OLQA Families,

School is almost here and we are less than two weeks away from the first day, Thursday 9/5! We are busy at work preparing the building for the school year and are looking forward to an amazing year. It was also great to welcome our new families at our new family orientation this Wednesday.

We did want to reach out with a couple of major staffing updates. Sadly, Ms. Camacho has made the difficult decision to move on from OLQA. After 20 years of service to the school, she will be sorely missed. Her energy, joy, and tough love made for a phenomenal experience for our Kindergarten students. Please see a letter from Ms. Camacho below:

Dear Our Lady Queen of Angels Colleagues, Staff, Families, and Community,

It is with the heaviest of heart that I write this letter to inform you that I will be leaving my beloved school after 20 years. Please note that the decision did not come easy, it was a very difficult decision to make. I want to express my gratitude for the time I have had at OLQA and the families I have had the opportunity to work with. I have been given the opportunity to use my knowledge and experience and apply it at a different role at a different school.

My twenty years at Our Lady Queen of Angels have been a wonderful experience and will forever be a huge part of my life. OLQA was my second home. The OLQA team, the staff, and the families will be missed terribly. I pray for the continued success of OLQA and for my colleagues. You all will always be in my heart and prayers.

With much love, Thank you.

Sincerely,

Yasmin Camacho

As much as Ms. Camacho will be missed we are also extremely excited to welcome our new Kindergarten teacher into the school community, Ms. Suleyma Cuellar. Ms. Cuellar joins us from teaching at a charter school in the Bronx, however she is a familiar face to many of us. Not only did she work in the after school program and the main office, but she is also an OLQA Graduate (along with her siblings) and an OLQA Parent. We know our kindergartners will be in amazing hands with Ms. Cuellar!

We are also sad to bid farewell to Ms. Jackson. In consideration with her family, she has decided to move back home to California to be closer to home. We wish Ms. Jackson and her family the best in their move!

We are also excited to welcome Mr. Jones as our new music teacher. A classically trained performer, Mr. Jones comes to us with 15 years of Catholic School experience teaching at the Holy Rosary School in the Bronx. We are excited to welcome him to our community and look forward to the vision he will to our Music program!

Finally, Ms. Nieves will be be returning to a classroom role and will be teaching first grade this year. I cannot express how essential Ms. Nieves has been our growth as a school last year and how helpful she has been an amazing partner in helping run OLQA this past year. We all know her passionate dedication for the school, and she will selflessly pull double duty, both teaching first grade AND continuing to support the development and growth of our teachers as the dean. We are truly blessed to have such a committed and hard working educator at our school and we're excited to see all the ways she helps both our first graders and teachers grow in the years to come!

Looking forward to the start to an amazing school year!

Best,

James Sayer

Principal

Our Lady Queen of Angels School

The first day of school for K-8 will be Thursday, September 5th and it will be a half day. Doors open at 7:45 and dismissal is at 12pm. Please be sure to be here on time for dismissal as there is no after school until September 9th. There will be breakfast only on the first day and lunch will be served on Friday.

• First full day of classes will be September 9th for ALL grades.
• First day of after school will be September 9th for ALL grades.

We are opening up after school sign up for this year. Plan rates have been calculated for the entire school year and are divided into 9 equal payments from September to June.

All charges will be billed through FACTS Management.

• For students in grades Pre-K and Kindergarten (2:30 PM - 6:00 PM), the cost is $225 per month.
• For students in grades 1st through 8th (4:00 PM - 6:00 PM), the cost is $200 per month.
• Sibling discount: First child is $200 per student per month, every child after is $100 per month.

The first monthly payment is due September 15, 2024.

Students will get to wear their gym uniform on they have gym. The gym schedule is as follows:

• A Days (Mondays + Wednesdays) - Pk4, Kinder, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade, 6th Grade, and 8th Grade
• B Days (Tuesdays + Thursdays) - Pk3, 1st Grade, 3rd Grade, 5th Grade, 7th Grade

Our PreK orientation is divided into two groups. The purpose is for families to come in with their child to meet the teacher, see the space, and learn expectations in a shorter school day to ease into the first day of school. Groups will be half the class, with both PreK 3 and PreK 4 divided into Group A and Group B.

• Group A = Thursday 9/5 from 9:00 to 11:00 (Last Name A-M)
• Group B = Friday 9/6 from 9:00 to 11:00 (Last Name N-Z)
  

Group A's orientation is Sept. 5th and Group B's will be Sept. 6th. PreK parents, please check your email for details about your child's group assignment and schedule. We're excited to welcome our youngest learners to a fun and engaging start to their school journey!

Back to School Night will be on Thursday, 9/12 at 5:00. We will start in the gym with some quick whole school announcements and then we will split up into grade levels to meet with your child's teacher. It is very important so please ensure you can attend.

Please see the attached school year at a glance. It will include days off and half days, as well as other important dates for events.

Check out our newly revised website. The address is the same, but the content is different. You can check here for the calendar, important documents, and key updates over the course of the school year.

We wanted to share our school supply lists early so that you can get ahead and pick up items early and on sale. The document is broken down by grade level, so make sure to check for your child's rising grade.

We also are adding 2 rolls of contact paper to the supply list. This will help ensure all books stay in good shape over the course of the school year. Here is a link on Amazon you can order.

Below you will see a summary of the OLQA Uniform for SY24-25. Please label ALL of your child's belongings, we are not responsible for any lost items. Here is a link to labels found on amazon. There are no changes but a couple key reminders follow below:

• Students must wear black dress shoes as part of the regular uniform
• Students must wear OLQA gym uniform and ALL black or ALL white dress shoes
• For next year, black and white Nike dunks should NOT be worn.
• There is a difference between Fall/Spring and Winter Uniform
• Fall/Spring Uniform is from 9/5 to 10/31 AND 4/1 to 6/13. In Fall/Spring Uniform students MAY wear their white OLQA polo shirt
• Winter Uniform is from 11/1 to 3/31 and students may NOT wear their white OLQA polo shirt. Boys MUST wear a white long sleeve dress shirt and tie, while girls MUST wear a white long sleeve dress shirt or blouse.

An overview of the uniform follows below:

It is a state requirement to be up to date with your immunizations. Please submit your documents to the front desk or you can upload them to your child's file. The image has the vaccination requirements by grade. Click on the image, it will take you to your child file to upload all necessary documents.

Gently used uniforms are greatly appreciated. Please stop by during our summer hours to drop off the uniforms and say hi to the team getting the school ready for next year.

Summer Homework is due the first day of school next year. A summary of the summer homework assignments by grade follows below (Click on the Picture to Access the Google Doc w/ Links):

Have any questions, feel free to reach out to us!

• Mr. Sayer, Principal = Email: james.sayer@olqaeastharlem.org; C: 929-390-1687
• Ms. Nieves, Academic Dean = Email: mnieves@olqaeastharlem.org
• Ms. Dobrina, Operations Leader = Email: dcarrara@olqaeastharlem.org
• Ms. Jenniffer, Operations = Email: jengarcia@olqaeastharlem.org
• Mr. Nick Gianni, Operations = Email: ngianni@olqaeastharlem.org
• Follow us on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/