Academy News
Girls on Track Returns for a Second Year
by Mrs. Jill DeDolph, Girls on Track coach/Nativity faculty member “Girls on Track, we’ve got your back!” is the cheer that has echoed down the hallway on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for the past two months, signaling the end of another Girls on Track practice. This is Nativity’s second year of partnering with Girls on the Run, a national non-profit Read more…
Planting the seed of love for the outdoors
In early April, Elijah Bonde, an eight-year veteran of our school’s science department and the person responsible for bringing our science curriculum into the 21st century, traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for the annual conference of the National Science Teachers Association. He was invited to host a workshop at the conference after submitting a proposal to discuss his camping-based curriculum Read more…
Inocente Inspires Nativity Students
Whether you watched the 2013 Academy Awards or not, you’re likely by now to have heard of Inocente Izucar, the young San Diego artist whose life story was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary film, “Inocente.” In late April, she paid a visit to the Nativity campus and spoke with students about her art work, her struggles as a homeless Read more…
Salton Sea and Anza-Borrego provide a real-life curriculum for sixth graders
Our 23 sixth graders traveled to the Anza-Borrego Desert and Salton Sea in Southern California earlier this month (March) to explore the region’s unique topographical and geological features, all of them included in their study of Earth science this year. Of special note among the things they saw were mudpots, which are above-ground structures formed naturally through geothermal heating. “Picture Read more…
Sixth grade keeps opera tradition going in 2013
By Mr. Louie Lebherz, Music Teacher at Nativity Prep On January 24th, our sixth graders arrived at the San Diego Civic Theater with our music and performing-arts teachers, Mr. Louie Lebherz and Mrs. Gayla Lebherz, and three of our teachers. As they took their seats in the front row of the mezzanine section, they waited patiently for the lights to Read more…
Gonzaga Students Serving as “Men and Women for Others”
Eleven students and two faculty advisors from Gonzaga University’s Center for Community Action and Service Learning (CCASL) traveled from Spokane, Washington, to San Diego in early January and spent the week learning firsthand about a variety of outreach ministries to the poor and underserved in greater San Diego. As part of their five-day immersion experience, Gonzaga students spent a day Read more…
Students Spend Day at Birch and Scripps
Thanks to the generosity of two of our benefactors, Mr. Jim Mittermiller and Mrs. Elsie Weston, Nativity students were treated to a day seminar and tour at the Birch Aquarium and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. The world-renowned Birch Aquarium features a number of interactive and innovative exhibits, many of which explore the issues and challenges of Read more…
Dare to Be Project Provides Bikes for Nativity Students
All 60+ of our middle school students received an early and unexpected Christmas gift this year, thanks to the generosity of US Olympic Cycling Team star Amber Neben. On Friday, December 7th, Neben and a team of assistants from her non-profit charity, The Dare to Be Project (DTBP), and with help from volunteers through DTBP’s corporate partner, the Cummins Corporation, Read more…
Graduate Students from USD’s Hahn School Help Build Campus Garden
For the past three years, our partnership with the Hahn School of Nursing at the University of San Diego has benefited our students and families a great deal. In addition to providing on-site care for the usual bumps and bruises, our volunteer team of graduate students from Hahn have provided in-class seminars on a variety of health-related topics and have Read more…
Ten students elected to NJHS for 2012-2013
In early October of this year, ten Nativity students were recognized for their academic and leadership accomplishments with their induction into the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). Students elected to NJHS are done so within a set of criteria set by NJHS and by the chapter school. This year marks the beginning of what we expect will provide more motivation Read more…
Princeton, Stanford, Penn, and Yale among College Hopes for Nativity Alum
Judy Martinez, a graduate from Nativity’s Class of 2009 and now a senior at The Bishop’s School (La Jolla), was recently named a finalist for the Questbridge Scholarship Program. Of the 33 partner colleges in the Questbridge network, Judy has applied to eight (8), which is the required maximum number of schools to which candidates can apply. They are Stanford, Read more…
Learning in Yosemite
The fall season marks the beginning of our students’ year-long exploration of the great outdoors. The month of October features our annual eighth-grade science trip to Yosemite National Park. In March, our sixth graders will enjoy a two-day overnight trip to Anza-Borrego Desert and the Salton Sea for their study of earth science, and our seventh graders will spend two Read more…
Steubenville San Diego 2012
by Ms. Maria Centanni, Director School Ministry at Nativity Prep Twelve of 20 of our graduates from this past spring, the Class of 2013, attended the annual Steubenville San Diego weekend on July 27th to the 29th. With the help of a generous donation (along with plenty of candy sales!), our graduates had the privilege of joining over 1,000 high Read more…
Teaching as He Was Taught, as a ‘Person for Others’
Ask a graduate of any Jesuit school to tell you what he remembers most about Jesuit teaching, and the answer is likely to be unanimous: service to others. It is this same passion to give back that has brought Trevor Crest to teach at Nativity. “The message about being a ‘man for others’ is such an important one for me…we Read more…
Upward Bound and the College Dream
Two graduates from Nativity Prep’s Class of 2011 were selected this past spring to participate in the Upward Bound college-prep programs at UCSD. The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Upward Bound Programs are composed of Upward Bound Classic (UBC) and Upward Bound Math & Science (UBMS). UBC & UBMS are TRiO programs 100% funded by the U.S. Department of Read more…
NPA Graduates Work with Bishop’s Students to Hone Writing and Math Skills
by Kai Mateo, The Bishop’s School, Class of 2013 Energy permeated the hallways and classrooms of Nativity Prep during the week of July 9thas small groups of Nativity alumni strengthened their reading and writing skills with the help of tutors from The Bishop’s School (La Jolla, CA). At the invitation of Judy Halter, a longtime Nativity supporter and current Board Read more…
Onward, Class of 2012!
For more than 600 days of school over the past three years, Adrian Alcazar (NPA Class of 2012) managed to get to school every day on time. He joins a select group of students over the past eight years who have earned perfect attendance for their three years of middle school at Nativity Prep. Adrian was one of several recipients—scholarship-award Read more…
Dr. Edith Eva Eger Inspires Nativity Students
by Mr. Louie Centanni, Nativity’s Dean of Students On May 30th, Dr. Edith Eva Eger—clinical psychologist and Holocaust survivor—shared her story with the Nativity Prep Academy community. Students and teachers who gathered expecting to hear living history were treated not only to heart-wrenching tales of her tragedies and triumphs during World War II, but also to inspirational advice about the Read more…
Sixth-Grade Artwork Shown at A.R.T.S. Gallery
An estimated crowd of 75–including parents, teachers, and supporters of our school–attended the annual spring exhibition featuring photography and mixed-media artwork from our talented sixth graders on May 22nd at the A.R.T.S. Gallery at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Each year, with the generous support of a grant from our Parent Committee, we partner with Outside the Lens (a local Read more…
Nativity Athletes Win CSL Track and Soccer Championships
May 2012 will be a month to remember in the sports annals of our school’s relatively young history. Our boys’ and girls’ tracks teams finished in first place overall at the spring annual Catholic Sports League (CSL) track meet at Cathedral High School earlier this month. And our boys’ varsity (A) soccer team won their first championship ever two weeks Read more…
Breakfast of Champions Spreads NPA’s Mission to Hundreds
by Ms. Tracy Stout, Nativity’s Coordinator of Website and Social Media Thank you to those who took time early on the morning of March 7th to attend our Nativity Prep Academy Breakfast for Champions at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Roughly 325 people came to learn more about our mission and vision while enjoying a delicious breakfast. Special thanks to Jamie Read more…
Inaugural Year for Girls on the Run/Girls on Track Program
This year will mark the first year of a partnership between Nativity Prep and Girls on Track San Diego (GOTSD), a local non-profit affiliated with Girls on the Run International. GOTSD is dedicated to the development of healthy lifestyles and healthy bodies for young women through running, coaching, and teaching. GOTSD’s partnership with Nativity will help encourage our middle school Read more…
David Ortiz, NPA ’05, Earns Coveted McNair Scholarship at SDSU
When he enrolled as a fifth-grade student at Nativity Prep in the fall of 2001, David Ortiz was one of twenty students unsure about what lay ahead of them in middle school. Four years later, as a graduate of Nativity’s inaugural class in the spring of 2005, David took a bold step into the future by enrolling at High Tech Read more…
Jesus Jimenez, NPA 2009, Finalist in SDYS Concerto Competition
Jesús Jimenez, a graduate of Nativity Prep’s Class of 2009 and now a junior at Francis Parker School (San Diego), was recently named one of five finalists in the San Diego Youth Symphony’s (SDYS) Concerto Competition, to be held on Tuesday, February 21st, at the Neuroscience Institute in La Jolla, California. The top two finishers from the February competition—one in Read more…
Eight Students to Participate in EYHN and BE WiSE
In March and April, a select group of Nativity girls will participate in two unique programs designed to encourage in young women an ongoing interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Through the generous support of Mrs. Veronica and Judge Robert Longstreth, benefactors of Nativity, six Nativity students—two female students from each grade (sixth, seventh, and eighth)—will participate in Read more…
High Accolades for NPA Students in Art Competition
This past October, two Nativity students earned recognition for their artwork at the annual Arts and Culture Fest sponsored by the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation in Southeast San Diego. Elsy Guzman, a student in our seventh-grade class (2013), and Angelica Vera, from our eighth-grade class (2012), won, respectively, the second-place award for mixed media (“Loneliness”), and the first-place award Read more…
ITBS Scores Soar for 8th Graders on Standardized Tests
This year’s eighth-grade class, Nativity’s Class of 2012, set a high mark for excellence on their fall standardized test scores. Each year, twice a year (in fall and spring) Nativity students in all three grades complete the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, a nationally-normed test that assesses their knowledge base in reading, language (writing), mathematics, science, and maps and diagrams Read more…