Holy Family School
61 Allan Drive, Bolton, ON L7E 1P7
Phone: (905) 857-1300
Newsletter # 5
www.dpcdsb.org/HOFAM
Principal: M. Clarot
Head Secretary: M. Proctor
School Council Co-Chairs: K. Bottos / P. Ranieri
Superintendent: L. Storey 1-800-387-9501
Fax: (905) 857-9432
January 2015
Holy Family Church - Pastor: Father Larry Leger
Associate Pastor: Fr. David Gikonyo (905) 857-1938
Trustee: F. Di Cosola (905) 951-8898
Principal’s Message
Associate Pastor: Fr. S. Holandez (905) 857-1938
A Prayer for the New Year Trustee: F. Di Cosola (905) 951-8898
Catholic School Council Chair: S. Scerni
Superintendent: P. McMorrow 1-800-387-9501
Welcome back and wishing you a New Year that brings joy, health
and prosperity to your home. I hope that you were able to enjoy
time with family and friends this Christmas season.
Those who walked in the dark
have seen a bright light.
And it shines upon everyone
who lives in the land of darkest shadows.
Oh Lord, You have made your nation stronger.
Because of You, its people are glad and celebrate.
A child has been born for us.
We have been given a son who will be our ruler.
His names will be Wonderful Advisor
and Mighty God,
Eternal Father and Prince of Peace.
His power will never end; peace will last forever.
Amen
(Isaiah 9:2 – 3:6-7)
As we begin this new calendar year, significant and concerted
efforts continue here at Holy Family School. We will continue a
variety of focused school improvement initiatives and activities.
Our school focus continues to be on numeracy. In addition, we
have begun to look at student mindset. Research suggests that
parents and teachers should think about how they praise their
children. These words and actions tell children how to think about
themselves. Research states that we should praise a child’s effort
instead of praising accomplishments. An example of this would be:
Instead of saying, “you are so smart”, you may say “you work hard
in school and it shows”.
Children who are praised for being “smart” or “talented” develop a
fixed mindset. Instead if we encourage our kid’s efforts and hard
work, then we will support their development of a growth mindset.
Children with a growth mindset believe that with effort and
persistence they can learn and achieve in school. A growth
mindset will better equip them to persevere and pick themselves
up when things do not go their way. Parents and teachers should
also examine their own belief system. Do you have a growth
mindset? Do you believe that with effort, persistence and
motivation your children can achieve their goals?
We need to work at having a growth mindset. It takes time and
practice, but it is well worth it when we see the difference that it
makes in our children.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
M. Clarot
ELP Registration Info
Page 2
Extended French Information Meeting
Page 2
Weather Cancellation Info / School Bus Safety
Page 3
Eco-Team News
Page 4
Virtue of Month – Self-Control
Page 4
Cyber Academy Info
Page 5
Dates to Remember
Page 6
PLEASE NOTE: If busses are cancelled in the
morning, they are cancelled for the day. If you
bring your child to school, please make sure you
have made arrangements for your child’s pick up
at the end of the day. Also, please ensure your child
is aware of these arrangements. Thank you.
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
1
P. A. Days
Please note that Monday, January 19th, 2015 is a PD Day.
This day is for “Term 1 Assessment and Evaluation of
Pupil Progress”. As well, Friday, February 6th, 2015 is
also a PD Day. This day is set aside for Parent/Teacher
interviews. There will be no school for students on either
of these days.
School Council
The next School Council meeting will take
place on Thursday, January 29th, 2015 at
6:30 p.m. As always, all parents are
welcome to attend this open meeting.
JK/SK Registration
Please note that registration for the Full
Day Early Learning Program for four and
five year olds will take place on the
following dates:
Monday, January 26th, 2015
7:00 -- 9:00 p.m.
(Snow Date: Tuesday, January 27th 7 -- 9:00 p.m.)
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, Jan. 28th–30th
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
For first year ELP - Children must be 4 years old by Dec.
31st, 2015
For second year ELP - Children must be 5 years old by
Dec. 31st, 2015
Parents/Guardians should bring the following documents
when registering their child:
 proof of age
 original Roman Catholic Baptismal Certificate (for
parent and child) or Baptismal Certificate of other rite
in communion with the Holy See of Rome
 updated immunization records
 proof of Canadian citizenship or of Landed Immigrant
status
 ***proof of home address (TWO of the following:
property tax bill, current utility bill, real estate
document or Government of Canada issued forms—
NOTE: Driver’s Licenses are not acceptable.)
Admissions are open to Catholic children and children of
Catholic parents. For more information, contact Holy
Family School or call the Admissions Department at 905890-0708 ext. 24500 or visit the board web site at
www.dpcdsb.org.
Extended French
Information Meeting
Grade 4 parent(s)/guardians(s), who wish to enroll their
child in a grade 5 Extended French class for September
2015, are invited to attend an information meeting at Holy
Family School on Tuesday, January 13th, 2015 at 7:00
p.m. Applications will be accepted commencing Tuesday,
January 20th, 2015.
The deadline for accepting
applications is Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.
If the number of applications received exceeds the
number of spots available, a lottery will be held on
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015.
Snow and Ice
Please remind your children that their
safety is of the utmost importance to us.
Snow is always to stay on the ground.
Snowball throwing, kicking snow or ice,
or throwing snow at anyone is not tolerated here at Holy
Family School. The playground climber is also closed for
the winter to ensure the safety of our students.
Winter Weather Reminders
Please assist us in encouraging your children to
dress appropriately for the cold weather. Please
ensure that your child is wearing his/her boots,
hats, gloves and scarves. Except under unusual
conditions, students will go outside during recess
and lunch hour.
For our younger students, please ensure that
your child has an extra change of clothing
(socks and pants) stored in their back pack.
This will help prevent phone calls home when
your child comes to the office with wet
clothing. All items of clothing should be labelled
so that each student can more easily locate
his/her own clothing from the class coat rack area.
Each term many items make their way to the “Lost
and Found” bin and are never claimed. Labelled
items can be returned more easily and mixed up items
sorted out more readily. If your child brings home any
clothing item by mistake, please return it to the school so
that this mix up may be corrected.
Students are expected to wear shoes in the school
building at all times. Please note that in the event of an
emergency evacuation, students will not have the
opportunity to put on shoes, boots, clothing articles, etc.
Please ensure that your child has an extra pair of shoes
at school, to keep their feet dry and warm during wet
and/or snowy weather.
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
2
Staying In For Recess
In the colder weather we receive numerous
requests to allow children to remain
indoors when students have a cold, flu, etc.
Please note that we cannot comply, as we
neither have the facilities nor the staff to
supervise these students. Moreover, Health Officials
indicate that the fresh air is good for children - NOT
harmful, as long as students are dressed appropriately.
On extremely cold days, particularly when the Wind Chill
Factor lowers temperatures considerably, we will limit the
amount of time that students spend outdoors, or hold
recess indoors. With the exception of these occasions, we
expect that all children will go outdoors for recess and
during the lunch break.
Weather Cancellations
During the winter months inclement weather may cause
disruption of bus transportation and regular school
operations. A decision to cancel school transportation
and/or to close schools is usually made by 6:00 a.m. and
will be announced on the following radio and television
stations:
VIRGIN RADIO FM99.9
CFTR AM680
CFNY FM102.1/AM640
NEWSTALK1010
CJBC (FR) AM860
FM93.1
CHIN FM100.7/AM1540
CITYPULSE
CTV
CHUM AM1050
CJCL AM590
CHFI FM98.1
EZ ROCK FM97.3
FM Z103.5
FM Q107
CBC99.1
GLOBAL NEWS
We will be communicating one of four standard messages
to the above radio and TV stations. The four
announcements and their effect on the transportation
system are as follows:
1.
“DUFFERIN - PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD BUSES SERVING ST. ANDREW, ST.
BENEDICT AND ST. PETER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
AND R. F. HALL SECONDARY SCHOOL ARE
CANCELLED FOR TODAY.”
2.
“THE DUFFERIN - PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD BUSES AND THE PEEL DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD BUSES IN THE TOWN OF CALEDON
AND THE COUNTY OF DUFFERIN ARE CANCELLED”.
This means that all runs listed under announcement #l
PLUS the following are cancelled.
• All schools in the Town of Caledon and all school runs
that begin in the Town of Caledon.
3.
“THE DUFFERIN - PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD AND THE PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL
BOARD BUSES ARE CANCELLED.”
This means that: ALL Transportation services provided
by the Dufferin - Peel Catholic District School Board and
The Peel District School Board, including buses, vans and
taxis have been cancelled for the entire day.
4.
“THE SCHOOLS AND OFFICES OF BOTH THE
DUFFERIN - PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL
BOARD AND THE PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
ARE CLOSED.”
This means that: ALL Dufferin - Peel Catholic District
School Board ad Peel District School Board schools and
offices are closed to all students and staff.
School Bus Safety
Maintaining safety on the bus is a shared
responsibility. Students, parents, our bus
drivers and the school are needed as
partners to ensure the safe transporting of students to and
from our school. We require everyone to be committed to
following the behavioural expectations of riding the bus.
Those who choose not to comply with the safety and
behavioural standards put all users of the bus at risk.
Drivers are instructed and have an obligation to issue pink
slips to students who choose not to comply. The school in
turn will contact parents to work together to help students
make appropriate choices. Please review the
expectations with your children. We thank you for your
support and cooperation in our effort to provide safe
transportation for your children.
All students are reminded that there is to be no food or
drink on the bus at any time. There are many children who
suffer from food allergies. Touching a seat where another
child has consumed an allergen can result in anaphylaxis
for those with severe allergies. We are also concerned
about possible choking.
In the interest of safety, we remind all students that they
are to remain seated at all times when the bus is in
motion. “Indoor” voices are expected to minimize driver
distraction. Weather plays a significant factor in the timely
arrival of your child’s bus. Drivers are given the right to
make judgment calls as required especially in rural
situations. Safety is the primary concern and all decisions
are made with this as the highest priority. Your patience
and flexibility in understanding this variable is really
appreciated. Should you have any questions or concerns,
please contact the school.
A reminder of our valuable transportation website for upto-the-minute delays due to weather, mechanical
problems, etc. Visit www.stopr.ca.
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
3
ECO Team News
Tree of Hope
Happy New Year from the ECO
Team. The ECO Team will be
continuing to remind everyone to
be
environmentally
friendly.
Remember to use your reusable
lunch containers and take home
your organic waste to compost at home. During the
month of January we will be encouraging everyone to use
your own reusable water bottle. We will also be doing a
couple of energy audits in the coming weeks. The ECO
Team have been monitoring the classrooms to make sure
the classes are using the blue and gray bins properly. We
are encouraging teachers to turn off their computer
monitors when they are not being used and to turn off the
classroom lights when the room is empty. Thank you to
all the students who come to our meetings with great
ideas and for helping out each week, with collecting the
recycling. We again would like to remind everyone to turn
off their engines if you are waiting to drop off or are waiting
to pick up your child. Holy Family School is an Idle Free
Zone. We can all make a difference to the air we breathe.
Thank you all for helping to make our Tree of Hope such
a success. Many children had a truly Merry Christmas
due to your generosity.
National Sweater Day-February 5th
National Sweater Day is a fun
way to learn about the
importance of saving energy,
and to inspire us to use less heat. Heating accounts for
80% of residential energy use in Canada, and is a
significant source of emissions. If all Canadians lowered
their thermostats by just 2 degrees Celsius this winter, it
would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 4
megatons – equivalent to shutting down a 600 megawatt
coal-fired power station. On Thursday, February 5th, we
will be participating in National Sweater Day. The school
will be lowering the temperature of the building and we
are asking all students to wear a sweater that day.
Remember to dress warmly as it will be cooler in the
building.
Youth Faith Ambassadors
The Youth Faith Ambassadors, together with their
Grandfriends from the Davis Centre, created beautiful and
delicious gingerbread houses.
The Youth Faith
Ambassadors sold raffle tickets to raise money for
ShareLife and four lucky winners brought home the
gingerbread houses. We raised $60 for ShareLife. Thank
you again for all your generosity.
Virtue of the Month
—Self Control
During the month of January, we will be focusing on the
virtue of self-control. God has given us the ability to
choose. We are able to control how we react to what
happens around us. We’ve all “lost it” at one time or
another. We are never proud of those moments. As soon
as they happen we make a promise that they will not
happen again. Through prayer and concentration, we can
get better at controlling our reactions. We can get better
at showing self-control.
Self-control helps us to resist the temptation to do
something that we will regret. Self-control helps us to
resist the temptation to do something that will harm
ourselves or others. Self-control is one of the marks of a
spiritually mature person. When we all use self-control,
we can be sure that our school will be a safe, caring and
inclusive place to live and to learn.
A person with self-control…
is patient
knows how to wait his/her turn
can calm him/herself down and think before
reacting to situations
knows how to avoid physical aggression (hitting,
kicking, pushing, fighting, etc.)
can think things through and do what is best for
everyone.
Bullying Prevention
Initiative Corner
Conflict is a part of our daily lives. It
happens to all of us. It is inevitable,
and will occur whether we like it or not.
Conflict is a disagreement where equal
power is present. Conflict changes to
bullying when there is an imbalance of
power and there is intentional hurt that is repeated. The
key message in January is “conflict is inevitable,
bullying is not”. Everyone faces conflict in daily life and
through it can learn to negotiate and build relationships.
Bullying is a form of violence that leaves no room for
negotiation and seeks to tear others down rather than
build relationships.
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
4
Cyber Academy Info Insert
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
5
January 2015
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
-Happy New Year!!!
4
5
6
7
-School resumes
11
13
-Rosary Apostolate—
p.m.
-Ex. French Info
Meeting—7 p.m.
18
19
-P.A. Day—No
School for
Students
25
14
-HOT LUNCH
20
26
3
9
10
-Virtue Assembly
15
16
17
22
23
24
30
31
-PIZZA DAY
21
-Start accepting
applications for Ex.
French 2015
-JK Registration
7 – 9 p.m.
8
-PIZZA DAY
-Immunization Clinic
#2
-Entry Planning
Meeting @ CEC
12
2
-Last day of
Christmas Break
-PIZZA DAY
27
-JK Registration
7 – 9 p.m. (Snow
Day)
28
-JK Registration
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
-HOT LUNCH
29
-JK Registration
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
-PIZZA DAY
-School Council Mtg.
@ 6:30 p.m.
-JK Registration
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
-NET Retreat for
Gr. 7s
February 2015
Sun
Mon
1
Tue
Wed
2
-Mrs. Pellegrino’s
and Mrs.
Angelosante’s
classes to Silver
Creek Outdoor
Ctr.
8
9
3
16
-Family Day—
School Closed
22
Fri
5
-National Sweater
Day
-Parent/Teacher
Interview Evening
-PIZZA DAY
-Virtue Assembly
10
11
-HOT LUNCH
17
-Shrove Tuesday
-Dental Screening—
ELP & Gr. 2
-Deadline for Ex.
French Apps.
23
4
-Reports go home
-Rosary Apostolate—
p.m.
15
Thu
24
Sat
6
12
13
-PIZZA DAY
18
-Ash Wednesday
7
-P.A. Day—No
school for
students
-Parent/Teacher
Interviews
14
-Valentine's
Day
19
20
21
26
27
28
-PIZZA DAY
25
-Lottery for Ex.
French (if needed)
-HOT LUNCH
-PIZZA DAY
-Gr. 8 Grad Photos —
a.m.
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
6
We believe that each individual is a unique gift of life from God, and we believe in the innate spiritual goodness of all peo ple.
7