Our Lady of Guadalupe School – Mrs. Parini's Page

Dear Families of OLG,

Welcome to another year of learning at Our Lady of Guadalupe School!  I hope all of your families had a wonderful and relaxing Summer vacation. It always seems to go by so quickly!  Although I know it is not the case with all of our students, I was always one of those kids who could not wait for school to start.  There is an excitement that is very real around the beginning of a new school year.  This year we have much to celebrate.

We are very happy to have three new staff members at OLG.  Mrs. Maggie Silva is our 6^th grade homeroom teacher.  She has been at school a good part of the summer preparing her classroom for the new year.  Ms. Michelle Kelly is very eager to begin teaching our students PE and Mr. Marcos Saenz will be working with our 5^th through 8^th grade students on Keyboarding and Music Technology.  He is excited about music and comes with much experience.

Our teachers have been busy at work since Monday, August 16, attending meetings and workshops on Meeting the Needs of Students and Differentiated Instruction.  Monday of this week, we had our first all staff meeting with a San Francisco based program called No Bully, which will be working with us long term, as it has with many Bay Area schools, to create a bully-free campus that truly reflects our values.  You will be hearing more about No Bully throughout the year.  All facets of our school community, students, parents and staff, will be involved in this important process for our school.

Our school theme for the year is “We are the Voice of Christ.” As always, this theme will be woven throughout our bulletin boards, communications, and the daily life of our school.

Again, welcome!  We are thrilled to have your children with us and are looking forward to a rewarding and successful year.

Blessings,
Linda Parini

Dear Parents and Families of OLG,

As I prepare my letter this week, our school is bustling with activity.  The primary teachers are planning for our Annual Science Extravaganza. This whole day of science experiments and centers for our little ones provides an unbelievable learning experience loved by both the students and the adults who supervise the centers.  Our 5^th graders are having a one day retreat planned by Ms. Harmuth and her mom, Mrs. Harmuth.  This day of prayer and reflection is a special time for our 5^th graders and we pray that it will be another opportunity to bring them closer to Christ.  Our 8^th grade students had their Graduation retreat yesterday at the Blacow Road site and today are enjoying their Grad Week picnic at Lake Elizabeth. This group of young men and women will soon be leaving the school, teachers, and fellow students they have known for many years.  This time before graduation is always a bitter-sweet one for them and for us who have worked with them.

I feel honored and blessed to be a part of the many and varied activities our children experience at OLG. So much is provided here in addition to the required curriculum of the Diocese of Oakland to which every Catholic school adheres.  It is the “extras” provided at OLG that sets us apart as a school that educates the “whole child,” and earned us the distinction of being voted the only Catholic school among the four Best Private Schools in Fremont in 2010.

We are very proud of our graduates this year and we feel confident that they are well prepared to face the challenges of high school, equipped with the academic, emotional, spiritual, social, and moral skills to insure their success. We are also proud of the fact that our students fare very well in their high school entrance exams and consistently have a very high acceptance rate to their high schools of choice. This year, we are sending students to Moreau Catholic, St. Francis, Bellarmine, and Notre Dame San Jose, as well as to the public high schools in our area.  Many of those students were accepted into honors programs and will move along quickly at an accelerated pace in high school, partially because of their talent, motivation, and hard work, parental involvement in the academic process, and the well structured preparation and foundation they received here at OLG.

We are filled with pride and gratitude also for the accomplishments of our past alum, in particular this year for our students who graduated four years ago from OLG and who now are graduating from high school. The names of our Moreau graduates are listed in this bulletin with the many awards and honors bestowed upon them. We love to share alum information with you.  Some of our Catholic high schools are very good about informing us of the accomplishments of our past grads, but we do not usually hear from our public high schools.  If you have information that you would like shared in our bulletin, please let us know.  We would be happy to publish all the good news of OLG alums.  It is a way of applauding those young people who had their foundation here with us and it is a way to keep connected to them and their families.

As we have said many times, and parents have expressed often also, we do see our school community as a family.  It is amazing the people who are new to OLG, and who express the feeling of warmth and peace that radiates from our halls and can be felt as they walk through our front doors.  We are proud of that charism, and know that it is created not only by the caring,  professional staff and enthusiastic, friendly children, but by the parents who dedicate themselves to supporting their children and the learning activities that are provided by our school. The kindness and concern we show each other as members of our faith community, although possibly routine to us, are apparent to new families and very much noticed.  As I said before, it is easy to take a good school situation for granted if we have not experienced anything different in the recent past.  We have the benefit in the front office of hearing the consistent comments and observations from many of our new families that always point to the “different feeling” that radiates from our school, a unique, warm environment that has not been part of their experience before OLG.

We truly are blessed to have the people in our school who are willing to do what it takes to provide a Christ centered education of excellence for the students we serve. With Christ in our hearts, we really do make a difference in our OLG community and beyond, and are committed to our mission of sending young men and women well prepared to be successful citizens in our 21^st century world.

Blessings on you and, special blessings on our graduates and their families.

Linda Parini

Dear Friends of OLG,

Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost, often called the “birthday of the Church.”  Christ’s promise of sending the Apostles the gift of his Holy Spirit was fulfilled on Pentecost, and it is that Spirit that breathes life and love into God’s people today.  The evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit is present in the world around us each day, and certainly visible at OLG.  Beginning with our morning prayer at assembly, we ask God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to bless and guide us as we seek to be witnesses of Christ to those around us.

I discovered the following prayer for Pentecost a few years ago, and I would like to share it with you: 

Father of light, from whom every good gift comes,
Send Your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind,
And by the flame of Your wisdom open the horizons of our minds.
Loosen our tongues to sing Your praise in words beyond the power of speech,
For without Your Spirit, men and women could never raise their voices in words of peace
Or announce the truth the Jesus is Lord, who lives with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.   Amen.

Blessings on you and your families during this Holy Season,

Linda Parini

Dear Friends of OLG,

Last Friday, our 3^rd Annual Golf Tournament was held at Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Club.  Ferdie and Michelle Pernia once again did a wonderful job organizing and planning this fun-filled event.  Each year our numbers are growing as is the enthusiasm and excitement surrounding the day.  OLG golfers, bag lunches in hand, climbed into their golf carts at 1:30 to begin their 18 holes.  Konstandinos Goumenidis snapped a great picture of the group that is on display on the tri-fold in the entry. Parents brought friends and family to support our school while playing a sport they enjoy.  Can it be any better than that?  Thank you again to Ferdie and Michelle for all of your hard work.  Thank you, also, to our many parents who came to support OLG Friday.

Earlier Friday morning, we had another big event at school – Grandparents Day.  This celebration is always a special one for our kids and for their families.  Grandparents enjoyed visiting classrooms, yummy treats at recess, and then participated in a beautiful prayer service in their honor. Thank you to Mrs. Harris and the 4^th graders for planning the events of the day, and thank you to 4^th grade parents for providing and overseeing the treats.

For the past two days, we have been conducting registration for the 2010-2011 school year.  With the help of our great staff and wonderful parent volunteers, registration went very well.  Many families came in with their packets, did all that was necessary at the various stations, and left just minutes later.  One of the very nice things about meeting with every parent who comes through the office during this process is that I have the opportunity to touch base with people I do not often have an opportunity to see.  It was so heartwarming to hear so many wonderful compliments about our school, particularly from parents who have recently experienced other school settings for their children and have a basis of comparison.   Thank you for sharing those happy stories with me.  So often, the principal just hears the unhappy stories.

I need to sadly share with you that two staff members will be leaving us in June.  Mr. Jeff Dyer and Ms. Caitlin Dissinger will not be returning to our staff next year.  We thank them for their service and dedication to OLG and will miss them very much.  We wish them blessings and good fortune in their future endeavors. We are actively interviewing for these two positions and will inform you once a decision is made. Know that great care is being taken in finding the right persons for our school.

Blessings on you and your families,

Linda Parini

Dear Families of OLG,

Our school is buzzing with activity these busy Spring days.  The 4^th graders returned from Coloma last Friday after three great days in the Gold Country.  Between hiking, gathering at campfires, panning for gold, and working together to build shelters, the children experienced first-hand the life of California “pioneers.”  What a valuable opportunity for our kids to actually live history.  Experiences such as these are really never forgotten and are among the favorite memories of school.  Thank you to Leslie Harris and four enthusiastic and dedicated parents for accompanying our 4^th graders on their camping experience.  We are most appreciative!

Another exciting event happening at OLG is the election of Student Council members for the 2010-2011 school year.  Leadership experiences are very important for our young people, and we are proud of the opportunities provided through Student Council.  The teachers and student body rely on these responsible student leaders throughout the year in many different areas, from planning morning assembly to conducting emergency drills, from leading prayer to setting up AV equipment.  Leadership responsibilities developed at this level of a child’s life build self-confidence and life skills which are so important for a child’s future.

The end of this week brings with it much excitement!  Thursday is our May Mass with the May Crowning.  Following Mass is our Spring Senior Breakfast in the hall.  This event has become quite a popular occasion for the seniors of our parish and is a great opportunity for our students to talk with and serve those who have so much wisdom to share.  I think it is a real treat for both kids and seniors alike.

The week concludes with our annual Grandparents’ Day.  What a joy-filled experience that day brings for all.  We will begin with visiting the classrooms, followed by recess and snacks, and culminating in church with a special prayer service dedicated to grandparents. The day ends at 12 noon, and then eager golfers will head down to the Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Club for the 3^rd annual OLG Golf Tournament.  Ferdie and Michelle Pernia did another wonderful job of planning this fun event.  Although I do not golf, I am more than willing to enjoy the delicious food available in the golf course restaurant.  It is so much fun to see many of our school families enjoying each other’s company in a relaxed, beautiful setting.  What better way to spend a Friday afternoon?

One more event that is taking place this week is also very important.  Tonight, we have our 2^nd and final Mandatory Parent Meeting of the school year in church at 7 PM. We really cut down the number of evening meetings this year to only two, in order to make attendance at them manageable for families.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Blessings on your week,

Linda Parini

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