The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board 56 Oaklea Blvd, Brampton, Ontario, L6Y 4W7 Phone: 905-455-1001 Principal: D. Furlong Secretary: A. Mijandrusic Fax: 905-455-3406 Superintendent: L. Kazimowicz 905-890-1221 Trustee: T. Da Silva - 905-459-7089 Parish: St. Jerome Church Pastor: Fr. Jan Kolodynski 905-455-4260 NEWSLETTER # 4 January 2010 SELF-CONTROL Dear God, We ask for the grace and strength to keep a sense of self-control. We hope that by remaining calm in the middle of difficult situations, we can contribute to making our school a safer, more caring, and more inclusive community. May your virtue of self-control help us to make decisions that serve the good of all your people… in our families, neighbourhoods and school community. Show me your ways, O Lord, And teach me your paths. Amen. This month, we celebrate the virtue of self-control. Every person in this world carries the Spirit of God – and so every person is our brother or sister through Jesus Christ. We all deserve to be shown courtesy, consideration, sensitivity and thoughtfulness, as these are different ways of showing respect. We have to respect ourselves and then we will be able to respect others. We should also be able to expect to be treated with respect by everyone we meet. A respectful person… uses a positive tone of voice and body language avoids swearing, namecalling, put-downs, and inappropriate gestures says ‘Excuse me’, ‘Please’, ‘Pardon Me’ avoids gossip God wants us to treat all people with the respect they deserve. FIRST RECONCILIATION Saturday, March 7 at 12:00 Noon FIRST COMMUNION CELEBRATION Saturday, April 18 at 5:00 p.m. CONFIRMATION CELEBRATION Wednesday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m. ASH WEDNESDAY – FEBRUARY 25 This year the Liturgical Season of Lent begins on Wednesday, February 25. Our Ash Wednesday Prayer Service will begin at 9:00 am. Parents are invited to attend. KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION Junior Kindergarten children must be 4 years old by December 31, 2009. Senior Kindergarten children must be 5 years old by December 31, 2009. Registration for the 2009-2010 school year will be held on: Monday, February 23, 2009 - 7:00 to 9:00 pm and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - 9:00 to11:00 am and 1:00 – 3:00 pm SNOW DATE: Tuesday, February 24 – 7:00 to 9:00 pm Parents/Guardians should bring the following documents when registering their child: proof of age (birth certificate) original Catholic Baptismal Certificate of the Roman, Greek, or Ukrainian Rite for the parent (one) and the child (if the child has not been baptized, a letter of counseling with the parish priest, to complete the process will be accepted) updated immunization records proof of Canadian citizenship or of Landed Immigrant status proof of address (utility bill, bank or credit card statement) For more information you may contact the office or call the Admissions Department at 905-890-0708, ext: 24500 FAMILY DAY HOLIDAY - SCHOOL IS CLOSED on Monday, February 16 ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION of PUPIL PROGRESS Friday, February 27 – NO CLASSES Staff will be evaluating student work and preparing student report cards. MARCH BREAK March Break is from Monday, March 16 to Friday, March 20. Classes resume on Monday, March 23. REPORT CARDS Report Cards will be sent home on Tuesday, March 24. EARLY RELEASE DAY – THIRD TERM Monday, March 30 There are no classes in the afternoon. Classes for students in grades 1 to 8 finish at 11:30 am. Transportation is available for students who regularly ride the bus home. There are no Kindergarten classes in the afternoon. ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION Please notify the school at 905-455-1001, before 8:30 a.m., if your child is going to be late or absent. Pauline Vanier’s answering machine is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This will save Mrs. Mijandrusic, our school secretary, many hours of phone calls to ensure your children are safe. HEALTH Health is important. Students who come to school are expected to be healthy enough to participate in the daily activities including physical education and outdoor recess. Should your child not feel well enough to participate, please keep them at home the extra day so they can fully recuperate.There is no venue to maintain sick children at the school. INDOOR SHOES We need your help to keep our school safe, clean, and dust free. Please ensure that your child has a pair of indoor shoes at school. PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES A reminder that the Dufferin-Peel CDSB has a PED policy. Students are asked to leave all electronic games, iPods, walkmans, cell phones, etc, at home. The school will not be responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen items. INTERNET SAFETY As parents, you need to be aware of your child’s use of the home computer. As you know many of your children are using ‘MSN hot mail’ and ‘FACEBOOK’. It is important that as parents, you are informed as to what your child is sending out and receiving. Some of the communication, as well as the contact names that are being used, are inappropriate. Please talk to your child about this and supervise their use of the computer. THE SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESENTS FACEBOOK 101 TUESDAY, MARCH 3 Thank you for supporting this fundraiser. Should you have any questions regarding magazines ordered, please contact the QSP Customer Service Phone number 1-800-667-2536 and/or www.qsp.ca . Our Group ID # is 16609. Orders can be placed on-line all year long. VISION & HEARING TESTING For your convenience, we have arranged to have SeeHEAR at our school this year to screen for vision and hearing problems at a cost of $10.00 to the parent/guardian on February 25. This is an excellent opportunity to check your child’s vision and hearing in a convenient, cost effective manner, as Family Doctors are not usually equipped to identify Hearing Loss … a Child’s Hearing is not being monitored unless they have visited an ENT or Audiologist … a regular visit to the Audiology Clinic is not covered by OHIP and would cost upwards to $35.00. A permission form will be sent home with your child. If you wish to have your child participate, please complete and return the form with $10.00 to the school by February 23, 2009. CINDERELLA MUSICAL The staff and students are busy preparing for the musical, “Cinderella”. If there are any parents interested in helping with costumes for the performance please contact the Office, Mrs. Cunic or Mrs. Vigneault as soon as possible. We are looking for ball gowns, mice costumes, and “royal” attire. If there are any parents who have been blessed with the talent of sewing, or can contribute ready-made costumes to the school, it would be greatly appreciated. Parents are invited to attend “FACEBOOK Tools To Increase SPIRIT DAY – FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13 RED & WHITE DAY Your Privacy & Security” Presentation at 7:00 pm. Please refer to the handout and RSVP by February 26. The Presentation for students in grades 5 to 8 will take place at 12:45 pm that same day. VALENTINE’S DAY BAKE SALE Mrs. Cunic’s Grade 4/5 Class and Mr. Monachino’s Grade 4 Class will be hosting a NUT-FREE bake sale on Friday February 13 to raise funds for their trip to Medieval Times. A portion of the money raised will be donated to Sleeping Children Around the World. QSP MAGAZINES A guest speaker from SCAW will be visiting the school on morning of February 12 to talk about the program and its charitable endeavors. SCHOOL YARD SAFETY Please review our school yard expectations for all students: 1) We respect everyone – our friends, adults, our neighbours, and our neighbour’s property. 2) We play non-contact games (hands-off) (feetoff) 3) We use appropriate language. 4) We remain on school property at all times. 5) We try to resolve our disagreements by talking with each other. We can ask an adult for help. 6) Snow, ice, rocks, sand remain on the ground. Throwing snowballs on school property is absolutely prohibited. Please re-enforce these expectations with your children. PENNY DRIVE THANK YOU Mrs. Cunic and her Grade 4/5 Class would like to thank the Pauline Vanier community for their tremendous support during our Christmas Penny Drive. The students worked diligently at collecting, counting, and rolling the coins that were brought in throughout the month of December. We are pleased to announce that we raised enough money to purchase a cow for $600 for a village in need in Africa. From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to thank everyone who contributed. CHRISTMAS SHOE BOXES THANK YOU Thank you to the entire community for their generous contributions. The Youth Faith Ambassadors delivered 230 shoeboxes to Dr. Simone’s Warehouse.