ST. DAVID OF WALES SCHOOL
4200 Beacon Lane, Mississauga, Ontario L5C 3V9 TEL. 848-4200
B. Gillis
D. Gibson
C. Baron
Principal
Secretary
C.S.C. Chair
C. Saytar
L. del Rosario
St. Martin of Tours
1290 McBride Lane
Fr. Joyson Pottackal
Superintendent
Trustee
Parish
(905) 279-5742
Pastor
OCTOBER 2010
VIRTUE OF EMPATHY
Gracious and merciful God of all creation,
You made us to live together in communities.
We are nothing without relationships.
You have given us the virtue of empathy to ensure
That we are able to identify with and feel other people’s concerns.
We come to you now asking for the grace and strength
To follow your plan and to form a safe, caring, inclusive community
Here at St. David of Wales School.
May your gift of empathy lead us to know and feel your presence among us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son, who lived to show us your way.
Amen
An empathetic person…
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Listens attentively
Watches people’s body language
Notices and responds when someone is upset
Can name her/his feelings
Can see a situation from another person’s point of view
Knows that different people may feel differently about the same
things
OPEN
HOUSE
EVENING
&
CURRICULUM YARD SUPERVISION
Thank you to the St. David of Wales
community for attending our Open House
Barbecue & Curriculum Evening on
Wednesday, September 22, 2010. This was a
great evening for you to meet the staff and
look around our beautiful school. I was very
fortunate to meet many parents that evening
and I look forward to meeting all of you during
the course of the year. Please spend some time
reviewing the Curriculum at a Glance and
checking your child's agenda for important
information. Please refer to the K to 12
Homework Policy & Procedures section which
outlines the homework policy of the DufferinPeel Catholic District School Board.
A YEAR OF VIRTUES
Please remember teacher supervision, in both
the main yard and kindergarten courtyard does
not commence until 8:30 a.m. Afternoon
Kindergarten students are not supervised until
12:30 p.m. in the kindergarten courtyard.
Parents are asked not to drop off their children
prior to these times as students will be
unsupervised.
AFTER SCHOOL SECURITY
Students must be diligent in gathering all
materials prior to the end of the school day.
Once dismissed, there is no supervision
provided to the students. Students/parents
should not be returning to school after school
hours to retrieve books/belongings. In order to
ensure the safety of the workplace, no students
or parents may wander to classrooms after
school.
At St. David of Wales, virtue formation
contributes to a healthy positive learning BOOK FAIR
environment by fostering a climate in which all
members feel safe, confident and hope-filled
about themselves, their relationships and their
futures. Each of the Virtues is clearly outlined
in the student agenda.
A student centered liturgy and assembly will
introduce the virtue of the month.
Our First Open House/Book Fair took place the
evening of Wednesday, September 22, 2010.
September
Faith
Many parents enjoyed our Scholastic Book
October
Empathy
display and were able to purchase books as
November
Conscience
donations to classroom teachers. Thank you
December
Hope
for your generosity.
January
Self-control
February
Respect
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT TEACHER
March
Kindness
April
Love
This year St. David of Wales will have a
May
Acceptance
Special Assignment Teacher visiting to
June
Fairness
assist/support Teachers with teaching Primary
numeracy. The SAT will be working in
partnership with classroom teachers to
implement the Gr. 1 – 3 math plan. She will be
working with groups of students as well as
individual students alongside the classroom
teacher to target the learning needs of all
students. This teacher may be working in your CHOIR
child’s classroom from time to time throughout
the year. We would like to welcome Ms. T.
O’Brien-Tidy as out SAT again this year.
We are excited to provide a collaborative
teaching opportunity for all of the Primary
students in our Board. Our goal is rooted in
the faithful practice that each individual is a
child of God and belongs to our Catholic
community of learners.
“Each one called by name.” Isaiah 43:1
ROSARY APOSTOLATES
Once again this year the Rosary Apostolates
from St. Martin of Tours will be teaching the
children the prayers of the Rosary and the
hymns of Mary. We will have a school wide
celebration for the Crowing of Mary in the
spring.
SCHOOL MASSES
We are very fortunate to have Father Joyson
join us at St. David of Wales School to
celebrate masses. Students participate actively
in these masses and parents are always
welcome. Our first mass was on Tuesday,
October 5, 2010 @ 1:00 p.m. Thank you to all
the families for sending in non-perishable food
items for a family in our community. We
started our food drive for Thanksgiving on
Monday, October 4, 2010. All food items will
be forwarded to the St. Vincent de Paul
Society.
The St. David of Wales choir has come
together once again for another exciting school
year! Our choir consists of 31 students from
grades 3 – 6 and is led by Mrs. Cicak and Ms.
Smutnicki. The choir sings at all school
masses and also participates in other functions
such as school musicals and Christmas
caroling. The choir will gather for the first
time at our Fall Thanksgiving Mass on
Tuesday, October 5. We would like to thank
all current members of the choir for devoting
their time and we encourage others to join!
The 2010/2011 Choir members are:
Anna G.
Dayna B.
Matteo S.
Kaitlin D.
Julita G.
Samantha C.
Alessana C.
Amica A.
Samantha D.
Garrett C.
Manny E.
Rodolfo F.
Olivia P.
Matthew P.
Isabel D.
Daniel H.
Alyssa C.
James T.
Gabriella B.
Melanie C.
Alex M.
Denielle B.
Joanna S.
Melissa D.
Gillyan X.
Anthony C.
Alexandra G.
Matthew R.
Stacey F.
Anthony D.
Olivia S.
CHURCH CHOIR
The children’s’ choir at St. Martin of Tours
Parish is looking for students in Gr. 3 and up
interested in singing at Sunday Mass. If you are
interested please call the Church at (905) 2795742
favorite Halloween costumes always keeping
in mind appropriate, non-violent costumes, no
SCHOOL COUNCIL
masks and no knives/swords etc. As well, the
primary students will be creating a Halloween
craft with the help of Mrs. Abitrantes’ students.
We ask that each student bring in a toonie to
Congratulations to the following parents who cover the cost of the DJ for this event.
have been acclaimed as parent members of our
School Council for the 2010/2011 school year: Once again the St. David of Wales community
is asking parents (with the assistance of their
children) to donate Halloween candy during
K. Baron
-Chair
the week of November 1 – 5 (right after
A. D’Alessio
-Treasurer
Halloween). The candy, including chocolates
K. Price
- Secretary
will be sent off to Africa, through Dr. Simone
C. Pinto
-Parish Rep.
Warehouse, to help “nourish” sick children
M. Howard
-OAPCE Rep
who are too sick to take medications.
Members At Large:
E. Blas – V. Cairns – C. Darmody
The most important aspect of this time of year
K. Eres - E. Lefebvre – D. Valentini
centers on the two great Feast Days.
November 1, is All Saints Day, where we
Teacher Rep.
A. Brown
honour the Saints of our church and November
C. Zoffranieri
2, is All Souls Day where we spend time
Non-teaching Rep.
D. Gibson
reflecting and remembering those who have
passed away.
Principal
B. Gillis
TERRY FOX Walk for a Cure 2010
We look forward to an exciting year as we
work in partnership for the benefit of all the
On Friday, October 1, 2010 the staff and
students.
The next meeting will be on
students of St. David of Wales School were out
Wednesday, November 10, @ 6:30 p.m. in the
in full force walking the field to show their
Library. All are welcome to attend.
support. The school raised $735.10 for cancer.
The Terry Fox committee would like to thank
HALLOWEEN
the whole community for their support.
Terry Fox Committee: C. Abitrante &
J. MacRury
CROSS COUNTRY
As Halloween approaches we are all excited
about the celebrations we have planned in our
schools and homes. Seeing our children
dressed up in their favorite costumes is always
The Cross Country Runners at St. David of
a treat!
Wales have been busy getting in shape to
St. David of Wales will be having a Halloween participate in the Mississauga Central Family
Howl Dance in the gym and Spooky Fun of Schools Cross Country Running Meet to be
House in the DPA room on Friday, October 29, held on Friday, October 15, at Centennial Park.
2010. Students are encouraged to dress in their We have great participation this year
Good luck to all the runners.
Grade 5 Boys & Girls
Anthony W.
Rielly O.
Jacob B.
Kevin A.
Matthew C.
Franka S.
Joanna S.
Rocio E.
Ally C.
Julita G.
Grade 6 Boys & Girls
Daniel H.
Chris E.
Cheska V.
Kelsey R.
Matteo S.
Mikaela C.
Manuela R.
Grade 7 Boys & Girls
Daniel Z.
Jon S.
Dominic M.
Matthew M.
Matthew L.
Christina Z.
Letitia K.
Onika R.
Girls’ Team
Veronica K.
Stephanie M.
Samantha K.
Sara L.
Laetitia K.
Christina P.
Shanay G.
Jade B.
Boys’ Team
Ryan B.
Justin W.
Philip D.
Shamar B.
Matthew C.
Jonathan S.
Michael C.
David E.
Coaches: K. Barry, B. Lagac & Ms. Danko
MISSED WORK DUE TO ABSENCES
Grade 8 Boys & Girls
David E.
Phillip D.
Paulina G.
Jade B.
Alessio S.
Justin W.
Emily D.
Christina P.
Coaches:
C. Abitrante & J. MacRury
Supervisors: P. Ladouceur, L. Horbatiuk &
A. Howard
VOLLEYBALL
When children are absent from school they
miss important lessons and work that extends
from these teachings. If a child is absent due to
illness we kindly request that children get the
needed rest they require so they can come back
to school healthy. The teachers will not be
sending daily work home for your son/daughter
to “catch up”. They will spend time assisting
students on their return to school. If your
son/daughter is absent due to extended illness,
please contact Mrs. Gillis to discuss some
available options.
EMERGENCY EVACUATION
Intermediate Girls' & Boys’
The Intermediate volleyball season is
underway. The boys and girls teams will
compete against seven schools in the
Mississauga South Family of Schools during
the month of October. Good luck to both
teams.
In the event that it is necessary to evacuate for
emergency reasons we will evacuate to Corpus
Christi School at 4155 Elora Dr., off Rathburn
east of Mavis. Your child will remain at
Corpus Christi until we make contact with you
or an emergency contact. Please inform the
office of any change to emergency contacts,
phone numbers or address.
CONSTABLE MOORE
members. Staff gives so much of their own
time to coach, run clubs and work with our
students to provide them with the best
education possible. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all of the teachers and
staff members at St. David of Wales.
BUS DRIVER APPRECIATION DAY
Constable Moore of the Peel Regional Police
Youth Education Program will be at St. David
of Wales on Friday, October 22, Friday,
November 5, Wednesday, November 24 &
Friday, November 26 to present to all the
students from Kindergarten to grade 8. The
presentations will vary depending on grade
levels and will reflect such topics as
Community Helpers, Street Proofing, Internet
Safety and Cyber Bullying. We look forward
to continuing to work together to keep our
students safe
PHONE CALLS DURING SCHOOL TIME
The office often gets requests from students to
make phone calls home to ask parents to bring
forgotten items such as running shoes, agendas
or textbooks/homework. We are reinforcing
with students that it is their responsibility to
bring all necessary items to school and to
arrange in advance their out of school
activities. Students will not be given
permission to use the phone to make such
calls.
Also, please make after school
arrangements with your children prior to
school. We make every attempt to minimize
interruptions to classes.
WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY
Our bus drivers make sure students get to and
from school safely. Wednesday, October 20,
marks Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Our
students will right cards of appreciation to all
the drivers at our school. Thank you on behalf
of the students and staff at St. David of Wales.
STORAGE OF MEDICATION
Students that require medication must have a
form (which is available in the office) signed
by their parents and a physician. Students
cannot keep medication in their knapsack or in
the classroom. All medication must be stored
in the school office.
VOLUNTEER…Help Make the Difference
If you have special talents or skills, please
make sure we know about them! You may be
able to make a contribution in a special way. If
you are able to devote a few hours of your
time, please contact Mrs. Brown @ (905) 8484200 Ext. 49257.
The following volunteer opportunities are
available:
•Library Assistant (weekly/as needed)
Tuesday, October 5, is World Teachers’ Day! •All Star Reading Coach (twice weekly)
We are very fortunate at St. David of Wales to •Special Events (occasional commitment)
have such dedicated Catholic teachers and staff •Do-at-Home Tasks (as needed basis)
DATES TO REMEMBER
Tuesday, October 5
1:00
Thanksgiving Mass
Wednesday, October 6
Co-ed soccer @ St. Joe’s
Secondary School
3:30
Boys’ & Girls’ Volleyball
St. David of Wales @ John XX111
Thursday, October 7
2:30
Fundraiser Kick-off
Wednesday, October 13
Boys’ & Girls’ Volleyball
St. David of Wales vs. St. Gerard
Thursday, October 14
Peel Safety Village – Gr. 1
Boys’ & Girls’ Volleyball
@ St. Jerome
Friday, October 15
Cross Country Board Meet
@ Centennial Park
3:30 Boys’ & Girls’ Volleyball
St. David of Wales vs. Mary Fix
Tuesday, October 19
Monday, October 11
Thanksgiving (no school for students)
Wednesday, October 20
Tuesday, October 12
Hep B. Immunization-Gr. 7
HPV Immunization – Gr. 8 girls
3:30
Boys’ & Girls’ Volleyball
St. David of Wales @
St. Catherine of Sienna
Pizza Day
Much Music Video Dance-a-thon
Bus Driver Appreciation Day
Tuesday, October 26
Sub Day
Thursday, October 28
Picture Retakes
Board Cross Country @ Erindale Park
Before and After School Care
Fee assistance is available.
PLASP Child Care Services operates Before
and After School Programs at this school.
The Before School Program operates from 7:30
am and continues until school begins. A
nutritious breakfast is served daily.
Registration currently taking
place.
The After School Program begins once school is
dismissed and goes until 6:00 pm. Children
participate in recreational activities, are served a
nutritious snack daily and have time for
homework.
To register your child, visit the PLASP
Program Director, Before or After
School. For further information, call
905.890.1711 or visit the website at
www.plasp.com.