Mary Fix Catholic School
Newsletter
Lord Jesus Christ,
You gather your people during this Holy Season of Lent, and call us to repent.
As we return back to you once again, open our hearts,
so that we might be transformed in your image.
Learning and Living
Through God
486 Paisley Blvd. West
Mississauga, Ontario L5B 2M4
(905)270-3140 Fax: (905)270-3475
www..dpcdsb.org/MAFIX
March 2014
Principal, A. Milanetti
Secretary, M. Kivell
Remove any barriers that keep us from you,
so that we may live fully the life we received at Baptism.
Help us to love you more and to reach out to others in friendship,
especially to those who need it most.
May the ashes that we receive on our foreheads remind us of your call to change.
May Your Spirit give us the courage and strength we need to be people of faith
By Your grace, may we turn to you in our abundance, and share your love with the
world around us.
We ask this in Jesus’ name
Amen.
First Holy Communion will take place
on Saturday, May 10th, at St. Catherine of
Siena Church at 11 a.m.
Pastor, St. Catherine of Siena
Fr. Lando
Ruggiero
(905)272-1454
(905)272-1454
Trustee, B. Iannicca
(905)270-0536
Superintendent,
Superintendent, C.
D.Saytar
Amaral
(905)890-1221
(905)890-1221
School Council Chair,
School Council Chairs,
K. Ruffolo
R. Galluzzo & A. Orme
Dates to Remember:
March 48
Mardi Gras
Shrove
Tuesday
Pancake Tues.
March 59
Ash Wednesday
March 7
14-18
P.A.March
Day Break
The Liturgical Season of Lent
Lent is always a time to reflect on our lives
and look at the needs of not only our own
community, but the Global community. We
try to observe three principles throughout
Lent – personal prayer, fasting and alms
giving. Our reaching out to others, our
sharing with the less fortunate, our prayers
and good works are the best examples of
God’s love that we can share with each
other. Lenten Confessions for students in
Grades 3-8 will take place on April 2nd at
9:15 at school. The Lenten Calendar for St.
Catherine of Siena Parish is included inside
this newsletter.
Grade 8 Confirmation will take place on
March 21
9 Turn
Gradethe
1-Safety
ClocksVillage
ahead
Thursday, May 29th at 7:00 p.m. at St.
Catherine of Siena Church.
March 28
March
10-14
Gr. 2—First
March Break
Reconciliation
March 24
30 Immunization
Lenten Confessions
Clinic #3
Holy Week
April 1725 1st
March
HolyReconciliation
Week Begins
Holy week begins on Sunday, April 13th
with Palm Sunday and concludes on
Sunday, April 20th. Holy Thursday is April
17th; Good Friday, April 18th; Easter
Sunday, April 20th and Easter Monday,
April 21st.
April222 Lenten
April
Good Friday
Confessions
April325 School
April
EasterCouncil
Monday
May 2-6
April
7-11 ShareLife
Catholic Education
Week Week
May 413
April
School
Palm
Sunday
Mass
May 517
April
Joe Sax
Holy
Thursday
Festival
May 10-12
April
18-21
Book
Easter
Fair Weekend
May 11
April
23 &
& 24
12—Seussical!
Rosary
Congratulations to our Grade 2’s who
will receive their First Reconciliation on P.A. Day
Tuesday, March 25th at 7:30 p.m. Thanks
to Ms. Buhajczyk, Ms. Porco & Mrs. Senra
for preparing the children to receive this
sacrament.
March 19
29 &Facebook
20 RosaryPresentation
Friday, March 7th is a P.A. Day. There is
no school for students on this day. March
Break begins on Monday, March 10th and
concludes on Friday, March 14th.
April
28-30First
Intermediate
Students
May 14
Communion,
1 p.m.to
Camp Muskoka
May 19
‘Welcome to Kindergarten’
May 4-9 Catholic Education Week
May 26
Gr 3—Pioneer Village
May 10
First Communion
May 30
EQAO Begins
May 14
School Council
June 13 P.A. Day
May 26-June 6 EQAO
June 28 Graduation
June 27 Last Day of School
June 30 Last Day of School
Page 2
JK Registration
Junior Kindergarten Registration was
held during the week of January 27th,
for 2014/15 Full Day Kindergarten.
We will continue to register ageappropriate, ‘in boundary’ students
until the end of the school year. We
would appreciate receiving registrations as soon as possible as it assists
us in planning for September.
Mary Fix Catholic School Newsletter
 Students admitted under this
procedure do not automatically
become eligible for the Secondary
School serving the Mary Fix
community. A separate request
must be submitted to the Secondary
School Principal.
Planning Ahead—Class
Placements
Eligible Junior Kindergarten children
must be born in 2010 and must be 4
years of age by December 31, 2014.
In arriving at the decision for placement of your child for the upcoming
year, every consideration is given to
individual needs. This decision is
made in collaboration with all staff
Celebrating Virtues
who have been directly involved in
your child’s education this year. If you
In March our focus will be on the
virtue of kindness. We have all been feel that there are specific needs
which should be addressed in
given the fruit of the Spirit called
kindness. Kindness can only be seen determining the placement of your
child, please send us a letter to advise
through actions.
us of your concerns. We ask for all
A kind person…
submissions to be sent to the office no
 Says nice things about others so later than Thursday, April 17th. Your
they feel good about themselves
request will be considered at our
grade promotion meetings. We remind
 Sticks up for people who are
you that it would not be appropriate to
picked on or need help
request one teacher over another as
 Refuses to join others who are
placements are subject to change.
insulting, intimidating, mean or
However, if there is other information
hurtful
regarding your son/daughter’s
 Watches and looks for ways to
learning style, or other considerations
help those in need.
of which we ought to be aware, please
You are invited by our Kindergarten advise us of these facts in your letter.
classes to attend our Virtue
Assembly on Friday, March 21st at
11:15 a.m.
EQAO
Our Grade Three and Grade Six
students will be participating in the
Provincial EQAO Assessments from
A reminder to Parents/Guardians of
May 27th through June 6th We ask
students that are currently at Mary Fix
that parents do not book vacations or
School under “Flexible Boundary”,
appointments during this period to
that the procedure is reviewed
ensure your child is in school during
annually and permission is granted
this test taking time.
under the following conditions:
Flexible Boundary Procedures
 Attendance must be punctual
Student Information
 Transportation is your responsibility. Please remember to update the office
The Board will not provide either
transportation or additional supervision for students admitted under
this consideration.
 Consideration is given to the size of
the classroom and behaviour or
special needs concerns.
with any new information regarding
your child. The office needs to be
advised of any changes to telephone
numbers, emergency contacts or
address so that we have all the
correct information for your child in
case of an emergency.
Are you Moving?
If you are planning a move, or have
already moved, please let us know.
You are required to complete new
assessment forms even if you move
within our school boundaries. If you
are moving to a new school we will
give you a Transfer Form to take with
you to the new school. If you are
moving but would like your child to
remain at Mary Fix, please submit
your request in writing. This
information will be helpful as we
prepare the new classes for
September.
School Council News
This year School Council will be
providing the Primary Classes with
pancake mix and syrup in celebration
of Shrove Tuesday on March 4th .
Each classroom will participate in
making pancakes for snack that
morning. Please check with your
child’s teacher if you’d like to assist
with this event.
Watch for Lamontagne catalogues
including gourmet food items, kitchen
products and jewelry to come home to
kick off the Mary Fix Spring
fundraiser. Funds raised have
already helped provide some of the
Smartboards we have in our
classrooms. A couple more are
needed in order to ensure each class
can take advantage of this incredible
technology.
Please join us on Thursday, April
3rd at 7:00 p.m. for our next School
Council Meeting.
Your School Council
Page 3
Eco Team News
The Mary Fix Eco Team continues to
make a difference at our school with
their many initiatives. Thank you to
Mrs. Nucci for heading up this very
important club.
Thank you to all the staff and students
who are remembering to observe
‘Wasteless Wednesdays’ by bringing
their snacks and lunches in reusable
containers. Congratulations to our first
6 winners of Mary Fix drink containers
for bringing three or more reusable
containers.
Our Winter Walk to School Days were
a success despite the extreme winter
weather. In many classes the number
of students who walked almost doubled! We hope that this inspires students to walk to school on a more regular basis which not only helps the environment but makes them more physically active!
For other great eco ideas check out:
www.ecokids.ca
On Friday, March 21 Mary Fix School
will participate in ‘The Big Gulp’ (see
the flyer in this newsletter). If students do not have a reusable Mary Fix
water bottle they can purchase one for
$5.00 or bring in a reusable cup on
that day to minimize waste. All students who bring in a reusable cup or
water bottle will receive a ballot to win
cool prizes.
Earth Hour is on March 29th@8:30
p.m. Mary Fix will be celebrating Earth
Hour on Fri. March 28th. Each class
will conduct daily activities without the
use of power for 1 hour.
During the month of March we focus
on the Virtue of KINDNESS. As stewards of the earth, it is our duty to be
kinder to the environment we live in.
What will you do for Earth hour?
April 7-11th is ShareLife Week
Watch for more information in the April newsletter about fun ShareLife activities
Page 4
An Historical Understanding of
Key Issues related to Catholic
Education
Our Catholic School Heritage
10. Exactly what separate school
rights does section 93(1) guarantee?
Section 93(1) protects all the provisions of the last separate school legislation passed before Confederation,
the Separate School (Scott) Act of
1863. Among others, the Act provided
the following rights:

to form a separate school board
with five or more Catholic heads of
family resident in a public school
jurisdiction;

to receive government grants equitable with those of the public
school system;

to receive equitable funding;

to have separate school boundaries enlarged;

to elect separate school trustees
with all the powers of public school
trustees.
lives, and that the changes they are
seeking may take many forms, social
workers help people find solutions that
are tailored to meet their unique needs
and concerns. The Social Work Department in Dufferin-Peel includes 40+
active champions, serving students,
families and educators. Please take a
moment this upcoming week to affirm
and celebrate the wonderful contributions of Social Workers from across
the system!
12. Why did Catholic parents and
students have to pay tuition to attend a Catholic high school after
grade ten?
In 1871 the Ontario government
passed an Act to Improve the Common
Schools and Grammar Schools of Ontario. This Act abolished common and
grammar schools and created public
schools for grades one to ten and high
schools for grades nine to thirteen. The
highest official with the Department of
Education, Egerton Ryerson, commented that the 1871 Act did not affect
separate schools. The separate school
boards operating secondary school
classes carried on, receiving funding
from grants and taxes. However, early
in the twentieth century the government passed legislation which forbade
a separate school board from offering
education beyond grade ten if its
boundaries fell partially or fully within
the boundaries of a high school district.
Thus, all but one separate school
board (in Dublin) lost their ability to
receive tax or government grant financing beyond grade ten. Furthermore, if a separate school board chose
to continue operating grades nine and
ten, it received only elementary school
grants for them.
11. Once section 93(1) was enacted,
why did Ontario’s separate school
supporters continue to suffer financial hardship?
National Social Work Week The Separate School (Scott) Act of
1863 did not anticipate the creation
and/or growth of corporations and public utilities in Ontario, or the creation of
public high schools. These two omissions caused over 100 years of financial hardship and inequity for separate
school supporters.
General Definition of a Personal
Electronic Device (PED)
Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs)
are Wireless and/or Portable electronic
Handheld Equipment that include,
but are not limited to, existing and
emerging Mobile Communication Systems and Smart Technologies (cell
phones, smartphones, walkie-talkies,
pagers, etc.), Portable Internet Devices
(mobile managers, mobile messengers, BlackBerry ™ handsets, etc.)
PDAs (Palm ® organizers, pocket PCs
etc.), Handheld Entertainment Systems (video games, CD players,
compact DVD players, MP3 players,
iPods©, Walkmen™, etc.), digital or
film Cameras, digital or analogue Audio or Video Recorders (tape recorders, camcorders, etc.), Spy Gadgets (spy cameras, covert listening
devices, etc.), and any other Convergent Communication Technologies
that do any number of the previously
mentioned functions.
PEDs also include any current or
emerging Wireless Handheld Technologies or Portable IT Systems that
can be used for the purpose of communication, entertainment, data management, word processing, wireless
internet access, image capture /recording, sound recording and information
transmitting/receiving/storing.
March 3-7
The theme for National Social Work
Week 2014 is "Social Workers: Champions of Positive Change". Social
workers are champions of positive
change, rooted in practical problemsolving expertise. Recognizing that
people are experts about their own
It is the policy of the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board that
all PEDs be kept out-of-sight, turned
off and not used within school
premises (including portables) or
during school-sanctioned activities
(field trips, sports events, etc.).
Volume 6
Web Resource:
Primary, Junior and Intermediate:
National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives:
http://nlvm.usu.edu/
Family Math Activity
K – 3:
Patterning and Algebra
Mathematics has been called “the science of patterns”
(Steen, 1988). Young children enjoy working with patterns
and older students enjoy discovering and manipulating
patterns. Patterning activities are introduced in elementary
school so that students can think about relationships between
quantities early in their math education, which is intended to
help them transition to formal algebra in middle and high
school.
From Patterns to Algebra,
Dr. R. Beatty and Dr. Catherine Bruce
 Identify patterns everywhere. When speaking with your child, identify patterns in the world.
Colour
patterns in clothing, number patterns on houses and apartments, shape patterns on wrapping paper, daily
routines as patterns, and seasonal patterns in our weather.
 Build patterns. Using toys, bread tags, movement, markers or crayons make patterns with concrete
materials. Try to guess the next item in a series.
 Attend to patterns in music.
Listen for sounds, lyrics and verses that repeat. Create music together,
using clapping, snapping or stopping patterns.
 Ask your child questions about how patterns are the same and different. (e.g., how are the street
numbers on our street similar to counting by 2’s?
How is the red, blue pattern on your shirt the same or
different from the green, white, black pattern your friend is wearing?)
Grades 4-8: Revisit the OERB (Ontario Education Resource Bank)
www.resources.elearningontario.ca (OERB)
Grade 4
ELO1418520
Investigating
Inverse
Relationships
ELO1408740
Grade 5
ELO1411310
Missing Values
and Variables
ELO1411130
Repeating, Growing Perfect Patterns
and Shrinking
Patterns
Contact the Mary Fix Office for password and user information.
Grade 6
ELO1413400
Demystifying
Patterns
Grade 7
ELO1412430
Codebreakers
Grade 8
ELO1413880
Rex and Tex –
Zero Pairs
ELO1413420
Various Varieties
of Variables!
ELO1412100
Harry’s House of
Horrors
ELO1412480
Invasion Force –
Home Guard
Elementary Program Team
2012
The Ontario Association
of Parents in Catholic Education
In association with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
75TH
ANNIVERSARY
CONFERENCE,
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
& GALA DINNER
MAY 23 - 24, 2014
“Parental Influence on student well-being and Catholic Education”
Mass Celebrant:
His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins
Conference & AGM
Philip Pocock C.S.S.
4555 Tomken Road,
Mississauga
Networking Reception,
Mass & Gala Dinner
Toronto Marriot Hotel
901 Dixon Rd, Toronto
Register online at www.oapce.on.ca
The Great
Gulp
Take part
in a toast to
tap water!
The Region of Peel is sponsoring “The Great Gulp”
event to help create awareness about the importance
of Peel drinking water in our lives and to promote
action to improve water resources.
“The Great Gulp” invites Peel schools to organize
a synchronized drink of tap water. Simply choose a
participation day during Canada Water Week, and fill
out the registration form on the reverse.
All participating schools will be entered into a draw
to win an innovative tap water refill station or
reusable water bottles for the entire school.
Save the date in 2014!
Canada Water Week:
Monday March 17 – Friday March 21
MARCH 2014
The Virtue for the month of March is Kindness
Let us now pray for the virtue of kindness so that everyone we meet will feel like we are looking out for
their good. Amen
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
9
10
11
Shrove Tuesday
5 Lent Begins
Ash Wednesday @
10:30 a.m.
6
7 P.A. Day—No
School Today
8
12
13
14
15
22
March break
16
17
18
19 Rosary
20 Rosary
21 Virtue Assembly
1:15
23
24 Immunization
Clinic # 3
25 7:30—First Reconciliation @ Church
26
27
28