Dear OLMC Community,

Thank you to Home & School and all of the volunteers who made the Trunk or Treat such a great event! It is so nice to have these community events back at school. It was great to enjoy an afternoon in a safe environment sharing food and fellowship! I think the adults had just as much fun as the children! 

Tomorrow we will have Mass for All Saints’ Day. Please have your student wear his/her Mass uniform. Many of the young men are forgetting their pants and belts on Mass days. 

The first trimester will end this week. Report cards will be emailed home on Tuesday, November 10. 

Dear OLMC Community,

Our Trunk or Treat is quickly approaching as it is on Saturday, October 30th from 3-5. Please consider decorating a trunk and please donate a bag of candy. This is a really fun event and I hope to see you there! 

Big news! You are now able to use your saved Online SurePay Shelby account (what you use to pay your tuition) to purchase Scrip Online! If you pay with your checking account there is no fee and a 3.5% fee if you use a credit card. You may go to our website to purchase or click the link above! Additionally, there is an Online FFT Tutorial! 

Dear OLMC Community,

Thank you for your continued support for the Gala. The donations are so appreciated! We are still selling tickets to attend the event. Please purchase your tickets at Night to Soar Tickets.

Thank you to all who registered to decorate trunks and have donated candy. Unfortunately, at this time we have very few trunks. Your decorations do not have to be elaborate, just fun for the kids! Please consider decorating your trunk and if you have not donated your bag of candy, please do so!

One of the joys of being in the front office is interacting with students who come in happily bearing “yellow” cards. Following OLMC’s Student Learning Expectations, this year’s focus is on being “Merciful”. The yellow cards are given to a student, by an administrator, teacher or staff member, when spontaneous acts of generosity, compassion, forgiveness or support towards another are witnessed. Each card details what the student did. No matter how small the act, it is celebrated! We want students to realize that collectively, seemingly small acts of mercy help to build a more compassionate and caring community.

Dear OLMC Community,

Thank you to the families who supported the Dads’ Club Fundraiser at Chipotle! Thank you also to all of the families who donated to the St. Francis Animal Drive. 

We are still collecting items for the Night to Soar Gala. The homeroom parents communicated a wish list for items. If you are able to donate, please do. This is our largest fundraiser this year. Thank you for your support. Please do not forget to purchase your Night to Soar Gala tickets! 

Whether it’s the slightly cooler morning temperatures, the fading evening sunlight or simply the arrival of pumpkin spice everything--Arizona “fall” has arrived and with it “Fall Break”! Whereas, last year, boarding an airplane and traveling across the country, attending football games and concerts, or gathering in groups was discouraged, this year those things are possible. Recall that in October 2020, many restrictions related to the pandemic were still in place and a great fear of a surge in cases following fall break activities across the country, loomed. This year we have the benefit of all we have learned, having worked together, “Home & School”, to create and maintain a healthy environment in which our children can learn and grow.

Dear School Families,

We have a very busy week ahead! 

Monday - we will celebrate the Feast of St. Francis with our Annual Pet Blessing at 8:30am. This is for preschool students through 4th grade. All of the information concerning the Pet Blessing was previously sent home. If you do not have a pet or your pet is crazy like mine, please send a stuffie to represent your pet. 

Tuesday - Dads’ Club Chipotle Fundraiser is from 4:00-8:00pm at the Baseline location. Pick up your scrip beforehand- it is on bonus for 15%! 

Among the greatest medical advances of the past 100 years, vaccines to prevent viral illnesses have had a profound impact on the health of the world’s population. Just one year ago, a vaccine to help control the spread of coronavirus was a hoped for possibility. The week before Christmas 2020, the vaccine became a reality. Like vaccines that predated it, the coronavirus vaccine has had a significant impact on the spread of illness. The data graphs for the weeks of initial vaccine administration (MCDPH Data) provide visual evidence of its effectiveness.

Dear OLMC Community,

This past Friday the children brought home the Night to Soar Gala packet. This is the Third Annual Event. In the past the Parish Festival has been the largest fundraiser for the school but we have not had this event the past two years and will not have one this Spring. Therefore, this is what we are hosting to help raise funds to assist in keeping the tuition low and hopefully to raise funds to purchase additional shade that we need around campus. We are asking all the families to help by donating to the auction and hopefully attending as this is a great night! You may purchase tickets at Night to Soar OLMC 2021.

Dear Staff,

The first trimester progress reports will be emailed home on September 22nd. These are emailed after 3pm. You have the ability as parents to see your child’s grades at any time through FACTS. In the Orientation packet you received on August 5th or 6th, there were directions as to how to set this up. If you did not do so and need the directions, they are included in the newsletter. If you have any questions, please email your child’s teacher. 

Tomorrow will see the occurrence of a “first” for this school year. It will be the first day that we have NO members of our school community in isolation or quarantine since the beginning of the current school year! Add to this--sports are back (with a record number of student athletes participating), field trips are scheduled, and community events are being planned--and it is not hard to see why we consider ourselves blessed! Within our school community, we are in a good place.

Many have asked how exactly the school gets notified of a COVID positive case and what protocols are followed once that happens. As a strong testament to the strength of our “Home & School” partnership, in all cases, we have received notification through parents before it comes from the Health Department. “Self reporting”, as soon as possible, is so important because it gives the school the opportunity to respond quickly, when necessary. Critical aspects of our infection control strategies are the timely identification of those who are sick and need to be isolated and the timely quarantine of close contacts.

Dear OLMC Community,

Thank you to so many families who came out to enjoy the Back to School Cookout the Dads’ Club organized! This was such a great evening of fellowship. 

This week we began with the sports activities. It is so exciting to see so many children having fun playing and enjoying the games. Thank you to everyone who is volunteering to help whether it be to coaching, time keeping, refereeing, or something else, this would not be possible without your assistance! Please remind your children if they have an away game, they need to change quickly and get back into the pick up area. It will get easier as time passes! 

The phrase, “Trust, but verify”, rooted in Russian proverbs and first introduced to Americans by President Ronald Regan in 1986, is used quite often in our common culture. It can be found on memes, coffee cups and t-shirts, and is frequently invoked by “friendly adversaries” as a sound philosophy for dealing with one another. While this approach can be understood on a geopolitical stage, it may not be the best approach amongst those desiring to build strong relationships within a community. Afterall, oftentimes the act of checking--verification--means there was no trust to begin with.

Dear OLMC Community,

I hope you are enjoying your long weekend! Thank you to all of the families who supported the Dads’ Club food fundraiser.

Upcoming this week:

Learning Labs will begin on Tuesday. The Learning Labs were started to assist students who needed additional support. If your child is in grades 4-8th and needs additional academic assistance, he/she may ask or be invited by the classroom teacher to work after school on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays from 3:15 to 3:45.