Today, we celebrated one of our most anticipated spiritual events here at Marian Central - our annual Grandparents' Mass. The attendance was overwhelming! The Grandparent Section actually rivaled our Senior (student) Section. One grandparent astutely remarked, "All the seniors are on the gym floor!" It was wonderful to see the grandparents search for - and then spot - their grandchildren in the stands. As the mass concluded, students eagerly made their way down to join their families on the gym floor and take a few moments to grab photos together and have their faces smushed with kisses and cheek-pinches. One student even jokingly dropped to his knees so his grandmother didn't have to crane her neck to talk to her very tall grandson! These moments live forever in our hearts. It also was a time to honor memories of dear grandparents we have lost. In these moments, we share that ache together and yet rejoice in the blessing of having that love in our lives.

And so we cast our eyes forward to the holidays fast approaching. We, of course, enjoy the merriment of Halloween (and the various candy that comes with it!) but we also cherish the opportunity to celebrate All Saints Day together. What a wonderful gift it is to have a day in which we honor our blessed Saints and reflect on ways we can model our lives to emulate theirs. We look forward to celebrating this mass together on Wednesday!

Finally, we will be completing our Month of the Holy Rosary. Every morning during October, we have started our day praying a decade of the Rosary as an entire school community. Pope Benedict XVI once shared, "...the Rosary is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. [...] It contains within itself the healing power of this Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the center of each 'Hail Mary'." (Catholic Culture) We are humbled and blessed to celebrate this month with our entire student family!

DAILY Mass is celebrated in the chapel at 2:40 pm - ALL ARE WELCOME!

Eucharistic Adoration or Confessions available during all lunch periods this week!

October 30, 2017 (Mon)

• 7:00 pm: College Athletic Recruiting Presentation in Auditorium

October 31, 2017 (Tues)

• 7:40 am: Rosary in the Chapel

November 1, 2017 (Wed):

• 1st Period: UW-LaCrosse Rep in Guidance
• 8:55 am: ALL SCHOOL MASS - All Saints Day
• 2nd Period: St. Mary of Notre Dame Rep in Guidance
• 8th Period: Drake University Rep in Guidance

November 2, 2017 (Thurs):

• 8th Period: McHenry County College Rep in Guidance

November 3, 2017 (Fri): Spirit Dress Down Day!

• Cap & Gown/Grad Announcement Orders taken during ALL LUNCH PERIODS

SPREAD THE WORD! MARIAN CENTRAL'S ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE WILL TAKE PLACE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH FROM 1 - 3PM!

Check out our detailed Athletic Calendar for all practice times, TRY-OUT DATES, and "Away" games for this week!

Interested in any Clubs & Organizations? Check out the Clubs/Organizations page for more information and a calendar of meeting times!

If you have been contacted by Mrs. Carlton regarding any missing immunizations or student records (such as copy of birth certificate, etc.) - please help us maintain a healthy and safe school environment by providing these documents by TUESDAY, October 31st.

Many parents of SENIORS may not have known that the state is now mandating the booster for Meningitis PRIOR to entering into the 12th grade. Previously,this was a recommended vaccine as students head off to college. Please see the Immunization Schedule published by the Illinois Department of Public Health for more information. Please double check this mandated list of required immunizations against your most recent records to make sure your student is up-to-date and send those updates to our school office by Tuesday, October 31st.

Also - many area Walgreens locations offer walk-in immunizations for Meningitis and other required vaccines. Click here to visit Walgreens' adolescent immunization availability!

Please be aware of upcoming college application deadlines. Many colleges may have a November 1st Early Action deadline. Please turn your transcript and guidance counselor recommendation requests into guidance in a timely manner. If you need a guidance counselor's recommendation for any colleges with November 1st deadlines, please turn in your request by Monday, October 23. Click on this link for the "Transcript Request Form". Any questions, please call the guidance office at 815-338-4220 ext. 115.

Please help spread the word about Marian Central's Open House event on November 5th from 1-3 pm! We have 45 newsletters from the past year that have kept our dear Marian families updated on all the wonderful school news, innovations in education, and our sincere care for our students and families - and we are SO BLESSED to have your continued support!

We would love to spread that message to others who may not have considered Marian Central in their child's educational plan.

If every Marian family could help share information about our upcoming Open House events through social media - or just word-of-mouth with friends and family - imagine how we could grow our enrollment in ALL our wonderful Catholic schools!

We have just launched several ads through Facebook - so please "like" our page, share our ads, and help us all WELCOME new families into our entire school community! We also have an MC Twitter page, as well as an MC Instagram account to help stay connected with our students, families, and dear alumni!