Dufferin-Peel CDSB
ST. GERTRUDE SCHOOL
Guided by Faith, Committed to Excellence
NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2015
This Year
St. Gertrude School
815 Ceremonial Dr.,
Mississauga, ON
L5R 3S2
Tel:
905 568 7660
Fax:
905 568 8194
Principal
T. De Vellis 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
Rev. Msgr. Edgardo
Elias Salazar Pan
Council Chair
S. Dutra
Follow us on
Twitter
@DPCDSBSchools
Mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust.
Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise. Find the time. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen.
Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Flout envy.
Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate.
Be kind; Be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more.
Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice.
Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Have faith. Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once more.
Principal’s Message
______________________________________________________________
As we enter into this New Year, we need to reflect upon and appreciate the richness that we have in our St. Gertrude Community. I would like to thank the
many parents who came in the week before Christmas to wish us a happy holiday and to thank our wonderful staff for their hard work and efforts.
This New Year, we begin by congratulating Mrs. Diab. She has been promoted
to Principal of St. Clare School and will be leaving St. Gertrude at the end of January. We would like to thank Mrs. Diab for her dedication and commitment to
the students, staff and families of St. Gertrude School. Although we will miss
Mrs. Diab very much, we wish her good luck as she begins her next journey in
catholic education!
This is also a time for new beginnings . Please join me in welcoming our new
Vice Principal, Ms Yates to our St. Gertrude family. We are looking forward to
working with and getting to know our new Vice Principal in the coming
months.
As we begin 2014, we pray not only for love and peace within our St. Gertrude
Community but within our Global Community. On behalf of the staff and students of St. Gertrude School, I would like to wish each and every one of you a
Happy New Year filled with good health, love and God’s blessings.
T. DeVellis Carino, Principal
Guided b y Faith, Committed to Excellence
Page 2
Self Control
God has given us the ability to choose. We are able to control how we react to what happens around us.
We may feel pressure from inside or from outside ourselves to react violently to a situation. We’ve all “lost
it” at one time or another. We are never proud of those moments. As soon as they happen we make a promise that they will not happen again. Through prayer and concentration, we can get better at controlling our
reactions. We can get better at showing self-control. Self-control helps us to resist the temptation to do
something that we will regret. Self-control helps us to resist the temptation to do something that will harm
ourselves or others. Self-control is one of the marks of a spiritually mature person. When we all use selfcontrol, we can be sure that our school will be a safe, caring and inclusive place to live and to learn.

A person with self-control…

Is patient and knows how to wait his/her turn
 Can calm him/herself down and think before reacting to situations
Knows how to avoid physical aggression (hitting, kicking, pushing, fighting)
 Can think things through and do what is best for everyone
Not Such an Ordinary Time
As we bring to a close the season of Christmas, we begin to settle into the less active, more ordinary season of our wintery lives. The Church as well moves into Ordinary time as the church colours move from celebratory white to green vestments and altar cloths. During the liturgical year
of the church, the term “Ordinary Time” may be misleading. In the context of the liturgical year
the term “ordinary” does not mean “ usual or average.” Ordinary here means “not seasonal.”
Ordinary Time is the part of the Liturgical Year that lies outside the seasons of Lent-Easter and Advent-Christmas. In Ordinary Time, the Church celebrates the mystery of Christ not in one specific
aspect but in all its aspects. The readings during the liturgies of Ordinary Time help to instruct us
on how to live out our Christian faith in our daily lives.
Ordinary Time in the Church’s year occurs in two sections. The first part begins on the Monday
following the Christmas season, which ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on the Sunday following January 6. It lasts through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of
the Lenten season. Ordinary Time resumes after the Easter Season, on the Monday after Pentecost, and continues until evening prayer on the Saturday before the First Sunday of Advent.
During the Liturgical Year, the scripture readings for the seasons of Lent, Easter, Advent, and
Christmas have prominent themes. During Ordinary Time the readings are not chosen according
to a theme. During the Christmas season, the gospels recount the birth and early life of Jesus. On
the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, the gospel begins to speak about the ministry of Jesus
through the text about the wedding feast at Cana and two other passages from the Gospel of
Mark. Then, with the Third Sunday, the life and preaching of Jesus unfold in each of the Gospels.
We mark ordinary time with the colour green… the colour of growth and life. During ordinary
time we reflect on how Christ’s gospel message can come to new life within our daily lives.
Guided b y Faith, Committed to Excellence
Page 3
Outreach at St. Gertrude Elementary School
We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the St. Gertrude School Community for your generous contributions to our Christmas
Outreach programs. With your help, we were able to make financial contributions to The St Francis Xavier Parish for the St.
Vincent de Paul Society while also collecting many needed hats, mittens and toys. Please continue to remind your children of the
importance of giving of your time, talents, or resources to those in need.
STUDENT PUNCTUALITY
I t i s t h e s c h o o l ’ s e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t a l l s t u d e n t s a r r i v e o n t i m e a n d b e p r e p ar e d f o r c l a s s . L a t e a r r i v a l i s a
disruption to the class and your child is missing valuable instruction time. Please ensure that your child
arrives at school no later than 8:15 in the morning and 12:15 in the afternoon so that they will be present to join their class for entry. A reminder that when students arrive late, before proceeding to class.
they must report to the office for a late slip.
COLD WINTER WEATHER
Our students need to bring the necessary labelled
clothing and shoes/boots with them in order to ensure that they are dressed appropriately to meet the
challenges of the winter season. Our school policy is
that recess is a part of the school day. If a student is
too ill to participate in all components of the school
day, including recess, please do not send him/her to
school. If there are specific medical reasons which
should exclude a child from going outside, please
submit a doctor’s note to the office. This note should
indicate the reason and the time period for the
Modified recesses. We have guidelines from the
Health Department which help us make a decision
as to whether it is too cold for students to go outdoors: -20 degrees C is a modified day and –25 degrees C students stay indoors. During modified
school days students will be indoors for am and pm
recesses and no longer than twenty minutes at lunch
recess.
MEDICATION AT SCHOOL
For safety reasons, no child should bring
medication to school without prior approval
from the office. The school will store necessary prescribed medication upon the return
of the “Request for Storage and Distribution
of Prescribed Medications” form, which has
been filled out, signed by the parents and
physician and returned to the school.
School staff, without the proper board documentation, cannot distribute medication of
any kind.
INDOOR SHOES
We are once again requesting that your child have
a pair of indoor shoes to be left at school. As you
know, it is always important for your child’s health
and safety to have shoes to wear in the classroom
and in the halls. It is imperative that your child
has shoes on if an emergency, such as a fire drill
occurs. There is no time to stop and put on boots
or other footwear.
SAFETY FIRST!
Please do not cross the lanes of traffic immediately in front of our front doors. We would appreciate parents walking their children to either end of our driveway, and entering our property at these points. Please do not cross the
Kiss ‘N Ride lanes in the area of the flagpole, as the moving traffic can be dangerous. We have also noticed that
cars are entering through the pylons at the end of the day. The pylons are there to remind parents that they are
not to enter the driveway after 2:40 p.m. Cars are also stopping in the driveway to pick up children from the Kindergarten area after school. This is a no parking area. Please be advised that we have your children’s safety as
our first priority. Please be reminded that children should not be dropped off before 8:05 a.m. as there is no teacher
supervision until this time. Also, please do not obstruct our neighbours’ driveways when waiting for your child(ren).
St. Gertrude School-wide Advent Retreat
St. Gertrude
Advent
Retreat
December
15, 2014
December 2014
St. Gertrude School-wide Advent Retreat
St. Gertrude
Advent
Retreat
December
15, 2014
December 2014
Taking time out for a snack
Praying the Rosary together
Thank you to Daniel’s No Frills for the apples
Guided b y Faith, Committed to Excellence
Page 6
P.A. DAY - no school
Monday, January 19, 2015: Teachers will be
involved in assessment and evaluation activities.
KINDERGARTEN
REGISTRATION
Registration for the 2015-2016
school year will be held at all Dufferin-Peel Catholic elementary schools on the following
dates:
Monday, January 26, 2015*
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
January 28, 29, and 30, 2015
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
*snow date: Tues., Jan. 27, 2015, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
_____________________________________________
“PLANNING FOR CHILDREN ENTERING
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN”
SEPT 2015
There will be an Information Night for
Parent(s)/Guardian(s) of Children with Special Needs
such as Vision, Hearing, Autism, Physical/Medical and/
or Development Delays in the congnitive and/or motor
areas on:
Wednesday, January 8, 2015
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
40 Matheson Blvd., West, Mississauga
STUDENT COUNCIL
Way To Go Student Council!
St. Gertrude's Student Council worked very
hard at making our Candy Cane Grams a
success. Many intermediate students helped
to bring 1200 messages to students and
staff.
Thursday, February 5, 2015: Interview Night
DATES TO REMEMBER
Jan. 8
Youth Faith Ambassador Commissioning @ St. F/X Parish 10:00am
Jan. 9
Virtue Assembly @ 1:00 pm
Jan. 13
Extended French Meeting @ San Lorenzo Ruiz 7:00 pm
Jan. 13
School Council Meeting @ 6:30 pm
Jan. 15
First Reconciliation @ St. F/X Parish 9:30 am
Jan. 16
MADD Presentation Gr. 7&8 Students @ 8:45 am
Jan. 19
P.A. Day - No School for Students
Jan. 20
Grad Photos
Jan. 25
First Holy Communion Prep Mass @ St. F/X 1:30 pm
Jan. 26
Rosary Apostolates
Jan. 26
Mardi Gras Dance-a-thon Fundraiser Kick-Off @ 1:00 pm
Jan. 26
Full Day Kindergarten Registration @ 7-9 pm
Jan. 27
Snow Date FDK Registration 7-9 pm
Jan. 29
Confirmation Prep Mass @ ST. F/X 7:00 pm
Jan. 30
Grade 8 - Trip to Le Papillon Restaurant
Feb. 2
Little Red Theatre JK-3 @ 1:00 pm
Thank you to School Council for sponsoring this presentation for students.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Feb. 3
Reports sent home
Once again, as part of the Language Arts
Curriculum, our students in Grade 4 through 8 will
be involved in planning, preparing and presenting oral presentations – speeches. Our school
competition is an excellent opportunity for
students to develop a comfort and proficiency in
presenting their thoughts and ideas. Further
information to follow.
**********************************
Feb. 5
National Sweater Day
Feb. 5
Interview Evening
Feb. 6
Virtue Assembly @ 8:45 am
Feb. 10
School Council Meeting @ 6:30 pm
NATIONAL SWEATER DAY
National Sweater Day will be obser ved boar d-wide on
Thursday, February 5, 2015, pr oviding an oppor tunity
for employees and students to learn about the importance of
saving energy, while at the same time, reminding us to use
less heat throughout the winter.
The heat in our school and classrooms will be turned down
by 2% on National Sweater Day and students and staff are
encouraged to wear a sweater.
Feb. 10 Swim to Survive Program - Grade 3
Feb. 16 Family Day - No School
Feb. 17 Mardi Gras Dance-a-thon
Feb. 17 Swim to Survive - Gr. 3
Feb. 18 Ash Wednesday - Lent Begins
Feb. 23 Rosary Apostolates
Feb. 26 Lenten Mass @ St. F/X Parish 9:30 am