aladdin, presented by the Nine O'Clock players at the Assistance League. Our sixth grade students explored the California Science Center. They participated in the "Big Lab" where they learned, first-hand, about different kinds of energy, gravity and force by building and operating roller coasters. They also visited the IMAX theater to see Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, which solidified their unit on Egypt which they were studying as part of our Social Studies curriculum.

Our fifth graders are enjoying reading an abundance of well chosen literature books, thanks to the Riordan Foundation which provided the class with $1,000 worth of books. Thank you very much Richard Riordan.

Our Track and Field season is in full swing. Our students have been practicing regularly for the Mount San Antonio meet which is taking place this weekend. We wish our students luck!

February School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:05:00 +0000

As we continue our Lenten journey in preparation for the great feast of Easter, it is encouraging to see our students responding to Jesus' call to serve others and to give of themselves. This year, they are donating money to the Holy Childhood Association which will help feed starving children in Ethiopia. They are also participating in weekly Stations of the Cross, prepared by our eighth graders.

Our second grade students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on March 11 in preparation for their First Holy Communion in April.

Two representatives from the John C. Fremont Library, Lisa Schloss and Grace Santos visited all the classrooms. They encouraged our young people to read and to become members of their local library. They also explained the electronic resources that are available and how students can access sites which are specially designed for research and homework assistance. Our eighth grade students, dressed in semi-formal clothes enjoyed a wonderful etiquette breakfast on St. Valentines' day, prepared by their teacher, Ms. Georgina Severin and their parents. It was edifying to see these young ladies and gentlemen interact so graciously with one another.

Our Junior High students are working very hard in preparation for the Academic Decathlon which will be held in the Sports' Arena on March 15. We wish them luck!

Our student athletes are hoping to wrap up the basketball season by competing in makeup games that were hampered by the recent torrential rainfall. Students who wish to try out for the Track and Field team are looking forward to beginning their season and to competing in meets and other sporting events.

January School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:08:00 +0000

Sunday, January 27 marks the opening of Catholic Schools' Week. The theme this year is Catholic Schools Light the Way. We open this special week with the 8:30 a.m. Mass, celebrated by our pastor Father Antonio. After Mass, we welcome everyone to visit our Open House, Science Fair, Art Fair and Book Fair.

Our Science Fair will give you the opportunity to view the students' amazing Science projects as well as the award winning Junior High entries. They were judged again this year by William Schroeder and Christi Chester who are pursuing their doctorates in Chemistry at the University of Southern California.

We hope you will enjoy a visit to the Book Fair in our school library where you will be able to purchase a variety of educational books for children.

Our eighth grade students are working very hard to prepare for their High School entrance exams, most of which will be administered during the month of February. Please keep them in your prayers. Nineteen of our eighth graders attended a six week intensive tutoring program at Loyola High School, funded by the Riordan Foundation. We are very grateful to Loyola High School, Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara University staff, alumni, parents and students for assisting our eighth graders in this cooperative community service project.

Our Junior High Academic Decathlon team is meeting regularly to gear up for the competition which will take place in the Sports' Arena on March 15. Basketball season is in full swing. The boys' and girls' teams are competing against other Catholic schools. It's a bit early to say, but we may be on our way to another championship season and to the CYO playoffs!

November School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:33:00 +0000

'Tis the season of giving and Christ the King students have given much. They are to be congratulated for their enthusiastic response to the Men's Club Thanksgiving Food Drive. School families contributed enough food to fill more than one hundred bags, which twelve of our eighth grade students helped organize and distribute to needy members of our community.

Active parent participation enabled our teachers to take their students on a number of rewarding field trips. Our first and second graders enjoyed a wonderful production of Alice, presented by the Nine O'Clock players at the Assistance League. Our third and fourth graders explored the Natural History Museum and then visited the Imax theater to see the acclaimed National Geographic 3D movie Sea Monsters. The Cabrillo Beach Aquarium was a popular destination for our 7th grade students who enjoyed a hands-on experience there. Our eighth grade students visited the Museum of Tolerance and were deeply moved by the graphic evidence of the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. We thank our generous parents who served as chaperones and provided logistical support for these class trips.

Our students prepared an assembly in honor of Maria Weir, who taught music at the school for seventeen years. They sang a variety of old favorites, read cards which they made, and presented Maria with gifts. We thank Mrs. Weir for instilling a love of music in our students and wish her happiness and good health in her retirement.

Our new music teacher, Antonio Espinal conducted his Harmonies Girls' Choir in a concert, held in the church to celebrate the feast of Christ the King. It was a magnificent performance by energetic young singers whose varied repertoire resounded through the church for an appreciative audience. The program included sacred music (Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus), as well as American favorites (Battle Hymn of the Republic) and traditional Latin American favorites. Antonio Espinal's 5-year old daughter, Elizabeth, led the choir as soloist for a beautifully performed Dona Nobis Pacem.

We congratulate our girls' varsity volleyball team – this year's CYO league champions! Now, the basketball season is just beginning, and our boys' and girls' teams are practicing regularly and eagerly awaiting their games.

Christ the King School is making a serious effort to restore meaning to the approaching Advent season. We ask all our families to encourage the children to make and keep pious resolutions for these four weeks. It is a tradition which will make their Christmas much more satisfying. Students are already showing their willing spirit by collecting toys to give to needy families at Christmas. They are also beginning to practice for their Christmas Nativity program which will take place in the Church on Wednesday, December 19, at 7:00 p.m.

Ruth C. Anderson
Vice Principal

October School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:12:00 +0000

October was Respect Life Month and Christ the King School did its part on raising student awareness on this important topic. Junior High students wrote essays on this year's theme "The babe in my womb leaped for joy" (Luke 1:40), while grades K-5 designed posters based on other Respect Life subjects.

October is also test- taking time and our students earnestly completed the nationwide ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) tests. The school has enjoyed strong and consistent improvement in standardized test scores over the last several years. We are confident that this year's results will continue that trend.

Our High School Night was a huge success. We hosted representatives from eight neighboring high schools to help our students make informed decisions about prospective high schools. Our auditorium was filled to capacity with Junior High students and their parents who had the opportunity to hear individual presentations from schools of their choice.

We were very proud of our contribution to the Larchmont Fair last weekend. I would like to thank our parent board president, LAPD Capt. Beatrice Girmala, and our energetic board members, volunteers and students for making the event so successful. The festively decorated Halloween themed booth and creative art activities were a credit to the school.

We wrapped up the month of October with our annual Halloween costume parade organized by our student council. Students competed for the most original, funniest and scariest costume in each class. On all Saints Day, the students joined together for the celebration of Mass, recognizing the true meaning of Halloween.

We are now looking forward to the upcoming Dinner Dance and Auction which will be held in the Wilshire Country Club on Saturday, November 10th. Many thanks to all the parents and parishioners for donating items which will be auctioned that evening. We are honored to have Mario Martinolli, an alumnus of our school to serve as auctioneer and emcee the event. I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Ruth C. Anderson
Vice Principal

September School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:30:00 +0000

Our school year is off to a great start! Our students returned happy and refreshed after their long summer vacation. We had a wonderful turn out of parents at Back-to-School Night and welcomed many new families. Father Antonio celebrated Mass on Sept. 7 to mark the beginning of our school year.

Thanks to the generosity of our parents and parishioners for the many fund raisers to which they contributed. As a result, faculty and students are benefiting from the new dry-erase boards in the classrooms. Our 7th and 8th graders are thrilled to have SMART boards in their classrooms as well as ceiling-mounted projectors and computers. The installation of this interactive technology was made possible by the generosity of the Ahmanson Foundation. The SMART boards are greatly enhancing the teaching of the curriculum and further increasing student motivation.

We extend a warm welcome to our new music teacher, Antonio Espinal. Mr. Espinal is well known for his work as an organist at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. We are very fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated man to teach singing to our students and accompany them on the piano and organ. Our students musical experience is being further enriched by the individual classes in voice, recorder and piano which Mr. Espinal is making available to them.

We are very proud to be offering Spanish classes, with an emphasis on Spanish music and culture to our students this year. Our students are enthusiastic to be part of this new program.

We were honored to be invited to participate in a special Mass, celebrated by the Most Reverend Edward Ozorowski, Archbishop of Bialystok, Poland. The Archbishop was very impressed by the children's singing.

Many of our families and students visited the San Gennaro Festival and enjoyed good food, games and music. We thank our acolytes, Fidel Alonso,
Jessica Bautista, Mark Caraan, Melissa Magana, Toni Recinos, Thomas Roe, Ryan Toledo and Cassie Yearwood, who helped lead the procession along Hollywood Boulevard and then assisted at the Mass.

Our sports program got off to a great start! The girls' varsity volleyball team has already participated in the American Martyrs' tournament. In recent games, they defeated St. Brendan's, Cathedral Chapel, Our Mother of Good Counsel and St. Francis. Congratulations girls! Meanwhile, our football team is practicing hard and eagerly awaiting its games.

Thank you so much to the many families who so generously contributed to the success of the car raffle. Our school sold ninety tickets and as a result raised $9000. What an accomplishment! Congratulations to all the lucky winners!
The first prize of a car was won by parishioner, J.R. Lopez. Parents who won cash prizes were Young Ju Kim ($500), Ok Hyun Lee ($500), and Ray Solomon ($250).

Christ the King families are now preparing for the fifth annual Autumn Eve dinner dance which will be held in the Wilshire Country Club on Saturday, November 10. We are looking forward to a wonderful evening of families, alumni, parishioners and community coming together.

Ruth C. Anderson
Vice Principal

End of the Year School News

noreply@blogger.com (Christ the King School) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:10:00 +0000

June 2007 - Ruth Anderson

As the school year draws to a close, we rejoice at all we have accomplished and thank God for the many blessings we have received. We thank all those who contributed to making it such a successful academic year.

We were delighted to welcome two professional actors from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. They gave an inspirational, interactive and educational presentation to our students on the Environment and the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling.

Active parent participation made possible a number of rewarding field trips for our students. Generous and willing parents served as chaperones and provided logistical support for class trips to the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Natural History Museum, the Mission San Fernando, and other cultural resources.

We were very happy to welcome so many of our alumni and parishioners for the International Festival – a weekend of music, good food, games and dance. We thank all those who worked so hard to make it a success. We were very proud of our spirited students who danced so impressively to the music of the fifties.

We are all looking forward to our annual Sports Night on June 6, when many of our student athletes will receive well-deserved recognition for their achievements in sports throughout the year – volleyball, basketball, football, track and field.

It is now time to bid farewell to our eighth grade class as they prepare for graduation on June 9.   We are very proud of their many accomplishments. They concluded the year with a Retreat at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Big Bear. We wish these students continued success in their high schools and God’s blessing in the future.

           We wish all our students a safe, happy and constructive vacation. Our summer school classes begin on June 18. We hope that those who stay at home will turn off their televisions, computers and video games to spend more time reading and enjoying the great outdoors.

We thank Father Antonio for the continued love and commitment he has given to our school.   We also thank our parent board, under the leadership of Captain Beatrice Girmala, and all the parishioners for their generosity and support throughout the year. May God bless you all.