1300 McBride Ave., Mississauga, ON. L5C 1M8 905 - 277- 4512
PRINCIPAL: S. CALVERT
SECRETARY: A. MILLER
PASTOR:
COUNCIL CHAIR:
SUPERINTENDENT:
TRUSTEE:
FR. JOYSON POTTACKAL
M. OSSO
C. SAYTAR
P. FERREIRA
905 279-5742
October 2012
905 277-4512
Issue 2
905 890-1221
416 805-7110 Peter.Ferreira@dpcdsb.org
1957- 2012 “Celebrating Fifty-Five Years of Catholic Education”
A utumn Pr ayer
G od of the A utumn, help us to live
with the gr ace of falling leaves,
the enthusiasm of the flaming A spens,
with the ser enity of the old tr ees,
whose r oots r each deep into the ear th.
G od of the A utumn, help us to know
that living and dying ar e one,
that life is pr ecious, and beautiful, and limited,
that nothing good is ever lost.
G od of A utumn, help us to see
in the ways of natur e
a way for our selves.
A men
Pr ayer – C hr istine R obinson “ W or ship W eb”
V I R T UE - E MPAT H Y
T he virtue for the month of October is E MPAT H Y. J udge your neighbour's feelings by your
own, and in every matter be thoughtful (Sir. 31: 15). T he St. Gerard school community is
committed to caring about everyone's feelings, just as God wants us to. As empathetic
followers of J esus, we are confident in the dignity of ourselves and others; we believe that the
cross is the ultimate sign of forgiveness.
HALLOWEEN IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Many of today’s Halloween traditions go back to the time of
the Celtic people who lived in Britain and Northern Europe
more than 2,000 years ago. The Celtic’s calendar was based
on seasons and the farming community. October 31st was
their New Year’s Eve and a festival of the dead. When the
Romans conquered Britain and Europe, their festival
honoring the dead was celebrated at the same time.
CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
During the early years of Christianity, the church leaders
found it best to add the new religious ideas to earlier, already
established beliefs. All Saints Day was proclaimed on
November 1st so that the people could continue to celebrate
a familiar festival which respected spirits. The mass that was
said on that day was called All Hallows Mass, so the evening
before became known as Hallows Eve or Halloween.
Eventually, the church recognized that Halloween had
become a cultural rather than a religious event.
IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOLS
Halloween should be considered a cultural ritual in which
children participate. In today’s culture, it is rarely a
celebration of the Celtic religion. Children today often dress
in costumes which reflect the heroes of the culture, for
example, Batman. While some claim that Halloween’s
association with the ancient Celtic religion is a threat to
Christianity, clearly the church did not, when establishing
All Saints Day and the Day for the Commemoration of All
Souls Day. In the same way, Father’s Day is a cultural event
which does not detract from our understanding of God our
Father.
St. Gerard Catholic School recognizes the cultural event of
Halloween but attention will be paid to the religious
significance of All Saints Day, which is the honouring of the
whole Church Triumphant, united in Christ, in the
enjoyment of the vision of God and All Souls Day, where we
pray for the souls of the faithfully departed.
On Halloween day students will be permitted to wear
costumes. It is Board policy that any weapons or replicas
of weapons are not allowed on school property. Therefore,
students may not bring replicas such as: toy knives, toy guns
or toy swords as part of their Halloween costume. Students
are also asked not to wear masks. Students are also
encouraged to select costumes that are in good taste, bearing
in mind our Catholic school setting. Please do not send food
on this day. Your support and co-operation is appreciated.
OPEN HOUSE – HUGE SUCCESS
Open house at St. Gerard School this year was a huge
success. Our book fair and presentations had an incredible
turnout. Thank you for joining us!
OPENING SCHOOL MASS
Our opening school Mass will be celebrated on October 16,
2012 at St. Martin of Tours Parish, at 11:00 A.M. We
encourage parents, guardians and grandparents to join us!
Not only will will we be celebrating the Feast Day of
St. Gerard but we will also be celebrating the
beginning of our 55th year as a Catholic School.
SCHOOL COUNCIL
A thank you is extended to those members of last year’s
School Council, 2011-2012, for their dedication and hard
work on behalf of students at St. Gerard School. Their
ongoing commitment and efforts are truly appreciated and
make a difference for our students.
We thank this year’s Council Members: Terry Maillet,
MaryAnn Sousa, Tina Forbes, Linda Collier, Elaine Smyth,
and our staff rep Mrs. Spudic. If you did not get the
opportunity to send in your name to be part of Council it is
not to late!
Our next School Council Meeting will take place on
Monday, October 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the school staffroom.
All parents/guardians are welcome to attend!
CRIMINAL REFERENCE CHECK
A criminal reference check is required if you wish to
volunteer your services in the school, transport students and
assist on trips. If you already have a criminal reference
check on file at the school, you must complete an annual
criminal offence declaration form. If you need a form,
please see Mrs. Miller in the office.
TERRY FOX RUN
Thank you to all who participated in the
terry fox walk by either donating money,
buying raffle tickets and encouraging
your child to wear red and white! Thank
you to Nathaniel and Emilio for their
great sales expertise on the night of Open
House. We raised $162 from the raffle
ticket sales. Erik H. and Emilio (truly
legitimate!) won this year's Terry fox T-shirts.
Congratulations.
Once again, we were blessed with a beautiful day for our
walk. This year we received giant stickers that said "I run for
_____" so many students set their intentions before the walk,
which was a thoughtful touch.
Thank you once again from the Terry Fox Committee.
WORLD TEACHERS’ APPRECIATION DAY
On Wed. Oct. 5, we celebrated UNESCO World Teacher’s
Day along with over 100 countries across the globe.
Teachers influence and touch lives. They lead students on
their faith journey, influence career and life choices, and
work hard to teach the skills needed to participate and
compete in the world. A sincere and heartfelt thank you to
the teachers of St. Gerard School for their commitment to
Catholic education and for the outstanding work they do
with students daily.
CONFIRMATION – GRADE 8 STUDENTS
The Rite of Enrolment for these students will take place on
the following dates:
•
October 27th at 5:00 p.m. Mass
•
October 28th at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 12:00
p.m. Mass
•
November 3rd at 5:00 p.m. Mass
•
November 4th at 8:00,10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
NO DOGS ON PROPERTY:
In the interest of student safety, please be reminded that dogs
are not permitted on school property. A dog’s behaviour and
response around strangers can be unpredictable; for example,
dogs may jump on visitors or children. Although dogs can
be good pets for some people, they can be scary to some, and
pose an allergic response to others. Therefore, dogs must
not be exercised on school property or brought to school
when dropping off or picking up students
EMERGENCY EVACUATION SITE
In the event of an emergency, we have arranged to relocate
our staff and students to St. Martin of Tours Church.
FIRE DRILL/LOCK DOWN DRILL
In accordance with Ministry regulations, three fire drills will
be conducted in the fall and three in the spring per school
year. While we hope that a real fire situation never arises,
this practice helps prepare students in the event of a real fire.
In addition, our school board has established lock down
procedures should a high risk incident occur in the school, or
on school property, that could endanger the lives and safety
of students and staff. We will practice the emergency
lockdown procedure with students two times in the school
year and review it
periodically.
VISITORS AND SECURITY
In the interest of student safety, it is Board policy that all
visitors to the school are required to enter through the front
doors and report to the office. Before proceeding to another
part of the school, it is necessary for visitors to be cleared by
office staff, sign in and pick up a visitor’s pass. Please do not
go to classrooms, unless you have reported to the office first,
even if only for a moment. If your child is late, please bring
him/her to the office. We will arrange to get him/her to
class. It will be important for everyone to follow the same
procedure if it is to be effective in helping to maintain a safe
environment. Consistency is the key. Thank you for your
cooperation with this important procedure, and for
supporting the school in attempting to provide a safe
environment for all. Please inform your caregiver who
may be coming to the school, of this procedure.
or nits. Nits are oval shaped, silvery, yellowish white, and
often mistaken for dandruff. They lie very close to the scalp
especially behind the ears and the nape of the neck and are
firmly attached to the hair shaft.
Head lice spread either directly, head to head, or indirectly
when they are dislodged in clothing, combs, hat, scarves,
bed linens, towels, earphones, etc. Because head lice are
wingless, they cannot fly or jump. Children are especially
susceptible to pediculosis because they “head” together. It is
important to know that getting lice has nothing to do with
dirt or standards of hygiene.
The treatment for pediculosis is simple. Specially medicated
shampoo or crème rinse is available from your pharmacist.
Carefully follow the manufacturer’s directions and remove
all nits from the hair.
If the presence of head lice is detected in the school, those
children with pediculosis will be sent home for immediate
treatment. The parents of close friends and siblings of these
children will be notified and requested to examine their
child’s head. Past experience has indicated that mass
screening of all students in a classroom and / or school is not
effective in controlling the spread of lice.
Peel Health is available to provide advice to parents, school
staff and students about treatment and prevention. They can
be reached by calling the nurse at Health Line Peel: (905)
791-7800 ext 2401.
ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION
Daily attendance at school and punctuality are very
important. If your child is going to be late or absent from
school, please inform the office at (905) 277-4512. The
school has an answering machine that receives messages
twenty four hours a day.
HEAD INJURIES
No matter how insignificant, we will call you whenever your
child receives any kind of head injury of which we are
aware. This may be something as basic as a tennis ball that
accidentally hits your child. We do this in keeping with the
Board’s policy and in recognition of the potential danger of
anything involving the head area. Please do not be alarmed
if you are called. We are attempting to keep you informed
and to err on the side of caution.
ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY
It is important for your child to be in attendance at school
and to arrive on time regularly. Late arrivals disrupt
important teaching and have a direct impact on your child’s
learning and on the learning of all class members. Please
encourage and assist your child to recognize that punctuality
is a responsibility, which all students should be developing.
Frequent absences also have a direct negative impact on a
child’s education. Students should be absent from school
only when they are ill or there is an extenuating
circumstance that cannot be avoided.
Absences and late arrivals are recorded in each child’s
school record. The Education Act (Section 30) states that it
is mandatory for all students, between the ages of six and
sixteen years, to attend school every day. School social
workers are mandated to intervene with students and their
families whenever students are identified as truant.
PEDICULOSIS AND THE SCHOOL
From time to time, there may be cases of pediculosis or head
lice in a school. This should not be a cause for alarm. They
are a nuisance, but they are not hazardous to your child’s
health, as they do not carry disease. One of the most
important steps to both their prevention and treatment is
knowledge.
SCHOOL YARD SUPERVISION
The schoolyard is supervised at every recess, during the
lunch hour, fifteen minutes before school starts and at 3:30
p.m. dismissal. Please do not send your child to school
before yard supervision at 8:45 a.m. For afternoon
Kindergarten students and those who go home for lunch,
please do not send your child to school before 12:45 p.m.
Head lice are tiny wingless insects with flattened bodies.
They are about 1/8 of an inch long and can take on the
colour of the hair to which they are attached. As a result,
they are difficult to see and are more easily seen as the eggs
We would also like to remind parents that they should not be
entering the school yard or Kindergarten Yard when
dropping off their children. Please wait behind the fences.
BUS DRIVER APPRECIATION DAY
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 is designated
as School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
across the Dufferin-Peel C. D. S. Board. St. Gerard extends
a huge thank you to our bus drivers for bringing our students
safely to and from school every day.
SAFETY FIRST
Please continue to support us by:
•
Dropping off your child at the church parking lot;
•
Reporting to the office at all times;
•
If your child is being picked up by someone other
than a parent or babysitter, please arrange for pick
up at the office;
•
No child will be released without parental consent.
VALUABLES
Please remind your children not to bring valuables or money
to school. When items such as small electronic toys
disappear, we cannot be responsible for replacing them. It
saves much aggravation and heartache if they are not
brought to school.
E.Q.A.O
Here at St. Gerard school staff and students continue to work
diligently at implementing high yield strategies to support
student learning. We are proud of our students and applaud
them on their 2011-2012 EQAO results.
Grade 3:
Reading 59%
Writing 73%
Math 59%
Grade 6:
Reading 70%
Writing 67%
Math 30%
When examining our data we have experienced an increase
in our reading scores, similar writing scores and a drop in
mathematics especially with our girls.
Our focus this year will be on numeracy, specifically on
math in the Junior Division and using the high yield strategy
of the three-part math lesson and problem solving model.
We will be scrutinizing the data to identify the reason for the
drop in math scores and then setting our goals and program
to address that gap.
Ontario Educational Resource Bank 2012-2013
http://resources.elearningontario.ca
This Ministry run resource site continues to grow with now
over 26 000 resources that include lesson plans, assessments,
video clips and interactive learning tools.
The site supports grades K to 12.
Resources can be accessed by teachers but also by parents
and students and as such the site is a great piece to share
with parents looking for additional support resources for
their children.
Students/Parents:
Username: dpcdsbstudent
Password: oerbs
SCHOOL FUNDRAISER
We would like to thank everyone for participating in
our School Council Fundraiser. There are still boxes of
chocolates available for sale. Please consider taking
another box. The deadline to return chocolates and
money is October 15, 2012. We will announce prize
winners after that date. All funds raised will be put
toward supplementary resources and opportunities for
the students of St. Gerard School.
CROSS COUNTRY
St. Gerard’s cross country team takes it to the streets
for yet another training season. Every Tuesday and
Thursday at 8:00 am our eager cross country team,
made up of students from grades 4 to 8, lace up their
shoes for an early morning run.
On October 24th the St. Gerard Griffin’s Cross
Country Team will participate in the Mississauga
South cross country meet at Centennial Park.
Thank-you to our dedicated team members, parent
volunteers, and coaches Mrs. Barca and Mrs.
Dewsnap, who come out and brave the early morning
elements every Tuesday and Thursday.
St. Gerard Youth Faith Ambassadors!
Homework Help – 2011-2012
Every student in grades 7 to 10 is eligible.
This is a great site to promote in the classroom and with
parents during open house and interview nights.
To use the site students can use their existing account from
last year and if they’ve forgotten their login and password
the site has a FORGOT PASSWORD link that will help
them retrieve their info. New students can register on the
site following the instructions. Any questions please contact
Kevin Williams 905-890-1221 x 24484
St. Gerard School would like to welcome an exciting group
called Youth Faith Ambassadors. This program is geared
towards grade 7 and 8 students who will lead the school
community in activities and celebrations that foster a deeper
connection to our faith. These students will lead our school
in Virtue assemblies, charitable giving opportunities, prayer
activities and other celebrations that will bring us all closer
to Christ as we travel on our own personal faith journey.
Dates to Remember
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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October 5 – Photo Day, World Teacher’s Day
October 8 – Thanksgiving Day – No. School
October 10 – Life Skills Classes visit the
Library
October 12– Kindergarten Students to
Springridge Farms
October 15 – Catholic School Council
Meeting
6:30 p.m.
October 16– Feast Day Mass – 11am at the
Church
October 17 – Life Skills Classes visit
Riverwood
October 24 – Cross Country Meet
Oct 27/28 and Nov 3/4 – Enrollment masses
for Confirmation.
November 1 – Picture retake day
November 6 – Progress Reports go home
November 16 – PA Day. No School
November 24 – First Reconciliation 10:30 am
at St. Martin of Tours parish
December 13 – 7pm School Mass – Advent
Family Mass
PA Days: Nov 16, Jan 21`, Feb 8, May 13 and June
7
Christmas Break: Monday, December 24, 2012 to
Friday, January 4, 2013 (inclusive) School starts
January 7, 2013
March Break: Monday, March 11 to Friday, March
15, 2013 (inclusive)