280 Kingsbridge Garden Circle, Mississauga, ON L5R 1L2
PRINCIPAL ………………
SECRETARY …………….
SUPERINTENDENT …….
WARD 4 TRUSTEE ……...
F. Bernard
N. Russo
L. Papaloni (905)890-1221
A. Abbruscato (905)890-1221
Tel: 905-890-6898
PARISH …………………..
PASTOR ………………….
COUNCIL CHAIR ……….
WEBSITE ………………...
Fax: 905-890-7611
Cristo Rei (905)270-1133
Fr. C. Macatangga
N. Rampersad
www.dpcdsb.org/MATHW
Be the Difference Live the Difference
COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2014
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army
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.
Principal’s Corner – Recapturing the Memories
Let There Be Peace on Earth & Let It Begin With Me!
October has gone by so quickly with students involved in their learning and many activities. As we move on to November we
reflect on the passing of the many souls from this life into God’s heavenly kingdom. Beginning with All Souls’ Day, we dedicate a
month of prayer to those loved ones who have gone before us. We also remember, in a special way, those unknown courageous
souls who have lost their lives in the great battles of this century for our freedom so that we may live in peaceful times. In
saying “never again”, we must “never forget” either. Let us thank God for the freedom that we enjoy each day. Let us also pray
to God to bring us peace in our hearts, families, school, community, city, country and to this world that we may all live in
harmony with each other. During the month of November, we will also take the time to remember all the saints, especially our
patron saint St. Matthew, and pray that all of us will strive to live in a saintly manner.
Let us gives thanks to . . .

Members of our Catholic School Council who worked very hard to organize and carry out our Chocolate Bar Fundraising
Event – a great success;

Mrs.Fava for being with us for the first few months of this school year. We wish her all the very best.

All of our Students/Families who generously donated non-perishable items for our Thanksgiving Food Drive. Thank you
to Mrs. D’Rosario and the Youth Faith Ambassadors who organized the food drive on behalf of the school.

Ms. Filonowicz and her Grade 6/7 class for hosting the virtue assembly last month on empathy.
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Parents/Guardians who attend our assemblies.
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Virtue of the Month
During the month of November we will focus on the virtue
of CONSCIENCE. Conscience means God helps us to choose
to be good people. Conscience helps us to live together in a
safe, caring and inclusive community by knowing how to
recognize and create a safe, peaceful place based on
conscience.
A person with conscience . . .
 Chooses to do the ‘right thing’
and feels good about it;
 Can see how his/her actions may hurt others;
 Admits his/her wrong-doing and feels badly;
 Says ‘sorry’ and tries to make up for mistakes;
 Keeps promises.
This month we pray for the grace and strength to be people
of conscience - people who know the good and decent way
to act and then act that way.
Throughout the month of the October we celebrated the
virtue of empathy and students were selected from each
class to represent the Student of the Month as they
demonstrated that they were people of empathy. We are
proud of these students and all of students in the school
who continue to grow as disciples of God.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
home a box and further information. Thank you for your
support.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Remembrance Day Celebration – Lest We Forget
Please join us for our Remembrance Day Ceremony to
commemorate the sacrifice of thousands of Canadians who
died in the war so we may enjoy peace in our country. It
will be held in the gym on November 11th at 10:45 a.m.
Advent Mass
On December at 10:00 a.m. we will be celebrating our
Advent Mass in preparation for the birth of Jesus. You are
cordially invited to our mass which will be held in our school
gymnasium.
Professional Development Day
November 14, 2014
No school for students
Staff will be involved in
Faith Development & Ministry Priorities
Putting Our Faith Into Action
Just a reminder that First Reconciliation for our Grade 2
will be Thursday, December 4th at Cristo Rei Church.
Please ensure that have registered with the church for the
sacrament of First Holy Communion.
Operation Christmas Child – NEW!
New to St. Matthew is the initiative Operation Christmas
Child. It is a fun and simple project of the Samaritan’s
Purse that brings joy and hope to children in desperate
situations worldwide through gift-filled shoeboxes. We
hope that many underprivileged children will have a gift to
open and a smile on their face on Christmas Day through
your generosity. Each family will receive a box, and we
hope you will support this worthwhile project. As a family,
you will choose to provide a gift to a girl or boy, the age
category you choose, and then fill the box with small items
(school supplies, hygiene items, small toys). The project
will need to be completed by November 18, 2014 in order
for the gifts to be delivered in time for Christmas to these
needy children in orphanages and war-torn countries in over
130 counties worldwide. One of your children will bring
CATHOLIC SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS
Update from Your Catholic School Council
Our next meeting is November 18th at 6:30 pm. Please
mark this date on your calendar if you are able to come and
join us. All are welcome to attend
Save these dates: Skate Night on February 6th and Movie
Night in the school gym on December 12th.
Our chocolate fundraiser was a great success. We are
wrapping up the chocolate fundraiser and winners have been
announced. If you haven’t returned your unsold chocolate
or money please do so immediately. The amount raised will
be announced at a later time.
Congratulations and thank you
to all who participated and supported
our fundraiser which will help
towards many school initiatives.
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PROGRAM & CURRICULUM
Progress Reports (Gr.1-8) Coming Home
On Tuesday, November 11, your child’s progress report will
be sent home.
This report will show your child’s
development of learning skills and work habits, as well as a
general progress in working towards the achievement of
curriculum expectations in subject areas, during the
beginning months of this school year. This is not a formal
report card and students will not be receiving letter grades
indicating achievement of overall expectations. Therefore,
parent/teacher interview will not be mandatory during this
time on Thursday, November 13th.
First term report cards will be sent home on February 3 rd
and first term interviews will take place on February 5th
and 6th.
It is expected that all students will be
participating in the interview process at this time.
Catholic School Learning Plan (CSLP)
Each year, we are required to set goals in each of the
school board’s five Shared Priorities: Catholic Community
Culture and Caring, Pathways, Teaching and Learning,
Professional Learning and Leading and Outcomes. These
five key areas help the school to achieve the Ministry goals
of reducing gaps in student achievement in, increase overall
student achievement and increase public confidence in
education. Our school has set goals in each of these key
areas –please visit our website to view the entire CSLP.
2014-2019 Strategic System Plan
With this newsletter, you will receive the Board’s Strategic
System Plan. It is also available on the board website.
Please take some time to read over this plan.
Math Support
student success teachers, spec ed. teachers and math
coaches in the board . . . they know that getting the answer
isn’t enough. Tutors tailor teaching strategies to each
student, taking the time to understand the specific
challenges for each learner and gear the sessions to meet
the student’s needs.
Homework Help also offers 24/7 Math resources that are
diverse, covering the key skills learned in grades 7 to 10.
The resources are skill based, not sorted by grade making
them welcoming to learners filling their gaps.
Each grade 7 and 8 student has been given a card with
information on how to access this service. You may access
information on ontario.ca/homeworkhelp
Kindergarten Registration for 2015-2016
Registration for Junior and Senior Kindergarten for the
2015-2016 school year, will take place at St. Matthew
School on the following days:
Monday, January 26, 2015
7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
9:00 am-3:00 pm
Thursday, January 29, 2015
9:00 am-3:00 pm
Friday, January 30, 2015
9:00 am-3:00 pm
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 is the alternate snow date for
Monday, January 26th.
For more information about registration and the Full Day
Kindergarten program, call St. Matthew School at 905890-6898 or visit www.dpcdsb.org.
French Immersion
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:
If you have computer internet capability, parents and
students are invited to access mathematical support on the
website www.mathk8.nelson.com.
For the French Immersion centres at St. Gertrude and St.
Pio of Pietrelcina
Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Time: 7:00 pm
Location of Session: St. Gertrude
Homework Help – Grades 7 to 10
Extended French
Homework Help is run by TVO’’s Independent Learning
centre with support from the Ontario government.
Homework Help is a free service, offering live one-on-one
tutoring for Ontario Math students in grades 7 to 10 by
certified Ontario teachers. The tutors are experienced
OCTs teachers, curriculum leads, department heads,
Grade 4 parents/guardians who wish to enrol their child in a
Grade 5 Extended French class for September 2015 are
invited to attend an information meeting:
San Lorenzo Ruiz
100 Barondale Drive
Mississauga, ON L4Z
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 7:00pm
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At the present time, the above mentioned school is the
designated centre for our area.
Applications will be
accepted at this centre until 3:00 pm Tuesday, February
17th, 2015.
Holy Name of Mary Secondary School
Grade 8 girls and their parents/guardians are cordially
invited to the Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary
School Grade 9 Information Night on Thursday, November
20th at 7:00 p.m.. Holy Name of Mary is located at 115
Glenvale Blvd. in Brampton. This is a regional secondary
schools for girls only. You may also visit their website at
www.dpcdsb.org/hnmry.
SAFETY/SECUTITY COMES FIRST
Wowbutter
The Board continues to maintain the position that schools
should discourage the sending of peanut butter substitutes
to school where students have peanut allergies is for the
following reasons:
1)
If a child with a life-threatening peanut allergy
sees it, they may experience anxiety and/or
physical panic reaction as a result of visually seeing
the WOWBUTTER, or at minimum, the child and
his or her family members may have safety
concerns about the product being in school;
2)
It can create significant challenges for teachers,
and especially students, to identify real peanut
butter from the substitute;
3)
If one student sees another with WOWBUTTER,
they may believe it is peanut butter, and may take
the message home that it is acceptable to bring
peanut butter, and may bring their own peanut
butter to school as a result; and,
Front Door Access Protocol
We strive to make sure that our school is a safe, caring,
healthy, and inclusive place in which to learn and to work.
Safety and security protocols and practices are important
components of our commitment to maintain a safe and
secure school environment.
We continue to have the front door (in addition to all doors
in the school) locked at all times. There is a buzzer system
which allows the office to determine who is at the door by
observing a video monitor after a buzzer activates a twoway speaker and camera system. Only school staff are
allowed to admit visitors into the school via the buzzer
from the main office. Students and parents in the front
foyer are not permitted to open the door to visitors (even
if they know you) who are waiting outside.
Access during lunch time may be delayed depending on the
availability of staff who are required to monitor the new
system.
The co-operation and understanding of parents/guardians
are important factor in the success of this protocol. In
this regard, everyone is encouraged to:
 Arrive at school on time to allow children to enter
with their classmates to avoid front entry lates.
 Send lunch with your child in the morning to limit
traffic in through the front door at lunch time or
during the morning.
 We respectfully request that you limit your visits
to the school during the daytime as much as
possible in order to protect the instructional time
and reduce interruptions.
4)
The presence of this look-alike can create
potential circumstances of bullying / threats
toward students with life-threatening peanut
allergies.
Thank you for your attention and cooperation to this
important matter.
ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION
CALL 950-890-6898
You can leave a message anytime to inform
the school of absences and lates.
If a pattern of absences and lates
becomes apparent,
parents will be contacted by the school.
Driveway/Kiss N’ Ride Safety
Thank you to all the parents who use the driveway safely
and respect the procedures and directions of the
supervisors. It is extremely important that parents drive
slowly and cautiously while on school grounds. Kiss ‘N Ride
can be a safe and effective way of allowing children to
enter the school property providing that it is used properly.
The lane closest to the curb is for BUSES ONLY. The
KISS ‘N RIDE lane is the middle lane.
Please follow the procedures below:
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Drive your vehicle in this lane and proceed to the
furthest point closest to the orange Kiss ‘N Ride
traffic cone;
STOP;
Let your child out at this furthest point. Please do
not get out of your car and/or open your trunk as
this will slow down the flow of traffic.
Children must exit and enter your vehicle by the
passenger door(s);
Drive to the end of the Kiss ‘N Ride lane and
cautiously proceed into the Drive Thru lane;
Do not park or idle in the Kiss ‘Ride lane. Do not
walk across the Kiss ‘N Ride lanes. If you need to
enter the school, please park your vehicle.
If you park in the visitor’s space, you must wait till
Kiss N’ Ride is finished – do not back up into the
driveway lanes.
If you are able to volunteer to help with the Kiss
N’ Ride process in the mornings or at the end of
the day, please contact the office.
Thank you for helping us to ensure the safe arrival and
departure of ALL of students and staff, since safety is of
paramount importance.
SCHOOL OPERATIONS
BUS INFORMATION
For daily bus cancellations or delays
go to
http://www.stopr.ca
Cross Country Running
St. Matthew is very proud of our cross country athletes
who participated in the annual Family Meet on October
24th. Congratulations to all of our athletes for their skills
and enthusiasm. We would also like to thank their coaches
Ms. Bellizzi and Mrs. Menegazzo
Inclement Weather Procedures for the
2014-2015 School Year
Please be advised that during the winter months, inclement
weather may cause disruption of bus transportation and
regular school operations. A decision to cancel school
transportation and/or to close school will be announced on
the radio and television stations. Please see the attached
information regarding inclement weather procedures.
KEEPING HEALTHY
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
Please continue to use your discretion in keeping your child
home to recover if they are ill. We also remind all parents
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that if your child is well enough to attend school they are
well enough to go outside at recess.
. . . AND FINALLY
I Leave You With This Thought
A Poem for Remembrance Day
"The inquisitive mind of a child"
Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.
But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.
But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.
November 13
November 14
November 16-22
November 18
November 20
November 21
November 23
November 24
November 25
November 26
November 28
November 30
December 2
December 4
December 9
December 12
December 15
December 16
December 18
December 19
December 22
The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.
But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.
Author Unknown
Mark Your Calendars
November 1
November 2
November 4
November 11
Parent/Teacher Interview Evening –
optional
Circle of Rosary
P.A. Day – no school for students
Bullying Awareness and Prevention
Week
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
Dental Screening –Grades K, 2,4,6,8
Dental Screening –Grades K, 2,4,6,8
Last Sunday in Ordinary Time
Circle of the Rosary here
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
Parent Meeting re: French Immersion
at St. Pio of Petrocina & St. Gertrude
Virtue of Conscience Assembly
First Sunday of Advent
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
Grade 2 First Reconciliation at Cristo
Rei Church 7:00 pm
Confessions at the schoolgrades 3-8
Advent Mass at 10:00 a.m.
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
Family Movie Night
Circle of the Rosary
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
Christmas Sing-a-long at 1:00 p.m.
Virtue assembly
Christmas Break begins
Please check your child’s agenda nightly
for important dates & information.
Attachments
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DPCDSB 2014-2019 Strategic System Plan
Inclement Weather Cancellation 2014-2015
Math@ Home Communique Volume 1
DPCDSB is now on Twitter!
For the latest Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School
Board news and information on schools, programs,
in-services, follow:
@DPCDSBSchools
All Saints’ Day
All Souls’ Day
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
Remembrance Day – celebration at
10:45 a.m. in school gym
Progress Reports are sent home
Twoonie Tuesday Pizza Day
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