Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Elementary School
April 2015
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
2
1
Holy Thursday
Stations of the Cross
Prayer Service, 2pm
April Fool’s Day
The Virtue for April is
World Autism
Awareness Day
Fri
3
Sat
4
Good Friday
No School For
Students
25 Mount Royal Circle
6
Easter Sunday
12
7
Easter Monday  BNE Chess
Tournament at
No School For
Lester B. Pearson
Students
13
Hep B & HPV
vaccinations
14
8
9
10
Easter is the gift...
11
Easter is the gift of HOPE
Easter is the gift of PEACE
Easter is the gift of LOVE
Let us rejoice in Him, Who gives them all.
May God bless you at Easter, And keep you all year through.
May God give you all the faith it takes, To make your dreams come true.
May God’s love and wisdom always help, to guide you on your way.
May God’s light shine down upon you now, to bless your Easter Day.
—Author Unknown
 Lockdown Drill, AM  Dental Screening
JK/SK, Gr. 2
 Pink Day
 iEngage Parent
 Police
Presentation at
Presentations, gr7
Holy Spirit
15
16
Volunteer
Appreciation, pm
17
Phone (905) 913-1703
FAX (905) 913-2918
April 2015
Food Drive ends
5
Brampton, Ont. L6P 1W3
18
 Easter Season
liturgy, 9:30am
Principal
Sonia Rotino
Secretary
Mary Doria
~
Superintendent
Denise Oude-Reimerink
Trustee
19
20
 First Communion
at St. Patrick’s,
Deputat 2:30pm,
Paolella 4:30pm
21
22
23
 Brampton Dance
Event @ Rose
Theatre
 Earth Day
 SMART Start
grades 6&7
 SMART Start
grades 6&7
 Family Level
Spoken Word
Competition
26
27
28
 School Council
Meeting, 7pm
24
25
 Spring Park
Cleanup
29
30
Intermediate
Basketball
Tournament at St.
Andre Bessette
 Virtue Assembly
 SMART Start
grades 6&7
 SMART Start
grades 6&7
Upcoming Events
May
4-8
May (continued)
Catholic Education Week
5 & 7 SMART Start program, grades 6&7
20
Arts Festival Evening, 7-9pm
21
Welcome to Kindergarten Parent Info night, 6:30pm
6
Book Fair to 7pm
25 - June 5
8
Sir John A. MacDonald Board Level Spoken Word/
Speech Competition
26-29 Grade 7 & 8 Trip to Boston
Dear parents, students, and school staff:
Blessings of Easter to all of you and all who are dear to you. It is with great joy that I
celebrate with you for the first time the gift of the Easter Season. I truly look forward to
benefit from the grace in store for all of us as we journey with Jesus towards the fulfilment
of God’s promise of new beginnings.
One of the greatest blessings that we have all been given are the children. Along with the
challenges of family life, I know that each child is truly such a gift. In their presence, their
words, their actions and their spirit, they help us focus on what is essential in life.
I am always pleasantly surprised, encouraged and challenged by what they do and say.
Their little words at times have for me a greater meaning than long sermons.
One example: Yesterday, Palm Sunday, as the congregation knelt in one of the masses,
when the Gospel of the Passion was proclaimed and the part was reached when Jesus died
on the cross, a few moments of deep silence were observed. And then, in the midst of that
silence, the voice of a young child was heard loud and clear: “And now what?”
Those words, that question, said everything to me. Yes, now what? After all is said and
done, after the celebrations have been observed, after First Confession, First Communion
and Confirmation have been celebrated, NOW WHAT? When the Easter celebrations
have been observed, NOW WHAT?
Where do we go from here? How can we translate our words into action? How can we
show our faith in daily life and commitments?
A BLESSED EASTER TO ALL, DEAR FRIENDS.
Fr. Vito Marziliano,
Pastor.
EQAO Testing
10
Mother’s Day
29
Virtue Assembly
11
P.A. Day - No school for students
30
3rd Annual OLOL Family Picnic
13
Crowing of Mary Liturgy, 1:30pm
14
National Denim Day
3
15
Wellness Day at Our Lady of Lourdes
6
18
Victoria Day, no school for students
June
FDK to Downey Farm, School Council Meeting 7pm
Grade 8 Confirmation, 12:00 Sette, 2:30 pm Costabile, St.
Patrick’s Church
Shawn Xaviour
Parish Priest
Father Vito Marziliano
Visit our School Website:
www.dpcdsb.org/lourd
DPCDSB is now on Twitter! For
the latest board news and
information, follow us
@DPCDSBSchools.
www.connect2ENDviolence.ca






Stations of the Cross Prayer Service, Thursday, April 2, 2:00 pm in the school gym
Easter School Liturgy, Thursday, April 16, 9:30 am in the school gym
First Communion, Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 2:30 pm (Deputat) and 4:30 pm
(Paolella), St. Patrick’s Church
Crowning of Mary School Liturgy, Wednesday, May 13, 1:30 pm in the school gym
Confirmation, Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 12:00pm (Sette) and 2:30 pm (Costabile), St.
Patrick’s Church
Year End School Liturgy, Thursday, June 25, 1:30 pm in the school gym
Our Lady of Lourdes
April 2015
Pizza days are on Wednesday April 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29.
Treat Days will be offered on Fridays and we will be selling
popcorn, baked chips and Terra Cotta cookies for $1.00 each.
Rainbow Lunches are Tuesday, April 7, 14, 21 and 28.
It is a partnership with parents and other members of our community that we
are able to assist students on their educational journey. Once again, we will
hold a volunteer appreciation on the afternoon of April 14 to thank those who
have volunteered time to our students, teachers or to the school as a whole.
Volunteers help promote student success!
The Administration of Grade 3 & 6 Assessment of Reading, Writing and
Mathematics 2014-2015 will be held May 25 – June 5, 2015. Specific dates
will be forthcoming. Please try to avoid booking appointments or vacations for
your grade 3 or 6 child during this assessment period.
If parents would like to have their children practice EQAO questions prior to
the test at home, they may go to www.eqao.com and click English, then click
Parent Resources. There are assessments available from previous years as well
as the exemplars for marking. You will see level 1 (code 10) to level 4 (code
40) answers provided for many of the short answer questions in the exemplars
which refer to the assessments provided.
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District
School board has developed a new
way to help nurture a safe, caring
and inclusive school environment.
The Online Reporting Tool is
intended for students in grades 3 –
8 who become aware of bullying
incidents and negative behaviours.
The student can simply ‘click’ on the
link found on our school’s website to
fill out the report. The report will
then be directly emailed to the
principal and/or vice principal and
will be dealt with accordingly. The
link will be active after Easter.
It is important to recognize that the
Online Reporting Tool is an
alternate reporting option. It is
best practice to speak directly with
a responsible adult at home and/or
in the school.
The International Day of Pink is more
than just a symbol of a shared belief in
celebrating diversity; it's also a
commitment to being open-minded,
accepting differences and learning to
respect one another. Our Lady of
Lourdes students are encouraged to
wear pink on Wednesday, April 8 in
support of this antibullying initiative.
We are in the process of planning
staffing and organizing classes for
the next school year. If you are
planning to move, or are simply
changing address within our
boundaries, please let the office
know as soon as possible.
If your child(ren) will be returning to
Our Lady of Lourdes School and have
particular learning needs that you
feel we should consider when we
work on class lists, please put this in
writing, addressed to the Principal by
April 24. Educational reasons will be
considered in this process. Please do
not make requests for specific
teachers. We cannot guarantee your
request but we will consider your
concerns along with other factors.
Class placements are tentative until
the second week of September when
staffing is confirmed.
Members of our chess club are still
practicing! Our Lady of Lourdes Chess
Teams will represent our school at the
Family level competition to be held at
Lester B. Pearson Catholic School on
Thursday April 7, 2015. Thank you
to Mme. Mastrangelo and Mme.
Ignoto for running the club and
coaching the team. Good luck to the
team.
On Tuesday, April 28, the following members of the Intermediate Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball teams will compete in the
Brampton North East Mini Basketball Tournament at St. Andre Bessette. Good luck to both teams! A special
thank you to Ms. Ignoto and Mrs. Stewart for coaching the teams.
At Our Lady of Lourdes, we donated $250 from the
proceeds of treat day on Friday, March 27 to Down
Syndrome International, which will go towards outreach
training programmes in developing countries dedicated
to making a difference in the life opportunities for
people with Down Syndrome. As well, students wore
different coloured socks to raise awareness for Down
Syndrome Day.
Good luck to the Our
Lady of Lourdes dance
team members who will
be performing in the
Dance Showcase at the
Rose Theatre on April 21,
2015.
Thank you to
Daniel B. and Mrs.
Stewart for coaching the
dance team.
Before March Break, students were given the
opportunity to view Disney’s Big Hero 6. We
encouraged students to donate to ShareLife. We raised
$270 for ShareLife.
Students were given the opportunity to purchase a hot
dog, cookie and drink in support of World Autism
Awareness Day. We raised $450. On April 2, we will
“Raise the Flag” to show our respect for individuals with
Autism Spectrum Disorder across their lifespan and show
our commitment to help them realize their potential.
Our Easter Food Drive will run from March 23 to April 2,
in support of the Knights’ Table. This organization assists
those in need in our community. We ask that students bring
in non-perishable items for the food drive to help those
who are less fortunate. Thank you for your continued
generosity.
The Eco-Team wants to thank all the classes who participated in “The Great
Gulp” and “Earth Hour” during the month of March. These initiatives
encouraged students to drink local tap water and conserve energy by shutting
off lights and electronics for one hour. Although these activities are done, we
encourage students and families to continue drinking tap water instead of
bottled water, and to turn off their classroom/home lights for 1 hour everyday.
Upcoming events…
God has given us many guidelines and examples of how to live our lives. He sent
his Son Jesus to make sure that we could see what life could be like.
Jesus made one lesson clear above all other lessons – the lesson to love. Love is
not about us – it is about forgetting ourselves and looking out for the good of
others. That’s what Jesus did – he intentionally
forgot about himself. He chose to give up his life
for the good of others – us!
We will be having a
Spring Book Fair during
Education Week from May
3 to 8. Students may view
the Book Fair on Monday
and Tuesday and are
welcome to make
purchases on Wednesday
or Thursday during
scheduled times. The Book
Fair will also be open for
purchases on Wednesday,
May 6 from 3:15 pm to
7:00 pm. Preview flyers
will go home with students
the week before. Thank
you for your continued
support.
April is Earth Month and the Our Lady of Lourdes Eco-Team has many ecofriendly activities happening during the month of April. On April 22, Earth Day,
students in grades 4-8 will be cleaning up Lillie Roberts Park and the school
grounds. We will also be having eco-trivia during earth week (April 20-24).
Additionally, each class will be making a pledge for something they will do
during earth month. There will be more fun activities presented by the EcoTeam and all activities will be listed on our eco-bulletin board in the front
entrance. Happy Earth Month!
On Thursday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m.
we will be hosting a Welcome to
Kindergarten evening for those
students and their parents who will be
starting school for the first time in
September. Children and their
parents will be involved in activities
that
promote
student
school
readiness. At the end of the evening,
each child will take home a bag of
materials to promote readiness
activities at home. These bags are
provided in conjunction with The
Learning Partnership.