April Newsletter
St. Josephine Bakhita Catholic
Elementary School
430 Van Kirk Drive Brampton, ON L7A 0J2
Phone: 905-846-0078 Fax: 905-846-9044
Board website: www.dpcdsb.org
School website: www.dpcdsb.org/bakhi
An Easter Prayer
Lord, the resurrection of Your Son
has given us new life and renewed hope.
Help us to live as new people
in pursuit of the Christian ideal.
Grant us wisdom to know what we must do,
the will to want to do it,
the courage to undertake it,
the perseverance to continue to do it,
and the strength to complete it.
Principal
S. Boulanger
Vice- Principal
G. Johnstone
Head Secretary
M.Misasi
Assistant Secretaries
M. Jaques
C. Ruggiero
Superintendent
S.Steer
905–890–1221
Trustee
D. D’Souza
905–890-1221
Amen
Virtue of the Month- LOVE
Parish
God has given us many guidelines and examples of how to live our lives. God
sent His Son Jesus to make sure that we could see what life could be like. Jesus
made one lesson clear above all: the lesson to love. Love is not about us, it is
about forgetting ourselves and looking out for the good of others. That’s what
Jesus did, He forgot about Himself on purpose.
St. Leonard’s Parish
187 Conestoga Drive
Brampton
Ontario, Canada
L6Z 3X8
(905) 846 – 5385
A person showing the virtue of love:
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Wants the best for others
Is willing to make sacrifices for the good of others
Learns from the heroic lives of saints & holy people
Knows that we are all lovable
Prays for others
.
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Together in Faith
In 1867 a major political change affected Catholics’ ability to develop their
school system. With the approach of Confederation, Bishop Lynch and Thomas
D’Arcy McGee, an Irish Catholic Liberal politician from Montreal, began working
to secure Catholic rights regarding education in the British North America Act.
Under section 93, all the educational rights held by religious minorities at the
time of Confederation were secured constitutionally. Catholic historian Mark
McGowan explained the significance of the section: “For Catholics in Ontario
this meant the right to establish, manage and control their own schools, and to
share proportionally in the government funds allotted to education”.
Taken from: Our Story. Our Tradition. Our Journey
Welcome
We would like to welcome C. Marcellino who will be teaching Mr. Fullan’s
grade 8 class while he is away on medical leave. We wish Mr. Fullan all the best
and our prayers are with him during this time.
Easter Flowers Fundraiser
Thank you to everyone who supported the Youth Faith ambassadors in
“Opening the Doors of Mercy” as they were fundraising for St. Leonard’s parish
who have sponsored a Syrian family. With your support we raised over
$1000.00 for the Parish.
First Communion
Our Grade 2 students, with the guidance of their teachers, have been busily
preparing for their First Eucharist celebration. Their Eucharist celebration will
take place on Saturday, April 16 at 10 am at St. Leonard’s Parish.
Grade 7 Confirmation
The Grade 7 Confirmation will take place on April 27th at St. Leonard’s Parish at
7pm. More information will be coming from your child’s teacher.
Easter
For Catholics, Easter is far more
than just a one-day celebration.
Easter is actually a seven-week
season that begins at sundown the
evening before Easter Sunday and
lasts for six more Sundays until
Pentecost. Signs of Christ’s new life
fill the Church during this season,
such as the colour white,
representing Christ’s victory over
death; and a large Easter candle
reminding us that Christ is the light
of the world. Easter is a time of new
promise, new life and new energy.
If we look around at the beauty of
nature in spring, we are reminded
again of the glorious resurrection of
Jesus. The dark, cold, days of winter
are (finally!) giving way to green
grass and eventually; flowers. More
so than ever, Easter is truly a time of
newness in our Church and in our
world.
School Procedures
Are You Moving?
To help us with our planning for next September, it would be appreciated if you
could let us know now, if you will be moving out of our school area over the
summer. If you know of any families moving into the area with children who plan
to attend St. Josephine Bakhita, it would be helpful if you could alert us. The more
information we have, the better we are able to organize staff and students for
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September. In the absence of accurate information, schools often have to reorganize classes in September due to
unexpected fluctuations in population. All we need is a quick note or call.
If you currently live outside the school boundary and are attending St. Josephine Bakhita on a flex boundary request,
you will need to request flex boundary for next year. The “Flexible Boundary” procedure is reviewed annually. Please
note that flex boundaries will be looked at on a case by case basis and are not guaranteed from year to year. If you are
requesting flex boundary, please note that transportation is your responsibility. The Board will not provide either
transportation or additional supervision for students admitted under this procedure. Note, the students admitted
under this procedure do not automatically become eligible for the Secondary School serving the school. A separate
request must be made to the Secondary School Principal.
DETERMINING CLASS PLACEMENT FOR SEPTEMBER 2016
The staff of St. Josephine Bakhita School will meet in the spring to begin discussing appropriate placement for each
student for September 2016. When determining placement some of the criteria we consider are academic ability,
individual work habits and study skills, maturity, date of birth, social factors, and placement history. We aim for classes
that have a balance of gender, ability and behavioral needs.
As you know your child best, we appreciate your input concerning special needs for your son or daughter. With this in
mind, if you have concerns about your child’s class placement for September 2016, we ask that you put your concerns in
writing. A ‘Parent Request for Class Placement Form’ which is provided for this purpose. A new form is to be completed
each year as we do not retain requests from one year to the next. Parents/Guardians are asked to include in your
request the strengths and needs of your child along with a description of his/her learning style. You may wish to include
the type of learning environment in which your child has experienced the most success. Please do not make specific
requests for teachers as staffing is always tentative and changes can and often do take place between the time of
tentative class placement and September.
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Medication & Students
For safety reasons, and as per board policy, children and staff are not permitted to administer medication, including
over the counter medicines. All medication must be administered by the office and forms need to be filled out and
signed by parents, with a medical note attached. Please call the school to let us know when your child requires
medication and we can make the necessary arrangements to ensure everyone's safety, but if at all possible, please
administer all medications at home, or have an adult administer it for you.
Allergy Awareness
There are a number of students at St. Josephine Bakhita School that have a severe life threatening allergy to nuts. It is
therefore imperative that families refrain from sending to school any foods that contains nut
products, eg. Peanut butter, Nutella, snacks with nuts or any product that has “may contain
traces of nuts” on the label.
Due to the severity of allergies within our school, we ask that parents not send in any baked
goods to share with classmates, not even during special occasions such as birthdays or
Valentine’s Day. Non-food items are encouraged, such as stickers, pencils, etc. We will not
be permitting any food items to be brought into a classroom to share.
Playground Safety Rules
Playgrounds provide a great source of exercise and a place where children can socialize, play creatively and test their
skills. With the milder weather approaching, we want to ensure that students are involved in activities that are healthy
while enjoying the great outdoors. These safety tips help to create a welcoming and inviting area for all students
during recess!
Here are a few simple tips to help keep students safe on the playgrounds:
 Play safely and take care of yourself and others
 Rocks, sticks and sand stay on the ground
 Use outdoor equipment safely; alert a supervisor if items go out of bounds. Do not try and retrieve items
from parking lots or backyards
 Show teamwork and good sportsmanship
 Play cooperative games and invite friends of all skill levels too play.
 Solve conflicts with words or tell the supervisor on duty
 Do not swear
 Listen to reminders from supervisors. Be prepared to work out a conflict by using Accountable Talk
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Respond to signals/bells and proceed to line up quickly
If someone is hurt or injured, let a supervisor know as quickly as
possible.
Above all, have fun! Recess is a great time to enjoy the outdoors!
Community Corner
Grade Three and Grade Six EQAO/ Provincial Assessment
Each year grade three and grade six students in Ontario are assessed in reading,
writing and mathematics. The Education Quality and Accountability Office
(EQAO) has developed the assessment that is used in all schools. This year at St.
Josephine Bakhita School the dates for the Primary and Junior Division
Assessments will take place between May 25 and June 8. Kindly avoid booking
dental, doctor and other appointments, vacation or activities during the test
period in order to support maximum participation by all students. More
information for grade 3 and 6 parents will follow with exact dates and times.
Ban the Bottle Campaign:
Did you know that it takes 1000 years for a plastic water bottle to biodegrade?
In an effort to help our earth, the FDK students in Mrs. Tassone and Mrs.
Cunningham’s class have begun a campaign to reduce the number of plastic
water bottles that are being used in our school. The students surveyed various
classes and concluded that too many students were using plastic water bottles.
Throughout the month of April, we are encouraging students to bring in their
reusable water bottles. The Kindergarten’s will be making posters and
announcements to remind students of the importance of reusable water bottles.
Please bring in your reusable water bottles! We can make a difference!
Catholic Education Week
“Opening the Doors of Mercy”
May 1-May 6, 2016
Pope Francis has declared 2016 a
“Holy Year of Mercy” as a way for
the Catholic Church to “make
more evident its mission to be a
witness of mercy”. Throughout the
year there will be a series of
jubilee celebrations on the theme
of mercy for teenagers, deacons,
the sick and disabled, prisoners,
catechists and clergy.
The sub-themes for Catholic
Education Week 2016 are as follows:
Monday: Mercy that Welcomes –
(Jesus and the Woman at the Well)
Tuesday: Mercy that Loves – (The
Good Samaritan)
Wednesday: Mercy that Forgives –
(The Prodigal Son)
Thursday: Mercy that Lives the
Gospel – (Zacchaeus)
Friday: Mercy that Rejoices –
(Healing of the Paralytic)
We hope to see many of you
during our school celebrations,
Grandparents Day on May 4th.
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St. Josephine Bakhita Spring Food Drive during
Catholic Education Week May 1-6
The theme for this year’s celebration is Catholic Education: Opening
Doors of Mercy. Pope Francis has declared this year to be a Jubilee Year of
Mercy as a way for Catholics world-wide to make more evident our
mission of mercy. The Holy Door in the Vatican was opened at the start of
this Holy Year and we are called to engage in acts of mercy to those in our
Church and in our local community. As school community we will be
collecting non-perishable food items for the local food bank. Our most
needed food items at this time are: Canned vegetables, pasta/ pasta sauce,
canned fruit, 100% fruit juice, rice, high fibre/low sugar cereal, oatmeal,
flour, granola bars, canned meat in water, canned fish tuna in water),
dried/canned beans, peanut butter, baby food (vegetables and fruit)/ baby
cereal/ baby formula. Please ensure that the items donated are not passed
the date of expiration.
Clubs, Teams and Sports News
Wear Pink Day
National Wear Pink Day will be
celebrated at St. Josephine Bakhita on
April 13, 2016. This day raises
awareness of bullying behaviours and
is a reminder to stand up to bullying.
We will participate in the board-wide
flash mob dance to commemorate
the International Day of Pink.
Eco-Team
The Eco-Team Team has been very busy during the last few weeks. Here are
just a few of the things that they have been involved with:
 Garbage and Recycling Audits
 Lights Out Tuesdays
 Light Audit
 Earth Hour Celebration on March 11th and 30th
The Team continues to serve the school by reminding us to take care of our
environment. In April the Team will be planning for Earth Day and Earth Week
activities.
Grandparents Day!
We will be celebrating Grandparents
Day during Catholic Education Week
on Wednesday, May 4th, 2016. Please
mark this date in your calendars!
More information will be
forthcoming!
Chess Team
Congratulations to our newly named primary school champion, Connor. Connor
defeated our runner-up Kaylea in a very close 2 games to 1 final. Second runnerup goes to Adriano.
Junior and Intermediate chess tournaments have now reached the final with two
great matches ahead: Elijah vs. Edward (juniors) and Craig vs David
(Intemediates).
Our school chess team, represented by all 3 age divisions, will face other board
schools in the annual family tournament, held on April 1st at Guardian Angels.
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The Great Gulp Challenge
On Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016 we participated in The Great Gulp, it is an annual event promoted by the Region of
Peel to help create awareness about the importance of drinking tap water in our lives. The event, along with
additional tap water activities, created a memorable learning experience where students had the opportunity
to learn about tap water in Peel. Students were encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle that day (as
always) and were provided with healthy fruit and vegetable options such as oranges, pineapple, mint,
watermelon, lemons and limes to flavour their water. We are hoping to be one of the schools selected to win
a water refill station. Thank you to our Catholic School Council for their support in this initiative!
Jr. Girls Soccer
Congratulations to the Jr. Girl's soccer team who successfully won a gold medal at the Lady of Providence
Indoor Championships. Led by captains Taijah and Milana, the girls showed incredible team play and
endurance in going undefeated (6 wins and one tie) to win the title. The champions are Andrea, Geri, Milana,
Kelly, Alessia S, Dominique, Taijah, Ashley, Dayanara, Alex, Hailie, Alessia R, and Mikaela.
Bakhita Dance Team
The Dance Team will compete at the 11th Annual Dace Event on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 @ 1:00 pm taking
place at the Rose Theatre. Tickets for team and family members will go on sale on April 8, 2016 @ 10am.
The team is made up of Taya, Taija, Dominique, Tabitha, Shante, Hailey, Monika, Mikaela, Julia S, Julie H,
McKenna, Nicole and Ciarah. A special thank you to their coach Ms. Rodrigues and Ms. Ramirez.
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Parent Corner
Video Dance-A-thon: Professor Jamz Ultra Neutron dance-a-thon will be
held on April 7th! Our goal is to raise $7500.00 so we are challenging the
students to raise a minimum of $20 each. Glow Sticks, glow bracelets, etc
will also be available for purchase during the dance-a-thon. With your help,
we can continue to give our students all possible resources to support their
learning by funding educational tools and in-school activities.
Friends and family can make pledges online at www.pledge.me, or by cash
or cheques (made payable to St. Josephine Bakhita).
*** Please have your child(ren) bring in their pledge envelopes by
Friday April 1st ***
Catholic School
Council
Co-Chairs:
Lunchbox Orders: Due to the continued success of our lunchbox
program, we have extended the program until June, however, we have
changed our Monday vendor. Starting in April, we will be offering Pita Pit
instead of Swiss Chalet. Boston Pizza will continued to be offered on
Thursdays. If you would like to place an order, please go to
www.lunchboxorders.com and click on St. Josephine Bakhita to register.
Movie Night: Preparations are underway for our annual outdoor movie
night in June! More information will be available in the coming months. If
you'd like to volunteer or know someone who would, please email
bakhitacouncil2011@gmail.com.
Crystal Gonzales
Lori Toon
Treasurer
Anna Rosa Risi
Secretary
David Corbett
OAPCE
Samantha Francis
Parish Rep
Nancy Papandrea
Parents at Large:
Joyce DeSousa, Janet Amiel,
Erica Belloumini,
Staff Representative Ms. Hanna
Non-Teaching Rep. Ms. Bonifero
Next Catholic School Council
meeting is on April 13, 2016 @
6:30pm.
Our next Parent Council meeting is Wednesday April 13th at 6:30pm in
the library. All are welcome to attend!
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April 1
April 7
April 8
April 11
April 13
April 14
April 15
April 16
April 19
April 20
April 22
April 26
April 27
April 29
May 1-6
May 4
May 16-18
May 19
May 23
May 24-27
May 24
May 25
May 26
May 27
Sub Day
Swim to Survive (Poropat)
Dance-a-thon
Swim to Survive (Poropat)
PA Day
International Day of Pink
Grade 8 Graduation Pictures
Sub Day
First Communion @ 10am
Spring concert @ 1:30 (Gr. Grades 1/2, 2/3 2, 3/4, 4, 5/6, 6)
“Stewards of the Earth.”
Kindergarten Pictures/ Grade 8 make-up pictures
Earth Day
Triple A for Gr. 8’s
Grade 7 Confirmation
Grade 7 Equity Conference @ St. Roch
Catholic Education Week
Grandparents Day
Camp Olympia Trip for Gr. 7 students
Welcome to Kindergarten Night 6:30-8 pm
Victoria Day- No School
Gr. 8 New York Trip
Swim to Survive 1:00-2:00 (Abbas)
Swim to Survive 9:30-10:30(Abbas)
Swim to Survive 10:00-11:00 (Abbas)
Fieldtrip for Gr. 6 DeCaro
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