OLQA Family,

Thank you for a wonderful Catholic Schools Week! Despite the flu, we had many great celebrations like the HS Acceptance Ceremony, Angel Expo, and Mass at St. Ann's. We will be rescheduling our Teacher vs. Student Basketball Game for 2/13 and our Potluck for 2/21. Overall it was a fun way to celebrate all the things that make OLQA such a wonderful community!

We have a few big events coming up next week as well. We will start distributing report cards at dismissal on Tuesday 2/4, Sacraments Meetings are on 2/4 and 2/5, there is a school Mass on 2/6 at the OLQA Church, and we have the Honor Roll Ceremony on Friday 2/7. It will be jam packed, but sure to be a great time!

Also we have our first major school fundraiser beginning this week. We starting our World's Finest Chocolate Sale in benefit of the School. All funds raised will benefit the day to day operations of OLQA. Our goal is to make $8,000 by having each student sell 1 box of chocolate. We will have a number of prizes, such as a PS5 for the person who sells the most chocolate and a set of Beats headphones for second place. Students will get a dress down pass for each box they sell over their 1 box goal.

Hope everyone gets some rest and has a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Mr. Sayer

Principal

Our Lady Queen of Angels School

Report cards will be available for pick up from teachers beginning on Tuesday 2/4. To ensure that parents receive report cards, they must be picked up in person in school or the parent must contact the homeroom teacher directly to coordinate. Some report cards may be held for mandatory conferences based on student academic performance, conduct, attendance, or outstanding financial balances owed to the school.

We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting information about the sacraments and what making a sacrament means for you and your child.

📅 February 4th – We will be discussing the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion at 6 PM.

📅 February 5th – We will focus on the Sacrament of Confirmation for Grades 7 + 8 at 6 PM.

We look forward to these meaningful conversations and your participation!

We will have a School Mass this Thursday 2/6 at 8:30 AM in the OLQA Church. All parents are welcome to attend the Mass. Please join us to celebrate in prayer together as a community!

We are sorry to postpone some Catholic Schools celebrations this week, but we did not want to further spread the flu that has been going around school. The rescheduled dates for the events are:

• Student vs. Teacher Basketball Game rescheduled for Thursday 2/13.
• This will be part of the 100th Day of School Celebration.
• International Potluck rescheduled for Friday 2/21

Thanks for your flexibility and look forward to celebrating as a school community.

We are excited to announce our World’s Finest Chocolate Fundraiser for the 2024-2025 school year! Our School Goal is to raise $8,000, which means 1 box sold per student. Our candy sale begins January 27, 2025, and we invite families to participate in this fundraiser to help support our school.

This sale features individual World’s Finest Chocolate bars, with each item priced at $2.00. Families are asked to return $60.00 (check or money order) for each case (box) received.

To place an order, please complete the form below. Each family may begin with up to 2 cases. Additional cases will be provided once payment for previously received boxes has been submitted. Please also indicate how you plan to transport the cases home.

There will be prizes for the families that sell the most chocolate, specifically:

1. 1st Place = Sony PS5
2. 2nd Place = Beats Headphone
3. For every additional case you sell, you will receive a Dress Down card. Each Dress Down gives you a free Dress Down Day. There is no limit to the amount of Dress Down cards you can obtain.

Directions:

1. Each Child will be responsible for 1 case ($60.00) of Chocolate.
2. Checks or Money Orders are to be made out to Our Lady Queen of Angels School. ONLY !!!!
3. ALL requests for additional Chocolate must be in writing and sent to school with your child.
4. To be eligible to win a prize ALL money MUST be in by FEB. 14th.
5. Any ties for the 3 Top Seller Prizes will be decided by a coin toss.

Reminder of the importance of using chromebooks the correct way. Chromebooks are tools for learning, not toys. As per the Student Family Handbook, families are responsible for any damage to the computers. Please see the selection from the Handbook below:

The school reserves the right to seek financial restitution for any damage caused by a student or other user. The system administrators will deem what is inappropriate use, and their decision is final. The administration, faculty, and staff of the school may request the system administrator to deny, revoke, or suspend specific privileges. Violation of the rules and code of ethics described above will be dealt with seriously, which may include contacting law enforcement. (Student and Family Handbook, pg. 33)

Chromebooks cost $340 and families will be charged for computers when damaged or used irresponsibly. Please talk to your child to ensure they use the chromebook responsibly so we do not need to charge any family for the computer to revoke and chromebook privileges.

7th Grade is starting TACHS prep now to help prepare for the exam next year. The classes are from 4:15 to 5:15 and cost $50 CASH total for 5 months of tutoring. Make sure to register using the link below.

Please remember to bring in your Medical Forms. The flue shot is PAST DUE for students in prek3 and 4! Students will be restricted from school if they do not bring proof of flu shot IMMEDIATELY. New York State requires all immunizations to be up to date and your child can be excluded from school if they are not completed.

Please ensure to bring the documentation to the main office this week if you need to bring proof of immunization.

Friendly reminder about the importance of attendance, as we noticed a drop in December and this first week of break. Attendance is crucial and students must be in class to learn. To help build this lifelong habit, attendance is tied to student conduct grades.

• Students will earn no higher than a B in conduct if they have 5 or more unexcused absences OR latenesses

Please make sure that your child is at school every day and that, in the event they are absent, you send a note explaining why upon their return.

Basketball continues weekly with games and practices. If interested, come and join the teams (JV Boys, Varsity Boys, Girls) as they are a ton of fun and build character. Games will continue this week and can be found on the SE Tourney App and the link below.

Additionally the game schedule will be beginning. Below is the link to access the team schedules:

Congrats on your child's hard work with the high school admissions process! It is a stressful process, but we are extremely proud of the 8th graders achievements getting into high school. We want to help and guide you through the enrollment process. Many schools are looking for decisions and enrollment deposits as early as February 7th.

To assist in this process, make sure to complete the high school acceptance survey below and send acceptances to Mr. Sayer (james.sayer@olqaeastharlem.org).

Every school is different, but many schools are looking for a decision and initial deposit by 2/7. Ensure you MEET THE DEADLINE to ensure you both save your spot and have the possibility of financial aid.

All 8th grade families should apply to Inner City Scholarship Funds high school aid program. It does not cover all tuition, but is a major help in making HS affordable. We will be sending home INDIVIDUALIZED scholarship applications with an INDIVIDUALIZED code for each student to apply.

Be aware, this is DIFFERENT than the individual HS financial aid application. You will need to complete Inner City Scholarship Fund financial aid application AND the school financial aid application to maximize your financial aid to HS.

Reminder that the winter uniform has started. This means that students:

• Must wear a white dress shirt / blouse. They cannot wear the polo shirt.
• Boys will need to start wearing the tie with their white dress shirts.
• Students must wear the sweat pants with the gym uniform, no shorts.
• Students cannot wear winter boots, they must change into proper shoes at school

Make sure boys wear a tie with their regular uniform. Not doing this will lead to a uniform slip.

We had our first week of some new expectations to raise the bar for our middle schoolers. They are:

• Extracurricular Eligibility - For students to remain eligible for extracurricular activities (Basketball, Latin, Dance), they must maintain a B in conduct. Therefore if students receive 3 pink slips, in a quarter, an automatic C in conduct, they will lose eligibility to participate in extracurriculars.
• Class Point Update - As we raise expectations for our middle schoolers in class, the bar to earn recess each day will be moved up to 22 class points a day. This will help push each class as a community to be more focused, and therefore learn more, in their classes.

PK Parents, please be aware that we will be making an adjustment to our PK tardy procedure. TAs have been missing almost all of breakfast, a key time where they are needed to assist with safety, clean up, and bathrooms. Moving forward, students need to be on time to attend breakfast. If students are late, we will hold them by the main office and bring them up with the TA at 8:25. This will help ensure that TAs are able to be fully present at breakfast to start the day.

Metro cards were given to students. If you have not received a metro card please reach out to Ms. Jenniffer. jengarcia@olqaeastharlem.org. There will only be one replacement if the child loses it.

Verification letters for students will be done on Wednesdays ONLY. Please note that creating verification letters takes time. Kindly allow sufficient processing time for your requests. Thank you for your understanding and patience!

We are no longer accepting cash deposits. Please bring in a check or a money order. If you bring cash you will be turned away. Thank you families for understanding.

We suggest you pay online using FACTS. FACTS can also take payments in debit or credit card for your convenience.