In the fall of 2015, more than 1.6 million jun-iors throughout the United States took the PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). Of those 1.6 million less than 1% qualify as academically talented enough to attain the distinction of National Merit Semi-Finalist. San Dieguito H.S. Acad-emy congratulations (pictured left, l to r) Jo-seph Yu, Elisha Chen, Hana Chen, and

Erin Fuller.

San Dieguito H.S. Academy also announces 19 seniors who were named Commended Students in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. Commended students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.6 million students who en-tered the 2017 competition by taking the 2016 Pre-liminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test – PSAT/NMSQT.

Congratulations to seniors: Elizabeth Anderson,

Scott Anderson, Owen Bayindirli, Ethan Boutel-

le, Marcella Broadbooks, Mary Ford, Delilah For-

rest, Devin Gaan, Chloe Griffin, Chet Gurevitch,

Lucas Hendricks, Kirstin Mueller, Sara Ostrie,

Sophie Peeler, Natalia Pinpin, Anne Pugmire,

Julia Shapero, Chloe Williams and Eric Wimsatt.

Academic Support for our students!

Math Tutoring Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

3:15-4:15 p.m., Flex Lab

Credentialed SDA teachers assist students with all

levels of math.

After-School Subject Tutoring 3:30-5:00 p.m., Learning Commons

Monday: Spanish Wednesday: Social Science

Tuesday: Science Thursday: English

Credentialed SDA teachers assist students with the

subjects listed above.

This after-school tutoring is sponsored by the SDA Foundation.

Check with your student’s teacher as most teachers are available at certain times to offer tutoring and assistance.

The Mustang, San Dieguito H.S. Acade-

my‟s student newspaper, is online at

www.sdamustang.com. The Mustang‟s

website includes the full print paper in

an outline form as well as up-dates and

stories about campus happenings, cul-

tural, and world events. Find out what

students are talking about. Stay in-

formed on the world of SDA students by

going to sdamustang.com.

Remember to visit our website often at sd.sduhsd.net to stay up-to-date and informed. Information is continuously up-dated on the website. Each Friday an email is sent home to all families with the next week‟s news and important dates. These weekly up-dates are sent to the email address that is on the con-tact page of your student‟s Aeries ac-count (Parent Portal).

Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages for fun activities and happenings at school.

2 SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY

The history of San Dieguito emerges in mural form;

80 Mustang years researched and celebrated by

SDHSA art students.

Speech and Debate team has been busy, competing in local and invi-tational tournaments almost every weekend! On October 8th, they had some students at the League 1B competi-tion held at Mission Vista High School. Freshman Madelyn Flores placed 12th in Novice Congress, junior Austin Stead went a record of 3-1 in Varsity Lincoln Douglas, and senior Chloe Williams broke to finals in Congress POing. On October 15th, SDA students competed at the League 1C Speech Tournament held at Carlsbad High School. Freshman Moya Caulfield placed 4th in Novice Expository, senior Matt Benowitz took 1st place in Varsity OPP, junior Jakob Becker placed 6th in Varsity OPP, junior Hannah Gunderman and sophomore Yari Sequeira placed 7th in Varsity Duo, and junior Olivia Hussey placed 7th in Varsity OPP. Later this month, the team will be at Del Norte High School.

The team is looking forward to representing SDA during the rest of the Speech and Debate season!

paintings, and might very well be seen sport-ing a “Keep SDA Funky” tie-dyed t-shirt. Heck, they are

worn by teachers too. As we move into this second quarter, it‟s helpful to remind ourselves to strive for balanced lives, even as the demands of school rattle along. The newness of the year has worn off, and summer still feels like just a ru-mor, so as we navigate the challeng-es and delights of the school year, surrounded by now familiar faces, it‟s important that we take time to breathe, say “thank you” to those who support us, and think of ways we might be supportive of those we meet. San Dieguito has a long history of caring, and I hope for all our students (and families too) that this second quarter brings a feeling of connection and sense of belonging. Ours is a school rich with tradition and brim-ming with possibility, but underlying all that we do, at our best it is a school of kindness.

Don‟t let the sunny skies fool you, it‟s autumn at San Dieguito. October and November are always busy on campus, and this year is no exception, with Cabaret Night, a new pep band playing at athletic events, and our three versus three soccer tournament already in the books. Our students have been busy in classes as well, and the results are as diverse as an award winning newspaper, a student art show, and a newly minted recycling program. Fall has seen several parent events: a parent forum, the screening of a film, and a book club; activities for students: a welcome back dance, the Battle of the Bands, and Senior Ja-va; and a host of alumni events cele-brating the 80th anniversary of our school. On top of all that, Homecoming is in the air. Yet amidst this bustle, SDA main-tains a relaxed, funky vibe that mani-fests itself in caring teachers and smiling students. These are teenag-ers who give alumni tours when they come back for reunions, decorate the construction fences with colorful

At the monthly SDA student-run Forum (pictured above and below), students have a chance to share ideas and to talk about issues and topics that are of inter-est and importance to them. All students have an equal voice and administrators and teachers who attend are interested in what students have to say.

Mr. Paige’s Book Club met and discussed the book, It’s Compli-cated, by Danah Boyd in mid-October. Check the website for the next Book Club meeting in

the spring.

3 SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY

The SDA Visual Arts Department was a recipient of the San Dieguito Artist Guild's generous donation of $500 towards pro-fessional framing for exhibition opportunities within the City of Encinitas. The funds were raised by SDAG last May through their very popular Mother‟s Day Art, Garden & Studio Tour. The frames will showcase the talent of our SDA student artists showing at Encinitas City Hall from October 19 to November 23, 2016. This exhibition opportunity will be an annual partner-ship with the City of Encinitas. Pictured (l to r), Jeremy Wright, Visual Art Teacher; Angela Jackson, Visual Art Teacher; Delaney Stewart, Hana Litz-lbeck, Tara Caulfield, Lena Keefe, Torrey Platenberg, Joice He, Kajsa Medak, Visual Art Teacher and Laura Lowenstein, San Dieguito Artist Guild Mother's Day Chair.

Cabaret Night 2016

„ The San Dieguito H.S. Academy 2016-17 season is getting off to a promising start. We began our season on September 29th, 30th, and October 1st with Boy Meets Girl, a hilarious and mov-ing story of two individuals facing relationship problems, from the perspective of five year olds, followed by a series of scenes and songs. On October 8th, we had a successful Cabaret Night, the musi-cal theatre class‟s annual collaboration with the music program. But that‟s not all for our department! Coming up on January 19th, 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th, and 28th is The Addams Family, the musical. Put on by the musical and technical theatre classes, it tells the story of the Addams family as they face consequences resulting from their daughter‟s new relationship. It is set to be a thrilling and spooky spectacle of song and dance.

Please visit the SDA Theatre web page for more de-tails, follow SDA Theatre on Face-book and Insta-gram for updates. Students are also welcome to come to Thespian meet-ings on Tuesdays at lunch to get in-volved with our department!

This fall marks the debut of the San Dieguito Academy Pep Band. The Pep Band will be performing at various sports events throughout the year, as well as during other school functions. The Pep Band fea-tures several members of the SDA music program playing pop and rock favorites.

We are happy for this oppor-tunity to spread school spirit through music!

Our year is off to a great start in the SDA Music Program. We have many great concerts and events planned for the 2016-2017 school year!

On October 7th the students performed in our 9th Annual Cabaret Night, a collaborative event between the music and theatre programs. It was an amazing night of performances and laughter. A great time was had by all who attended.

For information about our upcoming events, please visit our website at http://www.sdamusic.org.

The technical crew of Boy Meets Girl

San Dieguito H.S. Academy Mustang Minds Academic Team is getting an early start this school year.

In September, Ben Loren, Rohit Vighne, Klaus Neyer, and Mi-chael Colbath competed in a Southern California Quizbowl Com-

petition held at Torrey Pines. They com-peted at the Junior Varsity level and came in third out of a very strong field of 12 teams. Klaus Neyer was the lead scorer for all players competing at this level. Later in the fall, these students, along with Blue and Kai Flood, will com-pete in the Triton Novice competition to be held at UCSD. These students bring enthusiasm and knowledge that are fun to share.

The Academic Team will be holding tryouts in November. Stu-dents interested in trying out for the team should come to room 28 for additional information. Flyers will be posted as we near the tryout days. Competitions are held on Thursday evenings during January – March 2017.

Mustang Minds welcomes JV coach Ellen diCristina and Freshman coach Trish Hovey to the team along with returning Varsity coach Linda Park.

SDA’s new Pep Band

by senior Savannah Casey

4 SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY

by junior Isaac Rosenbaum

by juniors Evan Moore and Alan Miyazaki

This year, the Japanese language students are very fortunate to have Yasuharu Higure Sensei in the Japanese classes. He is a Japanese assistant teacher brought by the J-LEAP pro-gram, administrated by the Japan Founda-tion. The Japan Foundation “promotes interna-tional awareness and mutual understanding between Japan and the U.S. through cultural exchange, and it is funded by an endowment from the Japanese government, annual gov-ernment subsidies, as well as private sector donations.” The J-LEAP program was primari-ly created to spread Japanese culture to Amer-ica as well as further strengthen the alliances between Japan and the United States.

One of the most commendable feats of our visiting assistant teacher is his ability to adapt to all of the different levels of Japanese taught at SDA. Whether it is talking to the Japanese V students during breaks to help them refine their grammar and vocabulary skills or helping the first year students grasp the basics of the Japanese language, he seems to excel at assisting all levels of stu-dents.

Having a native speaker of Japanese in the classroom helps not only the students but the primary teacher as well. It allows our teacher to more efficiently underline the main ideas we should be learning instead of focusing on indi-vidual questions that the student might have.

Our experiences with Higure Sensei have been beyond helpful in terms of learning Japanese, talking to him during homeroom and after school in Japanese, hearing about his daily life and hobbies in Japan, and finally hearing an authentic perspective on the American way of life compared to Japan. We are both excited to continue working with him throughout the year and further expanding our understanding of the Japanese culture and language in the future.

Pictured (l to r) Alan Miyazaki, Yasuharu Higure Sensei, and Evan Moore

In September, ASB held its annual Welcome Back Dance. The theme was “Wild West” and it was a great success, kicking off the 2016-17 school year with over 500 students at the dance, along with our Austrian ex-change students who visited in September. We couldn‟t have done it without the help of our amazing parent chaperons and donations! Also a huge thanks to those who hosted an Austrian exchange student!

In more news, ASB hosted the annual 3 vs. 3 Soccer Tournament in late September with 36 student and teacher teams participating. It was another great suc-cess and a lot of fun to get the students and teacher teams together for this event.

We also had a great turnout at SDA‟s Club Fair (pictured below) on October 7th. Students had the op-portunity to sign up and join the clubs of their choice.

We have over 70 unique clubs at SDA that uncover our culture and community. You can find the complete list of active clubs on campus by visiting the SDA website.

Battle of the Bands competition, October 31-November 10: SDA bands will perform at lunch during these dates. Parents, teachers, and community members will judge and pick the top four bands to play in the finals (SDA gym) on November 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Annual Flag Football Tournament, November 4: This is a unique and special event for SDA. We will have over 30 student teams participate from 3:30 to 8:00 p.m. The top four student teams will compete against the faculty/staff team for brag-ging rights!

Blood Drive, November 15: In the gym from 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. You must be 16 years or older to donate. If a parent or a community member would like to donate blood, please contact the San Diego Blood Bank – walk-ins are always welcome.

Adopt a Family, November-December: Homerooms, clubs, teams, and organiza-tions can sign up to adopt a needy family for the holidays. Groups that adopt a fami-ly will receive their wish list and will buy gifts and other things that the family needs.

Ping-Pong Tournament, November 29-December 2: In front of the gym during lunch. Sign up in room 70 if you want to compete.

SDA Bazaar, December 8: A chance for students to sell their creations at lunch in front of the PAC.

Student Body elections, December 9-13: Voting is done during lunch on Decem-ber 9, 12, and 13. If your student wishes to run for an office, have him/her sign up in room 70 by mid-November.

Winter Formal Dance, February 11, 2017: This year‟s Winter Formal Dance is at the Port Pavilion in downtown San Diego from 8:00-11:30 p.m. Tickets will be on sale in January. This dance is open to all grades, and it‟s going to be tons of fun!

We are very busy, but we believe that what we do is only to set the stage for our peers to contribute to the beautiful, colorful culture that is so valued here at SDA. Huge thanks to all you parents who support what we do.

Winners of the 3 x 3 soccer tour-nament, juniors Jake Davis-Cervantes, Aiden Escobar, and David Schlesinger.

5 SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY

Counseling Corner

Freshman Presentations

Counselors visited Introduction to Technology classes in mid-October. Using a four year planning worksheet, students are tak-en through a step-by-step process to make sure they know the graduation requirements and the UC/CSU A-G college require-ments. These presentations will be followed up by another Intro-duction to Technology workshop where all students will be taught how to log on to Naviance and how to explore the program, in-cluding starting with a MI Advantage. Students who have Intro-duction to Technology in spring will get these presentations then.

Sophomore Presentations

Counselors will be visiting first term World History classes to talk about career planning and ways to connect with the community. These meetings will be followed up with a homeroom workshop on Naviance and will include how to explore careers using the program. Students that have English in the spring will receive the presentation at that time.

Junior Presentations

Classroom presentations with juniors will be in January and Feb-ruary to go over college searching and testing requirements. The Naviance homeroom workshops began during the month of Octo-ber and will be offered again in April.

Senior Presentations

We have already met with all seniors to give them college applica-tion and post high school information. We went over selecting colleges, how to apply, how financial aid and scholarships work, and SAT/ACT testing. We followed these presentations with hom-eroom workshops to specifically help students on college applica-tions through Naviance. We are also offering homeroom open labs for seniors to help with the UC/CSU/common applications in the month of November.

PALs

Our Peer Assistance Listeners (PALs) have been newly trained this year to work with and support students with academic needs and students who need help exploring careers. For the students needing academic support, the PALs have learned ways to help students get or-ganized and how to

study to find more success. The PALs were trained on Naviance and know how to explore careers and build a résumé. They will help each student they work with create their very own résumé. The PALs still continue to see students on any issue or situation along with being able to conduct conflict mediations. They are a well-trained and an exceptional group of SDA students!

How do colleges get test scores?

You must request your SAT/ACT scores through the testing company, either on the registration form or online. After re-ceiving your request, the testing company will send your scores to the colleges you identified. Send a complete score report with all of the tests you have taken and let the colleges choose the best one.

Do all schools need a letter of recommendation?

If you are applying to a UC or CSU, you are not required to send a letter of recommendation. Letters of recommendation are needed for most private schools as well as for most scholarships. To request a letter of recommendation from a counselor or administrator, you must go through Naviance and complete a FERPA form before a letter can be written. Then complete the SDA Counselor Recommendation Survey in Naviance and notify your counselor when it is complete. You must have everything ready for your counselor at least two weeks before your first application deadline or by No-vember 6.

How can I get extra help with my applications?

The counseling department has set specific homeroom times throughout the year to assist seniors with college related activities. The dates for these open labs are November 6-

18—CSU/UC/Common Application.

Still have questions?

Visit the counseling webpage:

http://sd.sduhsd.net/ and click on Counseling under Quick Links.

Counselors Ann Nebolon, Vicki deJesús and Carolyn Lee attended the California Association of School Counselors (a statewide counselor conference) in mid-October. Ann Nebolon made a presentation entitled “Support Groups and Peer Counseling Programs: Yes You Can!” which reflects a couple of the amazing programs we have for students at SDA. She shared these programs with other counselors from across the state.

6 SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY

Dear SDA Parents,

It‟s hard to believe that we are already a quarter of the way through the year! I hope you and your student(s) have enjoyed your year so far!

It is likely that at least one of the rea-sons you or your child chose SDA is because of its culture of inclusivity. That culture is a vital and valued aspect of the SDA experience, and it is availa-ble to every member of the SDA com-munity – both students and parents. But like all communities, we are as rich and dynamic as our members. What we are able to provide for the students at SDA is enhanced by the layers of ide-as, participation and engagement from you, our parents.

All too often you hear parents saying that childhood goes way too fast. The four years that your child is in high school are really the end of that jour-ney. Isn‟t it in our children‟s best

The fall sports season is in full swing with the excitement of playing in a new league, the tough Avocado West.

Volleyball is out to another great start having just won the Scripps Ranch Volleyball Tournament led by junior Sarah

Colla.

Water Polo is having one of its best seasons in recent memory with sophomore Matheus Gensler and senior Sam

Dumont leading the way.

Field Hockey has a new competitive edge and has won sev-eral games this season following last year's tough season.

The Mustang Tennis team have hit their stride just as league play begins. Senior Jen Kerr is the defending CIF champion leading the way in singles, and junior Sophia Zhu

and sophomore Amber Tse..... are the doubles team to beat.

The highlight of the season so far in golf has been beating LCC in their first match up this season.

Cross Country has over 80 runners on the team; senior Ross Urbina leads the way for the boys and junior Sarah

Lavake for the girls.

Don’t miss an opportunity to come out and

root on your Mustangs!

interest to have the best high school experience we can offer them and isn‟t it in our best interest to seize these years while we can? I invite you to get involved here at SDA, whether it‟s with your time, talent or treasure… We wel-come you.

You matter here… Your participation matters and your contributions matter and there is not only a place for every student here at SDA, there is also a place for every parent. Please stop in to our office here on campus or go sdafoundation.com for more information on how to get involved.

There is still time to attend our annual Fall Fundraiser: “80s for the 80th” on Saturday, November 5. You can pur-chase a ticket at the door, 6:30 p.m. at the Encinitas Community Center. It is always a fun night! And thank you for your generous contributions to our Mus-tang Fund Annual Appeal. Your dona-tions support programs and activities

that benefit and enrich the lives of all SDA students. This year, we have rolled out Innovation Grants that are available to any teacher with an inno-vative and new idea for their class-rooms and programs. We are pleased to share that we have already distribut-ed three such awards with more on the way, thanks to your generosity and support.

For those who still wish to contribute to our Mustang Fund Annual Appeal, there‟s still time. You can go the foun-dation website at: sdafoundation.com to donate directly or contact Leslie Sal-dana in the Foundation Office. I look forward to seeing you around campus.

Sincerely,

Bobbi Cecio President - SDA Foundation

7 SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

30 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 1 2 3

Veterans’ Day—No school

First Quarter Ends—Minimum Day End of Quar-

ter Bell Schedule

Fall Break

Alumni Committee, 5:30 pm, CC

Ext. homeroom: Link Crew activity First Friday w/Mr.

Paige, 8:00 am, LC

SSS Council, 9:00 am, CC

Flag Football, after

school

Grades available on the Aeries Parent Portal

Comedy Sportz, 7:00

pm, Liggett Theater

Adopt-A-Family begins

Music Council,

6:00 pm, CC

Foundation, 4:30, Flex Lab

Senior Java, HR

Theater Arts Council, 6:00 pm, CC

Battle of the Bands, lunch Battle of the Bands, lunch

Battle of the Bands, lunch Battle of the Bands, lunch

Mock Hybrid, 9-1

SDAF Fall Fund-raiser, 7:00-11:00 pm, Encinitas

Community Center

Tennis Tournament, 12-2:00 pm

Blood Drive, 8-1, gym

Athletic Council, 6:30

pm, LC

Battle of the Bands finals, 6:30 pm, gym

Ping Pong, lunch

LATE START

LATE START

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Winter break—December 19-January 2, 2017

SDA Bazaar, lunch

Music Council, 6:00 pm, CC

Foundation, 4:30 pm, Flex Lab

Theater Arts Council,

6:00 pm, CC

Athletic Council, 6:30

pm, LC

Election campaign begins

Ping Pong

Ext. HR: Nomina-tion Convention

ASB voting

Acting I Festival, 7:00 pm, Theater

ASB Voting

Grades available on the Aeries Parent Portal

Band Concert,

7:00 pm, gym

Alumni La-crosse, 4-6 pm

Encinitas Holiday

Parade

LATE START

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

Martin L. King Jr.

Day—no school

Inservice Days—no school

Minimum Day Finals Schedule,

per. 3 & 4

First Term Ends

School resumes Alumni Committee, 5:30 pm, CC

First Friday w/Mr. Paige, 8:00 am, LC

SSS Council, 9:00

am, CC

Alumni Soccer, noon-6:00 pm

School Site Council, 3:30 pm, CC

Music Council, 6:00

pm, CC

Foundation, 4:30 pm, Flex Lab

Athletic Council,

6:30 pm, LC

Academic Council,

6:00 pm, CC

Senior Java, HR

Winter break

Ext. HR: Winter Assembly

Mock ACT/SAT, 9-1

SDA vs. TP girls’ and boys’ basketball, 5:30/7:00 pm, gym

Dinner and sneak peek, The Addams Family, 5:30 pm, Mosaic

Grad Nite, 5:30 pm, CC

ELAC, 6:30 pm, LC

The Addams Family musical, 7:00 pm, Liggett Theater

Theater Council, 6:00 pm, CC

Minimum Day Finals Schedule,

per. 1 & 2

LATE START

LATE START

November 2016

December 2016

First Friday w/Mr. Paige, 8:00 am, LC

SSS Council, 9:00

am, CC

Comedy Sportz, 7:00 pm, Theater

January 2017

School Site Council, 3:30 pm, CC

CC = Conference Center in Student Support “B” Building

MC = Mosaic Cafe

HR = Homeroom/LC = Learning Commons (Media Center)

The Addams Family musical, 7:00 pm, Liggett Theater

Second Term begins Alumni Committee, 5:30 pm, CC

First Friday w/Mr. Paige, 8:00 am, LC

SSS Council, 9:00 am, CC

Club Fair, lunch

Comedy Sportz, 7:00 pm, Theater

It is the policy of the San Dieguito Union High School District to prohibit

discrimination on the basis of sex, disability, race, color, national origin, religious creed, age, marital status,

or sexual orientation in its education-al programs and the activities which

it operates.

San Dieguito HS Academy

Newsletter

Second Quarter 2016-17

Published Bi-Monthly

800 Santa Fe Drive

Encinitas, CA 92024

Vol. 21, Issue #2

Alumni Commit-

tee, 5:30 pm, CC

Robotics, 7:00 am-4:00 pm, LC

Robotics, 7:00 am-4:00 pm, LC

ELAC, 6:30 pm, LC