A School Built on Prayer

Dear Friends and Families of OLG Catholic School,

How did we get to today so quickly? It seems like only yesterday that the classrooms were being emptied for summer work. Now, as our teachers return, those same classrooms have been refreshed and readied to welcome a new school year.

As always, we will gather in the courtyard to begin our year with prayer.

Prayer is conversation

I want to start OUR school year by saying a few words about this topic, and I assure you that these are my own thoughts, unaided by “Claude.”

When I think of prayer, I think of conversation — the act of communicating with those whom I love best. I don’t necessarily have a conversation with the pharmacist (although there are some very nice ones at my neighborhood CVS!). I hold conversations with my children, my grands, and my coworkers. On occasion I will have a conversation with one of you, and usually those are grace-filled moments.

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If we are truly going to call ourselves “a school built on Grace,” then every single one of us must attend to the discipline of prayer.

Prayer is conversation with our God and, as Roman Catholics, we also enter into conversation with the angels and saints, asking them to intercede for us. It is through prayer that we access God’s grace — and so we can just as validly say that Our Lady of Grace Catholic School is a place built on prayer.

This month’s virtue: Faith

At OLG we start our day with prayer and, each month, we focus on a specific virtue. This month we turn to the theological virtues — Faith, Hope, and Charity — and every teacher will emphasize them in the classroom in a manner befitting the subject being studied.

For the month of August, we begin with Faith. As a Marian school, our patroness, Our Lady of Grace, embodies this best of all. Here is what our new “Education in Virtue” curriculum has to say on the topic:

As we begin the school year, let us do so in imitation of our Blessed Mother. Let her example be ours, so that we too might say “yes” to the incredible challenge of raising a child (or children) in our faith.

One parish, two churches

In practical terms, we live our faith as members of a faith community. Our school is part of a larger one: The Catholic Community of Castro Valley. The citizens of this town pray in two church buildings but form one parish, a reminder that faith unites us across boundaries.

A word from Mr. Manifesto

Dear friends of Our Lady of Grace, I just want to take a moment to welcome you back to the start of another wonderful school year. We are so excited to see our students, families, and staff come together once again.

Dr. McGowan and I are looking forward to a great year with all of our returning staff and a couple of new faces. I think I speak for us both when I say that it is an honor to serve our OLG community in this role, and we could not be more grateful for all of you.

A few quick notes

• We look forward to gathering as a school community for our opening prayer and welcome.
• The Welcome Back to School Dinner is a wonderful chance to reconnect with old friends and meet our new families. We have a lot of great people joining us this year.
• If you are hoping to volunteer soon, please complete the required safety clearances for our diocese. Our community thrives on service, and we are committed to keeping every student safe.

We can’t wait to see you all on campus. Meanwhile — happy first day of school! It is going to be a GREAT year.