St. Vincent de Paul School
665 Willowbank Trail Mississauga, Ontario L4W 3L6
Tel: (905) 848- 5397 Fax: (905) 848-0738
Principal: Mr. Tony McLoughlin
Secretary: Ms. Susan Ferenc
Trustee: Mr. Mario Pascucci (905) 302-3096
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Fax: 905-890-0888
OfficeTelephone:
905-890-0708 ext. 21061
mario.pascucci@dpcdsb.org
www.TrusteePascucci.ca
Pastor: Fr. John Facey (905) 270-2301
Superintendent: Mr. C. Blanchard (905) 890-1221
DECEMBER 2012
PREPARING FOR JESUS
During this Advent, let your light of peace and
love shine in our world. Give us
eyes to see the signs of your
presence in the world. Help us to
prepare our lives and our homes
to receive the One who said, “I
am the light of the world.
Gracious God, send us your grace this
Advent Season so that we can prepare for your
coming. Touch our hearts with longing so that
we can better love and serve you and each
other. Fill us with the hope that we can be
transformed by your Spirit and so help
transform the world. Give us the peace of
knowing that you came to share our human life
and redeem us for the sake of love. We ask
these things in the name of Jesus whose
kingdom we seek. Amen.
DECEMBER VIRTUE OF THE MONTH:
HOPE
A hopeful person is inspired and inspires
others
A hopeful person is optimistic
A hopeful person is one who seeks good
things from life
A hopeful person is one who seeks the
good in the world
HOMEWORK IS IMPORTANT!!!
Homework is an
important part of the
learning process for it:
reinforces skills/concepts learned in class, allows time for
research skills to be developed, builds good study habits,
promotes self discipline, and gives parents an informal report
on how well their child is coping with the curriculum. Parents
can assist their child with homework by: providing a
consistent quiet place to work, offer to be an audience for oral
reading and editing written work. Homework done well
provides the link to the next day’s lessons. It is like building a
tower; each block has to fit to the one previous in order to
gain a solid structure.
St. Vincent de Paul Society
In keeping with our Catholic vision and the vision of St.
Vincent de Paul, we are having a Clothing Drive to support
two specific needy families in our community. Please help
support the following families through your generosity. The
anticipated pick up day would be on December 21 in the a.m.
Family #1-5 persons: Mother and Father
Children:
1 girl—aged 10 :
1 boy—aged 5 ;
1 boy—aged 3 months
Family #2- 2persons- Single Mother
Children:
1 boy- aged 7
ADVENT MASS: IMPORTANT DATE
St. Vincent de Paul School will continue
the tradition of having an Advent Mass
to be celebrated at St. Patrick’s Church
on Monday December 10, 2012. We
will celebrate as a community, in
partnership with Blessed Teresa of
Calcutta Catholic School. We will celebrate
our faith at 7 pm. Refreshments will be served after the
Mass. More details will follow in a more formal invitational
newsletter.
Bus Cancellations / School Closure due to Weather
Please be advised that 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 am, and will be
announced on the following radio and television stations:
CKFM 99.9
CHUM 1050
CFTR 680
CFNY 102.1 CFTO
CBC
CJCL 590
CHFI 98.1
CFRB 1010
ENERGY FM93.1
CJEZ
EZ ROCK
CJBC (FR) 860 AM
1540 AM
Z103.5
CJMR/CHWO 1250
GLOBAL NEWS
THE WEATHER NETWORK
CITY PULSE 88.5 FM
John Cabot Secondary School —Grade 8 Open
House
This is a reminder to all
parents of children in Grade
8. John Cabot SS has their
Annual Open House on
Wednesday, December 5,
2012. Activities begin at 7 p.m.
Special Needs Kindergarten Entry Planning
for September 2013:
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 Thursday, January 17, 2013, Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board will present an 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. The session will run from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30
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. At the session, parent(s)/guardian(s) will
be reminded to ensure they register at their local school.
Homework Help – 2012-2013
Who can benefit from this site?
Homework Help supports all levels of learners in grades
7 to 10 mathematics. Whether it’s a student that is
struggling with a particular homework question or a
student who is in need of extra support for a concept
learned in class or a student looking to simply learn
more about the math they are being taught Homework
Help is for them.
Online tutoring allows students to ask questions they
might otherwise not feel comfortable asking in front of
their peers in the classroom environment. It is safe and
secure and allows students to receive support from
Ontario teachers. (Sunday – Thursday 5:30 pm to 9:30
pm)
Student Registration:
Students that registered last year can access their
existing accounts and do not need to re-register.
Students without an existing account (e.g. new to the
board, grade 7) must register on the site following the
detailed prompts. The process is quick and very user
friendly. This can be done independently by students or
it can be done as a class within a school’s computer lab.
(http://homeworkhelp.ilc.org) All our Grade 7 and 8
students have been inserviced by the Board on this
amazing interactive educational process.For more
information , please contact Mr. Trias.
Student Safety at St. Vincent de Paul
Student Safety is always a primary consideration for all
activities and plans at St. Vincent de Paul School. The
Westlake Campus classroom at St. Vincent de Paul School
supports the needs of students for whom the regular pattern of
home and school has been disrupted. Specific information
regarding students and the program are subject to Privacy
legislation and cannot be shared.
The alert processes and systems in place at the school support
staff in responding effectively to the needs of all students in a
timely manner, so as to support the community as a whole in
being safe, caring, healthy and inclusive.
The mission of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board is to
develop our students both academically, spiritually and
morally. With this in mind, the children of the Westlake
Campus, will at times, under supervision of their teacher and
Child and Youth Workers use our school gymnasium during
regular school hours. St. Vincent de Paul is the Patron Saint
of the needy and the entire staff at St. Vincent de Paul School
work as a team to help all the children in our building reach
their potential.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Currently students who require additional
support are assisted by our Special
Education teacher and Educational
Resource Workers. Student programs are
supported in a variety of ways to develop
and/or enhance learning opportunities.
Periodically, students are presented at a
school TEAM meeting for further consultation and planning.
The following personnel may attend the Special Services
TEAM meeting: Psychology staff member, Speech and
Language Pathologist, Social Worker, and a Child and Youth
Worker. At these meetings, staff summarize their
observations, concerns and interventions and seek input
regarding next steps; strategies to try in the classroom;
additional services that might be offered; referral for further
assessment by one of the Special Service personnel or referral
to an outside agency for further consultation or assessment.
The benefit of the TEAM process is the joint consultation which
ensures that the best program is in place to meet the individual
needs of each student. Staff will contact parents prior to these
meetings and will report any recommendations to parents
pending the outcome of the meeting.
FRENCH IMMERSION INFORMATION MEETING
Senior Kindergarten parents/guardians, who wish to enroll their
child in the St. Pio of Pietrelcina Grade 1 French Immersion
class for September, 2012 are invited to attend an information
meeting on: Monday January 14th, 2013
7:00 p.m. Please note the meeting will take place at St.
Gertrude School ( located at 815 Ceremonial Drive,
Mississauga). The deadline for submission of Applications will
be 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 6th, 2013.
Extended French Information and Registration
Information Meeting for Extended French Program will be take
place on January 19, 2013 at St. Thomas More School at
7:00 p.m. The deadline for completed applications is
Wednesday, February 9, 2013 at 3:00p.m.
Emergency Evacuation Plan
We have a detailed fire/emergency evacuation
policy. Students must wear shoes in the school
building at all times, as in the event of an alarm,
students will not be permitted to stop to put on
shoes, coats, hats,etc. Their safety is our first
priority. Please ensure that your child has an indoor pair of
shoes at school.
In the unforeseen event that our school has to evacuate for
emergency purposes. We will evacuate to John Cabot
Secondary. Our alternate exit is Westminister Church at
Rathburn and Tomken Rd. Safety regulations and Board Policy
requires us to have this contingency plan in place. In such an
event, your child will remain in the evacuation location until we
contact you.
Indoor shoes
To keep our hallways, classrooms
and gym clean and safe, please
ensure that your child has a pair of
shoes to wear inside the school.
Children may not wear outside
shoes and/or boots in their classrooms. Running shoes with
non-marking soles are required for participation in the physical
education program.
School Website
We are continually updating our school website to provide
information regarding our school. Each month we will post our
newsletter and other important calendar items. Please check
our website for important information. A HUGE thank you to
Ms. Ricardo who leads this difficult task. Our school website
is located at: http://www.dpcdsb.org/VPAUL.
LUNCH POLICY
We have a large number of students eating
lunch at school and often the children have to
be reminded of proper behaviour while eating.
We ask for the parents’ cooperation in
reinforcing with your children appropriate
behaviour at lunch.
The students are expected to:

Eat in their assigned lunch room

Remain seated while eating

Not to share food. This is a necessary precaution as
so many students now have food allergies.

Chat quietly to neighbours

Dispose of all garbage in the proper receptacle
before they leave the lunchroom.
Thankyou for going over the expectations with your children
and for supporting us in our efforts to make eating lunch at
school a pleasant experience for all. If children go out for
lunch, we require a dated and signed note and students
are not to come back early and eat in the playground.
SCHOOL YEAR & ALL SEASON SAFETY
TIPS
- Tell your children to always tell you where
they are going and with whom.
- Tell your children to never go anywhere with
a stranger.
- Tell your children never to talk to strangers
or take anything from them.
- Teach your children what a safe stranger is, in the event they
need help i.e. a police officer, a fire fighter, a teacher, etc.
- Develop a “ what if “ game to get children thinking about how
they would respond if they felt threatened or afraid
- Teach your children to TALK to you immediately when
someone does anything that makes them feel uncomfortable.
- Encourage your children to use a buddy system as an
alternative to walking alone
- Avoid having your child’s name clearly visible on any piece of
clothing or accessory. A stranger may read their name and call
it out to your child, fooling your child into believing this person
knows them.
QSP MAGAZINES!!!!!
Thank you to the St. Vincent de Paul
School community for supporting
literacy
through
our
magazine
fundraiser. While the direct cash or
cheque envelope process ended
November 27, you can still continue to
support our schools by on-line orders.
Simply go to www.qsp.ca and follow the prompts. Our school
code is : 8388.
Before you know it, you will receive top selling magazines such
as : Chickadee, Sports Illustrated, Chatelaine, Ladies Fitness,
Reader’s Digest and Maclean’s.
Custody of Children
On rare occasions, we are faced with difficult situations in
which non-custodial parents arrive at school asking to visit their
child or take the child home after school. We are best able to
serve and protect students when we are made aware of legal
custody arrangements, visitation rights and other special
instructions. If legal custody matters affect your family, please
ensure that our office and classroom teachers are aware of
any custodial arrangements that may affect your child during
school hours. It is imperative that you provide any legal
paperwork to the office so it can be kept on file.
THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
A huge thanks to the large majority of parents
who are using our Kiss and Ride program
properly. Parents are not to leave their cars
to take their children to the primary yard.
Staff are on duty on the pavement and in the
Kindergarten yard at 8:45 a.m. My staff are all
clearly instructed to wear yellow vests to identify
themselves as school supervisors. Never go directly to your
child’s classroom or school yard without reporting to the
office.
EQAO Letter
Please find attached an important letter that relates to EQAO
testing that takes place in June of 2012. While EQAO
assessments are administered for only grade 3 and grade 6
students, all students from JK – grade 8 are involved in ongoing assessements that involved core skill development to
higher level thinking. Your child’s teacher will give you more
details as the year progresses.
Staying In During Recess
Under ordinary circumstances, if a child is not
well enough to go outside for recess he/she is
not well enough to be in school and should be
kept at home. We have no facilities for
children who are ill nor do we have the
proper supervision.
Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten Registration:
St. Vincent de Paul will offer a full day Junior and Senior
Kindergarten program for 2013-2014
Registration for Junior, Senior and Full-Day Kindergarten for
the 2013-2014 school year, will take place at all Catholic
elementary schools in Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon,
Bolton and Orangeville on the following days:
Monday, January 28, 2013*
7:00-9:00 p.m.
*Snow Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, January 30- February 1,
2013
9:00-11:00 a.m.
1:00-3:00 p.m.
DATES TO REMEMBER
December 4 th
December 5 th
December 10 th
December 10 th
December 10 th
December 12 th
December 13 th
December 14 th
December 18 th
December21th
January 7th
January 14 th
January 14 th
January 21st
January 28 th
February 5th
February 7th
February 8th
School Council: 6:30 p.m.
John Cabot SS—Open House- 7pm
See Hear—Vision/Hearing Screening
Rosary Apostolate
Advent Mass-7pm
Grades 4- 7 Skating
Silvercreek: Ricardo/Pinto
Grade 8 Scientists in the School
School Choir visits Sunrise Sr. Home
Last day of classes before Christmas
We’re back!!!!!!!!!School Starts!!!!
Rosary Apostolate
Grade 2 Reconciliation- 7pm at St. Patrick’s
PA Day—no school for students
JK Registration Night—details to follow
School Council 6:30pm
Parent Student Interview Night
Parent Student Interview Day