Principal's Column

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a blessed, peaceful Christmas, and I wish you all the blessings your heart can hold in 2018. At school we begin a new calendar year filled with great hopes and expectations for our students, faculty and staff. Returning from Christmas break is always exciting, as the children relate their Christmas stories and their gifts (and encounters!) from Santa. Their enthusiasm is a constant source of energy for me, and they make the return from vacation seem like an adventure!

Many of our students are avid readers, and they have jumped into the “2018 Blue Knight Reading Challenge” with gusto! All students are encouraged to participate in this activity, especially since reading is one of my favorite hobbies. The only requirements for the challenge: read 360 minutes (non-school work) between now and February 12, keep a log of the time spent reading, then turn it in by February 13. Anyone who completes the challenge will participate in a special activity with me—and you can bet it will have something to do with lunch and a snack! Additionally, anyone in grades K – 6 who does complete the challenge will also receive a ticket to Six Flags Great Adventure. Who could say no to such a fun way to get some reading completed?

Our teacher-led “After School Clubs” are also in full swing now. Students are truly enjoying these free after school activities such as Chi Gong, Coloring, All Things Disney, Jigsaw puzzles, and STEM. It is awesome to watch students of all ages interacting and working with each other and the teachers in a non-school activity. Everyone is enjoying these times together, and they’re building relationships they may not have had previously. A huge thank you to the teachers who give their time and creativity so freely to make OLS a great place to be a kid!

If you haven’t heard yet, our Basketball program is having a terrific year! We have girls and boys school teams, for parish students in grades 2 ^nd through 8 ^th. Check the school website for their schedules—it is always fun to watch our kids compete against the other Catholic schools. We also have an intramural program that runs on Saturday mornings in our gym. Feel free to stop in any time and catch some really good kids learning to play basketball!

This past year has been a whirlwind of excitement for me—becoming principal of the school has brought me more joy than I could ever have imagined. Each day is full of new challenges, but these are made so much lighter by the support and encouragement of the OLS faculty, staff, students, families, and you. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as you are always in mine. May 2018 be a wonderful year for you!