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St. Valent
Volume 1, Issue 5
January 2012
Inside this issue:
A New Year's Prayer
Braveheart Christmas / Advent
Dear Lord, please give me
A few friends who understand me and remain my
friends;
A work to do which has real value,
Kiss N Ride / Bus Cancelations
Facebook 101 / Babies, Babies, Babies
French Immersion / Extended French
without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not
blazed;
Gr 7 and 8 Online Math Help
Sacrament Meetings / PA Days
Going Green / JK Registration
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
January Virtue—Self-Control
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
Winter Safety / Litterless Lunches
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
St. Valentine Catholic School
5610 Heatherleigh Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario
L5V 2V7
A feeling of the presence of God;
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen.
Unknown
Brenda LeClair,
Principal
Message from the Principal
On behalf of the St. Valentine staff, Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope everyone had a safe and restful Christmas break. Once again, the Christmas baskets, delivered
to needy families in our parish, were overflowing with goodies and gifts, testimony to our
generous community.
January is the time that we settle into the winter term and look forward to the many exciting
things that the remainder of the school year brings. Our grade 2 and grade 8 students are
Adrian Scigliano,
Vice-Principal
Franca Dodgson,
Secretary
Denise Sandiland
Assistant Secretary
Cathy Saytar,
Superintendent of Schools
905 890 0708
and Confirmation—please keep them in your prayers.
Peter Ferreira,
Trustee - Ward 6
416 805 7110
I wish everyone health and happiness for 2012! May we continue to
Judy Borges,
School Council Chair
continuing preparations to receive the sacraments of First Communion
strive to make every day in our lives as beautiful and meaningful as
Christmas Day!
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith
Fr. Robert O’Brien,
Pastor
St. Francis Xavier Church
905 890 5290
Volume 1, Issue 5
Page 2
A Braveheart Christmas
Congratulations to the talented JK-Grade 4 students and their teachers at St. Valentine School for putting on a
magnificent show on December 14th! Parents, families and our School Trustee—Peter Ferreira— all were over-
whelmed by the talent and creative interpretations of the Christmas season. The night was filled with music, dance
and drama and we all came together to celebrate the sense of joy and hope that fills Christmas. Aside from all of
our great performers and choir, we would also like to extend special thanks to students and staff who helped make
the night happen:
Youth Ambassadors—Jessica, Jennifer, Lauren, Julia, Karolina, Maegan and Shauna
Production Crew—Desiree, Sylvia, Claudia, Taylor, Benita, Nnamdi, Jesse, Sierra, Melanie, David
Emcees—Yohan and Sydney
Staff—Mrs. Brown, Mr. Chiola-Nakai, Mrs. Diana, Mrs. Fendley, Mrs. Fernandes, Mrs. Kogut, Mrs. Love, Ms.
Morris, Mrs. Tavares and Ms. Webster.
Thank you to all who support our evening and made it extra special!
Advent Season
It is always a very special time when staff, students, and their families come together and prepare for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ.
Many preparations had been made in order to make our Advent Mass a very special and holy celebration. A very special thank you to the
many students and choir who carefully prepared to be a part of the celebration as readers, altar servers or members of the choir. A special
thank you to the parents who were able to attend and celebrate with us. Our mass could not have been special without the support and
presence of Father Wen and the parish team at St. Francis Xavier Parish. We look forward to celebrating the word of God through-out
the school year. Our next mass will be March 9th and parents are invited to attend.
We would like to thank all of the families of
The families and agencies that we help are
St. Valentine School for their very gener-
extremely grateful for the kindness ex-
ous spirit of giving during this Advent Sea-
tended to them with gifts and food items.
son.
This year, more than 200 gifts and $1500
From the Christmas hampers for the St.
in gift cards were donated to the hampers.
Vincent de Paul Society to the Mitten
Over 10 boxes of cans were donated and
Tree to the food drive, our school contrib-
distributed amongst the hampers for our St.
uted greatly to those in our community in
Vincent de Paul families.
need.
Thank you as well to our staff for all their
donations of time to the various activities.
Kiss N Ride
We have had ongoing safety concerns with the area around St. Valen-
Parents are also reminded NOT to drop students off from the drive through
Some of the issues have included parking in Kiss N Ride lanes, park-
through lane to alleviate some of the safety risks that have been developing as
tine School—Kiss N Ride and drive through lanes.
ing / stopping in the drive through lanes and parking in bus lanes in the
school driveway .
Authorities from the City of Mississauga have asked that we remind
parents of the following rules for Kiss N Ride and parking at our
school:
Kiss N Ride functions only during entry time between 8:15 am and
lanes at the front of the school. Pylons are being placed in the outside drive
parents attempt to drop their children off in areas not designated as drop off
areas.
We continue to need volunteers to help with the monitoring of Kiss N Ride. If
you are able to help, please contact the school.
Please help us to keep your kids safe!
8:30 am.
Cars are restricted from parking in the Kiss N Ride area,
drive through lanes and bus lanes AT ALL TIMES.
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith
Volume 1, Issue 5
Page 3
School Bus Cancellations
A decision to cancel school transportation and/or to close the school is usually made by 6:30 am and will
be announced on the following radio stations: CKFM, CHUM, CFTR, CFNY, Q107, CJCL,
CHFI, CFRB, ENERGY, CJEZ, CJBC, CHIN, CJMR, CHWO, and CITY TV.
Should the announcement be: THE DUFFERIN PEEL CATHOLIC DISTRICT
SCHOOL AND PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD BUSES ARE CANCELLED.—This means that ALL transportation services provided by the school board have been cancelled for the ENTIRE day.
Should the announcement be: THE SCHOOL AND OFFICES OF BOTH THE DUFFERIN PEEL CATHO-
LIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD AND THE PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD ARE CLOSED.—
This means that ALL Dufferin Peel school and offices are closed to students and staff.
Should the announcement refer to cancellation only in the COUNTY OF DUFFERIN, this does not affect St. Valentine
School.
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
Facebook 101 + Twitter
Congratulations!
Please find enclosed within this newsletter a flyer for an upcoming and
very informative event for all parents. Chris Vollum, a recognized authority on Facebook, Twitter and Formspring, will be coming to St.
Valentine School on Thursday February 9th at 7:00 pm. Chris will
speak to parents about how they can keep their children safe while
Our St. Valentine family has grown by 3!
In December and early January, three baby boys came into
the world with Braveheart spirit!
We welcomed:
Daniel James Dorscht at 9lbs 5oz on December 5
using various forms of social media. Chris will show how students
Ewan Mercer at 7lbs 10oz on December 7, and
should protect their accounts, how to monitor what is being posted
and how to talk to your children about the dangers of internet predators and scams. Please mark this important
Jayson Lutes at 8lbs 9oz on January 10.
Moms, babies and families are all doing well and
we wish them all the best during this very special
event in your calendars and plan to attend!
time!
French Immersion / Extended French Information Meetings
French Immersion is a Canadian educational program designed to
The Extended French Program provides students with the means
give students whose first language is not French the opportunity to
to develop more advanced French skills, enabling them to communi-
learn in the French language. Students registered in this program will
cate effectively in speech and in writing. Through the program,
spend 90% of their day learning in the French language. All subjects
students receive 1 900 hours of instruction by the end of Grade 8.
and activities in the French Immersion classroom—except English
The Extended French Program is only offered at designated
language arts—will be delivered in French.
schools in Dufferin-Peel.
Senior Kindergarten parents/guardians who wish to enroll their child
Grade 4 parents/guardians who wish to enroll their child in a
in a Grade 1 French Immersion class for September 2012 are invited
Grade 5 Extended French class for September 2012 are invited
to attend an information meeting at St. Gertrude School on Thurs-
to attend an information meeting at San Lorenzo Ruiz School on
day January 12th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
Wednesday January 18th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
For more information, please go to St. Valentine School’s website.
For more information please go to St. Valentine School’s website.
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith
Page 4
January 2012
Sun
Mon
Tue
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8
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Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
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PA Day
Skiing
26
27
28
CHRISTMAS / WINTER BREAK
Mike Neuts
presentations
22
23
24
25
10:45—Virtues
Skiing
Skating
Liturgy
6:30 pm—
School Council
Meeting
29
30
31
1
2
3
Aussie X
Aussie X
Aussie X
Aussie X
PA Day—Parent/
First
Skating
Reconciliation
PM - Parent /
Teacher Interviews
Teacher Interviews
It always seems impossible until its done.
Nelson Mandela
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith
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From S
Coming Soon!
Thank You!
Students at St. Valentine are
Aussie X is a sports program that
awash in a sea of white! Prior to
teaches the life-changing power of
Christmas our virtues t-shirts
sport and community through Aus-
arrived and students quickly
tralian rules football (“footy”),
upped their fashion quotient by
netball and cricket. Utilizing the
unique Australian sports culture to
level the playing field, Aussie X
promotes healthy lifestyles, laughter and confidence.
The programs have participants active and engaged from start
donning their t-shirts! We look
forward to seeing the students
wearing the t-shirts during virtues
assemblies and liturgies! Our first
opportunity will be January 25th.
to finish and are designed to motivate participants to enjoy the
benefits of physical activity at varying degrees of intensity.
Lunch Lady
The power of sport to change lives is the driving force behind
Aussie X and the team are committed to providing Safe—
“HOT” Home style lunches
prepared fresh daily
Unique—Active—Fun!
Aussie X will be at St. Valentine School January 30—
Visit their website at
February 2nd. Watch for your invite to come out for a family
www.lunchlady.ca
night that will be led by the Aussie X team!
Our Lunch Ladies are Merri and Iis
and can be emailed at
Merri@thelunchlady.ca or by phone
905 828 9919 or faxed at 905 828
6972
If you wish to purchase more magazines or would like to refer

Healthy snacks

Individually labeled lunches
friends or family, magazines can by purchased from the QSP

Milk included

3 entrée choices each day
website (www.QSP.ca) under the school code 18412 .

100 % pure juices

Over 40 entrée choices
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith
Volume 1, Issue 5
Page 6
G r a d e 7 a n d 8 O n l i n e M a t h H el p
Have a child in grade 7 or 8 who doesn’t quite under-
son, watch tutors draw on the whiteboard—and then
stand how to add fractions? Or maybe your teenager
type their own questions for on-the-spot help.
is struggling with a geometry assignment? Extra help
To access http://HomeworkHelp.ilc.org , your child
is now available.
has received a Board access code, as well as help
Check out Homework Help, where certified Ontario
setting up an account from their teacher at the school.
teachers are online 20 hours a week to provide free
Other math resources on the website include videos
math tutoring for the grade 7 and 8 students at St.
of teachers leading students through the top 20 most
Valentine.
commonly asked math problems, interactive math tuto-
Students can log in Sunday to Thursday, 5:30 pm to
rials and highlights of best sessions. Also, all stu-
9:30 pm for one-on-one confidential help. There are interactive
dents have a virtual locker, where their work is saved in video
discussion rooms for each grade where they can view a current les-
format for viewing anytime.
PA Days—Jan. 16th & Feb. 3rd
Sacraments
Friday January 16 2012has been designated a Professional Activity Day, for teachers to
The parish will be offering one final make-up meet-
work on assessment and evaluation of student progress. There will be no classes for all
ing for those who were unable to attend the First
students on that day.
Eucharist and Confirmation meetings held earlier
Report cards will be distributed on Tuesday January 31. The Elementary Progress Re-
this school year. This will be the final opportunity
port Card supports assessment for learning and assessment as learning. It also provides an
to request the Sacraments so please be sure to
attend both the information meeting and the inscription ceremony as described below:
Information meetings will be held:

1.
establish a positive relationship between teachers, parents, and students;
2.
involve parents as partners in a conversation about
learning and assessment, and what they can do to
Confirmation—Thursday January 19 @
7:00pm

opportunity to:
Reconciliation/Eucharist—Tuesday January
support their child’s learning;
3.
school year and develop strategies to improve stu-
17@7:00 pm
Inscription weekend for both sacraments:

Weekend of February 4th and 5th
Please contact the church for further details.
identify concerns about student progress early in the
dent learning.
All parents will be invited to meet with their child(ren)’s
teacher(s) for an interview to discuss the progress report
either during the evening of February 2nd or during the day of February 3.rd.
Going Green Together!
As you may be aware, St. Valentine is Going Green! We have suc-
entine students see how important (and how easy!) it can be to bring waste-
reduce energy consumption. Our next environmental initiative to help
January 23, 2012 and will occur every Monday for the remainder of the year.
cessfully implemented a “Lights Out Lunch Hour” initiative to help
reduce waste is Litterless Lunch Mondays.
The purpose of Litterless Lunch Mondays is to raise awareness
free lunches to school. Litterless Lunch Mondays will commence on Monday
In order to help with planning litterless lunches, attached you will find a page that gives you tips on
around the importance of minimizing the waste that is produced via our
packing a waste-free lunch.
from our lunches is an important step in “greening” our ecological foot-
Your support with our environmental initiatives in
lunches. Lessening, and ideally eliminating the production of garbage
print and becoming more responsible Catholic citizens. It is hoped that
activities like the Litterless Lunch Mondays will help St. Val-
Living
and
honouring and protecting the gifts given to us from
God is greatly appreciated.
Learning
in
Faith
Volume 1, Issue 5
Page 7
JK Registration 2011—2012
Registration for Jun-
children must be 4 years of age by December 31,

Updated immunization records
take place on Monday
years of age by December 31, 2012.

Proof of Canadian citizenship or landed immi-
ior Kindergarten will
February 6, 2012
from 7:00 pm—9:00
pm. and Wednesday
February 8—Friday February 10, 2012 from
9:00 am—11:30am and 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm.
This registration is for children currently not
2012. Senior Kindergarten children must be 5
grant status
Parents/guardians should bring the following
documents for registration:


Proof of age/birth certificate
Please note that if your child is enrolled in the JK

Original baptismal certificate in communion
attending school in the Dufferin Peel Catholic
with the See of Rome
Proof of address
program at St. Valentine and you reside within our
boundaries, he/she will automatically be registered
in SK and no further action on your part is required.
District School Board. Junior Kindergarten
Virtue for January—Self-Control
God has given us the ability to choose. We are able to control how we react to what happens around us. We
me feel pressure from inside or from outside ourselves to react violently to a situation. We’ve all “lost it” at
one time or another. We are never proud of those moments. As soon as they happen we make a promise that
they will not happen again. Through prayer and concentration, we can get better at controlling our reac-
tions. We can get better at showing self-control. Self-control helps us to resist the temptation to do some-
thing that we will regret. Self-control helps us to resist the temptation to do something that will harm ourselves or others. Self-control is one of the marks of a spiritually mature person.
When we all use self-control, we can be sure that our school will be a safe, caring and inclusive place to live
and to learn.
REFLECTION… How will I remember to keep my temper when something is irritating me?
OUR DAILY PRAYER FOR JANUARY— Let us now pray… for the virtue of self-control so that
Winter Safety
Snow and Ice
Winter Dress
Staying in for Recess
When the cool months arrive and snow and ice
Now that January is upon us, it seems appro-
Throughout the school year, with cold tempera-
on the ground plentiful, we all like to play in it
priate to remind everyone to please ensure that
tures, and so many students recovering from, or
and with it. Throwing snowballs and sliding on
your child comes to school prepared for winter
away from school because of colds, flu, etc., we
ice is fun. However, as much fun as it is, snow
weather. Fresh air and exercise are important
receive numerous requests to all children to re-
and ice, can be very dangerous when lots of
and the students go outside regularly for recess
main indoors during recesses. Please note that we
people are in a small area. Our school yard is a
unless the weather is extremely cold. Boots,
CANNOT comply, as we have neither the
small area where approximately four hundred
hats, scarves, gloves, winter coats and snow
facilities or the staff to supervise these students.
children have recess. Most student injuries
pants are necessary to keep warm and dry.
If your child is too ill to go outside for recess, then
happen during the winter time. In order for our
Wherever possible, please put identification on
he/she is too ill to be at school. On extremely
school to be as safe as possible, the school must
your child’s belongings. It is also important that
cold days, we limit the amount of time the students
be that snow stays on the ground – no snow-
indoor shoes are avail-
spend out of doors. We obtain our weather in-
balls, kicking snow or any other activity with
able at school at all
formation from the Environment Canada
snow or ice that could be harmful.
times.
Weather info line and follow School Board
guidelines.
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith
Volume 1, Issue 5
Page 8
The Last Word
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
Living
and
Learning
in
Faith