8/13/24
Dear OMS Families,
Welcome back to school!!! We are so blessed to have such wonderful students and families in our community. We look forward to another great year at OMS!
We invite parents to attend the First Day of School Assembly tomorrow. Please be sure to say your goodbyes to your students before the assembly begins. At the end of our assembly, parents will be dismissed, while students will stay with their teachers on the turf. At that time, parents are invited to come to the church garden for coffee! We hope you will join us!
Faculty and staff appreciate partnering together with parents and guardians, as we are a strength for our students and one another during our scholars’ educational journeys. This fits quite well with this year’s theme—Love Truly! This theme calls us to reflect on Christ’s love in our own decisions and to be kind and respectful in all we do and with everyone we interact with. We will continue to educate each child as a whole - body, mind, and spirit - helping them “Love Truly” and know that they are truly loved by our God.
Summer always brings a bit of excitement around the campus! We reroofed the pavilion as the torrential rains last year damaged some of the computer wiring, which also had to be fixed. The fascia boards were fixed and painted around the schools. Trees were trimmed away from the building. And we finally have a construction agreement to begin window replacement. Last spring, contractors found asbestos in some of the glue that was used to install the original windows. Classroom windows will be removed and replaced without students present next school year, but we will replace windows and doors around the school that do not have asbestos in them this fall.
Be sure to save the date - Wednesday, August 21, from 5PM to 7PM is Back-to-School Night! This event is for parents only. Please come and spend some time getting to know our faculty and staff and our parent community.
There are a few faculty and staff updates. Emily Stone joins our team as third grade’s homeroom teacher. Amy Fraser joins our middle school math department. Gianna Ariente will be our middle school religion teacher. Rosa Berrara and Kathi DiPeri join us as instructional aides in transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, respectively. Erin Cross returns as ASA support! A new aide backed out at the last minute so we are looking for at least one more, but two would be better! If you know of anyone who might be interested, the job opportunity is posted on EdJoin.
Please be sure to read the Handbook before school starts. As noted in June, our start time remains the same but release time is slightly later for kindergarten through 8th grades on regular days.
Thank you for choosing Old Mission School as your family’s school. We are honored to partner with you to provide a premier Catholic educational experience. Our doors are always open; please reach out if you have any questions.
A Catholic education is an advantage for life!
Blessings,
Tess Barket
We have a few reminders and notes to share:
- The first three days of school are minimum days. After-School Activities (ASA) will begin on the first day of school. Pick-up for ASA will be MOVED back to Mill Street this year. ASA is available until 5:30 PM (unless otherwise communicated). Charges will begin when students sign in beginning at 2:05.
- Drop-off is from 7:45 to 8:00 a.m. Students should enter through our side doors. Drivers, please do not park or get out of your car in the drop-off zone on Broad and Peach Streets. Please do not pull onto Mill Street between MCP and OMS to drop off or pick up students. Our tardy bell rings at 8:02. Once the side doors are locked, students should enter through the front office door.
- Middle school students should enter through the Peach Street door to turn in their phones.
- TK-5th-grade students may enter through either of the side doors during morning drop-off.
- Construction is happening on streets near our school, and some are closed. Be prepared to take detours.
- Please do NOT double park when picking up or dropping off children. This is for the safety of you and all of our students.
- Pick-up is always at the main campus. If you have more than one child, please pick up ALL of your children at the time of your OLDEST CHILD’s dismissal time (see linked schedule). Younger siblings will stay with their teachers until older siblings pick them up. Odd grades will be picked up on Mill Street, and even grades will be picked up on Peach Street; please go to the corner associated with your oldest child enrolled at OMS.
- When picking up your child, please pull up as cars drive off to allow people to pull in behind you. Please be courteous to the parking supervisors, who help expedite drop-off and pick-up while keeping all of our scholars safe. It’s not an easy job.
- If your child is sick, please keep her/him home from school.
- Parents are invited to attend the morning assembly at 8:00 am on the first day of school. Please say goodbye to your child(ren) before assembly begins. Our Parent Club invites you to join us for our Welcome Back Coffee in the Mission parish garden immediately following assembly. Parents will be excused to leave campus before students head to classrooms.
- Parents are welcome to attend our morning assembly on Friday mornings. Please park in the public parking lot/garage by the library or a metered parking space by Mission Church. The MCP garage is reserved for employees, and the space around our school is for drop-off and pick-up only.
- If your child walks home after school or will go downtown with friends, please email BJ permitting your child to do so. Please include if this is a one-day plan or for the year.
- Hot lunch will be offered beginning next week. Don’t forget to order lunches THREE days in advance. On minimum days, students are encouraged to bring a snack.
