Technology, Enrichment Put OLL School at Head of Class

A recent STEM open house at OLL School drew enthusiastic crowds.

Our Lady of the Lake School has a tradition of offering quality Catholic education that has served the community for more than 80 years – but they’re not resting on their laurels. “We’re not only committed to offering a faith-based, caring environment,” says Principal Rita Kingsbury. “We’re also committed to offering the very best education for your child.” That means investing in state-of-the-art technology in everyone classroom – from preschool on up – and ensuring that students have access to a broad array of curriculum and enrichment offerings.

“We educate the whole child, and we use the best available tools,” Kingsbury says. A tour of the school shows that iPads and Chromebooks, a dedicated computer lab, smart boards in every room, and a new distance education lab are helping get the job done. When the second grade wanted to learn about water treatment systems for their STEM week project, they powered up their computer-aided design software, and got to work creating their own water filtration models. Technology also features in a new language teaching curriculum, and in countless classroom projects. The recent STEM open house in November showed the cutting-edge teaching approach is popular with families, too: lines of parents and visitors extended out the door, and hallways were thronged with enthusiastic participants.

“Our parish is invested in Catholic education,” says Fr. Joe Fortuna, and you can see the investment in other features of the school, including a full range of enrichment offerings from visual arts and music to after school programs, including new clubs for cooking, sewing and chess. The eighth grade is excitedly planning for a spring trip to Washington, DC, while the students in the drama program are still celebrating the success of the recent parish production of The Lion King. With so much happening, there is a sense of excitement at the school – and also a sense of purpose. “We set goals for this year,” Principal Kingsbury says, “of maintaining a positive attitude, building relationships and focusing on student engagement.” It’s clear that setting goals and investing in the future is making Our Lady of the Lake not only a strong school now, but one that is positioned for the future.

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Volume 7, Issue 1, Posted 5:47 PM, 01.05.2016