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St. Valent
Volume 2, Issue 5
January 2013
A New Year's Prayer
Inside this issue:
Dear Lord, please give me
We Create Change—Advent
A few friends who understand me and remain my
Kiss N Ride—Bus Cancellations
friends;
Book Fair—French Programs
A work to do which has real value,
St. Valentine Night with the Raptors
without which the world would be the poorer;
Gr 7 & 8 Math Online Help
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not
blazed;
Sacraments—PA Days
An understanding heart;
Water Bottle Free Wednesdays
A sense of humor;
JK Registration—January Virtue
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
Winter Safety—Water Bottle Facts
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
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. We welcome back Mrs. Dorscht and Mrs.
Lutes! 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 continuing preparations to receive the sacrayour prayers.
Cathy Saytar,
Superintendent of Schools
905 890 0708
Peter Ferreira,
Trustee - Ward 6
416 805 7110
Msg. Edgardo Pan,
Pastor
St. Francis Xavier Church
905 890 5290
I wish everyone health and happiness for 2013! May we continue to
strive to make every day in our lives as beautiful and meaningful as
Christmas Day!
Learning
Franca Dodgson,
Secretary
Karen Canlas,
School Council Chair
ments of First Communion and Confirmation—please keep them in
Living
St. Valentine Catholic School
5610 Heatherleigh Avenue
Mississauga, Ontario
L5V 2V7
Praying
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 2
St. Valentine School: We Create Change
Every day, women around the world spend a cumulative total of 200 million hours col-
lecting water for their families. 80 percent of illnesses in developing countries are linked
to poor water and sanitation. This year, in recognition of the global water crisis and the
effect that events like last year’s East African drought have on developing countries,
Free The Children has set a goal of providing 100,000 people with clean water for life.
Free The Children’s We Create Change campaign, made possible by RBC, is one
of Canada’s largest penny drives. Coinciding with the penny going out of circulation, Canadians are challenged to donate
their pennies to an important cause: water. St. Valentine School’s Youth Ambassadors have signed up for the challenge
and we have received our penny bags from RBC. Beginning Wednesday January 16th, students are encouraged to bring
pennies for our penny bags. ONLY pennies can be donated as the bags are weighed to determine their value. Thank you
for your support!
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 Msg. Pan 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 February 14th and parents are invited to attend.
We would like to thank all of the families of
need.
Vincent de Paul families.
St. Valentine School for their very gener-
The families and agencies that we help are
Thank you as well to our staff for all their
ous spirit of giving during this Advent Sea-
extremely grateful for the kindness ex-
donations of time to the various activities.
son.
tended to them with gifts and food items.
From the Christmas hampers for the St.
This year, more than 200 gifts and $1500
Vincent de Paul Society to the Mitten
in gift cards were donated to the hampers.
Tree to the food drive, our school contrib-
Over 10 boxes of cans were donated and
uted greatly to those in our community in
distributed amongst the hampers for our St.
We have had ongoing safety concerns with the
area around St. Valentine School—Kiss N Ride
and drive through lanes.
Some of the issues have included parking in Kiss
N Ride lanes, parking / 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
Living
Kiss N Ride
following rules for Kiss N Ride and parking at
dents off from the drive through lanes at the front of
our school:
the school.
Kiss N Ride functions only during entry time
We continue to need
between 8:15 am and 8:30 am.
Cars are restricted from parking in the Kiss N
volunteers to help
with the monitoring of
Kiss N Ride. If you
Ride area, drive through lanes and bus lanes AT are able to help,
ALL TIMES.
please contact the
Parents are also reminded NOT to drop stu-
Learning
school.
Praying
Volume 2, 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
Guess Who Is Coming to St Valentine?
The Scholastic Book Fair will be at
our school from Monday January
visit the Fair. The Draw will be held Thursday and the winner will
receive $50 worth of books for themselves and their class.
28th to Friday February 1st.
If you are able to volunteer some time,
Book Fair Hours
please contact Mrs. Chiola-Nakai,
Monday- Wednesday 9:00- 3:00
Thursday 9:30- 8:00pm
either by phone or by a quick note, to
let him know your availability.
Thank you for your support!!
Family Draw Ballot Forms will be given to every student as they
Mr. Chiola-Nakai
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 2013 are invited
Grade 5 Extended French class for September 2013 are invited
to attend an information meeting at St. Gertrude School on Mon-
to attend an information meeting at San Lorenzo Ruiz School on
day January 14th, 2013 at 7:00 pm.
Tuesday January 15th, 2013 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
Learning
Praying
Page 4
January 2013
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
1
Thu
2
Fri
3
Sat
4
5
11
12
CHRISTMAS / WINTER BREAK
6
7
8
9
10
Gr 1-8 Eco Presentations
13
20
17
18
Gr 6—RAID Rosary Aposto-
14
15
Mrs. Fendley—
Ms. Boone/Ms
lates
Silvercreek
Ruske—Silvercreek
24
25
21
22
PA Day
16
23
Water Bottle Free
Wednesday
9:30 am—Gr 2 First
Reconciliation
27
28
Book Fair
Gr 6—RAID
29
Book Fair
Mrs. Mercer—
Silvercreek
Int Basketball
30
31
Book Fair
Book Fair (open to
Mrs. Dorscht—
7:00 pm)
Silvercreek
Teams @ ACC
“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”
Winnie the Pooh
Living
Learning
Praying
19
26
Page 5
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From S
Lunch Lady
“HOT” Home style lunches
prepared fresh daily
Visit their website at
www.lunchlady.ca
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

Healthy snacks

Individually labeled lunches

Milk included

If you wish to purchase more magazines or would like to refer
3 entrée choices each day

100 % pure juices

friends or family, magazines can by purchased from the QSP
Over 40 entrée choices
website (www.QSP.ca) under the school code 18412 .
Community Event—St. Valentine Evening with the Raptors
On Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 St. Valentine staff, students and families will have an opportunity to attend a Toronto Raptors Basketball Game. We have rented buses and will be leaving St. Valentine School at 5:30 p.m.
This is a community and family school event, so feel free to invite relatives, friends and neighbours. The cost of the excursion is $50.00. This includes the price of the ticket (regular price is $68.00) and the
transportation. This is a great deal!
All students must be accompanied by an adult.
Tickets are limited so they will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.
Living
Learning
Praying
Volume 2, 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.
Sacraments
PA Days—Jan. 21st & Feb. 8th
Friday January 21, 2013 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
this school year. This will be the final opportunity
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:

port Card supports assessment for learning and assessment as learning. It also provides an
opportunity to:
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
Reconciliation/Eucharist and Confirmation—
Thursday January 10 @ 7:00pm
Inscription weekend for both sacraments:

Report cards will be distributed on Tuesday February 5. The Elementary Progress Re-
Weekend of January 19 and 20t.
support their child’s learning;
3.
identify concerns about student progress early in the
school year and develop strategies to improve student 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 7th or during the day of February 8th.
Going Green Together!
To kick off the New Year, the St. Valentine
planet. Lessening and ideally eliminating the number of plastic water bottles is
new Eco-friendly initiative in addition to our
responsible Catholic citizens. It is hoped that activities like the Water Bottle
Free Wednesdays will help St. Valentine students see how important (and how
easy!) it can be to bring reusable water bottles to school. Water Bottle Free
Wednesdays will commence on Wednesday, January 23rd and will occur every
Environmental Team will be implementing a
“Lights Out Lunch Hour” initiative and our
Litterless Lunch Mondays. Our next environmental initiative to help improve the state of our
environment is our Ban the Bottle campaign.
an important step in “greening” our ecological footprint and becoming more
Wednesday for the remainder of the year.
Every Wednesday, students will be encouraged to participate in Water
In order to help with this new initiative, encourage your child to use his/her red
Bottle Free Wednesdays.
St. Valentine reusable water bottle on Wednesdays.
The purpose of Water Bottle Free Wednesdays is to raise awareness
around the negative impact plastic water bottles have on our
Living
Your support with our environmental initiatives in honouring and protecting the
gifts given to us from God is greatly appreciated
Learning
Praying
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 7
JK Registration 2013—2014
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, 2011.

Proof of Canadian citizenship or landed immi-
ior Kindergarten will
January 28th from
7:00 pm—9:00 pm.
and Wednesday
January 30—Friday February 1, 2013 from
9:00 am—11:30 pm and 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
This registration is for children currently not
2011. 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
with the See of Rome
attending school in the Dufferin Peel Catholic
Proof of address
program at St. Valentine, 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 may 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 reactions. 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 we will resist the temptation
to cause harm to ourselves or to others around us. AMEN
Winter Safety
Snow and Ice
Winter Dress
Staying in for Recess
When the cool months arrive and snow and ice on
Now that January is upon us, it seems appro-
Throughout the school year, with cold tempera-
the ground plentiful, we all like to play in it and
priate to remind everyone to please ensure that
tures, and so many students recovering from, or
with it. Throwing snowballs and sliding on ice is
your child comes to school prepared for winter
away from school because of colds, flu, etc., we
fun. However, as much fun as it is, snow and ice,
weather. Fresh air and exercise are important
receive numerous requests to all children to re-
can be very dangerous when lots of people are in
and the students go outside regularly for recess
main indoors during recesses. Please note that we
a small area. Our school yard is a small area where
unless the weather is extremely cold. Boots,
CANNOT comply, as we have neither the
approximately four hundred children have recess.
hats, scarves, gloves, winter coats and snow
facilities or the staff to supervise these students.
Most student injuries happen during the winter
pants are necessary to keep warm and dry.
If your child is too ill to go outside for recess, then
time. In order for our school to be as safe as pos-
Wherever possible, please put identification on
he/she is too ill to be at school. On extremely
sible, the school must be that snow stays on the
your child’s belongings. It is also important that
cold days, we limit the amount of time the students
ground – no snowballs, kicking snow or any other
indoor shoes are avail-
spend out of doors. We obtain our weather in-
activity with snow or ice that could be harmful.
able at school at all
formation from the Environment Canada
times.
Weather info line and follow School Board
guidelines.
Living
Learning
Praying
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 8
The Last Word
Facts About Plastic Bottles
Some facts about plastic bottles:
 In 2006, it took more than 17 million barrels of oil (excluding the oil used in transporting the plastic)
to produce plastic bottles.
 The manufacturing process of creating bottled water created more than 2.5 million tons of carbon
dioxide. It also takes more than three liters of water to create one liter of bottled water.
 There is a large amount of energy needed to fill plastic bottles with water, transport them to the
store, keep them cool and dispose of them. It is estimated that the total amount of energy used to
bottle water is equivalent of filling a bottle a quarter full of oil.
 The amount of oil used to produce plastic water bottles in America is enough to fuel about
100,000 cars for a year.
 Only 13 percent of water bottles are recycled.
 About 80 percent of all municipal solid
waste ends up in a landfill, while 10 percent
is
incinerated and only 10 percent is recycled.
Because about less than one percent of all
plastics is recycled, almost all plastics are
in-
cinerated or end up in a landfill.
 Recycling a single plastic bottle can con-
serve enough energy to light a 60 watt light
bulb for up to six hours.
 Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin
composting
 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to
the bottle itself
We are on the web: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VALEN
Living
Learning
Praying