Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
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Prayer for Thanksgiving
We thank you Lord for all you give
The food we eat, the lives we live;
And to those we meet along the way
Please send your blessings, Lord we pray.
And help us all to live our days
With thankful hearts
And loving ways.
Amen
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
S. Chambers
Office Staff
N. Jacques
Superintendent of Schools
L. Storey
(905) 890-0708 ext. 24240
Trustee
S. Xaviour
Parish
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(905) 792-7497
Pastor
Fr. Robert Mignella
October Virtue of the Month - EMPATHY
During the month of October we will focus on
Empathy. God wants us to care about
everyone’s feelings. Empathy is the ability to
put yourself in another’s shoes and the
capacity to feel what the other person is
feeling.
People of Empathy….

Can understand and name their feelings

Care about other’s feelings

Listen carefully to others

Listen for cues in tone of voice

Watch expressions and body gesture for
messages

Notice when someone is upset

Can see and respect how others look at
things

Know that others may feel differently
about things than they do
October has come upon us very quickly. We have
experienced a reorganization of classes in the Primary
division. Thank you to staff, students and parents for
your understanding and patience in working with us to
enable a very smooth and successful transition. Sadly we
have had to say goodbye to Mrs. Canal, our half-time
secretary. We thank Mrs. Canal for her commitment to
our school over the past two years and we wish her well at
her new school. She will be greatly missed.
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at
our Open House on Sept. 24th and at our School Council
Elections on October 1st. As always, your partnership is
very much appreciated and we look forward to working
with you to ensure continued success for your children.
At Thanksgiving, we take time to be thankful for
the blessings we are given, and for the blessings we give
to others! As Jesus shares, “Whatsoever you do to the
least of my brothers and sisters you do unto me.” Happy
Thanksgiving from the staff of Good Shepherd.
IMPORTANT DATES
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Oct. 7
Oct. 7
Oct. 7
Oct. 12
Oct. 15
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Oct. 16
Oct. 19
Oct. 21
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Oct. 21
Oct. 22
Oct. 23
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Nov. 4
Nov. 12
Nov. 17
Nov. 19
Communion Registration
Junior Volleyball Tournament
National Walk to School Day!
Thanksgiving Day – No School
Central Committee of Catholic
School Councils Meeting – St.
Francis Xavier SS 5:30 p.m.
Cross Country Meet-Orangeville
Dental screening (JK, SK, gr. 2s)
Aquinas Regional Arts Program
Visit for Gr. 8’s
Visit from Dr. Simone, 10:30 a.m.
Picture retakes
Youth Faith Ambassador
Commissioning
Gr. 8s to D’Youville
School Council 6:00 p.m.
Progress Reports Sent home
Progress Report Interview Evening
Page 2 of 4
Good Shepherd’s Good News
World Teachers Day
On October 5th, we joined world-wide to acknowledge
the key role teachers play in guiding children, through
the life-long learning process. World Teachers Day
gives us an opportunity to recognize and thank the
dedication and value of our teachers at Good
Shepherd School, who go above and beyond to
enhance the experiences for your children!!
Safe Arrival Program
Attendance of students is tracked each morning to
ensure that every student has arrived safely. In the
event that your child is late or absent, please call the
school at (905) 791-1039 and press 1 for the 24 hour
attendance line. When leaving a message, please
state your child’s name, teacher’s name, grade and
the reason for absence or lateness. Please continue to
call each day that your child is absent.
Students who arrive late to school must proceed to
the office to get a late slip. We thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Catholic School Council
Our Good Shepherd Catholic School Council was
established on October 1st . The members are as
follows:
Co - Chairs – M. Avila and D. Kieffer
Secretary – S. Tremblay
Treasurer – C. Ercoli
Parish Rep – C. Manathara
OAPCE Rep – A. Rapallo
Parent member – N. Leal
Parent involvement within the school community is a
key factor in improving student achievement and wellbeing. We are looking forward to working with
parents and community members to support the
learning of our students.
Medic Alert Program
The No Child Without program offers free MedicAlert
membership to students between the ages of 4 and
14. If your child has a medical condition, allergy or
takes medication on a regular basis, then you should
consider a MedicAlert membership through this
program. For information, pick up a brochure at the
school office, or visit www.nochildwithout.ca.
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Pupil Accommodation Review Policy Public
Consultation
The Ministry of Education released the new Pupil
Accommodation Review Guideline (PARG) in March
2015. This guideline sets expectations for all school
boards on managing and reviewing underutilized school
space, including potential school closures, and for the
greater coordination and sharing of planning related
information between school boards and other
community partners.
The guideline requires all school boards in the
province to develop or revise Pupil Accommodation
Review Policies and to invite public input into the
policy before it is finalized.
A survey to collect feedback on the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board’s draft amended Policy
6.51 Pupil Accommodation Review will be available for
review and comment on the Board’s website at
www.dpcdsb.org until 4:30 pm on Friday, October 16,
2015. Supporting documents will also be available for
reference and review. Please consider reviewing and
providing input on this policy.
Kindergarten Yard
This summer we were very fortunate to receive a
beautifully designed and landscaped Kindergarten
yard. This newly renovated area allows us to bring the
learning from the indoors to the outdoors and invites
our youngest students to use their imagination and
creativity while playing and learning outside. On
September 17th, the Toronto Star visited our
Kindergarten yard and featured it, along with 2 other
schools, in an article. To read the article, please visit
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/yourtoronto/educatio
n/2015/09/23/dynamic-playgrounds-make-outdoorlearning-magical.html
Thanksgiving Food Drive
The first initiative of our Youth Faith Ambassadors is
to organize a Thanksgiving Food Drive for the Knight’s
Table. The donations will help support families in
need in our local community.
Please consider
donating nonperishable food items to allow families
the opportunity to have a festive Thanksgiving
celebration.
Next School Council Meeting
Thursday, November 12th
@
6:00 p.m.
Page 3 of 4
Good Shepherd’s Good News
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Annual Terry Fox Walk
Halloween
Many thanks to everyone for making our Terry Fox
Walk another success: the parents, the volunteers,
the donors, the teachers and of course all the
children who participated. This year, our school
community aimed to collect a toonie from every
child, for the Terry Fox Foundation. Thank you for
your donations!
Halloween is a fun time for students to dress up and
be creative. We will be participating in various
activities to celebrate the fun aspects of Halloween.
Students are reminded that any costumes must be
appropriate for school and in line with the school’s
dress code. Masks that cover the full face or toy guns
or weapons are not allowed for school costumes. If
you wish to bring treats for the class, please bring
non-food items such as stickers and pencils. More
information will follow regarding our Hallowe’en
Dance!
Evacuation Drills/Lockdown Drill
As a precautionary measure, every school is required
to practice six fire drill evacuations and two
lockdown procedures throughout each school year.
Initiating a lockdown is a procedure used board wide
to convey to staff that a threat from a dangerous
article/ stranger exists. In a “Lockdown”, an
announcement will indicate the initiation of the
lockdown, followed by the ringing of the school bell.
Staff will secure the classrooms by closing windows
and blinds, and locking doors. Students will be
instructed to move to the floor, where they will
remain until further instructions are given. Staff and
students will be notified of the end of the Lockdown
procedure by an announcement. Please emphasize
with your children the purpose of a drill is for
practice only, and used for developing safety plans.
In the fall we will be having three fire drills and a
lockdown drill to review the safety procedures with
the students. Every year we complete these drills to
ensure the students are familiar with fire exits and
safety procedures in the case of an emergency.
Pizza & Sub Days
Information was sent home recently regarding Pizza
Orders and Sub orders. Our pizza days will occur
every Wednesday until Christmas vacation. Sub days
will occur on Mondays.
We ask that orders be
submitted in the envelope provided with exact
change.
Envelopes cannot be shared between
siblings, therefore please submit one envelope per
child. Late orders will not be accepted.
Buzzer Entry System/Dropping off Lunches
Thank you to all visitors who have been using our new
entry system. To reduce the flow of traffic through
the front, we ask that students come prepared for
school with all of the things they will need (ie.
Lunches, projects, gym clothes/shoes). When
dropping off lunches, students will not be permitted
to run out to a waiting car to get their lunch. Please
ensure that lunches are brought into the school and
left on the lunch table in the front foyer. This will
reduce the number of items needed to be dropped off
at school. There may be times when we cannot
answer the buzzer right away due to other demands
in the office. We thank you for your patience while
waiting.
Youth Faith Ambassadors
This year our Youth Faith Ambassadors group will
invite students from grades 4 to 8. This group of
students will be the faith leaders for our school.
They will volunteer their time at school to lead
various faith, Liturgical, Global and Local Outreach
initiatives. This year on October 23, a ceremony will
be held at Holy Family parish in Bolton to commission
our ambassadors together with other Youth Faith
Ambassadors in our Brampton East, Caledon,
Dufferin, Malton family of schools.
Page 4 of 4
Good Shepherd’s Good News
CCAT – Grade 4 Testing
The Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test will be
administered to all grade 4 students during the month of
October. In order to qualify for additional testing and
the enrichment program, students must score at the 95th
percentile or above on two of the three areas, and at the
90th percentile in the remaining area. If parents do not
want their child to participate in this test, please
contact the classroom teacher.
Athletics
Our Junior and Intermediate softballs competed in the
Family of Schools tournament on September 30 th and
October 1st respectively. Both teams demonstrated
great sportsmanship and enjoyed the day. Thank you to
Mrs. Sukreski and Mrs. Bailey for coaching the teams.
Kiss ‘n Ride Safety
 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 move all the way up in the ‘Kiss ‘n Ride’ lane.
Stopping to let children out in front of the garbage
dumpster causes delays in the flow of traffic.
 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.
School Yard Safety
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.
Dr. Simone Visit
On Wednesday, October 21st, Dr. Simone – founder of
Canadian Food For Children – will be visiting our school.
Dr. Simone will be speaking to us about the virtue of
empathy and sharing his story of service to the poor
around the world. Please join us at 10:30 in the gym if
www.dpcdsb.org/
you are able.
In support of Dr. Simone’s warehouse, we
will also be collecting hard candy (no chocolate) after
Hallowe’en. For children in poor countries, malnutrition
shuts down the body’s digestive track and often children
cannot eat, even when regular healthy food is given to
them. However, doctors have discovered that candy with
its high content of sugar can start the digestive track
working. This allows these children to consume food,
thus, saving their lives.
www.dpcdsb.org/gshep
Personal Electronic Devices on Board Premises
and/or Board Sanctioned Events for Educational
Purposes:
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
acknowledges the value of the use of technology for
learning. Students are permitted to register and use
personal electronic devices (PEDs) on board premises
and/or board sanctioned events for educational
purposes, under the direction of staff and only with
parent/guardian permission. Students may register
their PED for the purpose of connecting to the board
wireless network. Students are required to adhere to
the student “Personal Electronic Device Used with WIFI Network Student Agreement” (GF 337) and the
“Network User Application and Agreement.” (GF066)
Please be advised that the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board will not be responsible for any
cost incurred through the use of personal data plans.
PEDs are to be used responsibly and should not
interfere with learning; their use must comply with the
Catholic Code of Conduct, board policies and
procedures.
Any personal communications (i.e.,
phone calls, text messages, etc.) will continue to be
directed through the main office. Failure to comply
with these guidelines may result in a loss of PED
privileges and/or any other consequences deemed
necessary by school administration.
The school principal may authorize limited acceptable
uses of personal electronic devices during schoolsanctioned activities for a specific designated purpose
outside of instructional spaces and/or in common
areas.
Students are responsible for the safety and security
of PEDs at all times and the Board assumes no
responsibility for lost, damaged or stolen devices.
There will be an assembly for our Junior and
Intermediate students to explain their responsibilities
in using PEDs. The student agreement and further
information will be coming home shortly. Please take
the time to read the agreement carefully with your
child.
We are looking forward to incorporating new and
various technologies of the 21st century to support and
enhance student learning!