September
2015
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents,
1325 Bodley Road
Mississauga ON,
L5J 3X1
Phone 905.822.4564
Fax 905.822.5622
Ward 2
Trustee
Sharon Hobin
905-301-1210
Sharon.Hobin
@dpcdsb.org
Superintendent
David Amaral
905-890-1221
Pastors
Father J. Dunn
Father S. Young
Principal
C. Gale
Secretary
D. Vieira
School Council
Co-Chairs
J. Zekorn
B. Skrepnek
I would like to welcome all families back to the St. Helen community on behalf
of the St. Helen staff, who have been working really hard preparing for an optimum school opening. I
hope you all had a wonderful restful summer and are ready for a new school year.
It is an honour and a blessing to serve as principal of St. Helen School. It is a wonderful school with a
rich history in Dufferin Peel.
I look forward to welcoming all the students of our school and to working with all stakeholders.
I am pleased and fortunate to continue working with Mrs. Sharon Hobin, our trustee, and our superintendent, Mr. David Amaral. As well, I am looking forward to working again with the St. Christopher parish team, Fr. Scott and Father Jerry.
Thank you to our School Council who continues to support our learning initiatives as well as our
extra curricular activities.
A welcome back and thank-you to our head secretary, Mrs. Debby Vieira. She has already been
working in partnership with staff to get St. Helen off to a wonderful learning environment for your
children. A special thank you to our custodial team, Mr. Scott Jarrett and Mr. Mariano Camello,
who have done an amazing job getting the physical plant and grounds ready for a new school year.
We will have a welcome assembly at 11:00 am on the first day of school, Tuesday, Sept. 8th and all
parents are invited. We will focus on the Virtues Program and introduce new staff .
All students from Grades 1 to 8 will receive an agenda which is a valuable tool for communication
and fostering organizational skills. Please encourage and support the consistent use of agendas.
School Council elections will take place on September 29th at 6:00pm. Nomination forms are
attached and must be submitted to the School office by September 18th, 2015.
I look forward to continuing to emphasize the St. Helen Mission Statement:
The mission of St. Helen School, a community living the gospel values, is to foster an environment
where all students reach their academic potential as determined by provincial standards. Our commitment to a comprehensive system of support and a responsive partnership with family and church will
ensure this outcome.
and to be a supportive principal who works in partnership with home, school and parish to provide
St. Helen students with an outstanding Catholic Education.
Don’t forget to “make your own sunshine”.
God Bless
Ms. Connie Gale- Principal
PAGE
Living Our Faith
Virtue Corner
SEPTEMBER—FAITH
This month we will celebrate the virtue of Faith.
A person with faith…





Prays regularly and reverently
Learns from Scripture stories
Honours people’s God given names
Assumes that there is good in everyone
Accepts the God-given worth of themselves and
others
To begin the new school year, we’ll focus 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.
2
St. Helen Staff
Kindergarten
Kindergarten
Kindergarten
Gr. 1
Gr. 2
Gr. 2/3
Gr. 3/4
Gr. 5/6
Gr. 7/8
FSL/ESL
Librarian
SERT/SERC
ERW
Custodians
C. Cory
Y. Evans - DECE
D. Rocco
M. Velec
D. Pietrangelo
B. Pereira
M. Wagstaff
T. Bonaccorso
A. Caruso
V. Kvas
J. Aguiar
K. Ryan
C. Naccarato
S. Jarett
M. Camello
C. Gale
D. Vieira
Principal
Secretary
Student Transportation
Parents can access student
transportation
information online.
Schools and
parents can access
this information at
businfo.stopr.ca www.stopr.ca.
Open House/Meet the
Teacher Night
LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
We will notify you as soon as we have our Opening
Mass scheduled. Parents are always welcome to attend our school celebrations.
Our annual Open House will be
held on Wednesday, September
23rd, where you will have an opportunity to meet your son/
daughter’s teacher and the staff
of St. Helen. Please keep this date
open on your calendar and more information will follow
shortly.
****Friday, September 18th is a PA Day. There will be no School for students on this day!****
School Hours
School will begin at 9:00 AM and conclude at 3:30 PM.
Lunch Hour: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Morning Recess: 10:25 AM to 10:40
Afternoon Recess: 2:30 PM to 2:45 PM
SEPTEMBER
2015
NEWSLETTER
PAGE
3
Take Note
Parents In The Yard
For your child’s safety we request that he/she not be on
school property until supervision begins at 8:45 a.m.
Please do not drop your child off at the school prior
to 8:45 a.m.
We would also like to remind you that parents should
drop off/pick up their children outside the school gates.
Parents are not permitted to be in the school yard at any
time. Although you may be known to your own child
you are a stranger to the other students in the yard.
Kiss and Ride
The safety of our students and parents is of great concern to us here at the school.
Please drive SLOWLY through the Kiss and Ride lane
as well as the drive through lane.
Please do not block the Kiss and Ride zone and areas
that would hinder the movement of school buses and
cars.
Cars cannot be left in the lanes at any time.
Information about our “New” Kiss & Ride program
has been sent home.
Student Absences/Lates
Please use our 24 hour answering service to inform the
school of late or absent students. We must hear from a
parent or guardian if a student will be absent,
arriving late or leaving early. Phone 905-822-4564
If a pattern of unexcused lateness or absents
becomes apparent, parents will be contacted by
Lunch Days
Information regarding the start-up of our Pizza Days
and other Lunch Programs will be sent home in the
coming weeks.
Take Note
Parent Council School Store
Our Parent Council will be opening the School Store
daily at afternoon recess and will have the following
items for sale (Below are the present items that will be
for sale. Items may change based on availability and
popularity):
Popcorn – 4 different flavors
Cheese Strings
Owl Shaped Brownies
Banana Chocolate Chip Loaves
YOP Yogurt Drinks
Ice Dawgs (while supplies last)
All of the above items, and any future items sold from
the store are 100% peanut and nut free.
The store will officially open on Monday, September
14th, 2015.
Snack and Treats for Students
We are asking that all parents please refrain from
bringing in eatable snacks and treats for all students
in the classrooms. Several students in our school
suffer from a severe food allergy to all nuts, peanuts
and all nut products. There is also a Ministry PPM
where the purpose of this memorandum is to set out
nutrition standards for food and beverages in publicly
funded elementary schools in Ontario. For more information about the new PPM please visit, http://
www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/150.html. If
you would still like to do something special for the
classroom, a small non-eatable gift
for each student or perhaps a classroom gift, i.e. board game for inclement recess, may be other great alternatives. Again, we thank you for your
co-operation.
UPCOMING DATES
September 8th - First Day of School
REPORT CARDS
September 18th - P.A. Day
November 17th - Progress Reports sent home
September 23rd - St. Helen Open House
February 2nd - Term One Reports sent home
September 25th - Picture Day
June 28th - Final Reports sent home
SEPTEMBER
2015
NEWSLETTER
$2.00
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$1.00
$2.00