ST. TERESA OF AVILA
6675 MONTEVIDEO ROAD
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO
L5N 4E8
PHONE: (905)858-3462 FAX: (905) 858-1673
Website: http://www.dpcdsb.org/AVILA
June 2015 Newsletter
Principal
M. Sturge
Vice Principal
E. Oliveira
Secretary
J. Sequeira
Superintendent
Mississauga North
Family of Schools
T. Cruz
(905) 890-1221
Pastor
St. John of the Cross
Fr. J. Kalluvila
Trustee Ward 9
E. O’Toole
(905) 812-5163
ST. JOHN OF THE
CROSS PARISH
6890 Glen Erin Drive
Miss., ON L5N 2E1
Tel: (905) 821-1331
Fax: (905) 858-8486
Email:
stjohnofx@rogers.com
Website:
www.saintjohnofthecross.com
MASS TIMES
Weekends:
Sat.: 5:00 p.m.
Sun.: 8:00 a.m., 10:00
a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:00
p.m.
Weekdays: 9:00a.m.
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of this school year.
As a Catholic community, we rely on the important partnership between home, school
and parish. We have been blessed with a remarkable parish team and I would like to
thank Father Joseph, Father Felix, Father Abraham, Mrs. Watkiss and the entire
parish team for their ongoing spiritual support and guidance over the course of the
school year.
It is with mixed emotions, that I bid farewell to Mr. Oliveira who has been
transferred to St. Faustina. Although he was with us for a relatively short time, I
would like to thank Mr. Oliveira for his many contributions to St. Teresa of Avila. We
wish you success at your new school. We would also like to extend a warm welcome to
Mr. Basran who will be our new half-time Vice Principal at St. Teresa of Avila
beginning September 2015.
On behalf of the entire staff, I would like to extend a fond farewell to Ms. Evans who
has accepted a position at another school. Her contributions over the years to the
school community have been great and she will be greatly missed by everyone. We wish
her all the best at her new school.
Thank you to Miss Medeiros, Miss Taylor and Mrs. Kacperek whose occasional positions
will end at the end of the school year. We wish all of you well in your future endeavors.
Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents.
I would also like to acknowledge and give a very special thank you to Mrs. Sequeira for
her hard work and ongoing dedication to our school community along with Mr. Pinto,
Mrs. Papa and Mrs. Rabij, our custodial staff for keeping our school well cared for.
Thank you to the members of our School Council for their support and contributions
to our student’s success.
Thank you to our Trustee, Mrs. Esther O’ Toole and to our school Superintendent, Mrs.
Tilia Cruz for their continued support. To the staff, thank you for dedication, efforts
and unending dedication to our students.
PASTORAL TEAM
Fr. Joseph Kalluvila, O.Carm
Pastor
Fr. Abraham Kulanjiyil, O. Carm
Assoc. Pastor
John Cannon, Deacon
Kate Watkiss, Pastoral Associate
On behalf of the entire school community at St. Teresa of Avila, have a restful, safe,
blessed and enjoyable summer. May God bless you all!
M.Sturge
Principal
Our end of year mass will take place at St. John of the
Cross church on Wednesday, June 10 th at 10:15 a.m. if
weather permits. Students from grade 1-8 will be
walking to the church. If you have a valid Criminal
Reference Check and would like to volunteer to walk
with our students, please let your child’s teacher know.
students should not be dropped off prior for
safety reasons. Students should arrive at 8:25
a.m. to line up and enter the school with the rest
of the class and avoid being late. Full Day
Kindergarten student will be taken inside at 8:15
a.m.The school bell rings at 8:30 a.m. If you arrive
after the bell rings, please bring your child to the
office and sign them in. Thank you for your
cooperation.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Parking Lot Safety/Kiss and Ride
FAITH COMMUNITY
The Archdiocese of Toronto has given notification
that the student candidates for the sacrament of
Confirmation has been moved from Grade 8 to Grade
7, in terms of sacramental preparation. This will be
effective September 2015.
Virtue Assembly
The May virtue assembly focused on this month’s
virtue of acceptance. Thank you to all of the
parents/guardians and family members who were able
to attend and congratulations to our students who
received certificates for the virtue of acceptance.
Thank you to Mrs. Black, Mrs. Ventura-Roma and
Madame Cosentino for their efforts preparing for
the celebration. Our last assembly will be on Friday,
June 26th at 1:00 p.m. Please join us if you are able.
Student Information
It is important that we have up to date records of your
address, phone numbers, and emergency contacts in
the event that the school must contact you regarding
your child. Please inform the office or your child’s
teacher if any information changes throughout the
year.
Student Absence and Arrival Time
We ask that parents continue to call to notify the
school if their child will be absent and/or late. Your
phone call to the school saves us time trying to
ensure your child is safe. Remember that you can call
the school twenty-four hours a day to report your
child’s absence at 905-858-3462- option 1. Upon
reaching the school answering service please leave
the following information: a) Date of absence
b)Student’s full name c) Grade level and teacher d)
Reason for absence e) Date of return.
Students who are late must report to the office
and sign in. School staff is on duty at 8:15 a.m.
in the morning until 8:30 a.m. There is no
supervision for students before 8:15 a.m. and
As always, student safety is a priority at St. Teresa
of Avila School. Please continue to use the available
parking spaces or park in the designated areas on the
street when picking up or dropping off your child. As
indicated in a letter sent out earlier in September,
the Mississauga Parking Enforcement will issue
tickets for those who are illegally parked. The Kiss n
Ride should be constantly moving to prevent a back
log of traffic. Children should not be walking
across the parking lot unattended in front of cars
or buses and will be directed to use the walkway in
front of the school. Please do not leave your
vehicle unattended in the Kiss and Ride. Thank you
to everyone who are using the Kiss and Ride safely.
We are asking for everyone’s patience and
cooperation to ensure that all of our students arrive
and leave school safely.
Storage and Administration of Medication
Parents are responsible for ensuring that all
medication and forms are updated annually for any
student who requires medication to be administered
at school. If your child requires medication please
have the necessary forms completed and return
them, along with any medication, to the office as soon
as possible. Forms are available at the school office.
Medical Alert-Anaphylactic shock- Nut
Allergies
Please be aware that there are students in our school
with a severe life-threatening food allergy
(anaphylaxis) to NUTs and PEANUTs. This is a
medical condition that causes a severe reaction to
certain allergens and can result in death within
minutes. Although this may or may not affect your
child’s class directly, please send lunches and snacks
to school with your children that are free from
peanuts or nut products. We ask that you do not send
in food products for the whole class to celebrate
birthdays or social occasions. A donation of a book or
game to the classroom is a safe alternative to food
products and will be enjoyed so much longer by the
children. Please feel free to contact your child’s
teacher if you have any concerns or questions. We
thank you for your co-operation and attention to this
health watch.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality of Student & Staff Personal
Information
We now live in an age where most parents/guardians
and many students have cell phones and other
Personal Electronic Equipment (PEDs) that have
photo, recording and videotaping features. The
temptation to take photos, video-tape friends,
teachers at school and other events is high,
especially when parent/family members are unable to
attend the event. The accessibility of these advanced
technologies make it, easy and immediate.
The concerns that schools have, is how can the
school, maintain and protect the confidentiality of
our students and staff when acts that seem so
innocent can potentially have serious/harmful
consequences. If photos, video clips are placed on
Facebook pages, YouTube and other websites, control
is lost on who can view it. In addition, written consent
from the participants must be secured to post such
information. Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board
adheres to strict policies and guidelines on
maintaining the confidentiality of students and staff.
At the beginning of each year, parents/guardians sign
forms granting/disallowing photos of their child(ren)
to be taken for school use (i.e., in classrooms, hallway
bulletin boards and assembly video presentations).
Schools should not post personal information on their
web-sites. Personal information is defined in Section
2 of the MFIPPAct, as 'recorded information about
an identifiable individual'. Personal information should
only be posted where in-formed consents have been
obtained from all affected individuals or from
persons who are legally authorized to consent on
their behalf.
Informed consent requires that the person
consenting understands the exact nature of the
information for which con-sent is sought, the
potential consequences of signing the consent form,
and be given the right to revoke the consent at any
time. As such, we require parents/guardians/students
to respect and adhere to Dufferin Peel’s policy on
Confidentiality of Student & Staff Information.
Custody of Children
On rare occasions, we are faced with difficult
situations in which non-custodial parents arrive at
school asking to visit their child or to take their child
home after school. We are best able to serve and
protect students when we are made aware of legal
custody arrangements, visitation rights and other
special instructions. If legal custody matters affect
your family, please ensure that our office and
classroom teachers are aware of any custodial
arrangements that may affect your child during
school hours.
Pediculosis
It is important to bring your attention to a problem
that occurs in most schools. Head lice are parasites
which have been common among human beings for
centuries. They are not in any way connected to
uncleanliness. If a case is found in our school, we shall
inform parents of the students in that classroom. If
your children do become infested, we will be asking
you to keep them out of school until after they have
been treated with the correct shampoo and their hair
is entirely clear of both lice and nits (eggs). We ask
that you check your own children regularly. If we all
cooperate in these procedures, we may not entirely
escape outbreaks, but we will be able to bring them
under control quickly.
Concussion Policy, Guidelines and Protocol
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board has
developed a Concussion Policy and Guidelines for
students who have been diagnosed with a concussion
by either a medical doctor or nurse practitioner.
School staff cannot diagnose a concussion. Anytime a
student reports to the office with a head injury, the
parent/guardian will be contacted and the incident
will be entered into the school’s “Documentation of
Head Injuries” log. Your child will be given an
information pamphlet entitled “We want to give you a
heads up…Concussions are serious.” This pamphlet
outlines the signs and symptoms of concussions. It
also includes information about what to do if you
suspect your child has a concussion and how a
concussion is treated. Guidelines have been
developed by Dufferin-Peel CDSB to support a 10phase “Return to Activity” process following a
diagnosed concussion. These guidelines include 5
phases for “Return to Learn” followed by 5 phases
for “Return to Play”. With parental consent, school
administration will work collaboratively with school
psychology staff to monitor your child’s progress
through the 10 phases.
For more information, please contact the school.
Walker, sharing their time and talents. Thank you
to our students for sharing their many gifts and
talents with our school community.
Front Door Monitor System
Athletics
For visitors and parents to our school, in order to
assist you better:
 Please stand facing the camera and ring the
bell once.
 Please wait for a response….remember,
schools are busy places!
 Bells will not be answered between 8:40 &
8:50 a.m. during prayers & announcements

For the safety of our students, we ask that
you always state the reason for your visit.
We also ask for your patience and understanding if it
is during prayers and announcements and if our
secretary is away from her desk for photocopying
etc. For students arriving between 8:00 a.m. & 8:15
a.m. for the Breakfast Club, please ring the bell once
and wait for a response: Thank you for your
cooperation and support!
SEVERE WEATHER & EMERGENCY EVACUATION
In rare circumstances, our students and staff may
need to evacuate the building as a result of an
emergency in the building or in the nearby community.
Our evacuation site is West Credit Secondary
School, located at 6235 Montevideo Road in
Mississauga. Board regulations and safety precautions
require this contingency plan. Should an evacuation be
necessary, you will be notified as soon as possible and
your child will be held at West Secondary School
until we make direct contact with a parent/guardian.
SCHOOL EVENTS & NEWS
MindUp
You may have heard your child talk about meditation
or the various parts of the brain. St. Teresa of Avila
has started the Mind Up Curriculum. Activities that
are included as part of this program are: getting to
know the brain, mindful meditation and breathing, as
well as positive ways of coping with stress. We will
continue to fully implement this program next year.
Avila’s Got Talent
The talent show was a huge success and enjoyed by
everyone. Thank you to our talent show committee,
under the direction of Mrs. Ako-Adjei and Mrs.
The Intermediate Co-Ed basketball team started off
their season with a tough loss to St. Albert of
Jerusalem but regained their composure to win the
next three games against St. Richard, St. John of
the Cross and upset St. Therese of the Child Jesus
to advance to the family tournament on April 30.
Coach Rodrigues is very proud of the team’s display
of teamwork, perseverance and good sportsmanship.
Soccer
The team won its first three games to advance to the
quarter finals but lost a close 2 – 1 game preventing
them from continuing. The T-Birds finished in a
respectable 5th spot out of 14 teams.
Welcome to Kindergarten Evening
Our FDK teams worked very hard organizing an
interactive and informative evening to our Junior
Kindergarten students who will begin school in
September of 2015. Thank you to Ms. Evans, Mrs.
Thompson, Miss Taylor, Ms. Augusto, Mrs.
Fernandes, Mrs. Bhola and Ms. Gorgatti for all of
their efforts in helping to make the transition from
home to school as smooth one.
The Online Reporting Tool
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School board has
developed a new way to help nurture a safe, caring
and inclusive school environment. The Online
Reporting Tool is intended for students in grades 3 –
8 who become aware of bullying incidents and
negative behaviours. The student can simply ‘click’ on
the link found on our school’s website to fill out the
report. The report will then be directly emailed to
the principal and/or vice principal and will be dealt
with accordingly. It is important to recognize that
the Online Reporting Tool is an alternate reporting
option. It is best practice to speak directly with a
responsible adult at home and/or in the school. The
link is on our school website now.
Warm Weather Guidelines
The effects of the sun can be quite harmful. Peel
Health recommends that parents be aware of sun
safety. We encourage our students to wear
sunscreen, protective hats and sunglasses while
outside for recess. We ask that parents send extra
drinks (water and juice) to help keep children
hydrated.
book buying in your child’s library. Get a charge out
of reading!
Moving
SCOOTERS
If you are planning on moving out of the St. Teresa of
Avila school area, or are changing an address within
our school boundaries, please let the office know as
soon as possible. It is important that we are informed
so that we can provide the necessary transfer forms.
You will require these forms as part of your
registration into any school in the province.
DRESS CODE
Our school is committed to standards of neatness,
cleanliness, modesty and good taste. Students are
and appropriate to the school environment. With
warmer weather on the way, we will remind students
of dress code expectations. Your assistance and
support is greatly appreciated.
Clothing guidelines
• Clothing should be neat, clean and without tears
and/or holes;
• Halter tops, tank tops, spaghetti strap tops, low cut
tops, mesh shirts, muscle shirts, cut-off shorts,
midriff tops which do not cover the abdomen and
bandanas are inappropriate attire school (walking
shorts are permitted);
• Patches, symbols or sayings on clothing shall not be
offensive to anyone who might read them, nor should
they promote negative messages
• Sunglasses and headwear such as hats/caps/visors
are inappropriate in the school building and classroom
Cancer Awareness Day
Our fundraiser was a huge success. Our beautiful
“Wall of Hope” mural had many daffodil stickers on it.
The total amount raised was $606.30 for this worthy
cause and thank you for your generosity and support.
Thank you to Madame Fleury for organizing this
event.
Scholastic Book Fair
The book fair was a huge success and we have
$1280.00 as a profit. The money raised will help fund
ROLLERBLADES, SKATE BOARDS &
Students who wish to rollerblade, skate
board, cycle or ride a scooter to school
must remove their rollerblades or pick up
their skateboards or scooters as soon as
they enter or leave school property.
Bikes can be locked up at the new bike
rack in front of the school. The school
does not accept responsibility for their
safe keeping.
Textbook Policy
Textbooks are the property of the school and are
loaned out to students with the expectation that
they will be returned at the end of the school year in
good condition. The teachers keep a record of each
textbook that students are given. Please help to
keep our costs down by encouraging your child to take
proper care of them. There will be a replacement
cost to the student if the textbook is damaged, lost
or not returned at the end of the school year.
School Calendar 2015-2016
School begins on the Tuesday September 8, 2015. The
Christmas break will be December 21, 2015 to January
1, 2016. The March break will be March 14 to March
18, 2016.
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS
The 2014- 2015 St. Teresa of Avila School Council
raised $6260.00 in profits thanks to your support
through our pizza lunch fundraiser.
Profits were used to benefit students, teachers and
the school by purchasing/subsidizing:
 Scientists in the School
 RAZ kids reading for Kindergarten/Grade 1
 Artists in the School- Dance/Drama/
presentations
 Subsidy per student for field trips
 Outdoor classroom
 Grade 8 Graduation
 Communion and Confirmation Gifts
 Student Awards & Trophies

Subsidized transportation for trips

Student agendas

Literacy room resources

Math manipulatives

Gym equipment

SMART Board
Fundraising cannot be accomplished without the
committed efforts of parent volunteers. A very
special thank you goes out to Mrs. Thompson and Mrs.
Roderique who helped make fundraising possible by
counting and collecting pizza lunch orders and money,
photocopying forms, and ensuring that our pizza days
are successful.
Please remember that Council meetings are open to
ALL PARENTS and being a volunteer does not need to
be a huge time commitment. We look forward to
welcoming new members for the 2015-2016 school
year.
Thank you to the members of our School Council
for their support and dedication to our students
and staff!!!!!
Safety First when dropping students off at
school
The safety of all children and staff must be
considered as paramount at all times when dropping
students off at school.
The number of serious incidents related to traffic
circulation at the front of the school and in the Kiss
and Ride area during morning arrival and afternoon
dismissal has risen. These incidents include vehicles
entering the site in the wrong direction, parking and
pulling out of no parking zones, parking in bus lanes,
to name a few.
It is imperative that all parents and guardians who
drive their children to school adhere to the traffic
circulation plan and comply with the traffic and
parking signage on the site. It is equally imperative
that all drivers follow the direction of staff managing
the traffic circulation on the school site.
Thank you for your consideration and co-operation
with this important matter.
Dates to Remember
June 2
Gr. 8 Trip to Dr. Simone’s Warehouse
June 3
Pizza Lunch
June 8
P.A. Day- Assessment & Evaluation- no
school for students
June 9
4Cat Studio art workshop- Mrs.
Walker & Mrs. Medeiros
June 10
End of Year mass at St. John of the
Cross church at 10:15 a.m.- Weather
permitting
4Cat Studio art workshop- Mrs.
Walker & Mrs. Medeiros
June 15
Track & Field day at St. Marcillinus
school
June 16
FDK Teddy bear picnic-Mrs.
Fernandes, Mrs. Bhola & Mrs. Coniglio
@ 2:00 p.m
June 17
Pizza Lunch
FDK End of year celebrations- Miss
Taylor, Ms. Augusto
Volunteer tea- PM
June 18
FDK End of year celebrations- Ms.
Evans, Mrs. Thompson
June 19
Playday/Hotdog lunch
June 23
Grade 8 Graduation-Liturgy, Awards
and Luncheon
June 24
Report Cards sent home
June 26
Virtue Assembly at 1:00 p.m.
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Sept. 8
First day back for SK- Grade 8