Our Lady of the Assumption School

Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, Archangels

As we begin a new week at OLA, we are reminded that God is always present and at work in our lives. In the busyness of school, work, and family life, today’s feast invites us to trust in His guidance and look for ways to bring His goodness and light to those around us.

Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14

Psalm 137 (138): “In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.”

John 1:47–51

Today the Church celebrates the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, three powerful messengers of God whose names and missions remind us that God is always present and at work in our lives.

St. Michael reminds us to stand courageously for what is good and true. St. Gabriel, who brought Mary the message that she would become the mother of Jesus, reminds us to listen for God's voice and be willing to say “yes” to His plan. St. Raphael, whose name means “God heals,” reminds us of God's healing, guidance, and care.

In today's Gospel, Jesus shows Nathanael that He already knows him—truly and completely. Nathanael is surprised, but Jesus assures him that there is even more to come: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending.”

What a wonderful message for our children. God knows each of us, walks with us, and calls us to live in His light. We will encounter choices each day between kindness and unkindness, truth and dishonesty, including someone or leaving them out, serving ourselves or helping another. Our faith helps us recognize what is good and gives us the courage to choose it.

As we continue to build Community at OLA, may the Archangels remind us to protect one another, speak God's love, bring healing where there is hurt, and have the courage to stand for what is right.

A thought for our families:

🙏 Saint Michael, protect us. Saint Gabriel, help us listen to God. Saint Raphael, guide and heal us. Lord, remind us that You know us, You are with us, and You are always in control. Help us to walk in Your light. Amen.

APA BOARD CORNER

🎟️ Fall Raffle Update!

Our Fall Raffle is off to a great start! Be sure to turn in your sold raffle tickets each week to compete for top prizes, earn student incentives, and help your class reach its weekly goals for trolley visits, Free Dress Days, and more!

⭐ BONUS WEEK!

Turn in 20 sold raffle tickets by Thursday, October 1 at 3:30 PM and earn 5 BONUS ENTRIES into the Free-Mester Tuition Raffle!

🚎 First Trolley Visit Challenge

This Friday, October 2, is our first weekly count to determine which classes have earned their first trolley visit! All tickets must be turned in to the school office by 3:30 PM on Thursday, October 1 to count.

Classes that reach 200 tickets sold will earn a trolley visit on October 10!

Current Class Totals:

TK — 10

Kindergarten — 80

1st Grade — 90

2nd Grade — 20

3rd Grade — 110

4th Grade — 40

5th Grade — 30

6th Grade — 60

7th Grade — 30

8th Grade — 50

👏 Keep selling and help your class reach 200!

🎃 Cash & Free-Mester Tuition Raffles

The Cash Raffle and Free-Mester Tuition Raffle winners will be drawn at our Halloween BOO-Gie on October 30!

Remember, the more tickets you sell, the more chances you have to win a FREE parish-rate trimester—that’s three months of tuition!

Thank you for supporting our Fall Raffle, and keep those tickets coming! 🎟️

🎃 Save the Date – Halloween BOO-Gie Bash!

Mark your calendars for Friday, October 30 for OLA’s Annual Halloween BOO-Gie Bash!

If you would like to help plan this fun community event, please contact the APA Board.

🤝 APA Volunteers Needed

Our APA is also looking for parent volunteers to assist with:

• Co-Treasurer – Support the Treasurer with duties and attend monthly meetings in person or virtually.

• Communications – Assist with creating and updating flyers and emails for APA events and activities.

Please contact apaboard@olaventura.org or text APA President Susan Cazares at 925-963-1697 if you are interested in helping.

✨ Thank you for supporting OLA and helping make this year's raffle a success. When our families work together, we strengthen the wonderful sense of community that makes OLA so special.

Anchored in Faith, We Learn, Serve, and Shine! 🐬

Calendar Highlights  

         Extended Day Care registration packets are available in the school office. 

Contents of Weekly Brown Envelope

Please remove contents, complete and return any forms in the signed Brown Envelope every Wednesday. 

Virtue of the Month September

✨ Virtue of the Month: Charity

Our school participates in a Deanery-wide virtue program that helps our students grow in faith and character by focusing on a particular virtue each month and learning about saints who modeled that virtue in their lives.

Our Theme for the Year: Community

This year, our theme is Community. Throughout the year, we will help our students understand that God calls us to live in relationship with one another. A strong Christian community is built when we care for one another, recognize the dignity of every person, share our gifts, and work together for the good of all.

Our school community gives us countless opportunities to practice this—from welcoming someone who feels left out, to helping a classmate, serving those in need, praying for one another, and treating everyone we encounter with kindness and respect.

❤️ September Virtue: Charity

Our virtue this month is Charity:

“Loving God with all your heart, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Charity is more than simply being nice or generous. It is the love that comes from God and teaches us to love Him above all things and to love others because they, too, are children of God.

Charity can be lived through very simple actions: including someone, offering encouragement, sharing what we have, forgiving, helping without being asked, praying for someone, or noticing when another person needs a friend.

As we begin a new school year centered on Community, charity is a wonderful place to start. When we choose to love and serve one another, we strengthen the community God has entrusted to us.

🌸 Preschool: St. Gertrude

Our preschool students will learn about St. Gertrude, who had a beautiful love for Jesus and loved spending time with Him in prayer.

For our youngest students, St. Gertrude reminds us that we can show charity by loving Jesus and being loving toward others. We can share, use kind words, help a friend, and remember to pray for the people we love.

Even the smallest acts of kindness can show someone the love of Jesus.

🤲 Grades 3–5: St. Vincent de Paul

Students in grades 3–5 will walk with St. Vincent de Paul, who dedicated his life to serving people who were poor, sick, lonely, or in need. He did not simply talk about loving others—he put his faith into action.

St. Vincent teaches our students to notice the needs of people around them and then do something to help. Charity might mean including someone who is alone, giving generously, helping without expecting anything in return, or standing beside someone who is struggling.

His example reminds us that when we serve another person with love, we are serving Christ.

💕 Grades 6–8: Venerable Laura Vicuña

Our middle school students will learn about Venerable Laura Vicuña, a young person whose deep faith and love for her family shaped the way she lived her life. Despite facing difficult circumstances, Laura remained devoted to God and showed remarkable compassion, courage, and concern for others.

Laura's story is especially meaningful for young people because she demonstrates that you do not have to be an adult to live a life of great faith and charity. Our middle school students are challenged to think beyond themselves—to consider how their words, choices, friendships, and actions affect others.

Her example reminds us that charity sometimes requires sacrifice, courage, forgiveness, and choosing what is good even when it is difficult.

🏫 Building Our Community Through Charity

Throughout the month, we encourage our students and families to ask:

How can I show God's love to someone today?

If each of us answers that question through our actions, our classrooms, homes, parish, and school will become stronger communities rooted in Christ.

May this month help all of us grow in charity as we continue to live our school mission—Anchored in Faith, We Learn, Serve, and Shine.

Sports at OLA

🏈 Flag Football – Our Dolphins Played with Heart!

Our OLA Flag Football team took on Santa Clara yesterday, and while we did not come away with the win, our Dolphins played with heart, determination, and great effort until the very end! We are proud of the way our team represented OLA.

🐬 Game Highlights

• Connor and Ryder Matsuk led the team on both offense and defense with outstanding effort and several big plays.

• Jayden Truong was a major contributor on both sides of the ball, making big plays on offense and coming up with a key interception on defense.

• River Huntington had an impressive defensive performance with two interceptions!

Our Dolphins continue to demonstrate what it means to Learn, Serve, and Shine through teamwork, perseverance, good sportsmanship, and supporting one another.

📣 NEXT GAME – COME CHEER ON THE DOLPHINS!

🏈 OLA vs. St. Sebastian

We would love to see our OLA families in the stands supporting our players! Come out, show your school spirit, and cheer on our Dolphins!

GO DOLPHINS! 🐬🏈

🏃‍♀️ Cross Country is Off and Running! 🏃‍♂️

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ Cross Country

Elementary Cross Country – Great Job, Dolphins!

Our OLA Cross Country runners did a terrific job at their meet! Their hard work at practice is paying off, and we are so proud of their dedication, perseverance, and continued improvement. Keep it up, runners!

🐬 Top Girls

• 🥇 Evie Bart (5th) — 1st out of 134 runners, 6:33

• Caroline Barnard (5th) — 7th, 7:06

• Everly Cazares (4th) — 10th, 7:13

🐬 Top Boys

• Jensen Fink (4th) — 9th, 6:39

• Leonardo Calderone (5th) — 17th, 6:48

• Andrew Navarro (4th) — 21st, 6:53

View the full elementary results here.

🐬 Middle School Highlights

Our Middle School runners also had a great meet at Soule Park in Ojai, competing on the two-mile course. We are very proud of their effort and determination!

Top Girls:

• Naomi Isbell (8th) — 13th out of 109 runners, 14:33

• Jadyn Way (6th) — 76th, 21:34

Top Boys:

• Luke Kuske (6th) — 50th out of 115 runners, 15:31

• Grason Fredell (6th) — 62nd, 16:08

OLA Middle School competes in Pool B this season.

📣 NEXT MEETS – COME CHEER ON OUR DOLPHINS!

Both teams will compete next at Arroyo Verde Park:

🏃 Elementary: Thursday, October 1

A special thank you to our coaches, parents, and families for the encouragement and support you continue to give our runners.

Our athletes are living our OLA motto—“Anchored in Faith, We Learn, Serve, and Shine”—through perseverance, teamwork, sportsmanship, and giving their very best.

Keep up the great work, runners! Go Dolphins! 🐬

Game schedules for both Flag Football and Girls Volleyball will be out soon.

💙 Thank you for supporting OLA Athletics—and as always…

GOOOOO DOLPHINS! 🐬

Stay up-to-date with access to events, documents, news from administrators, student stories, and even emergency notifications.

OLA School App Video

You can download the app for free on Google Play or Apple App Store.

Download for Android https://bit.ly/3HRxTwQ

Download for iPhone https://apple.co/3JwStCO

📋 Absent Reporting Reminder

If your child will be absent from school, please complete the Absent Reporting Form.

You can find the form:

• On our OLA School App (tap the menu button)

• On our school website under Quick Links

Submitting this form ensures that a daily report is generated and shared with teachers so they are aware of your child’s absence.

✅ Thank you for helping us keep our records accurate and our communication smooth!

The digital marquee birthday flier is available in the school  office.  Announce your child's next birthday on the OLA marquee! Announcement cost is $15

School Office Hours

The best times to conduct school business in the office are:

Mornings

8:30 am - 12:00 pm

Afternoon

12:50 pm - 2:30 pm

Closed for Lunch(12:00-12:50)

After Dismissal hours:

3:00pm-3:30pm 

Please do not come in during dismissal. We are calling students for pick-up and are unable to give you uninterrupted attention.  The office is closed for lunch from 12:00pm-12:50pm, if your child needs to leave early from school Please pick them up before 12:00 pm or after 12:50pm. 

 Safeguard Training

Protecting God’s Children

Keeping the Promise Alive (Recertification)

Local Locations for August/September/October 2026:

Protecting God’s Children: 3 hours.     Please arrive on time.

Initial Certification Requirement

• Our Lady of the Assumption Church (Ventura) – Saturday, October 3rd at 9:00 AM in the Santa Cruz Room Call: 805-642-7966

• St. Raphael Catholic Church (Santa Barbara) – Saturday, October 17th at 11:30 AM

  Email: office@srs805.org

Keeping the Promise Alive:  1 hour 30 minutes. Please arrive on time.

• Our Lady of the Assumption Church (Ventura) – Thursday, October 8th at 6:30pm in the Santa Cruz Room Call: 805-642-7966

• St. Raphael Catholic School (Santa Barbara) – Saturday, October 17th at 9:00 AM

  Email: office@srs805.org

There is an online option. If interested, please email olasafeguard@ola-vta.org.

Finger Printing

Fingerprinting Requirement

• St. Raphael School October 3rd , Call: 805-967-2115

• St. Maximillian Kolbe Church, October 13th,

  Call : 818-991-3915

• St. Paschal Baylon Church October 20th , email: https://tinyurl.com/mvfepa98

• St. Anthony Church (Oxnard) – Friday, October 30th

  Call: 805-486-7301

Student Learning Expectations (SLE’S)

OLA Students aim for the S.T.A.R.S when they: 

SHOW AND LIVE THEIR FAITH 

THINK CRITICALLY AND WORK COOPERATIVELY

ACTIVELY MAINTAIN A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

RESPECT OURSELVES AND OTHERS

STUDY AND LEARN