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Saturday evening, June 9, the OLOL community came together to celebrate the retirement of our Principal, Mrs. Patricia McGann. It was a beautiful and bittersweet evening as we said thank you and farewell to Mrs. McGann after 13 years of dedicated and loving service to Lourdes. Thank you to Msgr. Filardi, Father Myers, Mr. Long, faculty and staff, returning parents and alum, all the wonderful parent volunteers, and especially to the party coordinators, Mrs. Apgood and Mrs. Harmon, who made it a night to remember. It is the last few days of school and the halls of OLOL are filled with trash of all sorts. The exciting thing is that students are working well with others in small groups, using their skills and imaginations to build wonderful new creations, and having a blast. Grades 4-7 are creating a cardboard arcade and students in grades K-3 are creating a replica of our school, a Geometro City, a stage and puppets, and a classroom full of transportation vehicles. It is truly amazing to see the creations that the students have planned and carefully constructed. 
Our eighth graders have completed the high school acceptance process and we couldn't be more proud of the Class of 2018!
The Lourdes Class of 2018 has been accepted into the following area high schools. The schools with an asterisk (*) identify the schools our students will attend. The Academy of the Holy Cross* - 6 of 6 accepted Bethesda Chevy Chase High School Honors Program* Connelly School of the Holy Child* - 3 of 3 accepted DeMatha Catholic High School* - 4 of 4 accepted Elizabeth Seton High School* - 1 of 1 accepted Georgetown Preparatory School* - 6 of 7 accepted Georgetown Visitation Prepatory School - 1 of 1 accepted Gonzaga College High School* - 2 of 4 accepted The Heights* - 2 of 2 accepted Landon School - 1 of 1 accepted The McLean School* - 3 of 4 accepted Our Lady of Good Counsel High School* - 4 of 6 accepted Saint Alban’s School* - 1 of 1 accepted Saint John’s College High School* - 13 of 14 accepted Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart - 1 of 2 accepted Walter Johnson High School Honors Program* Remarkably, our students were offered over $1,000,000 in scholarships and merit tuition assistance for their four-year high school careers. Congratulations to our eighth grade students, their parents and their teachers for their success! Mrs. Wasp and Mrs. Walsh have been taking the PreK students to learn about the church, saying prayers, and learning to be reverent in God's house. Today the students practiced genuflecting in front of the Altar and recited the Prayer to our Guardian Angel and The Hail Mary. The PreK class was so fortunate to find Msgr. Filardi in the Church and he gave the children a brief Religion lesson and then showed them the Sacristy. He explained the different vestments a priest wears during the various Liturgical seasons and showed us a safe where the Chalice is kept. We also got to see the beautiful stained glass window of Jesus with the little children surrounding Him. We left the Sacristy through the Rectory and the tunnel which connects to the school. The children were amazed by all they learned from Monsignor and seeing the Church through the eyes of the priest. We are so grateful for him taking the time to show them around and look forward to him visiting our classrooms. Do you ever wonder what the 6th gr. science class does during the last few days of school? Well, it is amazing and probably not what you would think, but it did involve MARSHMALLOWS! Mrs. Stallsmith had the students participating in a scientific challenge to create structures out of marshmallows. Take a look at all the fun and learning!! Great job everyone! Even though the rain poured down in Bethesda, the light and love of God shined down on Our Lady of Lourdes as we celebrated a beautiful morning of joy and thankfulness for our Mother Mary and all our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. The May Procession included a boy and a girl from each class, Little Group through grade 7, and the entire class in the second and eighth grades. Katie Myers represented OLOL as the May Queen and crowned Mary. April 29, 2017 - OLOL's 9th Annual Lions' Roar Kate Truax 5K/1K. A beautiful day and a wonderful event to support our school, bring our community together and celebrate the memory of our dear friend and teacher Kate Truax. Thanks to everyone for supporting this important day at OLOL! Thanks to the hardworking parents, faculty, and staff that made this day so special! We couldn't do this without you!! Here are a few images of our special day, courtesy of Mrs. Briscuso. Thanks to all our sponsors!  On Thursday, April 6, 2017 the fifth grade class presented a Wax Museum of Historical Figures. Each student chose a historical figure to study and presented what they learned to their parents, fellow students and faculty. The children wore costumes to represent their historical figure. We are extremely proud of our 5th grade! Thank you Mrs. Imwalle and the entire 5th grade class for working so hard and producing a wonderful Wax Museum of Historical Figures.  We are thankful for our STUDENTS!Today was full of fun for our students. All grades participated in a Lion Hunt throughout the building. The class that found the most lion pictures (hidden by the 8th grade) won an ice cream treat. Congratulations to the 4th Grade! Students in grades 2-8 competed in a song and dance contest, judged by our teachers, Mr. Long, and Mrs. McGann. All the acts were amazing! We have such a talented group of girls and boys at OLOL!! The winning class will receive a tag day each month for the rest of the school year. We will announce the winner on Monday. We are thankful for our TEACHERS!Thanks to all our supportive parents, the teachers enjoyed a wonderful extended lunch with delicious food from Maggiano's. Teachers were appreciated in so many special ways today- THANK YOU!!  OLOL's Family in Faith - Our Pride & Joy! OLOL teachers tell us the importance of Catholic Schools:It is wonderful to see our students return after they have graduated. They are happy and successful in high school, but they know their roots are here. I love the energy and humor of our middle school students! I choose to teach at Our Lady of Lourdes because I knew I would be comfortable in an environment where education, respect for traditional values and the principles of the Catholic faith are respected. Kindness, honesty and consideration for others are important contributors in my life, and they are fostered at Our Lady of Lourdes. I choose to teach in Catholic school because here I get to express my faith openly, and I find it very rewarding to be able to pray at work. Growing up in a Catholic school I saw firsthand the importance of faith in my education. I saw it as the most precious treasure that my parents gave me, and I enjoy being a part of that experience for other families. I feel fortunate to teach in a Catholic school where I can share my educational knowledge as well as my faith and values. There is a strong sense of community and support here. Teaching in a Catholic School I have the privilege and responsibility to teach the "whole child". I don't just impart knowledge, but I guide students to use all the gifts that God has bestowed on them for the betterment of themselves, their families and their community. As a teacher in a Catholic School, I have the opportunity to bring light to the importance of loving and serving God in all that we think, do and say. Taking what we learn, we live a life of "Faith Excellence and Service." I love being able to teach the whole child, rather than just focusing on academics. This adds meaning and reason to our work. Our Catholic faith is the backbone for our teaching - it tells us why we do things, how we act, and how we treat one another. I also love that we have a rigorous academic program, but are not so data-driven that we forget the importance of play and having fun - in all grades. It is beautiful to be able to see the children progress from preschool into their early teenage years, working toward the end result of becoming upstanding young ladies and gentlemen when they leave us in eighth grade. I love the way we build relationships with one another as a faculty - the support of colleagues is essential to our success as a school and community. After attending Catholic School for the majority of my education, I chose to work at Lourdes because I wanted to be able to instill the same Catholic values and morals in today's students that my teachers gave me. I chose to teach at a Catholic School because as Catholic School teachers we are able to help foster life-long learning in our students. We also help each child develop his or her own unique gifts, and allow them to personally contribute these gifts to our small and secure community. I love how the teachers here are able to know and work with the youngest to the oldest students. We work together to make every year special. Everyone needs meaningful work in their lives. Working in a Catholic School allows me to teach students that what they do matters. As a Catholic School teacher I can talk to children about respect and honesty. I can partner with their parents to give them the greatest gift - a faith that they will one day need to sustain them through difficulties and challenges - prayers, traditions and rituals that will remind them that they are held in the hand of God. Teaching at a Catholic School has been such a privilege because I am able to teach the whole child, through kindness, respect, and prayer every day. Each morning, as a school and a community we start our day off with prayer. This is my favorite part of the day because it gives the students and me a sense of the wonderful community we have. I chose to work in a Catholic school because I enjoy the sense of community that surrounds the school. I like having the ability to teach my students about faith, compassion, and respect. I chose to teach in a Catholic school so that I can do more than help students grow academically; I can help them grow in their faith through literature and poetry. Teaching the whole child prepares them for high school and beyond. I chose to work at Our Lady of Lourdes because, just like in my own experience having attended a Catholic school, Lourdes teaches their students about respect, responsibility, honesty, compassion, and faith. I chose to teach in a Catholic school because Catholic schools played a large roll in my life. They have helped shape me into who I am today. Mine gave me faith, strong academics, and an amazing community. These are things I appreciated as a child but even more so as I grew older. I wanted to bring that to other people. I wanted to teach at a Catholic school because of the positive experience I had growing up in a Catholic school. I wanted to give back to the Catholic community and provide that same positive experience for as many children as I can. I like to work in a Catholic School because I get to see the face of God all day long. Nathalia Martinez, a sixth grader, created an extraordinary painting of Our Lady and presented it to the school today. Nathalia is a juried artist who will have several exhibits of her work later this year. After Monsignor Filardi blesses the painting it will be hung for all to enjoy.  |
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