D u f f e r in -P e e l C D S B
ST. GERTRUDE SCHOOL
Guided by Faith, Committed to Excellence
NEWSLETTER
NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER 2013
2012
St. Gertrude
School
815 Ceremonial Dr.,
Mississauga, ON
L5R 3S2
Tel:
905 568 7660
Fax:
905 568 8194
A Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus you said to your disciples,
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will
Be called children of God."
You know how much our world needs your peace, Yet in so many places there
is only war and conflict.
Lord, through the power of your Holy Spirit Transform human hearts,
Give our world a desire for peace,
Principal
T. DeVellis Carino
Vice-Principal
M. Diab
Secretaries
M. Sgambelluri
M. Cherubino
Superintendent
Mississauga
Brampton Central
L. Papaloni
Trustee
T. Thomas
Parish
St. Francis Xavier
905 890 5290
Pastor
Msgr. Edgardo Pan
Council Co-Chair
S. Joseph
R. Ballantyne
Follow us on
Twitter
@DPCDSBSchools
And help us to do our part.
Principal’s’ Message
It’s hard to believe we are already in November. In midOctober, after 14 years of dedicated service to St. Gertrude School, our
head secretary Mrs. Bachle accepted a promotion at the Board office.
We wish her continued success and welcome our new head secretary,
Mrs. Sgamebelluri.
We are fortunate that our newly elected school council, student
council and dedicated staff continue to actively plan many activities
at the school .
The staff has been working collaboratively to review and update our Catholic School Learning Plan. You can view the details of
our current plan on our school website. Our school plan is aligned with
the Board plan and is rooted in our shared beliefs that we are called
to :
 Create a safe, caring and inclusive learning environment that is
welcoming
 Work and live in relationships within our communities, modelled
after Christ
 Support all learners in a journey of life-long learning
 Use fair, equitable and transparent assessment practices, informed
by a Christ-centred approach to professional judgment, to create
hope, engagement and growth for all to realize their full potential
 Design and implement effective instruction that is Christ-centred,
purposeful , engaging, inclusive, responsive and which reflects success for all learners.
T. DeVellis Carino
Principal
M. Diab
Vice Principal
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Guided by F aith, Committed to Excellence
THE VIRTUE OF CONSCIENCE
God has given us the ability to know the right and decent
way to act and then to act that way. We trust that the
common Spirit we share inspires us and guides us to
make good decisions if we allow our conscience to
become well-formed.
A person of conscience allows prayer and scripture to
influence him/her.
A person of conscience ...
 Chooses to do the ‘right thing’ and feels good
about it
 Can see how his/her actions may hurt others
 Admits his/her wrong-doing and feels badly
 Says sorry and tries to make up for mistakes
 Keeps promises
A PRAYER OF CONSCIENCE
Gracious and merciful God of all creation, during this
season of remembrance, we remember how You have
gifted us with free will. You have given us the virtue of
conscience to ensure that we will know the good and
decent way to act and then choose to act that way.
We come to You now asking for the grace and strength to
form and follow our conscience in order to bring to life
Your plan for a safe, caring, inclusive community here at
St. Gertrude Catholic School. May Your virtue of
conscience free us to make decisions that serve the good
of all Your people. We ask this in the name of Jesus, Your
Son, who lived to show us Your way.
AMEN
SACRAMENTS
Sacrament of Reconciliation - Grade 2
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.
First Holy Communion - Grade 2
 First Holy Communion Prep Mass
St. Francis Xavier Church – February 9, 2014, at
1:30 p.m.
 Sacrament of First Holy Communion
St. Francis Xavier Church – May 10, 2014, at
10:00 a.m.
Sacrament of Confirmation - Grade 8
 Parents and Candidates Meeting with Parish Team
and Bishop Boisseneau
St. Francis Xavier Church – January 7, 2014 at 7:00
p.m.
 Confirmation Prep Mass
St. Francis Xavier Church – January 30, 2014 at 7:00
p.m.
 Sacrament of Confirmation
St. Francis Xavier Church – May 1, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
THE FEAST OF ST. GERTRUDE
Born: January 6, 1256 Died: November 17, 1302
St. Gertrude’s life was a life of great spirituality; a mystical life of a cloistered nun who had a great devotion to
the Sacred Heart and the Lord’s Passion. She became
the first great apostle and prophet of the devotion to our
Lord’s Sacred Heart as a symbol of God’s infinite love for
us. We will celebrate Mass on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2013
at 12:30 p.m. in honour of St. Gertrude.
Guided by F aith, Committed to Excellence
A Safe, Caring & Inclusive school Environment
means working together to:
1. Plan ahead
As we have moved along in the school year,
there have been a great number of calls to the
school for students about last minute instructions from home. This may cause confusion
and may lead to placing students in unsafe situations.
Please help us avoid these confusions. Please plan
ahead and send notes to the teacher with any special
instructions for your child.
2. Arrive on time
School begins at 8:20 am. Starting at 8:05, staff supervision is provided in the school yard and in the “kiss &
ride” areas. Late arrivals are disruptive to the learning
environment. Students who arrive after the bell are
asked to come to the office for a late slip. Thank you to
everyone for making a special effort to be on time.
3. Support allergy aware needs
As you are aware many of our students
suffer from allergies. With a safe and inclusive environment in mind, we ask that you not send in
food items to mark special occasions such as birthdays. Children with food allergies are excluded when
birthday items enter the classroom. They have been
trained not to take a chance on any item that hasn’t
been prepared by their parents. Special events can be
marked with non-edible items such as new pencils or
stickers for each child.
WOWBUTTER NOTICE:
The Board continues to maintain the position that
schools should discourage parents/guardians from
sending peanut butter substitutes to school where students have peanut allergies for the following reasons:
1) If a child with a life threatening peanut allergy sees it,
they may experience anxiety and/or physical panic reaction as a result of visually seeing the WOWBUTTER, or
at minimum, the child and his or her family members
may have safety concerns about the product being in
school;
2) It can create significant challenges for teachers, and
especially students, to identify real peanut butter from
the substitute;
3) If one student sees another with WOWBUTTER, they
may believe it is peanut butter, and may take the message home that it is acceptable to bring peanut butter,
and may bring their own peanut butter to school as a
result; and,
4) The presence of this look alike can create potential
circumstances of bullying / threats toward students with
life-threatening peanut allergies.
Page 3
4. Welcome visitors and volunteers
All doors are locked throughout the building. To gain entry, ALL visitors are required to look at the camera, push
the buzzer and wait for staff to release the lock at the front
door. Visitors to the school are reminded to go to the office to sign in and receive a visitor’s sticker.
A reminder that volunteers in our school must have a
Criminal Reference Check (CRC) completed by Peel Police. Please note that this includes all parents/guardians
who wish to volunteer as a supervisor on a class trip.
CRC’s are free of charge for volunteers. Forms are
available at our school office.
5. Report Injuries
Despite our efforts to remain safe and healthy, accidents
happen. When injuries occur, they are dealt with in the
quickest and most prudent of manners. Our school policy
is to err on the side of caution when dealing with all injuries. Agendas are used to inform parents of minor injuries
and phone calls are made to alert parents of any head or
other injuries that may require monitoring.
6. Donate to help our school, our community and our
world
Special thank you to all families for supporting the Food
Drive for our needy families and our 1st Spook-a-thon
which helped to raise funds for our school.
Special lunches and cookies will be offered for sale
with proceeds going towards our school.
You may observe that the staff dresses in a casual
manner on Fridays. To do so, staff have agreed to
make a donation in support of the United Way of Peel and
ShareLife.
“It is in giving, that we receive” Francis of Assisi.
Staff and Council will once again have the opportunity to
contribute to Christmas baskets for families in need.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society
To further assist families in our community, St. Vincent de
Paul Society is requesting financial assistance with
cheques payable to St. Vincent de Paul Society (tax receipts available for donations of $20 or more) and/or gift
certificates from our local vendors. (See attached)
MILK BAGS FOR HAITI
Milk bags, (larger outside coloured bag) will be collected
at St. Gertrude School to be converted into Mats for the
people of Haiti and those in other developing countries.
Please send your empty, clean milk bags with your child to
school. They will be delivered to a team of dedicated
women who will then crochet the bags into sleeping mats.
for children and adults in developing countries.
Page 4
Guided by F aith, Committed to Excellence
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
On October 29, 2013, 40 students from grades 5 to 8
participated in the Family Level Cross Country Meet at
Chinguacousy Park. Since the middle of September these
dedicated runners trained three times a week under the guidance of their coaches, P. DeLuca, D. Marques and N. Gentili.
Over the course of their training these students learned about
endurance, pace and the importance of stretching. On the day
of the Meet, the St. Gertrude Gators gave it their all and
challenged themselves to do their personal best. It was a fun
filled day in which the students had the opportunity to compete
and to watch and cheer on their peers.
A special mention goes out to Josephine S. in grade 5 who
placed 8th,Crystal L. in grade 7 who placed 5th, Richelle D. in
grade 8 who placed 5th, and the grade 8 girls team who placed
second. These students went on to participate in the Board
Level Meet which was held on November 5th at Centeninial
Park.
VOLLEYBALL
Thank you to M. Silva, N. Benevides and R. McIntosh for
coaching our Junior teams. Coaches would like to thank all the
volleyball team members for their dedication, hard work and
great sportsmanship throughout the season. Special mention
goes out to our boys who went on to compete at the Family
Tournament. A special thank you goes out to our intermediate
students who helped with practices and at the Junior POD tournament.
Jr. Girls team members: Elisa G., Katie F. Chantelle G.,
Danielle A., Audrey N., Olivia O. Josephine S., Arian D.
Jr. Boys team members: Timothy N.,John S., Luis S., Vincent M., Justin J., Julien K., Massimo M., Dan N.
FRENCH IMMERSION INFORMATION MEETING
Senior kindergarten parent(s)/guardian(s), who wish to enroll
their child in the Grade 1 French Immersion class for September, 2014 are invited to attend an information meeting at
School:
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Address:
4765 Huron Heights Drive
Date:
Tuesday, January 19, 2014
Time:
7:00 pm.
EXTENDED FRENCH INFORMATION MEETING
Grade 4 parent(s)/guardian(s), who wish to enroll their child in
a Grade 5 Extended French class for September, 2014 are
invited to attend an information meeting at:
School:
San Lorenzo Ruiz
Address:
100 Barondale Drive
Date:
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Time:
7:00 pm.
BUNDLE UP SUNDAY @ St. Francis Xavier Parish
On the weekend of Nov. 16– 17,the St. Vincent de Paul Society will be accepting household goods, books, bedding, drapes,
accessories toys, clothing and shoes. Volunteer will be in the
parking lot to accept donations. For more information, please
visit www.ssvptoronto.ca
INCLEMENT WEATHER
With the winter season fast approaching, we would like
to remind you of bus cancellation procedures.
Occasionally, because of inclement weather or other
emergency situations, buses may have to be cancelled.
Information regarding bus cancellation and other
emergency information announcements can be obtained
by listening to the following radio stations:
640 AM
740 AM
680 AM
88.5 FM
98.1 FM
Q107
104.5 FM
90.3 FM
107.1 FM
92.5 FM
100.7 FM
Make sure the announcement is for the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board. If transportation is
cancelled, the schools will remain open except under
extraordinary circumstances and when announced. If
buses are cancelled and parents or guardians
choose to bring their child to school, it is also their
responsibility to pick them up at the end of the day.
Eco News Corner
The Eco-Team's Earth Angels is happy to announce that once
again this year, we are motivated to continue to preserve our
environment. Thanks to everyone's support St. Gertrude was
awarded the silver status certification in the 2012/13 year.
With everyone’s support and cooperation, this year we are
going for GOLD!
To help us achieve GOLD status,….we will continue with
Lights out Fridays (afternoons only) and Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle initiatives such as the Waste Free Challenge.
Waste Free Challenge
From October 21st until October 25th, the school participated
in a week-long Waste-Free challenge. The goal of this challenge was to celebrate and learn about the amount of waste
we create from school lunches, to encourage healthy and nutritional lunches and at the same time help parents reduce the
cost of lunches.
Remember, a waste-free lunch consists of r eusable:
-lunch container container/bag
-drink container
-Stainless steel forks and spoons
Let’s all work together and try our best to continue to send
Waste-Free lunches throughout the year.
We are looking forward to Recycling Presentations from the
City of Peel on November 13 and 14.
Page 5
Guided by F aith, Committed to Excellence
HEALTHY SCHOOLS
St. Gertrude has re-launched the Walking to
School program on Friday, October 19th! This
program encourages families to lead a more
active lifestyle by walking to and from school.
Each student is given a Frequent Walker card
and is encouraged to keep it readily available
on days they walked to school. They will receive a stamp
from one of the Walking Squad Leaders. The launch was
a great success due to the many supportive community
members, parents, Ministry of Transportation, Peel
Regional Police and the staff of St. Gertrude. For more
information about being ACTIVE, please visit
www.peelregion.ca.
BULLYING AWARENESS AND PREVENTION
WEEK - NOVEMBER 18 - 22, 2013
Ontario has designated the third week of every
November as Bullying Awareness and Prevention
Week to help promote safer schools and a positive
learning environment. During November 18 - 22,
2013 - Ontario students, staff and parents are encouraged to learn more about bullying and its effect on
student learning and well-being. There will be a
Bullying Prevention & Wellness Symposium on
November 20th at 6:30 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier
Catholic Secondary School. The Keynote Speaker is
Anthony McLean.
STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS
This year the Grade 7 and 8 classes selected two students per class to represent them on this year ’ s Student Council. The representative's are:
Ms. Beaton: Antoni K & Michelle R
Mr. Toduschuk: Lindsey J & Stephen D
Ms. Cassano: Sarah S. & Nicole W.
Mr. Shelsen: Casandra C. & Nicolas R.
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
2013/2014
Registration for Full-Day Kindergarten for the 2013-2014
school year, will take place at St. Gertrude School on the
following days:
Monday, January 27, 2014
January 29 – 31, 2014
*Snow Date:
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
7-9 p.m.*
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
7-9 p.m.
WINTER WEATHER
All students are reminded to dress appropriately for weather conditions and go
outdoors for recess. For many children,
a spare pair of socks, gloves or extra
clothing may save a parent a trip to the
school. If your child is not well enough to
participate in outdoor recess, please consider keeping him/
her at home.
Dufferin-Peel C.D.S.B. policy uses a wind chill of –25C, as
the temperature for modified recesses. At St. Gertrude,
students will remain inside when the wind chill is reported
at –25C or lower and we will modify the duration of lunch
recess when the temperature reaches –20C. As always,
ensure your child is prepared for the extremes of
Canadian weather.
Spook-a-thon Update
Thanks to the organizing committee on Council, the support from our parent volunteers and enthusiastic contributions from students and staff, our first Spook-a-thon was a
great success! Special thank you goes out to our community sponsors! Thank you to Daniel’s No Frills for the donations of pumpkins that the students carved and used to
decorate the gym. We also appreciate Gino’s Pizza for
providing prizes for our participating students.
“An Evening with Santa” - Mark your calendars for this
special event on November 26, 2013. Details to follow.
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS
St. Gertrude School is celebrating 25 years…...Guided by Faith and
Committed to Excellence! To commemorate the 25th Anniversary, Council
will be selling clothing, mugs, pens and other items.
Details to follow!