299 Landsbridge Street
Bolton, Ontario
L7E 2K4
Phone (905) 951-8788
Fax (905) 951-8798
December 2015
Principal: K. Barton
ADVENT
Vice Principal: F. Troiani
Secretaries: L. Grant and
G. Odoardi
SERVING OUR
COMMUNITY
SUPERINTENDENT OF
SCHOOLS
L. Storey
905-890-1221
TRUSTEE
F. DiCosola
905-951-8898
HOLY FAMILY CHURCH
Rev. L. Leger and Rev. D.
Gikonyo
905-857-1938
ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Chair: M. Cardinale
905-951-8788
Please visit our
website at:
www.dpcdsb.org/JBAPT
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER
@JBAPT_DPCDSB
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your
Father and ours.
Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord
who enlists me in God's own work for justice.
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world,
peace in my home, peace in myself.
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father's joy.
I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and
love.
Come, long-expected Jesus.
Excite in me the joy and love and peace
it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord.
Raise in me, too,
sober reverence for the God who acted there,
hearty gratitude for the life begun there,
and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son.
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ,
whose advent I hail.
Amen.
VIRTUE OF THE MONTH: HOPE
This month we will celebrate the virtue of HOPE.
Hope gives us the strength to develop a peaceful optimism towards life. Hope
gives us courage to face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. When facing the
darkness, fear, and pain, hope teaches us that we can begin to understand and
accept our imperfections and make use of the tremendous potential we possess.
By seeing the world through the lens of hope, we can truly begin to honour our
uniqueness. Through honouring our own uniqueness, we can then come to appreciate and honour the precious uniqueness of others. Perhaps the deepest
insight we can acquire from letting our hearts run to hope is that we are truly
never alone. With that realization, we can unlock a wellspring of love and enthusiasm for life.
By turning to hope, we discover that God has given us the ability to turn our life around, and
through that turning, we discover the light within us.
December 2015
Page 2
Parents, do you know what to do if you feel your child is being bullied?
What is the first step?
All children attending St. John the Baptist deserve to feel physically and emotionally safe coming to school. If your child is being hit,
kicked, punched or made fun of using inappropriate language (e.g. sworn at or being called degrading names) the school needs to
know.
If you feel your child is being bullied, please do not wait to see if the situation gets better. The procedure is to call the classroom
teacher right away and advise them of the situation. Remember, you are only hearing one side of the story, and there may be
more to this situation. The teacher will thoroughly investigate the issue and get back to you. Consequences will be assigned to all
students involved in something inappropriate. If an incident occurs again, it is imperative that you call the teacher and let him/her
know that the issue has reoccurred. At this point consequences will increase.
Often parents get frustrated when an incident occurs again after they have spoken to the teacher. Remember, unless we have
heard from you or the student, we are not aware that the problem is continuing.
How do we deal with discipline issues?
The school uses Progressive Discipline to deal with each and every issue that comes to our attention. Consequences can vary
based on the severity of the issue, age, or the learning abilities of the child, but are always given when students have behaved
inappropriately and can include recess class detentions, “think” sheets, phone calls home, counseling, peer buddy assignment for
younger students, office discipline, child youth worker intervention, removal to office and/or suspension. Each case is considered
individually.
Role of the Principal/Vice
To thoroughly investigate situations of inappropriate behaviour that occur at the school, and assign consequences as appropriate.
Role of the Teacher
To act and react to each issue that is brought to their attention, from any student in the school.
Role of the Parent
To call the classroom teacher if a bullying or other inappropriate incident has come to your attention. Tell the classroom teacher
when an incident has reoccurred. Speak with the Principal or Vice Principal if you feel an incident has not been dealt with appropriately by a teacher.
Role of the Student
To bring to the attention of their teacher issues that occur. Students are responsible for speaking up when an inappropriate incident occurs so the school can deal with it. Bullying will not stop if students are silent. If a student is a bystander to an issue, they
have an obligation to tell a teacher.
We need Principals, teachers, parents and students to all work together to ensure our school community is a caring and safe one
for all.
What are we doing as a school to be proactive and prevent bullying from occurring?
We are doing many positive things at the school level to prevent bullying, and other inappropriate behaviour from occurring. We
also promote positive behaviour. Here are just some of the things we are doing this year:
Page 3
We have monthly virtues assemblies where we celebrate the students who have been displaying good citizenship qualities
such as empathy, self-control, kindness, respect etc. We have a peacemakers certificate for one student from each class
who exhibits positive strategies for dealing with both their own, and their peer’s conflict situations.
Continuing this year, each teacher devotes one period a week minimum during their religion and family life block to discuss
bullying issues and strategies with their class. These strategies and issues are then shared with Principal/Vice during monthly
staff meetings.
The I Can Make a Difference Initiative continues this year to be a great proactive strategy which focuses on building empathy in students and encouraging them to put their virtues into action by performing “acts of kindness” through volunteer
work both at school and in the community.
The Saint Teams initiative will continue where the staff and students of our school are bringing the saints to life through
fellowship, collaboration and inquiry. By students participating in regularly scheduled school-wide activities throughout the
year on cross-grade Saint Teams, our goal is to build a stronger, caring and faithful school community.
Boys Night In/Girls Night In will continue this year and will focus on building friendships and the meaning of being kind and
respectful towards one another. Both initiatives will continue to be supported by OPP Caledon and other outside agencies.
Rosary Apostolate and visits from our Parish priest continue this year, where students reflect upon their faith, ask questions, and witness role models of faith in our community.
Preventing bullying only works, if we ALL do our part. Everyone has a role. We need your help to make the school safe.
Remember, we can’t deal with a bullying incident we don’t know about. Keeping your child’s teacher aware of problems that
are occurring is essential . Bullies don’t bully those who tell on them. Empowering your child to have a voice and speak up
when something inappropriate is happening is a life skill, and is essential to prevent bullying and inappropriate behaviour from
occurring.
Thank you for working together with your child’s school!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Page 4
Page 4
ECO-UPDATE
Greetings from the Eco Team!
A long overdue “Hello” from everyone on the Eco Team! We have of course been busy as usual and have many items to report to the St.
John the Baptist community. We would like to start off by offering a Great Big THANK YOU, to the Parent Council for continuing to support and encourage our efforts! We also have a very specific THANK YOU to Mrs. and Mr. Mather and the people at Humber Nurseries for
once again supplying us with a beautiful new tree which we have planted in our backyard. We have a $300 budget which we will allow us to
maintain and keep safe our new tree and the tree planted last year, as well as adding to our Butterfly Garden at the front of the school.
At this time, we are in high hopes of receiving a grant from the Town of Caledon School Green Fund with which we hope to convert one of
our existing fountains into a Water Bottle Refilling Station. As usual, we are promoting the weaning off of recyclable bottles (remember the
YouTube phenomenon: The Story of Bottled Water?? Check it out!!!), and we continue to do our weekly Reusable Water Bottle Count and
Cheer, wherein Eco Team members go from class to class and celebrate and count all re-usable water bottles found in each classroom. The
winning class gets to keep our Re-usable Water Bottle Trophy for the following week.
We have also been checking on Lights out Lunches and when we see classes joining in we reward them with a “Sunsational Award.” Classes
should save these as reminders of great participation in energy savings. Occasionally we come to a room where lights have been left on and
yet no one is there! This is when we’ll attach an “Energy Hog” reminder near the light switch! We ask that all members of the school community to remember to turn off the lights, especially if you are last to leave a room!
In September and October we conducted several yard clean ups at the school and at the park. We will take advantage of good weather days
during the winter to do the same, but we welcome joiners to our Spring Yard Clean up (hopefully) during the month of April... stay tuned for
details!
Our Walk to School programme has had its annual kick off on International Walk to School Day, which was Wednesday October 7 th. We
encourage all students who are able to walk or bike to school on a regular basis, and remember SAFETY first!! Join a friend or a group of
friends and enjoy the fresh weather on your way to and from school! And don’t forget to get a walking card from the Eco Team... you can
collect all 10 colours of “Footie” rewards or perhaps win a prize at the end of each season!
We congratulate both current and past Eco Team members’ hard work at collecting and sorting Terracyclables! Due to their efforts, our
school was noticed by Terracycle.ca. They arranged for our team to be photographed in the local newspapers, in celebrating our imminent
contribution of over 20,000 Cookie and Cracker wrappers for recycling. Way to go team!! See the article at the Caledon Citizen, on October 29th, page 3.
Finally, we wish you a thoughtful and love-filled Christmas!
“BIG BOX OF CARDS” FUNDRAISER
St. John the Baptist’s Big Box of Cards Fundraiser was a HUGE SUCCESS!!! With your help and generosity, we were able to raise over $11 000 towards supporting the school! The money will be used to purchase technology for student use school wide.
Mrs. McCaffrey’s grade 4/5 class were awarded with a class pizza party for selling the most boxes! Congratulations boys and girls!! Also, student names were entered into a draw for an iPAD. The grand prize
winner was Pia T. Congratulations Pia!!
A sincere thank you to the Catholic School Parent Council for organizing the fundraiser and volunteering
their time handing out the boxes to those who purchased.
THANK YOU ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST SCHOOL COMMUNITY FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!
Page 5
APPROPRIATE DRESS
- COLD WEATHER
The days are getting colder as the winter season arrives. We ask that students
dress appropriately; i.e. coats, gloves, mitts,
boots etc.. If they are dressed warmly, they
are better prepared to participate in outdoor
activities during recess and noon hour.
Please be advised that students are kept
indoors at recess during the winter only
when the weather conditions are extremely cold. (When the wind chill equivalent
temperature is minus 25 degrees Celsius
or lower, as per school Board policy.)
JOIN US FOR CHRISTMAS
CAROLING/LITURGY
Come and join us for a special Baptist
Christmas Liturgy and Sing-a-long on
Thursday, December 17, 2015. Classes
will be attending as follows;
9:00am - Mrs. Rago, Mrs. Rosa, Grades
1,3,5,7
RECESS RULES FOR STUDENTS
We encourage all students to experience their outdoor recess breaks in
an enjoyable and safe manner. To ensure that students play safely and
never endanger the safety of other children during recess times, we
have two very important rules for all children to follow in our school
yard.
In addition to plain common sense, we continue to have a “NO CONTACT” rule in the school yard. This rule states that students are not to
play any games or be involved in any activities in the school yard that
involve physical contact. Games such as tackle football, soccer and
British Bulldog are not allowed. Students are reminded that if a game
develops during a recess break where contact becomes part of the
game or activity, that the students are to remove themselves from that
activity and report the contact to the nearest staff member on yard duty.
In an effort to make our yard duty staff more visible for the students,
they wear bright orange safety vests.
Our other main recess rule is for the winter season. Every year,
throughout the winter season, students are reminded about a very strict,
yet simple, rule that forbids the throwing of snowballs at school. Students are continually reminded during announcements that our school
rule states:
DO NOT THROW SNOW OR SNOWBALLS AT SCHOOL.
We also remind students that the reason for this important rule is to
ensure that all children can go out in the school yard, play safely and
enjoy the outdoor recesses. Throwing snowballs in the schoolyard not
only breaks our school rule, but also endangers the safety of other students.
1:00pm - Mrs. Lancia, Grades 2,4,6,8
Come and join us !!
Students who disobey the snowball rules are endangering fellow students by their poor behaviour and disciplinary consequences, which may include school suspension, will be instituted.
.
After Hours Use of School Property
School property should not be used after school hours without a permit. Sports groups and other
groups often are given permission by permit for use of the premises, but a fee is charged and proper
permitting must occur. School property is private property, and we have difficulties with vandalism, broken bottles and other inappropriate activity taking place which makes the school unsafe and unclean in
the morning for students. Neighbours are encouraged to call the police if you see any inappropriate activity taking place on school property after school hours. Thank you for your help in keeping our school
and community safe.
FROM THE STAFF AND STUDENTS OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
SCHOOL WE WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A
VERY BLESSED AND MERRY
CHRISTMAS
Page 6
Kindergarten Registration Dates
2016-2017
KISS N’ RIDE “SAFETY CONCERNS”
Please keep in mind that St. John the Baptist was positioned in the
subdivision so that it is a “walker school” for the vast majority of students. We only have one bus, as most students are expected to be
walking to school. There are crossing guards located at Queensgate
and Landsbridge and at Dovaston and Landsbridge for this purpose. We encourage everyone to make the healthy walk to school
instead of using the Kiss and Ride. Remember, with almost 700 students, the Kiss and Ride is going to be congested and patience is needed by everyone.
Please note, when you need to use the Kiss and Ride, that you must
follow the procedures for safety. Use the middle lane ONLY
(marked Kiss and Ride). When you have driven up as far as you can go
in the Kiss and Ride lane, your children may disembark the vehicle
from the right hand side of the car only. Please remain in the
car. Your child should be able to get out of the car on their own and
shut the door. If they are not able to do this, we request that you
either park on the side streets, or at the splash park so you can accompany your child. It is very dangerous for students, or adults to get
out of the car from the left hand side, as cars are moving quickly
through. Once your child has exited the car on the right hand side,
you may pull your car into the left hand land marked “Drive Thru”
and proceed out of the parking lot.
Your child should NEVER exit the car in the “Drive Thru”
lane. This holds up traffic and is extremely dangerous. After 8:30, the
drive through lane will be blocked for safety, so if you would like to
park in our school lot, please arrive at 8:30.
At no time should you leave your car in the Kiss and Ride lane
(even at the end of the day). The City of Caledon monitor all
schools and will ticket your car.
We need to work together to make the school safe for everyone’s children! Thank you for your support!
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
To help you plan your holidays, the Christmas vacation continues from December 21, 2015 to January 1,
2016. The last day of school in December will be
Friday, December 18th, 2015 and the first day of
school in the New Year will be Monday, January 4,
2016.
Registration for Junior and Senior Kindergarten for the 2016—
2017 school year will take place at all Catholic elementary
schools on the following dates:

Monday, January 25, 2016 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Snow Date Only— Tuesday, January 26, 2016 from 7:00
p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

January 27, 28 & 29, 2016 from 9:00—3:00 p.m.
To register your child, you will need:
1.
2.
Proof of age.
Original Catholic Baptismal Certificate of the Roman,
Greek, or Ukrainian Rite, for one parent and child (if the
child has not been baptized, a letter of counseling with the
parish priest, to complete the process will be accepted).
3.
Updated immunization records.
4.
Proof of Canadian citizenship or Landed Immigrant status.
5.
Proof of address (any two of the following).

Property tax bill

Real estate document, e.g., Purchase Agreement/*Rental
Agreement

Current utility bill

Government of Canada-issued forms, e.g., passport, Service
Canada documents
Parent Evening to Support the Transition of Children with
Differing Abilities into Kindergarten 2016
There will be an information session for parent(s)/
guardian(s) of children with differing abilities including vision, hearing, autism, physical/medical and/or
developmental delays who are transitioning to Kindergarten in September 2016. The information session
will be held at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
School Board -- Catholic Education Centre, Room
301 on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, from 7:00 p.m. to
8:30 p.m. Snow date, Wednesday, January 13, 2016,
from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Parent(s)/Guardian(s)
are also reminded to register their child at their school.
Official registration dates are Monday, January 25th
from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Snow Date for the
evening registration is Tuesday, January 26th, 2016,
from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Additional registration
dates are January 27th, 28th and 29th, 2016 from 9:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Page 7
PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
AND THE
DUFFERIN-PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Keaton Centre, 5685 Keaton Crescent, Mississauga, Ontario. L5R 3H5
Phone: (905) 890-6000 Fax: (905) 890-6033
www.stopr.ca
NOTICE TO PARENTS/GUARDIANS OF TRANSPORTED STUDENTS
TOWN OF CALEDON
To help parents/guardians better understand the nuances of school bus cancellation notices as they relate to the Town of Caledon, the following clarification is provided with reference to a typical media statement:
“THE DUFFERIN-PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD BUSES AND THE
PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD BUSES IN THE TOWN OF CALEDON ARE CANCELLED”
This means that all school buses in the jurisdictional area of the Town of Caledon, including Bolton, Caledon East, as well as all villages and rural areas, are cancelled. This affects all elementary students who are bussed to St. Cornelius, Holy Family, St. John Paul
II, St. John the Baptist and St. Nicholas, as well as all secondary students who are
bussed to Robert F. Hall and St. Michael Catholic secondary schools.
Please note that a notice that “the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and Peel
District School Board buses are cancelled” indicates that all buses are cancelled including
all bus runs in the Town of Caledon. Similarly, a notice indicating that “the Dufferin-Peel
schools are closed” would include the closure of all schools in the Town of Caledon.
While cancellation notices are indicated on various news channels, including TV and radio stations, typically by 6:00 am, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board also
posts the information by numerous means, typically by 6:10 am.
Here are ways parents/guardians and students can check on cancellation/closure notices:
Visit the Board website at www.dpcdsb.org or any Dufferin-Peel Catholic school website,
where a yellow ALERT banner at the top of the page will advise of any cancellations or
other relevant alert messages.
Phone (905) 890-1221 to hear opening recorded message (eg. “Thank you for calling the
DPCDSB on Wednesday, January 29. Please be advised that buses in Dufferin County
and Caledon are cancelled today….”
Twitter – all cancellations/closures are tweeted. Follow the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
School Board @ DPCDSBSchools.
eCommunity email blast – subscribe through the Board website www.dpcdsb.org to receive board information on a regular basis. Cancellation notices are emailed to subscribers.
december 2015
Sun
6
Mon
7
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2 Crock-a-Doodle
Kinders
3 Snack Bar
4 Operation
Christmas Child
Trip Gr. 8
5
8 Rosary Apostolate
9 Dental Screening
JK, SK, Gr.2 &8
10 Dental Screening JK, SK, Gr.2
&8
11 Advent Mass
Gr. 3 9:00 and
10:20
12
Snack Bar
13
14
15
16 Last Pizza Day
Session 1
17 Christmas Litur- 18 Last Day of
gy/Caroling at 9:00 Class
and 1:00
19
Snack Bar
20
21 Christmas Break
22 Christmas
Break
23 Christmas Break
24 CHRISTMAS
EVE
27
28 Christmas Break
29 Christmas
Break
30 Christmas Break
31 NEW YEAR’S
EVE
25 CHRISTMAS DAY
26
Fri
Sat
1
2
January 2016
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
3
4 First Day Back 5
6
7
8
9
10
11
13
14
15
16
12 Rosary Apostolate
School Council
Meeting at 7p.m.
17
18 P.A. Day
Reporting
19
20 Virtue Assembly
1:35
21
22
23
24
25 Kindergarten
Registration
7p.m. - 9p.m.
26 Kinder Registration Snow Date
27 Kindergarten
Registration 9-3
28 Kindergarten
Registration 9-3
29 Kindergarten
Registration 9-3
30
Catholic Global Learning Centre North
Parent/Guardian Interest Survey
November 2015
Catholic Global Learning Centre North
Parent/Guardian Interest Survey:
November 22 – December 5, 2015
The Dufferin‐Peel Catholic District School Board is investigating the possibility of opening an additional
regional elementary Catholic Global Learning Centre at an existing Dufferin‐Peel Catholic elementary
school located north of Highway 401. The new centre will be modelled after St. James Catholic Global
Learning Centre in south‐east Mississauga.
Like the St. James Catholic Global Learning Centre, the learning experience to be offered at the
proposed Catholic Global Learning Centre North embraces a global focus. Modelled after an
internationally recognized program, the Catholic Global Learning Centre North will teach the Ontario
Curriculum via an integrated, inquiry‐based approach aligned with the Ontario Catholic School Graduate
Expectations. All students attending this school will participate in this program. Once the program has
been established, the plan is to apply for formal certification as an International Baccalaureate (IB)
Primary Years Program and Middle Years Program site.
Interested parents and guardians are asked to complete an online survey that can be accessed from the
board website’s main page at www.dpcdsb.org or, also, from any Dufferin‐Peel elementary school
website. Participation in this survey is voluntary and parents may choose to stop completing the survey
at any time. Parents will not be asked to identify themselves or their child/children.
The information collected through the survey is for planning purposes only and will be used to inform
recommendations about the potential site and more details which will follow at a later date.
Please note that the survey closes on December 5, 2015.
Board Policy 24.00 ‐ Access to Elementary Regional Programs of Choice
The process for accessing elementary regional programs of choice must be equitable for all eligible pupils within the
Board’s jurisdiction. If applications received by the due date exceed the available pupil places allotted to the
regional program, a lottery process specific to the regional program will be activated to fill available pupil places.
All eligible applicants, including siblings of pupils currently registered in the regional program, will participate in the
lottery process.