CORE PURPOSE & VISION
CORE PURPOSE
OLSOS School cultivates missionary disciples who are fully alive in Jesus Christ.
Our school guides children into a meaningful friendship with Jesus Christ and a daily life patterned on the Catholic faith. Students discover that our Lord illumines reason, gives richer meaning to all learning, and enlivens culture. Thus, they grown in virtue and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. This relationship directs their lives to Jesus’ Gospel mission in an apostolic age, that is, a time when most people have not heard the Good News of Jesus. Our core purpose is to cultivate students who evangelize not merely through words, but through an incarnational presence: when people encounter our students, they are attracted to God through them.
MISSION STATEMENT
​Under the patronage of our Blessed Mother, the mission of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic School is to support parents in their role as the primary educators of their children. Our classical training nourishes the students’ natural sense of wonder and guides them to know and love what is genuinely good, true, and beautiful. Faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, we form our students to be virtuous disciples of Jesus Christ and joyful witnesses to the Gospel.
VISION STATEMENT
OUR ASPIRATIONS FOR GRADUATES
Graduates of OLSOS have learned and experienced that the fullness of life is only possible when they live in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and in real communion and community with others. They have been formed to embrace a Christian Worldview that affects every aspect of their lives.
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This is accomplished by the following pillars:
CHRIST-CENTEREDNESS
Students are formed daily in a life of prayer. They are encouraged to invite the Lord into their whole lives and all their actions and decisions through Sacraments, personal and communal prayer. They learn to offer all their work and activity to the Lord.
FAITH AND REASON
Through study and prayer, students appreciate the great fit of their intellect infused with the virtue of faith as a gift from Our Creator. They know God as the source of all truth so that, in a world where many assume the unreasonabless of faith and a conflict between science and faith, our students understand and appreciate both the wonders of the natural sciences and their limitations.
VIRTUE
Through regular and intentional teaching and education, our students know the virtues in both a theoretical and practical way. Staff and teachers work daily to acknowledge and praise the practice of virtue in students.
DISCERNMENT
Our students are invited to see their lives as a great adventure in serving Christ, the Church and being of service to the world. They are taught to discern God’s call in their daily lives and ultimately the vocation for which God has created them. By example and teaching, our staff forms our students in generosity, self-giving and sacrifice, that is, a Christian way of life, and the discipline of self-governance and self-control which leads to true and lasting happiness and freedom.
BEAUTY
Students have an appreciation and love for beauty. Through the display of great works of art throughout the building, intentionally ordered classrooms, and the teaching of music and art we awaken and cultivate beauty within our students.
RELATIONSHIPS & FAMILY
Our students have learned that being made in the image and likeness of God means that we are created for communion and community in life and love. Rejecting the modern drift toward isolation and screens, they recognize the need for healthy relationships with family and friends. They are provided opportunities and formation for engagement in parish and local community, a sense of civic duty, and broadly the need to care for all people.
CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
Our students have learned the basic principles of Catholic social teaching and are encouraged to apply those truths to the social questions and confusions of our day. They are filled with both compassion and confidence in the Gospel to lovingly and boldly proclaim Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life to a world in need of His Light and Life.
FAMILY FORMATION
Promote book clubs, guest speakers on fostering the domestic Church to support parents as the primary educators of their children.
Foster friendships among parents to create real community.
Prioritize a respect for family time by maintaining homework-free nights and weekends.
Encourage a life of service in the home and community.
CELEBRATING LITURGY, SACRAMENTS & TRADITION
Share a rhythm of daily prayer, weekly Mass, monthly adoration and feasts of the Church.
Weekly teaching time with priests.
Pass on our faith culture through celebrating Church traditions and traditional prayers and sacred music.
MINIMIZED TECH
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Engage students in discussion-based instruction and minimize the use of technology.
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Uphold a no-cell phones policy on campus.
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Build basic digital literacy through keyboarding and word processing for an annual middle school project.
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Encourage freedom from screens at home.
CULTIVATING CURIOSITY
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Plan fun, exciting field trips and Quest adventures.
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Study science through nature studies.
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Meditate on sacred images and classical art and Scripture.
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Encourage student dialogue through Socratic seminars.
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Lead students to thoughtfully discover truth through narrative questioning instead of spoonfeeding lists of facts.
LATIN
All grade levels are immersed in Latin Learning.
Discover the importance of Latin as foundational, beautiful, and precise.
STRONG WRITTEN AND ORAL COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT
Reinforce and enforce grammar, public speaking skills and recitation.
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Teach diverse writing strategies (such as short stories, research papers, persuasive essays, and literary critiques.
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Participate in Knights of Columbus Annual Pro-Life Essay & Poster Contest.
SUPPORT DIVERSIFIED LEARNERS
Provide for the needs of all students with varying aptitudes within the classroom.
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Provide learning specialists in math, reading, and writing.
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Develop social, emotional, and behavioral skills for all students.
SOCRATIC DIALOGUE
Engage in student conversations with close reading of texts to uncover deeper meaning.
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Imitate and practice debate techniques.
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Watch our staff discuss The Socratic Method.
VIRTUE FORMATION
Integrate the Virtues in Practice Program.
Recognize Virtue student leaders monthly.
Explore Virtues and Vices within the context of all subjects.
Model and promote etiquette and manners.
Promote the virtue of patriotism.