Principal's Newsletter 10/23/26

📅 October 23, 2026

🎉 We are entering a busy period with many upcoming school events!

❄️ Snow Ball returns to OLC on Saturday, January 30 (not on January 16 as originally planned). Snow Ball is our dinner dance and a major fundraiser for our school. 💃🕺 The pandemic put a stop to this previously annual event, but we’re bringing it back! Snow Ball will be held at the St. Mary of Czestochowa Social Center. 🎟️ Each OLC family is required to sell two tickets (at $60 each), as well as $300 in raffle tickets. Tickets were sent home yesterday; please call the school office if you didn’t receive yours 📞 (708.652.0262 ext. 201).

• 🏀 Monday, October 26: Boys and girls basketball permission slips due. The fee was reduced to $80. Fees can be charged to FACTS if you prefer. 📝

• 🌯 Tuesday, October 27: Chipotle fundraiser from 4–8 PM at 7140 Cermak Rd. in Berwyn. Use Code FQ74KZD for online orders. Help us raise money for a new commercial grade outdoor basketball court! 📲

• 😇 Friday, October 30:

  • Saint Reports in church ⛪ (2nd and 3rd graders; parents are welcome to attend)

  • All Saints Day classroom parties 🎉

  • Parade of saints and angels 👼 (grades PK-2) at 2:20 PM

  • Trunk or Treat begins at 2:40 PM 🚗🍬. Wow!

• 📸 Wednesday, November 4:

  • VanGogh photo retakes (students taking photo retakes may dress up/come out of uniform 👔👗, but we will have P.E. that day 👟)

  • Early Release day with students dismissed half an hour early ⏰. (Other early release dates include 11/18, 12/2, 12/16)

• 🚫 Friday, November 6: No School (Teacher professional development day 📚)

• 🇺🇸 Wednesday, November 11:

  • Veterans Day slideshow beginning at 8:40 AM 🖼️. Please send photos of family members who are veterans to your child’s teacher by Nov. 10.

  • Mass at 9:00 AM ⛪ (No Mass on Fri., Nov. 13)

• 🍕 Friday, November 13: Fun Lunch!

• ⛪ Sunday, November 15: All school Mass at OLC Church at noon; confirmation candidates will be presented to the congregation. All 8th grade confirmation students are required to attend. ✨

• 📊 Thursday, November 19: Report cards sent home 📑 (Trimester 2 begins on Nov. 16)

• 🎟️ Friday, November 20: Lotería Night 🎲 (this one will be spectacular!)

• 🦃 Wednesday, November 25 – Friday, November 27: No School (Thanksgiving break) 🍂

• 🎅 Sunday, December 6: All school Mass at OLC Church at noon followed by Brunch with Santa! 🥞🎄

• 💐 Friday, December 11:

  • Mass for the Virgin of Guadalupe 🌹, with a reenactment of the Virgin’s apparition to St. Juan Diego and songs (3rd and 4th graders) 🎶

  • Grandparents Day! 👵👴 Mass at 9:00 AM in church followed by refreshments for grandparents (or other special persons) in classrooms ☕

• 🎁 Friday, December 11 – Wednesday, December 16: Santa’s Secret Shop 🛍️

• 🎶 Thursday, December 17: Christmas Concert at 6:30 PM 🎄🎷. This year the concert will be held at the St. Mary of Czestochowa Social Center gymnasium at 5000 W. 31st St.

Have a great weekend! 😃

Yours truly,

Frank S. Zarate, Jr., Ed.D.

Principal

📞 (708) 652-0262

✉️ fzarate@olc-school.org

Newsletter 9/22/26

September 22, 2026

🍂 Principal’s Newsletter

🍁 Happy First Day of Fall!

Today is officially the first day of fall! It is hard to believe how quickly the school year is moving. Our students have settled into their routines, and we have a busy and exciting October ahead at Our Lady of Charity School.

🌎 ECLIP: Building Literacy Through Two Languages

I would like to give families a little more information about our new Early Childhood Language Intensive Program (ECLIP), developed through the University of Notre Dame.

ECLIP is designed for our youngest students, in Preschool and Kindergarten, when children are especially receptive to learning language. Students develop foundational literacy skills in Spanish while continuing to build their English skills.

There is an important idea behind the program: the literacy skills children develop in one language can support literacy development in another. Learning letter sounds, phonics, vocabulary, and other foundational reading skills in Spanish can provide a bridge to English literacy. Research supports this cross-language transfer, and early results from ECLIP have reinforced these findings.

Our kindergartners are doing a great job learning their vowels in Spanish! Parents, please test them at home: A, E, I, O, U. Our preschoolers and kindergartners are also learning the days of the week in Spanish, so please practice those with your children at home.

ECLIP is taught by the regular classroom teachers: Ms. Grimaldo and Ms. Lopez. We are excited to partner with Notre Dame in providing this innovative opportunity for our youngest students.

🚶 Walkathon This Thursday!

Our school Walkathon is this Thursday morning! We are looking forward to a fun morning with our students. Thank you to all of our families who are volunteering and supporting this important school fundraiser.

There is no school on Friday. Our teachers will be participating in a professional development day.

🎓 Catholic High School Visits

Next week will be an exciting week for our eighth graders. We will welcome representatives from four Catholic high schools:

• IC Catholic Prep

• Our Lady of Tepeyac High School — girls

• St. Rita of Cascia High School — boys

• De La Salle Institute

These visits give our eighth graders an opportunity to learn more about Catholic high schools and begin thinking about their next step in education.

Later this fall, our eighth graders will participate in a Shadow Day at Fenwick High School.

📅 Important October Dates

📝 Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, October 8 — 1:00–7:00 p.m.Friday, October 9 — 12:30–3:00 p.m.

Parents should have received a ClassDojo sign-up sheet from their child's teacher. If you have not received one, please contact your child's teacher.

⏰ Early Dismissal — Wednesday, October 7

Students will be dismissed 30 minutes earlier than the regular dismissal time on Wednesday, October 7.

🍎 No School — Monday, October 12

There will be no school on Monday, October 12.

🚌 Bus Evacuation Drill — Thursday, October 15

On October 15, we will conduct our annual bus evacuation drill. This is one of several safety drills we conduct throughout the school year to help keep students safe. Other drills include fire drills, tornado drills, and lockdown drills.

These drills are an important part of preparing our students and staff to respond appropriately in an emergency.

💉 Immunization Reminder — Thursday, October 15

Students who have not received their required immunizations by Thursday, October 15 will be excluded from school.

If your child has an upcoming physician appointment to receive the required immunizations, please provide the school with a note or email from the physician's office confirming the date of the appointment. This documentation will be accepted.

🎉 Kids' Night Out — Friday, October 16

Come join us for Kids' Night Out on Friday, October 16, from 5:00–8:00 p.m. here at Our Lady of Charity!

There will be games, sports, food, and plenty of fun for our students. We hope to see many of our students there!

⛪ All-School Mass — Sunday, October 18

Our next All-School Mass will be held on Sunday, October 18, at noon.

All students are expected to attend. We look forward to celebrating Mass together as a school community.

🇺🇸 Veterans Day — November 11

We are preparing a special Veterans Day slideshow to honor the veterans who are part of our OLC families.

We are asking students in Kindergarten through 8th grade to submit photographs of family members who are veterans. Please include:

• 🇺🇸 Name of the veteran

• 🎖️ Branch of service

• ❤️ Relationship to the student

Photographs may be submitted to your child's regular classroom teacher. You may send either a hard copy or an electronic copy. Hard-copy photographs will be returned promptly.

The slideshow will be shown on Wednesday, November 11, Veterans Day, before our 9:00 a.m. Mass. Parents are invited.

Thank you to all of our OLC families who have veterans in their families, and thank you to those veterans for their service to our country.

As always, thank you for your continued support of our school. We have a lot happening this fall, and we are grateful to have you in our school community. We look forward to a wonderful October filled with learning, faith, and fun!

Yours truly,

Frank S. Zarate, Jr., Ed.D.

Principal

(708) 652-0262 

fzarate@olc-school.org 

OLC Newsletter 8.24.26

August 24, 2026

Dear OLC Parents, 

🎉 Thank you to the families who were able to come to our Parish and School Carnival this past weekend, and a special thanks to everyone who attended the noon all school Mass yesterday. 

⛪ Our next all school Mass is here at OLC at noon, on Sunday, September 13. All students and their families are asked to please attend. School uniforms are not required.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Don’t forget our parent meetings this week. We will be discussing fundraising, volunteer hours, student management, and (for 8th grade parents) confirmation. 

• 8th grade parents tomorrow at 6:30, followed by 4th-7th grade parents at 7:30. 

• Wednesday’s 6:30 meeting is for 2nd grade parents and the parents of all students who will be receiving their 1st holy Communion this coming spring. The 7:30 meeting is for parents of students in grades PK-3.

• These meetings will take place in OLC Church. Parents need only attend one meeting.

📝 Be sure to turn in the school paperwork that was sent home last week. It’s important!

📱 Sign up for School Messenger to receive our texts/communication; call the school office for details.

📅 Attendance: call the office or email attendance@olc-school.org before 9am to report your child’s absence. We need to know where they are!

⏰ Tardies: Students cannot be late to school. We open our doors at 7:45. Get them here early so they do not miss beginning of the day instructions from the teacher.

👔 Dress code: Only ALL black or ALL white shoes are allowed for the formal uniform. Students must wear the red vest or sweater, black quarter zip, or OLC blue sweatshirt with their uniform. Absolutely no nail polish or makeup is permitted.

📆 Wednesday, September 2: Early release (30 minutes before the regular time).

🇺🇸 Monday, September 7: Labor Day, no school.

📌 IMPORTANT DATESSept. 2 — Early Release  •  Sept. 7 — Labor Day, No School  •  Sept. 13 — All-School Mass

Yours truly,

Frank S. Zarate, Jr., Ed.D.

Principal(708) 652-0262 

fzarate@olc-school.org