Dear SUA Community,

As we enter into this Advent season, a time of anticipation and preparation for the birth of Jesus, I keep thinking about the many parallels with the journey of parenting.  We wait for the coming of the Savior, a beacon of light to the many dark places in our lives and the world during Advent.  As parents, we hold so many hopes and dreams for our children and wait for them to develop; the sense of longing for them to be realized is real and sometimes painful.  Advent reminds us to be patient - to slow down and enjoy this time of preparation and growth.  Advent is about love.  God’s love for humanity inspires us to unconditionally love our children and one another.  Lelia and I hope and pray that Advent is a meaningful time for you.

This is also the time of the year when there are so many things to do that it is hard to keep track.  Our students are entering a busy season of preparation as they wrap up the last few weeks of the quarter and prepare for exams.  Here is some important information about our week:

• On Tuesday, we held a Minimester Meet and Greet:  the students had an opportunity to meet with teachers from various departments to ask questions about the minimester offerings and learn more about the courses in preparation for selecting their minimesters for next year.  You can review all of the offerings in our Minimester Guidebook.
• Today all students in grades 9-11 received a minimester request form with the minimester offerings tailored to their grade.  Students are asked to select their top 7 preferences for both the December and May minimesters.
  • Minimester request forms are due on December 11.  Please take time to review your daughter’s minimester requests with her.
  • Over the next several weeks, we will be working on matching students with their minimester preferences, giving priority to our rising seniors followed by rising juniors and sophomores.  
  • Students will learn of their minimester courses in January before starting the typical scheduling process for next year in February.  As always, our wonderful school counselors are there to assist individual students with guidance about how their minimester courses can enhance their academic plans.
• This Thursday is a previously announced early dismissal at 1 pm in order for our faculty to participate in professional development in preparation for next year’s new schedule.  
• Friday classes begin at 8 am.  
• Monday, December 9, is a Holy Day of Obligation to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  School will dismiss at its normal time of 3 pm.  We invite students and all of you to join us for a family Mass celebrated in the Saint Ursula Chapel at 3:15 pm. Our hope is this Mass time will be a special opportunity for students and parents/guardians to attend in the Chapel.
• In addition to all of the above, there are holiday festivities, admissions events, alumnae traditions, and the beautiful Christmas concert in the Chapel.  We have a lot to celebrate this season!

Go Bulldogs!

Kathy