St. Thomas More
Catholic School
3270 Tomken Road
Mississauga, ON., L4Y 2Y7
(905) 279-6472
Fax: (905) 279-3205
Website: http://www.dpcdsb.org/TMORE
Welcome One Another As Christ Has Welcomed You, Romans 15:7
St. Thomas More Catholic School
VIRTURE OF RESPECT
Principal
M. Nicoletti
Vice Principal
R. Furtado
Secretarial Staff
A. Rago
L. Antilope
Superintendent
T. Lariviere
(905) 890-1221
Trustee
Mario Pascucci, Chair
Mississauga Wards 1 & 3
(905) 302-3096
(905) 890-0708 x20161
mario.pascucci@dpcdsb.org
School Council Chair
S. Olmedo
Pastor
Rev. John Facey
St. Patrick’s Church
(905) 270-2301
We are now preparing ourselves for the period of
Lent a 40 day period of prayer, fasting and almsgiving-in preparation for Easter. It prepares us for
Easter as we recall our Baptism and do penance in
preparation for the greatest Feast of the Year.
Throughout Lent we continue to take time to pray,
reflect and be charitable towards other. Together, we
pray that this Lenten Season will bear good fruit in
all of our lives.
Father Jim Roth
It is with great sadness that we announce
that Father Jim Roth passed away on
February 11, 2015. Father Jim touched
the hearts of many people and was always
a guiding light to parishioners and the
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School
Board community.
May eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH
(It’s Everyone’s History)
STM Welcomes Guest Speaker: Patricia Jaggernauth
We would like to welcome Patricia to share her story of her
struggle, success & inspiration. Patricia is a Business owner,
Producer, Writer, Commercial Actor, LIVE Event Host and
CP24 On-Air Personality.
Patricia will present on Friday February 27th @ 1:30pm
Follow us on Twitter:
@DPCDSBSchools
Newsletter Inserts: Ont. Education Leadership Centre
6-8 Leadership Courses, Math @ Home, Next Generation Learing, Parent Engagement Evening
PLEASE ARRIVE ON TIME
Start Time
9:00 a.m.
AM Recess
11:11 a.m.
Lunch
12:06 p.m.
PM Recess
2:29 p.m.
Dismissal
3:30 p.m.
We applaud students who are on time for class and ask all
students to make a concerted effort to come to school
in a timely manner, with all homework completed,
ready to learn. Punctuality and preparedness are valuable
life skills. Parents/guardians will be notified of students
who are repeatedly late.
FOOD REMINDERS
We would like to remind parents that there
are a number of students in the school with
life threatening allergies to various food
products. Birthday celebrations and
festivities for special occasions are part of
the educational experience, however, we are requesting
that parents not send food items to their child’s class.
Instead, consider alternatives such as: stickers, pencils,
etc., to ensure the safety of all of our students.
Please drop lunches at the table in the
hallway outside the office and remind your
child that his/her lunch is being dropped
off at the school. Parents are also
encouraged to leave after dropping off their
child’s lunch and not to open the door for
other parents. We are asking for your cooperation in this
matter to enhance student safety and ensure that your
child(ren) will have enough time to eat their lunch.
SCENT FREE ZONE
St. Thomas More has implemented the
Dufferin-Peel initiative “WE SHARE THE
AIR.” This is a scent awareness campaign
for staff, students and the school community,
that will help keep our students with severe
allergies and sensitivity to scents safe in the school
environment. We are asking staff, students and visitors to
our school to kindly avoid using perfumes/colognes in
our school environment.
BUS STUDENTS
ELIGIBILITY DISTANCE
JK/SK-Gr. 1
Gr. 2-4
Gr. 5 - 8
1.0 KM
1.6 KM
2.0 KM
INCLEMENT WEATHER
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 radio and television stations:
VIRGIN RADIO FM99.9, CHUM AM1050, FTR
AM680, CFNY FM102.1/AM640, CJCL AM590,
CHFIFM98.1, CFRB AM1010, EZ ROCK
FM97.3, CJBC (FR) AM860, FM Z103.5,
FM93.1, FM Q107 CHIN FM100.7/AM1540,
CBC99.1, CITYPULSE, GLOBAL NEWS, CTV
CANADA AM
For further inquiries, such as cancellations, pick/drop-off
times and locations, please see visit the transportation
website at: www.stopr.ca.
REMINDER OF BUS RULES
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be at the bus stop at least 10 minutes ahead of
pick-up
follow all directions from the driver, especially
when getting on and off the bus
go directly to a seat and stay seated until the
driver opens the door for drop-off
keep all belongings inside the bus
sit quietly at all times
speak only in conversational tones
no eating on the bus
do not speak with the bus driver while the bus
is in operation, unless necessary
VISITOR’S PROTOCOL
In keeping with Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board Policy and enhancing student safety, all visitors to the
school must report to the office. We
ask parents not to walk though the
school hallways to drop off their children.
During inclement days, students will be permitted to
walk through the front doors.
Parents are also reminded that the church parking lot is
not a supervised area. For the safety of our students, parents or guardians are discouraged from having their children wait for them in the church parking lot to be picked
up. Parents or guardians are reminded to promptly pick
up their children at dismissal and instruct their children to
go the main office immediately, if they do not see their
parents or guardians at dismissal.
LIBRARY NEWS
RAZ KIDS
Did you know that you can now view the
school library from home? Just follow the
The Raz Kids Online Reading
following trail to see what the library has:
Program is being aimed at our
http://www.dpcdsb.org/TMORE
primary students as a means of supplementing our school Literacy Program, with enriching reading activities that can be done
Library (At the top of the screen)
at home.
ALL STAR READING
All primary students have received their instruction packages,
including their password, so that they can participate in the
reading program at home. We encourage parents or Guardians
WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR MORE to spend some time with their child and the RAZ KIDS reading
VOLUNTEERS
program. If you have any questions please contact your child’s
The All Star Reading Program consists of one-on- teacher.
one reading sessions to help students meet grade
PEEL REGIONAL POLICE PROGRAMS
level reading benchmarks. The coaches are parent volunteers who read to students each week, ideally for a
minimum of two 20 minute sessions per student.
Neighbourhood Police Unit
A reminder that all schools are assigned NPU
Please consider volunteering 1-2 hours a week to assist with the officers (Neighbourhood Police Unit). ConstaSTM All Star Reading Program. All volunteer coaches will re- bles Steve and Paul drop in to the school reguceive training about the program and the different strategies that larly as part of their role to promote positive
can be used by students to help improve their reading skills.
relationships and support our safe schools
initiatives.
If you would like to volunteer to help our young readers, please
leave your name and contact information with our main office. Peel Regional Police Youth Education Department
In collaboration with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School
A reminder that all volunteers require an updated CRC. Thank Board, many informative programs are offered to positively
you to Mrs. Bielecka for overseeing the program.
engage and influence youth from Grades 1 to Grade 8. We
welcome our Youth Education Officer, Constable David, who
will be speaking to classes on March 5th, April 23rd and May
6th, 2015.
In accordance with Board GAP policy 801, all parent volunteers, even those attending a one-day only school trip or event,
are required to have a Criminal Reference Check (CRC).
VOLUNTEER POLICY
HOMEWORK
Applications are available at the school office.
CONCUSSION PROTOCOL
Homework Policy
The homework policy may be viewed in full at dpcdsb.org/
homework. A summary of the key features of the document is
available in the student agenda.
Homework Help
As required by the Ontario Ministry of Education under the Bill
This is an excellent resource for students in grade 7 and 8, who
39 Education Amendment Act, school boards are required to
may need a bit of extra help with their math homework. Please
establish a policy related to head injuries and concussions. As
visit: Ontario.ca/HomeworkHelp
part of the process at St. Thomas More School, we will continue
to log and immediately inform parents or guardians of any head
injury. In addition to a phone call, parents will now receive an
information pamphlet on concussions and the Medical Documentation for Suspected Concussion Form (GF081). Please
keep in mind that school staff is not trained to diagnose head
injuries such as concussions and parents should take the appropriate precautions and steps when they are informed that their
child has had a head injury, as outlined in the information pamphlet.
VIRTUE OF RESPECT
STUDENT VOICE
Public Speaking Contest:
Congratulations to our Junior & Intermediate Public Speaking
Contest Winners:
JUNIOR: Matthew, Jaeden, Paola
INTERMEDIATE: Lauren , Konrad , Kathryn
We encourage parents to discuss the monthly Virtues
with their children.
This month we will be celebrating the virtue of Respect.
Thank you to Mr. Grogan for organizing the Public Speaking
Contest and to Mrs. Nicoletti, Mr. Furtado, Ms. Salema, Mrs.
Venditti, Mr. Styga and Madame Kinash for their judging skills.
The 1st and 2nd place winners will now participate in the Women’s Catholic League Contest at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall on February 22nd from 2:00-5:00pm.
God wants us to treat all people with the respect they deserve.
Eco-School “Radical Recyclers”:
Respect…is seeing the goodness in others. It helps us to see Our group of “Radical Recyclers” will continue their rounds of
others as God sees them, to accept them as they are, and to treat Recycling Collection every Monday to promote our eco-school
initiatives.
them with dignity.
Please join us at our Virtue Assembly of Respect on February Youth Faith Ambassadors (YFAs):
Our YFAs continue to work under the direction of Mrs. Salema
26th at the following times:
and Mrs. Delfin to assist with our monthly Virtues Assemblies,
School Masses and other ongoing social justice initiatives.
9:30 am JK/SK, Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8
10:15 am Grades 1, 3, 4/5, 5, and 7
STM Eco School Team:
As part of enhancing our Eco School initiatives, classrooms will
receive posters giving examples of what is garbage and what is
recycling. Thank you to Miss Faria, Mrs. Venditti, Mrs.
Capizzano, and Mrs. Noronha for leading our Eco Team.
PARISH NEWS
Catholic Community Culture and Caring Student Survey:
A parent/guardian CCCC School Climate Survey has also been
A Memorial Mass celebrating the life of
Fr. Jim Roth will be held at St. Patrick’s Church on Thurs- developed to provide parents/guardians an opportunity to express feedback regarding their children’s school climate experiday, February 19th, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Bishop John Anthoences. Parents of all students in all grades, K through 12+ are
ny
invited to participate. A link for this parent feedback will be
Boissonneau will be the celebrant of the available on the board website on Monday, January 26th, 2015.
mass.
Grade 5 Extended French:
An Information Meeting was held on Thursday, January 15,
Please contact the St. Patrick’s Church at 2015 at St. Thomas More School. The deadline for EF
(905) 270-2301 for any further information applications is 3:00pm on Tuesday, February 17, 2015. If a
relating to up coming Sacraments.
Lottery is necessary it will take place on February 25th at 6:00
p.m. @ St. Thomas More in the Small Gym. Your presence at
this lottery is not necessary, however, you may wish to attend.
Due to the sensitive nature of the lottery process it is recommended that children not attend. Lottery information will be
available at the school on February 26th. Letters will also be
sent home following the lottery.
KISS & RIDE
FEBRUARY IS PSYCHOLOGY MONTH
The Dufferin-Peel psychology staff work together with
schools by promoting the following topics:
 Raising Confident and Resilient Children
 How to help Your Teen Survive Exam Week Stress
 HEALTHY SLEEP, HAPPY CHILD
 Talking to Teens About Stress
Safety First when dropping students off at school
The safety of all children and staff must be considered as  Making the Most of Your Parent-Teacher Interview
For further information, visit our website at:
paramount at all times when dropping students off at
www.dpcdsb.org/psychology
school.
Our Kiss & Ride ensures a safe arrival
for your child at school while providing the convenience of drop-off. It is
open at 8:45am every morning.
The number of serious incidents related to traffic
circulation at the front of the school and in the Kiss &
Ride area during morning arrival and afternoon dismissal
has risen. These incidents include vehicles entering the
site in the wrong direction, parking and pulling out of no
parking zones, parking in bus lanes, to name a few.
COLD & 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.
It is imperative that all parents and guardians who drive
their children to school adhere to the traffic circulation
plan and comply with the traffic and parking signage on
the site. It is equally imperative that all drivers follow the
direction of staff managing the traffic circulation on the
school site. Thank you for your consideration and
A reminder, as well, that communicable diseases can be
co-operation with this important matter.
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
The “Blue Curb” adjacent to the Kindergarten Yard is December through February, but can start as early as
meant for quick drop off only. If you intend to remain October.
at the kindergarten gate, you must park your vehicle in a
legally designated area and walk your child to the Kinder- Regional Health Unit Resources
garten Yard. When using the Kindergarten Drop-Off Please assist us by reviewing good hand washing
zone, wait your turn in the Kiss & Ride Lane then proceed procedures, as well as other preventative measures, as
to the front of the designated “Blue Curb” area.
outlined in the various Peel Health and Wellington
Dufferin Guelph (WDG) resources available to you
DO NOT PARK VERTICALLY, as this puts students’ through their websites. As always, children who are
safety at risk when you back out into oncoming traffic.
unwell, should be kept at home.
KINDERGARTEN DROP-OFF
Thank you in advance for your cooperation in
enhancing student safety.
CROSSING GUARD
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:
Parents and Guardians are reminded that the Tomken Rd.
Peel Health website:
crossing guard duty times are as follows:
http://www.peelregion.ca/health
8:30-9:00am
Wellington Dufferin Guelph Health website:
12:06-12:21pm
www.wdgpublichealth.ca
12:41-1:06pm
3:30-3:55pm
Direct links to the above information can be found in the
Parent Section of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
Please keep in mind that school yard supervision comSchool Board website at www.dpcdsb.org
mences at 8:45am. We ask that parents not drop their
children off before this time.
IMPORTANT DATES
SHROVE TUESDAY/MARDI GRAS DANCE
Our Pancake Tuesday & Mardi Gras Dance celebration will be
on Tuesday, February 17, 2015. This event is being hosted by
the St. Thomas More School Parent Council and Youth Faith
Ambassadors.
Parent volunteers will be making and serving pancakes.
Parent volunteers are needed to assist
with the making and serving of the
pancakes. If you are able to help out,
please call the school.
PLEASE NOTE: IT IS NOW
MANDATORY FOR ALL PARENT VOLUNTEERS TO HAVE A COMPLETED
CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECK BEFORE PARTICI-
ASH WEDNESDAY LITURGY
PATING IN ANY SCHOOL EVENTS/ACTIVITIES.
Our Ash Wednesday Liturgy will take place on Wednesday
February 18th in the large gym. Ashes will be distributed by
teachers in their classes.
9:30—FDK, 2,4, 4/5, 6, 6EF, 8EF, 8
10:00—1, 1/2, 2/3, 3, 3/4, 5EF, 5/6, 7EF, 7
Parents are welcome to attend.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL COUNCIL
Our next meeting is on February 23, 2015
at 7:00 pm in the school library. We hope
that you can attend!
2014-15 St. Thomas More Catholic School Council
Council Executive:
Chair:
S. Olmedo
Vice-Chair:
M. Gwiazdowski
Secretary:
M. Kohl
Treasurer:
T. Zappulla
Parish Rep.:
T. Schmiedt
OPACE Rep.: C. Farmer
Other Members: G. Barros, T. Beaudry, M.
Conte, A. V. Devotta, Farmer,
J. Hawtin, R. Kochevar,
D. Moore, M. Swiezawski,
M. Thompson, T. Whelen,
Principal:
Vice-Principal:
Teacher Rep:
Non-Teaching Rep:
M. Nicoletti
R. Furtado
Mrs. Bielecka
Miss Rodriguez
February 2
4:00 Jr. Basketball-double header
St. Pio @ STM
February 3
Report Cards Go Home
Share Life Activity: Sports Jersey Day
February 4
4:00 Jr. Basketball-double header @
St. Charles Garnier
February 5
Teacher/Parent Conferences
National Sweater Day
February 6
PA DAY
Teacher/Parent Conferences
February 10
Speech Contest (Lge. Gym)
9:30 am -JR Speeches
1:15 pm –Int. Speeches
February 11
4:00 p.m. Jr. Basketball-double header @
Canadian Martyrs
February 13
Harbourfront Trip—Gr. 5 and 6
February 14
Happy Valentine’s Day
February 15
Flay Day—50th Anniversary
February 16
Family Day - No School
February 17
3:00—EF Applications Due
Shrove Tuesday
February 18
Ash Wednesday
February 19
4:00 Jr. Boys Basketball @ Canadian Martyrs
February 23
School Council Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
February 24
Rosary Apostolates—all classes
February 24
Gr. 8 Trip to the Science Centre
February 25
Parent Engagement Evening
February 26
Virtues Assembly
February 27
Celebrating Black History @ STM
Guest Speaker: Patricia Jaggernauth
@ 1:30pm