St. Stephen Catholic School
17 Colonel Bertram Rd., L6Z 4N8, Brampton
Telephone: (905) 840-3921 Fax: (905) 840-6454
School Website: http://www.dpcdsb.org/STEPH
April 2016 – Volume 8
“With Love, Compassion,
Honesty, & Respect”
Principal
S. Rea
Highlights:
Head Secretary
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Key Message for April is…“ If
you’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re
Part of the Problem“
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Our Catholic Heritage
Sacramental Dates
Welcome to Kindergarten Night
Catholic Education Week
Celebrating our Virtues
Go Green
Sharks Corner
Dates to Remember
G. O’Handley
Superintendent
D. Finegan-Downey
Brampton North East
(905) 890-1221
Trustee
Darryl Brian D’Souza
(905) 890-1221
Ward 2, 5, & 6
Parish
St. Leonard
187 Conestoga Dr.
Brampton, Ontario
(905) 846-5385
Pastor
Fr. John Nosan
School Council Chairs
D. Vieira De Santis
R. Linton
An Easter Prayer
Heavenly Father and God of mercy,
we no longer look for Jesus among the dead,
for he is alive and has become the Lord of
life.
From the waters of death you raise us with
Him
and renew your gift of life within us.
Increase in our minds and hearts the risen
life we
share with Christ, and help us to grow as
your
Follow Us on
Twitter!
people toward the fullness of eternal life
with you.
@DPCDSBSchools
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
April 11th, 2016
Professional Activity
Day
No school for students
Virtue of the Month: Love
OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOL HERITAGE
FAITH ACTIVITIES
ST. LEONARD PARISH MASS TIMES
The history of Catholic Schools in Ontario since 1841 is
one of dedication and perseverance in the face of financial
hardship and adversity. Due to the commitment of the
religious teaching Orders, the bishops and priests, the
teachers, parents, and students, our forebearers have
handed to us a great gift-a fully funded public Catholic
school system. The courts of Ontario and Canada have
reinforced the rights of the Catholic school system with a
number of judgments which affirmed the rights of separate
school boards to:
Saturday:
Sunday:
5:00 pm
9:00 am
10:30 am
12:00 NOON
Sacramental Dates
Eucharistic Celebration – Saturday April 9, 2016 @ 10:00 am
Confirmation Practice – Wed. April 20, 2016 @ 10:00 am
(a) Have their guaranteed powers in the Separate School
Act of 1863 improved
(b) Receive equitable funding
(c) Prefer Catholics when hiring elementary and
secondary school teachers
(d) Have their own buildings
(e) Have an exclusive Catholic school community
The integration of religious truths and values with life is
one of the most significant elements that distinguish the
Catholic school from other schools. This is a matter of
crucial importance today in view of contemporary trends
and pressures to compartmentalize life and learning and to
isolate the religious dimension of existence from other
areas of human life. The courts have recognized, over the
years that Catholic education is not a subject but rather a
way to view the world that speaks to the interrelationship
between faith, knowledge and action. The Catholic School
is a unique setting within which this ideal can be realized
in the lives of Catholic children and young people. In our
Catholic schools this reality can and is lived out.
Confirmation Day – Thursday April 21, 2016 @ 7:00 pm
CATHOLIC SCHOOL COUNCIL
Future Meeting Dates are:
Wed April 13th, 2016 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Tues May 10th, 2016 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
All meetings will be in the Staff Room
All are warmly welcomed to attend
Our Potluck Luncheon will be held on Wednesday
June 1st, 2016 at 11:45 am in the Library
WELCOME TO
KINDERGARTEN NIGHT
Thank you to our generous St. Stephen community for
all your contributions to our ShareLife campaign so far
this year. Your contributions will go a long way to
serving those most in need. Our Spirit Week is
scheduled for April 11th to 15th and we will be organizing
a variety of ShareLife fundraising activities.
All parents who have registered their child for
Kindergarten for September 2016 are invited to
attend (with their child) a Welcome to
Kindergarten information evening at St. Stephen
Catholic School on Thursday May 12th from 7:00
pm to 8:00 pm. Please contact the office to
RSVP.
We look forward to seeing everyone that evening.
SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM - Attendance Verification
Daily attendance at school and punctuality are very important. If
your child is going to be late or absent from school, please inform
the office at (905) 840-3921. The school has an answering machine
to receive messages at any time of the day or night. The child’s
parent or the legal guardian must call the school regarding their
child’s absence. When calling, please provide the following:
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Name of student (first & last, spell the last name)
Name of teacher
Grade
Reason for absence
A reminder when you child(ren) are sick, best for them to be at
home.
VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL
Please remember that to other children, you are a stranger. All
school doors are locked at all times and a monitored entry system is
active at the front door of our school. Please enter the school through
the front doors and report to the office, sign in, and pick up a visitor
pass. Prior to leaving, sign out and return your visitor’s pass. Any
individuals wandering the school without appropriate identification
will be asked to report to the office. Please help us to maintain a
safe and welcoming environment for your children.
Parents/guardians are also kindly asked to bid your child(ren)
farewell from beyond the playground. Only students and staff are
to be in the schoolyard. Again, this is to ensure the safety of your
child(ren). Your attention to this is most appreciated. Please be
reminded that dogs are not permitted in the schoolyard area at any
time. The excitement of the children or the bell ringing can frighten
dogs. Also, some students are afraid or allergic.
KISS & RIDE SAFETY
St. Stephen is proud of its Kiss and Ride Program. In order for it to
continue to run smoothly and safely for all our students, everyone
needs to follow the same procedure. Please obey the following
procedures when driving into the school parking lot:
The entry, exit, cross walk and bus zone, on school property, must
never be blocked by cars. Ample space must be left for buses to
enter and exit the school property.
Please park in the parking spots at the school or on the street.
Do not park in any of the lanes in the front of the school and
please do not leave your car unattended.
We are always looking for parent volunteers to assist with Kiss &
Ride. If interested, please let us know at the Main Office.
BUS INFORMATION
Transportation eligibility is determined by a student’s home address.
The following website, www.businfo.stopr.ca is available to
students, parents/guardians, school administrators, secretaries and
school bus operators. Parents/guardians who are eligible for
transportation will be able to login to the www.businfo.stopr.ca site
and access details of their child’s transportation arrangements.
Catholic Education Week
Catholic Education Week – May 1 – 6, 2016
This year, through the theme of “Opening the Doors of
Mercy”, we are mindful of those who are especially
vulnerable; the least, the lost and the lonely, and with
mercy, reconciliation and forgiveness, we welcome all
with loving and open arms.
During this week our families are invited to visit the
school and classrooms to witness a variety of school and
classroom activities. Our scheduled activities…
Hebert & Shouldice
May 6 @ 1:30 pm - Faith Activity
Hoy-Kenny & Mytkowska
May 5 @ 10:00 am – The Good
Samaritan
Nomura & Cabral-Gallant
May 3 @ 10:00 am & 2:00 pm – In
the Image of God
Serpe
May 4 @ 12:45 pm – 1:50 pm – 3D
Art Activity
Chiappetta
May 5 @ 10:30 am – Art Activity
Klukowski
May 6 @ 9:30 am – Arts & Crafts
Stokoe
May 4 @ 10:30 am – 11:00 am –
Dance in the Gym
McCallum & Spizzirri
May 6 @ 12:45 pm – 2:10 pm Poetry Café in the Library
Larade
May 3 @ 12:45 pm – Art Class
Jesus
May 5 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Solar
System Presentations
Chaves
May 4 @ 9:00 am – Social Studies
Presentations
Fazzari & Pritchard
May 6 @ 2:25 pm – 3:15 pm –
Student vs Parents Softball Game
Tipou
May 6 @ 9:00 am – Inquiry Projects
Luciani & Commisso
May 5 @ 2:25 pm – 3:15 pm –
Gallery Walk in Portable 3
Library
All week - Resources available for
parent, teacher and student selection
VIRTUE ASSEMBLY
Thank you to Mrs. Davis, Mlle. Commisso, Mrs. Minichiello
and their students for our Virtue Assembly. Congratulations
to all our Virtue of the Month recipients. We want to thank
them for being exemplary role models and for living out the
virtues in their daily lives. A special thank you to all the
families that joined us.
Recognizing the Virtue of
Kindness…
April 22nd, 2016 is Earth Day.
We encourage everyone to continue to make good
choices for the benefit of our world and our future.
GO GREEN INITIATIVES
Throughout the school year, staff and students at St.
Stephen will continue to participate in a variety of Go
Green initiatives focusing on the importance of
environmental stewardship.
Eco School Update
During the month of April, we will focus on the virtue of
Love and we look forward to our next Virtue Assembly on
April 27th, 2016 @ 1:30 pm which will be organized by Mrs.
Luciani, Mrs. Larade and their students.
The Eco Team will continue our school ground
greening project by continuing to beautify the front area
of our school. We need your help!
We are kindly asking for any of the following
donations; Plants, Flowers, Shrubs, and/or Top Soil.
If you are able to graciously donate any of the items
above, please drop them off at the main office.
St. Stephen Variety Show
Thank you for your continued support in helping St.
Stephen be eco-friendly!
St. Stephen Catholic School is hosting a Variety Show
in the spring. Our grade 4 to 8 classes are showcasing a
range of talent on this special evening. Please join us
for this Celebration of the Arts on May 18th @ 7:00 p.m.
to 8:00 p.m. Our daytime performance will be at 1:00
pm. We look forward to seeing our wonderful St.
Stephen Community on this night.
LOST AND FOUND ITEMS
CHESS CLUB
Our Brampton North East Family of Schools Chess
Tournament was held on April 1st, 2016. Thank you to
Mrs. Stokoe for running the Chess Club.
Thank you to our students and families who have been
collecting items from our Lost and Found Box. This is
a good place to start looking for missing items. We
regularly remind our students to check the box for any
items they may have lost. Please continue to remind
your child(ren) to check the Lost and Found Box
periodically.
SAFE, CARING, HEALTHY &
INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS
The key message for April is… “If you’re Not Part
of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem”.
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board’s
initiative to create safe, caring, healthy and inclusive school
communities is rooted in our Catholic identity, in particular,
our shared belief in the dignity of all persons created in God’s
image. Safe Schools Policies include Bullying Prevention and
a school wide Progressive Discipline approach.
BULLYING PREVENTION
INITIATIVES
At St. Stephen we have a variety of Bullying Prevention
Initiatives, including our Virtues Program, Positive Climate
Initiative, PALS, Circle of Friends, and other meaningful
school wide and classroom programs and activities.
VIRTUES INITIATIVE
A Catholic Faith Community is rooted in a set of common
beliefs which are inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus.
As a Catholic Community we are called to learn, to grow and
to become more like Jesus in the way we see and treat others.
Our Catholic faith plays an important role in helping us shape
schools that are safe, caring, healthy and inclusive.
Catholic School Education provides us the opportunity to
integrate virtue formation into all areas of our life within the
context of our faith. St. Stephen Catholic School will again
focus our attention on the Catholic Virtues. This program is
designed to help us nurture virtue and character development
in the lives of our students. Each month the whole school will
focus on a different virtue. Classroom activities, school wide
activities and assemblies will all focus on a specific virtue each
month.
September – Faith
October – Empathy
November – Conscience
December – Hope
January – Self Control
February - Respect
March - Kindness
April - Love
May - Acceptance
June - Fairness
In April students will be focusing on the role of
the bystander/witness in bullying situations.
Research shows that bystanders make or break
bullying episodes – they hold the power to stop
bullying. They provide the audience for students
engaged in bullying behaviors. Students will
discuss what it means to be a bystander, explore
why people let bullying happen and learn safe
and effective strategies to use if they witness
bullying. The theme for this month is ‘If you’re
not part of the solution, you’re part of the
problem’. Every child should feel they have the
power to prevent and safely help in bullying
situations.
Tips for Parents:
- encourage your children to show empathy for
others who are bullied (befriends them, include
them)
- teach your children to intervene appropriately
or walk away and tell an adult
- Role model being ‘part of the solution’ when
you encounter difficult situations in your life
VOLUNTEERING
It is only with the help of volunteers that the events at
St. Stephen can be run. We are always looking for
dedicated parents/guardians to help with events within
the school. If you are interested in sharing some of your
time with us, please call the school office and register
your name.
Please note that as of September 2013; all trip
volunteers must have a criminal reference check in
order to volunteer and participate in excursions.
Healthy Active Living Day
SHARKS CORNER
Our grade 6, 7, and 8 students enjoyed their golf lessons from
Mr. Ed McMahon at First Par Golf School.
Mr. McMahon works with both Golf Canada and several of
our Golf courses and facilities to provide instruction for both
Elementary and Secondary students. Having been an active
golfer himself and golf instructor throughout his years as a
professional teacher, he is now bringing Golf to the
classroom. We are thrilled to have this opportunity for two
years in a row as Golf is a lifetime sport that promotes active
living. Golf is one of the only sports that has inherent life
skills and values embedded within it such as honesty and
integrity.
The program is designed with fun and safety in mind and a
foremost goal of aligning the program with curriculum. The
program aims to give students an opportunity to experience
and learn a sport that helps build character and promote lifelong activity.
We are looking forward to our future lessons.
Sports Day at St. Stephen
On March 9, 2016, St Stephen participated in a
Healthy Me Day. Students in FDK to Grade 8
took part in day full of Healthy activities which
included a morning presentation by a Registered
Dietitian, Andrea Falcone followed by a Big
Crunch. Our afternoon included a discussion with
our Peel Health nurse, Ms. Pacheco, fitness with
Tessa Finelli, a Certified Fitness Professional and
a delicious smoothie station! Big thank you to
Sobey’s for the donation of 2 cases of apples, to
Miss. Fazzari’s Grade 7 class and Mrs. Chiappetta
(ERW) for assisting in the planning and activities
throughout the day! It was a great success! Stay
healthy Sharks!
EQAO
Primary
HOMEWORK HELP
Division
Assessments
Mathematics
of
and
Test
Administration
Dates May 25 – June 8
th
Junior
Reading,
Division
Writing
and
th
, 2016
Visit DPCDSB on the web for Board and School
profiles: http://www.dpcdsb.org/EQAO
EQAO Assessments Reminder
The grade 3 and 6 EQAO assessments measure how well
students have met the expectations in the Ontario Curriculum.
The assessments test what students know and how well they
apply their knowledge and skills in reading, writing and
mathematics. Students are required to read and respond to
passages, to write and to solve mathematical problems. The
results are reported in terms of achievement from levels 1– 4
with level 3 as the standard. The window for EQAO
assessments of all grade 3 and 6 students has been established
for May 25th to June 8th, 2016. Please keep this important time
frame in mind when you are planning family trips or
appointments. It is important that all grade 3 and 6 students be
in attendance for the assessments. For further details on our
school
results,
visit
the
Board
website
at:
http://www.dpcdsb.org/EQAO
St. Stephen Dates…
Grade 3 (May 30, 31, June 1, June 2 – make up day)
Grade 6 (June 2, 3, 6, June 7 – make up day)
1.
NELSON MATH WEBSITE
Teachers, students, and parents can visit this site for web
links and other online support for Nelson Mathematics K8 at www.nelson.com
Homework Help is a free service, offering live oneon-one tutoring by certified Ontario teachers.
Tutors tailor teaching strategies to each student,
taking the time to understand the specific
challenges for each learner and gear the sessions to
meet the student’s needs.
Homework Help offers 24/7 math resources for
Ontario students in grades 7 to 10. HH resources
are diverse, covering the key skills learned in
grades 7 to 10. Resources are skill based, not
sorted by grade making them welcoming to
learners filling their gaps.
Parents can sign up for a free guest account.
Get resources and tools 24/7:

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Math videos
Interactive exercises & activities
Scientific calculator…and more!
You can help your child with math.
Teachers are standing by:
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Every Sunday to Thursday
5:30 pm to 9:30 pm ET
Register at ontario.ca/HomeworkHelpHH tutors
develop student understanding through:
 Scaffolding
 Direct instruction
 Guiding questions
 Demonstrating and Modeling
 Summarizing for consolidation
 Descriptive feedback
HH tutoring provides opportunities for:
 Reciprocal teaching: have students teach
each other the method they learned with a
HH tutor
Higher order questions: students can stretch their
understanding with the support of a teacher
coming alongside
Some of our Twitter Feeds…
DATES TO REMEMBER
April 6
April 13
Y
April 18
April 21
April 27
Healthy Kids school-wide presentation
Jump Rope for Heart kick-off assembly
NED Show school-wide presentation
Confirmation Day
Virtue Assembly @ 1:30 pm
May 2
May 4
May 9 – 12
May 18
May 27
School Roof Top Photo @ 12:45 pm
Jump Rope for Heart Day
Intermediate Quebec Trip
Variety Show
Virtue Assembly @ 9:30 am
June 1
June 14
June 22
June 27
Catholic School Council Potluck Luncheon
Year End School Mass @ 9:30 am
Grade 8 Graduation
Virtue Assembly @ 1:30 pm
St. Stephen is now on Twitter!
Follow us @ststephDP
Getting ready for the Great Gulp…
SCHOOL ORGANIZATION 2016 - 2017
School organization for next year is in the planning
stages. To help us with our planning for September 2016,
it would be appreciated if you could let us know if you
will be moving out of the school area over the summer
months.
Thank you to our Catholic School Council for
organizing such a fun and successful Hawaiian
themed Dance-a-thon.
Mathematical Processes of Problem Solving and
Communicating…