ST. CORNELIUS CATHOLIC SCHOOL
16066 Innis Lake Road, Caledon East, ON Tel. (905) 584-2245 Fax (905) 584-0924
Principal: G. Graci Vice Principal: A. Cavaliere Superintendent: L. Storey Pastor: Fr. B. Glynn
“Together in Faith and Excellence”
Catholic Education Week:
Opening Doors of Mercy
Pope Francis has declared 2016 a “Holy Year of Mercy” as a
way for the Catholic church to “make more evident, its
mission to be a witness of mercy”. The Holy Year began on
December 8, 2015 and will be celebrated until November
20, 2016. Throughout the year, there will be a series of
jubilee celebrations on the theme of mercy for teenagers,
deacons, the sick and disabled, prisoners, catechists and
clergy.
As well, Pope Francis opened the Vatican’s Holy Door on
December 8th. The Holy Door is opened to evoke the
concept of forgiveness which is the main focus of a Holy
Year. The theme God’s mercy is illustrated in fifteen of the
sixteen bronze panels that make up the Vatican Door. There
are seven such Holy Doors in the world, including one in
Quebec City.
Catholic Education Week 2016 combines both the theme
of mercy and the act of opening doors of reconciliation,
mercy and forgiveness to all around us.
God of Love and compassion,
help us to open the door of mercy in our school
communities,
in our families and in the world.
Let mercy guide our living and bring us closer to
the heart of the gospel.
May we live as Jesus with mercy that welcomes,
loves, forgives
and calls us to live the gospel joyfully. Amen.
MAY 2016: INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Creating Class Lists
Catholic Education Week
EQAO Test Dates
Summer Literacy Camp
Page 2
Page 2
Page 3
Page 5
There are five sub-themes for each day of Catholic
Education Week:
Monday:
Mercy that Welcomes
Tuesday:
Mercy that Loves
Wednesday:
Mercy that Forgives
Thursday:
Mercy that Lives the Gospel
Friday:
Mercy that Rejoice
Every year, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’
Association (OCSTA) provides our Catholic schools with a
resource kit to help schools prepare for Catholic Education
Week. Using these resources as well as our own
developed activities we have prepared a series of activities
which will highlight how our school is ‘Opening Doors of
Mercy’.
We hope to see many of you during our school
celebrations!
Together in Faith and Excellence
1
CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK HIGHLIGHTS
May 1-6, 2016
All students from St. Cornelius will
be completing “I Am From…”
poems showcasing how our
students all have a story, voice,
culture and history that they bring
to their classroom environments.
We will also be fostering an
awareness of our diversity by decorating trees with
colourful bows. Each day we will add a bow to our front
trees: Blue- Autism Awareness, White- Visual
Impairment Awareness, Red- Uniqueness Day, YellowWish Bone Day, Numbers’ Day- Everyone Counts.
Students will be participating in various classroom
activities throughout the week. These activities will
showcase the uniqueness of our students and how we
are all united in our differences as gifts from God.
CREATING CLASSES FOR NEXT YEAR
In the month of May, we will be making up the class lists
for the 2016-2017 school year. This is a complex process,
which takes into consideration not only the needs of the
student, but it also frames those needs in the context of
the larger classroom group. In every class we strive for a
balance of learning styles, learning needs, and a cross
section of abilities. The current teachers of a grade,
support staff and administrators all take part in the
process. Please note that combined classes will continue
to exist and are a part of every school. If you wish to
provide input into the process, please take into
consideration the following guidelines:
•Input must be in written form addressed to Mrs. GraciPapayanakis by MONDAY, MAY 9TH.
•Frame your request in terms of educational contexts
e.g. your child’s learning needs/style; information not
already known to the school; tips on what has worked
best for your child in the past.
•Please note that letters which cite the names of
individual teachers or names of children you wish to be
placed with your child will not be considered.
•Information from all sources will be pooled to assist in
making the most appropriate placement for your child.
MOVING/ NEW REGISTRATIONS
If you are moving from our area and will not be attending
St. Cornelius in September 2016, or you have a change of
address or contact information, please inform the Office
as soon as possible. In addition, if you know of families
who will be registering their children to attend St.
Cornelius School in September 2016, please encourage
them to register as soon as possible. Our class
organization and school staffing for September relies on
accurate enrollment projections.
TO
KINDERGARTEN
EVENING
All new Kindergarten students registered for September
2016 are invited to attend an information evening on
Tuesday, May 24th at 6:00 p.m. Each child will receive a
Welcome to Kindergarten bag of activities and materials
to help them prepare for starting school. The resources
are provided by the Learning Partnership.
KINDERGARTEN BUSSING FOR 2016-2017
On Saturday, August 27th, 2016, we
will be holding our YOUNG RIDER
ORIENTATION
DAY
for
ALL
Kindergarten children. The intent of
the day is to introduce children to
school buses in an informal setting
prior to the first day of school.
We encourage you to participate by
bringing your Kindergarten children
and elementary age siblings to a one
hour program between the hours of
9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Bus rides and a school bus
safety video are only part of the informative fun. All
Young Rider Days have been successes. To confirm your
attendance and preferred time slot, please call Parkview
Transit at 905-846-1070 as soon as possible.
P.A. Day on May 13th. There will
be No School for Students.
Together in Faith and Excellence
2
EQAO TESTING FOR GR. 3 & 6 STUDENTS
For those parents with children in grades 3 and/or 6,
please note that your child will be participating in the
grade 3 and 6 standards based assessment, known as
EQAO. This years’ students will be participating in the
assessment from May 25th to June 8th, 2016.
Grade 3 assessment dates (AM only): May 26, 31, June
1, 2, 3, and 6th
Grade 6 assessment dates: May 25, 27, 30th
Make up dates for Gr 3 and 6: June 7, 8th
We kindly ask that you please do not book any family
holidays and/or medical appointments during this time.
As many parents and educators are aware, EQAO
assessments are used in schools to plan for continuous
student improvement in the areas of Literacy and
Numeracy. The school based results assist in
developing goals for improvement, namely by targeting
areas in the curriculum which may require additional
focus.
In addition, to help with concentration, it would be
beneficial for students to have breakfast and some
additional nutritious snacks such as fruit, veggies,
cheese etc. If you have any questions, feel free to
contact the school.
CONCUSSION POLICY, GUIDELINES AND
PROTOCOL
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board has 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 the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board to
support a 10-phase “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
throughout each of the 10 phases. For more information,
please contact us at the school.
STUDENT DRESS CODE RULES
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
With the warm
weather
finally
approaching, we
would like to take
this opportunity to
review the dress
code expectations
at St. Cornelius
School.
As a Catholic school, we believe that there
must be a commitment to high standards of modesty,
neatness, cleanliness and good taste. Therefore, while
halter tops, short shorts, spandex bike wear, muscle
shirts and similar clothing may be acceptable for beach
wear, they are not appropriate for classroom instruction.
Shirts should be of appropriate length to be able to be
tucked into pants or a skirt. Shorts and skirts should be
appropriate length for school. Suggestive or
inappropriate language or violent symbols are not
permitted on any clothing or personal belongings. Every
classroom has a visual reminder of acceptable/
unacceptable clothing posted in their rooms. We
appreciate your ongoing support in this matter.
As we are hopefully moving
toward the season of spring,
water and mud around our
school yard is inevitable.
Although we direct students to
stay away from mud and
puddles and close the field area if needed, accidents do
happen. If students do get wet during outdoor play or
recess, our school approach is to contact parents to bring
dry clothing. For younger students especially, we suggest
you have an extra pair of socks and/or track pants in your
child’s backpack in the event that a change of clothes is
necessary.
Together in Faith and Excellence
3
Earth Hour
On March 21st, all schools in Dufferin-Peel participated in
Earth
Hour.
Students
learned
about
the
importance
of
energy
conservation. During this
time all classroom lights and
non-essential lights were
turned off. Thank you to all
staff and students for
recognizing that we have
the POWER to change
CLIMATE CHANGE!
EARTH WEEK 2016: APRIL 18 -22
During the week of April 18th to 22nd. St. Cornelius
celebrated Earth Week. Throughout the week, students
were involved in a variety of activities.
Message Monday: Students decorated the outside of
our school with sidewalk chalk with Earth Week
Messages.
Trashless Tuesday: Students and staff were encouraged
to use reusable lunch containers and refillable water
bottles.
Walk to School Wednesday: Students were encouraged
to walk to school, where possible.
Thirsty Thursday: Students were encouraged to bring
reusable water bottles to school.
Tech Free Friday: Staff were encouraged to turn off their
lights and use natural sunlight to lighten up their classes.
In addition, all students made Earth Week promises to
create a forest of promises to decorate our front foyer.
All students received a free tree sapling to take home.
Plant a tree and be green.
Thank you to Ms. Wilson, Mrs.
Morrison, Ms. Marks and our
Eco-Team, you have done an
awesome job of reminding us to
be stewards of the environment!
On April 13th, schools in
Dufferin-Peel participated in
a board-wide flash mob
dance to commemorate the
Day
of
Pink,
the
International day against
bullying.
To
facilitate
Dufferin-Peel’s Day of Pink flash mob, an instructional
dance video was posted on the Board’s YoutubeTM
channel @DPCDBvideos, which was practiced by the
classes in our school. The dance was choreographed to
Dufferin-Peel alumnus Alessia Cara’s hit song, “With
Things”- a song about self-acceptance. Our students and
staff were encouraged to wear a pink shirt and we joined
in a school liturgy about acceptance and anti-bullying.
Let’s continue to speak out and stand up to bullying!
SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
Thank you to parents and guardians for
supporting our Chocolate Fundraiser
during the month of April. We would
like to thank our volunteers for
organizing the distribution and
collection throughout the fundraiser. Your dedication to
our students is truly remarkable. We are in the process
of planning a Family Movie Night on Friday, June 10th.
More information to follow. If would like to support our
Family Movie Night, please contact one of our Catholic
School Council Members.
FAMILY MATH NIGHT- POSTPONED
Please note that our Family Math Night “May the 4th Be
With You!” originally scheduled at St. Cornelius on
Wednesday, May 4th has been postponed. A rescheduled
date will follow. Thank you for your understanding.
Our next Catholic
School
Council
meeting will be held
on Monday, May
31st at 6:30 p.m. in
the school library.
All are welcome.
Come and join us for
Our BECDM PARENT
ENGAGEMENT EVENT
Save the Date
Tuesday, May 17th, 2016
at St. Marguerite d’Youville
Secondary School
at 6:30 p.m.
Some topics include: Ipads, 21st
Century Learning, Math, Inquiry
Learning, Faith Formation
See attached flyer and
invitation for workshop details
Together in Faith and Excellence
4
Summer Literacy Camp
Remedial Literacy Program for Grades SK to Grade 6
July 11- July 29th, 2016
9:00 a.m.- 12:00 noon
* 3 week program * Fee for Service
* Students must be recommended by the
*No transportation provided
Deadline for application: May 20th, 2016
Caledon Locations:
Elementary Summer School
Remedial Literacy & Math for Grades 7 & 8
For Level 1 and 2 Students only
July 4 – July 22, 2016
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
*Students must be recommended by the Principal
*Bussing provided at St. Cornelius School (homeschool) pick up point.
Deadline for application: May 20, 2016
Caledon Location:
Contact Adult and Continuing Education for more
details:
905-891-9263 Ext. 37956
INTERMEDIATE BASKETBALL
Team members include: Dylan H., Patrick D., Justin P.,
Diego D., Jacob F., Peter M., Rory K., Markus D., Beck K.,
Mason P.
The girls’ team began the afternoon with a tough game
against St. Benedict, and although leading for the first
half, came up short by just a few baskets. Game two
against St. Andrew also resulted in a loss, but the girls
pulled together for the final game and came up with a
win against St. Peter for a third place finish overall.
Team members include: Madeline F., Alyx L., Amanda
M., Valentina R., Ashleigh S., Sabrina B., Thea L., Katrina
S., Aliyana B.
Thank you to parents for volunteering to drive and for
cheering on our teams!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ST. CORNELIUS
SCHOOL CHESS TEAM!
The Eleventh Annual Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
School Board Chess tournament. This tournament
attracts the best chess teams from Orangeville, Caledon,
Brampton and Mississauga.
Coaches Mr. De Rango and Mrs. O’Donnell are very
proud of each team’s performance and would like to
thank the following team members for a great season.
Well done!
The Intermediate Boys’
and Girls’ basketball
teams
proudly
represented our school
at the recent Family of
Schools
“mini”
tournaments at St.
Benedict School on April
20! Coaches – Miss.
Carlini, Mrs. Foley, and
Mrs.
Kehoe
congratulate all team members for their hard work,
determination, and tremendous school spirit and
sportsmanship!
The boys’ team had an early start to the day and fell
short by only a few baskets against St. Andrew and St.
Benedict respectively. They came out on top with a win
over St. Peter School in their last game to place third
overall in the tournament.
Together in Faith and Excellence
5
DATES OF THE SACRAMENTS
MAY VIRTUE FOCUS - ACCEPTANCE
First Holy Communion
We congratulate our Gr. 2 students
who received their Holy
Communion during the months of
April and May at St. John’s Albion
Parish.
Mrs. Moretta & Mrs. Clark’s classes
on Saturday, April 30th at 11:00 a.m.
Mrs. Morrison & Mrs. MacLeod’s classes on Saturday,
May 14th at 11:00 a.m.
Ms. Cerullo’s class on Saturday, May 21st at 11:00 a.m.
Confirmation
Congratulations to our Grade
7 and 8 students who are
receiving their Sacrament of
Confirmation in April and
May. The Sacraments of
Confirmation will take place at St. John Albion Parish
at 7:00 p.m.
Mrs. Zingaro - Tuesday, April 19th
Mr. De Rango - Wednesday, April 20th
Ms. Scarcello- Tuesday, April 26th
Ms. Cancelliere - Wednesday, April 27th
Ms. Carlini - Tuesday, May 10th
Ms. Marks - Wednesday, May 11th
God wants us to make friends with everyone no matter
how different they may look or act. Acceptance is the
ability to respect the dignity and rights of all persons,
even those whose beliefs and behaviours differ from our
own. Everyone should strive to love and respect their
neighbour, as they love and respect themselves.
An accepting person is:
• willing to treat everybody as a member of a group;
• non-judgemental;
• welcoming to those different than himself/herself;
• loving and happy with who he/she is.
The virtue of Acceptance means we accept ourselves and
others, just the way we are. God created all of us in His
image, and God does not make mistakes. Being part of
Gods family means that we love and welcome everyone
just the way Jesus did. Sometimes we find ourselves in
situations where it is easier to follow the crowd than to
stand up for what we know is right. However, Jesus
wants us to accept everyone even when it is hard.
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one
member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. Now you
are the body of Christ and individually member of it.
1 Cor. 12:26-27
Together in Faith and Excellence
6
SAFE SCHOOLS FOCUS FOR MAY: Bullying is
NOT a Normal Part of Growing Up
In May students will examine why
people use bullying behaviours. We
need to dispel the myth that bullying is
just a normal part of growing up and
understand why it happens. Bullying is
a relationship problem – it is about a
sense of entitlement, power and
control. Using bullying behaviours is not something we
outgrow but rather adopt as a way of interacting with
others throughout our lifespan. Childhood bullying may
evolve into dating violence, gang activity, assault, sexual
harassment, workplace harassment, marital violence,
child abuse and elder abuse (Peplar). Research
demonstrates that by age 24, 60% of identified bullies
have criminal records (Olweus).
Learning how to effectively deal with feelings of anger
and finding positive ways to feel powerful are proactive
steps to changing or preventing the use of bullying
behaviours. Ultimately it is a question of the worth or
value we assign to all people. We don’t tend to bully
those we consider worthy. In turn, when someone is
bullying others we must remember to value that person
while helping them deal with their bullying behaviours.
Students will be reminded to identify the behaviour as
bullying but not to label the person as a ‘bully’.
Tips for parents:
- learn to recognize warning signs that your child may be
involved in bullying others
- role model appropriate anger management strategies
and effective apologies for and with your children
- don’t label children; deal with problem behaviours
while maintaining a child’s sense of worth.
IMPORTANT DATES:
May 2-6:
May 2:
May 3:
May 4:
May 5:
May 6:
AM- Diversity Conference - Youth Faith
Ambassadors
Numbers’ Day “Everyone Counts”
May 10:
7:00 p.m.- Confirmation - Ms. Carlini’s Class
at St. John Albion Parish
May 11:
Gr. 3 and 6 After School EQAO Tutoring
7:00 p.m.- Confirmation - Ms. Mark’s Class
at St. John Albion Parish
May 12:
Pizza Day
Gr. 3 and 6 After School EQAO Tutoring
May 13:
PA Day- No School for Students
May 14:
11:00 a.m.- First Communion Mass for
Mrs. MacLeod/ Mrs. Morrison’s Classes at
St. John Albion Parish
May 16:
Spring Photos
May 17:
6:30 p.m. Family of Schools Catholic School
Council Parent Evening at St. Marguerite
d’Youville Secondary School- All Parents are
Welcome!
May 18:
Gr. 3 and 6 After School EQAO Tutoring
May 19:
Scientists in the School- Mrs. DiMaria/ Ms.
DiFeo’ Class
Sub Day
Gr. 3 and 6 After School EQAO Tutoring Last
Class
May 21:
11:00 a.m.- First Communion for Ms.
Cerullo’s Class at St. John Albion Parish
May 23:
Victoria Day- No School
May 24:
6:00 p.m. Welcome to Kindergarten Night
For students beginning Kindergarten in
September 2016
May 25- 27: Gr. 3 and 6 EQAO Provincial Assessment
May 26:
Pizza Day
Attachments:
Math at Home
Catholic Education Week Flyer
BECDM Parent Engagement Event Flyer and Invitation
Catholic Education Week
Gr. 7 Students Visit Robert F. Hall for Catholic
Education Week Kickoff
Blue Ribbon Day
10:00 a.m.-Primary Mass at St. John Albion
Parish- All are welcome!
White Ribbon Day
Gr. 3 and 6 EQAO Tutoring
Red Ribbon Day
Yellow Ribbon Day
Sub Day
Gr. 3 and 6 After School EQAO Tutoring
Together in Faith and Excellence
7