Father Francis McSpiritt January Newsletter 2015
A Prayer for the New Year
Principal:
G. Sideroff
Vice Principal:
S. Salameh
Secretary:
K. Walsh
J. Gouvis
Superintendent:
M. Vecchiarino
Brampton North -East
(905) 890-1221
Trustee:
S. Xavier
Parish:
St. Patrick’s Church
(905) 794-0486
Pastor:
Fr. V. Marziliano
Father Francis McSpiritt
Catholic School
55 Lexington Road
Brampton, Ontario
L6P 2B1
Telephone: (905) 794-5031
Fax- (905) 794-9542 http://www.dpcdsb.org/
MCSPI
Come, Holy Spirit
Spirit of God, Spirit of the Risen Christ,
Be with us today and always.
Be our Light, our Guide, and our Comforter
Be our Strength, our Courage,
And our Sanctifier. May this new year be a time
Of deep spiritual growth for us,
A time for welcoming Your graces and gifts,
A time for forgiving freely and unconditionally,
A time for growing in virtue and goodness.
Come Holy Spirit.
Be with us today and always.
Amen
Our Virtue for January…… Self-Control
This month, we celebrate the virtue of self control. We will learn that:
A person with self control…

Is patient

Knows how to wait her/his turn

Can calm herself/himself down and think before reacting to situations

Knows how to avoid physical aggression

Can think things through and do what is best for everyone
When we use self-control we can make our school a safe, caring and inclusive place to live and to learn.
th
Twitter:
@McspirittDPCDSB

Father Francis McSpiritt January Newsletter 2015
On December 16, 2014, our Youth Faith Ambassadors visited the senior residents of Leisureworld.
They spread Christmas cheer in the spirit of Jesus by singing Christmas carols and performing the
“Nativity Play” for them.
This outreach initiative, inspired by our Youth Faith Ambassadors, is a reflection of the caring, inclusive environment within our Catholic schools where the light of Jesus, highlighted within the Advent season, calls us to share this light within our community, fulfilling our Catholic responsibilities in the spirit of
Jesus.
Administration and teachers are proud of the exemplary behaviour students displayed.
December 18, 2014.
Christmas Food Drive – Cram the Cruiser
Congratulations to all the students and families at Father Francis McSpiritt School for donations of canned goods. The response was overwhelming. With the support of Peel
Regional Police, students had the opportunity to drop off a non-perishable item into a police cruiser which was then driven over to the
Knight’s Table, a charitable organization that donates to the needy families within our community. Thank you to the staff and students who made this event a success.
Charity is the primary response to our call to live as Catholics and provides us an opportunity to serve others. Thank you for your tremendous support.

Father Francis McSpiritt January Newsletter 2015
From the Desk of Father Vito:
Greetings and blessings of the New Year.
It has been a great joy for me to celebrate here at St. Patrick’s my first Advent and Christmas Seasons with you. We have celebrated “waiting” … as we keep waiting. We have celebrated “welcoming” … as we keep welcoming. The Lord who comes and who is welcomed, continues to come and to be welcomed, as we journey towards him and are welcomed by him. Day by day we encounter and welcome Christ in each other, in the circumstances of life, in the events that mark our days.
My prayer, as we begin our new year, is that each encounter may help us understand and celebrate how much we are loved by God, and, in turn, bring and celebrate that same love with everyone. May our parish community and our schools become a place and an opportunity for encountering Jesus. May this new year enable us to become more and more, true disciples of his love.
With prayerful best wishes,
Fr. Vito
Jeffin recently entered a Lego Competition , the “Lego Build Challenge”, sponsored by the Brampton Public Library and was one of the top 12 finalists. Way to go, Jeffin!

Father Francis McSpiritt January Newsletter 2015
Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences
First term report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015. Along with the report card, you will receive a confirmation time for your conference.
This conference will include the teacher, the parents/guardians, and the student.
During this conference, the teachers would like to touch base with all parents and students in order to discuss the first term and also to make plans and set goals for the second term. Conferences for first term reports will be held on the evening of
Thursday, February 5 th
- 3:30 to 8:00 PM and Friday, February 6 th
during the day.
Kindergarten Registration Information for 2015-2016
Monday, January 26, 2015 - 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Snow Date: Tuesday, January 27, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, January 28, 29, 30, 2015
9:00 – 11:00 AM and 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Registration packages will be available for pick-up beginning mid- January, for those of you who would like to prepare in advance. Completed packages can be returned on Jan.26 at 7:00 PM.
There will be an information session at the board office on January 8, for parents /guardians wishing to register their child who may have differing abilities including vision, speech, hearing, autism, physical/medical and/or developmental delays. It will be held at the CEC, Room 301 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Snow date: January 13.
Pediculosis (Head Lice)
We would like to bring to your attention a problem which occurs from time to time in each school. The problem is infestation by head lice (Pediculosis). Unfortunately, in recent years, head lice have become increasingly common throughout North America. They are parasites which have been common among human beings for centuries. They are not connected in any way to dirt or neglect. Anyone can be infested.
In order to control these pests, we shall follow these procedures and request your full cooperation. If cases are found in the classroom, we shall inform parents in that class. We would request that you check your own children and if you find them to be infested, we ask that you inform the school and contact the Peel Public
Health Department for treatment information. If your child does become infested by head lice, we will ask you to keep your child 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). Students will not be permitted to return to class until they have been checked by the office. If we all cooperate in these procedures, we may not entirely escape outbreaks, but we will be able to bring them under control more quickly. For additional information, guidance, and any questions please contact Peel Public Health Department at 905-799-7700. As well you may find the following website useful www.headlice.org
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Father Francis McSpiritt January Newsletter 2015
: Thank you to Tonolli Canada for their $200.00 donation to our Eco Team. They will be assisting us with our earth friendly goal to redirect batteries for recycling rather than send them to the dump. Thanks also to Mrs. Da Rosa, our School Council Chair, for assisting us with our goals. Two big plastic collection buckets have been placed at the front entrance. We encourage everyone to send in their household batteries for recycling. They will be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.
Thanks to Mrs. Rizzuto, our Child and Youth Worker here at the school, we have three programs up and running at McSpiritt : Circle of Friends and P.A.L.S
Programs and Roots of Empathy.
Circle of Friends is a program geared to help children with special needs learn co-operative games and strategies in order to interact appropriately during lunch recess. Students have chosen to become a mentor to a special group of children at our school and teach them age appropriate games in order to achieve successful daily play.
Students will work with a staff to lead these activities during their assigned lunch hour date. This will be an ongoing program until June.
In order to become a mentor for the Circle of Friends program students will attend a training session.
P.A.L.S
is a playground leadership program that encourages children to participate in activities regardless of their gender, size or ability.
The objectives of the program are to increase physical activity, reduce conflict, reduce incidence of bullying in the playground and provide leadership opportunities for students. Students have chosen to become leaders to the students in grades 1-3. They are taught age appropriate games in order to achieve success.
Students will work with a staff to lead these activities during their assigned lunch hour date. This will be an ongoing program until June.
In order to become a leader for P.A.L.S. program students will attend a training session to help them achieve to become positive Playground Activity Leaders in the School.
Roots of Empathy is an evidence based classroom program that claims to have dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression among school children by raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy . The program reaches elementary school children from Kindergarten to Grade 8.
We are fortunate to have this program in one of our grade 5 classrooms. One of our school community parents is supporting the program by committing to the family visits with her four month old daughter.

Father Francis McSpiritt January Newsletter 2015
It is a 27 week program that involves 9 pre- family visits, 9 family visits and 9 post family visits. The classroom lessons are approximately 40 minutes in length and are curriculum based.
The pre family visits focus is on the infant development and preparation for the family visit. Students will make predication and changes they may see in the baby’s development.
The family visits focus is on the baby’s physical and emotional development and temperament. The instructor guides the students’ observations of the baby’s feelings, intentions and the attachment relationship.
During the post family visit, the students reflect on their own feelings and focus on understanding the feelings of others (empathy).
The student’s art work and writing are used to foster perspective taking, the cognitive aspect of empathy.
I would like to thank all the students for participating in these wonderful initiatives which will help to foster acceptance, empathy, compassion and caring. In addition, our student leaders will have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills.
Dates to Remember
January 5
January 12
January 14
January 19
January 14 &28
January 26
February 2
February 3
February 4
February 5
February 6
February 9
February 16
February 17
February 18
March 16 – March 20
Pizza Day (last day for first pizza cycle)
Pizza Day (first day for second pizza cycle ending April 27)
Extended French Meeting @ St.Jean Brebeuf– 7:00 PM
PA Day – No School for students
Internet Safety Workshops by Peel Regional Police
Pizza Day
Pizza Day
Report Card sent home
School Council Meeting @ 6:30 PM
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences -3:30 to 8:00 PM
PD Day – reporting to parents – no school for students
Pizza Day
Family Day – No School
Shrove Tuesday
Ash Wednesday
March Break