Grace and Peace in our Lord! 
It is with excitement and great pleasure that I announce, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, MSOS Grade School will include a KINDERGARTEN program. Our upper school will now become a K-8 Catholic School. The MSOS Grade School Kindergarten will align directly with the Grade School’s curriculum, standards and pedagogy. We are excited to have the opportunity to provide this new entry-level Kindergarten experience to new families who wish to join our Mary, Star of the Sea Grade School Ohana. Our excellent Mary, Star of the Sea Early Learning Center (ELC) will continue to provide a quality education to Kindergarten-age students so they can complete their third year of early-learning based on the Montessori Method. In this way, there will be two options for parents: MSOS Early Learning Center will continue to provide a Kindergarten program via the Montessori Method; the MSOS Grade School will provide an initial Kindergarten experience for children attending MSOS Grade School for the first time. We believe that nearly all the MSOS ELC 6-year old students will remain at MSOS ELC for their 3rd Year of Montessori-Based education, while new families to MSOS Grade School will have the opportunity to begin their MSOS Grade School experience in the Kindergarten environment. We are certain that regardless of which Kindergarten is chosen, it will meet the academic, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of our students so they can transition successfully into first grade. The ELC and Upper School are an integral part of our Parish. They both fulfill our mission of providing a Christ-centered, Catholic education. Each Kindergarten Program will support that vision. Thank you very much for all the support and prayers you give to our two schools. And I do hope you will continue to do so. You will find an insert in this issue of our bulletin, including responses to questions you might ask regarding this decision of starting a Kindergarten at our Upper School. Please know and rest assured that I remember all of you in my prayers, especially in the celebration of the Mass.

In our Bread of Life, Fr. Frankie, SSS Pastor