Our Lady of Victory Has Big News!

Dear Friends of Our Lady of Victory,

After the Easter season ends and we enter the heart of summer, for some reason I expect a lull in the liturgical calendar. But then I find myself surprised with how wonderfully rich it is with feasts and solemnities: Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Thomas More (a particular favorite of mine), the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and finally Sts. Peter and Paul.

Our summer has been similarly active behind the scenes at OLV. As if graduating our first class of seniors and dedicating a beautiful altar were not exciting enough, we brought on Stacey Bowman as our first executive director, who has hit the ground running on our operations side, including hiring our first athletic director and developing enhanced athletic programming that we are excited to announce soon. We’ve made some excellent faculty hires as well, including two experienced math and science teachers. As we continue to build on these efforts, stay tuned for more details in our next newsletter.

And please continue to pray for the OLV community and our service to students and families.

Our Lady of Victory, pray for us!

Dave Holman
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Our Lady of Victory

OLV’s First Executive Director Poised to Lead

OLV is excited to announce that Mrs. Stacey Bowman has been selected as the school’s first executive director. Mrs. Bowman brings a wealth of legal and school management experience, a heart for Catholic classical education, and a real passion for serving our teachers and families.

Born and raised in Texas, Mrs. Bowman loves music, snowshoeing, tennis, and reading. In her twenties, she served as a missionary in Belize, Paraguay, French Guiana, and Ukraine, where she reveled in learning the local culture, food, and language. She received a B.A. in Russian and then a juris doctorate from the University of Iowa, where she met her husband and with whom she now has three children. Thanks be to God, she converted to the Catholic faith in 2009 and now serves as a lector and catechist in her parish, as well as an advocate with the tribunal at the Archdiocese of Denver.

After 12 years in private legal practice, she left it upon experiencing another kind of conversion, this time to the truth, goodness, and beauty of classical education. For the past three years, she has served as general counsel, compliance officer, and human resources director for a network of classical charter schools serving 2,000 students in four K-12 schools.

Mrs. Bowman is thrilled to be able to marry her legal and classical education experience with her Catholic faith. “I believe that classical Catholic education is giving students what they need, not merely for human flourishing, but also eternal happiness in union with Christ. I am excited to further build on OLV’s strong foundation in bringing a rich liberal arts and sciences curriculum rooted in the sacramental life to young adults in south Denver.”

Alongside Alex Crane, OLV’s headmaster, Mrs. Bowman will lead OLV's operations, development, communications, and human resources. This role will allow Mr. Crane to focus on academics, mentorship, school culture, as well as his own teaching.

Athletic Programming Founded on Faith in Victory Through Christ

OLV is excited to announce its first Athletic Director, Mr. Jayce Rastrelli. Coach Rastrelli is singularly suited for this role, coming from a vibrant Catholic family where he is the youngest of seven children, and the proud uncle of 27 nieces and nephews. He holds a B.S. in Exercise Science: Human Performance and Sport Coaching from the University of Northern Colorado.

A truly integrated Catholic classical education leads young people to aspire to use all of their faculties and gifts — including their bodies — to glorify God. Our Lady of Victory’s athletics program is integral to our joyfully Catholic culture. Led by faith, it promotes a love for God, holy and healthy living, and robust competition. Through strength training and sports, all may grow in virtue, learning to intercede for others through triumph and tribulation. OLV students learn how to properly train and take care of the temples God gave us. They build lasting friendships and increased respect for themselves and those who surround them. Our athletics culture is built for God, by God, where all students are elevated to new heights. As Coach Rastrelli firmly believes, when athletics and fitness are oriented toward the goal of Heaven, they help instill a powerful confidence and faith that will benefit all aspects of students’ lives.

Beautiful New Altar and Triptych Dedicated

When OLV announced its move to Littleton Church of Christ last year, it also broadcast a desire to beautify the space for daily Mass. In response, anonymous benefactors stepped forward with a commitment and vision larger than OLV’s plans: in addition to beautiful sacred vessels, vestments, crosses, and other liturgical items, the benefactors encouraged OLV to commission an altar with artwork.

Therese Chavez, an OLV parent and artist, led the altar’s design team and helped conceive of this unique design that allows visiting priests to celebrate Mass either versus populum or ad orientem. Brie Schulze, a Denver-area artist, created and painted the triptych, which consists of an iconographic crucifix in the center, Our Lady of Victory with the child Jesus on the left, and a scene from the Battle of Lepanto on the right. Fr. Doug Grandon blessed and dedicated OLV’s new altar and triptych at the school’s daily Mass on May 16, 2023.

Our community is thrilled to add such a noble and fitting place for Our Lord during our daily celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Msgr. James Shea Exhorts First Graduating Class to “Live Magnanimously”

Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Victory graduated its pioneer class of 10 students at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 academic year. As graduates of the rigorous and classical Chesterton Schools Network, these young adults are well-prepared to pursue their vocations.

OLV was honored to host Monsignor James P. Shea, President of the University of Mary, as graduation speaker. In a moving address, Monsignor Shea inspired the graduates to pursue magnanimous, “big souled” lives centered in a restless pursuit of God. Referencing C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, Monsignor Shea contrasted the banquet set before the young devil trainees in the Tempters’ Training College that consisted of souls of flabby little men: “creatures who have almost ceased to be individual,” who do not dare to live magnanimously but dwell contentedly in mediocrity. In contrast, through OLV’s commitment to the sacraments, rigorous academic study, and the spirit of G.K. Chesterton’s joyful Catholicism, our graduates have learned what it takes to flourish in this world by living magnanimous, unapologetically faithful lives.

We pray God will bless our graduates as they pursue their vocations at Benedictine College, Christendom College, Colorado Christian University, Hillsdale College, the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary’s Navigare Program, and the University of Mary.

Congratulations, graduates of the Class of 2023!

Thank You for Your Support

We are grateful for your continued prayers and support of OLV. Please consider joining the Lepanto Monthly Giving Club by committing to recurring donations. We would be grateful for your prayerful consideration of a monthly donation of $50 or more per month.

Did you know that you can make gifts including appreciated stock and Qualified Charitable Distributions through our partners at the Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado, which facilitates planned giving to OLV?

DONATE TODAY!