Principal:
S. Calvert
Secretary:
A. Miller
St. Martin of Tours Parish
Pastor:
Fr. Joyson Pottackal
Associate Pastor:
Fr. Gijo
Trustee:
L. del Rosario
(905) 890-1221
Luz.delRosario@dpcdsb.org
Superintendent:
D. Amaral
(905) 890-1221
School Council Co-Chairs
M. Sousa
I. Singh
DPCDSB is on Twitter!
For the latest board news and information, follow us
@ DPCDSBSchools.
1300 McBride Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario
L5C 1M8
Tel. (905) 277-4512 Fax (905) 277-0647 www.dpcdsb.org/GERAR
In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved, and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.
By John McCrae
November Virtue—Conscience
God has given us the ability to know the right and decent way to act and then to act that way. We trust that the common Spirit we share inspires us and guides us to make good decisions if we allow our conscience to be well formed. A person of Conscience allows prayer and scripture to influence him/her.
A person of conscience …..
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Chooses to do the right thing and feels good about it.
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Can see his/her actions may hurt others.
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Admits his/her mistakes and feels badly.
 Says sorry and tries to make up for mistakes.
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Keeps promises.
Virtues Parade
Congratulations to the following students who received Virtues recognition in the last week of October.
Kylie N M., Cheska M., Keith G., Jasper B., Mark Z., Kiera F., Katrina L., Lucas K., Jayden P H., Paul N., and Sean R.

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Nov. 1 —All Saints’ Day
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Nov. 2 – All Souls Day
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Nov. 2 —police presentations to Primary students about Bullying
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Nov 4 —St. Martin Secondary School
Orientation for Gr. 8 Students
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Nov 5 —Mrs .Zeno and Mrs. Barca’s student trip to Riverwood
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Nov 7/8 —Rite of Enrollment at all masses for Confirmation.
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Nov. 9/10 —Dental Screening Gr. JK,
SK, 2,4,6,8
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Nov 9 —School Council Meeting @
6:30 pm—All are welcome.
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Nov. 9-13—Walk to School Week
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Nov 10, 17 and 24— Grade 3 Swim to
Survive program at Huron Park.
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Nov. 11 – Remembrance Day
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Nov. 12— French Immersion info night for parents of S.K. Students @ St. Margaret of Scotland School 7:00 pm
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Nov 16-20 —Bullying Awareness week
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Nov. 16— Rosary Apostolate visit.
 Nov 17 —Reports go home
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Nov 18 —Mrs. Lepidas and Ms.
Conor’s classes to Crawford lake.
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Nov 18 —Life Skills classes visit the
Grocery Store
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Nov 18 —Eco Source workshops for all students.
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Nov. 19 —Interview Evening
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Nov 19 —Open house at Holy name of
Mary High School (for girls)
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Nov 20 —Mr. Vidot’s class visit the
ROM.
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Nov. 24 —Covenant House presentation to Grade 8’s
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Nov. 25— Life Skills classes visit the
Library
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Nov. 25— Grade 1 and 2 Dance Workshops.
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Nov. 27 – Grade 8 Dance Workshops.
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Nov. 28— First Reconciliation for
Grade 2 students @ 10:30 am at St.
Martin of Tours Church
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Dec 4 and 11 —Grade 8 Dance Presentations
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Dec 7 —Hep B/ HPV clinic #1
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Dec 8 —Advent Mass 10:00 am at St.
Martin of Tours parish
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Dec 9— Life Skills classes visit the Grocery Store.
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Dec. 14— Rosary Apostolate Visit
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Dec 14— School Council
 Dec 16— Life Skills classes visit the library.
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Dec 21—Jan 3 inclusive—Christmas
Holidays. School starts Jan 4, 2016
Any parent able to volunteer a few hours a week are encouraged to become members of St.
Gerard’s All Star Reading Team. A few hours of your volunteer time and support can benefit many
St. Gerard students. If interested please call 905-
277-4512 and speak to Mrs. Spudic.
Volunteers in the School
Volunteers are welcome for another year to support learning in our school. We appreciate the commitment and support and look forward to a great year! Thank you to all who have applied for their Criminal Reference Check.
Criminal Reference Checks
Anyone working in our school as a new employee or volunteer must have a
Criminal Reference Check completed by the Peel Police. This includes any individuals who wish to accompany their child on a school trip. CRC are free of charge for volunteers. Forms are available from the office.
The next council meeting will be on Monday, November 9th at 6:30 p.m.
All are welcome to attend.
Congratulations to our New School Council:
Co Chair—MaryAnn Sousa
Co Chair—Indy Singh
Secretary—Tina Forbes
Treasurer—Robert Lacelle
Parish Rep.—Vanessa Correa
OAPCE Rep—Linda Collier
Teacher Rep—Renata Spudic
Non Teaching Rep—TBD
As an Eco School we are joining in with this event every day of next week.
Children can come to school on bicycles, scooters, or any other mode of transport as long as you try to leave your car at home. If you really can’t come without the car then perhaps you could park a little further away and walk the last bit. Bikes may be left on the bike rack and scooters may be left in the student’s classroom. We will be asking the students each day how they came to school so we can find out which class per division was the most Eco friendly! At the end of the week one class per division (Primary, Junior and Intermediate) will win a class prize.
Enjoy your walk to school!

FRENCH IMMERSION INFORMATION MEETING
Senior Kindergarten parents/guardians, who wish to enroll their child in a Grade 1 French Immersion class for September,
2015 are invited to attend an information meeting at:
French Immersion Schools
St. Gertrude
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Our Lady of Providence
St. Angela Merici
St. Joachim
Divine Mercy
St. Elizabeth Seton
St. Margaret of Scotland
Information Session Location
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
4765 Huron Heights Drive
Mississauga
St. Angela Merici
83 Edenbrook Hill Drive
Brampton
St. Margaret of Scotland
2266 Council Ring Road
Mississauga
Date and Time
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
7:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
7:00 p.m.
EXTENDED FRENCH INFORMATION MEETING
Grade 4 parent(s)/guardian(s), who wish to enroll their child in a Grade 5 Extended French class for September,
2015 are invited to attend an information meeting at:
School:
Address:
St. Philip School
345 Fairview Road West
Mississauga, ON L5B 3W5
Date:
905-306-8420
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m.
At the present time, the above mentioned school is the designated centre for our area. Applications will be accepted at that centre until 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February
16 th , 2016.
If your child was born in 2011 or 2012,he or she can start Kindergarten in September 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
SNOW DATE: Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Thursday, January 28, 2016 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Friday, January 29, 2016 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Parent Evening to Support the Transition of Students with Differing Abilities into Kindergarten
Tuesday, January 12, 2016 – CEC Room 301, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm (Snow Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2016)
To register you will need proof of Address, Proof of Age, Original Baptismal certificate (if child is not baptized then
Original baptismal certificate of one parent), proof of citizenship and updated immunization records.

GRADE 2 RECONCILIATION
The grade two students, who registered with the
Church, will be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday, November 28 at 10:30 a.m.
RITE OF ENROLMENT
Grade 7 and 8 students who will be confirmed in 2016 at St.
Martin of Tours Church, must attend one of the following Masses to receive the Rite of Enrolment:
Saturday, November 7 at 5:00 pm
Sunday, November 8 at 8:00 am or 10:00 am or
12:00 pm
Peanut and Other Life Threatening Allergies, Sabrina’s Law Anaphylaxis Reaction
We ask that you do not send food treats to school.
We have students here at St. Gerard School who suffer from severe and life threatening allergies to certain foods, such as peanut and nut products. We want St. Gerard School to be a safe environment for all students. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding regarding this important issue.
PLASP Child Care Services operates Before and After School Programs for children up to 12 years of age at this school.
The Before School Program operates from 7:30 a.m. until school start. A nutritious breakfast is served daily.
The After School Program begins once school is dismissed and goes until 6:00 p.m. Children participate in recreational activities, are served a nutritious snack daily and have time for homework.
PLASP After School Programs, at this school, follow the Kindergarten curriculum based on children learning through play. Snacks and age appropriate activities are provided daily.
Fee assistance is available.
Visit www.plasp.com
and register your child online today.
Reminders and Resources: Cold and Flu Season
As cold and flu season approaches, the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board continues to be vigilant in ensuring that our schools are clean and that our school communities are educated regarding good hand hygiene and cough etiquette. These practices are promoted on an ongoing basis, but as the prevalence of colds and flu increases, our board increases the cleaning of contact surfaces, as well as reminds schools to review cold and flu prevention with students and staff. Many resources are utilized from our regional health units.
A reminder, as well, that communicable diseases can be contracted in public places throughout the year. For example, cold-related viruses, such as Enterovirus, are transferred from person to person through hand contact. Cold and flu viruses typically peak from December through February, but can start as early as October.
Regional Health Unit Resources
Please assist us by reviewing good hand washing procedures, as well as other preventative measures, as outlined in the various Peel Health and Wellington Dufferin
Guelph (WDG) resources available to you through their websites. As always, children who are unwell, should be kept at home.
Flu Clinics
Also available on the Peel Health and WDG websites, are the schedules of local Flu Clinics.
For more information, visit the health unit websites:
Peel Health website: http://www.peelregion.ca/ health
Wellington Dufferin Guelph Health website: www.wdgpublichealth.ca
Direct links to the above information can be found in the Parent Section of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board website at www.dpcdsb.org
An Online Reporting Tool is now available for students to report any negative incidents that they witness that may impact the school community’s health and well being. Please feel free to check it out on our school’s web page at www.dpcdsb.org/GERAR. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Calvert at
905 277 4512.

ECO NEWS
November Eco News
Thank you St. Gerard for all of your hard work in October. Please continue to remember to bring reusable water bottles to school and take home your lunch waste on Wednesdays.
Coming up this month:
Eco School workshops will take place for all students on November 18 and 19. We will be collecting $1 from students in order to participate.
November 9-13th will be walk to school week. Please walk/ bike/scoot to school this week. The Eco Team will be coming around and checking how many students in each class walked or biked to school. The division with the highest percentage of walkers for the week will win a prize.
Stay tuned for more Eco News in December.
Cross Country Update
A small but dedicated group of runners braved the elements on Tuesday, October 20th at Erindale Park for the Mississauga South Family of Schools Cross
Country Meet. Congratulations to all runners for your dedication in attending the early morning practices and all your hard work! A special thank you to their coaches, Mrs. Barca, Mrs. Dewsnap and Mrs.
Mistruzzi Canning.
We at St. Gerard School have a “NO CONTACT” policy.
This policy states that students are not to play any games or be involved in any activities in the school yard that involve aggressive physical contact.
Games such as tackle football and British Bulldog are not allowed. If a game develops during the course of a recess break where contact becomes part of the game or activity, students are continuously being reminded to remove themselves from the activity and to report the contact to the nearest staff member on yard duty.
Staff can be easily identified by their bright orange vests.
Winter Dress
Please take note that except when the winter weather is extremely cold or wet, students will be expected to go outdoors during recesses and lunch breaks. We will continue to follow the
Peel Health Department’s and Dufferin-Peel’s guidelines for considering when students should be kept indoors. Children who are too ill to go outdoors should be resting at home. Students should come dressed appropriately to go outdoors with mittens, hats, boots, scarves, and gloves. We also recommend that children may want to bring an extra pair of socks and mittens.
Students watching sports events
A reminder that students are not allowed at after school games unless they are accompanied by an adult. Staff, are present to coach or referee the games. No supervision is provided for other spectators.
Volleyball Update
Thank you to the girls volleyball team for their commitment and cooperation in building a team on such short notice. Each player grew individually in skills and collaboratively as a team.
Thank you to Ana, Emily, Roven, Eralda, Julie, Aly, Kiera,
Madison, Denise and Sierra. It was a short season but it was SWEET!
Ministry Parent Resource:
Supporting your child’s Learning through Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting
This document, available in 22 languages, supports parents in better understanding assessment and evaluation practices as outlined in the Growing Success document. The following link can take you directly to the PDF version: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/reportCard.html

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SAFETY REMINDERS
 Drive your vehicle through the “Kiss and Ride” lane or park your car in the church parking lot and walk your child to the schoolyard. There is no parking/no stopping in the “Kiss and Ride” lane or in front of the school or across the street. The
Property Management at the plaza across the street has asked that we do not park at the plaza.
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Please park in the Church parking lot and walk back.
If your child is being picked up by someone other than a parent or babysitter, please inform and arrange for pick up at the office.
No child will be released without parental consent.
A reminder to parents dropping off children in the morning that supervision in the yard does not begin until 8:45 am. Therefore, children should not arrive or be dropped off before 8:45 am.
Arrive at school on time to allow children to enter with their classmates to avoid front entry lates.
When a child is late they miss valuable teaching time. Late arrivals cause disruption to the other students and also to the teacher who has already started lessons for the day.
Send lunch with your child in the morning to limit traffic in through the front door at lunch time. If you are bringing a lunch for your child because they have forgotten it, we have provided a table in the foyer for you to leave the lunch. It is not necessary for you to wait. Your child is instructed to pick up his/her lunch at 12:00. This will help us keep all the children safe as well as limiting the congestion and noise in the school front hall.
If your child is going to be late or absent please call our school at 905-277- 4512 and leave a message clearly stating your child's name, teacher name, grade and the number of days your child will be absent. The line is available to you 24 hours a day.
If your phone number, cell number or work numbers change, please notify the office. It is necessary that we have the most up to date information in order to reach you in case of an emergency.
 During the lunch hour, all students who stay for lunch, and those who go home for lunch, are expected to follow the same routine every day.
Consistency in this routine will help to ensure the safety of students. If there will be a change in the routine, parents are asked to send the teacher a dated and signed note explaining the change.
 All visitors to the school are asked to report to the office. The office staff will assist you. If you are picking up your child during regular school hours, we ask that you report to the main office and we will arrange for your child to meet you there. If you are picking your child up after school or dropping them off before school, please do so at the appropriate area/exit designated for your child. In order to help ensure the safety and security of our children, please remember, that to many of them, you are a stranger.
 FIRE DRILLS / LOCKDOWN PROCEDURES In accordance with Ministry regulations, three fire drills will be conducted in the fall and three in the spring per school year. While we hope that a real fire situation never arises, this practice helps prepare students in the event of a real fire. In addition, our School
Board has established lockdown procedures should a high risk incident involving weapons occur in the school, or on school property, that could endanger the lives and safety of students and staff. We will practice the Emergency Lockdown Procedure with students two times during the school year and review it periodically.
 Traffic Safety / Crossing Guard
For the safety of the children, please ensure that your children cross at the appropriate intersection and adhere to all crossing guard directions. The
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City of Mississauga provides a crossing guard to assist students to cross safely to the school.
SCHOOL ACCESS PROTOCOL: School front doors locked —Visitors may gain entrance to the school by pressing a buzzer mounted on the wall outside the building, beside the front door. Your co-operation and understanding will help us to manage instructional time and safety for your children. We respectfully request that you limit your visits to the school during daytime as much as possible in order to protect instructional time and reduce interruptions. THANK YOU