Here is our May calendar!

 

May 2019

It is finally beginning to feel a bit like Spring!

We hope you enjoyed our first Annual Sports Night! It was an incredible success! Thanks to E3 Sports and Mr. Veras and Ms. Halina, the students were able to showcase their athleticism, problem-solving skills, and good sportsmanship. The students enjoyed the healthy smoothies prepared by Ms. Loscalzo, Ms. Debbie, and Ms. Kristen. A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Melissa Rober for organizing this incredible event. Her vision and passion for incorporating movement and healthy living made this family event a reality. Team Yellow took home the winning title! The event brought in $951 for our Physical Education program. Please share your comments and feedback with the HAA by e-mail haa@olmercyca.com. Thank you for your participation.  We look forward to this event for many years to come!

Here are some important updates from Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy!

 

Important Calendar Changes

 

• The official last day of school is Wednesday, June 19
• Wednesday, May 8 will be a regular day of instruction for Pre-K
• Friday, May 10 remains a professional development day for Nursery, Grade K-8. School will be open for Pre-K
• Wednesday, May 22 will be a 12PM dismissal for Grades Nursery, K-8; it is a regular day of instruction for Pre-K
• The Spring Concert has been rescheduled to Tuesday, June 4

 

Re-registration for 2019-2020

Families must be current on this year’s tuition to register for next year. It is imperative that you return the form as soon as possible to ensure that your child has a seat for the 2019-2020 school year. As of right now, we only have ONE seat available for Kindergarten! Please be sure to send in your re-registration form as soon as possible so that we can guarantee you a seat as well as complete our budgetary process for next year.

 

Financial Aid

Once you have registered for next year, you can apply online for a Diocesan scholarship. Families who apply during the first round are the only ones eligible for the maximum scholarship. For more information, please visit: www.futuresineducation.org.

Scholarship Deadlines:

• New families: April 29, 2019

If you need any assistance in completing the application, please contact Ms. Hinkson at 718-793-2086.

 

Lunch Duty Reminder

There is still plenty of time to schedule lunch duty for the remainder of the year. We need parent support to ensure that our students can have a safe lunch and recess.

You may sign up using the following links:

First Lunch: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0e44aba82ba2fa7-lunch11

Second Lunch: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0e44aba82ba2fa7-lunch10

Prior to the Easter break, you will receive an official notification as to the number of lunch duty hours you have completed. Please check for this notice in your child’s folder as you can plan for the remainder of the year. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Alleva at dalleva@olmercyca.com. Thank you for your part in making lunch and recess a success.

Race for Education

 Please mark your calendars! Our annual Walk-a-thon will be taking place on Friday, May 24. All information was distributed last week. If you need additional copies, please contact the office. With your help, we hope to raise even more funds for our school.

This year’s Race is dedicated to upgrading our Technology Lab! We hope to raise $20,000.00 to purchase 25 new laptops, a new JTouch SmartBoard, and new software and apps. With your help, we can make this a reality!

 

Each student will raise funds by asking sponsors- friends, neighbors and family-to donate a (tax deductible) fixed amount. Please collect pledges from friends and family and turn them in by Monday, May 20!

The Third Trimester is underway and our students are working as hard as ever! Our students have showcased so much of their talent over the last few weeks. Violet Dutton (Grade 5) came in third place at the Regional Religion Bee. Naomi Goya (Grade 6) earned  Honorable Mention. Both students will advance to the next round! Shane Mochwart (Grade 5) also represented OLMCA at the Middle Grades Math Bee. He did an outstanding job performing challenging mental math problems!

Last Sunday, we had our Annual Talent Show. You might have thought it was a Broadway production. Our students have tremendous talent! From singing and dancing to contemporary pop songs to classics such as “Hello Dolly,” our students truly shined bright! There was an expert on the E Train and a future scientist conducting fascinating experiments! It was a wonderful celebration of the many talents at OLMCA.

The Talent Show would not have been as successful as it was without an incredible group of parents. A HUGE thank you to the following parents: Yulieth Bran-Ortiz, Lillian Coca, Carolina DeLeonardis and family, Maria Holloway and family, Vanessa Ruddy Ramirez, Zara Ramirez, Gloria Saldarriaga, Albania Sarita-Rizzo, Kenia Sarita-Rizzo, and Monica Zurita. Thanks to their leadership, we were able to raise $1430.00 for 30 CASIO keyboards that will benefit the entire student body. We can’t wait to see what this incredible group plans next for OLMCA! Thank you to Father Greg for the sounds and lighting! Thank you to Ms. Altieri for coordinating the closing act. Thank you to Ms. Debbie Loscalzo and Ms. Alyssa Loscalzo for hosting the event! Thank you to Mr. Seubert for creating the program! Be sure to check out the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy to see some incredible photos captured by Walter Lin!

STEM LAB Grant

Have you heard the exciting news? OLMCA is the recipient of a LabLearner STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) grant. This grant totaling around $95,000.00 will completely revolutionize learning at OLMCA. The curriculum will spiral from Pre-K to Grade 8! As part of the grant, we will receive new furniture, equipment, manipulatives, chemicals, books, and more! In addition, our staff will receive two days worth of professional development!

 

We’ve had our initial site visit yesterday and are hoping to have the lab installed before the end of the school year. Stay tuned!

 

Re-registration for 2019-2020

 

Families must be current on this year’s tuition to register for next year. It is imperative that you return the form as soon as possible to ensure that your child has a seat for the 2019-2020 school year. As of right now, we only have TWO seats available for Kindergarten! Please be sure to send in your re-registration form as soon as possible so that we can guarantee you a seat as well as complete our budgetary process for next year.

Financial Aid

Once you have registered for next year, you can apply online for a Diocesan scholarship. Families who apply during the first round are the only ones eligible for the maximum scholarship. For more information, please visit: www.futuresineducation.org.

Scholarship Deadlines:

• New families: April 29, 2019

If you need any assistance in completing the application, please contact Ms. Hinkson at 718-793-2086.

Sports Night

Are you coming to Sports Night on Thursday, April 4?

This Thursday will be our FIRST Sports Night event from 6-8pm. The purpose of this event is to celebrate our students’ physical education advancements by hosting a healthy, exciting competition of relay races, as well as raise funds for the program. Unlike most other events, Sports Night NEEDS the students attendance in order for the games to be fair and complete. We urge you to make arrangements so that your child can attend and compete with their team. Youngest students will compete first, starting with Kindergarten at 6:15pm and ending with 8th grade by 8pm. Students have been assigned to a BLUE or YELLOW team. Winning teams will receive a smoothie party, free dress down day and an opportunity to plan activities during one gym class! 

Spring Photos

All students will be photographed on Tuesday, April 9. No money is initially required. Children can dress up or wear their school uniform. Flyers were sent home last week with all the information. If you want a specific background, please be sure to indicate it on the sheet. No money is due now. Once the pictures are sent home, you decide if you want to keep them or not. Please call Ms. Hinkson if you have any questions about Spring Picture Day.

Please note that students in Grades 5-8 should bring a change of clothes for their middle school concert in the afternoon.

Here is our April calendar:

 

April 2019

It has been an exciting month of March. A HUGE congratulations to Shane Mochwart (Grade 5) for winning our OLMCA Middle Grades Math Bee! He will be representing our school next week at the Regional Math Bee. Good luck to Shane!

Tanzania Lenten Project

For the season of Lent, students of OLMCA have been working on a school-wide initiative to bring milk to students in Tanzania. Heifer’s Milk Money program has been a huge success. Our middle school students have researched the history, politics, culture, and economics of Tanzania. The students used Google Slides to share and present their research with our younger students. Our younger students have even adopted cows! It’s been a fulfilling experience for our students and staff! We have concluded our Lenten project with a Milk and Cookies fundraiser. Stay tuned for our final collection!

Here are some quotes from our students about our Tanzania project:

“If people don’t have money for milk, they will get sick. We can help them.” – Oliver, Pre-K

“The children need to have milk with their snacks so we should buy a cow to help them get milk.”  -Isabella, Pre-K

“Is the cow that I am adopting going to come to my school?”-  Alex, Grade 1

“I am so happy to adopt a cow and help the poor people during Lent. I want to adopt 100 more cows.”  -Gabrielle, Grade 1

“Helping  the kids get milk is fun.  It will help them to get stronger.  It’s a good Lent project because God wants us to help people.” -Matthew, Grade 2

“I want to help kids in Tanzania get milk.  I adopted two cows. I am looking forward to the cookies and milk.  I hope we raise a lot of money.” -Selena, Grade 2

“The More Than Milk Project is connected to Lent because Lent is a season where we try to help others and make a difference to impact other people’s lives.” -Emily, Grade 8

“The More than Milk Project helped me to realize that I have things in my everyday life that other people do not have at all.” -Thomas, Grade 8

Thank you to Mrs. Starace for organizing this wonderful project.

 

New York State Testing

New York State English Language Art Testing will take place on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3 for students in Grades 4, 6 and 7. As you are aware, a decision was made earlier in the year by the Office of the Superintendent to administer the Grade 7 ELA and Math tests in the Spring of 2019 and eliminate testing -Grade 8 ELA and Math.  However, we will continue to administer Science in Grade 8. Our students and their teachers have been hard at work preparing for these exams. We wish them the best of luck as they take their exams. For students to truly do their best, they need to come to school on time, have a good night’s sleep, and a healthy breakfast.

Re-registration for 2019-2020

Families must be current on this year’s tuition to register for next year. It is imperative that you return the form as soon as possible to ensure that your child has a seat for the 2019-2020 school year.  Please be sure to send in your re-registration form as soon as possible so that we can guarantee you a seat.

Financial Aid

Once you have registered for next year, you can apply online for a Diocesan scholarship. Families who apply during the first round are the only ones eligible for the maximum scholarship. For more information, please visit: www.futuresineducation.org.

Scholarship Deadlines:

• Families who received an award last academic year: March 29, 2019
• New families: April 29, 2019

If you need any assistance in completing the application, please contact Ms. Hinkson at 718-793-2086.

OLMCA Talent Show

Come and see our amazingly talented OLMCA students at our annual talent on Sunday, March 31 at 1:30pm. You will be in for a treat when you hear our incredible singers, dedicated dancers, and lots more. This is a fun event for the entire family! We hope to see you there!

Sports Night

Are you coming to Sports Night on Thursday, April 4?

A reminder that next Thursday will be our FIRST Sports Night event from 6-8pm. The purpose of this event is to celebrate our students’ physical education advancements by hosting a healthy, exciting competition of relay races, as well as raise funds for the program. Unlike most other events, Sports Night NEEDS the students attendance in order for the games to be fair and complete. We urge you to make arrangements so that your child can attend and compete with their team. Youngest students will compete first, starting with Kindergarten at 6:15pm and ending with 8th grade by 8pm. Students have been assigned to a BLUE or YELLOW team. Winning teams will receive a smoothie party, free dress down day and an opportunity to plan activities during one gym class! 

From the Board of Directors

 

Following are some of the highlights from March Board of Directors meeting:

• Maureen and Michael Tinnirello were present at the Board meeting for the first half hour. They wanted to inform the Board that after discussions with their two children (who attended OLMCA) they would like to make annual donations to the school in their child Michèle René Tinnirello’s memory.  Michèle René passed away when she was a student at OLMCA.  and Mrs.  Tinnirello endorsed the idea that we will commemorate these recurring donations with a naming opportunity.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Tinnirello left the meeting and the Board resumed discussing the items on the Agenda.

 

• OLMCA participated in the OLM Ministries Fair. Information about the school and Home Academy Association (HAA).  Parishioners came down to the Church Hall after every Mass on March 9^th and 10^th.  Several parishioners took information about the school and the HAA.  One parishioner volunteered to be on a committee.

 

• With the student population at PS 144 increasing significantly, the traffic and drop-off for our students will be further complicated. We have reached out to the principal at PS 144 to determine if she would partner with to file a request to have the NYC bus route changed.

 

• The principal, Board Chairperson and Treasurer met to discuss the 2019-2020 budget. Data are in the hands of the accountant who is preparing a preliminary budget which will be provided to the Board at the April Board meeting. 

We also discussed a question raised by the HAA regarding the $150 that some parents pay in lieu of volunteering for lunch duty.  The question they have is, “What does the school do with this money?”   At the State of the Academy meeting we answered this question by stating that tuition, fees, unrestricted donations are used for “operations” which means, salaries, benefits, utilities, supplies, insurance, rent, custodians, etc.  Since tuition pays for only 43.5% of all expenses, we need the fees and other revenue to make up the difference.   

This topic was also raised and addressed at the State of the Academy meeting. The statement below was included in the follow-up communications sent to all parents and guardians in the event they missed the meeting: 

 

One of the roles of the HAA is planning and coordinating fund-raising activities.   During this process, members of the HAA and the Principal can discuss and decide how the funds generated by the event should be spent.  It is important to remember that restricting the funds for special projects (such as the playground or E 3 Sports) is an option, but the Academy does need additional funds for operations. This option should also be considered during the discussions.

 

• We obtained information regarding a Robotics after school program which another academy has. The program was introduced and has been facilitated by two parents who made a commitment to be at the school every week to work with the students.  The students initially worked on programing the robot and when they gained expertise and confidence, they enrolled in the First Lego League competitions. 

 

Robotics can be structured as an afterschool program or integrated into the computer / science instructions. Principal McCann indicated that she would like future fundraising revenues to be used to upgrade and revamp the Computer /Science Lab. This would provide an opportunity to include robotics for all students.

 

• Detailed work continues in preparing and submitting documents and information to obtain an Absolute Charter from New York State. The amount of work that the Principal and staff have to prepare is detailed, time consuming and absolutely necessary.  It is imperative that all related constituencies provide support and minimize distractions during this important time in the life of our school.

 

 Representatives from the Diocese have been on site to observe the teachers, review procedures /policies / records and inspect the facilities.  They provided positive feedback and made valuable suggestions.

OLMCA invites you to our first annual…

SPRTS NIGHT

Come cheer for your class team (Blue or Yellow) as ALL students grades K – 8  are invited compete in relay races that test the physical fitness and cognitive strengths they have been learning during their new gym and recess programs hosted by E3 Sports and OLMCA’s teachers!

Race challenges include hula hooping, dribbling, cup stacking, human tic tac toe, planks, Connect Four and more.

Thursday April 4th, 2019

OLM Parish Hall, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Cost: $5 per adults, $2 per child 3-14 years old

 

Healthy snacks will be sold!

(Adult tickets entered in wine bottle raffle 🙂

 

WEAR YOUR TEAM COLOR- BLUE or YELLOW

 

* All funds will go towards further supporting recess supervision/management for 2019, as well as new gym class accessories to include game equipment, storage, dry erase board, etc.*

____________________________________________________________________________

SPORTS NIGHT – ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE due Friday March 29th

 

Student’s Full  Name: _______________________________________________________  

 

Number of Adult tickets ($5 each): _____________

 

Number of Child tickets ($2 each): _____________

 

TOTAL amount enclosed: _____________________

Tickets sold at the door, and can also be purchased via Paypal on OLMCA.org