Dear Families and Friends of OLQP:
As we finish up our first full week of school, students and staff are becoming more acclimated to the routines of school life. The halls are full of student products based on the solar eclipse. From Pre-K through 8
th grade, students learned about the phenomena. Students experienced instruction both in class and in the STREAM Lab. The Pre-K and Kinder groups were able to view the event using a live stream from NASA while first through eighth graders were able to go outside and observe firsthand the eclipse firsthand.
In the community-at-large, some expressed concerns about safety. Be proud of your children! Teachers made the expectations clear. Students responded in kind. From first through eighth, OLQP students were exemplary in both their adherence to the structure and safety considerations that were communicated and in their interest in the opportunity to experience the solar eclipse. This is nothing new. OLQP students are accustomed to "classrooms without walls." Students go to the Learning Garden, experience Camp Kappe, and go to Forest Glen. When our students go on field trips, they always return with compliments from the program coordinators. Oftentimes, they even get special treatment (like getting to interview a Holocaust survivor at the Holocaust Museum in Houston) because the docents are so impressed with their behavior and their genuine interest in learning.
Religion is the definitive component in STREAM. Students were invited to reflect on how science and math reflect the order and beauty of creation and lend themselves to inspiring Faith rather than weakening it. Thomas Aquinas used logic and argument to develop proofs of the Faith. As Catholics, we welcome discussion, debate, and discovery. We embrace Truth. St. Thomas Aquinas's legacy is that a complete education is informed by both Faith and reason. This is what OLQP is all about.
Thank you for being part of the mission and ministry of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic School.
