ST. TERESA OF AVILA
6675 MONTEVIDEO ROAD
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO
L5N 4E8
PHONE: (905)858-3462 FAX: (905) 858-1673
Website: http://www.dpcdsb.org/AVILA
February 2016 Newsletter
Principal
M. Sturge
Vice Principal
P. Basran
Secretary
J. Sequeira
Prayer of Respect
Dear God,
You have done such a marvelous job of creating us and the world around us.
Among your greatest gifts are our friends and acquaintances.
They are the yeast in the dough of life – they make life lively and interesting.
Superintendent
Mississauga North
Family of Schools
T. Cruz
(905) 890-1221
Pastor
St. John of the Cross
Fr. J. Kalluvila
We come to you now asking for the grace and strength to keep a sense of
respect.
We hope that by recognizing and honoring the shared Spirit in everyone we
meet, we can contribute to making our school a safer, more caring, more
inclusive community.
Trustee Ward 9
E. O’Toole
(905) 812-5163
May your gift of respect help us to live each day with the confidence that we
are in company of people who are not strangers but who are our spiritual
brothers and sisters. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our brother, who
lived to show us your way.
Amen
ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS
PARISH
6890 Glen Erin Drive
Miss., ON L5N 2E1
Tel: (905) 821-1331
Fax: (905) 858-8486
Email:
stjohnofx@rogers.com
Website:
www.saintjohnofthecross.co
m
MASS TIMES
Weekends:
Sat.: 5:00 p.m.
Sun.: 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m.,
12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m.
Weekdays: 9:00a.m.
Pastoral Team
St. John of the Cross
Fr. Joseph Kalluvila, O. Carm
Pastor
Fr. Felix Antony, O. Carm
Assoc. Pastor
Fr. Sebastian Joseph O. Carm
Assoc. Pastor
John Cannon, Deacon
Kate Watkiss, Pastoral
Associate
Virtue of Respect
This month we celebrate the virtue of respect. God has given us the virtues
of friends and companions to keep us company and to help us our along the way.
Every person in our lives carries the Spirit of God- and so every person is our
brother or sister through Jesus Christ. As brothers and sisters who share one
Holy Spirit, we are all valuable to God. We all deserve to be shown courtesy,
consideration, sensitivity and thoughtfulness, which are different ways of
saying respect. That respect should come first and foremost from ourselves.
We have to respect ourselves and then we will be able to respect others. We
should also be able to expect to be treated with respect by everyone we meetour brothers and sisters in Jesus.
A respectful person…
 Treats himself/herself and everyone else with equal consideration and
courtesy
 Uses a positive tone of voice and body language
 Avoids swearing, name-calling, put-downs, and inappropriate gestures
 Says “Excuse me”, “Please”, and “ Pardon me”
 Avoids gossip
FAITH COMMUNITY
Ash Wednesday
As Catholics, we recognize Easter as the most sacred
and holy time in our Liturgical year. During the forty
days of Lent, we reflect on our own relationship with
God. We walk with Jesus during his forty days in the
desert and we do acts of penance, prayer and
sacrifice. We strive to repair broken relationships
with others and with our Lord. We anticipate with
joy the healing power of Christ which is manifested in
the resurrection on Easter Sunday. We will be having
our Ash Wednesday liturgy at 12:45 on February 10th
and so commence the season of Lent. Please join us if
you are able as all are welcome.
Virtue Assembly
The January virtue assembly focused on this month’s
virtue of respect. Thank you to all of the
parents/guardians and family members who were able
to attend and congratulations to our students who
received certificates for the virtue of hope. Thank you
to Mrs. Flynn and Mrs. Walker for organizing the
beautiful assembly and for the dedicated participation
of the students. Thank you to Mr. Abraham for his
audiovisual support. Our next assembly will be on
Monday, February 29th at 9:00a.m. Please join us if you
are able.
Student Information
It is important that we have up to date records of your
address, phone numbers, and emergency contacts in
the event that the school must contact you regarding
your child. Please inform the office or your child’s
teacher if any information changes throughout the
year.
Student Absence and Arrival Time
We ask that parents continue to call to notify the
school if their child will be absent and/or late. Your
phone call to the school saves us time trying to
ensure your child is safe. Remember that you can call
the school twenty-four hours a day to report your
child’s absence at 905-858-3462- option 1. Upon
reaching the school answering service please leave
the following information: a) Date of absence
b)Student’s full name c) Grade level and teacher d)
Reason for absence e) Date of return.
Students who are late must report to the office
and sign in. School staff is on duty at 8:15 a.m.
in the morning until 8:30 a.m. There is no
supervision for students before 8:15 a.m. and
students should not be dropped off prior for
safety reasons. Students should arrive at 8:25
a.m. to line up and enter the school with the rest
of the class and avoid being late. Full Day
Kindergarten student will be taken inside at 8:15
a.m.The school bell rings at 8:30 a.m. If you arrive
after the bell rings, please bring your child to the
office and sign them in. Thank you for your
cooperation.
Parking Lot Safety/Kiss and Ride
As always, student safety is a priority at St. Teresa
of Avila School. Please continue to use the available
parking spaces or park in the designated areas on the
street when picking up or dropping off your child. As
indicated in a letter sent out earlier in September,
the Mississauga Parking Enforcement will issue
tickets for those who are illegally parked. The Kiss n
Ride should be constantly moving to prevent a back
log of traffic. Children should not be walking
across the parking lot unattended in front of cars
or buses and will be directed to use the walkway in
front of the school. Please do not leave your
vehicle unattended in the Kiss and Ride. Thank you
to everyone who are using the Kiss and Ride safely.
We are asking for everyone’s patience and
cooperation to ensure that all of our students arrive
and leave school safely.
Storage and Administration of Medication
Parents are responsible for ensuring that all
medication and forms are updated annually for any
student who requires medication to be administered
at school. If your child requires medication please
have the necessary forms completed and return
them, along with any medication, to the office as soon
as possible. Forms are available at the school office.
Medical Alert-Anaphylactic shock- Nut
Allergies
Please be aware that there are students in our school
with a severe life-threatening food allergy
(anaphylaxis) to NUTs and PEANUTs. This is a
medical condition that causes a severe reaction to
certain allergens and can result in death within
minutes. Although this may or may not affect your
child’s class directly, please send lunches and snacks
to school with your children that are free from
peanuts or nut products. We ask that you do not send
in food products for the whole class to celebrate
birthdays or social occasions. A donation of a book or
game to the classroom is a safe alternative to food
products and will be enjoyed so much longer by the
children. Please feel free to contact your child’s
teacher if you have any concerns or questions. We
thank you for your co-operation and attention to this
health watch.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality of Student & Staff Personal
Information
We now live in an age where most parents/guardians
and many students have cell phones and other
Personal Electronic Equipment (PEDs) that have
photo, recording and videotaping features. The
temptation to take photos, video-tape friends,
teachers at school and other events is high,
especially when parent/family members are unable to
attend the event. The accessibility of these advanced
technologies make it, easy and immediate.
The concerns that schools have, is how can the
school, maintain and protect the confidentiality of
our students and staff when acts that seem so
innocent can potentially have serious/harmful
consequences. If photos, video clips are placed on
Facebook pages, YouTube and other websites, control
is lost on who can view it. In addition, written consent
from the participants must be secured to post such
information. Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board
adheres to strict policies and guidelines on
maintaining the confidentiality of students and staff.
At the beginning of each year, parents/guardians sign
forms granting/disallowing photos of their child(ren)
to be taken for school use (i.e., in classrooms, hallway
bulletin boards and assembly video presentations).
Schools should not post personal information on their
web-sites. Personal information is defined in Section
2 of the MFIPPAct, as 'recorded information about
an identifiable individual'. Personal information should
only be posted where in-formed consents have been
obtained from all affected individuals or from
persons who are legally authorized to consent on
their behalf.
Informed consent requires that the person
consenting understands the exact nature of the
information for which con-sent is sought, the
potential consequences of signing the consent form,
and be given the right to revoke the consent at any
time. As such, we require parents/guardians/students
to respect and adhere to Dufferin Peel’s policy on
Confidentiality of Student & Staff Information.
Custody of Children
On rare occasions, we are faced with difficult
situations in which non-custodial parents arrive at
school asking to visit their child or to take their child
home after school. We are best able to serve and
protect students when we are made aware of legal
custody arrangements, visitation rights and other
special instructions. If legal custody matters affect
your family, please ensure that our office and
classroom teachers are aware of any custodial
arrangements that may affect your child during
school hours.
Pediculosis
It is important to bring your attention to a problem
that occurs in most schools. Head lice are parasites
which have been common among human beings for
centuries. They are not in any way connected to
uncleanliness. If a case is found in our school, we shall
inform parents of the students in that classroom. If
your children do become infested, we will be asking
you to keep them out of school until after they have
been treated with the correct shampoo and their hair
is entirely clear of both lice and nits (eggs). We ask
that you check your own children regularly. If we all
cooperate in these procedures, we may not entirely
escape outbreaks, but we will be able to bring them
under control quickly.
Winter Weather
During the winter season, many parents are
concerned about school policy on outdoor recess. It is
generally accepted that when the wind chill factor
drops below -25°C, students should not go outside
for recess. Dufferin-Peel C.D.S.B. Policy uses a wind
chill factor of -20° C as a determining factor for
modified recess. We ask that students come dressed
appropriately with hats, gloves, mittens etc. Where
possible, please put identification on your child’s
belongings. Please note that all students should have
indoor shoes during the winter months so that the
classrooms are kept as clean and dry as possible.
During the winter months, inclement weather may
cause disruption of bus transportation and regular
school operations. A decision to cancel transportation
and/or close schools is usually made by 7:00 a.m. and
will be announced on the Board website and the
following radio stations:
CKFM – 99.9 FM
CHIN – 100.7 FM, 1540 AM
CHUM – 1050 AM
CJCL – 590 AM
CFTR - 680 AM
CHFI – 98.1 FM
JACKFM – 92.5 FM
CBC – 740 AM
CIAO – 530 AM
CFNY – 102.1 FM
CFRB – 1010 AM
DC103FM
CHAY – 93 FM
Q107 – 107.1 FM
CJMR – 1250 AM
TALK640 – 640 AM
CHEZ ZP7.3
CJBC (Fr.) 86
Front Door Monitor System
For visitors and parents to our school, in order to
assist you better:
 Please stand facing the camera and ring the
bell once.
 Please wait for a response….remember,
schools are busy places!

For the safety of our students, we ask that
you always state the reason for your visit.
We also ask for your patience and understanding if it
is during prayers and announcements and if our
secretary is away from her desk for photocopying
etc. For students arriving between 8:00 a.m. & 8:15
a.m. for the Breakfast Club, please ring the bell once
and wait for a response: Thank you for your
cooperation and support!
SEVERE WEATHER & EMERGENCY EVACUATION
In rare circumstances, our students and staff may
need to evacuate the building as a result of an
emergency in the building or in the nearby community.
Our evacuation site is West Credit Secondary
School, located at 6235 Montevideo Road 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 at West Secondary School
until we make direct contact with a parent/guardian.
SCHOOL EVENTS & NEWS
Health and Wellness Committee
Staff, students, our School Council Chair and our Peel
Public Health nurse have been meeting to plan a
variety of activities focusing on both Healthy Eating
and Physical Activity. Fun Fit Friday’s continue and all
students and staff have demonstrated their awesome
dance moves at 1:40 p.m. every Friday. Fun Fit
Friday’s are an excellent way to demonstrate how
enjoyable physical activity can be and how important
it is to stay active. We will participate in the Big
Crunch in April to promote the importance of healthy
eating. More details are forthcoming.
Games Club/ Chess Club
A games club is being organized under the direction
of Mrs. Ako-Adjei and staff volunteers. More
information will be forthcoming.
In addition Mr. Abraham has organized a chess club
where friendly competition has been evident and
participation in our Family Chess Tournament will be
taking place on March 4th.
Eco-School
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s
Waste-Free Lunch Challenge! Congratulations to Ms.
Flynn, Mlle. Langley, and Mrs. David’s class for winning
our Waste Free Lunch Challenge. The challenge is a
province-wide program of the Recycling Council of
Ontario. Did you know that school lunches are a major
source of waste in Ontario? School lunches are a
major source of waste in Ontario – the average
student’s lunch generates a total of 30 kilograms of
waste per school year, or an average of 8,500
kilograms of waste per school per year. With your
assistance, we can make a great contribution to
reducing waste, every day. Please help your child pack
waste-free lunches every day and help us beautify
your school by reducing litter.
Earth Rangers
On February 18th, we will be having an assembly for
grades 1-6 from the Earth Rangers organization.
Earth Rangers will be focusing on the importance of
protecting wildlife for future generations to enjoy
while empowering our students on ways to improve
the environment and make a difference.
Thank you for your attention to this addition to the
2015-16 School Year Calendar.
National Walk to School Day
Faith in Action
Pope Francis’ latest Encyclical on the environment
invites us to be ‘Stewards of the Earth’. The National
Walk to School Day on Wednesday, February 3
provides an opportunity to reduce gas emissions and
answer our Catholic call to care for God’s Creation.
This is also a great way to reduce the congestion of
traffic in our school parking lot to keep everyone
safe.
National Sweater Day
This year, National Sweater Day will be celebrated on
Thursday, February 4 and our students are invited
to wear their favorite sweater. Sweater Day is a fun
way to create awareness about the importance of
energy conservation as we continue to take care of
our earth. The heat in our school building will be
turned down slightly so don’t forget to wear your
warm sweater!
Black History Month
This month of February we celebrate Black History.
To celebrate Black History Month, students in Mr.
Clarizia’s class will be researching influential
members of society, honouring and celebrating their
contributions. Announcements will be made and
posters will be displayed throughout the school
recognizing famous athletes, musicians, political
figures and their many accomplishments.
2015-16 School Year Calendar
Additional Professional Activity Day: Monday,
April 11, 2016
Terms of the recent contract settlement between
the teacher federations and the Ministry of
Education included the provision of an additional
Professional Activity Day for the 2015-2016 school
year for both elementary and secondary schools.
Recently, boards were directed to schedule this
additional Professional Development Day on or before
April 15, 2016.
In the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board,
the designated additional Professional Activity Day
has been scheduled for Monday, April 11, 2016.
Therefore, there will be no classes for either
elementary or secondary students on Monday, April
11, 2016.
Thank you to the Faith in Action (FIA) members who
were very helpful in the past couple of months
welcoming parents into the school for the FDK
Christmas plays and the virtue award
assemblies. Our FIA members have been busy at our
virtue assemblies connecting our monthly virtue to
the Ontario Catholic Graduation Expectations. For
example, this month's virtue is respect. By practicing
the virtue of respect our students are developing
into: Believers, Live Long Learners, people that care
and understand that they have responsibilities in the
school, at home and in the community.
School Advisory Council
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, February
18 at 6:30 p.m. in the library. All are welcome to
attend.
Dates to Remember
February 2
Report Cards sent home
February 3
National Walk to School Day
Pizza Lunch
February 4
National Sweater Day
Interview Evening
February 5
P.A. Day- Reporting to Parents
February 9
Shrove Tuesday
February 10
Ash Wednesday liturgy @ 12:45
Rosary Apostolate
February 12
Red, White and Pink Day
NBA trip- Mrs. Lillicrop’s class
February 15
FAMILY DAY- no school
February 17
Pizza Lunch
February 18
Earth Rangers assembly- Gr. 16-10:25a.m.
School Council meeting at 6:30
February 25
Lenten Mass at 9:30 a.m.
February 26
Dental Screening: FDK, Gr. 2 &
8
February 29
Virtue Assembly @ 9:00 a.m.