Principal:
N. Resendes
Secretary:
V O L U M E
1
I S S U E
7
March Newsletter
M A R C H
2 0 1 6
A focus on St. Patrick
T. Sunseri
Superintendent:
D. Finegan-Downey
905-890-1221
Trustee(s):
S. Xaviour
416-528-9622
F. Di Cosola
905-951-8898
St. Patrick Parish
Pastor:
Fr. V. Mariziliano
905-794-0486
School Council Chair:
A. Ranieri
School Website:
www. dpcdsb.org/PATRK
This month we celebrate St. Patrick’s
Day. St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the
world's most popular saints. He was
born in Roman Britain and when he was
May the road rise up to meet fourteen or so, he was captured by Irish
pirates during a raiding party and taken
you,
to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend
May the wind be always at your sheep.
Patrick's captivity lasted until he was
back,
twenty, when he escaped after having a
May the sun shine warm upon dream from God in which he was told to
leave Ireland by going to the coast.
your face,
There he found some sailors who took
the rains fall soft upon your
him back to Britain and was reunited with
his family.
fields.
He was ordained by St. Germanus,
And , until we meet again,
the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had
May God hold you in the palm studied under for years, and was later
ordained a bishop and sent to take the
of his hand.
Gospel to Ireland. He often used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity and en.
tire kingdoms were eventually converted
Amen
to Christianity after hearing Patrick's
message.
Patrick preached and converted all of
Ireland for 40 years. He worked many
miracles and wrote of his love for God in
Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.
Saint Patrick Prayer
(Extracted from www.catholic.org/
saints)
Parents are welcome to attend our
St. Patrick Feast Day Mass on March
11th @ 9:30am.
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2
Virtue of the Month– Kindness
This month we will celebrate the virtue of Kindness. Kindness can only be seen
through actions. It’s not enough to say I will be kind or I am kind. We must show
that we are kind by our words and our actions. Through prayer and concentration,
we can get better at showing kindness to everyone we meet.
Catholic Education Week– May 1st-6th, 2016
Opening Doors of Mercy
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” Matthew 5:7
Catholic schools are Catholic communities. Catholic schools are faith
communities. We-parents, students, teachers, administrative and support
staff—walk and grow together in the faith which we received at our Baptism. And it is that ‘together’ that we grow. Our growth is primarily a relationship with God, who at our Baptism called us by name. But the response of each of us to that growth is both personal and communal. We
grow in our faith in the nurturing atmosphere of our Catholic community be
that of our local parish, our home, or our Catholic school community. This
year’s theme, Opening Doors of Mercy is supported by five sub-themes,
one for each of the five days of Catholic Education week in order to help
students to understand the rich meaning of this year’s theme:
Monday: Mercy that Welcomes
Tuesday: Mercy that Loves
Wednesday: Mercy that Forgives
Thursday: Mercy that Lives the Gospel
Friday: Mercy that Rejoices
Register NOW…for JK Registration for September 2016
If you know of any family who has a child born in 2012, please encourage
them to come to register their child as soon as possible for Full Day Kindergarten. Although we have already had our Registration evening, we
will continue to take registrations. Please bring the child’s baptismal certificate, birth certificate and immunization card and a Parent Baptismal
Certificate. A “Welcome to Kindergarten” session will take place May 5th,
2016 by invitation.
Next School Council
Meeting:
EQAO
April 5th, 2016 at 6:30
pm
The EQAO Assessment will be administered between May 25 to June 8,
2016. Grade 3 and 6 students are preparing diligently for this assessment. It is very important that all students are present at school during
this time.
Meeting/
Special Presentation:
Collaborative Problem
Solving with your children
March Break
March Break is from March 14-18th. There will be no school
during this time.
All parents are welcome!
Good Friday & Easter Monday
Good Friday is on March 25th & Easter Monday is on March
28th. There will be no school on these days.
Chocolate Fundraiser
PAGE
3
Thank you to the School Council for organizing the Chocolate fundraiser. We will have
a kick off assembly on March 7th at 1:40pm. Boxes of Chocolate will be distributed to
students after assembly. Thank you to everyone participating in this fundraising endeavour! Special thanks to the School Council for organizing and coordinating this
event!
ECO-TEAM
Initiatives
Late Arrivals
Punctuality in the morning is very important. Any
student arriving at
school late is required
to come to the office to
request a late slip.
This allows us to
change our attendance
information, and mark
your child late, rather
than absent. It is very
important that students
arrive to school on time
and ready to work as
late arrivals disrupt instructional activities and
classroom routines. We respectfully request that
students arrive at school before the bell rings at
8:30am. Arriving on time and being prepared to
learn helps students form good work habits and
provides a positive beginning to the day, in addition to demonstrating respect for themselves, their
classmates and their teachers. Students who arrive late during O Canada and announcements will
have to wait outside until the door can be answered.
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.
This month the Eco-Team will be
organizing various initiatives such
as:
Big Crunch Day-March 22nd.
This is a National Day to build
awareness and support of nutrition
programs everywhere. Each student will receive an apple
to “crunch” on.
Big Gulp Day-March 22nd: Students are invited to
bring a re-usable container to use for drinks in order to cut
down on throw away containers.
Earth Hour-March 21st(pm): We will join the millions
of people across the world who shut their lights off for an
hour, to raise awareness for the planet.
Thanks to the Eco-Team & Miss Gallo & Miss Barrasso
for coordinating these events!
INCLEMENT WEATHER BUS PROCEDURES
In the event of snowstorms which prevent safe travel, please go to www.dpcdsb.org for announcements
about bus transportation and school closures, usually beginning about 6:30 am.
Announcements may take one of three forms and
will indicate that:
 Buses in some areas may be cancelled, but other
buses are running and schools remain open for
students who walk.
For example, Buses in Caledon & Dufferin County
are cancelled. This means if you live north of Mayfield Road, buses are not picking up or dropping off.
The second scenario is that buses are cancelled in
Peel Region which means Brampton.
The third scenario is that ALL buses are cancelled in
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board meaning
Brampton and Caledon would be cancelled.
• Buses may be cancelled but the schools will be
open (please note: morning and afternoon busses
are cancelled at the same time. If you choose to
drop off your child due to bus cancellations, you
would need to pick them up as buses will not run at
the end of the day).
A letter from St. Patrick’s Church Pastor: Fr. Vito Marziliano
Dear students, parents, staff, administrators, support staff and
friends of School Communi es in St. Patrick’s Parish:
Blessings to all of you, your families and loved ones. Many opportuni es 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 gi us the opportunity to spend me together as family, friends, and neighbours. A me to relax and enjoy the company of
people we love. Be safe in your travels. Be aware of how precious the gi 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 gi of God’s
love and grace. Perhaps as a family you may wish to journey to our church specifically
for a me of personal prayer and thanksgiving. Invite your neighbour and your relaves 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 rela onship 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.
March 2016
Sun
Mon
Tue
1
Wed
Thu
2
3
Sub Day
Gr. 7&8 Immunization
Fri
Sat
4
5
Miss Barrasso’s
class trip to
Peel Safety Village
Pizza Day
6
13
7
8
Chocolate
kick-off assembly
1:40pm
Gr. 7 & 8 Public
Speaking Competition
9am
9
Gr. 1-3 Trip
to
Kortwright
Centre
Sub Day
14
15
16
10
11
12
CWL Public
St. Patrick’s
Speaking ComFeast Day
petition 7pm in Mass @ 9:30am
the gym
Pizza Day
17
18
19
26
St. Patrick’s
Feast Day
March
Break
20
21
22
Holy
Week
23
24
25
Sub Day
School-wide
Lenten Retreat
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
No School
Pizza Day
27
28
Easter
Sunday
Easter Monday
No School
29
30
31
Virtues Assembly
9am
Sub Day
Please note changes in event times are sometimes unavoidable. For the most up
to date month at a glance is always on our website: http://www.dpcdsb.org/
PATRK/events. Parents are always welcome to all of our assemblies and masses.
An Introduction to “Collaborative Problem Solving”
Reduce Mistreatment/Bullying, Teach Problem Solving
Support Childrens Mental Health
-a research based solution-
Chris Alexiou is a professional speaker
and former school
principal with advanced training in
Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS).
He is currently
the Chair of the
Board of the
Community
Youth in Action
Network (CYAN),
Oakville. He has
a broad knowledge of student learning and building safe, inclusive
cultures at school, home and workplace. Customized presentations
can be offered as Lunch and Learns, School Council Meetings, Staff
Meetings or during the evening.
Teachers and parents said:
Great presentation…good starting point for our school…exceeded my expectations - Teacher DPCDSB
We needed this type of presentation and hope we implement it - Teacher
DPCDSB
Enjoyed the presentation…very practical - Oakville Parent
1
LEARN
The philosophy of Collaborative Problem
Solving (CPS)
2
3
LEARN
LEARN
The Three options for
responding to and
reducing Challenging
Behaviour
How CPS can create a
Safe School Culture
and reduce Bullying/
Mistreatment
This research based
workshop will help participants understand
why many children are
easily frustrated, chronically inflexible and challenge their parents and
teachers.
Target Audience
Teachers, Parents, Principals, EAs
St. Patrick Catholic
Elementary School
April 5 , 2016
7:00 pm
Contact us at alexiouc77@gmail.com or
289-795-6936 for
more details
Ready to register?
Registration information is available in
the school office
or through the CCCSC website:
http://www.dpcdsb.org/CCCSC/
Saturday, April 9, 2016
AGENDA
8:30 a.m.
Registration, Refreshments,
Vendor Market Place
9:00 a.m.
Liturgy and Opening Remarks
9:30 a.m.
Keynote Address:
Dr. Susan Williams, Psychologist.
Parent’s Guide to Reducing Stress and
Increasing Resilience in Children
10:30 a.m.
Refreshment Break
Vendor Marketplace
Alternatively, you may complete the
Survey Monkey™ to register
using this URL:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M9BFLTY
MOVE TO WORKSHOP SESSIONS . . .
Extraordinary Lives
Start with a Great
Catholic Education
For more information on the Central
Committee of Catholic School Councils
in Dufferin-Peel CDSB,
visit http://www.dpcdsb.org/CCCSC/
11:00 a.m.
Workshop Sessions [Attend one of eight sessions]
12:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks and Door Prizes
12:15 p.m.
Vendors open to Conference
participants until 12:45 p.m.
CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF CATHOLIC
SCHOOL COUNCILS
PRESENTS
Opening Doors of Mercy
“Blessed are the merciful, for
they will receive mercy.” –
Matthew 5:7
Conference & Marketplace
St. Joseph Catholic
Secondary School
5555 Creditview Road, Mississauga, ON
Located on Creditview Road,
north of Bristol Road south of Britannia
for Dufferin-Peel CDSB
Catholic School Council
Chairs, Members &Volunteers
and School Administrators
Saturday, April 9, 2016
St. Joseph Secondary School
5555 Creditview Road, Mississauga
WORKHOP SESSIONS
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Susan Williams, Psychologist
Parent’s Guide to Reducing Stress and
Increasing Resilience in Children
Dr. Williams is currently the Director of the
Halton Centre for Cognitive Therapy and
Stress Reduction in Oakville.
She
maintained an appointment for 8 years as
Assistant Professor (PT) in the
Department
of
Psychiatry
and
Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster
University where she conducted research
on prevention and intervention with
anxious and depressed children, provided
treatment in the child, adolescent, and
adult hospital programs, and trained residents and interns in
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). She has worked on the CBT
Unit at the former Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto (now
CAMH), at the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre at St. Joseph’s
Healthcare in Hamilton, the Mood Disorders program at the former
Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital, the Adolescent Program and Eating
Disorders Clinic at McMaster University Medical Centre, and the Child
and Family Centre at Chedoke Hospital, Hamilton.
Children who are excessively stressed or anxious can underachieve
in school, have low self-esteem, be angry, sad and lonely, have
difficulty with schoolwork and have difficult family and peer
relationships. Parents have a significant impact on how well children
respond to stress and anxiety. Therefore, it is important that we, as
parents, teach ourselves healthy ways to deal with stress and anxiety
so we can pass on this knowledge to our children. We also need to
follow some fundamental parenting principles so children learn how
to self-regulate when stressed and anxious. Healthy habits learned
in childhood promote lifelong healthy habits and a happier and more
productive life.
This presentation will describe some reasons why children are more
stressed and anxious than before and help parents develop
resilience, reduce stress, improve their child’s overall well-being and
create a happier home. The presentation will be followed by a
question and answer period.
Keynote Address
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
A
Being Catholic is Cool!!
Inspiring Our Children to Deepen their Faith
Presenter: S. Byrne, Chaplaincy Leader
This workshop will explore different avenues of the Church which
your child will find attractive. How do you encourage your child to
attend Mass? How about the value of reconciliation and support
for youth in the Archdiocese of Toronto? This workshop will give
you all the tools to talk to your child about the beauty and value of
our Church
B
Empowering Youth to be Leaders and Achievers
Presenter: Miguel Martinez
This 45-minute workshop is called "Speaking Their
Language." This workshop does not aim to perfect you, but rather
to give you insight into your loved one's mind. This workshop will
enable you to understand and communicate better with your
youth. Results will be based on your effort and diligence in
applying the knowledge and techniques you learn. I will teach you
the power of music and movement and how you can harness that
power in order to understand and connect with the young people
in your lives.
Mental Well-Being: Supporting Students Experiencing
Stress and Worry Sponsored by the Dufferin-Peel
Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC)
Presenters: J. Golla, Principal, Bishop Scalabrini School,
Mississauga; Dr. S. Sweet, Clinical Child Psychologist & Mental
Health Liaison for DPCDSB; S. Wessler, Social Worker, DPCDSB
C
In response to the Ministry of Education’s Mental Health and
Addictions Strategy aligned to the Catholic Board Learning Plan
(CBLP), Dufferin-Peel is committed to creating safe, caring,
inclusive and healthy school communities. Through a team
approach, an administrator, psychology staff, and social work staff,
will facilitate a workshop on the needs of the student experiencing
stress and worry. This session will provide an overview of
worry/anxiety and the team process educators/parents/caregivers
may use to support students facing particular challenges.
Special Education: A Ministry of Education
Perspective on Supports for Students with Differing
Abilities Session sponsored by Dufferin-Peel Special
Education Advisory Committee (SEAC))
Ministry of Education Presenters: M. Wallace - Education Officer,
Toronto and Area Regional Office, Z. Xu, Education Officer,
Special Education Policy and Programs Branch
This session is provided for parents/guardians of students with
differing abilities including special education learning needs.
Staff from the Ontario Ministry of Education's Regional Office and
Special Education Policy and Programs Branch, along with
Dufferin-Peel Staff, will bring a provincial context for special
education and support services aligned with Board programs and
services.
D
10
select
The New Ontario Health and Physical Education
Curriculum
Presenter: Shelagh Peterson, Coordinator of Religious
Ed & Faith Formation, DPCDSB
Ms. Peterson is the Coordinator of Religious Education and Faith
Formation for the Dufferin-Peel CDSB. She has been part of the
provincial team compiling Catholic resources to support our
schools in the implementation of the new Health and Physical
Education curriculum. With over twenty years teaching religious
education in Dufferin-Peel, she is well versed in the elementary
Fully Alive program and the secondary religious education
material.
E
F
21st Century Supports for All Students
Presenter: Joseph Marquis
Mr. Marquis will focus on technology to support all students in
the classroom as part of our Dufferin-Peel Universal Design for
Learning Suite. He will also provide handouts to support home
downloads of selected software.
G
Healthy Bodies Nurture Healthy Minds
Presenters: Hardev Sohi (PHN), Julia Pilliar (Dietician)
Peel Health Nurses will outline the importance of a healthy
lifestyle for young children.
Presenters will discuss the
importance of making appropriate food choices, increasing
exercise and proper rest. Focus in these areas can effect a
child’s behaviour, growth and development, both mentally and
physically