The O'Reilly Minute

Dear Parents,

After much prayer and reflection, I am ready to announce my retirement as Principal of St. Brigid School at the conclusion of this school year. This decision comes with both gratitude and humility as I look back on my 46 years in education — I have been blessed to have 25 of those years spent here at St. Brigid.

Serving this community has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. Inspired by the spirit of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s reflections on meaningful work, I have always tried to approach my vocation with dignity, compassion, and a commitment to our entire community at St. Brigid. I have believed wholeheartedly in planting seeds, even when I could not see the full harvest, trusting that God continues the work through many hands and hearts.

Throughout my years as principal, I have been inspired by the dedication of our teachers, the joy of our students, and the unwavering support of our families. I have witnessed faith in action every single day — in classrooms, in moments of challenge, and in the countless quiet acts of kindness that define St. Brigid School.

As I step aside, I do so with complete confidence in the strength, mission, and spirit of this community. The good work here will continue to grow, guided by God’s grace and the commitment of so many who love this school.

Please accept my gratitude for allowing me the honor of serving as your principal. I will carry St. Brigid School — its people, its mission, and its spirit — with me always.

Fr. Black, along with Diocesan Superintendent Adam Dufault, will be utilizing the Diocesan process for the selection of the new principal. They will begin the process in the very near future, and we will share more details as they are available. 

With appreciation and continued prayers,

Kathy O’Reilly



Oscar Romero Prayer 

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. . . .

This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and to do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.

Student-Led Conference Sign Ups

Student-led conferences will be held:

Wednesday, January 28 (4-6:30 PM):

Grades K, 1, 2, 7, and 8

Thursday, January 29 (4-6:30 PM):

Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6

Use the link below to find your child's teacher and sign up for their conference.

2026-27 Calendar Dates

To view a list of preliminary school calendar dates for the 2026-2027 school year, click the link below.

This link can also always be found on our website under Calendars.

New Tardy Policy in Effect

This is a quick reminder that our new tardy procedure went into effect this Monday.

As we continue working toward a smooth and efficient morning drop-off, we want to thank you for your partnership in helping students arrive on time and ready to learn. Our school day officially begins at 8:00 a.m., and students arriving after that time are now being marked tardy in accordance with our handbook.

Morning Drop-Off Reminders

• Car line begins at 7:43 a.m.
• We encourage families to be in line by 7:55 a.m. so students can enter the building before 8:00.
• The church bells ring at 8:00 a.m., students should be walking into the building before the bells to be considered on time.
• Please have your child ready to exit the car when approaching the drop-off zone. If assistance is needed, turn on your hazard lights and a staff member will help.

Tardy Procedures

• 8:00–8:05 a.m.: Students receive a tardy slip at the door and turn it in to their homeroom teacher.
• After 8:05 a.m.: Students must be walked in by a parent/guardian and check in through the office.

As a reminder, students arriving or leaving more than one hour late/early are marked as a half-day absent, per attendance guidelines.



We truly appreciate your support. A calm, on-time arrival helps set the tone for a successful school day!

Introducing Our New Creative Team for Musical

We are excited to introduce our new creative team for our spring musical, High School Musical Jr.

Mar Frommeyer, fondly called “Mama Fro”, comes out of retirement to help lead this year’s production of High School Musical, Jr. She directed the first St. Brigid musical in 2002 and continued to develop the performing arts program, directing and choreographing 15 additional musicals. She is a Bishop Watterson alumna and was inducted into the BWHS Performing and Visual Arts Hall of Fame in 2019. She and her husband, Tim, have four adult children who are St. Brigid and Bishop Watterson Alumni. They also have three grandsons who are currently Wolfhounds. Mama Fro is excited for the opportunity to share her mission: To inspire young people to discover and utilize their God-given talents to bring Christ’s joy to others. (For a glimpse of the St. Brigid musicals from 2001-2019 click here).

Drew Curtin is a graduate of St. Brigid (2017) and St. Charles (2021). He was a participant in theatre productions at both schools while a student, and has served as a member of creative teams with both programs since graduating. He is currently completing his student-teaching in Hilliard City Schools and will be graduating from Ohio State in May. Drew is thrilled to be returning to St. Brigid performing arts in a leadership role and is excited to continue the ministry that impacted him as a student!

Ken Heigel and Shelly Cray also come out of retirement join to join Mar and the Creative Team in the areas of sets/scenery and props. Both respectively have adult children that are St. Brigid and Bishop Watterson Alumni. All performed in the St. Brigid musicals. 

We are still currently seeking enthusiastic parents with theatre experience or related skills to assist in several key areas who have availability from February 2 - April 18. If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please reach out to Principal Kathy O’Reilly and Music Teacher Olivia Roberts, letting them know of any prior experience and interest by Friday, January 16th.

It is not too late for students to join the ensemble for the musical. No auditions will take place, vocal assessments will take place during rehearsal. Please email Ms. Roberts by Friday if your child is interested.



Thank you for supporting the arts and helping make High School Musical Jr. a memorable experience for our students, we can’t do it without you!

Hounds Hoopla: Registration Open

Hounds Hoopla is coming Friday, February 6th from 6-8PM at St. Brigid.  

Join us for Bingo, a DJ glow dance party, crafts, face painting, a magician, a photo booth and fun! Pizza, snacks and drinks included. Entry is $35 per family. The registration link and volunteer sign up are below. 

Please note for planning purposes, this event is not a drop-off. To ensure everyone's safety and enjoyment, children may attend only with a supervising adult present throughout the event. 

Donations Needed

Donations are needed for Bingo prizes. A donation box will be in the main office area outside the nurse's office. Great donation item ideas include gift cards for the older kids in the $10-20 amount, crafts, stuffed animals, games, sports equipment like soccer balls, plastic bats and balls, little kids ball gloves, nail polish, hair accessories.  

Anything new, unopened or in like new condition we would look forward to having on the prize table.  

Volunteer Signup Link

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090949A8AE22A3FB6-61574356-hounds

*Please sign up to volunteer early so we can ensure PGC compliance.*

Registration Link

https://payit.nelnet.net/form/aInlhPQ8

*Please sign up early*

100th Day of School Service Challenge

To celebrate our 100th day of school, students will support Feed the Kids Columbus through a fun service project. Each grade level has been challenged to work together to create 100 snack bags, helping ensure that children in our community have food when they need it most.

Families are invited to help us reach our goal by donating the snack item assigned to their child’s homeroom. Donations should be sent to school January 23–27, and students will assemble the snack bags in class on Wednesday, January 28.

Thank you for helping with this opportunity to serve others with generosity and care.

Snack Donations by Grade Level

Pre-School: Box of large Ziploc bags

Kindergarten: Box of granola bars (no nuts)

Grades 1–2: Box of applesauce squeezers

Grades 3–4: Box of fruit snacks

Grades 5–6: Box of individual packs of pretzels

Grades 7–8: Box of Nutri-Grain bars

Staff: Box of individual packs of Goldfish

Catholic Schools Week - Distribute Prayer Cards at Mass

Join us on Saturday, January 24th and Sunday, January 25th to kick off the start of Catholic Schools Week!

Students will be creating St. Brigid prayer cards to share at all of our weekend Masses. We are asking families to sign up for a Mass time to help distribute these to families coming into/leaving Mass.

We would ask a few families to stand at the following entrances as people come in.

• West Entrance (by the stairs)
• West Entrance (by the wooden kiosk)
• East Entrance by the Chapel

We invite students to wear their school uniforms to Mass as well to show our Wolfhound spirit!

Use the link below to sign up.

Lil Hounds Cheer Clinic Registration

Join us for a Little Hounds Cheer Clinic and Half Time Show! K-3rd Grade will learn a cheer and dance, and have the opportunity to show off their skills during half time of an SBK basketball game.  

Details and sign up below! Please register by Friday, January 16.

SBK WINTER CHEER CLINIC

Little Hounds - K-3rd Grade

Winter Cheer Clinic: Sun, Jan 18th 3-5pm in the Gym

Half Time Performance: Sat, Jan 24th at the 12pm SBK game

When registering, please specify size of t-shirt when prompted for quantity. Thank you! 

https://doodlio.com/#/reg/10220/1988

Please email Alison Mack with any questions: 

Alisonmack82@gmail.com 

Human Dignity Speaker Coming Mar 12

At St. Brigid, we believe every child is created with inherent worth and dignity. Over the next several years, students will have classroom lessons that focus on recognizing the value in themselves and others, understanding that our words and actions reflect how we honor that dignity.

Students will be reminded that every person is valued, deserving of respect, and created with purpose. We encourage families to continue these conversations at home by modeling

respectful communication and empathy. We will help with this by offering consistent messaging with opportunities for home reinforcement. Our goal for this year is for our students to understand what the church’s teaching is about human dignity and what respect looks, sounds, and feels like.

In March, we are excited to welcome Dr. Fields, who will speak with parents about behavior, respect for others, and the role each student's behavior plays in creating a positive home and school community. His message aligns closely with our ongoing focus on human dignity and respectful choices. Please mark your calendars for his speaking event in the Gym on March 12th at 6:00 PM.

We appreciate your partnership in reinforcing the church’s teaching about human dignity and respectful actions, and how the focus on these can allow us to continue to be Rooted in Love and Beacons of Hope.

8th Grade Bake Sale

From the Eighth Grade Social Committee:

The Eighth Grade Social Committee is having a Bake Sale fundraiser for their trip to Washington DC. It will be open the nights of Student Led Conferences on January 28th and 29th. A portion of the profits will go to charity. The bake sale will be in between the Think Tank and the Sun Room next to the library, and near the Book Sale. We can only accept cash payments at this time. Thank you for your support!

The Mantle - 7th & 8th Grade Events

St. Brigid's High School Youth Ministry program, The Mantle, is welcoming 7th and 8th grade students to join The Mantle for several upcoming events.

• February 1 - St. Brigid Feast Day Party
• February 8 - Super Bowl Pot Luck
• March 29 - Parish Penance Service & Mantle Musical

See graphic for more details, and reach out to Ellie Dills at edills@stbrigidofkildare.org if you have any questions.

Semi-Annual Uniform and Spirit Wear Exchange Feb 22 10am-1pm

Shoppers, sign up here: Winter 2026 Uniform and Spirit Wear Exchange. This sign up contains more information about the exchange and signing up ensures you’ll receive a reminder to attend. Everything is FREE and you don’t need to donate to attend. New families are welcome to seek answers to uniform questions as they shop. If you need items, but can’t attend, please ask a friend to shop for you! 



Have items to donate? If you have gently used items for the exchange you have a few options for drop-off:

1.      At the school office beginning Feb 2 during school hours

1. At a bin outside Erin Heise’s home at 6588 Wynwright Dr Dublin OH Feb 15-20
2. Bring them with you to the exchange if the other options don't work for you, but please help us put them out.
3. If you have a ripped jumper or logoed item, please still donate it as we can use it for spare parts (buttons, crest, elastic, etc.)! Similarly, if you have gym jackets without logos, we will try to find crests to add to them
4. Leftovers will be given to the Bishop Griffin Center.

Volunteer. Volunteers are needed to organize the exchange, help others find items, and to clean up and pack items for donation at the end of the exchange. If you can help, please sign up here:  Winter 2026 Uniform and Spirit Wear Exchange Volunteer Sign Up

Questions? Email Erin Heise at erinjolene@hotmail.com or Gracie Dziewiatkowski at marygracedzski@gmail.com.

Cafeteria Account Balance Reminders

Low Cafeteria Account Balance:

• FACTS sends a weekly email to all accounts with low-account balances ($10 is considered low-account balance).
• To add funds to the Cafeteria Account, log into FACTS. Under Prepay Accounts, click on the Add Funds button and follow the instructions.
• To view your child’s Cafeteria purchases click View Details then click on Transactions. You have an option to view all Cafeteria purchases. This may help to budget how much money is needed to maintain a positive Cafeteria Account balance.

Negative Cafeteria Account Balance: 

• FACTS sends a weekly email to all accounts with negative balances.
• Negative account balances that remain or increase will result in an Invoice from FACTS. The charged amount will be what is currently owed plus $225 ($200 will be credited to the Cafeteria Account and $25 is a non-refundable service fee). Families have 10 business days to pay the balance and add funds to the Cafeteria Account before the invoice total is debited from the checking account connected to the FACTS tuition payment plan.  

Sample Costs:

Regular lunch purchases

• 1 child buying 5 days/week: $17.50 (3.50 × 5)
• 2 children buying 5 days/week: $35.00 (3.50 × 10)
• 1 student buying every day in a 20-day month: $70.00 (3.50 × 20)

Maximum daily charges

• 2 à la carte breakfast items: $1.50 (0.75 × 2)
• 2 à la carte lunch items: $1.50 (0.75 × 2)
• Extra entrée: $1.00
• Lunch: $3.50
• Total possible daily charge: $7.50

Safe Environment Policy Change

Effective January 1, 2026 the Diocese implemented an update to the Safe Environment Policy.

Previously, volunteers completed fingerprinting only once. Starting in January, all volunteers and parish employees (school staff already follow this) must renew fingerprinting every five years to remain compliant.

You do not need to retake the Protecting God’s Children (PGC) class — it remains “one and done.”

This update helps ensure that all adults who work with minors or vulnerable adults have up-to-date background checks. To avoid delays, please act early.

• If it’s been more than five years since your last fingerprinting, schedule a new one soon.
• If you’re unsure when you last completed fingerprinting, please login to your Virtus account to see your dates. If you are having trouble logging in, then please let me know.
• For step-by-step instructions and fingerprinting locations, visit:
• https://stbrigidofkildare.org/welcome/about-us/safe-environment/

Important: Fingerprinting results must be sent directly to the Diocese (Catholic Diocese of Columbus Safe Environment Office, 197 E. Gay Street, Columbus, OH 43215). Please do not send copies to St. Brigid.

We will host FastFingerprints sessions onsite for convenience (fees still apply).

• January 12, 2026 4:30 pm- 7:30 pm in Carr Room, Hendricks Hall, St. Brigid of Kildare

Questions? Contact Brad Marzullo at (614) 761-3734 ext. 249 or bmarzullo@stbrigidofkildare.org.

New Students Registration Deadline: Jan 23

The application for new students for the 2026-27 school year opened on Friday, November 14. The on-time deadline for new families to apply is Friday, January 23, 2026 at midnight.

If you have a new student applying to the school, please complete the new student application at www.stbrigidofkildare.com/apply. (If you have a currently enrolled St. Brigid preschool student wishing to move on to Kindergarten, you will fill out a re-enrollment packet beginning January 9th.) Preschool students whose families are active, registered parishioners are guaranteed enrollment for kindergarten. Parents will be notified via email of acceptance/wait list status beginning or shortly after Friday, January 30, 2026.

Corks for a Cause 2026

Save the date for March 7, 2026!

We are excited to hold our 19th annual Corks for a Cause Silent Auction and Wine Tasting for SPiCE on Saturday, March 7, 2025.

If you'd like to learn more about the event, how you can help, or share your ideas, please reach out to Sarah Moore at smoore@stbrigidofkildare.org.

If you are interested in a sponsorship, learn more at the link below. All sponsorship packages include tickets to the event and a wide range of advertising.

Make It a Date!

February 7, 6:15 - 7:30 PM

Hendricks Hall

All married and engaged couples are invited to St. Brigid's 34th annual Make It a Date!

Fr. Jason Fox will be the featured speaker and the evening will begin with light appetizers, the chance to catch up with old and new friends, then couples leave on their own date at a venue of their choice.

RSVP to Jessica Freiburger at 4freixys@gmail.com by Feb 5.

The Art of Living

Join Sisters in Christ for The Art of Living, a six-part series on Living the Virtues with Dr. Edward Sri.

This short series will be in the Deacon Room on Wednesdays, January 14, 21, and 28 from 1:15-2:45 PM.

Contact Cheryl Hohlefelder for more information at hohleinone@gmail.com

Living Joy

God created you for JOY -- and he wants that for you here and now! You just have to cooperate with his plan and follow some simple steps.

Join us for this short series on Wednesdays, January 14, 21, and 28 from 7-8:30 PM, or Thursdays, January 15, 22, and 29 from 10-11:30 AM in the Berry Room. Contact Kim VanHuffel for more information at kvanhuffel@stbrigidofkildare.org.

Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest

Do you have children aged 9 to 14 as of 1/1/2026?

Join us for the Free Throw Contest on Sunday, January 25th, in the St. Brigid school gymnasium from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. Check-in for registered girls and boys begins at 1:30 pm.

Register online at the link below.

A Night for the Eagles

Saturday, February 22

6-11 PM

Ohio Brewing Company

A Night for the Eagles is a fresh, modern take on Bishop Watterson's beloved Gala tradition. Revived for the first time since 2019, this reimagined "Night Out" celebration will bring our

community together for an elegant, high-energy, cocktail-style evening dedicated to uplifting and expanding opportunities for the Bishop Watterson student body supporting tuition assistance

through the BWHS Family Scholarship Endowment & Facility/Building Upgrades. Guests can look forward to a vibrant atmosphere, meaningful moments, and the chance to directly

support the programs and experiences that help our students soar.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Meet & Socialize With The BWHS Community

Heavy Hors D'oeuvres

Full Bar

DJ

Silent Auction

Learn more and register at the flyer.

Submit Materials to Wolfhound Wednesday

If you have information you'd like included in the next Wolfhound Wednesday, email it to Allie Wing at mrs.wing@stbrigid-school.org.



To view past issues of the Wolfhound Wednesday, find them archived on our website here.