Weekly Blast 12.06.24

Hello,

One saying I often heard from my mother growing up was, “Take ownership, Kyle”. This was generally connected to my immature, initial reaction when called to give an account of my thoughts, words, or deeds. I was eager to minimize my vices and sins, and I exceled in coming up with reasonable excuses; justifying myself was easier than simply owning to the truth and facing the consequences.

Most recently, I had a wonderful life experience with my youngest child. I had to confront her about something she did, and without hesitation, she took ownership, shared the truth, and was able to then repent and restore with her teacher and me. Now, my daughter could have easily maintained she was unaware or did not know the expectations given the situation; she could have quickly avoided my disappointed, consequences, and the difficult conversations that were necessary. But she did not; she owned it. There were certainly tears, but she also saw love and forgiveness, something she would never have experienced if she did not take ownership. I was certainly proud as a father and wanted to share this touching moment with all of you. I am sure we see the value in taking ownership and telling the truth, and I am confident that is what we desire to see in our children. It is certainly a blessing to see this when it happens!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mr. Navarrette

Headmaster

Dual Enrollment

As a reminder, dual enrollment registration is open for second semester! Students may earn college credit by registering for any of our dual enrollment courses offered: Latin V, Greek II, Spanish IV, French IV, HL12, Calculus I, and Algebra II/Pre-Calc. You can find the instructions to register on our website under college counseling, and you can reach out directly to the college counseling department with any questions. Registration is open through December 11^th.

Instrumental Concert

All instrumental ensembles will present their Winter Concert on Wednesday, December 11^th students must arrive by 5:00pm concert starts at 6:30 pm. The Instrumental Concert includes the 7^th and 8^th grade curricular music classes, Jazz Band and Orchestra. All students in middle school curricular music classes are required to participate in the concert as a portion of their music grade. Students who are participating in this concert received detailed information from their teacher/director about the concert.

Drama

8^th Grade Curricular Drama presents… The Phantom Tollbooth! Join 8B and/or 8D and experience the magic of what’s possible in a child’s imagination! Shows are this Saturday, December 7^th at 3 pm (8B) and 6 pm (8D). Curricular drama performances are always free.

Semester 1 Final Exams

As you know, the final week of Quarter 2 is devoted to Semester 1 Final Exams.  So that your students might best prepare, we would like to offer several tips to employ throughout this quarter.  It is also extremely important to communicate the final exam schedule and attendance policy for the week of conferences.

Semester 1 Final Exam Preparation Tips

• Make corrections to graded tests and attend tutoring to review corrections with the teacher throughout the quarter.
• Save all returned tests to study from in preparation for final exams.
• Check in with each teacher on a regular basis and ask specific questions.
• Utilize the free account offerings at Quizlet.com to build study materials and review in preparation for each test OR begin making index card flash cards to prepare for Q2 tests and keep them to use again for finals.  If utilized, Quizlet will then combine any selected materials to better prepare for final exams.

Final Exam Week Schedule

Final Exam Attendance

Final exams are a culmination of the material students have learned through the entirety of the first semester and account for 10% of a student’s final semester grade in each course.  Please schedule appointments and vacations outside of the final exam testing window.

Students who miss a final exam due to illness with a doctor’s note will make up any missed final exams according to the following schedule. Unexcused absences or illness without a doctor’s note will result in the score of a zero for any missed final exam.

*Additional arrangements will be made with the Dean of Academics for any students who miss more than 4 Final Exams due to illness with a doctor’s note.

Family Giving

Thank you to all our families that generously supported our school on #GivingTuesday December 3^rd,  and to those that have already made gifts to Community Investment or have volunteered their time on campus at events this year. We are so grateful for your generosity! If you would still like to support our school, there is still time! Use this link to Donate to Glendale Preparatory Community Investment. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Tammy Kempton, Family Giving Officer, at tkempton@glendaleprep.org.

Robotics

This Saturday, the two Glendale Prep Robotics Teams, Unscheduled Disassembly and Metal Masters, will be taking part in their second competition of the season at Valley Christian (K-8 Campus at 6304 S. Price Road Tempe, AZ 85283) between 10 am and 4 pm.  The event consists of matches where two alliances of two robots each will compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge game “Into the Deep”, performing many tasks to score points in 2.5 minute matches.  At the first competition, Metal Masters took second place and hopes to improve their performance with a new claw design.  Come out to support the teams.  The event is free and open to the public.  The matches will be streamed live from this YouTube channel.  Contact Mr. Roper with any questions: broper@glendaleprep.org

College Counseling

The Great Hearts College Symposium: Saturday, March 1st, from 3:15 PM to 6:00 PM (at Scottsdale Preparatory Academy – 16537 N. 92nd St., Scottsdale, AZ 85260).

This is an opportunity for Great Hearts families of 10th and 11th grade students to explore and interact with multiple colleges in a single event. Admissions representatives will give presentations on essay writing, financial aid, and more. We strongly encourage all 10th and 11th grade students to attend the Symposium. To register, please go to StriveFair.com, where you will receive a personalized barcode for entry. All students must wear school uniforms when attending this symposium.

Community College Application Workshop: Tuesday, December 10, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM in Room 706.

This workshop is for students who are interested in submitting applications to one or more community colleges and would like application support. Please sign up on the College Counseling Bulletin Board.

Athletics

Game Schedules, Practice Schedules, and Events

The athletics website (https://greatheartsglendaleathletics.org) will have the most up to date information regarding all things schedules (games and practices). All middle school schedules are updated on the athletics website. A link will take you to each individual schedule. It is a tab at the top titled “MS Team Schedules”. All high school schedules are updated on the athletics website. Click the tab at the top titled “Sports and Activities.”

Home Game Support/Volunteering

We are looking forward to a great Winter Sports Season for all our High School Teams! The APO and the Athletic Department are in need of volunteers to help make our home events successful. Your support is crucial in ensuring everything runs smoothly and the kids have a great time.

Here is the link where all sign-ups are located. This sign up genius link has all of the home games along with the positions we need filled for basketball and soccer. This is also available on the athletics website!

https://signup.com/go/DosdZUv