St.

Augustine Academy
130 South Wells Road Ventura California 93004 805-672-0411 Fax 805-672-2365 e-mail StAugAcad@juno.com

www.SaintAugustineAcademy.com
Board of Governors President Louise Warnert Secretary Robert R. Orellana, Esq. Treasurer Michael C. Collins Members Thomas Ellis Abel Montiel Jeff Schuberg Michael F. McLean, Ph.D.

November 11, 2011 Veterans Day

Dear Students, Faculty, Parents and Families:

1 Week Left! Gala 2011

In a few weeks we will be turning in our accreditation document: Focus on Learning. This will be our initial draft, which we will finalize in January. When we complete the document, we will email a copy of it to every family so you all will have an opportunity to read/review it over the course of the holidays. As we get closer to the completion of our work, one major element is left for us, the formulation of a school Philosophy Statement. This is an elucidation of what really forms and drives the community an expansion of the concise Mission Statement. Here is how it is progressing:
St Augustine Academy fills a unique niche within the Catholic school community. Among other things, we sincerely believe that "small is beautiful." We are a small school of less than 150 students, and we have no plan or desire to grow in size. There are many reasons for this. First, we understand that the family, rather than the institution, is or ought to be the primary educator of the young. Thus our most fundamental commitment is to assist parents in their duty to educate their children. Everything we do is ordered to that principle; indeed, we believe that it is our school's small size which allows us to meet that obligation in a profound and intimate way. It is our small size that permits us to be more than an institution. Indeed, St. Augustine is a community--not in the realm of the ideal but in the world of real, daily, frequent and personal interaction between administration, parents, faculty, students, and alumni. We are, above all else, a Catholic community. Although far from perfect, all St. Augustine families, all school board members, headmaster, staff and faculty are devoutly committed to the Catholic Faith and to share it with our students. Furthermore, it is Catholic life in its fullest sense, intellectual, moral, social and spiritual, that we hope to pass on to our beloved children. For education is more than academics; it is inculcation in a culture. The culture at St. Augustine Academy celebrates Catholic culture as it has been handed down to us through the rich traditions that have created Western Civilization. We use the trivium to teach the classical liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric, the skills necessary for true freedom and appreciation of God's creation. As Sister Miriam Joseph, author of The Trivum, said, the function of the trivium is the training of the mind for the study of matter and spirit, which constitute the sum of reality. The fruit of education is culture, which Mathew Arnold defined as 'the knowledge of ourselves and the world.'" In the words of our patron St. Augustine, we wish to "become what we receive" through the holy sacraments, through the tradition of the Church, and through the practice of God's presence in every facet of our work and relationships. In our small school we are able to work toward this "becoming," consciously, together, united in purpose and in charity. Our headmaster's desk bears a sign which reads, "It is better to build children than to repair men." We believe that a school should be a safe harbor for innocence and for joy. We believe that only in such a safe harbor, rather than the storms of the open sea, can seaworthy vessels be built. Those ships, our young people, are destined to leave the harbor for the perils--and the high adventure-- of their ocean voyages. To navigate those high seas, they will need spiritual, moral and intellectual tools. It is those tools that we, the parents, faculty and staff of St. Augustine Academy strive to give our children, united in our belief that at the end of the voyage, our children's and ours, is the one home port to which we all are bound. At St. Augustine Academy we pray together, united in faith and hope in Christ, "Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in thee."

Headmaster Michael J. Van Hecke, M.Ed.

Board of Advisors Mr. John W. Blewett Wanderer Forum Foundation Hon. Jeremiah Denton Former U.S. Senator Mr. Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. President Ave Maria University Dr. Ronald P. McArthur Co-founder Thomas Aquinas College Mr. Roy S. Rohter, S.F.O. Founder St. Augustine Academy Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. Chancellor Franciscan University Mr. James Stenson Educator and Author

We will also be adding a paragraph on the unique nature of our community: particularly how our design of being a small, intimate school influences so much of what we do, how we do it, how we interact and how it is all so different than a larger organization that needs certain bureaucratic structures to effect what happens naturally in a limited social community. Finally, we will spend some time on the principal academic philosophy of the school, the trivium of the classical liberal arts: grammar/logic/rhetoric.

CALENDAR NOTES: Nov. 18th Progress Reports home in blue Envelope Nov. 19th GALA Dinner/Auction 6:00-11:00 PM Reagan Presidential Library Nov. 22nd Classical Activities Day Noon- 2:30 th Nov. 23-27 Thanksgiving Recess Dec. 2nd Early dismissal (12:30ish following Mass) REC DAY Ice Skating. NEEDED!! A VIDEOGRAPHER/Parent Volunteer willing to film events at SAA on CLASSICAL DAY, Tuesday, November 22 (noon - 2:30). If you are interested and have a video camera, Please see Mr. Zepeda for more details. BASKETBALL GALORE Three teams are now practicing for Basketball. Girls Middle School, Boys Middle and High School. Seasons begin after Christmas. Coaches: Mrs. Leon Middle School Girls. Dr. Seeley Middle School Boys. Jared Jacobs High School Boys (Jared is the Galvans brother-in-law.) We thank ALL the coaches for this volunteer help, since it is so good to be able to offer these activities for our students. BASKETBALL CLINIC- See Flyer for the annual Joseph Palmisano Memorial BBall Clinic for students in grades 3-9. Our very own Mrs. Leon is a Palmisano see flyer to see the basketball lineage of her family! VOLLEYBALL On Tuesday I went to one of the most exciting games I have seen. Unfortunately, the ball bounced the wrong way in overtime, and we fell short. But these girls were great and fought like no other team. They were also, by far, the best looking team in the tournament with their neat uniforms and white curly ribbons in their hair. Great job girls and thanks to Coach Schuberg for volunteering all those hours to give our girls a great season. I cant wait until next year! Thanks ProLife Club for the beautiful eveninga great time was had by nearly 100 people. ADVENT CONCERT Reminder, the Advent concert is tentatively scheduled for December 7 th. No School on December 8th. Enclosures: Joseph Palmisano Baskeball Clinic. CLASSICS DAY Team Color flyer. Ora Pro Nobis: Let us remember to pray for one another. For a special intention. Mr. Mark Faulk, our Mr. Faulks father, who was severely injured in a fall this week but, thanks be to God, all his injuries will heal. For Mario Antignani, Ben and Joseph Warnerts grandpa, who is quite ill. For Jim Stehly, Sam Alvis grandpa. For Matthew Wise. For Anita Ramirez, great aunt of the Sandoval girls, who is battling cancer. In thanksgiving for David Caviezels successful surgery. Finally, remember to pray for our country, our soldiers, and for all priests and religious, especially our Archbishop Jose Gomez and Holy Father, Benedict.

If you have any items you have not brought in, and are intending to, they must be here on Monday with Donation Sheet filled out. We will do our best to get them into the auction. Thanks everyone for coming through! As usual, if we have some items left over, we will sell those on-line in order to maximize the benefit to the school. SEE YOU SATURDAY!!! We have to give final attendance numbers on Tuesday, so please let us know by then if you will be attending (if you have not already sent in your card) or if you have friends/relatives who might like to attend.

FINAL WEEKLY GALA UPDATE NOTE:

St. Augustine Academy Classics Day

Nov. 22nd 12:30 2:30 PM

CLASSICS DAY
Team Colors!
Each Team will dress in their Team color. Please come in either a plain White School Shirt OR a shirt of your teams color
(t-shirt, Polo, etc. just make sure there is little or no writing, e.g., Star Wars Shirt probably has too much imagery.) Students know which team they are on!

Herculaneum Deep blue and green

LONDINIUM Blue and White

ROMA Bright Orange

TREVERORUM Maroon

THESBES Black and Gold

SPARTA True Red

ATHENS Light Blue

CORINTH Green and Gold

Brundisium Teal

ARGOUS Purple

Post Office Box 4506 Ventura California 93007 805-672-0411 Fax 805-672-2365 e-mail staugacad@juno.com