December 2025

Dear Our Lady of Mount Carmel Families, 

           As I write this, I am so filled with happiness because our halls are filled with the excitement of happy children awaiting Christmas. More Impotantly we await the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ. Few images touch the heart as much as the picture of the baby Jesus on the first Christmas surrounded by the shepards, Wise Men and of course Joseph and Mary. That image is the personification of Peace. A peace we are so in need of in these times. After celebrating our 100th Anniversary last Year we committed ourselves to the next 100 years ahead. We have had a very succesful first half of this school year thus far and are excited for what lays ahead in 2026. . We have also welcomed our new students who have gotten acclimated to our building and are so happy with their choice of being at Ou Lady of Mount Carmel. Our newest venture is a partnership with City Squash, an organization in our community that is dedicated to teaching our accepted students the game of Squash. They also provide so much more in the way of tutoring, high school and college support and assistance to parents whose children are involved in the program. We were also the invited guests for this years Toys for Tots at St Barnabas Hospital. It was a wonderful day with our students being treated to multiple gifts, a pizza party and a wonderful giving experience all funded through Operation Hope. Two wonderful relationships we are happy to have added to the Mount Carmel Experience. Our Drama Club is in full swing working towards their Spring show. Student Council elections were held in November and our canned food drive and toy collection drives were both a big success thanks to the hard work of our newly elected Student Council .CYO Basketball season is underway and our athletes are representing us very well on the hardwood. So much is happening at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and we are always looking for more to enhance our students OLMC experience. As we begin our 2026, in the 101st year of our wonderful school. We have so much to be thankful for and we are so thankful here at OLMC. Now more than ever our Catholic faith must be the bedrock of our very foundation. Teachers, Parents,Staff and Students have come together to continue the great tradition of Catholic Education here at Mount Carmel. We have perservered together and it has made our family stronger and forced us to be better.The teamwork shown by all those collective groups is what makes us succesful and allowed us to persevere. We do it together! I am so proud of what we have accomplished in my seven years at OLMC.  I am so proud of the hard work and dedication of our teachers and staff, the patience and thankfulness of our parents and the courage and strength of our wonderful students, but our work continues and we continue to plan and focus on the future and the next 100 years of wonderful students to come. We must continue to dedicate ourselves to our Catholic faith in the face of what are still difficult times.. We are mindful, vigilant , but we are confident that together we can be successful in anything we put our mind to. As we move into Winter, we again continue upgrading in all areas especially school safety and technology with an influx of new chromebooks for our classrooms and a full time security guard at our front door. We have implemented our new FACTS system, which promises to be a more effective and interactive system that will benefit the students and parents experience. Last school year, we completed an upgrade in both our security cameras and school intercom system, as well as upgrading our security doors. We are again up and running in our quest to build up our Art and Music Program with programs such as Piano and Guitar lessons in addition to our Drama Club. We have updated our classrooms with new air Conditioners last Spring that were much needed. In 2026, we are also committed on continuing our relationship with Fordham University ,so our students may enjoy and can enjoy the beautiful college campus that is just a stones throw away.  We continue to be dedicated to educating the whole student, mind, body and spirit. I ask that we all continue to work hard and be vigilant to ensure that our children stay happy and healthy. We thank you for choosing OLMC and would be happy to welcome anyone who you may refer to us to become a part of our school.  Again, Thank you for putting your faith in Catholic Education and in Our Lady of Mount Carmel School. Our door is always open to to you. May God Bless you and Best of Luck to all our students and teachers as we prepare for the 2026-2027 school year ahead. Let us look ahead to Winter and Spring and the wonderful times and experiences that lay ahead.

Regards and Blessings,
 Mr. John Musto, Principal

 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pray for Us. Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.