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Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Ap ril 2 0 1 5
Good Shepherd Elementary School
28 Red River Drive
Brampton ON, L6R 2H9
Phone: 905.791.1039
Fax: 905.791.9856
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
Vice Principal
S. Chambers
Office Staff
N. Jacques
D. Canal
Superintendent of Schools
L. Storey
(905) 890-0708 ext. 24240
Trustee
S. Xaviour
Amen
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!
Parish
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(905) 792-7497
Pastor
Fr. Robert Mignella
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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Prayer for Easter
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 1 – Primary Lenten Retreat
 April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 – Pizza Days
 April 2 – Passion Play @ 1 p.m.
 April 7, 13, 20, 27 – Sub Days
 April 8 – Chess Tournament
 April 9 – Dental Screening JK/SK, 2
 April 14 – School Council
 April 21 - Grade 2 First Communion Retreat
 April 21 – Dance Team Showcase @ Rose Theatre
 April 23 – Gr. 2 – Scientists in the School
 April 27 – Gr. 1 – 3 Nutrition Presentation
 April 29 – Gr. 4 – Medieval Knights Presentation
 April 30 – Region of Peel “Green” Waste
Presentation
Easter Weekend:
Good Friday, April 3rd – Easter Monday April 6th
Schools Closed
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Good Shepherd’s Good 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 2015-2016
Library News
April is reading month! Good Shepherd is pleased to
announce that we have a number of special guests lined
up this month to come and read to our students. Key
members from our community are going to read their
favourite stories with us and share their joy of reading.
Families at home can join us in sharing their joy of reading
by reading daily at home. For tips and some great ideas on
how to support literacy at home please visit
http://www.togetheread.com/.
Autism Awareness
In
recognition
of
Autism
Awareness month we are in the
midst of planning an awareness
assembly. Students will have
the opportunity to learn more
about autism and the effects this
disorder has on both family
members and those who suffer
from it.
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 4th, 2015.
 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
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
School Council News
Change of Date
School Council Meeting will be held on
April 14th not April 16th at 7:00 p.m.
Subsequent Meeting: Thursday May 28th, 2015 @ 7:00 p.m.
Grade 8 Graduation Mass & Awards Ceremony
Thursday, June 25th at 7:00 p.m. St. Marguerite d’Youville
Parish
First Holy Communion:
Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 2, 2015 10:30 a.m & 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 3, 2015 at 12:30 p.m.
Our Catholic School Heritage:
A Historical
Understanding of Key Issues Related to Catholic
Education
Sacrament of Confirmation:
Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
F
Our Grade Two students will be participating in a retreat
on Tuesday April 21st from 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at St.
Marguerite d’Youville Church.
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.”
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Good Shepherd’s Good News
Catholic Education Week
School Trips
Catholic Education Week will
be celebrated from May 3rd May 8th, 2015. 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 “Exploring Paths of Joy” Five subthemes, one for each of the five days of Catholic
Education Week 2015, help students to understand the
rich meaning of this year’s theme:
Day 1… Walking Together and Sharing our Story
Day 2… Opening the Scriptures
Day 3… Welcoming Others to the Table
Day 4… Recognizing Jesus in the Breaking of the
Bread
Day 5… Proclaiming the Good News
Food Allergies
Green Team Update
The Great Gulp, which was held on Friday March 13 th 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 ecofriendly 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.
Welcome to Full-Day Kindergarten
Good Shepherd’s “Welcome to Full-Day Kindergarten”
evening will be held on Wednesday May 13th, 2015. All
new Kindergarten students and parents/guardians are
invited to attend.
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
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.
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.
Winter Play Day
On Thursday, March 12, 2015, the Healthy Schools
Committee together with the City of Brampton hosted its
second annual Winter Play Day. Students participated in a
number of fun outdoor activities such as obstacle courses,
tug-a-war, hockey and much more. At the end of the
afternoon, the students all had a warm cup of hot
chocolate given out by the staff. All the students had a
blast at the Winter Play Day. A special thanks to the
Brampton City Parks and Recreation for coming in and
helping host these activities.
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Safety Reminders
The safety of our students is of the utmost importance
and so we are asking for your cooperation in following the
safety procedures outlined below when bringing your
child(ren) to and from school.
Kiss and Ride:
Thank you to all of our parents who are respectful of our
‘Kiss and Ride’ and of the parking signage. Brampton
Traffic By-Law Enforcement officers regularly enforce the
signage both at school and on the roads near the school.
Please do not PARK your cars in the ‘Kiss and Ride’ lanes
as this causes unnecessary traffic backlog.
Students should exit from the right hand side of the car.
It is dangerous to have students exiting on the left hand
side of the car into the ‘Drive Through’ lane.
Please do not use the ‘Drive Through’ lane to drop off
your children.
Students and parents must cross at the designated
crosswalk. Please do not cross in the middle of the ‘Kiss
and Ride’ and ‘Drive Through’ lanes.
Please do not drop students off at the front door.
Inclement Weather:
On rainy mornings, please continue to use the ‘Kiss and
Ride’ lane to drop off your child(ren). Students will be
able to enter the school directly through the back and
side door. We have noticed a number of vehicles
dropping students off at the front of the school. This is
an unsafe practice that creates a backlog of traffic,
interferes with the school bus drop off and puts students
in a dangerous position of crossing between cars.
Visitors on School Property:
When bringing your child to school in the morning,
parents are asked to wait behind the black fence by the
parking lot. As per board policy, any visitor on school
property needs to sign in at the office. While your child
knows who you are, you are a stranger to the other
children. If you would like to wait on the park path by
where the primary students enter, then you must be
there before 8:30. Please do not cross the school yard
between 8:30 and 8:45 while students are playing. We
thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Kernels Popcorn is coming soon to Good Shepherd!! In
the next few weeks Spirit Squad will be selling popcorn
on Fridays for 2 dollars per bag .There will be a choice
between kettle corn and butter salt .Both options
are peanut free. Stay tuned for more details!!!
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Grade 3 AND 6 Provincial Assessment Of Reading,
Writing and Mathematics
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 25 to June 5.
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.
Family Dinner Night
Thank you to our Parent Council for organizing our
recent Family Dinner Night, to staff for assisting and to
all the parents and students in attendance. Also a big
thank you to Miguel Martinez for hosting the evening. A
great time was had by all. We look forward to having Mr.
Martinez back to assist with our upcoming Boys and Girls
event in May.
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