A Christ-centered community,
provides excellence in education
to meet the needs of the whole child.
December 2, 2020
Dear OLMC Parents,

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving break with your family. Last week we completed the liturgical season of Ordinary Time and have now entered into the holy season of Advent. The Advent season is a 4-week period of time which marks a brand-new Church year. During this liturgical season, the faithful prepare their hearts as they await the coming of Christ. Not only do we remember the first coming of Christ as the Babe of Bethlehem, but we eagerly await the time when Christ will come again at the end of time. Come, Lord Jesus!

Despite this pandemic, we are committed to preserving our spiritual traditions at OLMC. The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Mass will be taking place on Tuesday, December 8. Normally each year, the entire school community would attend this Mass in-person. This year, however, we recognize that social distancing measures in the Church would be difficult to maintain if the entire school joined the parish community for our usual 8 am Mass. Instead of attending Mass in-person, we plan on live-streaming the 8 am Mass into the classrooms so all students could participate in this liturgy; students will be able to receive Holy Communion directly after Mass. It is truly amazing how many extra details we need to plan for this year; the Lord is certainly keeping our administration and staff busy and out of trouble!  

Also, OLMC School has provided an opportunity for students to frequent the sacrament of Penance during Advent. This sacramental opportunity will take place this year on Wednesday, December 9. Our OLMC priests will be joined by other diocesan priests as they hear the confessions of students in grades 3-8. If you feel uncomfortable with your student participating in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation at this time, please email your students’ teachers to let them know.  

With all of the restrictions and cancelled events this year, it seems like Advent might be a quieter and slower time for all us. I pray that all of these unforeseen sacrifices that we are forced to make will be turned into good-- good for the well-being of our families and for the good of our souls. May this Advent season help us to focus more attentively on the inestimable love the Father has for all of us, a love that was manifested most profoundly in His willingness to send His only Son to save us from our sins. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) 

Advent blessings to you and to your families!
Sister Maria Benedicta, O.P.
School Calendar
December
4 Spelling Bee 1:45pm (participants only-we are hoping to livestream this event - stay tuned)
7 CommUNITY Care Day donations due
8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception
9 Advent Confessions Grades 3-8 10am-12noon
18 2 hour Early Dismissal at 1:05pm

Student 8 a.m. Mass Schedule: (students leave the classroom at 7:50am)
Mondays: Grades 1, 4, 6
Wednesdays: Grades 2, 5 (KFD1 & 2 will join at some point later in the year)
Fridays: Grades 3, 7, 8
Last Chance! Teacher/Staff Christmas Gifts:
All donations must be received by 3pm Friday!
Let us make your Christmas shopping easier! The PTO is collecting Christmas gift money for teachers and staff. The gifts will be pooled together and each teacher and staff member will get their individual gift in SCRIP cards.

This year you can donate in one of two ways:
 
  • Give online to the teacher/staff gift fund: https://osvonlinegiving.com/4317/DirectDonate/75324
  • Send in a check to the school in an envelope marked “PTO Christmas Contribution.” Please make all checks out to OLMC PTO with “Christmas Contribution” in the memo line.  

For ease in ordering with SCRIP, we are kindly asking that you give your donation in $5 increments (Ex. $5, $10, $20, etc).

Your room parents will work with the PTO to make sure the teachers and staff receive the SCRIP cards they desire for Christmas. 
 
Your Christmas shopping is done in November for your Teachers.☺
COVID-19 Updates:
Since last week, we have had 3 reports of positive cases. 2 cases developed during a quarantine period so contact tracing was only necessary for 1 instance.


CDC's Recommendations for the Thanksgiving Celebration:


State by state CDC guidelines may be found here: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days

The CDC is encouraging people to obtain flu shots this year. Click here for more information.
Book Bill Payments:
The second half of the book bill payment was due Nov 30.
If you have not already done so, please bring to mail to the school office as soon as possible:

OLMC School
14596 Oak Ridge Rd
Carmel, IN 46032

Checks should be made payable to OLMC.

Email Val Schoch in the church office at [email protected] if you need your balance due.
Admissions News-Applications for 2021-2022:
Do you have an incoming Kindergartner or know someone that is interested in OLMC School? Our application process is happening sooner this year!

The online application will be available on the school website starting Monday, Dec. 7.

Who needs to apply?
Existing school family with a child ready to start Kindergarten in Aug 2021:
  • Only complete the application for the child entering Kindergarten
  • Do not complete an application for children already enrolled - the Blue Family Commitment form reserved their spot(s) to return next year

Family with a child currently on a waiting list:
  • Complete a new application for the 2021-2022 school year to remain on the waiting list.
  • We currently have waiting lists for rising grades 4 & 7

New Family with children entering grades K-8:
  • Complete an application for each child
CHRISTMAS OUTREACH PROJECT!
OLMC School will again participate in Community Care Day, collecting much needed household items, personal hygiene products and children’s hats and mittens.

Forms, angel tags and green bags should have come home with your child(ren). Donations are due to school by Dec 4! Monday morning, Dec 7th, children will begin sorting items.

If you did not get a green bag, you may simply purchase a hat & mittens for a child and something from the following list (we usually request 8-10 of each item per donation):
  • Toothpaste
  • Deodorant
  • Toilet bowl cleaner
  • Window cleaner
  • All purpose cleaner
  • Dish soap
  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Bar soap
  • Paper towels
Can’t get to the store?  Consider shipping your items to the school via Amazon Prime, Shipt, Instacart, etc. 

If you would like to volunteer to help, please go to this link:
St. Nick Shop- Virtual:
Available online this year through Friday, December 11
FREE DELIVERY to OLMC each day
Click the link below to shop:
Happy Birthday to the newest members of the Birthday Book Club: 
Annaline Atkinson, Emma Bedford, Sophia Heredia de la Cruz, William Hoffman, Cooper Lee, Isabelle Parsley, Sam Lemberger, Emma Mecklenburg, Conor Rinka, Ella Stockelman, Luca Vespa, and Maren Yonkman. 

Thank you for your donation to our library! Your names have been placed inside of a new book for everyone to read and you will be receiving a bookmark and pencil during library special this week. Plus you're up on our Library Book Club wall!

For those with a December birthday, your invitations to join are being sent home this week. Thank you.
SCRIP News:
Enjoy Scrip Dazzle Days through December 4! 
This is the best time to place your order for Christmas gifts:
* FREE Ship to home via the RaiseRight app!!!
* Surprise Mystery Bonuses: join the app or follow Shop With Scrip on social media to get the daily announcements of the bonuses
* In addition to the Mystery Bonuses, there will be two weeks of bonus, including Starbucks, Shutterfly, Zappos, Home Depot, McAlister's, Topgolf and many, many more!

$5 and $10 cards available through December 28 (including Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target and more!). Check out full list at shopwithscrip.com.  

***Please remember that we are not carrying stock this year or having carpool sales, so please plan ahead and place orders early. Scrip is warning of potential shipping delays this season.
Volunteer Spotlight:
Our spotlight this week is on

We are blessed to have so many caring volunteers who dedicate their time each day to help our school and community be the amazing faith-filled place it is! We would like to spend some time highlighting our volunteers as a small way to say THANK YOU to all that they do! 

We are asking for your help to nominate the volunteers who give their time and talents to our school and community. Here is the link to the nomination form: https://forms.gle/a9behPhxsezrQxVt6
Christmas Program - Covid Style!
We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting a virtual OLMC School Christmas Celebration on using the FlipGrid platform. With spirits in need of lifting, we thought this would be an exceptional way to spread Christmas cheer! 

Similar to last year’s virtual talent show, we would love to see your creativity with Christmas carols, cooking, or even comedy!

The Christmas Video Submission Guidelines include the following:
  • School Appropriate
  • Only one submission per student
  • Video Submitted by Monday, December 14, 2020
  • Video needs to be recorded / uploaded on FlipGrid using student Google account via link provided: https://flipgrid.com/61c9942e 
  • Flipgrid Code: 61c9942e 

Directions for uploading video here: 

By students opting to submit a video for the show, you as the legal guardian are giving parental consent for the video performance to be shown to the school community.

Please have your video submissions uploaded by Monday December 14, 2020

We are looking forward to seeing your Christmas Spirit! If you have any questions, please email Miss Malone at [email protected] with “ Christmas Show” in the subject line of the email. 
We invite you to join us at Blaze Pizza for our Spirit Day on December 15th from 11AM – 9PM in support of our school. Come out and enjoy a pizza that’s built on their made-from-scratch dough. You decide what goes on the pizza and 180 seconds later it’s fast fire’d and ready to eat! You will need to present the flyer either on paper or on your phone, and Blaze will generously donate 25% of the total sales to our school. Thank you for your support in this fundraiser. We appreciate everything each of you do to make OLMC a fantastic school for our kids!
NEW OLMC Car decals for sale: Only $5.00 each
  • 6" diameter circle
  • Cash or exact cash only
  • Please send payment to school with your child in an envelope marked “car decal” & the quantity of decals you are purchasing.
  • The decal(s) will be sent home with your child.

Show your OLMC School pride!
Our school code is 900134263
GUERIN CATHOLIC HS ADMISSIONS NEWS

Guerin Catholic is coming to carpool at OLMC! 
Please enjoy a cup o’Joe on us! Three of our greatest champions from OLMC and Guerin Catholic - Joe Reitz, Alex Titus and Jeff Constantino - will be at the end of the morning carpool line (by the sports fields) on Wednesday, December 9th to not only offer you coffee but more information about their experiences at Guerin Catholic! Learn how your child and your family can be part of our great community.  

Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Time: Morning Carpool - 7:15 a.m. - 7:45 a.m.
Place: Sports Field Entrance off of Oak Ridge Road @ OLMC

For more information about Admissions at Guerin Catholic, please visit  https://www.guerincatholic.org/virtual-admissions/ or call Kenya Cobb or Jill Folstrom, Guerin Catholic Admissions Office, 317.582.0120 or [email protected].  

ADMISSIONS NEWS
APPLY NOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025!
Admissions Application Deadline: Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Apply online at GuerinCatholic.org
All supporting application documents are due by December 15th. 

TUITION ASSISTANCE - ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE AND AVAILABLE TO ALL
Tuition Assistance Application Deadline: Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Guerin Catholic is an open-enrollment school committed to serving all who seek a faith-based education for their children. We strive to manage available resources to ensure that Guerin Catholic is accessible, affordable, and available to all.  Guerin Catholic will make every effort to assist families with a demonstrated financial need. Our goal is to meet 100% of the calculated financial need of our families. Understanding that each family situation is unique, Guerin Catholic uses an individualized approach for each family.  Please contact Andy Cowen at [email protected] to learn more about Tuition Assistance.


UPCOMING PROSPECTIVE PARENT AND STUDENT EVENTS
Registration is required for all events and space is limited. 
Learn more about our events and register at GuerinCatholic.org.

Sat., December 5th High School Placement Test, 8:30 am - 12 pm (Registration closes at 7 pm on Thursday, December 3)
Mon., December 7th SHADOW SHOWCASE, 9-11:45 am FULL
Tues., December 8th TUESDAY TOUR, 9-10 am
Wed., December 9th SHADOW SHOWCASE, 9-11:45 am
Mon., December 14th SHADOW SHOWCASE, 9-11:45 am 
Tues., December 15th APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR ADMISSIONS AND TUITION ASSISTANCE 

SHADOW SHOWCASE SELECT WEEKDAY MORNINGS, 9-11:45am  
8th graders—spend a morning with us at Guerin Catholic! We have two remaining available days in December for students to attend an info session, take a tour, observe classrooms and visit our cafeteria and chapel - December 9th and 14th. Students will also have the chance to spend time with a GC student 1:1.  Register at GuerinCatholic.org.

CAN'T MAKE AN EVENT?
Personal Tour-By-Appointment
Contact our Admissions team at [email protected] and schedule a tour time that is convenient for you and your student. 

WINTER SPORTS CAMPS - visit GuerinCatholic.org for more info and to register
Boys & Girls Strength & Speed Clinic
Grades 5-8 
Monday, December 21, 1-2 pm
Wednesday, December 23, 1-2 pm
Monday, December 28, 1-2 pm
Wednesday, December 30, 1-2 pm
Cost: $15 per session or $40 for all 4

Girls Volleyball Winter Camp
Grades 6-8 
Monday, December 21, 2:30 - 4:30 pm
Tuesday, December 22, 2:30 - 4:30 pm
Cost: $50 for both days (includes t-shirt if registered by December 17th!)

Baseball Winter Camp
Grades 5-8 
Session 1: Sunday, December 27, 12 - 3 pm
Session 2: Sunday, December 27, 4 - 7 pm
Session 3: Tuesday, December 29, 12 - 3 pm
Cost: $30 each (includes t-shirt if registered by December 22nd!)