Oct. 15, 2021

Dear Parents and Guardians of Students of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend! This shortened week has meant a flurry of activity, as we attempt to fit all our learning and activities into only 4 school days. With next Monday being the annual ECSD Faith Development Day, we again see a 4-day week for our students. There are no classes on this day, Oct. 18th, as staff renew their commitment to Catholic education with our colleagues. We are blessed to have opportunities to listen, learn, and share with special guest speakers and our Division Chaplains, Fr. Glenn McDonald and Fr. Julian Bilyj. As a sports Academy school, it was great to see so many students and staff celebrate the start of the NHL hockey season this past Wednesday, with our team jersey and apparel day. Whether you were wearing an orange and blue T-shirt, scarf, or jersey … or even some socks with a blue and white maple leaf … it demonstrated to our entire community the joy we all have when recognizing Canada’s national pastime and dare I say, the associated coming of winter! Please, take a moment to read through each item of the following Bi-weekly Update, for news and reminders on all that is happening at Our Lady of Mount Carmel before the end of October. From photo retakes to the next School Council meeting, to our wildly successful Tournament of Books, there is always something of interest for everyone at our amazing school! Take Care and God Bless,

Duncan Buchanan Sandra Hartum Principal Assistant Principal Our Lady of Mount Carmel School Our Lady of Mount Carmel School Bi-weekly updates replace the monthly newsletter and will be posted on the website after they are delivered by email. The next update will be sent on Friday, Oct. 29th. Please feel free to contact the school at 780-433-1062 if you have any questions or concerns relating to your child’s education.

OLMC Bi-Weekly Update

Daily Screening Checklist

Tournament of Books

A continued reminder that all students and visitors are required to take the updated Alberta Health Daily Screening Checklist before coming to school, to determine if they should attend. Please error on the side of caution; if your child is not feeling well, as per the screening checklist, do not send them to school until they are symptom free. Thank you for helping keep our students and staff healthy and safe!

In celebration of Read-in-Week, which ran Oct. 4-8, Our Lady of Mount Carmel students participated in our first ever Tournament of Books. Students in Division 1 and 2 were read a selection of books each day and then voted on their favorite to win the head-to-head challenge in their classes book “bracket”. By the end of the week, students had narrowed down their selections for the Championship Final between “The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors” by Drew Daywalt and “Creepy Pair of Underwear” by Aaron Reynolds. After much debate, the final vote resulted in The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors winning the 2021-22 Tournament of Books! What a fantastic ending to a wonderful week of reading!

OLMC recognized the “official” start of the NHL hockey season and the first Edmonton Oiler hockey game with our OLMC hockey fan and jersey day. On Oct. 13th, students and staff were encouraged to wear their favorite hockey team colors or apparel to support the “greatest game on ice” and Canada’s national pastime!

Hockey Fan and Jersey Day

School Council & Fundraising Society News

Hello OLMC Families,

We are very grateful for your participation in the Davison Farms Apple Fundraiser, you purchased 116

cases - what generous and healthy families we have! Watch for another PowerSchool--School fees--

fundraiser coming in November: Our favourite greenhouse Salisbury ( in Sherwood Park) offers us a

rebate on all gift cards we sell as well as beautiful Tropical Christmas Plants (Poinsettias and more) that

will be delivered to the school. These make wonderful gifts and centerpieces for Advent. More details to

come.

Next Thursday, Oct 21 at 6:30PM everyone is welcome to attend the School Council and Fundraising

Society meeting (SC FS). Mr. Buchanan has provided a MS TEAMS link (see below) and on the agenda -

we are going to discuss the school "wish list", so come help us decide how to spend the funds raised. At

our AGM, our new board was selected, so thank you to our new board members Kristen, Jennifer, Susan

and Noele.

Therese has set up our Boston Pizza Operation Education fundraiser (if you go, ask for Till Receipts then

bring them to the main office) plus Healthy Hunger (register your students so if Hot Lunches become

available, we will be ready!). We're teaming up with Papa John's for Thursday pizza nights (third

Thursday of the month, same as our SC FS meetings, that's convenient) - so next Thursday when you use

our code OLMC25 you will earn 25% off all regular priced menu items (order online at

https://www.papajohns.ca) and they will send us 10% cash rebate - last year we earned nearly $300,

plus leftover pizza makes fun Friday lunches.

See you soon,

Katrina Semeniuk

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

School Council Chair

olmcsac@gmail.com

NOTE: Due to COVID restrictions, OLMC School Council and Fundraising Society meetings are held online, virtually. Please click on the following MS Teams link to join our School Council meeting on Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. OLMC – School Council Meeting – Oct. 21

On Oct. 8th, Our Lady of Mount Carmel students and staff took part in a virtual liturgy where we gave thanks for all of the gifts that our gracious God has given us. Throughout the week leading up to our Thanksgiving celebration, we collected items to bring to the Edmonton Foodbank. Thank you to all the members of our community who contributed!

Throughout the school year, we encourage all parents and guardians to regularly check their child’s progress through Parent PowerSchool. There are no longer any formal printed or digital “set point” or semestered Report Cards, as has been the case in prior school years. Instead, student assessment and reporting occur on an ongoing basis, through continual feedback from teachers. It is the expectation that caregivers play an active role in monitoring their child’s progress and communicate with teachers about their learning. This model not only contributes to a positive and collaborative educational experience, but it also contributes directly to student success. As part of this methodology, which aligns with the new Government of Alberta Assurance model, ECSD has published a Parent Guide to Assessment and Reporting, which is

Thanksgiving Celebration

Parent Guide to Assessment & Reporting

found here: Parent Guide to Assessment and Reporting and has been attached to this Bi-weekly Update. We strongly encourage all parents and guardians to read through this document, as we work together to best meet the learning needs of all our students. A few friendly reminders as we head into fall and the looming winter season! With the weather becoming colder, it is important that students are dressed appropriately to be outside before school, during recess and lunch hour. The doors to the school do not open in the morning until the first bell rings at 8:30 a.m. and, other than during inclement weather, (-20 C guideline), students are expected to be outside during these scheduled times. We are seeing an increasing number of students who are regularly arriving at school without proper face masks for the day. Please ensure that your child leaves the school with their mask and perhaps have a few extras in their backpack in case of emergency. The school has a limited supply of disposable masks for those occasions when students forget their mask. If your child requires a new, washable, cloth mask for regular use, please see Mrs. Lewis or Mrs. Spencer in the main office. If you are dropping your child off at school, or if they are walking to OLMC in the morning, please arrive as close to the start time as possible. The first bell rings at 8:30 a.m. and we are noticing that there has been an increase in students arriving late to school. Absences, including lates, are one of the main hinderances to student learning in the morning. Please help set a great tone for each day by having your child arrive on time. A reminder to all families that photo retakes through LifeTouch will take place the morning of Oct. 21st. This is for all students who missed the first picture day and/or who noticed an issue with their original proof.

Housekeeping Items

Photo Retakes – Oct. 21

The staff at Our Lady of Mount Carmel is committed to ongoing Professional Development that supports our students as they grow academically, socially, emotionally and in our Faith. Not only are we participating in next week’s ECSD Faith Development Day, but we have either scheduled time in upcoming weeks, or have already addressed, a variety of educational topics during our regular Thursday Staff Meetings. These include sessions on Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDIAR), Creating Individualized Program Plans, and Smarter Marks for Assessment, to name just a few. This dedication to lifelong learning is our promise to you that we will do our best to make your child’s learning experience at OLMC as positive and meaningful as possible. Congratulations to our afternoon Leadership 4-6 class for creating our very own 'Star Student'

program! Students from K-9 can nominate their peers, to be the star student, for extra special

acts of kindness, generosity, honesty, inclusiveness, and anything that demonstrates our

Catholic values. Each month, there will be 2 students chosen from each division to be

acknowledged and they will win a little gift bag full of fun surprises.

Thank you to the Leadership 4-6 group for coming up with this great program for our school

community. Star Student is a wonderful way to celebrate the amazing students that make up

our Mount Carmel family.

Stay tuned to find out the first star students at the end of the month!

OLMC Staff PD & Lifelong Learning

Star Student Program

Our Grade 4-6 afternoon Leadership class has had a busy start to the school year! Here are

some of their photos from September!

Gr 4-6 Leadership Class

“Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.” – Anne Frank Have a wonderful weekend!

Final Words