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
February 2015 Newsletter
Principal
M. Sturge
Vice Principal
E. Del Grosso-Milek
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.
PASTORAL TEAM
Fr. Joseph Kalluvila, O.Carm
Pastor
Fr. Abraham Kulanjiyil, O. Carm
Assoc. Pastor
John Cannon, Deacon
Kate Watkiss, Pastoral Associate
Prayer of Respect
Dear God,
You have done such a marvelous job of creating us and the world around us.
Among your greatest gifts are our friends and acquaintances.
They are the yeast in the dough of life – they make life lively and interesting.
We come to you now asking for the grace and strength to keep a sense of
respect.
We hope that by recognizing and honoring the shared Spirit in everyone we
meet, we can contribute to making our school a safer, more caring, more
inclusive community.
May your gift of respect help us to live each day with the confidence that we
are in company of people who are not strangers but who are our spiritual
brothers and sisters. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our brother, who
lived to show us your way.
Amen
Virtue of Respect
This month we celebrate the virtue of respect. God has given us the virtues
of friends and companions to keep us company and to help us our along the way.
Every person in our lives carries the Spirit of God- and so every person is our
brother or sister through Jesus Christ. As brothers and sisters who share one
Holy Spirit, we are all valuable to God. We all deserve to be shown courtesy,
consideration, sensitivity and thoughtfulness, which are different ways of
saying respect. That respect should come first and foremost from ourselves.
We have to respect ourselves and then we will be able to respect others. We
should also be able to expect to be treated with respect by everyone we meetour brothers and sisters in Jesus.
A respectful person…
 Treats himself/herself and everyone else with equal consideration and
courtesy
 Uses a positive tone of voice and body language
 Avoids swearing, name-calling, put-downs, and inappropriate gestures
 Says “Excuse me”, “Please”, and “ Pardon me”
 Avoids gossip
FAITH COMMUNITY
after the bell rings, please bring your child to the
office and sign them in. Thank you for your
cooperation.
Ash Wednesday
We will be having our Ash Wednesday liturgy at 10:30
on February 18th. All are welcome.
Virtue Assembly
The January virtue assembly focused on this month’s
virtue of respect. 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 hope. Thank you
to Mrs. Lillicrop and Ms. Viscardi for organizing the
beautiful assembly and for the dedicated participation
of the students. Thank you to Mr. Abraham for his
audiovisual support. Our next assembly will be on
Friday, February 27th at 12:45 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
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
Parking Lot Safety/Kiss and Ride
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.
Winter Weather
During the winter season, many parents are
concerned about school policy on outdoor recess. It is
generally accepted that when the wind chill factor
drops below -25°C, students should not go outside
for recess. Dufferin-Peel C.D.S.B. Policy uses a wind
chill factor of -20° C as a determining factor for
modified recess. We ask that students come dressed
appropriately with hats, gloves, mittens etc. Where
possible, please put identification on your child’s
belongings. Please note that all students should have
indoor shoes during the winter months so that the
classrooms are kept as clean and dry as possible.
During the winter months, inclement weather may
cause disruption of bus transportation and regular
school operations. A decision to cancel transportation
and/or close schools is usually made by 7:00 a.m. and
will be announced on the Board website and the
following radio stations:
CKFM – 99.9 FM
CHIN – 100.7 FM, 1540 AM
CHUM – 1050 AM
CJCL – 590 AM
CFTR - 680 AM
CHFI – 98.1 FM
JACKFM – 92.5 FM
CBC – 740 AM
CIAO – 530 AM
CFNY – 102.1 FM
CFRB – 1010 AM
DC103FM
CHAY – 93 FM
Q107 – 107.1 FM
CJMR – 1250 AM
TALK640 – 640 AM
CHEZ ZP7.3
CJBC (Fr.) 86
Front Door Monitor System
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!

For the safety of our students, we ask that
you always state the reason for your visit.
your child will be held at West Secondary School
until we make direct contact with a parent/guardian.
SCHOOL EVENTS & NEWS
Health and Wellness Committee
Staff, students and our Peel Public Health nurse have
been meeting to plan a variety of activities focusing
on both Healthy Eating and Physical Activity. Fun Fit
Friday’s have begun and all students and staff have
demonstrated their awesome dance moves at 1:40
p.m. every Friday. Fun Fit Friday’s are an excellent
way to demonstrate how enjoyable physical activity
can be and how important it is to stay active.
Games Club/ Chess Club
a.m. for the Breakfast Club, please ring the bell once
and wait for a response: Thank you for your
cooperation and support!
Our games club is running and is well attended. If you
have any lego or board games in good condition that
you could donate to this worthy cause please bring
them in to the office. Thank you to Mrs. Ako-Adjei,
Miss Taylor & Mrs. David for your support. In
addition Mr. Abraham has organized a chess club
where friendly competition has been evident. Thank
you to Mr. Abraham for organizing this club.
Flu Season
Intermediate Ski Trip
To reduce or prevent the spread of the flu, it is
important to use certain measures such as washing
hands, cough and sneeze etiquette, eating
nutritiously, getting plenty of sleep and staying home
when ill. Custodial staff help prevent the spread of
disease through protocols such as: cleaning hard
surfaces, washrooms being cleaned and disinfected,
paper is stocked, and soap dispensers are
checked/and filled. Hand sanitizers are also placed in
the office, library and various classrooms throughout
the school.
The grade 7 and 8 student ski trip to Hockley Valley
Resort on January 21, 2015 was a success despite
being postponed from January 8, 2015 due to
extreme cold weather. The snow conditions and
Mother Nature cooperated and almost half the
students were awarded with passing the first stage
of their lessons. The students look forward to their
next trip on February 4, 2015 and a special thanks to
Mrs. Lillicrop, Ms. Viscardi, Mrs. Fleury, Mrs. Farrell
and Mr. Rodrigues for their help and support for
these excursions
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
Live Free Campaign
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
Live Free Campaign is a program encouraging our
community to encourage eating a healthy breakfast
to support our Breakfast Program. We are asking for
a $ 2.00 donation on February 12th for each student
with all proceeds going to our breakfast club. Our
Breakfast Club at St. Teresa of Avila runs five days a
week with the support of many volunteers and Mr.
Abraham as Breakfast Coordinator. All students are
welcome to attend from 8:15 a.m.- 8:30 a.m.
Donations of .25 cents is greatly appreciated.
Avila’s Got Talent
This year we will be having a Spring Talent show. It will
be held during Catholic Education Week on the evening
of May 7th. A letter will be sent home requesting
permission for your child/ren to participate in the
audition process. There will be more details closer to
the event. Thank you to Mrs. Ako-Adjei for taking lead
on this wonderful event.
National Sweater Day
On Thursday, February 5, Dufferin-Peel Catholic
schools and board sites will turn down the heat and
put on a sweater in honour of World Wildlife Fund’s
(WWF) National Sweater Day. According to the
WWF, heating makes up 80% of all energy used in
homes and schools across Canada. Dufferin-Peel has
adopted the theme of “My Sweater Has a Story Day”.
Staff and students will be encouraged to wear their
favorite sweater and tell us about what makes it
special. Pictures and stories will be posted on Twitter
using the hashtag #mysweatermystory .
Follow @dpweewonder or @DPCDSBSchools.
The board will also be collecting gently used sweaters
on February 5. A drop off box will be located in the
main foyer of the Catholic Education Centre at 40
Matheson Boulevard West in Mississauga. The
sweaters will be donated to Canadian Food for
Children. We are inviting all students and staff to
wear their favouriite sweater to do our part in
bringing awareness in support of this worthy cause.
School-wide Visual Arts Activity
All students from FDK through Grade 8 are presently
involved in an art activity based on the book “Crazy
Hair Day” by Bernard Saltzman. Students will be
creating their own ultimate crazy hair styles. Look
for all of these creations to be on display during
February interviews.
Black History Month
We will be welcoming Diana Braithwaite and Chris
Whitley to our school to present an interactive
performance called, “Sugar and Gold, The Story of
the Underground Railroad in Canada” for our
students from grades 1-8. We are looking forward to
this historical, musical and interactive presentation.
School Council
We would like to thank our School Council for
supporting a number of initiatives within the school in
support of all of the students. The following outlines
activities/ programs that will be supported: Outdoor
classroom, subsidy for all students for trips,
sacramental gifts, Graduation and the overnight
grade 8 trip.
UMCL Problem Solving Model
You may be noticing that your child(ren) are
completing their mathematic assignments according
to the UMCL model. This is a whole school initiative
and an effective way for your child (ren) to put more
thought when completing school work. The following is
a brief description of the UMCL process. Please
continue to use this language when working with your
child(ren).
U (Understand the question)

Highlight important words, restate the
problem, talk about the problem, what do I
need to know?
M (Make a plan)

Use concrete materials, draw diagrams, use
logical thinking, make an organized plan, list
success criteria
C (Carry Out the Plan)

Show work using pictures, numbers, words;
apply appropriate strategies, do the
calculations, collaborate with members of the
group, share your process
L (Look Back)

Explain why your answer is correct, identify
errors, verify the reasonableness, extend
your answer, explain how you can improve your
answer
St. Teresa of Avila Numeracy Night
In order to provide you with a better understanding
of the mathematics strategies that your children are
using such as the 3- part Math lesson and the UMCL
model, you are invited to a Numeracy night on
February 26th from 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Please mark
your calendars.
Dates to Remember
Please visit our St. Teresa Avila
website at:
http://www.dpcdsb.org/AVILA
DPCDSB is on Twitter! For the latest
board news and information, follow us
@DPCDSBSchools.
February 3
Report Cards sent home
February 4
Intermediate Ski Trip- Gr. 7 &
8
February 5
Interview Evening
National Sweater Day
February 6
P.A. Day- Reporting to Parents
February 11
PIZZA LUNCH
Rosary Apostolate to visit
Canada’s Underground Railroad
Presentation
February 12
Live Free- $2.00 Donation
February 16
FAMILY DAY- no school
February 17
SHROVE TUESDAY
February 18
ASH WEDNESDAY
Ash Wednesday Liturgy at
10:30 a.m.
February 25
PIZZA LUNCH
February 26
Math Literacy Night-6:30-7:30
p.m.
February 27
Virtue Assembly @ 12:45 p.m.