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Good Shepherd Elementary School
28 Red River Drive
Brampton ON, L6R 2H9
Phone: 905.791.1039
Fax: 905.791.9856
Principal
A. Brunette
Vice Principal
M. Daddabbo
Office Staff
N. Jacques
D. Canal
Superintendent of Schools
L. Storey
(905) 890-0708 ext. 24240
Trustee
S. McLauchlan
Parish
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(905) 792-7497
Prayer for the Month of Mary
O Mary, Virgin of the Word made flesh in your womb, help
us to be open to the Word of the Lord, so that, having been
welcomed and meditated upon, it may grow in our hearts.
Help us to live, like you, the beatitudes of believers and to
dedicate ourselves with unceasing charity to evangelizing all
those who seek your Son. Grant that we may serve every
person, becoming servants of the Word we have heard, so
that remaining faithful to it we may find our happiness in
living it.
Amen.
The month of May is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. God filled her with the
fullness of His grace. We are called to remember her strength and gentleness, and
answer the call to be a people of prayer, peace and hope. During the month of May,
spend some time talking to your children about our Blessed Mother, and pray the
rosary as a family.
We extend our best wishes to all the mothers in our community as you celebrate
Mother’s Day.
With the presence of Catholic schools, we are able to send our children to school
knowing that our Catholic faith is infused throughout each day. Every year, one week
in May is set aside to highlight “Catholic Education.” The purpose of “Catholic
Education Week” provides an opportunity for everyone to recognize and cherish the
gift of Catholic Education, and the distinctive contributions our schools provide in
the lives of our students, families and church community. We look forward to
inviting you into the school throughout the week of May 5-9!
Pastor
Father R. Tolentino
May Virtue of the Month – Acceptance
God wants us to make friends with everyone no
matter how different they may look or act.
Acceptance is the ability to respect the dignity
and rights of all persons, even those whose beliefs
and behaviours differ from our own. Everyone
should strive to love and respect their neighbour,
as they love and respect themselves.
People of Acceptance…
Are friendly and open to all God’s people.
Sense God’s presence in people of all ages,
beliefs, genders, cultures, and/or abilities.
Avoid the temptation to judge or negatively
stereotype
Look for positive traits in others
Understand there may be more than one way
of doing things.
IMPORTANT DATES
 May 5-9 – Catholic Education Week
 May 7 – Much Music Dance-A-Thon
 May 3-4,10 - First Communion
 May 6-8 - Confirmation Days
 May 15 – Welcome To Kindergarten Night
 May 22 – School Council Meeting **Note change
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of date!
May 26-June 6 – EQAO Gr. 3 and 6
June 4-6 – Intermediate Montreal Trip
June 9 – PD Day – no school for students
June 19 – Play Day at Professor’s Lake
June 25 – Grade 8 Graduation Ceremony
June 27 – Grade 8 Grad lunch/Dance
Victoria Day Weekend:
Monday May 19th
Schools Closed
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
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Are You Ticked?
New Registrations/Moving?
If you know of families who will be registering students for
September, please encourage them to register as soon as
possible. If you are moving from our area, please let the
office know as soon as possible. Our class organization and
staffing for September depend upon accurate projections.
Please call us at 905-791-1039 if you will be moving
before September.
Make Sure Your School Support Designation is English
Separate (Catholic). It’s a powerful message in
support of Catholic education!
On October 27, you will cast your vote for Catholic
school trustee in the Municipal elections. Make your
vote counts, by ensuring you are registered as an
English Separate school supporter.
When you designate yourself as an English Separate
school supporter, you help foster a strong political
voice, through your elected representative (Trustee),
in ensuring your rights to a Catholic education for the
young people in our province.
Sacramental Preparations
First Communion:
Saturday, May 3, 2014 at 10:30 and 5:00
Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 12:30
Saturday, May 10, 2014 at 5:00
Sacrament of Confirmation:
Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Summer Literacy Camp
See attached flyer for details. Contact the school for a
registration form.
To verify that you are registered as an English
Separate school supporter:
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Check the assessment section of your Tax Bill
or Property Assessment Notice
Check your Voter Information Card received
by mail during the month of May
We can help you register or change your direction of
school support. Contact the Admissions Department
at 905-890-0708 ext. 24512.
School Council News
Next Council Meeting Thursday May 22nd @ 7:00 p.m.
Our Catholic School Heritage:
A Historical
Understanding of Key Issues Related to Catholic Education
How did the Ontario government solve separate school
financial inequity?
In 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada judged that the
Canadian Constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms
entitles Francophones, where numbers warrant, to their own
school boards. French-language district school boards and
French-language Catholic district school boards were
created. Consequently, Ontario then had four school
systems. Three of them - the English-language Catholic
district school boards, the French language Catholic district
school boards and the French-language district school
boards - had very little access to corporate assessment.
One of them – the English-language district school boards –
possessed most of the province’s corporate assessment
and, therefore, ability to spend much more than their
counterparts on education. Faced with this inequity and a
court challenge it was convinced it would lose, the
government took the only logical and fair step. It abolished
the power of all school boards to tax and took over all
education funding. Now each pupil, no matter which type of
school he or she attends, receives the same per-pupil
funding from the government. After 150 years of sacrifice
and hardship, Catholic school boards have achieved
financial equity.
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Catholic Education Week
Catholic Education Week will be celebrated from May 4
– May 9, 2014. During this week the Catholic community
celebrates the unique and distinctive contribution that
Catholic schools make to our students, our community
and our province. This year’s theme is “Serving in the
Love of Christ”. A flyer outlining daily events happening
at the school was sent home last week. We encourage
you to come into the school this week to help highlight
the importance of Catholic Education.
Green Team Update
Earth day has come and gone but Good Shepherd
continues to make the earth a better place by cleaning
up! Brampton Clean City provided enough bags and
gloves for all students to participate in a school yard
clean up. Every little bit counts!
The Green Team worked hard to complete our Eco
Schools Application. We thank all staff, students and
the community for supporting the Green Team and
allowing our school to be a Certified Eco School. Chess Team
On Friday April 11, Good Shepherd School hosted the
Brampton East Caledon Dufferin Family of School Chess
Tournament. We competed against a variety of teams
from other schools in our Family.
All teams proudly represented Good Shepherd School
with their determination, skill and a positive attitude. A
special thank you to Mr. Pittiglio, Mrs. Marks, Mrs.
Vistica, and Mr. Tuerke for coaching and supervising.
Intermediate Girls and Boys Basketball
The intermediate girls and boys basketball teams
competed in the family tournament at Ascension of Our
Lord Secondary on Thursday, April 24th. Congratulations
to both teams for playing very well throughout the day,
however they were unable to defeat the competition.
Congratulations on all the hard work of the players and
coaches (Mr. Di Natale and Mrs. Rosero).
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Warm Weather Dress Code
With the arrival of warm weather in the spring (finally!),
we need to review appropriate dress for the school day.
Board Policy states that all students are expected to dress
in clean, neat and practical attire.
The Board endorses and promotes student dress code
consistent with the values, traditions and distinctiveness
of Catholic schools and the common good. We are
committed to standards of neatness, cleanliness, modesty
and good taste.
The expectation here is not that a student come to school
in his/her “Sunday Best”, but that they not wear purely
recreational wear such as: tank tops, halter tops, short
shorts, cut offs, and shirts with inappropriate logos.
If we feel that your child is dressed inappropriately, we
will call home and ask that your child come home and get
changed or clothes be brought for him/her.
We respectfully ask parents to monitor what children are
wearing before they leave for school.
We also encourage students to wear a hat for the times
students are outside in the sun and to apply sun screen in
the morning prior to arrival.
Parking Lot Safety Safety in our parking lot continues to be of the utmost
importance. We have been noticing a number of parents
and students crossing the Kiss ‘n Ride and Drive Thru
lanes during arrival and dismissal times. This is not a safe
practice as cars are continually moving and you may not
be seen. We remind you that we have a designated
crosswalk at the end of the Kiss ‘n Ride and Drive Thru
lanes with a teacher on duty to supervise crossing. This is
the safest place to cross with your child. We ask all
parents to help us in keeping our parking lot safe by
crossing at the crosswalk. While it may mean a few extra
steps, safety for you and your child will be increased.
We would also like to thank you for your patience with
our parking lot and Kiss ‘n Ride this winter. Now that the
warmer weather is here and the snow has melted, traffic
is moving more smoothly. We thank you for abiding by
our parking lot rules and refraining from parking in the
Kiss ‘n Ride lane. With everyone’s cooperation our
parking lot will be safe, work smoothly and be stress free!
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
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School Trips
Stations of the Cross
By: Isabelle & Julia
This Easter many Catholics around the world
celebrated the most important event in our liturgical
Calendar. On April 18th it was Good Friday and that
was the day when Jesus walked the Stations of the
Cross. This year we, the grade 8s decided to portray
the Stations of the Cross outside for the first time at
Good Shepherd. When we first heard about the idea,
everyone was really excited about doing it and knew
that it would turn out well. All of us dedicated so
many hours towards preparing props and costumes for
each station, we were very creative in making each
station come to life for the students. On April 17th our
leaders guided each class through the school yard
where the tableau stations were showcased. A small
paragraph was read to each class about what was seen
in each scene. The following Tuesday after Easter
weekend, the school gathered in the gym to attend a
short Resurrection Liturgy. During this time a few
readings were read from the bible and a dance was
performed by 4 students in our grade dedicated to the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The dance was so
elegant and mesmerizing that everyone was pleased
with the way we had portrayed the Stations of the
Cross and the resurrection of Jesus. In the end, having
the Stations of the Cross outside was a success and we
hope everyone enjoyed the creative representation.
We would like to thank all the parents who came to
share this wonderful experience with Good Shepherd.
On behalf of all the Grade 8 students we would like to
thank Good Shepherd for being so respectful,
peaceful, quiet, patient and very reflective during
their journey through the Stations of the Cross.
In order to volunteer on a school trip you must have a
Criminal Reference Check completed and present the
original to the office to keep in our records. Forms
are available from the office to present at the local
police station. Thank you for volunteering!!
End of Year Playday
On June 19th we will be bringing the whole school to
Professor’s Lake to enjoy some outdoor games and
activities, sand castle building, and fun in the sun! In
order to make this day happen we need the support of
parent volunteers to accompany our classes – we will
need almost 30 parents to volunteer their time to
supervise students on that day. Volunteers must have
a volunteer police check filed in the office. If you are
willing to volunteer please pick up a Criminal
Reference Check form from the office.
Lunch will be provided by the School Council.
Information and permission forms will be sent home
soon!
Please let your child’s teacher know if you are
available to assist on that day!
Holocaust Centre
By: Shyanne
Want to talk about a fun, emotional, and educational
trip? Well the Holocaust Centre is the place to go.
The grade eights went last week and we enjoyed it
very much. We would like to thank them for a
wonderful experience. We had the opportunity to
talk to such a wonderful lady whose name was Eve.
She was just a pleasure to be with. We had the
opportunity to look at real life artifacts and have a
feel of what life was like back then. We want to give
a huge thanks to our teachers for arranging such a
wonderful trip and we hope that future grades get to
enjoy and experience what we did. Also special
thanks to the Holocaust Centre for continuing to
remind people of the torturous things that occurred
and how we need to learn for the future.
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