St. Jerome School
790 Paisley Blvd W.
Mississauga, Ontario
L5C 3P5
Tel (905) 273 3836 Fax (905) 273 9539
Dear Parents and Guardians:
I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to the beginning of the 2015-16 school year.
I hope your summer was a safe and enjoyable one.
As I travelled throughout our community and beyond during the recent past weeks, I was struck by the number of happy parents and children I saw at church, shopping malls, grocery stores and even the beach, as back
-to-school day crept closer and closer. In speaking to parents, one of the themes that stood out was how much everyone was looking forward to “getting back to the routines and rhythms of school.” Well, we’re officially back and, I hope that the first day was enjoyable and memorable for both you and your child(ren).
I look forward to seeing you during the school year. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at (905) 270-0536.
God Bless
Bruno Iannicca
Trustee Ward 7 Mississauga DPCDSB
FDK
FDK
Grade 1
Grade 1/2
Grade 2/3
Grade 3
Grade 3/4
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 5/6 Gifted
Grade 5/6
Grade 6/7
Grade 7/8
Grade 8
Grade 7/8 Gifted
SERT/ELL
SERC/SERT
FSL
Planning Time
ERW
Secretary
Custodian
Principal
Mrs. Vermeiren and Mrs. Goegan
Mrs. Malatesta and Ms. J. Arruda
Mrs. Murphy
Mrs. Vukosa
Mrs. Van De Wiele - Kimura
Mrs. Ladner
Mrs. Kurpis
Mrs. Bugala
Ms. Lavorato
Mrs. Read
Mrs. H. Arruda
Mrs. Burnham
Mrs. Danton
Ms. Lucchetta
Mrs. Berardi
Mrs. Teply (Ms. Borg)
Mrs. Srutwa
Ms. Falvo and Ms. De Maria
Ms. Kimeda
Ms. Andriano, Mrs. Joys and Mrs. Metlin
Mrs. Bowering
Mr. Taylor
Ms. Aquino

Virtue of the Month: Empathy
This month we will focus on the Virtue of Empathy.
God has given us the ability to form connections with each other - to live together. Empathy helps us to connect and live together in safe, caring, inclusive communities. We understand empathy to mean the ability to identify with and feel other people’s concerns. We believe that in a faith community we are nothing without relationships. Relationships that grow in a spirit of communion- an understanding that we share an identity based on being created in the image and likeness of God and being imbued with one Spirit. We are many parts of one body. An empathetic person believes that we all share one Spirit; that we are many parts of one body because we are all created in the image and likeness of God.
Personal Electronic Devices on Board Premises and/or
Board Sanctioned Events for Educational Purposes:
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board acknowledges the value of the use of technology for learning. Students are permitted to register and use personal electronic devices
(PEDs) on board premises and/or board sanctioned events for educational purposes, under the direction of staff and only with parent/guardian permission (GF 066, Network User Application and Agreement). Students may register their PED for the purpose of connecting to the board wireless network. Students are required to adhere to the student “Personal Electronic Device Used with WI-FI Network Student Agreement” and the “Network User Application and Agreement.” Please be advised that the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
School Board will not be responsible for any cost incurred through the use of personal data plans.
PEDs are to be used responsibly and should not interfere with learning; their use must comply with the Catholic Code of
Conduct, board policies and procedures. Any personal communications (i.e., phone calls, text messages, etc.) will continue to be directed through the main office.
Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in a loss of
PED privileges and/or any other consequences deemed necessary by school administration.
The school principal may authorize limited acceptable uses of personal electronic devices during school-sanctioned activities for a specific designated purpose outside of instructional spaces and/or in common areas.
Students are responsible for the safety and security of
PEDs at all times and the Board assumes no responsibility for lost, damaged or stolen devices .
Indoor Shoes/Change of Clothes
Please ensure that your child comes to school prepared to go outside for recess and lunch hour breaks. It is the expectation that each child comes dressed appropriately to go outside to enjoy the weather and get some fresh air and exercise. If your child is prone to getting wet during recess, please send a change of clothes, especially socks and sweat pants. Please ensure that your child brings a pair of indoor shoes to school. Please label the shoes for our primary students. Running shoes are preferred because they are safe and can also be used for gym.
Please ensure that the shoes have non-marking soles. We appreciate your continued support!
School Safety
Parents are welcomed to the school throughout the year, however, for the safety of all children, parents and visitors will now be required to ring the door bell at the front door for entry, and must sign in at the office and receive a visitor’s sticker each and every time you visit the building. Visitors are not entitled to go to the classrooms as this is a disruption to student programming. Since the hallways are busy during pick up times, siblings and parents are asked to arrange with your child, a meeting place outside of the school. Messages and deliveries (keys, lunches, etc.) are handled through the office.
Please remember to most students in the school, you are a stranger! We also ask that parents do not enter the school yard during school hours as this is also a safety issue. Safety continues to be our primary area of focus!
Twitter
Help us spread the word! Dufferin-Peel is on Twitter! For the latest board news and information, follow us @ DPCDSB-
Schools.
We are an Allergen Aware School
As a caring community, St. Jerome School is committed to supporting the needs and safety of all our students. Our student population includes students who are susceptible to anaphylactic reactions and who have severe life-threatening allergies. Please ensure that you are sending safe food to school so that all of our students will be safe. Please avoid all nuts and nut products!
World Teachers’ Day
October 5th is the day specifically designated to recognize the contribution of teachers. World Teachers’ Day was inaugurated in 1994 to commemorate the signing of the UNESCO/ILO. More than 100 countries currently celebrate World Teachers’ Day. At St. Jerome we are very fortunate to have so many dedicated individuals who work to provide for the education of the young people in the community. Thank you to all our teachers!
Recycling/ECO School
At St. Jerome School we encourage you to reduce the amount of garbage going to landfill sites. We collect recycling materials from classrooms each week. We want to encourage students to bring litter less or boomerang lunches and reusable water bottles, as we did last year! It is very important to us to treat our earth with respect and to preserve our earth for future generations!

Student Verification Sheets
Student verification sheets will be sent home with your child.
These are very important and should be updated and returned to the school. We rely on this information to be current in case of an emergency. If your child has any medical concerns, please list them on the forms. Please fill them out carefully.
Dogs on School Property
For the safety of our students, parents, guardians and staff, please do not bring dogs on school property during the school day
(9:00 to 4:00), most especially when you are picking up or dropping off students. Several students have severe allergies and animals may be unpredictable when confronted by a group of children. Please note that no pets are allowed in the school building at any time. Also note that no pets are allowed on school property during school sanctioned events. Thank you for helping to keep the school environment safe for all!
Students Watching Sporting Events
A reminder that spectators are not allowed at after school games. Staff are present to coach or referee the games. No supervision is provided for other spectators. Only students who are accompanied by their parent(s) may stay. All other students will be asked to leave.
Criminal Reference Check
In compliance with Ministry directives, a Criminal Reference Check is mandatory if you wish to volunteer your services in the school, transport students and assist on trips. Copies of the Criminal Reference application forms are available in the office. An annual declaration is required for all valid Criminal Reference Checks that are on file in the school office. A Criminal Reference Check will be mandatory this year if you plan to volunteer for both in school and out of school activities.
Website
Parents are encouraged to visit our website! The site is www.dpcdsb.org/jerom. Please take the time to check it out. All school information and parent information is on the site and updated regularly. All previous and current newsletters are on the site. Our web-site is another excellent tool to keep parents connected to what is happening at school.
Leaving At Lunchtime
Parents please be advised that ALL students must have written permission from a parent/guardian to leave the school at lunch. Verbal permission (over the phone) will not be accepted. A signed and dated note with a parent/guardian signature is required for each occurrence.
The note must come to the office and students are required to sign out and to sign back in when they return for afternoon classes.
Anaphylaxis Alert
There are several students in our school with a severe life-threatening food allergy to peanuts, nuts and latex. This is a medical condition that can result in death within minutes of exposure. Although this may or may not affect your child’s class directly, please send foods with your child’s lunch that are free from nuts/nut products. Further to this, as part of “Sabrina’s Law”, we are no longer permitted to allow treats for sharing with other students. All of these treats will now be sent back home. On special occasions (Halloween, Christmas) teachers will advise students what foods they can bring for their own consumption. To acknowledge your child’s birthday, if you would like to send something, items such as pencils or “dollar store treasures” that are not edible would be appropriate. A letter will be sent to the students in the class where there is a severe life-threatening food/latex allergy. Thank you for your consideration and co-operation in making our classrooms safer for students.
Medical Concerns
If your son/daughter has any medical concerns, please ensure that you inform the school. All information is held in confidence. Parents are responsible for ensuring that all medication and forms are updated for any students who require 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. This is board policy. New medications and the proper forms for storage, or changes to any medical information will need to be filled out/updated for every new school year. Please make sure that the school is aware of any important medical information regarding your son/daughter in order that we can be properly prepared to deal with an emergency situation.

Please consider helping our wonderful team! Your time is truly appreciated and is valued by all our staff and students!
Our first council meeting will be Wednesday, October 7th at
6:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
Pizza/Milk Program
Please support our pizza days/milk program. Forms have been sent home for the October to December orders. There will be no pizza sales on pizza days, we will only accept preorders. St. Jerome students love our pizza days and our milk program (and so do our parents). We thank you for your continued support in both of these initiatives.
Planning Ahead:
PA Days:
Jan. 18, Feb. 5, May 13 and June 13
Christmas Break:
Monday, Dec. 21 to Friday, January 1, 2016 inclusive
March Break:
Monday, March 14 to Friday, March 18, 2016 inclusive
Terry Fox Walk
On September 25, 2015 the St. Jerome community participated in our annual Terry Fox Walk. On the walk each student had a sticker to write the name of someone they wanted to dedicate the walk to. As a school we dedicated our walk to Steven Sadlowski, a student that lost his life to cancer, and to all the many friends and family members who are touched by cancer in our community. We thank you for your generosity and support of the Terry Fox foundation!
Halloween
We have many students with severe allergies this year. We remind families that if you are planning to send Halloween treats or loot bags to school that they can not contain edible products. All edible products or loot bags that contain edible products (chocolates, candy, cookies, cupcakes, etc.) will be sent back home with your child. This will also help us promote a healthy snack school environment. In addition, we will also be stressing the fact that the most important aspect of our activities at this time of year is the celebration of two great Feast Days. November 1 we honour
All Saints Day in our church, and we are encouraged to pray that we might emulate their example in our daily lives. On the following day, November 2, we will remember all those who have gone before us in faith by celebrating the Feast of All
Souls. Again, we are reminded that while those who have died are out of sight, they are not out of mind or beyond our prayers.
Immunize on Time Report Every Time
This is just a reminder that it is your responsibility to report all immunizations your child receives to Peel Public Health.
Contact them at: immunizepeel.ca or 905–799-7700.
October 7 Catholic School Council Meeting 6:30
October 12
October 20
Thanksgiving Day. No school.
Family Cross Country Meet at Erindale
October 26, 27, 28
October 27
November 11
November 17
November 25
Camp Muskoka Grade 8
Picture Re-take Day
Remembrance Day Liturgy 10:30
Progress Reports go home
Immunization Clinic Gr. 7 and 8
Catholic School Council Meeting 6:30
November 28 Grade 2 Reconciliation 10:30 a.m.
Fire Drills/Lockdown/Hold and Secure
As a precautionary measure, we will practice fire drills and lock down procedures throughout the year. We are required to hold
6 fire drills each year as well as 2 lock down drills. During fire drills, students are asked to move safely and swiftly to the nearest exit and to report to their designated area outside of the building.
If an exit is blocked, students are reminded to use their alternate exit. We will have three of the fire drills in the fall and the remaining three in the spring. In a lock down, students are alerted over the P.A. that we are “initiating lock down”. Students are directed to move away from all windows and doors to a safe area. Classroom doors and windows are secured. Students remain this way until the alert is cancelled. In hold and secure our exterior doors are locked and no one can enter or exit the building. Discussing these procedures with your child will help reassure the importance of these safety procedures. In the unforeseen event that we should have an emergency in our school, we will evacuate to Huron Park Community Centre. Safety regulations require us to have this contingency plan in place. In such an event, your child will remain with school staff until we contact you.
Pediculosis
From time to time, there may be cases of pediculosis or head lice in our school. This should not be a cause for alarm. Lice are a nuisance, but are not hazardous to your child’s health, as they do not carry disease. One of the most important steps to both their prevention and treatment is knowledge. Head lice do not fly or jump. They can only hitch rides from one head to another, and they prefer clean scalp and hair. By the time that the nits or empty egg sacs are noticed on the head of one child in a class or family, it is likely that other children may be affected. If a child has pediculosis, we will ask the parent to come to school and pick up the child. An alert letter is sent home to parents of the infected class. Please note that students must be checked in the office on their return to school after treatment before they will be allowed to return to class.
Phone Calls
The office often gets requests from students to make phone calls home to ask parents to bring forgotten items such as running shoes, textbooks or homework. We are reinforcing with students that it is their responsibility to bring all necessary items to school and to arrange in advance their out of school activities.
Students will not be given permission to make such calls. Also, please make after school arrangements with your children prior to school. We make every attempt to minimize interruptions to classes.