An ethnographic study examined the practice of rituals as the pervasive form of communication at St. Mary's (a pseudonym) Catholic elementary school. Four specific rituals illustrate this communication process: morning assembly, "Pass the Pen,""Sparkles," and "Yes please/No thank-you." Morning assembly begins each school day, involving the entire student body and faculty. The other three rituals represent typical rituals of the fifth-grade class at St. Mary's. Although each ritual remains unique in its form and content, together the rituals establish a distinct form of communication and contribute to a process of schooling at St. Mary's which can be labeled "School-as-Order/Structure." The rituals both reinforce communication as an orderly sequence of events and structure the way children become socialized into the schooling process. (Author/RS)