Dear Parents and Guardians,

This September, we enter the fifth year of Our Lady’s Catholic Academy. In our continued efforts to offer more educational time and resources, we have once again expanded the school day. Please note that our full days of school will be fifteen minutes longer and our half days of school will be thirty minutes longer. There will also be fewer half days than in previous years, allowing us to maximize instructional time. Here are our new operating hours:

Rockaway Boulevard Campus 128^th Street Campus

Full Day: 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM Full Day: 8:15 AM – 3:15 PM

Half Day: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM Half Day: 8:15 AM – 12:15 PM

Our Extended Day program will begin on Monday, September 9, and it will operate during every school day for the rest of the year, including days before recesses and holidays. We hope this will make it easier for parents who use this program. Our Free Early Drop-Off program begins on Wednesday, September 4 and will operate during every school day this year, beginning at 7 AM at both campuses of OLCA.

Here is our complete2013-2014 School Calendar. This year, we will not be sending out monthly calendars, so you will find that all of the necessary information that you need is on the yearly calendar for the first time. We hope that this will make it easier for you to plan ahead.

Also available now is our 2013-2014 Family Handbook. There have been some significant policy changes this year, so please review it carefully with your children. Special attention should be paid to the policies covering Catholic Identity, Communication, Conduct, Lunch, Uniform, and our Bullying/Harassment Policy. We have made some of our rules more flexible in response to feedback from students, parents, and teachers. We have also strengthened and expanded some of our policies to better meet the needs of all students. Please complete both sides of the information page at the end of the handbook and send it with your child on the first day of classes. Complete one page for each child.

We look forward to seeing our Kindergarten-8^th graders on Wednesday, September 4 and our Nursery and Pre-Kindergarten students on Thursday, September 5. We already have over 160 new students joining our community this year, and together with our returning students and families, this should be our best year yet. Have a safe and restful remainder of the summer, and we’ll see you in September!

Sincerely in Christ,

Kevin Coyne, Principal

Marian Hernandez, Assistant Principal