Our Lady of Grace Nativity School for Girls
In 2001, Sacred Heart Nativity School for Boys was founded, providing high-quality, low-cost Catholic education to at-risk middle school youth in the downtown area of San José. The program proved to be so successful that the community expressed its need for a girls’ school. In 2006, Our Lady of Grace Nativity School for Girls opened with its first class of 23 6th graders. In fall of 2007 we added an additional class of 28 girls.
99% of our families are Latino, with an average of a 6th grade education. The majority of our students will be the first in their families to receive a high school education and go on to college. All must qualify for the Federal Free or Reduced Meal Program.
All of our students participate in:
- 10-½ hour school day, beginning at 7:30am and leaving at 6pm.
- 2 Saturday school days per month
- Small classes with an average 8:1 student to teacher ratio
- 4 weeks of summer school at Presentation and Notre Dame High Schools .
- 2 weeks of summer camp in Applegate, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
- Our Graduate Support Program through high school and college
At Our Lady of Grace Nativity School for Girls our students benefit from a rich and integrated environment where they learn not only reading, math, and science, but also the importance of hard work, ethical leadership, compassion for others and responsible citizenship.
According to the Harvard School of Education a study measuring the benefits of an all-girls education found that girls enrolled in such schools:
- Perceive themselves of being in control of their own choices, values and quality
- Overcome traditional sex-role stereotypes
- Achieve significantly higher levels in reading and science
- Set higher educational goals
We are pleased to have Angela LoVasco as our Vice-Principal of OLG. Angela comes to OLG after teaching for five years at Our Lady of Guadalupe Middle School for Girls, a NativityMiguel school in her hometown of Detroit, MI. She has her undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in Urban Studies and Spanish, and her Masters Degree from the Jesuit University of Detroit Mercy. Angela's first teaching position was during her Jesuit Volunteer year in Chicago in 1986. She also taught at St. Anthony’s Mission School on the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. In Detroit, she directed a high school, cross-cultural education program.
We invite you to tour Our Lady of Grace and experience the nativity model of education. Please contact Heather Crane in our Development Office at 408.993.1293 ext. 123 or hcrane@shnativity.org to arrange a visit.
