Our Lady of Grace Catholic School eLion's Tales - December 13, 2017

A Message from Mrs. Anderson

Dear Families,      Our Core Value this month is LOVE. What a perfect focus during the beautiful season of Advent. This week’s specific point is: “we promote social justice to improve the lives of others.” I wish to thank all of you for supporting the Castro Valley Outreach in November with your generous donations of so many dry goods. Thanks to Tracie Romo and Jeanenne Deorsey, these boxes of canned goods were distributed to those in need. Along with that drive, many of you have helped ease the lives of those who are homeless living here in Castro Valley by contributing money, propane tanks, batteries, blankets to these people. Our school made a generous donation to this worthwhile cause as well. Also many have lovingly supported Birthright with your donations in the baby bottles they gave out at all the masses. We realize how many blessings the Lord has provided each of us at OLG and recognize our call to answer what St. Matthew wrote when he said, “For I was naked and you clothed me.”(Mt. 26:36) Our next plea comes from the St. Vincent de Paul Society who asks that we bring warm coats to the Somerset entrance of the church through December 31st and they will be given out at the drop-in centers at St. Vincent de Paul’s main campus in Oakland. Our school mission statement clearly states we are a Catholic school who serves the diverse community around us. May we continue to do the work of the Lord knowing we are making our world a better place. We are offering an after school Robotics class for students in upper grades, 5-8. Heather Gibbons, our new IT person, is going to teach from 3-5 on Tuesdays. We already have 15 signed up for this wonderful class but we have room for five more and would love to see more girls sign on. Please call the office for more information and talk to your students as Ms. Gibbons spoke to them today to let them know what they will be doing in her class. Classes begin in January.

Wear Your Christmas Sweater! Students get Free Dress when they wear their Christmas shirt or sweater on Thursday December 21st!

Blue Cards! Blue Card Winners:  Congratulations to all the Isabella's at OLG and Niki W. in 7th grade for being the blue card winners this week! Thank you for showing Unity, Truth, and Love!

Looking Ahead December: 14th, Thursday - Holiday Gift Shoppe - Please send your child with cash only, no checks 15th, Friday - Holiday Gift Shoppe - Please send your child with cash only, no checks 15th, Friday - Free Dress for December Birthdays! 21st, Thursday - Wear Your Christmas Sweater! - Minimum Day - Noon Dismissal - NO KID KARE 22nd - 29th - Christmas Vacation! January: 1st-5th - No School - Happy New Year! 8th, Monday - School Resumes 12th, Friday - No School - Teacher In Service 14th, Sunday - 4th Grade Donut Duty 15th, Monday - No School - Holiday - MLK Jr. 19th, Friday - Spelling Bee - 1:15 p.m. - Stack 20th, Saturday - OLG Family Dance - 6:30 p.m. - Stack 26, Friday - Free Dress for January Birthdays! 28th, Sunday - Catholic Schools Week Begins! - Open House after 9:30 a.m. Mass 31st, Wednesday - Grandparents/Special Friends Day

A Message from Fr. Tom In January we have Catholic Schools week. I invite you to join us on Wednesday January 31 at the School Mass for St. John Bosco. Join me for Coffee and Pastries after Mass as we continue series on Feeding the Family Soul and see how to teach virtues to the Children. On February 14, join us at our School Mass on Ash Wednesday. After the Mass join me as we continue Feeding Our Family Soul as we learn and teach forgiveness.  Peace, Fr. Thomas Czeck OFM Conv.

Get you OLG Spirt Items! Limited items for sale in the school office. Makes great gifts for Christmas! Hat - $12 Tote Bag - $15 Coffee Cup - $10 Bumper Stickers - $3

SCRIP News  Safeway gifts cards are once again available in $25 and $100 denominations. You may purchase gift cards at the School Office or the Parish Office. If you are interested in placing a special order for gift cards for the holidays, please visit shopwithscrip.com to view all available vendors. Simply send in your order, along with payment, to Mrs. Russell. Special orders are processed within approximately 7 days. And don't forget, we do carry a number of popular vendors in our in-house inventory. Happy Holidays!

OLG Talents Show is February 2nd! Permission forms are due by January 9th. Please Click Here to print form. Permission for OLG Talent Show- 2018 Due: Monday, January 9th My child, ___________________________, has permission to perform in the OLG Talent Show on Friday, February 2nd at 1:15 PM. I understand my child’s performance must be two minutes or less and must adhere to the modesty/moral guidelines of our school. Performer: _______________________________________ Grade: _____________ Type of Act: __________________________________________________________ _____Performing solo _____Performing with other students; complete name other students in this group: __________________________________________________________ Parent Signature: ____________________________________________ Parent E-mail: _______________________________________________ Please note: the following are due no later than Monday, January 9, along with this permission slip (we cannot make any exceptions, please don’t ask): ~edited music (if applicable) on a CD labeled with the student’s name, grade or an MP3 emailed to Ms. Dito or Ms. Castillo ~lyrics (if applicable) We will e-mail you once we have all the forms to schedule our “dress rehearsal.” Those will be held either January 22nd or 25th right after school. Thank you so much for your support in this endeavor!  Sincerely, Ms. Dito and Ms. Castillo kdito@csdo.org ccastillo@csdo.or g

The OLG promo code for fox river socks is PR17OLG for 30% off and 30% comes right back to OLG. Click https://www.foxsox.com/ to order.

Please Click Here to print Toyology Registration Form

Click  Here  to order from Schwan's Cares and support OLG! You may also order by phone: 1-855-870-7208, Campaign ID: 34987

Financial Assistance Applications for financial assistance through the BASIC Fund will be available beginning January 1, 2018. Go to www.basicfund.org to complete the application process or call (415) 986-5650.  If you are applying for financial assistance through the BASIC Fund, please notify Mrs. Russell in the school office.

2017-2018 School Calendar Please click   here to view.

Free Dress Pass Information To honor our monthly birthday students, please use your Free Dress passes other than Wednesday Mass day but not on birthday Fridays, the last Fridays of the month.

Parking Lot and Morning Assembly Driving through the parking lot at drop off and pick up: Please limit your speed to 5 mph in the parking lot when children are around. This is a very important safety issue. Please be sure your child is on time at the first bell as at the second bell each student has to be in his/her class line to avoid a Tardy slip. Parents, please stand at the back of the class lines so the class lines are paying full attention to the Student Council prayer time and pledge. Please do not walk your child to the gate to enter school.

Absences and Doctor's Appointments When your child is absent or has a doctor's appointment and will be arriving late or leaving early, please email your child's teacher and the school secretary at  csanchez@csdo.org . Please turn in a doctor's excuse to the school office. Please make sure your child has not vomited and is fever free for 24 hours before returning to school.

PTG Please click here for PTG Members and here for PTG meeting dates Click here for OLG 2017-2018 Room Parents

Support OLG by shopping on Amazon Smile! Click  here  and choose Our Lady of Grace Church & School.

1. Buy your favorite Box Tops products 2. Clip out the Box Top from each product.  3. Send your Box Tops to the school office. Ask your friends, neighbors, and family to save Box Tops. Each one is worth 10¢. Together we can raise $ for our school.

Important Notice from the Office Please be sure to fill out the  Request for Medication to be Taken During School Hours  form for ANY medication including cough drops and lotion like cortisone cream. There are forms in the school office and  here .

Deadline for Lion's Tales   Please note the deadline for submission to Lion's Tales is the Monday prior to publication. All flyers and articles must be submitted in PDF or JPG file format.  Thank you!

OLG Mission & Philosophy Mission Statement  Our Lady of Grace Catholic School serves a diverse community, models Christ through unity, truth, and love to create a balance of spiritual, academic, and social growth.   Philosophy Dedicated to living Christ's message, Our Lady of Grace is a Catholic school made up of students, faculty, staff and families working together with love and respect. While recognizing parents as the primary educators of their children, our community works together to develop individuals who are prepared to think critically, imbued with a strong sense of self-worth, and filled with a Christ-like approach to others.

Office:510.581.3155 | Fax: 510.581.1059| l http://www.olgschool.org