Save the Date: A Ribbon, a Blessing, and a Brand New OLG

Dear family and friends of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Schools,

All good things must come to an end — and so Italy, Switzerland, and the U.K. are now happy memories, particularly of loved ones who will hopefully make the trip in this direction for the winter holidays. Watching my great-nieces and nephews grow is one of my greatest joys.

A few pictures from the road

One of the great gifts of this summer was time at the Alta Pusteria International Choir Festival, tucked into the northern Italian Alps. Choirs from all over the world come to sing in village squares, on wooden platforms in the woods, and outside tiny stone chapels at the foot of the Dolomites.

I could not help but think of our own students at Mass — of how music is one of the ways a school becomes a family, and one of the ways a family becomes a Church.

An afternoon in Assisi

I stood in front of this cross for a long time. It is impossible to look at it without thinking of our own “repair” underway at OLG — the walls coming down, the walls going back up, the classrooms being made ready. Buildings, of course, are only ever part of the story. The real house we are asked to repair is always the one made of people.

A stop in Cambridge

England gave us one more choir moment — Evensong at King's College Chapel, listened to on the grass with hundreds of strangers who all went quiet at the same moment. There is a lesson in that too, I think, for a school year: the best learning often happens when we agree, together, to stop talking and start listening.

The reason for all of it

And then there is this face. Nothing on this trip — no cathedral, no choir, no mountain — has made me as happy as this little one. Every time I hold her, I am reminded that everything we do at OLG is, in the end, for the children entrusted to us.

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As I begin my fifth year at OLG, it is with a real sense of excitement that I anticipate working alongside Mr. Manifesto as he steps into the role of full-time principal.

As a part-time principal, I will increasingly focus on our dual-language program, teaching Latin, and helping with development. It is a season of transition — and one I am walking into with a full heart.

A school in transformation

As I walk through our school — now a full-on construction site — I am amazed at the thought that less than a month from today our teachers will be returning and the newly refurbished school will be, once again, open for learning.

Save the date — Sunday, August 9

It is in that spirit that I write to you this week to ask that you “save the date” for Sunday, August 9, when we will “officially” cut the ribbon on our newly remodeled space.

Dad's Club — put it back party

I also ask that you be on the lookout for the next Dad's Club work morning as the storage container gets emptied and everything goes back inside the school. We are hoping that Saturday, August 1 will work for this project — so pray that all construction goes well in the weeks ahead!

A new parent experience — launching August 1

One more thing to share before summer slips away: on August 1, we are launching our brand new Parent Portal — a single home for everything you need to know as an OLG parent. Calendars, forms, directory, volunteer sign-ups, school-day info, and more.

Meanwhile, continue to enjoy the lazy days of summer. We will see you in August.