September 10, 2025

OLC NEWSLETTER

September 10, 2025

Dear Parents,

OLC School Loteria Night is this Friday! Come and join us in Halpin Hall for fun, food, and loteria games.

Doors open at 6PM, and the first game is at 6:30. Bring the whole family! Proceeds benefit the school.

For security purposes, all students must enter the school building in the morning via the parking lot breezeway

(west facing) doors. Any students dropped off on 57th Court will be directed to walk around to the parking lot

entrance.

We have several new teachers with us this year, in addition to our new 6th grade homeroom teacher, Ms. Karina Bañuelos.

• Ms. Julieth Alvira, our Spanish teacher, hails from Colombia and has been teaching for five years. She

enjoys creating lessons that are interactive so that students at all levels of Spanish proficiency enjoy

learning the language.

• Ms. Rie Sato is our new art teacher. Ms. Sato Venegas studied in Japan for college before transferring to

the University of California, Davis, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in

Art Studio. Thus far this year students have made line drawings, origami, and pencil sketches with

smudging.

• Mr. Gabriel Oliveira, our P.E. teacher, was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and studied Physical

Education at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Gabriel, as the students call him, enjoys

soccer, running, and teaching physical fitness. We welcome all our new teachers to OLC this year.

Our school is part of a new Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in the Catholic schools. Every Tuesday and

Thursday afternoon, all students in grades K-8 get a free fresh fruit or vegetable snack. This month we will have

had snow peas, fresh strawberries, cherry tomatoes, plums, grapes, apples, and cucumbers.

Our Cross Country and Soccer season is in high gear. Several of our cross country runners performed very well

in our first meet last Saturday in Bourbonnais. This Saturday’s meet is in Westmont. The game schedule for

soccer is being finalized.

If you would like your child to participate in our band or piano program, please contact our music teacher, Mr.

Chris Misch-Bloxdorf, at cmisch@olc-school.org. We will hold a Band Parent Open House tomorrow, from

3:00 to 5:30 pm in Halpin Hall. The purpose of the open house is to answer any questions you may have. You

do not have to stay the entire time; just come by when you can within that window. If you have any questions,

call the school at 708-652-0262 ext 201.

We are changing some of our procedures for our Friday Masses. Parents are always welcome to join us, but you

must sign in with the staff member at the door. Also, no one will be admitted to the sanctuary once Mass has

begun. Please be aware, too, that staff members always take their cell phones to church.

Parents of all 1st Communicants and confirmandi must participate in our weekly Alpha classes. If you would

like the Alpha class in English, call the school office at (708) 652-0262 ext. 201. We are organizing an English

section of the class.

Please turn in all the paperwork you received the first week of school by Friday.

No School on Fri., Sept. 26. It is a staff development day for teachers.

Early release day (30 minutes early): Wed., Sept. 17

Everyone should have received their raffle tickets for our mandatory car raffle fundraiser. If you have not,

please call the school office right away.

Thank you to all parents who participated in our Feast Day procession last Sunday. It was a beautiful day! Have

a great rest of your week.

Yours in Christ,

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

Principal

(708) 652-0262

fzarate@olc-school.org

9/29/25

This is the Middle School newsletter

9_15 Middle School Newsletter.pdf

Download PDF • 75KB

June 6, 2025

Dear Parents,

Our last day of school ended happily and peacefully yesterday, with our Honor Roll assembly and several classes participating in outdoor activities (great weather, fortunately). Our students are so polite and well behaved. I am thankful every day for such great students at OLC.

Our eighth grade graduation was held on Wednesday night. It was wonderful to have Auxiliary Bishop John Siemianowski presiding at the Mass, together with our pastor, Fr. Waldemar. Bishop Siemianowski is a 1974 graduate of OLC. He grew up on 59th Avenue, and also taught science at OLC for one year. He brought an incredible collection of artifacts from his own OLC graduation to show the 8th graders, and he told them how when he was a student at Charity, he never would have believed that one day he would be celebrating a graduation Mass there as a bishop. He discussed academics and lifelong friendships from his days at our school. Bishop Siemianowski made our 79th annual commencement exercises very special.

Next year we will have a new art class! Students in grades kindergarten to 8th grade will have an art class once a week with a new art teacher. Art class is not just a "fun" or "extra" subject—it's a core part of a well-rounded education that nurtures the whole child. This includes “specials” such as art, music, P.E., and world language studies (“foreign language”).

After 21 years at OLC, we are sad to say goodbye to middle school math and science teacher Mrs. Margaret (Peg) Sweeney. Mrs. Sweeney was truly a model of Christian excellence for the children, and I always admired her calm and unflappable personality. No matter what was happening, she would always maintain a bright and optimistic attitude, which I personally appreciated on many occasions. We wish her much joy and happiness.

As we bid a fond farewell to Mrs. Sweeney following her retirement, and after a search of several months, we are excited to welcome Ms. Karina Bañuelos as her successor. Mrs. Sweeney’s dedication and impact on our school community have been remarkable, and while she will be missed, we are confident that Ms. Bañuelos will carry on her legacy with enthusiasm. Ms. Bañuelos previously taught chemistry at Rauner College Prep in Chicago, and was a math teacher with the ACERO charter schools network. Her bachelor’s degree is from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a graduate of Fenwick High School in Oak Park and St. Richard Catholic School in Chicago. Ms. Bañuelos will be teaching math and science at OLC, and she will be making great use of our new STEM lab in the former computer lab, room 202. Her homeroom will be 6th grade; Ms. Unzueta will be the 8th grade teacher.

We’re excited to share that the new STEM lab is up and running. This space is designed to spark curiosity and support hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, and math. Students will have access to computers, tablets, design software, an interactive whiteboard, 3D printers, robotics kits, and VR/AR tools—all aimed at fostering creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. To help sustain and support the lab—as well as cover other educational materials like textbooks—we will be introducing a $100 curriculum fee per student for the upcoming school year. As you know, we’ve made every effort to keep overall tuition unchanged, and this fee is in line with what many schools charge to support similar programs. If you’d like to see the lab for yourself, I invite you to visit this summer. Just give us a call to schedule a time.

Our schoolwide PK-8th grade yearbook was a surprising hit this spring. If you would like to see a copy, visit the school office during our summer hours, Mon-Thurs, from 8AM-noon. You can still order a copy: call the school office for details.

I wish you all a very blessed summer.

Yours in Christ,

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

Principal

(708) 652-0262

fzarate@olc-school.org