April 4,2020

April 03, 2020

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, marking the start of Holy Week . Since we cannot meet in churches and schools, take time to celebrate these events at home. They all lead to Easter – Christ’s Resurrection from the dead – the most important holy day in Christianity.

Some activities you can do at home: make your own Lithuanian “verbas” or palms; watch a film about the Old or New Testament ; pray the Stations of the Cross;  make greeting cards to send to loved ones; prepare “margučių” egg-painting materials and construct an egg-rolling trough for traditional play; bake traditional breads and cakes.

Blessings and greetings to our Lithuanian brethren who are celebrating Passover in the Jewish tradition. This eight-day feast, beginning next Wednesday, reminds us of God’s care for all, especially during this time of uncertainty. It is most important to teach our children that God is present in our lives. He will never forsake us; we just need to trust in Him.

You can find many informative pieces on “verbas” and other Lithuanian and religious traditions on YouTube and other Internet sources. Have a meaningful week.

p.Maryte

SCHOOL CLOSED – Offsite classes

March 24, 2020

Dear Parents,

We are living in very uncertain times. For some, the days are productive and well-spent. For others, routines are disrupted and time flows unmarked. Pope Francis urges us to dream about the days when we can all be together again and enjoy the simple pleasures of life: family gatherings, meetings in coffee shops, communal prayer, hugs…In this way we will recognize the small gifts that surround us every day and we will appreciate them.

As of now, Lithuanian School will be closed until the end of April. Hopefully classes will resume April 25th. In the meanwhile, each classroom teacher has been sending online assignments to students. Please help your child complete these assignments so that they can move on to the next grade in the Fall. Our teachers are putting time and effort into keeping communication open with families. Please direct questions to them. There will not be an opportunity during the summer to complete missed work. Please finish all work at this time.

All 45 Lithuanian schools in the U.S. are operating off-site. The Lithuanian Educational Council has provided teachers with additional online material if needed.

In the future I would like to boast that all of our families cooperated with the school and that all students turned in assignments. Then we’ll really celebrate when we come back to school !

Stay well,

p.Marytė and teachers

Offsite classes

March 20, 2020

Dear parents,

Our teachers are spending quite a bit of time putting Lithuanian school assignments online, communicating with parents, and correcting returned work so that students would not fall behind in their studies. Please respect their work and efforts by helping your child complete the given work. Direct all questions to your child’s teacher. Stay well.

p.Maryte

March 21,2020

March 18, 2020

School is closed next Saturday, March 21st. Weekly assignments are found on this website, or in individual emails sent to families. Please complete the work as assigned, since we hope to continue following the year’s curriculum. Please address questions to classroom teachers.

While we are away from weekly classes, do speak Lithuanian at home as much as possible. There are various YouTube Lithuanian programs for children, historical documentaries and powerpoints for older students, and an abundance of material to be found on the Lithuanian Educational Council’s website.

We will keep you informed every week about further developments.

Fr. Tomas, the pastor of St. Casimir’s, has announced that there will be no daily,nor Sunday masses at the church until the beginning of April. You can livestream Mass from Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in L.A. or the Vilnius Divine Mercy Chapel at gailestingumas.lt

Stay well,

p.Maryte

March 14, 2020

March 13, 2020

For the health and safety of our Lithuanian School community, our school will be closed this Saturday, March 14th. Future closures will be announced weekly.

Each teacher will upload class and homework to the school’s website lamokykla.com. Students are required to keep up with the assignments, in order not to fall behind in schoolwork. Each teacher will inform parents how to submit completed assignments.

svietimotaryba.org is a valuable site for educational games and material. Take time to browse some of the  links.

Stay well !

March 7, 2020

March 07, 2020

Please join us for a brief celebration of Lithuanian Independence in the upper hall at 12 pm. We will be taking a  photo of the entire school body right after the program. All students are to wear the national costume/tautiniai rubai.

CORONAVIRUS GUIDELINES

Please refer to the Lithuanian version of this newsletter for general health guidelines.

February 8, 2020

February 07, 2020

Saturday the streets in front of our church will be closed for a block party sponsored by the local schools, beginning at 11 a.m. The entrance to St. Casimir will be open on the Griffith Pk. Blvd. side. Please arrive to school on time. Classes will take place at the usual time.

The film KELIONĖS NAMO – Journeys Home – will be shown at 10 a.m. in the upper hall. It features conversations with  local Lithuanians speaking about their impressions and feelings upon returning to Lithuania for the first time. Please join us . You might recognize some familiar faces.

Reminder: no school Feb. 15th. Please celebrate Lithuanian Independence Day Vasario 16-ta at home with your families.

We will commemorate both Independence Days  – Vasario 16ta and Kovo 11ta on Saturday, March 7th at 12 pm.in school. Please plan to join the students and teachers for this event.

Ačiū,
Marytė

New Year Jan. 11, 2020

January 11, 2020

Happy and healthy New Year 2020 to all of our school families. The new year brings  a load of events and activities. We will continue celebrating the school’s 70th jubilee with several more upcoming events, most notably, a children’s day – Vaikų Šventė – in March. All the events are listed in the Lithuanian version of this newsletter.Here are some of the more notable ones:

Jan. 18  end of first semester; teachers post grades; report cards distributed the following week

Jan 25-26 Teachers’ Conference. Saturday morning 9:15, our guest speaker from Lithuania will present  ideas of teaching language through games and play. The older students will participate in a simposium.

Feb. 1-2 Confirmation candidates’ retreat

Feb. 15  no school

Feb.22  Blynu Balius

Feb. 29 Commemoration of Lithuanian independence

Mar. 21  Funeral Mass for Richie Reivydas; older students may attend

Mar. 28 Children’s Day – festivities and children’s choir visiting from Lietuva

Apr. 11  Easter break

April 18-19 Lithuania’s newest cardinal Sigitas Tamkevicius visits; all students and families attend Sunday Mass to greet the cardinal.

May 2  Mother’s Day celebration

May 10  Confirmation 11 a.m. Mass

May 16  Last full day and Kiskiu end-of-year

May 30  Commencement

SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL – this SATURDAY  3pm. Lithuanian entry Keliones Namo  (Journeys  Home). Info found on consulate website and from 7th grade teacher Jurgita Warren.

December 14,2019

December 13, 2019

EGLUTĖS mandatory  dress rehearsal takes place tomorrow from 12:30-2:00. Please do not take your children from school earlier. We have lots to do in a very short preparation time. Spend some time at home going over the words to songs and any spoken texts.

The actual Eglutė program takes place next Saturday at 12 pm. School begins at the usual time 9:00 am.Lunch will be served at 11:15 .

Please take time to talk to your children about the true meaning of Christmas – the celebration of the birth of Christ. In these very materialistic times, it’s important to bring spiritual values into our homes. Always rememeber – parents are the first and  most important teachers.

Greetings to our families who will be celebrating Hannukah. May we all be candles of kindness and love in the world.

Vyno Vakaronė – once again, thank you to all who participated in the planning of this special event. We not only had a great time, but managed to make a profit for the school.Thanks to contributors Nijole and Vitalis Lembertas and Tautiniai Namai. Thanks to all parents who participated in defraying the cost of the wine/beer/krupnikas.A special thanks to the Karciauskas family for providing  the technology needed for the musical program.When we work together ,we accomplish wonderful things.

Thanksgiving

November 28, 2019

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday in the warm embrace of your loved ones. Let us all be thankful to God and each other for our many blessings and joys. I am grateful for all of our Lithuanian school families.

p.Marytė