A PRAYER FOR OUR COMMUNITY
O God, Our Creator and Lord
You are our light;
We are Your People, a people of Light.
Bless us O Lord and send your Spirit upon us.
It is through our love
And caring
That You give us light
And we bring Light to each other.
Help us, O Lord, to make our school community
A center of Light;
A place of Sharing;
Of Learning;
Of Giving;
A place where Love for you and one another
Will inspire and sustain us as we walk through our journey.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.
Amen
On behalf of the entire school staff, I would like to welcome all students and parents back to St. Andrew
School! A special welcome to the many new families and staff members who have joined the St. Andrew community this year. I am sure you will find our school to be a caring and supportive Catholic community.
Over the course of the summer, there were some staffing changes. A warm welcome to our new staff members:
Mrs. Bell (Gr. 2/3), Mr. Zimmerman (Gr. 5/6), Mrs.
Albanese (Gr. ½) and Mrs. Hooper (DECE). We all look forward to the opportunity this school year to work collaboratively with you in this incredible Catholic community.
Our school staff have been working hard to prepare for our school opening. Thank you to the teaching and secretarial staff who have been preparing their learning environments for opening day. I would like to thank our custodial staff who have worked hard throughout the hot summer months to make our school a clean and safe environment.
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E
P. A. Day Page 2
Open House- Please Join Us! Page 2
School Hours Page 2
Receiving Newsletters Electronically Page 3
Our NEW Kindergarten Play Area! Page 6
Safe Schools Prevention Corner Page 7
& on
Please follow us on Twitter @StAndrewSchoool
(see Page 3 for details on how to join)
Together in Faith and Excellence
We come together to celebrate our new journey as a community of believers and learners. Each of us brings many wonderful gifts and talents to our incredible school community. This is what makes St. Andrew School such a unique place to learn and grow as children of God. As we begin this new school year together, we pray for God’s blessing continue to grant us knowledge, patience and fortitude, and to guide each of us to be a ‘beacon of light’.
May we use our gifts in the cultivation of skills and values, that will assist us in becoming the best that we can be.
We kindly ask that you take a few moments to read through this important newsletter.
Looking forward to seeing you at our Open House and
Curriculum Night on Tuesday, September 21 st !
Mr. LaCute
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8:40 a.m. – Yard Supervision begins
(8:45 a.m. – Kiss ‘n Ride Supervision begins)
8:55 a.m. – Morning Classes begin
11:00– 11:15 a.m. - Recess Break (*change)
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch Break begins
1:00 p.m. – Afternoon Classes begin
2:20-2:35 p.m. – Recess Break
3:25 p.m. – Dismissal
(*Change in a.m. recess time to allow for a 2 hour uninterrupted Literacy Block school-wide)
The use of the agenda plays a critical role in your child’s learning. It has been proven that students who maintain an up to date and accurate agenda are more organized and ready to learn! We encourage you to check your children’s agenda daily and also feel free to use the agenda as a means of communication with your child’s teacher. A special thank you to our School Council who have generously supported the purchase of our school agendas this year. Please note that if your child loses their agenda, there is a $ 5.00 replacement fee.
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Based on our current registered students, some of our class sizes already exceed the Ministry of Education’s student/ teacher ratio cap. As a result, there is a strong possibility that we will be reorganizing. Please note that classes from Sept 8-17 th are tentative throughout the province. Final class lists will be in effect on Monday,
Sept. 21 th . On the Sept. 18 th P.A. Day, administration and staff will be working to reorganize (if necessary).
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we continue to meet the needs of our growing school community.
Parents, guardians and visitors are required to use the main entrance of the school, and to report to the office and sign-in prior to visiting anywhere on school grounds or in the building. Visitors and parents will be given a
Visitor’s tag to wear. This policy ensures student safety.
Individual student and class pictures
(does not include sibling photos) will be taken on Thursday, September 24 th .
Further information will be forthcoming closer to Picture Day.
In the interest of your child’s safety, it is very important to inform us if your child will be late or absent from school. To record your child’s absence, please call the school at (519) 942-0262. Messages can be left on the school voicemail at any time.
Please leave the following information:
1) Your child’s name
2) Date and time of absence
3) Reason and duration of absence
St. Andrew School will be hosting an Open House on
Monday, September 21, from
5:30 to 7:00 p.m. All parents are invited to come visit the school with their child(ren). A
Barbeque Dinner is available and order forms are attached. (One form per family)
According to the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School
Board General Administrative Procedures 318.00
801.00 14.05, Criminal Reference Checks (CRC) including a Vulnerable Sector Police Records Search is mandatory for all volunteers that will come into direct and regular contact with students. Parents/guardians/volunteers who assist, or even of possibly thinking of assisting with the supervision of educational excursions anytime over the course of the school year are expected to have completed Criminal Background Check and Vulnerable
Sector Search. Volunteers who have previously submitted a valid CRC will be required to complete an
Annual Offence Declaration each year. Please see Mrs.
Wiegert for more information. Examples of volunteer experience requiring Vulnerable Sector (Criminal
Reference Checks) include: School Council , class educational excursions (field trips), local community walks (i.e. to curling rink), in-class support, All Star
Reading, coaching (assisting teacher-coach) , driving athletic team/extra-curricular members to respective tournaments, Dance-A-Thon, Play Day, and any activity and/or event that has direct contact with children. This information has been shared in last year’s newsletters but we have had situations where potential parent
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volunteers have not been aware of this information. We certainly encourage you to be a volunteer but we must follow new protocol. Thank you for your ongoing support. If you live in the Town of Orangeville, contact
Orangeville Police Services and the O.P.P if you live in
Dufferin County.
their teacher to keep on file. No student is to be dismissed directly from their classroom by teachers or picked up at the classroom by parents/guardians, etc.
ALL MUST COME TO THE OFFICE AND SIGN IN OR OUT.
We have several students and staff members who have life threatening allergies to nuts, sesame seeds and/or peanuts. We are asking that you help us make St. Andrew an allergy aware school by refraining from sending your children with peanut butter or other products containing nuts or nut oils (i.e., Nutella). If these students come into contact with anything containing nuts, nut oils or derivatives, it could be life threatening. Some students have such a severe allergy that only the smell of the allergen may cause a reaction. We ask that you refer to the “ Suggested
NutFree Snack” list (see attached).
Please post at home in a prominent spot for easy reference throughout the year.
If a student is to be released from school early for an appointment, a note must be sent to the child’s teacher with a parent/guardian signature. The note should clearly state who will be picking up the child, if it is someone other than the parent/guardian. Upon arrival to the school, parents/guardians are required to report to the office. Mrs. Wiegert will call for your child to come to the office. Parents/guardians are asked to stay in the office until students arrive from their classroom.
Students are NOT to use cellphones to make arrangements with parents. Please avoid phone calls during the school day to release your child. If you are picking up your child at regular dismissal time, please wait outside at the appropriate exit area, to avoid disruption of classroom routines. We appreciate your cooperation!
Newsletters will be sent home with the most responsible or only child in the family once a month throughout the school year. Newsletters are meant to serve as a means of keeping strong communication links between home, school and parish. They inform you about various school activities, programs, routines and reminders The newsletters will be supplemented by letters regarding special events, trips, religious celebrations, etc.
HELP US TO SAVE PAPER AND YOUR TIME!
Over the past several years, we have given parents/guardians the opportunity to receive our newsletter electronically each month. We now have
240 of our 278 families taking advantage of this initiative. Help us to be the first Dufferin-Peel School to be 100% paper-free by writing your email info rmation on the tear off page of your child’s agenda and return to school with your child . (Also, please ensure you sign the other two sections of this important page). Classroom teachers will tear off this page and submit to the office. If you received newsletters electronically last year, we still require that you again provide us with your email address and authorization to send newsletters to you electronically (requesting annually is board policy). Please note that email addresses will not be shared with others. Thank you in advance for helping St. Andrew School stay green!
Please let your child know before coming to school that you will be bring their lunch to school. You may drop off your child’s lunch at the lunch table just outside the
Main Office. Please write their name and teacher. We will not be calling classrooms during instructional time to notify students about lunches at the office. Students need to sign in/out of school if: they are late arriving to school in the morning or afternoon or they are being picked up by parents/guardians for appointments, etc. If a student has a note signed and dated by their parent/guardian indicating the reason for their lateness or early dismissal, they should give it to
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There will be no school for students on Friday,
September 18 th . Teachers will be involved in professional school organizational activities on that day.
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A personal electronic device (PED) can be
For those parents already using ‘Remind’ one-way defined as a wireless and/or personal communication from your child’s teacher last year, Mr. electronic handheld device such as a cell
LaCute has his own to send school-wide messages! For phone, walkie-talkie or iPod/MP3 player. those of you who are interested but have never used it, Dufferin-Peel CDSB has acknowledged that it is very easy. Read on!... To receive messages the dignity of the human person, as promoted by the
(1) via text, text @mrlacute to (289) 271-0221 . You can Catholic Church, may be compromised by the potential opt-out of messages at anytime by replying, invasion of privacy made possible by the inappropriate
'unsubscribe @mrlacute': (2) Or to receive messages via use of PEDs on school premises. The Board also email, send an email to: mrlacute@mail.remind.com
. recognizes that the use of PEDs by students at school
To unsubscribe, reply with 'unsubscribe' in the subject can potentially interfere with learning in the classroom. line. We hope many more of you will sign up today! The Dufferin-Peel CDSB is, however, in the process of
Twitter will be used as well so chose your favourite way of staying connected in between monthly newsletters!
introducing a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy this Fall to allow students the opportunity, with teacher’s direction, to use PEDs to assist in their learning. Further information is forthcoming but in the meantime, all
PEDs are to be turned off and put away. Thank you!
Please note our Pizza Lunch Program will start sometime after the September 18 th P.A Day. Please keep a watch out for order forms coming home with your child. Because you choices on the order form, we ask that you keep track of which days your child has ordered a hot lunch on your family calendar. A special thank you to Mrs. Wiegert for the countless hours organizing this initiative at the beginning of each term.
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On Friday, September 25 th , students and staff will once again, have an opportunity to remember Terry Fox and his courageous fight against cancer as well as recognize
October as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Students will be asked to contribute a toonie. Students will the option to participate in a walk, run or roller blade with Mr. LaCute! This special event will go a long way to not only raising more money the fight against cancer, but also in building school spirit. More information will follow shortly.
A reminder to that students should be waiting at bus stops at least 5 minutes prior to the scheduled bus arrival time. It is a parental responsibility to ensure that
Kindergarten and Grade 1 children are met at the bus stop. Please advise your children that if they do not see a parent or babysitter waiting, they are to remain on the bus and will be returned safely to the school to be picked up. Just a reminder to all parents and students that children are assigned to a particular bus and are not allowed to travel on another bus. Safety is of the utmost importance to all of us. On
Thursday, there will be a Bus Safety assembly where
Mr. LaCute will review the safety rules and expectations with all our students, and would greatly appreciate if parents can review these with their children as well.
Under ordinary circumstances, if a child is not well enough to go outside for recess, he/she is not well enough to be in school and should be kept at home. We have no facilities for supervising children in this regard.
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School Council. Our school community is growing, and we are always looking for new parents to join our dynamic school council.
We encourage all parents to use the bus transportation in place for your children.
However, if you choose to drive your children to school, or pick them up at the end of the school day, you are reminded to follow the Kiss ‘n Ride procedures:
• Children remain in the car until the car reaches the end of the Kiss ‘n Ride lane where a staff member is there to ensure child(ren) exits the vehicle safely. We ask that your child is not to be dropped off before this point for safety reasons. At dismissal, students who get picked up will exit the back of the school and walk directly to the Kiss ‘n Ride area. Parents are asked to wait in their cars in the Kiss ‘n Ride Lane.
We greatly appreciate your cooperation!
The time commitment is minimal but the rewards of enriching the students' school experience is limitless. Council meetings are held every 6 weeks and we welcome all parents to attend. Events are held throughout the year and the School Council involves all parents to help organize and attend the events. The success of our CSC is driven by the passion and the diverse talents of the parents, staff and students of St.
Andrew. Come join the passion of our School Council and bring us your talents! If you are interested in becoming a member, please pick up a nomination/ enrollment form, which is available from our school office or at our Open House. Return nomination forms to Mr. LaCute. Forms will be accepted from September
21 st to September 28 th . If an election is required (we usually don’t need!), it will be held on Monday,
September 28 th at 6:50 p.m. just prior to the first 2015-
2016 School Coun5cil meeting at 7:00 p.m.
The school will provide your child with materials such as pens, pencils, workbooks and textbooks. Therefore, it is not necessary that you purchase any such materials unless you wish to do so. However, it is important that children learn to make proper use of these materials and, with this in mind, your child’s teacher will explain their expectations. Please note that students will be responsible for replacing lost agendas, texts or library books.
For the safety and well being of all students, it is necessary to have a number of rules and expectations regarding acceptable behaviour in our school. There are expectations needed for the classroom, which will be developed by the students and teachers in each class.
There are also school wide expectations. The School
Behaviour Code was developed by the School Board in response to the Ministry’s Safe Schools initiative.
Students will be reminded about our behaviour code throughout the month of September. We ask that you take the time and read through the Behaviour Code with your child which is conveniently located in your child’s student agenda.
As a new school year begins, we encourage all parents to participate in their child’s education and join our
Nomination forms will be available either on our school website or a hard copy is available at the main office.
Please note the following expectations of all School
Council members::

Must be a parent of a student currently enrolled at
St. Andrew School and be Roman Catholic or married to a separate school supporter

Absence of two or more meetings without notice will be grounds for immediate dismissal

Receive no honorarium or personal expenses.

Remain a School Council member for one year or until the first General Meeting in September 2016

The School Council will consist of:
Parents of students enrolled in the school
A community representative who is a member of a parish in the region served by the school
1 teaching staff member
1 non-teaching staff member
Principal
A student enrolled at the school who is a child of a separate school elector (mandatory in secondary schools and at the discretion of the
Principal in consultation with members of the
School Council in elementary schools)
- OAPCE Rep (Ont. Assoc. of Catholic Parents)
Information is available at our Open House. Please feel free to ask Mr. LaCute or current School Council
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member any questions. A special thank you to our
Catholic School Council for their generous support of a number of initiatives throughout the 2014-2015 school year!
If a child is required to bring medication to school, procedures relative to the administration of medication shall only be adopted:
• when requested by the parents/guardian
• when authorized by a physician and
• when medication must be provided during
school hours
If medication must be administered at school, signed request/authorization forms from the parents and the supervising physician must be obtained whenever a prescription is initiated or changed. Please do not send medication with your child to school without the proper authorization.
These forms are available in the office. The required forms and the medication shall be delivered to the
Principal or designated person by the parent/guardian.
All medication will be housed in a safe location in the
Main Office. Medication must not be kept in the child’s possession (i.e., pocket, back pack etc.) or in the classroom with the exception of epi-pens and inhalers.
If the child is keeping these items on them, they must be in a proper fanny pack or pouch on them at all times. initiative that adheres to the principles of early learning pedagogy being implemented in Dufferin-Peel Catholic elementary schools. The newly enhanced playgrounds include several different areas and elements that stimulate creative and active learning. We look forward to our FDK students using the new space creatively!
The photo doesn’t do it justice. You have to come see it!
Our Annual Book Fair will take place from Monday,
September 21 st – 25 th . Parents will have an opportunity to shop for new books with their children during the
Open House Curriculum Night. More information to come.
,
Last year, the YMCA began to offer the Before/After
School Child Care Program separately for the Full Day
Kindergarten Program students and the Gr. 1-6 students.
Spaces are still available for this school year.
It is the parents’ responsibility to directly contact the day care provider if you are interested in this child care service. Please call 905-857-3531 for more information and/or to register your child(ren).
Construction is now complete on 25 newly enhanced outdoor learning environments for Kindergarten students including St. Andrew! These new outdoor learning areas are part of Phase 2 of a multi-year
Fundscrip is an innovative program that lets YOU earn cash rebates for St. Andrew School based on things you buy everyday like groceries, gas and other household items. Every month you typically spend hundreds of dollars for things like food, gas, clothing, pharmacy, restaurants, electronics, home renovations, department stores, and so on. All you have to do is pay for some or all of your purchases using
GIFT CARDS bought at
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face value from FundScrip participating retailers (over
140 retail stores!) and a percentage of every gift card purchased is contributed to St. Andrew’s fundraising efforts! So instead of paying with cash or a debit card, you use a gift card that you purchased through our group. It costs you nothing extra but you just earned money for our school.
Fundscrip is now offer two awesome programs:
1) Direct Shopping with ‘Letter Mail’ program
2) NEW! – eGift Cards!
Our School Council is very excited to offer this eGift
Cards option. Please see link below. This is another fantastic, easy option to help you quickly raise funds for
St. Andrew School
Please visit: www.fundscrip.com/egift-cards for more details and to join today! (School Code4CAR2P)
Our Annual QSP Magazine Fundraiser begins with our
Kick-Off Assembly on September 23th. The funds raised through this fundraiser helps to cover costs for our
Artists/Authors/Scientists in the School Programs. A special thank you to Ms..
Hageman who organizes the fundraiser and is responsible for booking all our artists coming to the school through the year. A BIG thank you!
Also parents, students and staff, start getting your thinking caps on to come up with another crazy thing for Mr. LaCute to do IF we reach our QSP school wide fundraising goal. If you remember last October, Mr.
LaCute had to roll around in a giant hamster ball. Can you top that with a crazier idea? We think you can!
We are very blessed to have Father
Sean as our Parish Priest at St. Timothy
Church. We look forward to working with him and we know that he is strongly committed to the faith and spiritual development of our students. We encourage parents to join us especially for our school masses throughout the year. Our 2015-2016 school Liturgical
Calendar will be shared in the near future.
Together in faith and excellence
As required by the Education Act and the Ministry of
Education, Dufferin-Peel annually provides parents with information about cost-effective student accident insurance coverage. Although enrolment is voluntary, the board strategy encourages parents to take advantage of the inexpensive insurance coverage, especially if their child/children participate in sports, field trips, or, if parents do not have dental insurance coverage.
Enrolment is required in writing -- there are two options for enrolment: (a). Complete the traditional form and mail it in (b). Photocopy the form and fax it to Reliable
Life at 1-905-522-7211 or 1-800-463-KIDS (5437)
Parents alone have the right to insure their children.
Please note that you do not return envelopes to the school- all forms go directly to the insurance company.
A Catholic Faith Community is rooted in a set of common beliefs which are inspired by the life, mission and teaching of Jesus Christ. 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 and inclusive.
Here at St. Andrew School, we will continue to focus on our Virtues program. This program is designed to help us nurture virtue and character development. Each month all classes will focus on various activities.
To begin the new school year, we will focus our attention on the first of our virtues - FAITH
Faith is the great virtue of believing in God and trusting that God is with us. A faithful person believes that we are created, guided by and destined to be reunited with
God. A faithful person believes that God’s plan for us includes the right to be safe, especially at school.
We will continue to focus on our multiyear Safe School Initiative. Please read over the Safe School Policy located in the front pages of the Student Agenda.
St. Andrew School is a Catholic community that respects and promotes the uniqueness of all its members. By
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following the teachings of Jesus, we pledge to provide everyone with a safe, caring and peaceful environment, which ensures the respect and acceptance of all.
Because of these beliefs, bullying will not be tolerated.
The key message for September is "everyone has the right to be safe at school". Each class will create a set of behavioural guidelines in the form of a classroom contract. This activity provides students with an opportunity to identify and discuss their expectations of how to appropriately interact with others. When students feel ownership they tend to assume more responsibility to follow the established guidelines and manage their own behaviours. Students learn about expressing opinions, consensus building and accountability. A sense of safety is established in knowing that all students have agreed to follow the class expectations/ contract. By posting these in the classroom and referring to it throughout the year, peer accountability for behaviour management is encouraged and expected.
Tips for parents:

Talk with your children about the class contract

Ask them which statements they like the most and which ones they think will be most difficult

Discuss behavioural expectations within your own family and the values or beliefs upon which these are based
(Please transfer to your Family Calendar for easy reference)
September 2015
• Sept. 8 - Welcome Back Everyone!
• Sept. 18 - P.A. Day - no school for students
• Sept. 21 - 5:30 p.m. - Curriculum Night & Barbeque
(please feel free to pick up your School Council form)
• Sept. 21 -Return all forms to school
• Sept. 25 –Terry Fox Cancer Awareness Day
• Sept. 21-25 –Book Fair
• Sept. 24 Picture Day
• Sept. 25 – Terry Fox Cancer Awareness Day
• Sept. 28- Council Nominations Forms due to Office
• Sept. 28- Catholic School Council Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
o School Organization Plans for 2015-2016 o An Introduction to combined grades o St. Andrew School BBQ order form o Dufferin-Peel Homework Policy o Allergy Alert Letter o Nut Free Safe Snack List
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