Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
Parent Links, News and Announcements

Catch OLMCS on television! The program was filmed at OLMCS last Tuesday and will begin airing March 13th. Please see the attached schedule for the TV Airings of the show.

26th Annual 2010 Jog-a-thon
Please see flyer your baggie and consider signing up for the Jog-a-thon Committee, volunteering the day of the event, or donating and/or soliciting prizes from local businesses for the prize rallies.

Our Safeguard the Children Committee attempted to seek input from our community for a safety workshop. The Committee was seeking topics of interest for our parishioners and school families (such as Internet safety, Christian parenting workshops, interest in a Parenting Book Club, and topic discussions such as the balance between children's freedom and safety issues. School families were asked to take a brief survey (less than 5 minutes) by clicking here. YOUR INPUT IS VALUED; WON'T YOU LOG ON?

Registration for next year is due March 19th. Your invoices have been sent home. $350 by March 19, and $400 thereafter, space permitting. (Note, Newsletter erroneously said $450 for late registration.)

The St. Patty's Event of the Year!

Saturday, March 13, 5:30 pm. For Reservations, please see the Flyer that was sent home. This event includes Volunteer Opportunities!

Book Fair begins March 12. This event includes Volunteer Opportunities!

Abstinence & Fasting: Abstinence from meat is observed Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent for persons 14 and older. Fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday applies to all persons 18 to 59 years of age.

Lenten Observance: Catholics are encouraged to participate in Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Penance during Lent. Devotions such as Stations of the Cross, Vigils and Prayer Services are encouraged.

Easter Duty: All initiated Catholics are bound by the obligations of receiving Communion and confess sacramentally all serious sins at least once a year to be fulfilled during the Easter duty season, first Sunday of Lent until Trinity Sunday.

Congratulations to all our contestants, they did a great job!

Grades 1 - 4

• Anabel Caesar, 1st Place
• Nina Sturdivan, 2nd Place
• Danica Stevens, 3rd Place

Grades 5 - 8

• Jill Rogers, 1st Place
• Shanon Fitzgerald, 2nd Place
• Lauren Graf, 3rd Place

Application packets are available in the school office and our Preschool Director, Ms. Lampke, is available to share information and answer any questions you may have. Preschoolers must be 3 years of age and potty-trained.

Applications for Kindergarten are now being accepted and are available in the school office. In order to help us schedule our testing for new kindergarteners, please be sure to complete and return the application as soon as possible if you have a child entering Kindergarten next year. Assessment testing is currently in process.

Parents of Current Pre-K Students:

Please contact Ms. Lampke, our Preschool Director, if you are interested in applying for the 2010-11 Kindergarten program. It will not be necessary to resubmit an application form as it is on file but you will need to inform the Preschool Director of your intent so your child is ensured a scheduled appointment for Kindergarten assessment testing.

The next dates for Archdiocesan Livescan fingerprinting in the Santa Barbara region for the month of March are as follows;

• St. Paschal Baylon in Thousand Oaks on Thursday, March 11; please call 492-0222 for an appointment
• La Purisima Concepcion in Lompoc on Friday, March 12; please call 735-3068 for an appointment
• Blessed Junipero Serra in Camarillo on Saturday, March 13; please call 482-6417 for an appointment

Please remember, ALL volunteers must be fingerprinted in order to be on campus with children. For a form to take with you to your appt., please contact the school office.

Please report your service hours directly to Brenda Nielsen, our volunteer hour coordinator. She can be emailed at brenda.nielsen@gmail.com.

We have also started recycling HP Laser Toner cartridges for fund raising. We receive $3.00 for each original HP laser toner cartridge cartrige on our MaxPerks card at OfficeMax. Since the computer teacher has to take these to OfficeMax to receive the credit, PLEASE, PLEASE, only bring in genuine HP or OfficeMax toner cartridges. Any other cartridges cause us extra time and effort to dispose of. Thank You!

For more information, please see the following:

Parents, we need your help in ensuring a safe drop-off procedure for our students on Hot Springs Road in the morning. We ask that you do not use the side drop-off if you have children who need assistance to exit the car, if you have to help retrieve back packs from the trunk, comb hair, etc. We have received numerous complaints from parents and neighbors and need your help to improve this system of drop off. Parking is for faculty and staff only and we ask that parents not pull in half way, leaving their car sticking out and having to back up into the street. This is extremely unsafe and again, a cause for many complaints to the school office. If you are not quickly dropping off your child, you are asked to please use the parking lot on East Valley Road. Thank you for your help to ensure the safety of all our students!

All student cell phones are to be OFF and in a backpack at ALL TIMES. If they are seen by a teacher, they will be confiscated and parents will be required to retrieve the cell phone from Mrs. Regan.

Please note, our Extended Day Care Program has a phone number to be called when trying to reach the director after the school office has closed. The number is 969-6617.