Dear OLMC Community,
Going forward, you will find the complete newsletter in your email. It will no longer be posted here.
If you are not currently subscribed to our email service, please click on “Newsletter in Your Inbox” here or in the sidebar menu or contact news@olmctempe.com for assistance.
Thank you so much!
Sincerely,
OLMC Home + School
Dear OLMC Community,
Thank you for your patience with the new drop-off and pick-up system. We have been getting through the line faster and faster. By separating the 7th and 8th grade students who are “onlys” this next week, we should also increase the pick-up speed.
This Friday is a half day and we will have a 12:30 dismissal. The preschool dismisses at 12:15. PLEASE do not come early! If you have a preschool child and an elementary school child, your pick up time will be with the elementary.
On Friday, September 18th:
If you typically pick up at 2:50, please come at 12:35.
If you pick up at 3:00, please come at 12:45.
If you are at 3:05, please come at 12:50.
If you are there too early, we may have to ask you to come back around, and we do not want to do this.
In the Night to Soar Letter I shared with you in my email this week, there was a link at the bottom to the Gala sign-up page. You can access it here.
Picture Day was scheduled for this next week, but we are moving it to September 30th as we have more and more students coming in-person. For those learning from home, we are going to have a special day, October 2nd, for you to come to campus when the children are gone to get your picture taken. More information will come.
The seventh graders will attend Mass in person this week; therefore, the 7th grade boys need to wear their long pants on Wednesday.
Finally, cell phones are not permitted to be turned on at OLMC. Please speak with your child, and help assist us in enforcing this policy. If you have to get a hold of your child, call the office.
God bless,
Dr. Shewbridge
Principal
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School
Safe Environment Training & Renewal
Ordering Lunch, Milk Cards, & Pizza Sales
Current 2020-21 Scholarship List
Stay Connected with OLMC School:
Stay Connected with OLMC Preschool:
Stay Connected with OLMC Parish:
This past Tuesday, after six months of dormancy, the campus of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School sprung to life! Though our students returned to school with changes in schedules, classroom layouts and routines, what they found unchanged is the spirit of OLMC! Not even masks could hide the broad smiles that lit the faces of parents, students, teachers and staff! Many parishioners, exiting morning Mass, stopped and shared how seeing children coming back to school lifted their spirits and gave them hope! These are very real reminders that what we are working toward is good! At SCHOOL we are adhering very strictly to the practices outlined for Phase 1 in the reopening plans and ask that you continue to do your part at HOME. This begins with the “Daily Screening” of your students prior to coming to campus. Remember, the goal of this is to prevent illness from gaining entry to the school community. If there is any question regarding your child’s fitness for school, please do not hesitate to call. Or, park and see me at drop off. At SCHOOL, every change in procedure has been adopted with the goal of lessening the transmission of illness for our community. Thus, what is personally inconvenient needs to be viewed as a small, sacrificial action that ultimately contributes to the greater good. Though community spread of coronavirus has decreased significantly, it is not yet time to relax our infection control measures. Please be mindful of the presence of germs when students are HOME and make decisions about where to go with your SCHOOL community, in mind. High risk activities and high risk environments have been well defined. Those people at high risk for complications from COVID illness have also been well defined. It remains our responsibility to protect them from illness, especially as children transition back to school and care facilities begin to allow visitors again. The measures we are taking at HOME and SCHOOL to limit the spread of germs can be used when visiting with persons in vulnerable states. Increased hand hygiene, appropriate respiratory hygiene and face coverings, outdoor visiting and physical distancing can all help provide protection for our loved ones, yet still allow us to enjoy those precious relationships.
The time will come when we can relax some of the stringent guidelines currently in place. Between now and then, let’s use our time to cultivate an environment of kindness, love and joy by practicing those things that make us “Smart, Healthy & Holy”.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. . .
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Guitar Club Printable Registration Form
There’s an app available for ShopwithScrip! It’s called RaiseRight, and you’ll want to get it before ThankScriping Day on Thursday, September 17. Search for it in your app store, or go to their website to enter your phone number for a direct link. Use your ShopwithScrip log in. You must be signed up for ShopwithScrip to use the app. If you have any questions or need to get signed up, please contact program coordinator, Cindy Younger, at cindy@olmctempe.com
Dear Parents,
I hope you are enjoying your long weekend. We are looking forward to seeing your children on Tuesday!
Included in the newsletter is the invitation to our fundraising event, the Night to Soar Gala. I will send more information home next week.
We are offering a How to Afford A Catholic Education seminar on the 14th at 6:30 pm in the south side of McCready Hall. Please go to our website and register. It is free!
On Tuesday, please be patient with the drop off and pick up. The only parents who will be dropping off their children by walking onto campus will be the preschool families. Please let your children know if they are going to Kids’ Club, and please arrive at the correct time. There will be several staff members to guide the children to their classrooms. We really want to make this reopening successful; and therefore, we are limiting who is on campus. Eventually, we look forward to things being more open, so for now we simply want to be safe and healthy. Thank you for working with us. I appreciate the Home and School Partnership.
Finally, due to the excessive heat, only the students attending Mass on Wednesday in-person need to wear pants. Therefore, this week, 8th graders need to wear their long pants for Mass.
Enjoy the long weekend,
Dr. Shewbridge
Principal
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School
Safe Environment Training & Renewal
Ordering Lunch, Milk Cards, & Pizza Sales
Current 2020-21 Scholarship List
Stay Connected with OLMC School:
Stay Connected with OLMC Preschool:
Stay Connected with OLMC Parish:
On Thursday, September 4, 2020, with little fanfare, Maricopa County met all three of the “Benchmarks for Reopening Schools” that were established by the Arizona Department of Education in collaboration with The Arizona Department of Health Services and published August 6th. These three metrics: Cases of COVID per population (100/100,000), percent of tests for COVID with a positive result (percent positivity) and hospital visits for COVID like illnesses, are meant to provide schools with information regarding the spread of infection within the community and assist in reopening. Many people have asked how OLMC can be reopening just a few days after moving into the “green zone”. The answer lies in the fact Maricopa County has been trending down in all aspects of COVID infection and illness since mid-July. (ADHS – Data Dashboard). However, the School Dashboard (which wasn’t established until August 7) posts data from two weeks prior. Though the Benchmarks for COVID cases and hospital visits for COVID like illness were met several weeks ago, the percent of positive cases just moved into the “green zone” on Thursday–based on data from August 16, 2020. Writing in her blog this week, Dr. Cara Christ, provided even more data insights. Specifically, pertaining to children and COVID in Arizona. Because Arizona categorizes a “child” as anyone under the age of 20, it appears we have a much higher rate of childhood COVID, in comparison to other states. However, 30% of all “childhood” cases are among those who are 18-19 years of age. In fact, “children under the age of 18 make up only 9% of all cases with known ages reported in Arizona”(COVID-19 in Arizona Children – AZ Dept. of Health Services Director’s Blog). This is all good news and though the community spread of COVID has slowed, we are still implementing Phase 1 of the “Smart, Healthy, Holy: A Home & School Partnership” plan.
Our reopening plans, with a “phased-in” approach, were developed to allow us to safely educate students, in-person or virtually, well before the “Benchmarks” were adopted and they are reasonable, feasible and practical for our community. These plans have been updated and are accessible on the OLMC website. In preparation for school, please use the “Daily Screening Tool” to monitor your student for symptoms of illness prior to coming to school. If you have questions, please call the Nurse’s Office at 480-967-5567 X1. If you would like your child to have a second screening, I will be available at 7:00AM in the parking lot to assist you (you will need to park and come over). On Tuesday, we will go over health and safety procedures with all students. Please prepare your child for the changes they will see at school. Let your children know that things will look different and that we will be doing things differently. But, let them know we are working together, “Home & School”, to make this “new normal” a “better normal”! We can’t wait to see their “smiling eyes” on Tuesday! May God continue to strengthen us all!
There’s an app available for ShopwithScrip! It’s called RaiseRight, and you’ll want to get it before ThankScriping Day on Monday, September 17. Search for it in your app store, or go to their website to enter your phone number for a direct link. Use your ShopwithScrip log in. You must be signed up for ShopwithScrip to use the app. If you have any questions or need to get signed up, please contact program coordinator, Cindy Younger, at cindy@olmctempe.com
Home & School News 
