December 2015
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
3345 Escada Dr. Mississauga, ON L5M 7V5
Tel. 905-542-9203
Love, Service, Peace, Excellence
Advent - A Time of Hope
God of Hope You sent us Jesus,
the light of the world.
As we light our Advent candles,
One by one, a week at a time, May we rekindle
within ourselves, the desire to make peace for him.
May the flame of His presence grow brighter and brighter
December Newsletter
Dufferin-Peel C.D.S.B.
In our hearts, in our school, and in our world. May the God of Hope
fill us with joy and peace this Christmas by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Administrator’s Message
The season of Advent is a time of expectation, waiting,
kindness, compassion and hope. We strive to prepare our
hearts and our lives as we wait in great anticipation for the
coming of Jesus. The birth of Jesus signifies a new beginning that heralds new hopes, dreams that light up our lives,
and give it new meaning. Here at St. Bernard of Clairvaux
School, we emphasize the implications of the birth of our
Saviour through our Christian actions. We continue to foster
a safe, caring, inclusive healthy environment where students can grow and learn. We ensure that Advent is a time where we emphasize charity and social justice. It is a time to
prepare the way, to make God real each and every day through prayer, charity and social
justice. We will again answer the call to serve when we work with St. Josephine Bahkita
Parish in supporting the Adopt-A-Family Program by providing for families in need. We
will also have a hat and mitten tree to provide for those less fortunate. We will travel
through the Advent season in song, dance and prayer during our Kindergarten and Primary Christmas Concerts and we will celebrate mass together to prepare our hearts and
minds for the coming of Christ. During the season of Advent, may God bless you and
inspire you to prepare yourself and your children for the ongoing incarnation of the Divine in our midst. We hope that you will be blessed with
the spirit and gifts of the first Christmas—peace, love and
goodwill toward all. May the promise of Christmas help to
show God’s boundless love and may you be blessed with
good health, prosperity and happiness throughout the New
Year as we strive to work with you and for you in providing excellence in Catholic Education in our community.
“Waiting is a period of learning.
The longer we wait, the more we
hear about him for whom we are waiting”
Henri Nouwen
Together in Faith,
B. Pullara
N. Podobnik
Our Virtue of the Month
God helps us to keep on working for a more peaceful world even
when we feel discouraged.
A hopeful person is…
• inspired and inspires others
• always counts on God to help them in tough situations
• trusts that things will work out in God’s way
• one who sees the good in the world
God has given us this Advent Season to focus our minds and
hearts on the good all around us. We believe that God created the
world and all of us in it to be good. However, sometimes bad
things happen to us that we cannot explain. During these times,
we tend to get mad at God for putting us through so much pain.
We may get discouraged and forget that God is always with us to
help. When you feel sad and alone, remember to never lose
HOPE, pray to Jesus, and things will get better.
Let us now pray ... for the grace and courage to be people of hope people who can see, participate in and contribute to God’s goodness
emerging around us. AMEN.
Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations
I HAVE A VOICE!
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I speak, write and listen as Jesus would want me to
I care about others and speak up for them
I am honest
I think carefully before I react or speak
I respect all people and their languages
I listen to the Word of God
Because I have a voice, I will use it lovingly, and I will live my life
like Jesus.
Farewell and Best Wishes
We say goodbye to Cheryl Stott our assistant secretary. We would like to thank
Cheryl for all of her hard work and attention to our St. Bernard of Clairvaux community. We wish her all the best in her
future endeavours. We would like to extent a warm welcome to Elizabeth
Weseloh who will be our new assistant
secretary.
St. Josephine Bahkita Parish
3600 Forest Bluff Cres. Mississauga, Ontario L5N 7W2
Phone: (289)-997-2105 FAX: (289)-997-2104
Email: parishoffice@stjosephonebahkita.ca
Website: www.stjosephinebahkita.ca
MASS SCHEDULE
At St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School
(3801 Thomas St. Mississauga Ontario)
Saturday Vigil Mass 5 p.m.
Sunday Mass 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday/Thursday 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday/Friday 7:00 p.m.
At St. Peter’s Mission Church (just north of Britannia on the Ninth Line)
Sunday Mass 7:30 a.m.
Monday 7 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m.
The Season of Advent
Advent marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. The four weeks of Advent lead up to
the celebration of Christmas. Advent’s familiar sights and sounds stir in us a readiness to receive
our Saviour, while sharpening our sense of the world’s need for redemption and of the great mystery of God becoming human for us. Advent is a Latin word meaning the coming. The season of
Advent is a time to prepare to celebrate the three comings of Christ: his lowly birth in the past, his
mysterious coming to the world in the present, and his promised return in Glory at the end of time.
Advent is a special time of waiting. Since the latter half of the 6th century, Christians have set
aside the four weeks before Christmas to remember and to celebrate that Jesus Christ is the one
who comes. It is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. Traditional symbols and customs help us to celebrate this special time of waiting.
The Advent Wreath
The Advent Wreath is used to help us prepare for Christ’s coming. We use evergreen branches to make the Advent
wreath. These stay green all year long. This reminds us that God and His love for us never changes. The circular
shape reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, his never ending love for us, which has no beginning
or end. The light reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent
or the four Gospels; unlit they represent the ages “sitting in darkness” awaiting the coming Christ; the growing circle
of light represents the “approaching” light of the world. Three of the candles for the wreath are
purple, as a sign of our need to repent and turn back to God in preparation for Jesus’ coming.
During Advent we try to say that we are sorry for not loving Jesus enough and we promise to
try hard to do better in our Christian walk. The fourth one, lit on the third Sunday of Advent, is
rose or pink to express our joy that Christmas is so close. Some Advent wreaths have a large
white candle in the center, the ‘Christ Light’, to be lit on Christmas Eve to herald the birth of
Jesus. Each time we light a candle on the Advent wreath we are reminded that Jesus is the light
of the world. His teachings are our guiding light. If we listen to what he wants us to do, we
will be happy with him forever.
Adopt A Family
In the season of Advent, and preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ the St. Bernard of Clairvaux
community will be working with St. Josephine Bahkita Parish supporting the Adopt-A-Family program.
We will be sponsoring 4 families, that with our help, will have a joyous and blessed Christmas. We thank
you for your continued generosity.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”
Matthew 25:40
Hat and Mitten Tree
In continuing with the spirit of the season, members of our BEARS (Believing,
Encouraging, Accepting, Respecting Safe School) Squad have set up a special
tree of giving in our front atrium. We will be accepting donations of new hats,
gloves, scarves and socks to adorn the tree. We
hope to help those in most need by giving the gift of warmth at this very special time of the year. We would like to say Thank you to our teacher leads
and students for organizing this initiative.
Please Join Us…
Sacraments
Please join us on Friday December
11th, 2015 at 9:15 a.m. as we come
together as a community of faith to
celebrate our Advent Mass. Let us
take time together to stop and reflect
on the meaning of Emmanuel-God
with us. Let us be light to others.
Christmas Mass Schedule at St.
Josephine Bahkita Parish
The Christmas Mass Schedule is
as follows:
At St. Joan of Arc Secondary
School:
th
December 24 , (Christmas Eve) 5 PM, 7 PM,
10:30 PM
December 25th, (Christmas Day) 9 AM, 11
AM, and 12:30 PM
At St. Peter’s Mission Church (Ninth Line)
December 24th, (Christmas Eve) 9 PM
We encourage any new families to our school
community to contact the parish to inquire about
registering for these sacraments.
FIRST RECONCILIATION
The First Reconciliation Celebration for our students will take
place on Tuesday February 23rd, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. at Merciful
Redeemer Parish.
FIRST COMMUNION
First Communion for our grade 2 students will
be held on Sunday May 8th, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.
at Merciful Redeemer Parish.
CONFIRMATION
This year our grade 7 and 8 students will be receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation for our grade 8 students
will take place on Friday April 22nd, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. Confirmation for our grade 7 students will take place on Friday May
13th, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. The sacr amental celebr ations will
continue to be held at Merciful Redeemer Parish. We thank Father Vid and his parish team for their continued support and
generosity as we work to build a church for our new parish community.
“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith” Galatians 5:22
Toonie Tuesday
On Tuesday December 1st, 2015, St. Bernard of Clairvaux participated in “Toonie Tuesday”
in support of the Eden Community Food Bank. The funds raised will
go to help families in need in our community. One toonie makes a
big difference! We thank you for your participation and support. For
more information about our local food bank visit the following link:
http://edenfoodbank.org/
‘Lest We Forget’…
St. Bernard of Clairvaux School Remembers
On Wednesday November 11th, 2015, the students in Grade Eight led the school in a Remembrance Day Service including choral speaking, poetry, prayer, song and PowerPoint presentations about God Bless Canada
and the Highway of Heroes. We especially remembered in our thoughts Trooper Marc Diab, a former Dufferin-Peel student who was killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar. Also,
Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo who
were killed in tragic events that took place in Ottawa and Quebec. The
message of our Service was twofold: to remember and give thanks to
our brave soldiers who fought for our freedom; and to continue to
spread the message of peace through our actions and words at school,
in our homes, and our communities.
“Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they will be called children
of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
Hard Candy Drive
St. Bernard of Clairvaux Elementary School hosted their annual Hard Candy Drive from Monday, November 2nd to Monday, November 9th, 2015. Hard candy is collected to support the efforts of Canadian Food
For Children. The hard candy is used to stimulate the appetite of starving children around the world so they
will be more inclined to eat healthier food. As a community here at St.
Bernard of Clairvaux, it is very important for us to continue to lend our
support and to promote the efforts of the CFFC each year. Once again, our
Hard Candy Drive was a huge success. We collected over 10 boxes of
candy!!!
Bullying Prevention and Awareness Week
In recognition of Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, St. Bernard of Clairvaux began the week with a
kick off assembly highlighting our school’s focus on acceptance. Our BEARS Squad (Believing, Encouraging, Accepting, Respecting, Safe School Squad) led the assembly which included the introduction of our
theme “We All Belong to God’s Family”, a student led dance to our theme song and a school wide
Acceptance Pledge. We continue to be a caring, safe, inclusive and accepting community. Our assembly was followed by guest speaker Mike Neuts who shared his personal story and a very important message about bullying, respect, acceptance, kindness and being an upstander.
Eden Community Food Bank
Christmas Concerts
The students and families of St. Bernard of
Clairvaux School continue to answer the call to
serve. Our Thanksgiving food drive in support
of the Eden Community Food Bank was very
successful. In response to our contributions,
Eden Community
Food Bank said
“Many thanks to
the St Bernard of
Clairvaux staff,
students and community for their
very generous
food drive. The
school not only
raised 530 lbs of
donated food but very graciously boxed and
taped each one for easy transport. Please know
that your donations do make a difference.”
Please join us as we celebrate the
Advent Season with a number of
Christmas Celebrations. Our Kindergarten classes will be performing
on Wednesday December 9th. 2015
beginning at 7:00 p.m. Our Primary Classes will be
performing on Tuesday December 15th, and Wednesday December 16th, 2015 beginning at 7:00 p.m.
More information will soon be forwarded to parents
with students from JK to Grade 3 identifying what
specific evening they are performing.
GROWTH MINDSET
How To Encourage Growth and Learning In Your Child
Students come into a classroom with a certain perspective about themselves as learners. Research categorizes
these perspectives as “Growth Mindset” and “Fixed Mindset”. A student with a fixed mindset thinks that they
cannot increase their skill and knowledge in a particular area. A student with a growth mindset believes that
they can learn anything if they put in the work, practice and effort to learn it.
ShareLife Poster Contest
This month the students in the Grade Eight classes participated in the 8th annual ShareLife poster contest.
Students created a poster that promoted the many ways that ShareLife agencies ‘work wonders’ in our
community. One of these agencies is Canadian Food for Children also known as
Dr. Simone’s Warehouse which the Grade
Eight classes will be volunteering at in January. The winning entries from Mr.
Gegeny’s class were Natasha, Nicole and
Manuela. The winning entries from Mr.
Kostoff’s class were Sarah, George and
Alessandra. The winning entry for the
ShareLife poster contest will be used as the
2016 campaign poster for the Archdiocese
of Toronto next February.
SPEECHES
Students in grades 4—8 worked very hard this month writing, preparing and delivering speeches on a variety
of interesting topics. Our school held a Public Speaking Contest in our gymnasium on Monday November
23rd. The Junior Participants were Alyanna F., Eloise C., Matthew G., JR C., Edward S.,
Izzabelle B., Shanessa F., and Bobby C. Our Intermediate Participants were Willem T., Liam
G., Sheldon A., Karim H., Olivia S., Stacy P., Sarah C., Angelika P., Andrew M. and
Manuela G.
The results were as follows:
For the Junior Division
For the Intermediate Division
First Place:
Bobby C.
First Place:
Andrew M.
Second Place: Edward S.
Second Place: Sarah C.
Third Place:
Shanessa F.
Third Place: Angelika P.
Our grade 3 students also participated in the event by presenting poems that they prepared
in their classes. Gabriel T., Ilse C., Tavian L., Karen Y., Bryce C., Joy E., and Noah M. entertained the audience with their prepared poetry in between speeches. Bobby C. and Sarah C. advanced to the Mississauga
North Speech Competition at St. Faustina School on Thursday November 26th. Both students did an amazing
job presenting their speeches.
We would like to extend a huge congratulations to all of the students for their persistence, hard work and
courage. We would also like to thank Miss Brow for her hard work in organizing our public speaking contest
for our students.
PALS
The PALS (Playground Activity Leaders in Schools) is a playground leadership program for schools and
it encourages children to participate in activities during recess. Pals is off to a great start. During the
month of November many primary students have been enthusiastically participating in
various out door cooperative games. A special thank you goes out to our many Pals
leaders from grades 4-6 for their dedication to this amazing program. Our Pals leaders
are Katarina T, Meriyah, Nathaniel, Michael, Justin, Dontez, Doris, Faisal, Adielle, Liberty, Miquel, Daniel, Mya, Chantal, Katarina D, Aiden, Mina, Dominic, Shawn, Nicole,
Sophia, David, Lorna, Doris, Gianluca, Kirollos, and Jessica. A special thanks goes to
Merna for her outstanding leadership. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the Pals
program in the New Year. The PALS motto is, “There is always room for one more”. Thank you to Mrs.
Sylvestre, Ms. Ariganello, Ms. Wigglesworth and our Peel Public Health Nurse Natalie Di Santo for supporting this initiative for our students.
OUR SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Thank you once again for making our Scholastic Book Fair such a great success.
It was wonderful to see the excitement in the air generated by the love of books!
The turnout for this year’s book fair was overwhelming, and I would like to thank
all the wonderful volunteers who helped make it such a success, Mrs. L. Alves,
Mrs. M. Sbrocchi, Andrea Llorens, Mrs. P. Keenan, Kristin Keenan, Mrs. Androulakis and Mrs. Ariganello. The book fair ran smoothly with all the extra
hands. I would like to congratulate Mathew in Ms. Macri’s FDK class who won
the Family Event draw. Profits from the book fair will be used to purchase books
and materials for the library. Once again, thank you for supporting our Library
Commons. Mrs. Marano
Reporting Head Injuries
Appropriate Dress - Cold Weather
Even when it appears to be insignificant,
we try to inform parents of all reported
head injuries at school. We do this in
recognition of the potential danger of any
injury involving the head area. Our intent
is not to alarm you, but to keep you informed. Please
remind your child to let a staff member know if they
bump their head or if they get hurt at school.
The days are getting colder and it appears that winter has arrived. We ask that students dress appropriately with coats, hats, gloves, mitts, boots, snow
pants etc. If they are dressed warmly, they are better prepared to participate in outdoor activities during recess and the lunch hour.
For health reasons and to help
keep the school clean, we ask
all students to have indoor
shoes. Please note that in the
event of an emergency evacuation, students will not have
the opportunity to put their
boots on. Thank you for your support in this matter.
Winter Weather
During the winter season, the school receives calls from concerned parents as to how we determine when children will or will not be allowed outside for recess. On extremely cold
days, we limit the amount of time that students spend out of doors. We obtain our weather
information from the Environment Canada Weather Information Line and follow School
Board guidelines. Board Guidelines indicate that students will generally be outside for lunch
and recess when temperatures do not fall below –25 degrees Celsius, with the wind chill.
With the exception of these occasions, all children will go out for recess and the lunch break. We remind all
students to dress appropriately for the weather.
Extra Clothes for the Winter Season
Often during the winter season we have students, for various of reasons, coming to the office with wet
clothes from playing outside during recess. We recommend, for the younger students, that you place an extra
pair of pants, a shirt and socks in their back packs. This would help to avoid bothering parents at work when
these situations occur. It is also recommended that students bring appropriate snow gear to school during
these winter months (snowsuits, boots, gloves, mitts).
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow…
When the cold months arrive and snow and ice on the ground is plentiful, we all like to
play in it and with it. Throwing snowballs and sliding on the ice is fun. However, as
much fun as it is, snow and ice, can be very dangerous when lots of people are in a small
area. In order for our school to be as safe as possible, the school rule must be that snow
and ice stays on the ground. There will be no snowballs, kicking snow or any other activity with snow or ice
that could be harmful.
Christmas Holidays
Our last day of classes before break for our Christmas
holidays is Friday December 18th, 2015 Classes will
begin again on Monday, January 4th, 2016. We hope that
everyone has a wonderful holiday.
Fire Safety/Emergency Procedures
We are required to conduct three fire drills in the
fall and three in the spring. We will also be conducting two lockdown drills and one shelter in place drill throughout the year. These drills
are standard practice across the Board and ensure that in the event of a real emergency our
students and staff can respond quickly and appropriately. We have had three successful fire
drills and one lockdown drill. In rare circumstances, our staff and students may need to evacuate the building as
a result of an emergency in the building or in the nearby community. Our evacuation site to the North is St.
Faustina School located at 3420 McDowell Dr. in Mississauga. Our evacuation site to the South is St. Sebastian
School located at 3460 Aquainas Ave. in Mississauga. Board regulations and safety precautions require this contingency plan. Should an evacuation be necessary, you will be notified as soon as possible and your child will be
held until we make direct contact with a parent/guardian.
Reporting Student Absences
Daily attendance and punctuality are
very important. Thank you to all
parents who have been calling the
school when your child has been absent due to an illness or an appointment.
Please continue to report student absences to
the school office by calling 905-542-9203 and
pressing 1 for attendance. Please indicate the
date, your child’s name, teacher and grade
when leaving a message.
Lates
School begins promptly at 8:45 A.M. Students and parents are
reminded that each student has the responsibility to be on time.
Arriving late disturbs the students in the class, interferes with the
program of instruction, and centers attention on the latecomer.
Please help us teach the value of being on time,
as the number of late students continues to be a
concern.
Bus Safety and Information
The safety of our students is always a
primary concern.
Please review the following rules with your child(ren) if they are transported by bus: Listen to the driver, Remain seated at all times, Speak in conversational tones (no yelling), Refrain from using inappropriate language,
Do not eat/drink on the bus. Thank you for your assistance.
STOPR (Student Transportation of Peel Region) is pr oviding bus tr anspor tation ser vices for the Duffer inPeel Catholic District School Board. The STOPR website address is www.stopr.ca. This website provides access
to up to date information regarding delayed buses and bus cancellations due to inclement weather. To check for
eligibility for transportation, please access the following website: businfo.stopr.ca.
STOPR Telephone Contact Information: 905-890-6000.
Bus Cancellations
During the winter months inclement weather may cause disruptions of bus transportation and
regular school operations. A decision to cancel school transportation and/or close schools is
usually made by 6:30 a.m. and will be announced on several radio stations. Please refer to the
attached memo for more information.
Please Note: If buses ar e cancelled in the mor ning, they will not operate later in the day. Par ents who
drive their children to school in the morning must arrange to pick them up at the end of the day.
Allergies/Anaphylactic Shock
St. Bernard of Clairvaux is an allergen aware school. We have a number of students in our school who have
severe allergic life threatening r eactions to peanuts, peanut butter , peanut oils, any peanut/nut byproducts and dairy products. As in the past, we are asking you to not put any child at risk, therefore, are
requesting that PEANUTS, PEANUT BUTTER, PEANUT OILS, ANY PEANUT/NUT BYPRODUCTS NOT BE BROUGHT INTO THE SCHOOL. WE ASK THAT YOU READ THE
LABELS OF ALL FOOD ITEMS SENT TO SCHOOL. A letter was sent home in September which
addressed this issue for each particular class. We are asking parents not to send food items to school when
celebrating your child’s birthday since there are many alternatives such as
pencils, stickers, etc. We thank you for your continued understanding
Storage/Administration of Medication
Parents are responsible for ensuring that all medication and forms are updated
annually. If your child requires medication please have all pertinent forms completed and returned with the
medication to the office as soon as possible. A reminder that children are not allowed to keep any medication
in their desk, backpack or classroom (with the exception of an epi-pen if allergies are severe). All dispensing
of medication requires medical permission and must be stored in the office.
Moving?
If you are planning to move out of the
St. Bernard of Clairvaux school area or change
address within our boundaries, please let the office
know as soon as possible. Please keep us informed
of any address, phone number or medical changes
for your children. It is of the utmost importance that
our records be up to date. If your child should get
sick or hurt, we must have accurate contact
information.
United Way/Share Life
Our staff has contributed to United Way/ShareLife
Campaign. The funds will allow staff to dress down
on Fridays. We are very pleased to be participating
in such a worthy cause.
Lost and Found
We often find many lost items
at our school. Items like shoes, socks, hats, jackets,
gloves, etc. are collected and placed in the ‘lost
and found’ box. Please look through it to see if any
items belong to you. At the end of the school year,
all remaining items will be donated to charity.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION FOR 2016-2017
Registration for Full-Day Kindergarten for the 2016-2017 school year, will take place at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Elementary School on the following days:
Monday, January 25, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Friday, January 29, 2016
* Snow Date:
Tuesday, January 26, 2015
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.*
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
For more information about registration and the Full-Day Kindergarten program, call St. Bernard of Clairvaux or visit www.dpcdsb.org.
DUFFERIN-PEEL HOSTS KINDERGARTEN ENTRY PLANNING INFORMATION SESSION FOR
PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board’s Special Education and Support Services Department will host a Kindergarten entry planning information session. This meeting is for parents and guardians of children with special needs which affect their learning, such as vision, hearing, speech,
autism, physical/medical and/or developmental delays in cognitive and/or motor areas who are entering Kindergarten in September 2016. The meeting will be held at the Catholic Education Centre from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30
p.m. For more information about this session, call 905-890-0708 ext. 24011.
WHAT: Parent Evening to Support the Transition of Students with Differing Abilities into
Kindergarten
WHEN: Tuesday, January 12, 2016
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
* Snow Date: January 13, 2016
WHERE: Catholic Education Centre – Room
301 (Third Floor) 40 Matheson
Boulevard West, Mississauga
(Hurontario & Matheson)
For more information, parents/guardians should contact their local Catholic school, visit the board website at
www.dpcdsb.org, or call the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board at 905-890-1221.
EXTENDED FRENCH INFORMATION MEETING
Grade 4 parent(s)/guardian(s), who wish to enroll their child in a Grade 5 Extended French class for September, 2016 are invited to attend an information meeting on Thursday January 14, 2016 at 7:00 a.m. at St.
Therese of the Child Jesus located at 6930 Forest Park Drive. At the present time, the above mentioned
school is the designated center for our area. Applications will be accepted at that center until 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 16th, 2016.
Sports Alive and Well: GO BEARS!!!
Intermediate Girls Volleyball
Congratulations to the Intermediate Girl’s Volleyball Team for a great season. The girls displayed
great sportsmanship and always worked together as a team. They played really well both during
practices and games and had a lot of fun too. Thank you to the players: Halle A., Vareena A., Areli
C-G., Sarah C., Denise F., Valentina G., Manuela G., Dema K., Hayley M., Patricia N., Julia T.,
Alexsandra Y., and their coach Mr. Dietz.
Intermediate Boys Volleyball
We would like to congratulate the Intermediate Boys Volleyball Team: Ryan O., Simeon S., Fady K., Bassem
H., Marko P., Joshua J., Ethan N., Jayden R., Shyon O., Marcus R., Cole P., Matthew B., Andrew C., for an
excellent season. The boys were enthusiastic players and participated in many practices and games.
They demonstrated good sportsmanship even when games became challenging. We are very proud
of how each and every player developed his volley, bump and spiking skills. Well done Bears!
Your coaches: C. O’Gorman, A. Montis
Intermediate Flag Football
On Thursday November 12, 2015 The Intermediate Co-ed flag football team participated in the Mississauga
North tournament at Loyola. The Bears played in chilly, rainy, windy, miserable weather and on a fast track
in the hopes of becoming repeat champions. The team worked hard and kept it together finishing the tournament with 5 wins and 1 loss. The team was once again crowned the 2015-2016 MISS NORTH
CO ED FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS. This is our third Flag Football Championship in four
years. The offence accumulated 142 points, a ton of yards on the ground and in the air. The defense allowed only 25 points, pulled flags and made 2 interceptions. The team
would like to thank all the parents for their support and providing transportation.
The coaches would like to thank the players for their dedication and hard work.
2015 CO-ED FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS
Simeon S, Alexsandra. Y, Marko P, Samuel. V, Ryan O, Valentina G, Manuela G, Lori. L,
Jacob. M, Ethan. N, Bassem. H, Bassel. K , Matt. B, Markus. R, Ethan. A, Shyon. O
Eco-School Update
A Message from The Green Team
St. Bernard of Clairvaux continues to participate in the Eco- school program. The Ecoschool program looks at four areas: energy conservation, waste minimization, ecological
literacy, and school ground greening. This is a school-wide program, and together with the
school community, we need to work all year to help reduce our environmental impact.
During the month of November, our Eco team participated in a Re-Think Our Drink Campaign with the guidance of a
company called EcoSource. The campaign was held to encourage students to bring in reusable water bottles. Overall,
by the end of the week, 2152 reusable water bottles were calculated in one week
here at St. Bernard of Clairvaux. A BIG congratulations goes out to Mrs. Roda’s
grade one class in the primary division, Mrs. Vitale’s grade 4 class in the junior
division and Ms. Shamon’s class in the Intermediate division for consistently
bringing in the most reusable water bottles in one week. The Eco Team would also
like to thank all of the Eco team members who participated in collecting the data.
Let’s Continue to work together to achieve and maintain our GOLD medal standing. Think GREEN!!
We have also participated in a school-wide waste audit and energy audit. Out initial waste audit was held on Friday
November 13th, 2015. We are having our final waste audit on Friday December 4th. We are measuring the amount
of energy we consume in continuing with our Lights Out Lunch. Out goal is to minimize our usage in both areas. We
are also continuing with our Litterless-Lunch Wednesdays campaign
Litterless Lunch
All students are encouraged to pack a lunch with 3 or more reusable containers, including a
water bottle (litterless!!). Please remind your child that if they don’t finish their lunch, they
can re-pack it in their reusable container and take it home to eat it later---avoid uneaten
lunches in the garbage and be mindful of those who are less fortunate.
Please stay tuned for more initiatives that will be taking place to help us achieve our goal.
St Bernard of Clairvaux
School
Principal: B. Pullar a
Vice-Principal:
N. Podobnik
Secretaries: P. Keenan,
E. Weseloh, A. DidioColetta
Parish Corner
Catholic School Council
The hope of the world… Christmas begins in God’s heart, but is complete when it
reaches the heart of man with love and understanding. The Catholic School Council would like to wish the families and teachers of St. Bernard of Clairvaux a peaceful and loving Christmas Season. Merry Christmas and God Bless.
Meeting Minutes and CSC Twitter Presence
While we hope to see parents attending our CSC meetings we understand that
life gets very busy. For anyone who can't attend our meetings, approved
minutes are posted to the school's web page. With respect to events and communications relating to the Catholic School Council, they will be shared on
the schools twitter account @StBernardDPCDSB. We encourage all to follow.
St. Josephine Bakhita
Parish: Temporarily
located at St. Joan of Arc
S. School
3801 Thomas St.
Stained Glass Windows:
Pastor– Father Mark
Should you happen to notice anything new as you enter the school, it is likely the two
Villaneuva
new stained glass windows on the interior front doors. We have been assured by the artist
289-997-2105
Trustee
E. O’Toole
905-812-5163
Dufferin-Peel CDSB
Personnel
Director of Education:
J. Kostoff
905-890-1221
Associate Director,
Instructional Services
S. McWatters
905-890-1221
Associate Director,
Corporate Services,
Chief Financial Officer
& Treasurer
John Hrajnik
905-890-1221
Superintendent:
T. Cruz
905-890-1221
YMCA
Coordinator:
Rashida Hercules
905-647-267-2400
recreating the windows that the first window will be installed by Christmas. (The second
window remains a work in progress and we will share updates as they become available.)
We hope the windows will remind us of how lovely and unique the students, teachers and
families are as they enter and exit the school.
Pizza Day and Subway Day:
Order forms for session 2 for both Pizza and Subway will be sent home on January 22, 2016. Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to help sort and
distribute the pizza and subs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We would love more volunteers – especially for Tuesday’s Subway day. If you can devote a small portion of your
time to help it would be very much appreciated. Just a reminder that a current Criminal
Reference Check is required. Did you know that pizza day is also a fundraising initiative?
For every slice sold the school earns $1.00. All proceed are used towards supporting our
school.
Lamontagne Chocolate Fundraiser:
Thanks again to staff, students and parents who participated in our recent Lamontagne
Chocolate Sales Campaign. We earned a profit of approximately $16,000.00. All funds
will be used towards the school and ultimately our students as we continue to support
them in their spiritual and academic development. (Like last year, a financial report will
be distributed in June outlining funds raised and specific allocations.)
Next Council Meeting:
Our next Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday,
uary 13th at 7pm in the school libr ar y. All par ents and
guardians are welcome to attend. We hope to see you
there!
Jan-
B. Pullara
N. Podobnik
P. Keenan, E. Weseloh
A. Didio-Coletta, F. Castelo
S. Caruso, C. Macri, L. Lin,
A. Mauricette-Skyers, N. Trudeau, R. McGrath,
M. Daminato, J. Szafer, S. Brown, C. Roda-Zaffino,
J. Craig, L. Childerhose, A. Montis, C. Matos S. De Medeiros,
W. Manne, K. Guimaraes, D. Putzu, J. Medeiros, J. Anisko-Clutton,
L. Vitale, S. Horvat, R. Tomas-Zahhar, A. Boles, J. Rukavina, L. Woods,
D. Salerno, B. Hannah, M. Le Brun, C. O’Neill, S. Mooney, N. Shamon,
E. Gegeny, J. Kostoff, P. Caetano, D. Brow, C. O’Gorman, M. Dietz, J. Antezza,
C. Androulakis, K. Sylvestre, B. Ariganello, M. Gibson, T. Marano, S. Fabbri,
L. Cosentino, S. Molinaro, C. Ager-Smyth, K. Rose, M. Frackowiak,
R. Groesbeek S. Izidoro, A. Jones, L. Maguire,
P. Penaloza, C. Wigglesworth,
D. Lyons,
A. Stubbs, L. Mausser
M. Calvan, Z. Reyes, G. Stach, D. Givoe
We would like to wish you and your family a safe, happy and holy Christmas.