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Crusader Connection
October 2012
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Welcome to Our Lady of Mount Carmel! Crusader Connection is a monthly newsletter that outlines upcoming events and explains policies to our newest Crusaders. Please see this month's details below.
October 1st Out of Uniform In celebration of being voted Best Private School in Hampton Roads, we are offering a school wide out of uniform day for all students, teachers, and staff. Guidelines for out of uniform are given in the student handbook which can be found online at: 2012-2013 Parent/Student Handbook
October 2nd & 3rd Picture Day
Students are invited to wear their Mass day uniform or to dress in their Sunday best. This applies only to the day which the class is assigned to have pictures taken or on picture make up day. Please see the most recent edition of Our Lady's Word for details on dates for each class. OLW 9-27-12
October 6th Fun Fair
The Fun Fair is an OLMC style Octoberfest. This event is hosted from 10am - 2pm and is a wonderful opportunity to gather with other families in a day of fun. There are activities for children of all ages from cake walks to fun houses, face painting, and more. This event is hosted by the Home and School, but is not a fundraiser. Tickets are sold for partipation in games and activities, but for the school the event is a financial wash. We simply want to provide the time and place for families to be together.
October 11th Conferences
Each year at the first midpoint of the first trimester the School is closed for classes to make time for parent teacher conferences. We schedule conferences so that parents with multiple children at the school can see all the teachers consecutively. Please note that the conferences are only 10 minutes long and are an opportunity to look at the interim report with the teacher and perhaps set a few goals. Should there be issues that require more than 10 minutes, please plan simply to schedule a follow up conference or phone call for another day.
For PreK - 4th grade students: The interim report cards will be available at the conference time and you will be able to take them home.
For 5-8 grade students: Because these grades are posted regularly on Edline, a printout of all grades will not be provided on a report card until the end of the trimester. Additionally, due to the nature of middle school, not all teachers need to conference will all parents. Teachers wishing to schedule a conference with a parent will notify them by letter. Also, all middle school teachers are available for simple drop ins. Again, please note that this day is for touching base within a 10 minute time frame or to set up a longer conference time or phone call.
October 20th Cornerstone Dinner
The Cornerstone Dinner is a development event that provides an occasion for parish and school families to come together for an evening of fellowship and support of Catholic education and OLMC School in particular. Many corporate sponsors and able individuals contribute to this event. A silent auction, along with a cocktail hour, precedes the dinner. Choir and band students generally perform while student art work can be viewed around the room. This is a wonderful event for new families to get to know others in the community. Please plan to attend if you are able.
October 25th Living Rosary
October is celebrated in the Church as the Month of the Rosary and it is an opportunity to teach and re-teach the mysteries of the rosary, which help us to meditate on and imitate the life of Jesus Christ. Toward the end of the month the school community gathers in the afternoon before dismissal and prays the rosary together. Students from each classroom are asked to lead one of the prayers. They sit in the shape of a rosary and light a candle which represents a bead of the rosary. The rest of the class and many parents, sit throughout the gym and join in prayer. This generally ends around 2:40pm, at which time the students return to their classrooms for a regular dismissal. As with other afternoon events and parties (with few exceptions), we do ask that the children return to their classrooms with their teachers rather than leave directly with the parents. This ensures that we have proper supervision and safety measures in place at a time when so many extra people are in the building with us. We welcome you to join us!
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October 15-19 BOX TOPS AND GIVE BACKS CONTEST
As you know, there are many corporations in the community who love to support education. We do rely on these "Give Backs" programs through which corporations either pay money to the school directly, or offer a catalog of curriculum items that are excellent items for the classroom. We participate in numerous programs including Farm Fresh Receipts, Campbells Labels, Coke Bottle Tops, Box Tops, Target, Harris Teeter, and more that can be found on Edline under Home and School. If you shop at these stores, please register your card to support the school. As a fun way to collect these items we have contests 2-3 times each year. The first contest is October 15-19 and is between the "A" classes and the "B" classes. Each day that week at lunch, a container will be set out and decorated with a sign "A" or "B". Children are reminded daily to bring their clippings, receipts, etc to lunch to drop them off in the container. The half of the school (As or Bs) which has the most receipts, labels, bottle tops, etc will be awarded and out of uniform day on a date to be designated following the contest.
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An explanation on SACS
SACS is an acronym for the accrediting agency Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. This third party agency has particular standards in place which are indicators of best practices for continuous school wide improvements. To be accredited is to meet and/or suprass these standards. For the many of you who did your homework when selecting a school in the area, you know that OLMC School enjoys this distinction. Every five years the faculty and staff undertake a year of self-study to examine all of the standards and indicators ensuring that we are in fact maintaining a standard of best practices and improvements as the times and cultures change. This school year is a year of self-study for OLMC School. The teachers and staff have literally hundreds of extra hours of work to do, some of which is collaborative by nature. For this reason we have multiple 2:00 dismissals to provide some time for collaboration. |
 Mass & Adoration Every Friday the School community gathers with the wider parish to worship at 8:15 Mass. For parents who are available to attend, this is a time of wonderful fellowship.
On the First Friday of every month (October 5th this month), each class participates in Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at the Church in the Daily Mass Chapel. Parents, you are encouraged to come and worship at Mass and/or adore during the day.
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Last year the School Board began offering opportunities for open forums for parents to learn more about what the Board does and to ask related questions. The first one of this year will be October 25th and will take place from 6:30-7:00p.m. in the School gym. If there is a particular topic you would like to discuss or have addressed, please contact a School Board member or Sister Dominic prior to the open forum. Names and contact information for the Board can be found on Edline under the parent tab.
For more information on the work of the School Board, you can look on Edline under School Board Minutes. We have just begun posting these this year and intend to do so monthly, following each meeting.
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November 1, 2012
All Saints Day
As a Catholic School we are firm believers in celebrating our heritage and feast days as often as possible. On November 1st, the feast of All Saints Day, we remember our high calling to be saints with God in heaven. This is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church and one on which all are expected to attend Mass. We will attend Mass as a School on the 1st (a Thursday) as well as on the 2nd (a Friday) in Nov. Mass Day uniform should be worn both days
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