St. Vincent de Paul School 665 Willowbank Trail Mississauga, Ontario L4W 3L6 Tel: (905) 848- 5397 Fax: (905) 848-0738 Principal: Mr. L. Dodaro Secretary: Ms. S. Ferenc Superintendent: Mr. C. Blanchard (905) 890-1221 Pastor: Fr. John Facey (905) 270-2301 DECEMBER 2013 Lord, we thank you for being our everpresent safety net during the storms in our lives and for the gift of family and friends to support us in our times of need. We pray that we will work at strengthening our relationship with you each day so that we may have the courage and love to reach out to those in need through word, action and prayer. Trustee: Mr. Mario Pascucci (905) 302-3096 Chair of the Board of Trustees Fax: 905-890-0888 Telephone: 905-890-0708 ext. 21061 mario.pascucci@dpcdsb.org www.TrusteePascucci.ca INCLEMENT WEATHER & CANCELLATIONS Parents/ guardians, students and school staff are asked to monitor the following radio/ television stations after 6:00 a.m. to receive bus cancellation/ school closure information. DECEMBER’S VIRTUE - HOPE God helps us to keep on working for a more peaceful world even when we feel discouraged. A hopeful person is… inspired and inspires others optimistic one who seeks good things from life one who sees the good in the world DATES TO REMEMBER Skating Choir Visit Sunrise Retirement home Silver Creek Jr Skating (Changed from 10th) Advent Community Mass (St Patrick) 7:00pm JKSK Celebration (am) Dec 4 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec 11 Dec 10 Dec 18 THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!!! Thank you to our Catholic School Council for all their work for our Santa visit. Students enjoyed Jolly Saint Nicolas and some memorable photos. Also, thank you to the parents who are helping with our skating trips, very much appreciated. Thank you as well to our pizza moms who make sure our students are taken care of on Tuesdays. Thank you all for your time, and efforts, you are appreciated. During the winter months, inclement weather and/or poor road conditions may cause the disruption of bus transportation and regular school operations. In these cases, parents/ guardians should develop alternate car/ transportation arrangements. A decision to cancel bus transportation and/ or to close schools is made by 6:00 a.m. Decisions are based on several factors including precipitation, air temperature and road conditions. A decision to cancel bus transportation may be system wide (where all busses in one or more municipalities are cancelled). If busses are cancelled in the morning, they will not operate in the afternoon. Therefore students transported to schools by parents require the same transportation home. ADVENT FOOD DRIVE SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS On behalf of those in need in our community During this Christmas Season we ask for your help with donations for food/gift vouchers, clothing, gifts for the young children and personal hygiene products. Supervision begins at 8:45 a.m. and ends at 3:30p.m. Please do not bring/send your children to school earlier than this time. Given safety concerns, it is not a good idea to leave your children outside unattended as student supervision in the yard begins at 8:45 and not before. Please make other arrangements for the care of your children prior to 8:45 a.m. Please meet your child at the school at 3:30 pm. when students are dismissed. Hopefully these guidelines will help you in shaping your gift giving. Whatever will be given will be most appreciated. Parcels will be picked up Friday, December 13th. Family #15 Family #16 Family #1 Family #2 Mother 1 girl 11 – size Ladies SM 1 boy 12 – size 14 Mother 1 boy 4 ½ - size 6 1 boy 3 ½ size 5 Mother 1 boy 4 - size 6 1 girl 5 – size 7 1 girl 12 – size Ladies M Mother 1 boy 6 – size 8 1 girl 3 – size 3 BRIDGE PROGRAM: New Class A new program for elementary students with needs on the Autism Spectrum will be opening for December in our school community. It will be a partnership between Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and ErinoakKids. “ErinoakKids provides a comprehensive range of family-centered treatment, rehabilitation and support services to children with disabilities and their families who reside in Dufferin and Peel - the Ministry of Children and Youth Services’ Central West Region of Ontario.” You can learn more about ErinoakKids at their website: https://www.erinoakkids.ca/Services.aspx We are excited to welcome this new program to our school community. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Dodaro. ADVENT SCHOOL MASS St. Vincent de Paul community is invited to attend our school Mass on Tuesday December 10 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church. Refreshments to follow the mass. Please join us. PARENTS IN THE SCHOOL YARD Thank you for your cooperation of parents and caregivers from not entering the schoolyard when dropping off their children. VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL: All visitors to the school must sign in the office. Any appointments to meet staff have to go through the office or the teacher ahead of time. When signing out students, adults check –in the office, and parents/ guardians must wait in the office and not walk through the school with the office direction. BULLYING AWARENESS DRIVEWAY—KISS AND RIDE SAFETY Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week in Ontario schools ran from November 17-23 and the DufferinPeel Catholic School Board and its 149 schools planned a wide range of events, activities and actions that highlight greater awareness of and promoted a culture of care, respect and inclusion for all through efforts to eliminate bullying. Many thanks to parents / guardians who have been using the correct and safe procedure for dropping their children off in the morning in our Kiss and Ride program. Our driveway is made safer when everyone cooperates. Please ensure you have pulled up to the front of the Kiss N Ride lane to let children in or out of your car. The driveway gets very congested as 9:00 a.m. approaches, and many students are arriving after the bell rings. Please be aware that it is our expectation that children arrive at school on time and prepared to work. Bullying Behaviours Occurs when: * we use unwanted actions or words to hurt someone else * threaten someone * tease or imitate for humiliation * exclude on purpose * encourage others to tease/ exclude * send someone unwanted comments, photos, text, symbols or codes on internet/ or cell phone What Can You Do? Tell them to Stop, walk away Do not let it go on Seek a friend Get OFF LINE immediately- unwanted conversation Tell an adult- REPORT It Tell your parents Take control- be your own advocate Do not fight back Stay calm Call the help line Call Police (or school Police) EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION Please update your phone numbers, and emergency contact numbers as soon as they change. This will allow us to contact you in good time when required, especially when it becomes an urgent or important matter. LUNCH HOUR ROUTINES A reminder that students who regularly stay for lunch are NOT permitted to leave school property without a signed and dated note from parents each time they leave school grounds. We have been cooperative this month, but for your child safety we require your support. We encourage consistency. Students either go home for lunch or stay in school for lunch. Thank you for supporting this important safety routine. CRIMINAL OFFENCE DECLARATIONS All volunteers who help at St. Vincent de Paul must have a Criminal Reference Check. If you plan to continue to help at our school on a regular basis or will be looking to volunteer, why not pick up a Criminal Reference Check Application in the office. There is no charge for the process and by completing the form now, there will not be any delay in being part of school year activities. WEBSITE: Please continue to visit our website at http://www.dpcdsb.org/VPAUL. Our school newsletter, as well as many board memos, announcements and information will be posted. Next we will have a new easier to use website. Please visit.