OLC NEWSLETTER 1/13/26

January 13, 2026

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break. December is always a happy month in schools.

Be sure you are signed up for text messaging to stay informed about current and upcoming news and events. 

Bernie’s Book Bank is a non-profit organization that sources and distributes free, high-quality books to children to increase book ownership and literacy. Bernie’s recently donated bags of books for all our students in grades PK-7, about 8 books in each bag. What a great end of the Christmas season gift!

Friday, January 16: Basketball Spirit Night at the St. Mary Social Center Gym. Any student who shows up for a game may come out of uniform on Tues., Jan. 20. Boys’ JV at 5:30; Girls’ JV at 6:30; Boys’ Varsity at 7:30

Monday, January 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day / No School

Wednesday, January 21: Early release day

Friday, January 23: Kids Night Out from 6:00-9:00 PM in Halpin Hall. Dance party, karaoke, crafts, and fun!

Fun Lunch: Friday, January 30

January 25-31: Catholic Schools Week – 

Monday: Blue Out (wear blue to show school pride!) and Cross Picture Day (students will be photographed from the balcony in church while in a cross formation); 

Tuesday: Pajama Day; Academic Bowl; Dance Party (PK-4)

Wednesday: Senior Citizen Day; celebrate the 100th day of school by dressing up as a senior citizen

Thursday: Jersey Day; Mass at 9:00; 7th and 8th grade talk with Fr. Slawek on his work in Kenya and on exploring vocations

Friday: Character Day and Knights of Columbus Spelling Bee; dress up as your favorite character from a book movie, or TV show; Basketball Spirit Night at the St. Mary Social Center Gym. Any student who shows up for a game may come out of uniform on Mon., Feb. 2. Boys’ JV at 6:00; Boys’ Varsity at 7:00 and again at 8:00

I would like to remind parents of the importance of speaking with your children about the seriousness of any language related to school violence, whether on or off campus. Such language can deeply affect our school community and may have serious consequences for a student’s future. Please know that this reminder is purely proactive, and there has been no incident at the school.

We would like to extend a big Thank You to Mr. Ricardo Macias, father of 1st grader Alonzo, for organizing our fundraiser at Raising Cane’s on December 18. We made a profit of $345 toward the purchase of our Gaga Ball Pit, which we hope to install in early spring. We will have another fundraiser toward this purchase soon:

This is what our Gaga Ball Pit will look like. Have you seen one before?

Yours truly, 

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

Principal(708) 652-0262 

fzarate@olc-school.org