St. Raymond
Catholic Elementary School
5735 Whitehorn Avenue Mississauga,
Ontario L5V 2A9 905-286-1010
“Living In Faith”
ADVENT
2013 Edition
November 2013 Edition
Principal
Mr. W. Brunton
DECEMBER ~ Hope
Vice Principal
Mr. T. Prugo
Let us pray... .for the grace and courage to be people
of hope, people who can see, participate in and
contribute to God's goodness emerging around us.
Head Secretary
Ms. T. Caines
Assistant Secretary
Ms. M. DiGirolamo
“Vivo In Fides”
A hopeful person is.... someone who inspires others,
sees the good in the world and is able to overcome all
obstacles by knowing and trusting in our Lord.
Superintendent
Mr. D. Amaral
Trustee
Mr. P. Ferreira
(905) 890-1221
Administrator’s Message…
Parish
St. Joseph’s Church
5440 Durie Road
Mississauga, ON
905-826-2766
office@stjosephsstreetsville.com
Parish Team
Fr. Andre-Pastor
Fr. D’Souza -Assoc. Pastor
Youth Minister –
Ana DaCosta
Family Day Care
905-542-0101
Advent is a season of hope and celebration. We
strive to prepare our hearts and our lives as
we wait in great anticipation for the coming of
Jesus. The birth of Jesus signifies a new
beginning that heralds new hopes and dreams that
light up our lives and give it new meaning.
Advent provides us an opportunity to enable
students to realize that the world is still waiting for
the teachings of Jesus to wash over the world and
influence our lives. It is a reminder that on
each day of Advent, we can reflect on Christ,
seeking ways to break into our lives.
May the promise of Christmas help to show God’s
boundless love for you and your family, and
may you be blessed with good health, prosperity
and happiness throughout the New Year.
Dear Parents,
As we approach the Christmas
season, we would like to offer a
sincere Thank You to all of you
participating in our “Angel Tree”
and
“Christmas Hamper”
initiatives. The St. Raymond
Community is pleased to support
these outreach projects that will
make a huge difference to
families this Advent season. You
are cordially invited to come to
the office and sign-up for the
Angel Tree contributions as well
as to bring any unwrapped gifts.
The deadline is Monday,
December 9th.
PRINCIPALS
We take this opportunity to wish everyone a joyous
Advent season, a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.
DPCDSB is now on Twitter!
W. Brunton & T. Prugo
For the latest board news and
information, follow us
@DPCDSBSchools.
[Please visit our website:]
www.dpcdsb.org/raymo
For news about all our
special
events
being
planned kindly refer to
the
next
page
for
details…→
Special Events:
ANGEL TREE DRIVE (Nov. 25 – Dec. 09)
Please return all unwrapped gifts to the Office by Monday,
December 9th, 2013.
DR. SIMONE’S PERSONAL CARE ITEMS, MITTENS &
GLOVE PROJECT.
Please bring to school by Monday, December 9th. All donations
can be brought to the school foyer.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11th, 2013
1:30 p.m. CHRISTMAS CONCERT for Grades 1 to 4 in our
gym.
Parents / Guardians are welcome to attend.
6:30 p.m. CHRISTMAS CONCERT for Grades 1 to 4 in our
gym.
SANTA’S VISIT
On Tuesday, December 10th, Santa will be making a special
visit to our school. Classes will have a story and/or song time
with St. Nicholas (aka Santa) in the Library. Families that wish
to join are asked to inform their child’s teacher.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT DRESS REHEARSAL
On Tuesday, December 10th, we will be rehearsing in
preparation for our Big Event!
Doors will open at 6 p.m. Please note that due to safety / fire
regulations, only two adult tickets will be provided to each
family a day prior to the concert via student agendas. Kindly
bring the tickets to the evening performance for entry.
* Please note that seating at all performances will be limited.
Families are encouraged to attend the day performance, if
possible. Parking is also limited and you are encouraged to
consider walking. Those driving are reminded to observe
parking by-laws, specifically no parking in the Kiss N Ride lanes
, designated fire routes in the parking lot and on the west side
of Whitehorn Drive.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12th, 2013
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. KINDERGARTEN CHRISTMAS
CONCERT in our gym.
Parents / Guardians are welcome to attend.
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. KINDERGARTEN CHRISTMAS
CONCERT in our gym.
A special presentation for our Gr. 1-8 students.
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ROSARY APOSTOLATE
Our next visit from the Rosary Apostolate will be on Friday,
December 13th.
St. Raymond’s: Bringing the Gift of
Christmas to the World
VIRTUES ASSEMBLY – MONDAY, DECEMBER 16th
Here are the scheduled times:
9:00 a.m. for J.K. – Gr. 2
11:00 a.m. for Gr. 3-5
2:00 p.m. for Gr. 6-8
ADVENT MASS – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19th
11:00 a.m. School advent Mass celebrated by Father MarcAndre. Please join us if you can.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / ACTIVITY DAY.
There will be no school for students on Friday,
December 20th as it is a Professional Development day for
teachers and staff.
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Over ten days in mid-November, our students, staff
and parent community worked diligently to support
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD. This program
created by Samaritan’s Purse a non-profit Christian
organization, has since 1993 helped over 100
million children in developing nations receive the
gift of Christmas. Shoeboxes filled with items that
we take for granted like soap, candies, pens, books,
and plush toys. Many of these items are out of
financial reach for families and these little shoe
boxes are often the only gifts they will receive over
the Christmas Season. Spearheaded by our Special
Education teachers Rita Davenport and Pat
Passarelli, and assisted by our Intermediate Youth
Faith Ambassadors, we managed to collect 145
shoeboxes and raise over $1000.00 to cover the
shipping of them to any of the 130 countries this
program operates in!
Celebrating SPIRIT WEEK to Raise
Monies for Victims of Hurricane
Haiyan in the PHILIPPINES.
When reports and images began broadcasting in the
aftermath of Hurricane Haiyan’s destruction over
much of the central Philippines, the school
community of St. Raymond with its sizable Filipino
background were moved to action. From November
18-22, we organized a special Spirit Week to
promote awareness of what was happening in the
Philippines. Students and teachers donned their
favourite sport’s jersey, Philippine colours or
rearranged their hairstyles for “wacky hair day”, all
in an effort to foster a sense of community and
support for friends and family abroad.
Our
community was very generous raising over
$1500.00! We would like to again re-iterate a simple
“Salamat” (Thank-you) to everyone who supported
us in this effort.
A special message from our local
Trustee, Peter Ferreria Wards 6
and 11
It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of
2013. We have seen tremendous accomplishments to
date and have met many of our goals in our DufferinPeel Strategic Plan which is routed in everything we do
including our Catholic Board Learning Plan. I am very
proud of the achievements and activities of this Board
on behalf of Catholic education and our community
despite financial challenges. As our Director John Kostoff
stated in his yearly report “I am extremely proud of the
work that has taken place this past year in our schools,
school councils, committees, classrooms, shop floors,
families of schools, superintendent meetings,
department meetings, in-services, offices and in a
myriad of other venues.”
The new Dufferin-Peel website has been developed with
significant consultation, focus groups, and user testing.
The site is designed to be faster and more effective for
parents, students, and other stakeholders to access the
information they need. The content has been
substantially updated. Along with the major work
undertaken on the main board website, we have
completed an upgrade of all school websites – including
updated navigation and page templates that coordinate
with the new board website. Take a look and I think you
will be very pleased!
This is year four in the implementation of Full Day
Learning in 242 classes and 6 half day classes. This will
bring our Board to approximately 71% of schools with
[Please visit our website:]
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Full Day Kindergarten. We are working towards the
completion of Year 5. In September 2014 all schools will
have Full Day Kindergarten!
I am delighted to share with you that Dufferin-Peel has
received recognition from the Institute of Public
Administration. This award aims to recognize and
encourage
innovation
throughout
all
public
organizations and across all orders of government. “The
purpose of the award is to recognize and publicly
celebrate success stories in the public sector, emulating
and enhancing the image and thereby fostering
innovation”. The award is in recognition of practices and
effort related to the development of our High Skills
Major programs in our secondary schools.
This is an international award, and one that our staff
should be very proud of. The information for this award
came from the Ministry of Education and the Institute of
Public Administration of Canada - The 2013 Innovative
Management Gold Award.
As we move into the Advent Season and then on to
celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I would
like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our
teachers, administrators, school councils and volunteers
who will present school concerts, Advent Masses,
classroom activities, support for St. Vincent dePaul and
our local food banks as well as many other social justice
initiatives. We are truly blessed to have our wonderful
parish priests who will visit our schools and offer Advent
Masses. This is truly the face of Catholic education at its
best.
I wish you a very blessed and holy Christmas and I wish
you the very best in 2014. And may the good Lord
always hold you in the palm of his hand.
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.
What has been the history of Catholic education in
the Dufferin-Peel Region?
Catholic schools were fundamental in the early
development of our region. With the support of local
parishes, bishops and parents, Catholic schools were
formed as an expression of a world view differing from
other schools. In 1837 in Mono Township (Dufferin
County), a school was dedicated and housed at St.
Cyprian Church. Later, a log church housed a local
Catholic school at St Patrick‘s in Melanchthon Township.
In 1864, the first formal Catholic school was developed
in Melanchthon Township. In Peel, Catholic schools
were formed well before confederation as an expression
of the Catholic communities developing in our region. A
more detailed history of our Catholic education in our
region can be found in the book entitled Catholic
Education in Dufferin Peel - A Story Worth Telling.
What is the current number of Catholic schools in
Dufferin Peel?
While Dufferin Peel continues to grow throughout the
region, our current population as of 2009 is 87,000
students and an additional 43,000 adult continuing
education learners. Our board has 261,645 Roman
Catholic electors and the board operates 145 schools,
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23 secondary schools and 122 elementary schools.
Three additional secondary schools will be operational
by 2010. Our board supports 38 Catholic parishes in our
region. As an employer we have over 10,000 employees
and Dufferin-Peel operates 1,406 buses per day in the
region to transport students to and from school.
.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
December / January 2014
December 9 - School Advisory Council Meeting
6:30 p.m.
December 10 – A picture with Santa!
December 11 – Christmas Concert (Gr. 1-4)
Day & Evening Performances
December 12 - Kindergarten Christmas Concert
December 16 – Virtues Assembly
December 19 - Advent Mass at School
December 20 – Professional Activity Day –
No school for the students
December 25 - CHRISTMAS
Community News:
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION 2014-15
Registration for Full-Day Kindergarten for the 2014-15 school
year, will take place at St. Raymond on the following days:
Monday, January 27, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.*
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
* Snow Date:
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
For more information about registration and the Full-Day
Kindergarten program, call the office or visit our website at
www.dpcdsb.org/raymo
[Please visit our website:]
www.dpcdsb.org/raymo
January 6 – First day for classes
January 13 – Chris Vollum Presentation
for Grades 5-8
January 23 – Artists in the School for Grades 3-8
January 27 – JK / SK Registration Night
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
[Please visit our website:]
www.dpcdsb.org/raymo