As March comes to a close, we too bring our penitential season of Lent to a close.  As we celebrate the beginning of spring, we also enter into our holiest week of the year, our sacred celebrations of the events of Holy Week commemorate the sacrifice that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ made for each of us.  We will celebrate new life both in nature as well as in liturgy. Please plan to join us at the OLMC parish celebrations of Holy Week. Check out the worship schedule here. We wish each of you many blessings during Holy Week and throughout the celebration of the Resurrection!  Rejoice!

TRIMESTER TRIUMPHS

March saw the close of our second trimester, report cards, honor roll and all that goes with the end of one trimester and the beginning of a new one.  We are two thirds through the academic year and our young people continue to grow and develop reaching toward their fullest potential. We are very proud of all that has been accomplished throughout this recent trimester and look forward to reaching new heights in this last trimester for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Most recently OLMC was represented in the Archdiocesan Catholic Challenge by Chris Tomeo and Nicole Sinde.  Both of our representatives handled themselves very well and demonstrated how well OLMC prepares its students with knowledge of their Catholic religious beliefs.  A special thanks to them for representing us so well!

The month of March also presented us with weather challenges, but in spite of these challenges, we managed to accomplish many milestones:

  • The Academy joined with Joseph W. Cardinal Tobin, C.Ss.R., and the students from Parkland Florida along with all students around the nation to pray for the end to school violence and to celebrate the lives of those students and educators who died in the recent tragedy in Parkland; following prayer, our middle school students walked out for seventeen minutes in a show of solidarity with many young people across the Archdiocese, the state, and the nation
  • Several books with a message were explored throughout the grades with one of them delved into through participation in a book club with Miss Koval; this experience was open to students in grades three through five; it was a very informative learning experience and one that the students looked forward to each week
  • The therapy dogs visited us and we learned about the special work of Mickey’s Kids Foundation
  • Our Lenten Retreat day enabled us to celebrate our religious heritage and deepen our understanding of our spirituality
  • We completed our Black History presentations in grade five and learned about the famous and not-so-famous American heroes who are part of our American heritage
  • Our youngest members learned about what different animals in the forest do for the winter months; this was accomplished through the performance of our first graders who read and performed, “Where are my Animal Friends”
  • We participated in the National Scripps Spelling Bee with our OLMC Warrior, Arjun, placing 9th out of 101 participating students; special congratulations and thanks to Arjun for a job well done
  • St. Patrick’s day celebrations included an opportunity to donate to the Mickey’s Kids Foundation as well as the wearin’ of the green during a Casual Carmel day
  • Age appropriate presentations on playground and bicycle safety were presented by our friends from Hackensack University Medical Center
  • Students celebrated Pi Day with special resource room math challenges and enjoyed a delicious slice of pie to celebrate their accomplishments
  • The Early Childhood Center welcomed over a dozen baby chicks and invited their fourth grade prayer buddies to come visit their newly hatched members

ARTS ARE ALIVE… BOTH IN AND OUT OF OLMC!

We are so proud of our Arts program at OLMC and it continues to grow and develop into such a vibrant part of our curriculum offerings. We celebrate many aspects of this program, especially:

Our recent partnership with the New Victory Theatre in Manhattan, which allowed our first graders and Kindergarteners to attend a production of Black Beauty as part of the new theater arts trimester curriculum.  Many thanks to Brandi for setting up this outgoing partnership and thanks as well to all the teachers and parents who accompanied the children to the city.

Our OLMC Warrior, Alex, won a Grand Prix from the International Concert Festival Competition and got to play his piece at Carnegie Hall; Kudos to Alex!!

In spite of the weather, our Art Show was held on two separate occasions and many parents visited to celebrate the artistic accomplishments of their children; their professionally framed and matted artwork is available for purchase; thank you to Teaching Artist-in-Residence, Maureen Bennett for a job well done

Auditions were held for our spring show, Pat Cook’s “We the People…” and we look forward to the finished production.

GO WARRIORS!

Our very successful Basketball season has come to a close and we are very proud of our Warriors and the their special brand of sportsmanship evident at each game.  Track registration recently opened and we encourage all interested students in grades K-8 to come out for a great fun and fitness opportunity. Also, our first annual Alumni Basketball game celebrating the life of Timothy A. Hamlett, ‘08 was a huge success and a great time was had by all; if you missed it, please plan on joining us next year for our second annual alumni event next year!

DON’T MISS…

Ordering your yearbook and ordering your child’s professionally framed and matted artwork!

Saying a prayer for our OLMC Warrior, Christopher, who will compete at the state level competition of the National Geographic Geography Bee on Friday, April 6th!

The celebration of Holy Week, again, see schedule here.

The opportunity for some fun in the sun during our Easter/Spring break the week of April 2nd through April 6th; looking forward to welcoming you back to your studies on Monday, April 9th!

Have a very Blessed and Happy Easter!