SEPTEMBER
Principal’s Message
2014
98 Wanita Road
Mississauga ON,
L5G 1B8
Phone 905.891.7619
Fax 905.278.6539
Trustees
Mario Pascucci,
Bruno Iannicca,
Sharon Hobin,
Esther O'Toole,
Peter Ferreira,
Anna Abbruscato,
Anna Da Silva,
Thomas Thomas,
Linda Zanella,
Frank Di Cosola,
Scott McLauchlan
Superintendent
C. Blanchard
Principal
Brian Diogo
Dear Lord,
As we begin this new school year, we
gather once again as your community
of faithful believers.
We thank you for the energy and the
spirit that you renewed in us during
the summer months.
We thank you for the time to enjoy our
families and friends and for the time to
reflect on what is important in our
lives.
Let us be marked by enthusiasm and
devotion so that, with the inspiration
of your spirit, we may continue to
grow in faith and love.
Let us always be gentle with ourselves
and strive to bring laughter, joy and
love into the lives of others.
We ask this in the name of Jesus
Christ Our Lord
Amen
Secretary
A. Litster
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Living Our Faith & Eco News
2
School Council
School Council
3
Co-Chairs
Inquiry Corner
4&5
Jayhawk News
6&7
Take Note
8
Upcoming Dates
8
M. Giovanniello
J. McCarthy
I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing summer and is
rejuvenated and eager to get back to school. I would also
like to take this opportunity to welcome the new students and their families to our school. I’m sure you will
find the entire St. James community; staff, students and
parents to be very welcoming. I look forward to the upcoming school year and working with dedicated staff and
enthusiastic students and parents.
Each school year brings new and wonderful opportunities to make a difference in the lives of your children.
The staff of St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre
remains committed to the education of the whole child;
spiritual, intellectual, social-emotional and physical while
incorporating hands-on active learning in which your
child’s individual needs, strengths and interests will be
addressed.
In order to keep you informed of events at the school, a
monthly newsletter will be posted on our school website
at the beginning of each month (www.dpcdsb.org/
jamee). Please ensure to read it for pertinent information regarding your child’s education, IB information,
Catholic School Council updates and other important
school events.
On behalf of the staff, I extend best wishes for an exciting and successful academic school year as we serve
the students in our care. By working together, I am confident that we will be able to provide our students with
the best possible educational opportunities and experiences.
Welcome back!!
God Bless,
B. Diogo
Principal
PAGE
2
Living Our Faith
Virtue Corner
ECO NEWS
St. James Eco Team
SEPTEMBER ~ FAITH
This month we will celebrate the virtue of FAITH.
A person with faith…
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Prays regularly and reverently
Learns from Scripture stories
Honours people’s God given names
Assumes that there is good in everyone
Accepts the God-given worth of themselves and
others
Thank you to everyone for their hard work and support with our green initiatives this year. St. James is
now a certified GOLD Ontario EcoSchool!
To begin the new school year, we’ll focus attention
on the first of our virtues - faith. Faith is the great
virtue of
believing in God and trusting that God is with us.
A faithful person believes that we are created, guided by and destined to be reunited with God.
A faithful person believes that God’s plan for us
includes the right to be safe, especially at school.
Thank you to the Garden Club members for providing the TLC needed to maintain our beautiful garden
at the front of the school.
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LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
We will notify you as soon as we have our Opening
Mass scheduled. Parents are always welcome to
attend our school celebrations.
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSLETTER
Going Green Together!
PAGE
3
School Council
School Council
Catholic School Council Meeting
Lunch Lady
You are invited to the last meeting of the
2013/2014 school council and the first meeting of
the 2014/2015 St James Catholic School council, to
be held on Tuesday, September 23 at 7 p.m. in the
school library. It is very important to get as many
parents involved as possible so we can work together to make our school a better place to grow and
learn. Please mark your calendars!
Lunch Lady is offering an in-school lunch program
running every Thursday at the school. A paper
menu was sent home and ordering can be done
online at www.thelunchlady.ca. Lunch delivery will
start on Thursday, September 18.
Council Elections
Plant-A-Grant - Time to Harvest
Catholic School Council nominations forms can be
found at the school office. All nomination forms
must be received by the St James office prior to
3:30 pm on September 16th. If a council election is
necessary, it will be held prior to our council meeting at 5:30 to 6:30 on Tuesday, September 23.
Thank you to all the families who took a grant seed
package from our Plant-A-Grant tree in June. We
hope your family had an opportunity over the summer to research your grant and come up with some
great ideas.
Some of the application deadlines are due soon. If
you picked a grant package with an application
deadline in either September or October, please let
the Catholic School Council know at
st.jamescglccouncil@gmail.com. The council
would like this information and your grant ideas
shared with our school community at the September
Council meeting on September 23.
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSLETTER
PAGE
Inquiry Corner
Candidate
School Status
St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre is a candidate
school* for the Primary Years Programme. This school is
pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are
schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment
to high quality, challenging, international education that
St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre believes is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer
any of its three academic programmes: the Primary Years
Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP),
or the Diploma Programme (and in addition the IB Career
-related Certificate). Candidate status gives no guarantee
that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IB and its programmes,
visit http://www.ibo.org
As part of our application for candidacy, the staff at St.
James collaborated to create a Mission Statement that focused on our Catholic faith and values as well as our focus
on creating internationally minded individuals. The following is our school’s Mission Statement and Motto.
We, the inclusive Catholic Community of St.
James, are called and committed to cultivate
an environment where our students are inspired to grow spiritually, intellectually,
emotionally and culturally.
We encourage our students to become compassionate life-long learners and active citizens of a
diverse global community.
Motto: Creative, Collaborative, Curious and Compassionate
Creative:
Being a divergent thinker, to demonstrate their
learning.
Collaboration:
Being happy to cooperate and collaborate, lead
and follow depending on the situation.
Curious:
Being curious about learning, the world, its people and cultures.
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSLETTER
4
Inquiry Corner
Compassion:
Being understanding and empathetic to others
around you. Demonstrating Christ’s message of
love and open-mindedness about the opinions of
others around us.
What is the Primary Years Programme?
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) is the first stage of
the International Baccalaureate programme. It is for students aged 3 to 12 and focuses on the development of the
whole child, not only in the classroom but also in the
world outside through other environments where children learn. It offers a framework that meets children’s
several needs: academic, social, physical, emotional and
cultural.
http://www.ibo.org/pyp/ - The IB Primary Years Programme video
The PYP is a comprehensive approach to teaching and
learning with an international curriculum model that
provides guidelines for what students should learn, a
teaching methodology as well as assessment strategies.
The PYP curriculum is centered around six Units of Inquiry at each grade level (four units for FDK classes). In
order to offer a balanced programme of units at each
grade level, the PYP has identified six transdisciplinary
themes representing significance knowledge areas.
The themes are: Who We Are, Where We Are in Place and
Time, How We Organize Ourselves, How the World
Works, How We Express Ourselves, Sharing the Planet.
All of the Units of Inquiry constitute our school’s Programme of Inquiry which provides a balanced programme of concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes and action.
Please take a look our school’s new Programme of Inquiry displayed in the front foyer of the building.
PAGE
IB Corner
Essential Agreements
Classes in a PYP start off every school year by creating an
essential agreement. This means that rather than teachers
imposing rules, everyone works collaboratively to establish
an agreement of how the class will function. This process
takes into consideration the different needs and personalities of each student and ensures a positive and successful
learning environment. The classes at St. James CGLC spent
the first week of school creating their own essential agreements. These agreements are a collection of positively
framed statements, written by all group members and
agreed upon by all. The essential elements are a powerful
way of bringing out the best in both individuals and the
entire school community. Each of the classes engage in this
collective decision-making process and signed their names
confirming their participation and agreement with the final
product. Here are some examples of the Essential Agreements made by students at St. James.
5
IB Corner
Each month we will also focus on the development attitudes, an essential element of the PYP framework. The
Attitudes are dispositions, values, beliefs and feelings
towards learnings. This month we will focus on Appreciation. Students will learn about appreciating the wonder and beauty of the world and its people.
St. James MYP
St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre will be
entering the consideration phase of the IB Middle
Years Program for the 2014-2015 school year.
What is the MYP?
IB Learner Profile
The cornerstone of the IB programme is the Learner Profile. These are the ten most important attributes of an international person. At. St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre we want our students to become inquirers, thinkers,
communicators, and risk-takers who are knowledgeable,
principled, caring, open-minded, balanced and reflective. In
all areas of the school, the teachers and staff model these
attributes. The aim of the PYP is to develop internationally
minded people who, recognizing their common humanity
and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
http://www.ibo.org/programmes/profile/ - IB Learner
Profile video
This month our school will be focusing on the learner profile attribute of being Reflective.
Reflective learners give thoughtful consideration to
their own learning and experience. They know their own
strengths and limitations.
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSLETTER
The MYP is designed for students aged 11 to 16. It
provides a framework of learning that encourages
students to become creative, critical and reflective
thinkers. The MYP emphasizes intellectual challenge, encouraging students to make connections
between their studies in traditional subjects and the
real world. It fosters the development of skills for
communication, intercultural understanding and
global engagement - essential qualities for young
people who are becoming global leaders. http://
www.ibo.org/myp/
PAGE
Jayhawk News
6
Jayhawk News
Volunteers
School Website
Volunteers play an important role in our school.
Many activities would not be possible without their
help. Often there are class trips that require parent
volunteers. We would encourage your involvement
and welcome your support. All volunteers must submit a Criminal Reference Check. Forms are available in the office.
Be sure to visit our school website. All newsletters and other pertinent information are always updated.
http://dpcdsb.org/jamee
St. James is now on Twitter! For the latest news
and information, follow us @StJamesDPCDSB
Medication
On occasion, the school is asked to store and/or give
medication to students.
1. A completed form must accompany each request
for medication to be stored and given out by the
school personnel. It is the prerogative of the
Principal to decide whether or not medication
will be stored or given out and may establish
such conditions as are deemed necessary regarding any specific request.
2. School personnel will not assume responsibility
for the administration of any medication.
3. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to
monitor the quantity of medication stored by the
school
New School Access Protocol
You may be aware that, our school received the
installation of a front door speaker/buzzer/video
monitoring system. This change in access to our
school requires a new access protocol that applies
to all visitors, including parents and guardians.
Under the new system, visitors may gain entrance
by pressing a buzzer mounted on the wall outside
the building, beside the front door. All visitors,
including parents/guardians must check into the
office. Please do not go to the classroom. Access
during lunch time may be delayed depending on
the availability of staff who are required to monitor the new system, please be patient.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to:
4. Storage of Medication Forms can be picked up
in the office.
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Pizza Day
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We have restarted our pizza days running every
Tuesday. It is $3.00 per slice. There will be no preorders going home and the students will be able to
order and pay on the morning of pizza day. We ask
kindly that you make your payment by cash only,
sorry no cheques.
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Arrive at school on time to allow children to
enter with their classmates to avoid front
entry lates.
Send lunch with your child in the morning to
limit traffic in through the front door at lunch
time.
We respectfully request that you limit your visits to the school during the daytime as much as
possible in order to protect the instructional
time and reduce interruptions.
Thank you for your understanding and
co-operation as we implement the new access
protocol.
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSLETTER
PAGE
Jayhawk News
7
Jayhawk News
Changing Weather
Volleyball
Students are asked to ensure that they have a pair of
indoor shoes at school. We ask that children change
their footwear when they come inside in an effort to
keep our classroom floors clean.
Children are expected to participate in recess activities and are reminded to dress for the weather. Children may also wish to have a change of clothing at
school in the event that they get wet while playing
outdoors.
The Volleyball tryouts will be starting soon. Good
Luck to all the participants!
Terry Fox Walk-A-Thon
Gym Attire
As many of our St. James students from grade 3-7
are participating in our regular intramurals, athletic
teams, and gym periods, it is important for students
to wear appropriate gym attire. Running shoes,
shorts, sweatpants, warm-up pants, t-shirts, or a
hooded sweatshirt are necessary to participate in
gym or any extra-curricular activities. Please ensure
that your child is prepared with their appropriate
gym attire prior to their participation in any physical
activity. It is the students responsibility to bring
their gym clothes on the days they are participating
in these events
P.A. DAY
Picture Day
We will be holding our picture day on Tuesday
September, 30th, 2014. If for any reason your child
is unable to attend that day, we
will be holding picture retakes on
Thursday October 30th, 2014.
SEPTEMBER
Students and staff will be participating in the annual Terry Fox Walk-a-Thon on Friday October 3rd,
2014. Parents are welcome to participate in the
walk with the students. We hope to see everyone
come out for this worthy cause.
2014
NEWSLETTER
There will be a professional activity
day on Friday September 12th, 2014.
Please take note that there will be
NO SCHOOL on that day.
PAGE
8
Take Note
Take Note
Parents In The Yard
Visitors
For your child’s safety we request that he/she not be on
school property until supervision begins at 8:45 a.m.
Please do not drop your child off at the school prior to
8:45 a.m.
We would also like to remind you that parents should
drop off/pick up their children outside the school gates.
Parents are not permitted to be in the school yard at any
time. Although you may be known to your own child
you are a stranger to the other students in the yard.
Anyone entering the school must come to the office
right away. The school is a very busy place and we
have many visitors/parents dropping in for a variety
of reasons. To ensure we maintain the integrity of
the classroom program by avoiding interruptions, and
for the safety of our students, all visitors must come
to the office. We ask that you also convey this
information to older brothers and sisters of our
students. This way we know that anyone in the halls
or in the school yard an authorized visitor. All
students leaving the school early will be released
through the front office as they must sign out. If your
child arrives late we ask you to NOT accompany
them to class.
Kiss and Ride
The safety of our students and parents is of great
concern to us here at the school.
Please drive SLOWLY through the Kiss and Ride lane
as well as the drive through lane.
Please do not block the Kiss and Ride zone and areas
that would hinder the movement of cars.
Cars cannot be left in the lanes at any time.
Student Absences/Lates
Please use our 24 hour answering service to inform the
school of late or absent students. We must hear from a
parent or guardian if a student will be absent,
arriving late or leaving early. Phone 905-891-7619
If a pattern of unexcused lateness or absents
becomes apparent, parents will be contacted by
the school.
UPCOMING DATES
Sept
11 - Open House 6:00 p.m.
Sept
12 - P.A. Day, No School
Sept
30 - Picture Day
SEPTEMBER
2014
NEWSLETTER
Snack and Treats for Students
We are asking that all parents please refrain from
bringing in eatable snacks and treats to the
classrooms. Several students in our school suffer
from a severe food allergy to all nuts, peanuts and all
nut products. There is also a Ministry PPM where
the purpose of this memorandum is to set out
nutrition standards for food and beverages in publicly
funded elementary schools in Ontario. For more
information about the new PPM please visit, http://
www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/150.html. If
you would still like to do something special for the
classroom, a small non-eatable gift for each student
or perhaps a classroom gift, i.e. board game for
inclement recess, may be a great alternative. Again,
we thank you for your co-operation.