Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
A PRAYER FOR HOLY WEEK
Jesus you are triumphant
And your footsteps are determined.
Your road has been steep and rough.
This week we see the journey
That you have made toward life.
You are our leader and our guide.
We too walk on this road.
We place our feet,
Our words, our actions….on the road.
We walk behind you,
We follow you.
Amen
Principal:
G. Sideroff
Vice Principal:
J. MacSween
Secretary:
K. Walsh
M. D’Amato
Superintendent:
D. Finegan-Downey
Brampton North -East
(905) 890-1221
Trustee:
S.Xavier
Parish:
St. Patrick’s Church
(905) 794-0486
Pastor:
Fr. V. Marziliano
Father Francis McSpiritt
Catholic School
55 Lexington Road
Brampton, Ontario
L6P 2B1
Telephone: (905) 794-5031
Fax- (905) 794-9542
Our Virtue for March…… Kindness
This month, we celebrate the virtue of Kindness. We will learn that:
A kind person….
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Says nice things to others so they feel good about themselves
Sticks up for people who are picked on or need help
Refuses to join others who are insulting, intimidating, mean or hurtful
Watches and looks for ways to help those in need
“As brothers and sisters who share one Holy Spirit, we are all valuable to God.
We all deserve to be shown concern for our welfare and our feelings. We have all
been given the fruit of the Spirit called “Kindness”.
Visit our school website http://www.dpcdsb.org/MCSPI
Follow us on Twitter - @McpsirittDPCDSB
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
Growing Together in Faith
Thank you to School Council and to all our parent volunteers for organizing and “flipping”
pancakes for staff and students on Shrove Tuesday. All proceeds went to ShareLife.
Thank you to the McSpiritt community.
Our Youth Faith Ambassadors are once again preparing for the Passion Play. It will take place
during Holy Week on March 24 in the AM (9:00 & 10:30 performances). You are more than
welcome to join us.
A Message from Father Vito
Dear students, parents, staff, administrators, support staff and friends of School Communities in St.
Patrick’s Parish:
Blessings to all of you, your families and loved ones. Many opportunities will be offered during the
month of March to help us further understand and celebrate the love of God for us all. As per every
year, the March Break will gift us the opportunity to spend time together as family, friends, and
neighbours. A time to relax and enjoy the company of people we love. Be safe in your travels. Be
aware of how precious the gift of “togetherness” truly is, as you visit family and friends.
Holy days will mark our calendar this month: March 17 – Feast of St. Patrick; March 19 – Feast of St.
Joseph; March 20 – Palm Sunday; March 24 – Holy Thursday; March 25 Good Friday; March 27 – Easter
Sunday. In all these days, and beyond these days, we celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy.
Our parish at St. Patrick’s, as you know, is one of the 9 churches in the Archdiocese of Toronto, to hold
the DOOR OF MERCY. Many individuals and groups are coming through the Holy Door of our parish
church, in thanksgiving to God for the gift of God’s love and grace. Perhaps as a family you may wish to
journey to our church specifically for a time of personal prayer and thanksgiving. Invite your neighbour
and your relatives to join you and to celebrate how every day, moment by moment, God grants us the
grace to move forward. Every day is for us all an opportunity to begin anew; to strengthen our
relationship with God and with one another.
You are always in my prayers and remembered in the Eucharist. Happy March.
With prayerful best wishes,
Fr. Vito Marziliano,
Pastor.
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
MARCH BREAK
MARCH 14– 18, 2016.
We wish all staff and students a restful break.
PLAY SAFE
EASTER BREAK
Good Friday - March 25
Easter Monday - March 28
Sports Corner
Congratulations to our Boys Junior Basketball Team who came in first in the mini-tournament at ST.
Anthony School on February 12.
They were able to move forward and participate in the Family Tournament on Friday, February 26 where
they came in third overall. Great job!!
Thank you to your coaches, Mr. Pimentel and Ms. Nicoletta.
Intramurals
Thanks to Mr. MacNeil and several other staff members, Intramurals have once again begun for our
Grade 6 students. They are enjoying playing basketball with their peers in a non-competitive manner. The
students are demonstrating sportsmanship and they are making positive choices while displaying Catholic
Virtues. The program will run Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In addition to Intramurals, students also have an opportunity to become involved in the Lego Club,
Rosary Club, Chess Club, Eco-Team, Recycling Team, Youth Faith Ambassadors, choir; just to name a
few.
They also have the opportunity to participate in the PALS program three days a week in the school yard.
Black History Month
On February 12, 2016, Njacko Backo was invited to our school to lead a workshop with our
Junior & Intermediate Students. He is a native of Cameroon, Africa and he is a musician and
singer. Students and staff had a hands on workshop where they learned how to play traditional
drums and dance. Throughout the month of February, students also learned about “Black
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
History” through regular morning announcements, made by our students, featuring the
accomplishments of prominent African American /Canadian figures. Teachers also engaged our
students through a variety of classroom activities.
Thanks to our French Teachers, Mme Calderwood and
Mlle Horta, Bonhomme Carnaval visited McSpiritt
School. Staff and students participated in a variety of
carnival activities during the first week of February
where they learned more about the French language and
the Quebec culture.
Central Committee of Catholic School Councils invites you…….
Conference and Marketplace – Saturday, April 9, 2016.
Location: St. Joseph Secondary School, Mississauga
For registration information go to – http://www.dpcdsb.org/cccsc/
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Susan Williams, Psychologist
“Parent’s Guide to Reducing Stress and Increasing Resilience in Children”.
THE GREAT BIG CRUNCH
Once again this year, McSpiritt School will be participating in a fundraising event where money
raised will go towards our school snack program. Each student will receive a complimentary apple
on April 8 and at 2:30 P.M. the whole school will be “crunching” into their apple. We are asking for
any amount of donation which will go towards providing fresh fruits and vegetables for our students
throughout the year. Snacks are made available, on a daily basis, to all students. No child is turned
away.
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
SAFETY
(An article in the Toronto Star dated Thurs., Jan 21, 2016.)
“Dropping your Kids off at school might be the most dangerous part of their
day…a new study shows”!
A recent article in the Toronto Star suggested that our stressed and busy lives often
lead us to distraction and the morning hour rush puts our children at risk.
What has been observed seems to be common among most schools: parents doing U-turns in front
of school, blocking wheelchair loading zones, blocking neighbouring properties, not stopping or
putting their car in park while their children exit or becoming testy with staff who challenge them.
We at McSpiritt are fortunate to have a “Kiss “N” Ride area. The Kiss n’ Ride Lane is located at the
West end of the school, accessed from Long Meadow Road. The Kiss n’ Ride Lane was set up to
make it safe and efficient to drop of your child(ren) at school. The premise of the Kiss n’ Ride Lane
was that the vehicle would pull up to the curb and students would exit the vehicle directly [from the
passenger side of the vehicle] onto the curb/sidewalk and proceed into the schoolyard allowing the
driver to drive away, thus easing congestion. Unfortunately, drivers are stopping and exiting from
their vehicles to guide their child(ren) onto the school grounds. This results in more congestion.
When using the Kiss “N” Ride lane we must remember:
-
-
Parents should not be getting out of car and walking their child to the gated area. Children
should get out of the car and go immediately to yard. Teachers are on duty to ensure that your
child enters yard safely.
If your child is in a car seat and not able to exit car independently, then a suggestion would be to
park on street and walk your child to the yard. This is to avoid long and lengthy line ups. Please
note teachers are unable to assist children out of cars.
“Experts say encouraging more kids to walk to school reduces the number of cars and congestion”.
Some of you may have noticed the new addition of a barrier gate at the front of the school. This new
addition has been welcomed by our parent community. It was installed to ensure that our bus
students are safe upon arrival and departure, to ensure that our students who exit the building at
lunch can do so safely and to also ensure that fire trucks and police can access the school in the case
of an emergency. The intent of the gate was not to inconvenience anyone, but its purpose is to
ensure “student safety – as they will always come first”.
If you need to visit the school, or are dropping off a lunch, please park in the side parking lot where
there is ample parking during the school day.
In order to avoid traffic jams at lunch time, it is highly recommended that you send a lunch to
school with your child. We cannot accommodate everyone in the front foyer, so we urge you to
drop off labelled lunches on the front table and quickly return to your car.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
Dates to Remember
March 14 – March 18
Mar. 21 – Mar. 25
March 24
March 25
March 28
April 6
April 8
April 11
April 12
April 19
May 2 – 6
May 5
May 4
May 9
May 23
May 25 – June 8
June 4
June 13
June 20
June 30
March Break – No School
Holy Week – Stations of the Cross will be set up in the gym
Passion Play in school gym- AM – Parents are welcome
Good Friday – No School
Easter Monday – No School
Easter Mass with Father Vito in school gym – 9:30 AM
The Great Big Crunch
PA Day – No school for students
Grade 7 & 8 Retreat @ Mount Alverno
Graduation Pictures for Grade 8 students
Catholic Education Week
Parent Engagement – Active Chefs workshop – 6:30 in school gym
Mass with Father Vito – 9:30 AM
Grade 7 Confirmation @ St. Patrick Church 7:00 PM
Victoria Day – No School
EQAO testing for all Grade 3 and 6 students
First Communion @ St. Patrick Church 12PM & 2:30 PM
PA Day – Assessment and Evaluation Day – No school for students
End of Year mass with Father Vito in school gym – 9:30 AM
Last Day of School
Due to inclement weather, our school council meeting for February had to be rescheduled. Please stay
tuned. We will keep you posted via e-mail and twitter anytime changes are made to the meeting dates.
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
Father Francis McSpiritt Parent to Parent
Newsletter
March 2016
I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me will live,
even though he dies;
And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.
John 11:25-26
Dear McSpiritt Families
We start off our March Newsletter by wishing you all a blessed and happy Easter. Our next School Council
Meeting is yet to be announced. Please check the school’s website http://www.dpcdsb.org/MCSPI or follow
on Twitter
@McSpirittDPCDSB for the latest information.
SAVE THE DATE!! We’re going to get cooking in the school gym on Thursday May
5th 2016 at 6:30pm with Active Chef’s!!
We invite you to attend School Council meetings which are open to all parents. The
meeting dates are posted in the school newsletter and are held in the school library.
It is a fun and informative evening and a fantastic way to get involved in your child’s
education. It also enables you to network with other parents. We’d like to remind
you that meetings are for parents only. We unfortunately cannot provide childcare.
We had a very special visitor this past Christmas. Santa and some of his Elves took
some time out of their busy schedule and visited the students at Father Francis
McSpiritt on December 14th 2015 for the annual Cookies and Milk Event. The
children were very excited to see them and asked them lots of questions about the
North Pole and the Reindeer. We hope to see Santa and all his helpers again!
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
The order forms for the 2nd Pizza Cycle have been sent home and were due back on
February 15th. Please remember the following:
1.
Late orders will not be accepted
2.
Parents must fill out ALL the information on the order form, that includes
YOUR CHILD’S NAME AND GRADE. We are receiving far too many orders that do
not have names on them and as a result are unable to process these orders because
we don’t know who they belong to.
3. Please fill out 1 order form per child. The order must be returned to your child’s class room teacher
by the due back date. We are asking you, please, to NOT send all your orders in with 1 child. It makes
the counting and order process very difficult and time consuming for the volunteers when they have
to keep going back to do corrections. The volunteers that help make Pizza Lunch possible have limited
time and therefore can only process forms that do not have multiple orders. Thank you for your help
and understanding.
The school is working very hard to earn the Eco-Friendly Platinum Award. Please sign
up at the Office to receive the monthly newsletter via email. The Eco-Team has
started the Wasteless or Boomerang Lunch Program. We are asking you kindly to
pack your children’s lunches in reusable containers as well as having them bring in
reusable water bottles. The aim of this program is to reduce and eliminate waste in
the school and help to heal our planet.
We’d like to say a special thank you to all the families who have embraced the school
dress code of Navy Blue and White. As parents we have noticed the morning rush of
getting ready for school and arguing over what to wear has been eliminated with the
introduction of the dress code. Staff have also mentioned an overall “calmness” in
the school community with students more focused on academics and a drastic
decline in behavioural issues. Our purpose with helping implement the dress code
is to bring a sense of “togetherness” to the school community.
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
Are you looking into sending your child(ren) for a safety course or just looking for
extra homework help? Here are some helpful websites. Safety Courses for Kids
Programs (SOS 4 Kids) offers 2 comprehensive programs for children’s safety –
Home Alone Safety for Kids and The Red Cross Babysitter Training. If you are
interested in sending your child(ren) please visit their website at
https://safetycoursesforkids.com/. The internet can be a marvelous social and
educational tool, however, there are many dangers that come with its use. If you
are interested in learning about internet safety, please visit the Canadian Centre for
Child Protection Inc. website at https://www.cybertip.ca/app/en/internet_safety. TVO has a homework help
zone that offers free, live one-on-one tutoring from Ontario teachers for math students in Grades 7-10. Open
Monday to Thursday from 5:30 – 9:30pm ET. Visit their website at http://tvo.org/education. Another helpful
Math and Language website is www.IXL.ca where students can practice their math and language arts. If you
are looking for something to help curb screen time, there is a wonderful app that you can download onto your
smart phone called OurPact. The app allows you to decide how much time and what days your children are
allowed to use their PED’s.
We close off this newsletter with the Prayer of St. Patrick in honour of St. Patrick’s Day.
The Strength of God pilot us,
the wisdom of God instruct us,
the hand of God protect us,
the word of God direct us.
Amen
Sincerely,
Father Francis McSpiritt School Council
Father Francis McSpiritt March Newsletter 2016
Save the date!!
Thursday May 5th 2016
at 6:30pm
Father Francis McSpiritt
School Gym
School Council would like to invite parents and students of Father Francis
McSpiritt to come out for a night of fun and food. Parents and children
will have an opportunity to come together and participate in learning
about healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Active Chefs will be hosting
a community event with light
refreshments.
More information to follow
in the weeks ahead!