In September of 1950, Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish opened a parochial school with twenty-eight first graders attending class in a parish hall. In these early years, kindergartners attended class in a nearby parish owned house, and classes were also held in a local Knights of Columbus hall.
Ground was broken for the current school building during the annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in July of 1951. The building was completed the following year and the school officially opened its doors in September of 1952 under the governance of the Order of Religious Sisters Filippini. The building was formally blessed and dedicated by the Most Reverend Bishop Russell J. McVinney. During this time the school contained grades kindergarten through six with an enrollment of one hundred forty students. In June 1958, OLMC School graduated its first class of twenty-five girls and boys.
In January of 1984 a new parish center was constructed and dedicated as an addition to the school building, which provided extra classroom space in the school building and multi-use space in the parish center for school lunch, physical education classes, music productions and numerous school and parish functions. This center was dedicated in memory of OLMC former pastor, Msgr. John W. Lolio in May of 2013.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel School started from a labor of love based on hope, faith, and a commitment to academic excellence and moral integrity. These values continue to be the foundation of this great school.
In 2014, after more than 60 years of religious leadership, the school transitioned to a lay administration upon the retirement and departure of the few remaining religious sisters. Today, the school operates under the leadership of Ms. Jessica Walters, principal, with the generous support and guidance of the Rev. Henry P. Zinno, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish.
The school now contains eleven grades ranging from pre-kindergarten-3 through grade 8, and employees fifteen full-time and ten part-time employees. It continues to be located in the beautiful historic district of Bristol, Rhode Island, surrounded by the Bristol Town Common, the parish church, and historic homes. The school is centrally located within the town, allowing students to perform community service at many local organizations.
The symbol is in the form of ancient cryptography and was designed especially for the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in 1967. The bar at the base of the symbol denotes “Earth” and the bar across the top is an ancient symbol meaning “Holiness”. The “M” is a “Mount” attached to the earth and the triangle topped with a vertical line is a cryptic symbol for “Woman”. The “O” and “C” are Roman letters.