Last Friday, September 22, the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School faculty joined with Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) schools for a teacher in-service. It was an opportunity to learn from others, develop new skills and share within our school and the entire GRACE community.
As we reflect on the gospel and Deacon Bob’s homily that was shared, we are grateful for the staff who came to us at dawn (many years of service) and those who arrived at five o’clock (our new hires). All together, we tend the vineyard (our school and students) in helping the vineyard grow in mind, body and spirit (and enrollment, too.)
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School is part of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. It is a private Catholic school serving Preschool and Elementary through 8th grade (PK3-8.) The school has open enrollment and provides an individualized education in a faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. The best way to learn more is to visit! Schedule a tour here.
Our students and their families enjoyed a long weekend with a scheduled in-service on Friday, September 22.
The faculty joined the Green Bay Area Catholic Schools (GRACE) at Notre Dame Academy for a day of learning together.
The primary theme of the event was Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) which was led by Dr. Anne Franklin who has a decade of experience in public and Catholic education, primarily in the Diocese of Des Moines. The presentation and discussion topics included: What We Believe, Power of Collaboration and Building a Strong Foundation.
The day included lunch, prepared and served by our GRACE Schools Food Service Team.
As we embark on a new assessment tool, STAR, training was provided by Renaissance Learning.
A day filled with opportunities to learn together as we educate the students in mind, body and spirit!
This Lourdes Letter school news for September 27 is available here.
Save the date for Our Lady of Lourdes School ‘Light Up Lourdes’ event on Saturday, November 11, 2023. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year that provides our school and students an opportunity for the best Catholic education.
Schedule of Events for the Evening:
5:30 pm Event doors open: Dinner, silent auction
7:00 pm Live auction
9:00 pm Drawing/announcement of raffle ticket holder names
10:00 pm Event close
50/50 and bucket raffles will also be available throughout the evening.
There are many opportunities to participate in preparation for the event. We encourage you to check the Lourdes Letter for the latest updates, in addition to the school and event Facebook pages.
Tickets for the event are on-sale now! Tickets are available for purchase from school families, Our Lady of Lourdes School office and after weekend masses.
We look forward to seeing you on November 11.
The September 20 Lourdes Letter is available here.
STAR Assessments are short tests that provide teachers with personalized learning data for each student. Students may take a STAR test for early literacy, math, or reading. Teachers analyze the data they receive from STAR Assessments to learn what students already know and what they are ready to learn next, to monitor student growth, and to determine which students may need additional help. These tests are research-based and scientifically proven to help teachers guide each student on their unique path to proficiency.
We are grateful for the grandparents in our families everyday. On July 26, the church celebrates The Feast Day of Saints Joachim and Anne — the parents of Mary, Mother of God, and the grandparents of Jesus, which falls near the day the Church celebrates World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Since school is not in session during that time, we celebrate Grandparents Day during the month of September, which coincides with National Grandparents Day.
On Wednesday, September 20, we invite our grandparents to join us for mass and some special activities. Our schedule for the day is:
8:25 – Weather permitting, grandparents will meet on the playground. If you are dropping off your grandchild you are welcome to stay on the playground. Mr. Young will address grandparents on the timeline.
8:35-8:40 – We will begin having grandparents enter the building and proceed to their grandchild’s classrooms. We will be staggering so our hallways won’t get clogged. Middle school students will come to the elementary classroom if your family has students at both levels.
8:40-8:50 – You can see your grandchild and start heading over to church for Mass.
8:50 – All grandparents and grandchildren head over to Mass.
9:00 – 10:00 Mass at OLOL Catholic Church
10:00 – 10:45 – A social will be held in the cafeteria and the social hall.
10:45 – Grandparents say goodbye to their grandchildren.
Parents/Grandparents, please RSVP for this event. The link is available in our school newsletter. parents to join us for mass and some special activities.
Information regarding these events and more are available in our Lourdes Letter available here.
School is back in session and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School mass is back on Wednesday’s at 9AM. Everyone is welcome to join us! Today, we were joined by the De Pere Council 3955 of the Knights of Columbus (Abbot Pennings Council), Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church parishioners, friends, guests, parents and grandparents. Thank you to our alumni who joined us today from St. Boniface School, St. Joseph School, Marquette School and Our Lady of Lourdes School.
Please mark your calendars for Grandparents Day to be held on Wednesday, September 20. We invite our grandparents to join us for mass and some special activities.
Information regarding these events and more are available in our Lourdes Letter available here.
Welcome students, families and friends of Our Lady of Lourdes School!
Now that school is in-session for the 2023-2024 school year, our weekly family communication, the Lourdes Letter, will be published every Wednesday. It is available to you via text, your INBOX and on our school website.
In our newsletter, you can expect to find a wealth of information which includes, but is not limited to:
Important Dates
News from Principal Young
Volunteer opportunities
Lunch menu
Academic and Athletic News
Social events for students and adults in our school, parish and community
GRACE news
and more!
This weekly communication is sent to you using SWIFTK12 and utilizes the email and phone information that you have specified in PowerSchool. If your family did not receive the Lourdes Letter, please contact the school office. We do not want your family to miss any important news or events!
Our first newsletter of the 2023-2024 school year for August 30, 2023 is available here.
GRACE’s Technology Integration Team has successfully rolled out their first “Tech Tote” this year!
Since the inception of our Integration Team in 2020, we have been working toward the goal of providing the tools and training to help our educators successfully teach their students through integration of technology within the classroom. Over the past few years our team researched the best tools to help master our technology standards, secured funding through the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Green Bay to purchase these tools through various grants, created lesson plans and assembled totes.
This year our goal was to plan our strategy to introduce our first tote: Adafruit (coding circuit boards). After sharing an introductory video about Adafruit to teachers, the team scheduled a two-day presentation with every fourth grade class in GRACE. Day one included a discussion about “what is coding”, an introduction to the block coding software.
Students created their first block code so the circuit board would light up and make a siren sound. Day two was a software review, creation of a “lucky wheel” block code and transfer of the code to the actual circuit board. Students were thrilled to see their code work. Teachers learned along with the students and began generating ideas on how to incorporate Adafruit into other subject areas for next year.
The team has also begun to pilot several other tech tools to create additional totes for the 2023-24 school year with other grade levels. These tools include 3D Pens/Printers (Middle School), Spheros (Grades 3 & 5) and Beebots (K-Grade 2).
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School is part of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. It is a private Catholic school serving Preschool and Elementary through 8th grade (PK3-8). The school has open enrollment and provides an individualized education in a faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. The best way to learn more is to visit! Schedule a tour here.
Over the 12 years that GRACE has existed as a system, we have found ways to become stronger together while continuing to celebrate the uniqueness of each of our communities. As I finish my first year as Superintendent and my seventh year with GRACE, I am amazed at the beauty and uniqueness of each school. Each community comes together in a unique way to serve children, create a Christian community for families, and live our Catholic faith. The gift of serving all our schools allows me to see the beauty and diversity of our Green Bay Catholic community.
In addition to faith and families, GRACE values high-quality education. One way we ensure this is through learning assessment tools. These tools hold us accountable and allow us to respond individually to each student. Our school leaders use the results to plan professional development and make curricular choices. Most importantly, our teachers look at the results of tests and quizzes and use them to adjust how they teach. One standardized assessment that we use is the Fountas and Pinnell Assessment. K-5 teachers administer this assessment by sitting individually with each child and reading with them. This standardized process determines reading levels to help students read and learn with books that fit their skills.
Over the past several years, the Diocese of Green Bay required the use of the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress Assessment (MAP tests). We will be ending the use of this assessment along with the rest of the Diocese of Green Bay and begin using the Star Assessment. The Star Assessment tests reading and math. This tool was selected in part because the tests are short, accurate, and the assessment data is efficiently accessible by our teachers to adjust instruction for each child. This test also better aligns with our Catholic faith in our schools.
This year, one of our biggest curriculum changes was using Project Lead the Way Launch, a hands-on science curriculum discussed elsewhere in this newsletter by our Director of Curriculum, Laura Blicharz. In the program, students begin each unit by learning about an area of science and then using that knowledge to solve problems through hands-on experimentation and design work. In addition to this work, we spent time with our teachers learning about how faith and science are interconnected and how to share these natural connections in the classroom.
GRACE also made great strides in technology this year. We are updating our long-term plans and strategy to remain low-cost and highly effective. This summer, projects are underway to increase the safety and security of our online environment. Our Technology Services Team continues to provide consistent and high-quality service to our teachers and students.
First and foremost, what makes Catholic education different is sharing the very person and love of Jesus with our teachers and students. It is also the way teachers seek to instill traditional Catholic values in our curriculum, handle problems on the playground with Catholic morals, and the way all staff helps each child learn to love one another. Our faith informs the decisions we make with our purchases of books, our Internet security, and every other decision. Most importantly, we point to our faith as the reason we treat students and families with love and respect.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School is part of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. It is a private Catholic school serving Preschool and Elementary through 8th grade (PK3-8). The school has open enrollment and provides an individualized education in a faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. The best way to learn more is to visit! Schedule a tour here.
GRACE will be hosting our annual Welcome Back Mass on Sunday, September 17! All GRACE families, staff, and parishes are welcome as we join in prayer together at the start of a new academic year. The mass will be taking place at Prince of Peace Catholic Community, 3425 Willow Rd, Green Bay, this year. It will begin at 6 PM with an ice cream social to follow!
We are looking forward to seeing you there! Please contact us if you have any questions.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School is part of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. It is a private Catholic school serving Preschool and Elementary through 8th grade (PK3-8). The school has open enrollment and provides an individualized education in a faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. The best way to learn more is to visit! Schedule a tour here.
Pursuant to Wisconsin State Statute 115.28 (54m), our school is required to notify and provide the educational options available to all students who are at least 3 years old, but not yet 18 years old. Please go to https://dpi.wi.gov/ed-options to see the educational options represented for Wisconsin students.
