Catholic Education: Building a Caring Community
December 2013
PRINCIPAL:
VICE PRINCIPAL:
HEAD SECRETARY:
ASSISTANT SECRETARY:
ASSISTANT SECRETARY:
A. D’Agostino
V. Viola
M. Villella
A. Burt
A. Mijandrusic
December 2013
120 Harvest Moon Drive, Bolton, Ontario L7E 2W1 Phone: (905) 857-7582
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS:
TRUSTEE:
HOLY FAMILY CHURCH
PASTOR:
ASSOCIATE PASTOR:
L. Storey
F. Di Cosola
1-800-387-9501
905-951-8898
Fr. L. Leger
905 857-1938
Fr. D. Gikonyo, IMC
Fax: (905) 857-9353
ST. NICHOLAS CATHOLIC SCHOOL COUNCIL
CO-CHAIRs: K. Foschia and M. DeAmicis
TREASURER L. Girimonte
SECRETARY A. Capobianco
SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM: Please remember to phone in your child’s absence: (905) 857-7582.
The answering machine is available 24 hours - Messages are picked up regularly.
For more information about school events, go to our school website: http://www.dpcdsb.org/NICHO
Student Faith Formation and Engagement: The Heart of All We Do
CELEBRATING ADVENT
The season of Advent begins with the fourth Sunday
before Christmas. “Advent” is a Latin word meaning
“the coming”. During the season of Advent, Christians
across the world prepare for the celebration of the
coming of the Lord into the world through the birth of
His Son, Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light
in the midst of darkness, as symbolized best by the
Advent Wreath.
At St. Nicholas School we emphasize the implications of the birth of our
Saviour through our Christian actions. We ensure that Advent is a time where
we embrace reflection, charity and social justice. It is a time to prepare the
way, to make God real each and every day through prayer, charity and good
deeds. A number of outreach activities listed in this newsletter provide a small
window into how the staff, students, families and Parish at St. Nicholas School
are the arms, legs, hands and heart of God.
FEAST OF ST. NICHOLAS MASS
Mass will be celebrated with Father Larry on Friday December 6, 2013 on
the Feast Day of St. Nicholas in the school gym at 9:30 am and again at
11:00 am. Parents are welcome to attend.
WE ARE A PEOPLE OF HOPE
In December we celebrate the virtue of hope. God
comes to us as a small fragile baby who shows us that
even the smallest and poorest can make a profound
difference in the world. God has given us this Advent
season year after year in order to focus our minds and
our hearts on the good all around us. During this time of hope, we are reminded
that God chose to send His Son to us because we are worth it. God knows how
great we can be when we all come together. When we look at the world
through the eyes of God we know that the message of hope in Jesus’ second
coming will be and is fulfilled, because Jesus’ love lives in us every day.
People of Hope…
• Keep up a positive attitude
• See the good in others
O, Lord,
as we prepare for your coming,
let us reflect your love in all we
say and do.
Encourage us to be people of
peace and let your peace reign
in our hearts and minds this
Advent Season.
VIRTUE AWARDS
Congratulations to our
November Virtue
Catch the Spirit Award
Recipients!
Kindergarten - Ryan S.
Primary David M.
Junior Aidan S.
Intermediate - Justin E.
These students received a Virtue T Shirt for
demonstrating and living the virtues at
St. Nicholas school.
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
Catholic Education: Building a Caring Community
BULLYING PREVENTION
Virtuous play has always been a part of our Catholic
curriculum. It is primarily taught through Religion
and Family Life, but is also woven within all subject
areas. We continue to place significant focus on
being able to recognize bullying (the problem),
identify that bullying does exist, and identify what
students can do to prevent bullying (the solution).
December – We All Want to Feel Included
The message “we all want to feel included” underscores the idea that all of us
desire the same thing and we all have some responsibility in creating an
atmosphere that is inclusive.
Tips for parents:
 Talk with your children about ways to build friendships with others.
 Reinforce the message that even if we aren’t good friends with someone
we can still be friendly, considerate and welcoming.
 Use ‘teachable moments’ (family situations, media, and movies) to
explore empathy with your children and help them relate to and
understand how others are feeling.
SCHOOL YARD SAFETY
The school yard is divided into primary, junior and intermediate areas and
students are reminded to stay within their respective yards while playing at recess.
We continue to remind our students regularly that they are to choose activities
that do not involve “body contact of any sort.” We are finding that most of our students
are becoming more aware of the meaning of this and we encourage
you discuss this rule with your child(ren) at home as well.
SNOW STAYS ON THE GROUND
As the winter weather begins, students are reminded that
“Snow Stays on the Ground”. Every child in the school
will be made aware of the importance of this rule in preventing
injury to others. Students who throw snowballs/ice balls will
receive a Snowball Letter to be sent home for parent signature
and returned to school. Repeat offences w ill lead to
consequences. Please assist us by reviewing with your child the dangers of throwing
snowballs and the importance of preventing injury to other children.
.
DRESSING FOR WINTER
Please encourage your children to dress appropriately for the cold
winter weather. The Dufferin‐Peel Catholic District School policy states
that consideration should be given for keeping students indoors during
recesses when the wind chill reaches –20C. At
–25C students will be kept indoors. Playing outdoors is a pleasant and healthy
activity when students are wearing suitable clothing. For the younger students, it would
be helpful if parents were to label items of clothing with their child’s name, so that
each person can more easily locate his/her own clothing. The Lost and Found bins are located on the
first floor.
BUS CANCELLATIONS
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 schools is usually made
by 6:00 a.m. and will be announced on the following media outlets:
CHIN 100.7 FM 1/AM 1540
CFTR AM 680, CJCL AM 590 AM 640 CFNY 102.1, EZ ROCK
FM 97.3 CHUM AM 1050, CJBC (FR) 860AM CFRB 1010, FM
Q107, FMZ103.5 FM 93.1 CBC 99.1 FM, CHFI FM98.1
The school boards will be communicating one of four
standard announcements to the radio stations. The
four announcements and their effect on the
transportation system are as follows. (Please note
that the highlighted text only will be communicated
by the radio station).
1. “DUFFERIN‐PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD BUSES SERVING ST.
ANDREW, ST. BENEDICT AND ST. PETER
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND R.F. HALL
SECONDARY SCHOOL ARE CANCELLED
FOR TODAY.”
2. “THE DUFFERIN‐PEEL CATHOLIC
DISTRICTSCHOOL BOARD BUSES AND THE
PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD BUSES IN
THE TOWN OF CALEDON AND THE
COUNTY OF DUFFERIN ARE CANCELLED”.
This means that all runs listed under announcement
#l PLUS the following are cancelled. All schools in
the Town of Caledon and all school runs that begin
in the Town of Caledon. Individual schools will be
notified if this cancellation affects their school.
3. “THE DUFFERIN‐PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD AND THE PEEL DISTRICT
SCHOOL BOARD BUSES ARE CANCELLED.” This
means that ALL Transportation services provided
by the Dufferin‐Peel Catholic District School Board
and The Peel District School Board, including
buses, vans and taxis have been cancelled for the
entire day.
4. “THE SCHOOLS AND OFFICES OF BOTH THE
DUFFERIN‐PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL
BOARD AND THE PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL
BOARD ARE CLOSED.”
This means that: ALL Dufferin‐Peel Catholic
District School Board ad Peel District School Board
schools and offices are closed to all students and
staff. During the winter months, inclement weather
and/or poor road conditions may cause the
disruption of bus transportation and regular school
operations. When any bus is cancelled it is
cancelled for the entire day. Therefore students
transported to school by parents require the
same transportation home. If you have access to
the internet you may check the Student
Transportation of Peel Region (STOPR) website
for cancellation and/or to see if your child(ren)’s
bus is delayed and by how long it is delayed.
The STOPR website is www.stopr.ca
STUDENT ILLNESS - STAYING IN FOR
RECESS
Students who are ill should be
kept home where they are most
comfortable and can get better,
sooner. A child who is too ill to
go out for recess is too ill to be at
school. Your co‐operation to
keep your child home when he/she is ill is
appreciated.
CTV, CITYPULSE and GLOBAL NEWS
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
Catholic Education: Building a Caring Community
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION 2014-2015
VOLLEYBALL TEAMS
Registration for the 2014‐15 school year will be held at St. Nicholas school on the
following dates;
January 27* from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. and January 29, 30, 31 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
*A snow date has been designated on January 28 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Dufferin-Peel will be offering the Full-Day Kindergarten program in all 123 Catholic
elementary schools in Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon, Bolton and Orangeville.
Registration materials will be available for pick-up at the schools by January 13, 2014.
Parents/guardians are to register their child in person at their designated Catholic school.
To find out which Catholic school is in your area, please contact our Planning Department
Congratulations to the girls and boys intermediate
volleyball teams who played a very competitive
tournament. St. Nicholas Knights players played
extremely well and should be proud of their efforts. Thank
you to Mr. DiCristoforo for coaching the girl’s team.
Great job Jayda, Lindsay, Sabrina, Isabella, Mercedez,
Hannah, Madison, Jennifer, Alexandria and Jessica!
Thank you to Mr. Lise, Mr. Santaluce and Mr. Caschera
for coaching the boy’s team. Great work Jordan, Mitchell,
Jacob, Massimo, Rudalpho, Patrick, Matthew, Daniel and
Nicholas!
at 905-890-0708 ext. 24440.
The following documents are required for registration:
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proof of age of the child (birth certificate or passport)
Original Roman Catholic baptismal certificate (for child and/or parent/guardian) or
baptismal certificate from an Eastern Church in full communion with the Holy See of
Rome. If the child has not been baptized, and the parent/guardian is a baptized Roman
Catholic or has been baptized in an Eastern Church in full communion with the Holy See
of Rome, the parent/guardian must bring their own baptismal certificate.
updated immunization records (Immunization Card, Peel Health Form or Letter of
Exemption)
proof of Canadian citizenship (Birth Certificate/Passport) or permanent resident status
proof of home address (tax bill, utility bill, bank statement)
emergency rural address numbers for identifying your property, if applicable (residents of
Caledon and Dufferin County)
proof of English Separate School Support (may be done at the time of registration by
completing an Application For the Direction of School Support and/or a Separate School
Lease Agreement available at the school)
education records, if available
Admissions are open to Catholic children and children of Catholic parents. Kindergarten
students must be at least 4 years of age by December 31, 2014.
ECO SCHOOLS
Congratulations to St. Nicholas for achieving silver status with the Eco school Program. Our Tree
huggers’ initiatives, including the native plants garden at the front of the school, GOOS bins,
environmental presentations, lights out programs, up cycling crafts and reusable water bottle campaign
have been a great success with our students, reducing waste and energy as well as educating our
community.
To continue our environmental stewardship at St. Nicholas, we will be continuing and starting new
programs. Our Tree huggers have conducted some initial audits at our school and the results are as
follows.
Lights out Initiatives
Our audit has shown that our
lights out initiatives have proven
successful.
Lights/Computers Turned Off When
not Required
27
Garbage Audit
Our next goal is to create a waste free
lunch program and educate our students on
how to organize our waste into the proper
bins. We look forward to helping our
school and environment.
Remember, go hug a tree!
Yes
No
70
Garbage Audit
17
37
21
25
Recyclable
Containers
Recyclable Paper
Food
Waste/Organics
Garbage
PALS
A number of our junior students have volunteered to act as PALS
to our younger students. PALS are Playground Activity Leaders in
the School. They foster safe, fun, co-operative and active play in
designated areas during lunch recesses. Our teacher leaders, Ms.
Bontius, Ms. DeBartolo and Ms. Porco have worked closely with
our students to provide training to these young individuals. Thank you to our PALS for being such
virtuous role models!
YOUTH FAITH AMBASSADORS –
COMMISSIONING CEREMONY
Our Youth Faith Ambassadors will
participate in a Commissioning
Ceremony on December 6 at 12:00 in
the library. Congratulations to
Amanda, Anita, Abigail, Brennah,
Isabella C, Isabella B, Alessia, Jessica, Gabriella,
Alexia, Yasmina, Luna, Samantha, Alexandria,
Martina, Samantha, Victoria, Julia, Alessandra,
Laura and our Teacher Advisors, Ms. Morrone, M.
Rizarri and Ms. Nicoletta for all their support.
PARLIAMENT PLACE
As we enter the New Year we would like to
introduce our Student Parliament. Our Student
Parliament consists of Head Councils and Class
Representatives of intermediate students including;
Prime Minister: Thea N., Deputy Minister:
Cristina G.
Class Representatives are; Jessica V. , Nicolas G.,
Sara F., Victoria S. , Matthew D., Jennifer S.,
Nicole D., Melissa G., Ethan H., Madison O.,
Christian P., Jessica M., and Sabrina D.
4 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WEEK
Student Parliament’s first organized event is St.
Nicholas’s 4 Days of
Christmas Spirit Week
leading up to Christmas
break. Our themed days will
be;
Monday December 16th
we are asking all students
to wear red and green.
Tuesday December 17th is our Jersey day we
are inviting all students to wear their favorite
jersey.
Wednesday December 18th is a movie and
pajama day. Students are asked to donate
$0.25 to participate in the movie and receive a
bag of popcorn. This movie day will be a
memorable one! All money collected will go
to the Typhoon Haiyan Disaster Relief Fund in
the Philippines.
Thursday December 19th is our Christmas hat
or tacky Christmas sweater day. We will also
have a Christmas Sing- A- Long in the
afternoon.
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
Catholic Education: Building a Caring Community
CANDY GRAMS FOR SALE!
Our Student Parliament will be selling Candy Canes, $1.00 for
large and $0.25 for a small Candy Cane. Primary students will
be able to purchase Candy Grams during lunch on Monday
December 9th. . Junior’s sales will take place on Tuesday December
10th and the Intermediate sales on Wednesday December 11, 2013. A table will be set in
front of the library during lunch. Full Day Kindergarten students will be able to purchase
Candy Grams in their classrooms on all of the above days. St. Nicholas school will be
purchasing the Candy Canes therefore, 100% of the profit will be donated to the Typhoon Haiyan
Disaster Relief Fund in the Philippines.
MILK BAGS FOR HAITI
Over the next several months St. Nicholas school will once again
be collecting milk bags. The milk bags (the outer bag that holds 3
pouches to make 4L of milk) must be clean, dry and folded flat.
The bags will be then gathered and sorted and eventually cut,
rolled and crocheted into mats by our students and sent off to
Haiti. Please hand in milk bags to your child’s classroom teacher
and thank you for your support.
YFA BAG 2 SCHOOL TYPHOON HAIYAN RELIEF CAMPAIGN
Our Youth Faith Ambassadors continue to pray over the
announcements for the people who are affected by the
Typhoon Haiyan Disaster in the Philippines. The YFA’s gave
out Bag 2 School bags in November. We are asking all
families to clean their closets, and fill the bags with the
previously enjoyed clothing and textiles. Please bring your
bag in and drop it off in our front foyer from November 25 to December 6,
2013. Please support this worthy cause.
YFA CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST FOOD DRIVE
Our Youth Faith Ambassadors are collecting
nonperishable Breakfast items for Caledon Community
Services. Please give generously. Our Christmas food
drive will run from Monday December 2 to Friday
December 13, 2013. All classrooms will have a Christmas
box to fill with breakfast items. Let us all play a role in
giving to those less fortunate this Christmas season.
PRIMARY ADVENT RETREAT
On Wednesday December 11th, 2013 in the morning,
all primary students will be participating in a morning
of prayer, crafts and story time. Students will rotate
amongst their grade level classes and participate in a
number of Advent activities. Our focus is HOPE as we
wait for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ on
Christmas.
JUNIOR ADVENT RETREAT
On Wednesday December 18th, 2013 in the
morning, all junior students will be
participating in a morning of Advent
celebrations for the anticipation of baby
Jesus. Student will rotate among their grade
level classes putting the focus on Christ in
Christmas.
ST. NICHOLAS PRIMARY CHRISTMAS
CHOIR CONCERT
We are happy to invite, all
parents to our first
St. Nicholas Christmas Concert,
featuring the St. Nicholas
Primary Choir on Tuesday
December 17th at 1:45 in the school gym. Our
honored guests will be residents of the Vera
Davis Retirement Centre.
CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE HOLY
FAMILY PARISH
The schedule for Masses at Holy Family Church for
Christmas are as follows:
Christmas Eve 4:00 pm
6:00pm, 10:00 pm and
Midnight
Christmas Day 10:00 am and
12:00 noon
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
To help you plan your holidays, the Christmas
vacation is from December 20, 2013 to January
6th, 2014. The last day of school in December will
be Thursday, December 19th, 2013. Friday December
20th is a PA Day there is no school for students. The
first day of school in the New Year will be Monday
January 6, 2014.
DATES AHEAD
DECEMBER
2
Youth Faith Ambassador Christmas Breakfast
Food drive begins
6
Youth Faith Ambassadors Commissioning
Ceremony
6
Feast of St. Nicholas mass
9:30am and 11:00am
6
Last day to submit Bag2School
7
St. Michaels S.S. Annual Santa
Parade
9
Duffle Bag Theatre
11
Primary Advent Retreat am
11
Catholic School Council 7pm
13
Last day to submit Breakfast
items for the YFA Christmas food
drive
16
Spirit Week – Red and Green Day
17
Spirit Week – Jersey Day
17
Primary Christmas Choir Concert
18
Spirit Week – PJ Movie Day
Junior Advent Retreat in the am
19
Spirit Week- Tacky Sweater Day
Christmas Sing –A – Long in the pm
20
PA Day No school for students
(unpaid day for teachers)
23-3 Christmas Break
25
Christmas Day
JANUARY
6
First Day Back at School
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
Catholic Education: Building a Caring Community
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD