About OMP
Our Mother of Peace Elementary has sometimes been referred to as one of the best-kept little secrets in the town of Church Point. OMP has been offering a solid Catholic education to the Church Point community for over 100 years. From an age appropriate, center-based PK3 and PK4 program all the way through 8th grade, our students have access to a strong academic program developed within a loving, Catholic environment.
The faculty, staff and students of Our Mother of Peace Elementary continuously strive to accomplish our mission, which is to achieve academic excellence through the words and actions of Christ. The motto used to carry out this mission comes from the Benedictine monks: ora et labora, which means pray and work. OMP not only seeks patronage from the Blessed Mother under the title ‘Our Mother of Peace,’ but also through a Total Consecration. The entire school body participated in a 33 day Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary in the fall of 2015, which ended on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. In addition, OMP is blessed to have a religious sister on staff to further promote the Catholic faith throughout the student body.
The faculty and staff of OMP take pride in helping students reach their full potential. Every classroom at OMP is equipped with an interactive whiteboard that allows our students and faculty access to the most current technology to enhance the learning experience. In addition, OMP has acquired over $100,000 in technology through a Block Grant. Students in Kindergarten through 5th grades each have a Chrome Tablet and students in 6th through 8th grades have access to a class set of Microsoft Surface Pro Tablets. Each of these classrooms are equipped with the latest Promethean boards, ActiveSlates and ActiView presenters. All of this equipment allows for our students to participate in technology enhanced lessons on a daily basis, along with the ability to access their Google Classroom from any anywhere and anytime, with teachers who are Google-Educator trained.
Our curriculum is approved by the State of Louisiana and the Diocese of Lafayette, as we are accredited by the Louisiana State Department of Education. In addition to the core curriculum subjects, Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies, Religion is taught on a daily basis. The curriculum is enriched with classes of computer, physical education, library, STEM. Title-I funded math and reading labs are available for at-risk students, and Speech and Resource services are provided by the Acadia Parish School Board.
It is our vision to create an environment where every child is inspired and challenged to meet his / her educational potential within a loving Catholic environment so that they will have the religious, social and educational tools to be all that God intended. The faculty and staff carry out this vision daily to provide our students with the tools they need to be all that God intended them to become.
A Little History…
Our Mother of Peace's doors first opened in 1914 as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School under the direction of Father Auguste François Roger. Fr. Roger had arranged for five of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception from New Orleans to staff the school under the supervision of Mother Bernadette, superior of the convent and the school. The convent and the school were built in the same location where the first chapel was built by Jesuit missionaries from Grand Coteau in 1850, near a bend (in French, “pointe”) in Bayou Plaquemine. The chapel’s official name was Immaculate Heart of Mary, but was popularly known as “l’eglise à la pointe” – the church at the point, which became shortened to Church Point. Today, the Our Mother of Peace Gym occupies the site where the convent once stood.
In 1950 the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were recalled from their assignment in Church Point. Msgr. Clay Anthony Bienvenu recruited the Grey Nuns of the Cross, founded in Québec by St. Marguerite d’Youville in 1737, to come and staff the school under the supervision of Sister Louise du Carmel, Superior. She had two sisters and four lay teachers that helped staff the school.
In 1966 the new convent was built and the old building was used for school purposes only. By September 1970, a new school was built as well and the students occupied a new, modern brick school building.
In 1971 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Our Mother of Mercy Churches and Schools decided to consolidate their schools and bestow on it a new name: Our Mother of Peace. In 1979, the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa were recalled from their assignment and they returned to their motherhouse in Lowell, Massachusetts. Our Mother of Peace continued with a lay principal, lay faculty and staff, and a great number of supportive parents.