Dear Friends and Parents,

I was pleased to see so many parents at our annual Curriculum Night last Thursday. A big "MCA Thank You" to our Pastor Father Srenn for the opening prayer and continued support, the School Board President, Dan Galante for his motivational address and the Parent Association President, Lisa Hebert for her entertaining speech. Most of all I would like to thank the "stars" of the evening, our dedicated Mount Carmel Academy faculty!

There are only a few areas of life in which elementary students are more knowledgeable than their parents: the Internet is one such area. Our children are often much more knowledgeable about surfing the Net than we adults are. MCA is happy to assist you in understanding how today's youth are interacting via the Internet. It can be a remarkable tool, but also a dangerous place. To assist parents with the protection of their children, we are pleased to present an Internet Safety Seminar for parents, courtesy of The Cook County Sheriff Youth Services Department. The Sheriff's Department will present "Mind Your Kid's Business!" on Tuesday, September 18, 2007. The program will take place in the Casey Hall Cafeteria at 6:30 pm. Please use the Casey Hall entrance. The evening will be hosted by our Assistant Principal, Ian Van Cleaf and our technology teacher, Carrie Bernabe. I encourage everyone to attend.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to call me at 773-525-8779.

Sincerely,

Shane Staszcuk,
Principal

Family Mass has been a long tradition of Mount Carmel Academy and Our Lady Of Mount Carmel, beginning over a decade ago when some MCA parents and parishioners recognized how good it is for us to come together for prayer and community . Once a month during the school year, each class takes a turn hosting the 9:30a.m. Sunday Mass at the church and reception following in the MCA cafeteria. Please help the families listed below by offering to donate breakfast treats or your time. We look forward to seeing you at the first school sponsored family Mass of the 2007-2008 school year on September 30, 2007! See you at Mass.

FAMILY MASS SCHEDULE 2007-2008
9/30/07 Third Grade - Brenda and John Miklaszewski
10/21/07 Fourth Grade - Susan Gredell
11/18/07 Sixth Grade - Matt and Maria Ambre
12/2/07 Pre-K and Kindergarten - Stacie Michaels
1/13/08 Seventh Grade - John and Brenda Miklaszewski
2/3/08 Second Grade - Ed and Andrea Villasenor
3/2/08 Fifth Grade - Lisa Hebert
4/6/08 First Grade - Flo Albarracin and Kate Mulligan
MAY Eighth Grade - STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS TO HELP ORGANIZE THIS!

Please call Brenda Miklaszewski at 773-477-2043

Our annual Innisbrook fundraiser continues until September 24. Every family is encouraged to participate. Don't forget that 50% of your sales count toward your Mandatory Fundraising Obligation. The online ordering system makes it easy for out of town friends and relatives to help MCA. In order to use the online ordering system, you must first register your family and assign each student a seller number. This ensures that your child receives proper credit for online sales. The "register sellers" link on the www.innisbrook.com home page is the place to start. Our school number when ordering 111012.

Thank You!

Click here to shop

A yearly schedule of Hot Dog and Jeans Days was sent home Friday via backpack express.

You may send in a note or leave a message on the school answering machine. If a student is absent and we have not been notified by a parent, the school personnel will attempt to contact a parent of the child to verify that the student is safe. This is done to ensure the safety of our students.

Private music instruction and music performance is a valuable skill to develop for children. Skills learned through the discipline of music transfer to many facets of life including discipline, communication skills, and cognitive skills.

Beginning band is customized to focus on the specific learning needs of children grades 4-8.

Band is focused on:

Fundamentals of Music, Proper Musical Technique, Focused warm-up, Reading skills and Performance

Mr. Franklin, who is also our PK3 Teaching Assistant, has a masters degree from The Chicago College of Performing Arts in music performance and is currently a student of Laurie Frink.

For more information about joining Mr. Franklin's extra-curricular band program or to schedule a private music lesson, please contact him at franklin@mountcarmelacademy.org

Click here for the Band 2007 sign up form

It is very important that Hot Lunch order forms are turned in on time. Each month the office finds itself scrambling to get late orders accepted by the food service company so our children get hot lunch. The October orders must be back by September 17. Please consider the due date for lunch orders as a firm deadline, instead of a "suggested" due date.

Click here for lunch menu and order forms

If you are interested in assisting the Faculty member of your child's grade with projects, dances, field trips, events, room parties and networking with other parents in the grade, please consider becoming a room parent. I would like to get these positions in place ASAP. I will also need room parents for Music/Gym/Art/Tech, so if that interests you, let me know. 

Please address any queries or forward contact information to me at: amgawrit@aol.com or 773-267-5881.



Thanks in advance. 

Andrea Gawrit

Room Parent Coordinator

Chess is a great way for kids to increase their brainpower while socializing with their peers. The class is open to students in grades Kindergarten to 8th. Classes start Friday, September 21.

Click here for Chess Wizards

For the 12th straight year, former MCA parent and professional dance instructor, Cathern Vaccaro, is offering after-school dance classes at MCA. This year, Mrs. Vaccaro is offering dance classes on Mondays for PK3 and PK4 students and Wednesdays for K and 1st grade students. For more information, please contact Mrs. Vaccaro at 773-472-4356.

It's time to register for Smiling Strings for those students who wish to learn the violin, viola or cello. For 14 years this program has been offered by Deborah Grimes and her qualified staff during the lunch recess. Children as young as pre-K can join and receive two small group lessons a week. 

For more info please call 773-301-8542 or Click here to register online

Welcome to "Dancing with Class" - Fall 2007. This year, Mount Carmel Academy has been invited to take part in the Dance-Off Event at the Chicago Cultural Center! Come join your classmates in a 10- week dance instruction program brought to you by "May I Have This Dance," in which you'll be learning the Merengue, Swing, Waltz, Tango, and Salsa to prepare for the Dance-Off! Dance classes will meet on Thursdays after school in Casey Hall 2:45-3:45 starting next week, Sept. 20. Our instructor will be Coleen MacDonald, who has been teaching Ballroom Dance at Mount Carmel for the last few years. The class size will be limited to 30 students, 15 boys and 15 girls, so sign up quickly - it will be first-come- first-serve. The cost for the 10-week session will be $50/student, checks payable to Mount Carmel Academy

A VERY SPECIAL OFFERING! YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS GREAT OPPORTUNIy JUST IN TIME FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS!
Professional Photographer, Bozena Budzynska (mom of 6th grader Filip and alumni, Helenka!) has for the third year in a row, offered to photograph your family! This year, she is offering 3 options! Two include Christmas CARDS!
Bozena will be setting up her portable studio in Casey Hall on Saturday, October 13 and 20. Please call for an appointment 312 664-2271 and visit www.bbphotographs.com to see "some" of Bozena's work.
The standard sitting fee charge of $100 is being lowered to $25.00 for this MCA exclusive session. Bozena will donate 100% of the sitting fee towards the Christmas bonuses for MCA Teachers! BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR MORE INFORMATION IN YOUR CHILDS FRIDAY FOLDER, SEPTEMBER 21