ST. GERTRUDE
SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
M a rch
2015
Guided by Faith, Committed to Excellence
A Prayer For LENT
815 Ceremonial Drive,
Mississauga, Ontario L5R 3S2
905.568.7660 phone
905.568.8194 fax
Principal:
Vice Principal:
Secretaries:
Pastor:
T. De Vellis Carino
K. Yates
M. Sgambelluri
M. Cherubino
Msgr. Pan
Superintendent:
L. Papaloni
Trustees:
T. Thomas
Council Chair:
S. Dutra
Lord Jesus Christ, you gather your people during this holy season of Lent and call us to repent.
As we turn back to You once again, open our
hearts so that we might be transformed in Your
image. Remove any barriers that keep us from
You so that we might live fully the life we received at Baptism and carry our cross each day.
By Your grace, may we turn to you in our abundance, and share your love with the world
around us.
Please report all ABSENCES & LATES
by calling (905) 568-7660
VIRTUE FOR MARCH
KINDNESS
Kindness can only be seen through
actions. We must show that we
are kind by words and our
actions.
Please join our GOING GREEN campaign and sign up for St.
Gertrude Info to be sent to you electronically. Sign up today by visiting the office, filling out a blue form, and telling
us your e-mail address.
My name is Karen Yates and I am honoured
and delighted to be the new Vice Principal
of St. Gertrude School. Firstly, on behalf of
the St. Gertrude staff, students and families
I would like to extend warm wishes and
congratulations to Mrs. Diab on her promotion to Principal of St. Clare. She has
made wonderful contributions to the St.
Gertrude School community and her leadership has left its mark on the school, and is
greatly appreciated. I am very much looking
forward to working with all parents, students and staff, as, together, we embrace
the task of guiding students on the path of
learning and achievement. As we move forward for the remainder of the year, we,
Mrs. De Vellis Carino and I, welcome your
continued input and involvement in the
learning of your children. It is my hope to
be able to serve, support, and enhance the
dynamic relationships that already exist
within the school community.
K. Yates
PARENT INFORMATION
From St. Gertrude
LATE ARRIVALS
As in the past, we ask that you call the
school on the days that your child will be
absent or late. This is a safety precaution
that can save precious moments should
there ever be an emergency situation.
We thank you for your continued support in
following this procedure.
If your child will be late or absent from
school, it is very important that you notify
the school before 8:20 a.m. by leaving a
voice mail message on the attendance line at
905‐568-7660 and pressing 1, for the attendance voice mail.You should speak clearly and
leave the child’s FIRST and LAST NAME, the
teacher’s name, and the reason for the absence or lateness.
Any student arriving at school late is
required to come to the office to request a late slip.This allows us to
change our attendance information,
and mark your child late, rather than
absent. Every moment of instructional time is valuable and it is very difficult for teachers to start their program when students are arriving late.
Your continued
support is
appreciated.
KISS & RIDE
SAFETY FIRST
A reminder to parents to be familiar
with student drop off procedures as
well as Kiss and Ride safety. This
continues to be a challenge. Frequent reminders
have been put in previous newsletters. In order to
allow for proper traffic flow, we ask that parents
allow their children to independently get out of
the vehicle on the passenger’s side.
CAUTION
If you need to get out of your
car to assist your children—
then Kiss and Ride is not for
you. If you wish, you may park
on the road and walk your child
to the school. Please remember
that student safety supersedes
parents’ convenience. Staff members are on duty to ensure that
our students are safe.
Let’s work together to keep our students
safe!
SNOW & ICE
As snow and ice are a reality in the winter months, we
review our rules about NOT throwing snow or ice at
school regularly. Please review with your child the dangers
of this and that it is NOT allowed at school. The school
rule is that snow stays on the ground – no snowballs, kicking snow or other any other activity with snow or ice that
could be harmful. Students who throw snowballs or ice
chunks will receive consequences. The safety of all of our
students is our number one priority.
Using snow to make forts or snow people is a wonderful
way to enjoy winter. Students are encouraged to be respectful of what others have created. It should be noted
that these structures are temporary and staff on supervision duty are not expected to help safeguard these as their
primary responsibility is to ensure student safety.
UPCOMING EVENTS
At St. Gertrude
YOUTH FAITH AMBASSADORS
During this sacred season of Lent, St. Gertrude
School has decided to give alms by supporting
the Knights Table in the Region of Peel. There is
a high need this year for specific toiletry items
such as size 3 diapers, shampoo, deodorant,
toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Please reinforce the importance of giving with
your children during this Lenten Season.
ART CLUB
Are you creative? Do you love
art? Join the St. Gertrude
Art Club on Thursdays at lunch with Ms.
Jorge!
St. Gertrude Presents...
Donations will be accepted up until
Wednesday, March 11, 2015.
Thank you for your help and generous support!
GRADE 3 AND 6 PROVINCIAL ASSESSMENT OF
READING, WRITING AND MATHEMATICS
All grade 3 and 6 students in Ontario will again be
participating in the Educational Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO) Provincial Assessments
scheduled to take place on:
Grade 6 - May 26, 27 & 28, 2015
Grade 3 - June 2, 3 & 4, 2015
We would ask that if possible, please try to avoid
booking appointments or vacations for your grade 3
and 6 children during this assessment period. Please
discuss with your child the importance of these assessments and encourage them to do their very best.
March 16 to March 20
Back to school on March 23
Have a wonderful break!
Mark your calendars! St. Gertrude School will be
presenting Lion King Jr. on June 17th and 18th. The
talents of many St. Gertrude students will be displayed, both onstage and off. Please plan to attend with your families.
If there are any family members who wish to help
with the production in the way of costumes,
makeup, technical support, etc., please contact
the school. This is a community event, and we welcome contributions from everybody!
Our Lion King Jr. website is linked to our school website. Please feel free to visit it for more information.
The Online Reporting Tool
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School board
has developed a new way to help nurture a safe,
caring and inclusive school environment. The
Online Reporting Tool is intended for students in
grades 3 – 8 who become aware of bullying incidents and negative behaviours. The student can
simply ‘click’ on the link found on our school’s
website to fill out the report. The report will
then be directly emailed to the principal and/or
vice principal and will be dealt with accordingly.
It is important to recognize that the Online Reporting Tool is an alternate reporting option. It
is best practice to speak directly with a responsible adult at home and/or in the school.
ENTER TO LEARN
Jr. French Immersion Speech Winners
Students in grades 4-6 French Immersion have
been busy working on speeches. On Tuesday February 24th one representative from each class
presented their speech in the gym.
Congratulations to Emmeline W. for placing
first.
She will be moving forward to the Board competition on March 10th at St. Francis Xavier Parish. Felicitation et bonne chance!
SPEECH COMPETITION
Junior Winners
Intermediate Winners
French Junior Winners
Thank you to all participants for preparing
such wonderful speeches and for all you hard
work!
Justin - Why Kids Should Rule the World
Alexandria - Self Confidence
Hannah - Ninja Nonna
Emmeline—Scouts
Oneah - My Mother’s a Flight Attendant
Cynthia - Shri Lanka
Angela - Feminism
Timothy - Procrastination
Cassandra - Eating Disorders
RAZ KIDS
By now, all primary students will have come home buzzing with excitement over our new at home reading programme, RAZ Kids. This is an interactive website that all primary students here at St. Gertrude have
been enrolled in, thanks to the generous support of our Parent Council.
This programme has multiple book choices at each child's reading level
with fun incentives to keep them motivated. Let's take full advantage of this opportunity and
use the website to its full teaching potential. Your child's subscription is for one full year and
will continue throughout the summer months. Keep reading Gators!
GO GATORS!
BASKETBALL
Over December and January, over 150 grade 4 to 6 students participated in our
lunchtime basketball games. There were 6 teams that competed that were an
equal mix of boys, girls and skill- yet all had fun! Way to go to the Blue team
for winning in the finals! A special thank you to our responsible and dedicated
grade 8 coaches, timekeepers and referees that were there to encourage, role model and
cheer on all involved. Way to go Gators!
~Madame Tessar, Madame Silva and Mrs. DeLuca
Congrats!
The Junior Boys & Girls Basketball Teams played with determination and completed many difficult games with a great attitude. Your coaches are very proud of you. Congratulations to
all members of the team, especially the girls who advanced to their Family Tournament on
Monday February 23rd. Great playing Gators and thank you to all coaches!
JUNIOR SCIENCE OLYMPICS
Congratulations to the Jr. Science
Olympics Team & Mrs. Tellerico for
winning the Silver medal!
Carmen C. ~ Grade 4
Justin J. ~ Grade 6
Gianpaulo M. ~ Grade 6
Devin P. ~ Grade 5
Patricia S. ~ Grade 6
AIR CANADA CENTRE
We have had a very exciting intermediate basketball season so far. Teams played well in
their exhibition games at the Air Canada Centre. We are looking forward to the
pod & Family tournaments in April.
Our Toronto Raptors Community
Night is coming up on March 25th
vs. Chicago Bills.
Thank You!
The Mardi Gras Dance-a-thon and delicious pancakes were enjoyed by everyone.
A special thank you is extended to everyone for their support, especially to our
volunteers for their organization & local business donations. We should all be proud that our efforts
have resulted in a great benefit to our school for our wonderful children.
Daniel’s No Frills
Metro
Bobby’s Hideaway
PCL Construction
National Grocers
T. Wah Kan
T. Camara
D. Medeiros S. Chin-See
T. DaPonte
G. Wah Kan
A. Ayele
L. Tucci
J. Mendonca
R. Marques
A list of all of our prize winners will be posted on the schools website soon at
www.dpcdsb.org/GERTR
SCHOOL ADVISIORY COUNCIL
SAVE THE DATE!
Are you interested in being a member of the
School Advisory Council ? Want to help out but not
sure how? School Council needs you! There are
several committee's that you can join such as:
Finance, Hot Lunches, Sacramental Gifts, Outdoor
Revitalization, Dance Decorating, Communications.
If you are interested, please see the St. Gertrude
website www.dpcdsb.org/GERTR under the Parent
Council tab for more details.
Our next meeting is Tuesday April 7th @ 6:30 p.m
All are welcome!
More information
coming soon!
SACRAMENTS
DATES TO REMEMBER
Mar. 10-13
Ballroom Dancing
Mar. 16-20
March Break
Mar. 23
Little Red Theatre K-3
Mar. 24, 25, 27
Ballroom Dancing
Mar. 25
Raptors Game
Mar. 27
Earth Hour
Mar. 30
Holy Week Begins
First Communion
Mar. 30
Rosary Apostolates
Saturday May 9th, 2015
Mar. 31
School Lenten Retreat
Apr. 1 & 2
Ballroom Dancing
Apr. 1
Confirmation Retreat
Apr. 2
Holy Thursday
Apr. 3
Good Friday-No School
Apr. 6
Easter Mon-No School
Apr. 8
Chess Tournament
Apr. 8
Skills Competition
Apr. 9
Sharelife V-ball Game
Apr. 9
Family Skate Night
Apr. 10
Virtues Assembly
Confirmation
Thursday May 8th, 2015
VOLUNTEERS
The D.P.C.D.S.B. policy, effective
2013, is that volunteers working
in the school and supervising any
school trips MUST have a valid
Criminal Reference Check.
Application forms can be obtained
through the school office. Volunteers must complete the application and take to the police station
for processing.
The original must be brought to
the main office for verification and
photocopying by office staff. A
copy will be kept on file at the
school and the original returned
to you.
MARCH HEALTH TIP
March is Nutrition Month. Your Healthy Schools’
Committee has been busy preparing activities to
help promote a healthy lifestyle.
Remember that snacking isn’t just
for kids! As a parent, if you make
healthy snack choices, your children are more likely to make
healthy snack choices now and in
PEEL REGIONAL POLICE PRESENTS
CYBER ACADEMY on Tuesday Evenings from 7-9:30pm
See our website for more details or Register at
www.peelpolice.ca