OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL LOWER SCHOOL NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014 Dear Parents, It’s hard to believe that October is already here! What a great start to a new school year! It’s wonderful to see fewer and fewer tears and more and more smiles as the mornings go on. The students are settling in nicely to their new routines. Now is the time, if you haven’t already, to establish those routines at home as well. As interims approach, please contact your child’s teacher if you are having any difficulties establishing homework and study routines. Looking ahead, October looks to be a very busy month, which begins with our fall festival. Thanks to all who help with our festivals. It’s not too late to sign up! If you would like to volunteer, please use our online sign up. Our festivals would not be a success without the help of all of you. Thank you for supporting Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Many blessings, Christine Olszewski Lower School Principal DATES TO REMEMBER October 3rd Noon Dismissal October 3rd through 5th Fall Festival No School – festival clean up October 6th th October 7 PTSA Meeting @ 7PM in High School Cafeteria Great American Fundraiser Due October 10th 2nd Grade 8AM Mass Interims Distributed October 13th No School – Archdiocese Teacher Professional Day October 17th 1st Grade 8AM Mass October 23rd Noon Dismissal October 24th 5th Grade 8AM Mass Coach/Pandora Bingo October 25th Trunk or Treat October 30th Dance Concert @ 1PM st October 31 4th Grade 8AM Mass Halloween Parade – Grades Pre K through 3rd @ 1PM Halloween Parties @ 1:30 Black and orange tag day Traffic Patterns A big thank you to all who have helped enforce parking lot procedures and to those who have adhered to these procedures. It is crucial, for the safety of children, parents, and staff members, that EVERYONE adhere to the traffic patterns enforced in the morning and the afternoon. If you need to park for any reason, please park closest to the soccer field. Students may enter the building at 7:50. Please be aware that there is no staff supervision prior to 7:50, so please use caution when dropping children off before that time. Lastly, it is the responsibility of ALL adults to ensure the safety of every child on the parking lot. Please travel safely and adhere to the instructions that staff members are giving you. We are only trying to look out for the safety of all. Please refer to the handbook for directions on dismissal traffic. You must use the last entrance closest to the soccer field to get in line for dismissal parking. Please wait for a staff member to dismiss your line of cars. This is to ensure that all children are away from moving vehicles. The safety of our students MUST be everyone's first priority. Uniforms Students are coming to school looking wonderful each day! Please keep up the good work. Here are just a few reminders:    The only acceptable gym uniform is the one that must be ordered through Lands End, which is the gray shirt and royal blue shorts. Gym shoes must be primarily white. If half the shoe has color, that is not primarily white. Any student at this time who is not in this gym uniform will receive a uniform notice and not participate in gym class. If the gym uniform is still on backorder, please provide the receipt to confirm that. Students are only permitted to wear navy blue sweaters with their regular uniform. Gray sweatshirts are only permitted on gym days with their gym uniform. Students in grades 3 through 5 must wear a belt at all times with shirts tucked in. Tag Days – Dress down days are a privilege, not a necessity. Therefore, students who are consistently not adhering to the tag day dress code will not be permitted to participate. Here a few reminders:    Only jeans or khaki pants are allowed. Leggings, athletic pants, or sweatpants are not allowed. Skirts, dresses, or shorts cannot be shorter than 2 inches above the knee. Flip flops, sandals, and open toe shoes are not permitted. Please refer to the handbook for uniform policies. In grades 3‐5, students will be issued uniform notices for not adhering to these policies. After 3 notices, the student will receive an after school detention. We will be having a uniform exchange on Tuesday, October 7th. Please see the attached flyer for information. Halloween We have several Halloween events lined up that will allow the students to celebrate the holiday in a fun and safe way. Our first event is Trunk or Treat. This is scheduled for Saturday, October 25th. We encourage you to attend our 5:30 mass that evening, which will include our Children’s Liturgy of the Word. Children are allowed to wear their Halloween costumes, but we ask that masks and head gear remain off during the mass. Trunk or Treat will begin right after mass at approximately 6:30. During this event, children will trick or treat from car to car. You are encouraged to decorate your “trunk” as we will be having a contest for the most festive Our next event is our annual Dance Concert on Thursday, October 30th. Mrs. Arciaga’s dance classes are hard at work in preparing for their first concert of the year. This will take place in the gym at 1:30. All are invited to attend. Our final events are our Halloween parade and our class parties on Friday, October 31st. Our parade will begin on the back parking lot at 1PM for our Pre K through 3rd grade students. Everyone is invited to watch and cheer on our princesses, goblins, and other make believe characters. Please look out for details regarding individual classroom parties from your homeroom teachers. It is important to adhere to the policies set forth from your child’s teacher. Goodies should be given out by the discretion of the teacher during the allotted time. No extra goodies should be distributed during lunch time. STAND Training/Shield the Vulnerable There is still time to get your STAND certification training complete before the Halloween parties and upcoming field trips. No one is permitted to attend classroom parties unless their certification is complete. Please contact Katie Fitzpatrick at the parish center at 410‐238‐1150 to get this process started. Our volunteer training is currently in the process of changing to “Shield the Vulnerable.” The biggest change is the online training, which is actually a more simple and more applicable training video. When it is time for your STAND certification to be renewed, Mrs. Fitzpatrick will notify you by a letter to renew using the new training. Thank you to all our volunteers who have completed this process and help in many different capacities. Our school runs so much smoother with the help from all of you. Fund Raising Initiatives: As most of you know, despite the challenges that Catholic school tuition presents to all of us, it alone does not cover the costs of running the school. In addition, all of us need to work together to generate fund raising dollars. Below is a description of some of the upcoming events that our school is sponsoring. It is our hope that you will be able to participate in some or all of these events.   Help Our School: This year we once again ask that you all help our school by registering for programs like Giant A+ and Target Shopping Club. These programs give money or merchandise to our school based on the amount of money spent in their stores. If anyone is aware of other programs that could benefit our school please let the office know. All opportunities to raise funds for our school are opportunities not to be missed. Bull Roast and Auction: Our annual Bull Roast/Auction is on November 8, 2014, beginning at 7:00. There is a huge auction that takes place in the gym and the food, frolic, and dancing takes   place in the cafeteria. If you would like to attend, donate to the auction, assist with the evening, or purchase tickets, contact the school office or look on our website. Technology Fundraiser: There will be a Coach/Pandora Bingo in the upper school cafeteria on October 24, 2014. This event is great fun and benefits our technology program. School Decals: Please show your school pride with one of these new decals. They make great gifts for all your friends and family. See attached flyer for details. Exciting and New I am very pleased and excited to showcase 2 very new resources that have been added to our lower school program. We are happy to announce that we have added SMART boards in grades Kindergarten through 5th. All teachers were trained over the summer in how to implement these boards to enhance their lessons in all grades and content areas and both teachers and students are having a great time utilizing them. Kindergarten students using the SMART table to practice writing their letters. Second graders using the SMART board to edit sentences. One of the many exciting renovations that took place over the summer was the addition of a Science Lab in the lower school building for grades K through 8. Purchases were made to update equipment, such as adding new microscopes, beakers, hot plates, and many other supplies that will enhance hands on learning in Science. 4th and 5th graders using the Lab to analyze different substances. A Note from the Nurse’s Office Flu Season‐ Flu Facts The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year. The signs and symptoms of flu include: Fever/chills Cough Sore throat Runny or stuffy nose Muscle or body aches Headaches Fatigue Occasionally vomiting and diarrhea, more common in children Flu viruses spread mainly by droplets made when people with the flu cough, sneeze, or talk. Sometimes you might also get the flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching your mouth, eyes, or nose. Most healthy people may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 5‐7 days after becoming sick. Complications of flu can include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration, and worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as Asthma or Diabetes. The CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. In addition, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue into the trash. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Avoid touching your nose or mouth. Try to avoid contact with sick people. If you are sick with a flu‐like illness, stay home at least 24 hours after your fever is gone without the use of a fever‐reducing medicine. Limit your contact with others as much as possible. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel will be offering free flu mists to all our students. Permission slips and information have been sent home with all students. Please consider these convenient and useful resource.