age 3 of 4
Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Apri l 20 14
Good Shepherd Elementary School
28 Red River Drive
Brampton ON, L6R 2H9
Phone: 905.791.1039
Fax: 905.791.9856
Prayer for Easter
We give thanks to You, Lord,
for You have done marvelous things!
When we were walking in darkness You were there,
when we were kneeling in weakness You were there,
when we drew near feeling worthless You were there,
when You were needing forgiveness You were there,
when we were searching for Your grace You were there.
We give thanks to You Lord,
for You have done marvelous things!
Principal
A. Brunette
Amen
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
April is now upon us and spring like conditions are beginning to surface.
With the awakened enthusiasm and resurgence of energy that the onset of
spring typically brings, we look forward to meeting the old and new
challenges that await us during the last three months of the school year.
It is our sincere wish that the hope generated by the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ and the spring season, brings everyone in the Good Shepherd
community happiness and a renewal of the Spirit for the remainder of the
year.
Wishing everyone a Holy and Happy Easter!
Pastor
Father R. Tolentino
April Virtue of the Month – Love
God had given us many guidelines and examples of
how to live our lives. 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 the other.
A Loving Person…
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Wants the best for others
Is willing to make sacrifices for the good of
others
Learns from the heroic lives of saints and holy
people
Knows that we are all lovable
Prays for others
IMPORTANT DATES
 April 3rd – School Council @ 7:00
 April 9th – Much Music Dance KickOff
 April 10th – Lenten Mass 9:30 @ school
 April 10th – Dental Screening JK/SK, 2
 April 11th – Chess Tournament
 April 29th – Grade 3 Swim to Survive
 April 30th – Dance Team Showcase @ Rose
Theatre
Easter Weekend:
Friday April 18th-Monday April 21st
Schools Closed
CHANGE OF DATE:
Lenten Mass will be held on
April 10th at 9:30 at
the school
age 3 of 4
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
School Council News
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.
Class List Formation for 2014-2015
We will soon begin the process of making up the class lists
for next fall. This is a complex procedure which takes into
consideration not only the needs of the individual child,
but frames those needs in the context of the larger
classroom group. In each class we strive for a balance of
learning styles, a balance of gender, a balance of learning
needs and a cross-section of abilities.
The current teachers of a grade, support staff and
administration all take part in the process. If you as a
parent wish to provide input, please take into
consideration the following guidelines:
 Input must be made in writing to the Principal no
later than May 5th, 2014.
 Submit requests in terms of educational contexts,
e.g. your child’s learning needs/strengths/styles:
information not already known to the school; best
learning environment.
Please do not make requests for specific teachers as
staffing is always tentative and changes can occur up until
the second week of September when staffing is finalized.
Sacramental Preparations
First Communion:
Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 12:30 p.m.
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.
Our Catholic School Heritage:
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
A Historical
Understanding of Key Issues Related to Catholic Education
What effect did the Canadian Constitution, create in the
British North America Act (1867) (now entitled either the
Constitution Act or the Canada Act), have on separate
schools?
When the Fathers of Confederation came from New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Canada East, and Canada West to
meet in Charlottetown and Quebec, they quickly concluded,
in the words of one of the Fathers, Sir Charles Tupper, that
“Without this guarantee for the rights of minorities being
embodied in that new constitution, we should have been
unable to obtain any Confederation whatever.”
Next Council Meeting Thursday June 5th @ 7:00 p.m.
age 3 of 4
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
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. Catholic Education Week is an
opportunity to celebrate the Mission of our Catholic
schools as they strive to integrate the Gospel values of
Jesus Christ in every aspect of the school’s life and
curriculum.
This year’s theme is “Serving in the Love of Christ”. Five
sub-themes, one for each of the five days of Catholic
Education Week 2014, help students to understand the
rich meaning of this year’s theme:
Day 1… Serve with faithfulness
Day 2… Serve with humility
Day 3… Serve with compassion
Day 4… Serve with justice
Day 5… Serve with joy
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
School Trips
As the warm weather approaches, classes may be
planning field trips. Parent volunteers will be needed to
assist with supervision on these trips.
In order to
volunteer 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. Some reference
checks take as long as 3 weeks to conduct so we ask that
you consider submitting your paperwork well in advance
of any school trip.
Food Allergies As a reminder to parents – please do not send in
food/snacks with your child to share with his/her class.
There are many students in our school and in your child’s
class with food allergies. We have a strict policy of no
outside food entering the school for that reason. Please
do not send food for special occasions or any reason as it
will be returned back home.
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring
Grade 3 AND 6 Provincial Assessment (EQAO)
All grade 3 and 6 students in Ontario will again be
participating in the Educational Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO) Provincial Assessments
scheduled to take place from May 26 to June 6. We
would ask that if possible, please try to avoid booking
appointments or vacations for your grade 3 and 6
children 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.ca click English, then click parent
information.
There are assessments available from previous years as
well as the exemplars for marking. You will see the 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.
Green Team Update
We hope you and your family enjoyed some power free
activities in support of the World Wildlife Fund’s global
campaign to support climate change. In recognition of
Earth Hour, the staff and students of Good Shepherd
School turned off the power for one hour on Friday
March 28th.
The Great Gulp, which was held on Thursday March 20th
was a great success. Thank you to all students, parents
and staff for supporting the green team with this
initiative. We have caught many staff and students
being eco-friendly by using reusable water bottles, great
job! We hope to continue to decrease the amount of
water bottles here at Good Shepherd School.
Remember, only 1 in 5 water bottles actually gets
recycled!
With spring on its way, the Green Team will be
participating in a Spring Clean Up in recognition of Earth
Day which is on April 22nd. Way to go Green Team! Your
efforts are making the earth a better place. By: Kaylee, Rosana, Jocelyn
On Friday, March 21st Good Shepherd had a Goodbye
Winter, Hello Spring Play day. It was hosted by Healthy
Schools and DPA. We had a lot of fun activities such as
obstacle courses, tug-a-war, hockey and much more. At
the end, the students all had a warm cup of hot chocolate
given out by the staff. All the students had a blast at the
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring Play day. A special thanks
to the Brampton City Parks and Recreation for coming in
and helping host these activities. Have a great spring!
Visit to Tall Pines Nursing Home
By: Mekhi
I was so excited when my teacher told me that we were
going to Tall Pines Nursing Home. When that day came
and we were walking there I couldn’t wait to arrive.
We experience things like how you feel, see, and hear
when you get very old. This was done by putting goggles
on our eyes and covering one side of the goggles with
tape so we can only see through one eye. Then we put on
plastic gloves and put marbles at the end so our fingers
were heavy and not so sturdy. We also put ear plugs in
our ears so we couldn’t hear very well. We then started
to play bingo with all of those things on. I must admit
that it was very difficult to see, hear and feel. After
bingo we went to see the rooms of a few people who live
there. I met an old woman who could say the alphabet
backwards really, really quickly. I also met someone who
was in WW2. It was a pleasure to meet a woman who is
100 years old and can still dance better than many young
people.
It was a very good learning experience for me and I
understand more of what it feels like to be very old.
age 3 of 4
SAVE-THE-DATE – End of Year Playday
Planning
Pageis4underway
of 4 for our end of year playday on
June 19th. This year 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.
Stations of the Cross
The grade 8s will be presenting www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
the Stations of the
Cross on the afternoon of Thursday April 17th. We
welcome all parents to join us in this solemn and
reflective afternoon. The event will be outdoors
(weather permitting).
age 3 of 4
age 3 of 4