Volume 5, Issue 8
April 2016
Inside this issue:
A Prayer After Easter
By Erin M. Cline
Planning for 2015—2016
Mrs. Dodgson / Welcome to Kindergarten
O God of the Last Supper
God of the Cross and God of the Empty Tomb
We come before you now and we pause.
We inhale the scent of snow white Easter lilies.
We see the rain as it falls in veils and sheets of April showers.
And we listen.
Holy Week has passed.
But how we long to live by the marvelous story we have heard.
Let us remain ever beside you at the table of the Last Supper.
Show us who is hungry.
And give us the courage to offer them bread from your table.
Show us who is thirsty.
And give us the strength to lift up the cup of your love.
Most of all, show us how to linger at the table, serving others—
Doing ALL that we do in remembrance of You,
And the way You were when You walked this earth.
Immunization / Sacraments/EQAO/Lates
Me to We Day
Pediculosis / Litterless Lunches
Dress Code / Virtue for April:Love / Bikes
Kiss & Ride / Catholic Education Week
Inserts: Math @ Home
St. Valentine Catholic School
5610 Heatherleigh Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario
L5V 2V7
Brenda LeClair,
Principal
Louise Hughes,
Vice-Principal
Principal’s Message
I hope everyone had a beautiful, restful and Holy Easter! As a Catholic community, this is
a special time to pray and reflect upon our blessings. We are fortunate to have been able
to come together to profess our faith. At Easter, we share in the grace of Christ as
“children of the light” and “sharers of the eternal glory”.
Franca Dodgson,
Secretary
David Amaral,
Superintendent of Schools
905 890 0708
May all these blessing fill your hearts, today and always.
Thank you to all the parents who volunteer in the school to make us a better school. A
particular thank you to our Catholic School Council and St. Francis Xavier parish who
work very hard in partnership with staff to educate our children.
We are in the “home stretch” of the 2015-2016 school year and time is quickly going by, -
Luz del Rosario,
Trustee - Ward 6
416 528 6447
K. Canlas and N. Johnson,
School Council C0-Chairs
although it has been a mild winter, spring has sprung, albeit a stormy start.
It promises to be an exciting and fulfilling term at St. Valentine as we prepare to celebrate
Catholic Education Week.
Living
Learning
Praying
Msgr. Edgardo Pan
Pastor
St. Francis Xavier Church
905 890 5290
Volume 5, Issue 8
Page 2
Class Placement for September 2016
The staff at St. Valentine will meet during the month of May to begin discussing an appropriate placement for each student for September 2012. When
determining placement some of the criteria we consider are:
* Academic ability
* Work habits and study skills
* Maturity/date of birth
* Social factors, and
* Placement history.
If you have any concerns about your child’s class placement for September would you please put them in writing addressed to Mrs. LeClair. Please do not
make specific requests for teachers. Rather, you may wish to describe the way your child/children learn best (e.g. “hands on learning, structured environment,
language rich activities and so on).
Our decisions are made after careful consideration of all the relevant information and are based on the individual strengths
and needs of each child and, as such, requests for placement are not guaranteed. As well, class composition (i.e., combined
grades) may be necessary due to guidelines established by the Ministry regulating class size. All letters, however, will be considered.
Please send your letters by Friday April 22, 2016.
Planning for 2016 – 2017
Are you moving? To help
schools often have to reorganize classes in Sep-
us with our planning for next
tember due to unexpected fluctuations in popula-
September, it would be
tion.
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.
Valentine, 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 Septem-
ted under this procedure.

The students admitted under this procedure
do not automatically become eligible for the
Flexible Boundary Procedures—A reminder to
secondary school serving the school. A sepa-
parents/guardians of students that are at St.
rate request must be made to the secondary
Valentine School under the “Flexible Boundary”
school principal.
that the procedure is reviewed annually and permission is granted under the following conditions:

ber. In the absence of accurate information,
Mrs. Dodgson
If you would like to continue to be granted permission under this procedure for the 2015-16 school
Transportation is your responsibility. The
year, a letter will be sent home later this month for
Board will not provide either transportation
you to indicate your request..
or additional supervision for students admit-
Welcome to Kindergarten
April 27, 2016 is designated Administra-
On May 26,2016 at 7:00 p.m. we will be running the “Welcome to Kinder-
tive Professionals’ Day. Although it is eve-
garten” program for students new to kindergarten in September 2016.
ryday that we recognize our secretary, we
The evening will begin with a brief presentation by the current FDK edu-
would like to express our gratitude for the
cators. Parents and children will then be
many “hats” she wears and for her
part of different inter-active activities in
patient and caring nature. Thank
preparation for their start in kindergar-
you Mrs. Dodgson for all that you
ten. Each child will receive a bag of ma-
do, on behalf of our students and
terials to support their learning.
the St. Valentine Community!
Living
Learning
Praying
Volume 5, Issue 8
Page 3
Immunization
Peel Public Health has been reviewing immunization records of all students at our school between the months of February through April. Peel Public Health must have proof that your child has been fully vaccinated (immunized) according to the Ontario immunization schedule. During the record review, (Feb. – April) you will receive a letter from
Peel Public Health if your child’s record is incomplete. It will tell you what vaccinations your child needs to meet the
requirements for Ontario.
Immunization records are considered incomplete if:
• Peel Public Health has not received your child’s vaccination record or
• Your child’s record does not show that he/she has had all the required doses of vaccine (e.g. infant and booster doses) or
• You do not have a valid exemption from immunization for your child
If you receive a letter, please be sure your child has received the required vaccination(s), and then give the date(s) to Peel Public Health
immediately to update your child’s record.
For more information please call Peel Public Health at 905 799-7700 or visit www.immunizepeel.ca
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
S a c r a m e n t a l C e l e br a t i o n s
EQAO Reminder
First Eucharist:
A reminder to all of our parents for Grade 3 and 6 that
Our grade 2 students are currently preparing for the
EQAO testing will take place from May 25th to June
Sacrament of First Communion at St. Francis Xavier Church.
8th, 2016.
The date is Saturday April 23rd at 10:00 a.m.
Please continue to assist your child to
Congratulations to our grade 2s on this important
prepare for the test by reinforcing their
accomplishment in their faith journey.
literacy and numeracy skills and by ensuring that any medical appointments
Confirmation:
are not made during these particular
Our grade 8 students are currently preparing for the
weeks as the students prepare for the Ministry tests.
Sacrament of Confirmation. The celebration will be
held Thursday May 12th at 7:00 pm at St. Francis
Depending on their grades, your child should start to
Xavier Church.
ensure that they have the following tools for the test: cal-
We look forward to witnessing the grade 8s make this
culator, pencils, erasers, protractors and coloured pencil
important step into young adulthood in our faith.
crayons.
Lates
A number of our students continue to arrive late daily. In some
the anthem, but they also miss valuable teaching time.
instances, it is the same students arriving after 8:30 am without
Late arrivals cause disruption to the other students and also
parental accompaniment. This is a safety concern for us. Any
to the teacher who may have already begun his/her lessons
student arriving after 8:30 am is considered late and should be
for the day.
accompanied by an adult.
Developing good work habits and time management skills
Please make every effort to have your child/ren at school on
can maximize a child’s learning potential.
time. When a child is late, they not only miss opening prayer and
Let’s work together to develop these skills!
Living
Learning
Praying
April 2016
Sun
Mon
3
Tue
4
Wed
Thu
5
6
10:45 am—Virtue
6:00 pm—ARC
Assembly
meeting at Board
Fri
Sat
1
2
7
8
9
15
16
Office
10
11
12
13
14
PA Day
Rosary Apostolates
Gr5/6 & 6 trip
Jump Rope for Heart
Me to We Lunch
Assembly
Meeting
7:00 pm—School
Council
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Earth Week
Earth Week
Earth Week
Earth Week
Earth Week
10:00 am—First
Peel Water
Peel Water
Peel Water
Peel Water
Peel Water
Communion @
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
Presentations
Church
30
HPV/HepB/MenC
Clinic
24
25
Living
26
27
28
29
Dental Screening
Dental Screening
JK/SK Trip
6:30 pm—EQAO
3:30 pm—Intermediate
Parent Meeting
Boys Night In
Learning
Praying
Page 5
ST. VALENTINE SCHOOL
COMING SOON!
CHOCOLATE CHALLENGE 2016!
St. Valentine School Council asks for your support of our Lamontagne Chocolate fundraiser. This year
Saturday April 9
we plan to continue supporting various school initiatives, including faith development and sacramental sup-
port, the Arts, academic programs. As a result of your support from chocolate sales last year, the school
was able to have students in grades 1-8 participate in the Health and Wellness Week activities and all
CCCSC 2016 Conference:
students received virtues t-shirts! Also, we have been able to bring the community together in celebration
Opening Doors of Mercy
of a successful school year at our Spring Community Barbeque. In past years we have purchased sports,
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will
receive mercy.”
gym, and playground equipment, computers, and subsidized various excursions.
We have exciting incentives for our sellers! The three top selling families will receive:
– Matthew 5:7
1. $200 Gift certificate for Great Wolf Lodge
Keynote Address by
2. Drone
3. Two tickets to Toronto FC Soccer Game
Dr. Susan Williams, Psychologist
4. Lunch for 10 at Swiss Chalet
We have exciting incentives for our sellers! and new this year will be various prizes for participation in the
fundraising event!
We hope that—as in past years—you will be able to support our school and programs offered to enrich the
educational experience of your children!
Director of the Halton Centre for Cognitive Therapy and Stress Reduction in
Oakville.
Lunch Lady
“HOT” Home style lunches
prepared fresh daily
Visit their website at www.lunchlady.ca
School Id: 3738960
Living

Healthy snacks

Individually labeled lunches

Milk included

3 entrée choices each day
Learning
Praying
Volume 5, Issue 8
Page 6
Me to We Day
This year, eight intermediate students attended Me to We Day at the ACC in Toronto. At first we thought
it was just a chance to see celebrities. But after, we realized they weren’t just singing, they were making a change
in the world and trying to make it a better place. They were helping people by raising awareness and money for
people in developing countries. The goal is for all people to have food, education, clean water and good sanitation. There was even an author named Spencer West who spoke and he was born without legs. I realized that if
he can make a difference, we could too! So our We Group started doing campaigns to help people in developing countries. We chose the country of Nicaragua and our pillar is clean water and sanitation. In our We are Silent Campaign, we raised almost $200. But we’re not even done yet. We are going to start a zinc saves lives
campaign which is a battery recycling program. And we are going to sell rafiki bracelets for mother’s day. The bracelets are made by artists in Africa and the money raised goes back to them. I hope you can support our campaigns to help the world become a better place.
By Luke M., grade 7 student
Pediculosis
As you may know, schools often experience cases of pediculosis (head lice) throughout the year. When pediculosis is discovered within the school, we may check the children in the immediate surrounding area of the affected student as well as that student’s classroom playmates (especially in the younger grades). Students who
have been infested are not permitted to return to school until treatment has been applied and their heads are
clean of all lice and nits (eggs).
We thank you for your co-operation in checking your child(ren) and also in following through with treatments if
your child(ren) has been affected.
Earth Week
Monday: Clean-up our school and community. Please ensure
your child is wearing clothes appropriate for being outside
and picking up litter around the school. (Note: Gloves will be
provided)
Tuesday: Water bottle day. Please send a REUSABLE
water bottle to school with your child.
Wednesday: Litterless Lunch day. Please ensure that your
child brings snacks and lunches that have no garbage.
Thursday: Blue and Green Day! Make sure your child is
Earth Week is April 18 to April 22
Look what our school will be doing for Earth week!
wearing blue and green clothing.
Friday: Lights out learning! The entire school will have their
lights out for the whole afternoon.
Living
Learning
Praying
Volume 5, Issue 8
Page 7
Dress Code
As we prepare for the warmer weather, we would
school attire. Special outfits can be enjoyed after
like to remind our students of the expectations
school and on weekends.
that are in place, especially our older students,
regarding appropriate dress. Sleeveless tops
are permitted but not halter, tank or short tops.
In keeping with the Board’s Mission Statement and
Catholic teachings, each school is committed to stand-
Short shorts and skirts and clothing of a sugges- ards of neatness, cleanliness, modesty and good taste
as specified in the appropriate Dress Code Policy of
tive nature or displaying offensive wording/
images are not allowed. Also, headbands, sweat- the Board— “Students are required to dress in a
bands or bandanas worn across the forehead are manner and attire suitable for the occasion and appronot permitted.
priate to the school environment. Failure to comply
Administration has the final decision regarding
tion…” (Catholic Code of Conduct)
with this expectation shall result in disciplinary ac-
Virtue for April —Love
This month we will celebrate the virtue of love. God has given us many guidelines and examples of how to live our lives. He
sent his Son Jesus to make sure that we could see what life could be like. Jesus made one lesson clear above all other
lessons – the lesson to love. Love is not about us – it is about forgetting ourselves and looking out for the good of the
other. That’s what Jesus did – he forgot about himself on purpose. He chose to give up his life for the good of others –
us! Becoming a truly loving person is challenging. It takes prayer and concentration to get used to making little sacrifices
for the good of others. Making little sacrifices on purpose so that others will have a bit of food, a bit of shelter, a bit of
peace, a bit of quiet, a bit of fun, a bit of friendship. Through prayer and concentration, we can get better at showing love
to everyone we meet.
ON REFLECTION…
What would happen if I chose to give away something I own to make someone else happy?
OUR DAILY PRAYER FOR APRIL
Let us now pray… for the virtue of love so that we will never be satisfied until all are satisfied.
AMEN
Students Riding Bikes
As the warmer weather approaches,
many students are choosing to ride
Kiss and Ride
We have had ongoing safety concerns with the area around St.
Valentine School—Kiss N Ride and drive through lanes.
Some of the issues have included parking
their bikes to school. We do have a
in Kiss N Ride lanes, parking / stopping
bike rack located at the north side of
bus lanes in the school driveway .
the school. Please keep in mind that
students are not to ride their bikes on
school property, including pathways,
and do ride their bikes at their own risk. The school cannot be responsible for any lost or damaged bikes. Students are strongly encouraged to
lock their bikes and bring their helmets inside the school.
in the drive through lanes and parking in
Authorities from the City of Mississauga
have asked that we remind parents of the following rules for Kiss
N Ride and parking at our school:
Kiss N Ride functions only during entry time between 8:15 am and
8:30 am.
Cars are restricted from parking in the Kiss N Ride area, drive
through lanes and bus lanes AT ALL TIMES.
Parents are also reminded NOT to drop students off from the
Please remember that skateboards, rollerblades and “wheelie shoes” are
not allowed inside the school.
drive through lanes at the front of the school.
We continue to need volunteers to help with the monitoring of
Kiss N Ride. If you are able to help, please contact the school.
Living
Learning
Praying
Volume 5, Issue 8
Page 8
The Last Word
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”. The Holy Year began on December 8, 2015 and will be celebrated until November
20, 2016. 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.
As well, Pope Francis opened the Vatican’s Holy Door on December 8th. The Holy Door is opened to evoke the concept of forgiveness which is the main focus of a Holy Year. The theme God’s mercy is illustrated in fifteen of the sixteen bronze panels that make up the Vatican Door. There are seven such Holy Doors in the world, including one in
Quebec City.
Catholic Education Week 2016 combines both the theme of mercy and the act of opening doors of reconciliation, mercy and forgiveness to all around us.
There are five sub-themes for each day of Catholic Education Week:
Monday:
Mercy that Welcomes
La miséricorde qui accueille
Mercy that Loves
La miséricorde qui aime
Mercy that Forgives
La miséricorde qui pardonne
Mercy that Lives the Gospel
La miséricorde qui vit l’Évangile
Mercy that Rejoices
La miséricorde qui rend grâce
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Every year, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) provides our Catholic schools with a resource kit to help schools prepare for
Catholic Education Week. Using these resources as well as our own developed
activities we have prepared a series of activities which will highlight how our
school is ‘Opening Doors of Mercy’.
We hope to see many of you during our school celebrations.
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
Living
Learning
Praying