Mercy Peek & Ponder by Mr. McGrath
Volume III Issue 2 Sunday, September 18, 2016
Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School
Email: jmcgrath@olmcatholicschool.com
Website: www.olmcatholicschool.com
Location: 29 Conwell Drive, Maple Glen, PA, United States
Phone: 215-646-0150
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Our-Lady-of-Mercy-Regional-Catholic-School-1427959374084742/?ref=bookmarks
From the Principal
When we enter into a home, school, or church and feel warmly welcomed, we soon realize the love among those who are already there is what makes that welcome possible. Everyone longs to enter such a place, where all are welcome, where we can lay our burdens down, where we can heal the wounded heart.
This kind of welcoming community begins with an inviting hospitality, where the stranger feels safe to discover his or her own gifts. The invitation is more than an expression of love for the guest. It is a living sign of God’s friendship offered to all people. This powerful love of a Christian community conveys an authentic message: we love you, we need you, and we are incomplete without you.
Our Lady of Mercy welcomes all of our new families and all our new students – 37 new families & 66 new students. We offer you God’s gentleness, love and mercy.
Our virtue of the month is CHARITY. Students will learn the virtue of CHARITY and HOSPITALITY as reflected through welcoming. CHARITY & MERCY are shown when we welcome guests, new students, and new teachers into our lives with kindness. When we are charitable, we are open our hearts to others, we focus on the positive. Sometimes chairty requires that we cross boundaries and reduce some of the barriers established in our society to keep “the others” out. Charity is a way to peace in our conflicted world. Students will also learn how Blessed Teresa of Calcutta served others with a welcoming spirit, charity and mercy. Student Peacemakers will be recognized at the school liturgy on Friday, October 7th at 9AM.
OLM is rooted in God ... and growing in MERCY!
Mr. John C. McGrath, M.Ed.
PRINCIPAL
Upcoming Events
September 22
Mercy Day
Prayer Service with Student Council/NJHS Installation, 2PM (Church)
September 23
Club Day #1
September 28
Class Mass, 9AM - Grade 5
Dine & Donate to benefit Mrs. Myers and her family
Take a night off from cooking and enjoy some great food. This event will benefit our beloved former teacher, Mrs. Myers and her family. Allison's baby daughter, Elizabeth is critically ill. Just let the server know that you are with Our Lady of Mercy and the Fireside will donate 20% if your food order to the Myers Family.
*excludes alcohol and gratuity
Monday, Sep 26, 2016, 11:00 AM
The Fireside Bar & Grille, South Bethlehem Pike, Ambler, PA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Middle School Clubs - 2016-2017
2. Spanish
3. Model UN
4. Forensics (Public Speaking)
5. Engineering
6. Rosary
7. Yearbook
8. Chime Choir
9. Craft
10. Words, Words, Words
11 National History
Education is a pretty broad concept that surpasses the four walls of a classroom. The core aim of education is to foster all round development of a child. All round development essentially means intellectual, physical, moral, sensible, social, and spiritual development. All round development can be achieved only through education. To fulfill these objectives, there is a prime need of striking a balance between syllabus, curriculum, books and also co-curricular activities beyond that.
Co-Curricular activities are those which are undertaken side by side with the curricular activities. A co-curricular activity essentially takes place outside a typical pen and pencil classroom experience. It gives the students an opportunity to develop particular skills and exhibit their unique abilities.
They actually complement the curricular activities and groom the students in the “Art of living and working together.” They are the true and practical experiences gained by students by their own learnings.
A Chinese proverb very aptly states, “Teach me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember. Involve me, and I will never forget.” To a very great extent, the theoretical knowledge is enhanced when a co-curricular activity related to the content taught, is organized. Intellectual development of the personality is achieved to a great extent, in the classroom itself. But, the aesthetic development like character building, spiritual and moral values, physical growth, creativity and many more are backed up by co-curricular activities only. It also professes coordination, adjustment, and speech fluency, extempore and debating skills amongst students.
Co-curricular activities render a number of values like:
- Educational value
- Psychological Values
- Development of Social Values
- Development of Civic Values
- Physical Development Values
- Recreational Values
- Cultural Values
Co-curricular activities are vital because even though they are not a part of the core curriculum, they play a very crucial role in giving the boys and girls the ability to mould their lives to become well rounded people.
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION...
We Can’t Do It Without You!
The Home and School Association sponsors a full calendar of social events, fundraisers, meetings and programs each year. Lots of volunteers are needed to help make this happen. Contact Mirella Palme at mirellapalme@verizon.net our volunteer coordinator to lend a hand!
To view a list of current volunteers and chairs/co-chairs, or to sign up as a volunteer, please https://sites.google.com/site/olmhsaweb/volunteers
GIANT A+ REWARDS PROGRAM
Welcome to the start of a new school year and a year of A+ School Rewards. Beginning October 12, 2016 through March 17, 2017, Our Lady of Mercy will have the opportunity to earn cash through the Giant A+ School Rewards Program. Our School ID # is 26548.
All you have to do is: Log on to www.giantfoodstores.com/aplus to designate our school online using your Giant BONUSCARD - or - Call the A+ Hotline at 888 - 448 - 4642 for assistance.
Remember: If you registered your card last year, you DO NOT need to re- register this year. You can visit the website to verify the correct school assignment.
Also, don’t forget to encourage your friends and relatives to do the same. It could mean more CASH for our school. After you register your card, each shopping trip to Giant using your BONUSCARD earns CASH for our school. Each month, the amount of CASH awarded will be updated on the Giant A+ website.
You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery receipt and online when you create an account at www.giantfoodstores.com.
Our school will receive a check at the end of the program and the money can be used for any of our school’s educational needs.
Thanks for supporting our school.If you have any questions, please contact Janine Braccia at janinebraccia@comcast.net.
MERCY DAY
On Thursday, September 22th, OLM will be celebrating Mercy Day, a day celebrated by 11,000 Sisters of Mercy and their friends and colleagues around the world. This is the day on which Catherine McAuley first opened the House of Mercy in Baggot Street, Dublin, Ireland and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mercy.
In honor of Mercy Day, the H&S would like to host a luncheon for the faculty and staff who devote their time and energies to our children. We are asking for parent volunteers to help prepare and serve the luncheon and to assist with lunchroom/recess duties.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090c4fabaf2fa64-mercy2
Thank you for your help and for recognizing the importance of this celebration. We also hope to see you at the school's prayer service at 2:00 pm.
Nancy Emma, Liz Selgrath and the H&S Board
Our Lady of Mercy School Band
Students who are interested in information about the OLM Instrumental Music Program should contact Frank Ferraro @ band@olmcatholicschool.com. Anyone who needs an information sheet or registration form should come to the front office.
Virtue of the Month: CHARITY
Our virtue of the month of September is CHARITY. When you think of people who were amazing examples of charity - Mother Teresa definitely makes the top ten list. She explained once what this virtue of charity is all about.
"Love in action is service. Become friends to those who have no friends. Become family to those who have no family. Become community to those who have no community."
Charity is just that simple - love people as God would love them. So why is it such a hard virtue to put into practice? Probably because it means we have to forget ourselves and put the other person first. We have to change our priorities. That may mean to glance up from our phone or tablet to look around at the needs of others. It may mean to stop what we are doing and change our plans to help someone in need. Charity may be as easy as just listening to someone who is lonely.
There is a trick to living charity. Plug into the Holy Spirit! Many people wonder what kind of relationship we can have with the Holy Spirit every day. He is the Spirit of Love, the Great Consolor. He can inspire us and point out things we may miss to help us live the virtue of charity. Be honest with God - let him know that sometimes you get caught up in what you have to do and you forget the needs of others. Ask him for help. Say this little prayer whenever you can and your charity will grow.
"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love."
Students will be recognized at the School Liturgy on Friday, October 7th.
Our theme for this school year at OLM is “Rooted in God ... and growing in MERCY."
Our theme for this school year at OLM is “OLM is rooted in God and growing in Mercy”. Keeping this theme in mind our OLM community will be collecting donations throughout the school year. These donations will help to spread mercy on a larger scale. In this way we can help mercy to grow in the larger world community in addition to our own community at OLM. These mission collections will take place each Wednesday. Please encourage your child to bring donations regardless of how large or small the donations are. Every donation makes a positive difference in helping mercy to grow.
During the month of September we will once again be accepting donations to support the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA). This Association was founded on the idea of children helping other children. The main ways that this Association encourages children to help are through daily prayer for other children and through making monetary donations of their own money. This money is used to support projects throughout the world that are focused on improving the lives of other children in many ways. We look forward to continuing to support organizations that help mercy to grow. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
OLM Peanut Aware Policy
It is the goal of OLM to partner with parents to ensure a safe environment while children are attending school. With the understanding that OLM is not a “peanut free” school, if a student with a peanut, tree nut allergy attends OLM, the school will partner with the student’s parents to educate teachers, students, and other parents.
Teachers and staff have been trained on what it means to have a life-threatening allergy, precautions, and treatment. They also have procedures to adhere to and are familiar with students who have life-threatening allergies. They have also been trained on the use of the epipen.
Our classrooms are “peanut, tree nut free” for the safety of some of our students. Please do not send foods with peanut or tree nut products in them. In the lunch room, there is a designated “peanut free zone”. OLM cannot prohibit peanut or tree nut products at lunch or police the lunches of students. OLM asks parents to make careful and prayerful decisions about sending peanut or tree nut products to school. Our website lists “nut safe treats recommendations for the classroom”.
OLM will require that an Emergency Action Plan be completed by the parents and the health care provider. The plan will include signs and symptoms of a reaction as well and interventions to minimize the reaction. Any required medications, such as an epipen or Benadryl, will need to be prescribed by the child’s physician and attached to the Emergency Action Plan.
News from the OLM Cafe
Enter to win a FREE COOKIE daily for one whole week! -ONE raffle ticket will be awarded for every lunch bought from Monday through Thursday each week during the month of September.
MY STUDENT'S PROGRESS (MSP)
Our Lady of Mercy uses a web-based school management software system called http://MyStudentsProgress.com. MyStudentsProgress.com provides parents secure online access to track grades, assignments, and attendance. This system provides improved parent communications with our school, resulting in increased parental involvement to raise student’s academic achievement.
Parents can track their student’s progress from home, work or on the road from any computer with a connection to the internet. Below is a list of all the modules that will be opened over the next few weeks.
This system also allows parents to update information themselves. We encourage every parent to log in and correct / update any information that was not accurately entered into MSP.
We try very hard to make sure the information parents provide to us is accurately uploaded to MSP, however, we are asking parents to input or correct your information directly if you see any errors.
On Thursday, August 4th, an email will be sent to each registered family / email providing you with your individual log-in information. Please look for this email on 8-4-16 and let us know if you did not receive it. Please check you spam folders as well.
CONSIDER SCRIP!
We are now taking orders for scrip. Scrip enables you to earn money just by doing your regular shopping. The best way to order is via the shopwithscrip.com website using the enrollment code 8E8L5AC76615. You can also send in a paper order form, which is available atolmcatholicschool.com using the scrip tab under the Family Information header. Be aware that rebates, retailers and denominations available do sometimes change, so even if you aren't placing your order online, check shopwithscrip.com for the most up-to-date information. When placing an online order, you will be able to print out your order confirmation and send it in with a check, or pay online using Prestopay, an automatic bank debit. The family portion of the rebate has been increased to 85%, so the potential tuition savings are significant. Some families earned hundreds of dollars in tuition credits last year. The primary goal of this program is to help keep an OLM education affordable for our families, so be sure to take advantage of this benefit. Orders placed by Monday at Noon will be available for pick-up by Thursday afternoon.
Volunteer for Lunch Duty at OLM!
Two parent volunteers must be on-duty in the school yard - before the playground is open. This ensures the safety of ALL. Our active volunteer program not only provides valuable hands-on assistance through the school, but also benefits the children by reinforcing ties between the children’s individual homes as well as the community at large, and the school. The Lunch/Recess Duty Volunteer program is a great way to volunteer and become involved at the school.
Sign up for Lunch Duty at:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4daaa622a6f49-lunch5Birthday Blessings this Week!
Sunday, 09/18
Meredith Hesstnar
Mrs. Tenzinger
Monday, 09/19
Emma Brennan
Tuesday, 09/20
Elias Morgans
Wednesday, 09/21
Anthony Gentile
Thursday, 09/22
Ivy Wei
Ms. Masucci
Friday, 09/23
Claire Roper
Annalise Womelsdorf
Saturday, 09/24
Lily Auxer
Devon Sweeney
ALTAR SERVICE THIS WEEK 9AM
Tuesday, 09/20: TBA
Wednesday, 09/21: Lauren Bauer
Thursday, 09/22: Ciara Peyton
Friday, 09/23: Siobhan Brogan