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St. Valen
Volume 1, Issue 4
December 2011
Inside this issue:
The Work of Christmas
Christmas Giving / JK Registration
When the song of the angel is stilled,
Take the Learning Journey
When the star in the sky is gone,
Family Literacy / Outdoor Play
When the kings and princes are home,
Fire Drills / Lockdown Drills
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
Extended French / French Immersion
The work of Christmas begins.
Jr. Volleyball
To find the lost,
Student Safety
To heal the broken,
Virtues Program—Hope / Healthy Eating
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace amongst brothers and sisters,
To make music in the heart.
“Fill our hearts with Hope for Your coming.”
Advent Wreath Prayers
St. Valentine Catholic School
5610 Heatherleigh Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario
L5V 2V7
Brenda LeClair,
Principal
Principal’s Message
Adrian Scigliano,
Vice-Principal
December is upon us! It is a very special and sacred month. Advent, a time of waiting, is filled with many
Franca Dodgson,
Secretary
activities and events that lead us to our most precious day, the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is a day
to celebrate and enjoy family and friends. The warmth of the season, as well as the hustle and bustle,
has begun! I hope that you will join us for our Advent Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church on December 21 and our Primary Christmas Concert on December 14. We are excited to highlight the talents
of our students during these events!
Let us all remember the true meaning of Christmas and reflect on the spirit of giving. We will be supporting the St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Hamper Drive. Grades have been assigned their people
from the families that have been “assigned” to our school. Please consider
donating to help this worthy cause.
When we return in the New Year, I hope we will be all rested and rejuvenated. Thank you for your continued support of St. Valentine School
and I wish all of you a Happy and Holy Christmas!
Learning
Loving Praying
Monica Tadros,
Assistant Secretary
Cathy Saytar,
Superintendent of Schools
905 890 0708
Peter Ferreira,
Trustee - Ward 6
416 805 7110
Judy Borges,
School Council Chair
Fr. Robert O’Brien,
Pastor
St. Francis Xavier Church
905 890 5290
Volume 1, Issue 4
Page 2
Christmas Giving
Help Out Another Family at Christmas
Food Drive
St Valentine School has “adopted a number of families in the area for Christmas. We are hoping
We are also collecting non-perishable
that, with your support, each of these families will have a Christmas that will be a little better. The
food items for adopted families and
donation of a new unwrapped toy, food voucher or cash donation would be greatly appreciated. To
local food banks.
Mitten Tree
ensure all family members are looked after, we have asked each class to adopt a portion of each
maily. The breakdown is as follows:
Lastly, on our Christmas Tree in the

Kindergarten—Mom, girl (3), boy (3), boy (5)

Grade 1 and 2 - Mom, girl (6), boy (6), boy (8)

Grade 3 & 4—Mom, boy (2), boy (2), boy (9),

Grade 5 & 6—Mom, girl (12), girl (11), boy (9)

Grade 7 & 8—Mom, Dad, girl (17), boy (11)
front foyer, we will be collecting mittens, hats and scarves for needy children and our adopted families. If you
are able to help “decorate” our tree,
please send new items.
The collection period will be
between December 5th and
Please try to have all gift donations into the school by Thursday December 15.
15th.
Junior Kindergarten Registration
Registration for the 2011-12 school year will
be held at all Dufferin-Peel Catholic elementary
schools on the following dates:
Monday, February 7, 2011
Junior Kindergarten - Children must be 4 years
old by Dec. 31, 2011
Senior Kindergarten - Children must be 5 years
old by Dec. 31, 2011


for parent (one) and child (if the child has
not been baptized, a letter of counseling
with the parish priest, to complete the
*Snow Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2011- 7:00
p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
process will be accepted)


Wednesday, Thursday & Friday,
9:30a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Parents/Guardians should bring the following
documents when registering their child:
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
original Catholic Baptismal Certificate
of the Roman, Greek or Ukrainian Rite,
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.*
February 9, 10, & 11, 2011
proof of age

updated immunization records
proof of Canadian citizenship or of
Landed Immigrant status
proof of address (utility bill, bank or
credit card statement)
Kindergarten Entry Planning for Students with Special Needs
Information Night for Parent(s)/Guardian
(s) of Students with Special Needs in the
areas of Vision, Hearing, Autism, Physical/
Medical and/or Developmental Delays in
the cognitive and/or motor areas.
On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, DufferinPeel Catholic District School Board will
present an Information Night for Parent(s)/
Guardian(s) of students with
Special Needs in the areas of
cal/Medical and/or Developmental Delays in the cognitive and/or motor areas.
The session will run from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30
At the session parent(s)/guardian(s) will be
reminded to ensure they register at their
local school.
p.m. and will be held in Room 301 at the
Catholic Education Centre at 40 Matheson Boulevard West, Mississauga.
Information will be provided regarding
School Entry Planning for students entering JK, SK and Full Day Kindergarten.
Vision, Hearing, Autism, Physi-
Learning
Loving Praying
Volume 1, Issue 4
Page 3
Take the Learning Journey
Canadians can now Take the Learning Journey as part of Family Literacy Day® 2012 by downloading the Journey to Learning Passport. Families are
encouraged to complete at least five activities in the weeks leading up to Family Literacy Day on January 27, 2012 to see how easy learning can be.
Learning happens everywhere, which makes it easy to include learning activities as a part of your daily life. Once you realize how the things you do on a
daily basis already involve learning, it’s easy to make everyday activities learning opportunities.
Take time every day to read or do a learning activity with your children is crucial to their development. Even just 15 minutes
a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well.
There are many ways to Take the Learning Journey on Family Literacy Day. For ideas, download the Journey to Learning Toolkit or visit www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca. Don’t forget to register your passport once it’s completed – tell us which
activities your family or group completed, and you could win a Family Literacy Day prize pack. Register your passport at
www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca.
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
Family Literacy
Coming soon! Parents and students in grades K-3 and 4—6 will be invited for a series of three evenings to work with teachers to
learn about balanced literacy and how to support their children with reading and writing at home.
In early January, information and a registration form will be sent home outlining the dates and topics for the sessions. Attendance
at all sessions will be mandatory as it is a Ministry funded initiative.
Evenings will be divided into two sessions—the first, parents will work with staff to receive information while students are supervised
in another room and the second, students and parents will work together to practice the skills covered in the first par of the session.
We look forward to working with you!
Outdoor Play
propriately for outdoor play during the colder winter weather. It
is the expectation that each child go outside for exercise and
fresh air. Students who cannot go outside for recess due to
illness should remain at home until they are feeling better.
We would also ask that your child have a pair of indoor shoes
for classroom use. Please ensure that all shoes and boots are
labeled with your child’s name.
Please review our policy with your child that snow must stay on
the ground. For the safety of all our children, there is to be no
It is that time of year when we could get our first snowfall at
snowballs, kicking snow or any other activity with snow
anytime. Please ensure that your children are dressed ap-
ice that could be harmful. Please discuss this with your
Learning
Loving Praying
or
Page 4
December 2011
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
1
Sat
2
3
Virtues Liturgy
4
5
6
7
8
Recycling Presen-
Junior Achievement
Hep B/Men C/
Feast of the Immacu-
Inscription Mass—
HPV Clinics
late Conception
Confirmation
14
15
16
17
22
23
24
31
tations
11
12
13
Inscription Masses—
9
10
Christmas Concert
Confirmation
18
25
19
20
21
Santa Visiting St.
9:30 am—Advent
Valentine
Mass @ Church
26
27
28
29
30
Holiday
Holiday
Holiday
Holiday
Holiday
(Return to School—
January 9)
There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
Nelson Mandela
Learning
Loving Praying
Page 5
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From S
Thank you Mrs. Balestra for her efforts with the fundraising magazine drive!
It continues to be successful, especially the online purchasing option.
Thank you as well to all the families and friends of St. Valentine
School for their purchases!
Prizes have been distributed to the students .
Lastly, we would like to wish all of you a blessed Advent, a very
Merry Christmas and a happy, safe New Year!
We hope to see you at the Advent Mass
on December 21st at St. Francis Xavier Church at 9:30am
and to our continued partnership throughout the new year!
Dufferin-Peel Association of Parents in Catholic Education (DRAPCE)
DRAPCE is the regional council for the Ontario Association of Parents in
Catholic Education representing the voice of parents and guardians of children
enrolled in Catholic education in Dufferin-Peel. When parents are involved in
their children's education, everyone benefits – students, parents, teachers, schools
and communities. Great schools can become even better places to teach and learn.
We encourage parent involvement at the local and regional levels through a grassroots approach. Each school council, including ours, has a representative on
DRAPCE.
Come browse our website. See what’s new in parent involvement in Catholic
education in Dufferin-Peel and find links to interesting information and events or
join our mailing list at:
http://oapce.on.ca/drapce
Learning
Loving Praying
Volume 1, Issue 4
Page 6
Fire Drills and Lockdown Drills
and to report to their designated area out-
windows are secured. Students remain this
side of the building. If an exit is blocked,
way until the alert is cancelled.
students are reminded to use their alternate
exit. We will have three of the fire drills in
As a precautionary measure, we will practice fire drills and lock down procedures
throughout the year. We are required to
hold 6 fire drills each year as well as 2 lock
down drills.
During fire drills, students are asked to
the fall and the remaining three in the spring.
Discussing these procedures with your
child will help reassure the importance of
these safety procedures. In the unforeseen
In a lock down, students are alerted over the
event that we should have an emergency in
P.A. that we are “initiating lock down”. Stu-
our school, we will evacuate to St. Francis
dents are directed to move away from all
Xavier Church. Safety regulations require
windows and doors and to lie on the floor, if
us to have this contingency plan in place. In
possible under desks. Classroom doors and
such an event, your child will remain with
school staff until we contact you.
move safely and swiftly to the nearest exit
Extended French Program
French Immersion Program
The Extended French Program provides students with
French Immersion is a Canadian educational program
the means to develop more advanced French skills, ena-
designed to give students whose first language is not
bling them to communicate effectively in speech and in writing.
French the opportunity to learn in the French language. Students
Through the program, students receive 1 900 hours of instruc-
registered in this program will spend 90% of their day learning in the
tion by the end of Grade 8. The Extended French Program is
French language. All subjects and activities in the French Immersion
only offered at designated schools in Dufferin-Peel.
classroom—except English language arts—will be delivered in French.
Grade 4 parents/guardians who wish to enroll their child in a
Senior Kindergarten parents/guardians who wish to enroll their child
Grade 5 Extended French class for September 2012 are in-
in a Grade 1 French Immersion class for September 2012 are invited
vited to attend an information meeting at San Lorenzo Ruiz
to attend an information meeting at St. Gertrude School on Thurs-
School on Wednesday January 18th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
day January 12th, 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.
Boys and Girls Junior Volleyball
Congratulations to the girls and boys junior
Representing the boys were: Justin F,
volleyball teams for their excellent representa-
Cleavon N, Matthew B, Joshua G, Jeremy athletes, we would
tion of St. Valentine School. They exhib-
A, Justin K, Cyrille P, T.J. T, Timothy P,
like to thank Mr.
ited great team skills and development in their
Joshua P, Gregory D and Brandon G .
Dutra and Mrs. Brown for their time and
abilities. Both teams had exciting seasons
Representing the girls were: Monica D,
dedication to coaching these two fine
and were involved in sudden death play-offs
to advance to the Family Tournament which
will be held on December 1st.
Danica P, Juliene R, Rebecca B, Stefanie
On behalf of the
teams. Also, we would like to thank the
D, Rachel M, Tamera L, Lyana A, Maegan many parent volunteers who drove the
boys and girls to their away games.
S, Anna N, Eula A and Sabrina D.
Learning
Loving Praying
Volume 1, Issue 4
Page 7
Student Safety
Snow and Ice
happen during the winter time. In order for our
property throughout the
When the cool months arrive and snow and ice
school to be as safe as possible, the school must
school day, to attend ap-
on the ground plentiful, we all like to play in it
be that snow stays on the ground – no snowballs,
pointments. When the
and with it. Throwing snowballs and sliding on
kicking snow or any other activity with snow or ice
ice is fun. However, as much fun as it is, snow
that could be harmful.
and ice, can be very dangerous when lots of
people are in a small area. Our school yard is a
small area where approximately three hundred
children have recess. Most student injuries
Sign Out Procedures
A reminder that students must always be signed
out by an adult if they are leaving the school
student arrives back at school, they are required to
sign back noting their arrival time.
Older students who wish to sign out at lunchtime,
MUST have a note with a signature and date
from their parent(s). The must also sign in when
they return at the end of the lunch hour.
Virtue for December—Hope
This month, we will celebrate the virtue of hope. We believe that God comes to us as a real human who can show us the way
of life. We understand that both the world and its people are from God and so are essentially good. Furthermore, 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. Year after
year, we are reminded the 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 see it becoming more and more like the reign of
God that Jesus describes.
REFLECTION…
How will I remember to keep a positive, hope-filled attitude about everyone around me?
OUR DAILY PRAYER FOR DECEMBER—
Let us now pray … for the grace and courage to be people of hope – people who can see, participate in and contribute to
God’s goodness emerging around us. AMEN
Setting the Standard for Healthy Eating in School
disrepair would show a lack of gratitude and
respect for such a great gift.
The Ontario government is committed to making schools healthier places for students in order
to establish the conditions needed to realize the
potential of all students. A healthy school environment enhances student learning and success,
Sirach 30.16
“There is no wealth better than health of body, and
no gladness above joy of heart”.
Dufferin Peel nourishes the growth of students
through a learning environment that is committed to
developing the spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, social and physical capabilities of its students. Good health is connected to being a symbol
of God’s love and a precious gift from God, for a
healthy body is a way of praising God as we are
created in the image of likeness of God. To ignore
the importance of good health and let it fall into
and enhances students’ social and emotional
well-being. Schools have an important role to
play in helping students lead healthier lives,
including teaching students the skills to make
healthy choices and reinforcing those lessons
through school practices.
The School Food and Beverage Policy contributes to improved education and health outcomes for all students. The School Food and
Beverage Policy constitutes a comprehensive
approach to the sale of food and beverages in
schools province-wide. The implementation of
Learning
this policy is another step in creating healthier
schools in Ontario. It also reinforces the knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding healthy eating
that are developed through the various subjects
and disciplines in the Ontario curriculum. For
further information on the School Food and Beverage Policy, see Foundations for a Healthy
School, at www.ontario.ca/healthyschools .
As part of our school’s ongoing effort to promote
healthy eating and to comply with the Ministry of
Education’s School Food and Beverage Policy,
we will be working with students, parents, and the
staff to improve the nutritional value of food and
beverages for sale at our school. These changes
will make it easier for students to choose healthy
food and beverages and will help them practise
what they learn in the classroom about
healthy eating.
Loving Praying
Volume 1, Issue 4
Page 8
The Last Word
Advent Wreath Prayers
First Sunday in Advent - Light the first purple candle.
This is the Candle of Hope. It is a sign that God is with us, encouraging us on our
way.
Blessing for the First Candle:
O, Lord, fill us with a longing for you. Help us to be open and eager, as we wait for your coming with joy and
excitement. In the busy days ahead, keep us in your sight. Let us remember that it is you, our Lord, for whom
we are preparing. Amen.
Second Sunday in Advent - Light the first and the second purple candles.
The second candle is the Candle of Peace. It is a reminder that Jesus came to share God’s peace with all.
Blessing for the Second Candle:
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. Amen.
Third Sunday in Advent - Light the first two purple candles and the pink candle, the Candle of Joy. It is a
sign that God has promised us life in abundance.
Blessing for the Third Candle:
O, Lord, this is a time for caring and sharing. Help us open our hearts fully to others. Let our faces radiate
the joy of your coming so that everyone we meet will know of you and the gift of life you bring. Amen.
Fourth Sunday in Advent - light all the candles, the last one is called the Candle of Love. It is a sign of
God’s generous care and concern for all.
Blessing for the Fourth Candle:
O Lord, you are the Light of the World. Help us to see your will. Always be with us so that we will come to
know and love you in many ways. Teach us to recognize you in those we meet and in all of creation. Amen
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
Learning
Loving Praying