Holy Trinity Catholic School
March 2015
Home of the Hurricanes
487 Grange Rd., Guelph, ON  N1E 7C4
519-821-0156
We Care, We Can, We
Celebrate
March is here and spring is around the corner, despite the frigid temperatures we have been experiencing. As we look
forward to March break and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, we should also keep in mind the special liturgical season of
Lent. The purpose of Lent is to set aside time for Jesus – His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and
resurrection. As nature renews itself, we too are asked to renew our hearts and repair our relationships with God and
with each other. During Lent we have an opportunity to improve ourselves through acts of self-discipline and self-control
or through acts of charity and kindness.
During Lent we model how we can “change our hearts” to develop positive character attributes and change our bad habits
into good habits and practices. As we journey through the season of Lent, let us pray for peace and harmony in our world.
Let us pray that our students, families and staff will be able to journey through Lent in good health, filled with the awe
of our faith.
On behalf of the entire Holy Trinity
staff, I would like to wish all our
families a holy and blessed Lenten
season.
March Break
This year’s March Break is from Monday, March 16th to Friday, March
20th. There will be no classes for students and the school’s office
will be closed.
Have a wonderful March break!
Blessings, Todd D. Goodwin, Principal
In preparation for the 2015-2016 Budget, Wellington Catholic DSB would like to engage our stakeholders to help inform
our budget decisions. In response to the Provincial Government's plan to reduce the Ontario deficit by 2017-18, the
Ministry of Education is planning to reduce funding to School Boards by $500M. We are being asked to strategically align
resources in the context of an estimated 1 to 2 percent reduction in overall funding. We are asking all stakeholders to
take a few moments to complete a short survey in regards to budget prioritization. Please follow the link below or visit
our website. The survey will close on March 26th, 2015. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wellcathbudget
Continuing the Tradition
During the season of Lent, we will be continuing with our tradition of meatless pizzas on Fridays. Pizzas served on Fridays
will be cheese only until Easter.
Congratulations to Our Confirmandi
On behalf of all our Holy Trinity families, we would like to extend our congratulations to our grade 7’s who received the
Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday, February 21st at St. John’s Parish.
Our young adults presented themselves extremely well. Thanks to Mr. Kelly and Ms. Picanco
for all their work in preparing our students.
March 2015
Holy Trinity Catholic School
EQAO
Administration of the Primary (Grade 3) and Junior (Grade 6) Assessment of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, 2015
will be held May 25th to June 5th, 2015. Specific dates will be forthcoming.
We ask that parents/ guardians do not book any doctor or dentist appointments during this time to ensure that
your child is present during test taking times. Parents are welcome to visit the EQAO website at www.eqao.com for
more information and parent resources to help your children with math and language learning.
Holy Trinity Catholic School Council News
We would like to thank our parent council and all the volunteers that made approximately 1500 yummy pancakes on
Tuesday, February 17th (Shrove Tuesday). We would also like to sincerely thank the Dufraimont family and Springfield
Golf & Country Club for donating all the batter and the syrup for this year’s pancake Tuesday event.
Our parent council has formed a committee that will be planning a family fun night in the spring. We have our first
meeting this coming Tuesday, March 3rd at 6:00 pm. If you are interested in assisting with this committee or the fun
night itself, please call the office and let us know. Once the date of the event is confirmed we will communicate it with
the school community.
Our next parent council meeting is on Tuesday, March 10th at 7:00 pm. All are welcome.
We Care, We Can, We Celebrate
Our classrooms have been working hard on our new school motto and the learning skills they have been focusing on. We
have now had three school assemblies this year where we have recognized and rewarded classrooms for their efforts in
this initiative. During Term 2 the focus will now switch to self-regulation, collaboration and initiative. Our Kindergarten
classes continue to focus on demonstrating how we show caring through kind words and gentle hands.
We will also be introducing a Gotcha Program, where individual students will earn a ballot if they have demonstrated
success with one of the learning skills they are focusing on in the classroom. Ballots will be placed in a box contained in
the office and we will draw three names a week. Students will have a chance to win Guelph Storm
and holy Trinity Swag or a free lunch through Lunchbox Orders. We would like to thank Lunchbox
Orders for graciously sponsoring our Gotcha Program.
School Climate Surveys
"It is time to tell us how we are doing. Next week, everyone in the Wellington Catholic District
School Board will be completing "Wellington Catholic Speaks Up!", our new annual survey of school climate, mental health,
and well-being. We want to hear from everyone - staff, students, and parents - from every school, about how we are
doing in our commitment to creating safe, welcoming schools that foster mental health and wellness.
The survey is online and will be open from Monday March 2nd, to Friday March 6th. The link will be available on Holy
Trinity's webpage, and on the Wellington Catholic DSB website, and you will be able to access it on your handheld devices
or complete it on school computers. Students at Holy trinity in Grades 4 through 8 will be completing the survey at
school with their classroom teachers.
Notices will be sent home later this week with information about how to access the survey. Your voices are important,
too, and if anyone needs help accessing or completing the survey, please contact the school for assistance.
March 2015
Holy Trinity Catholic School
Holy Trinity Girls Basketball
The girls’ grade 7/8 basketball team had an amazing season. We are so very proud of their efforts and all of the
improvements they made throughout practices, games and the final tournament. We placed 2nd in our division. Way to go
girls!
Coaches DiBattista, Picanco and Jackett
Holy Trinity Boys’ Basketball
The boys’ grade 7/8 basketball team had an outstanding season. They fought hard in the tournament at St. Ignatius on
March 25th and were victorious as they defeated St. Michael School in the finals. The boys demonstrated dedication,
teamwork and sportsmanship. We are very proud of the boys and the positive example they set for our students at Holy
Trinity.
Coaches: Matteis, Kelly, Luzi
Holy Trinity Speech Finalists 2015
Congratulations to all of our Speech Finalists for representing their grade with excellence. A panel of extremely
qualified, community judges (Businessman/Toastmaster, Board Trustee/retired Principal, U of G Professor/Mental
Health Program Coordinator) selected a representative from both the Junior and Intermediate divisions to represent
Holy Trinity at the Board Finals: Savannah N. and Jordan O, as well as Honourable Mentions: Kasandra D. and Teju O.
Savannah and Jordan travelled to Sacred Heart on Feb. 4th and were just fantastic! We are very proud of our Hurricane
Speakers! Thanks to Mrs. Della Croce for organizing this event.
Mikayla M
Emily S
Savannah N
Owen H
Noah F
Bella P
Kasandra D
Olateju O
Jordan O
Mikaela K
Luke C
4
4
5
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
The Pan Am Games
My Dog
Persuasive Commercialism
Speeches
Portal
I Dream of Paris
Diabetes
Siblings
Making Courtroom Broadway
If Your Thumb is a Finger
Hiding
Jump Rope For Heart
On Thursday, February 6th, the children from Junior
Kindergarten to Grade 6 participated in our annual Holy
Trinity Jump Rope for Heart event. The children
jumped, hopped and skipped raising money for the
Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Thanks to all the Heart Heroes that supported this
wonderful cause.
Earth Hour
Holy Trinity will be hosting its annual Earth Hour on Friday, Mar. 27th from 1 – 2pm. All classes will be
doing their part by turning off the classroom lights and electronics. Families can participate at home on
Saturday, March 28th from 8.30pm to 9.30pm to help
make a difference in reducing our carbon footprint on
God's green earth!
Holy Trinity Student Activity Council (SAC)
The SAC committee will be organizing a beach day for March 13th.
Easter activities will be organized following the break.
Don’t Forget!
Sunday March 8th, 2015 marks the beginning
of daylight savings time. Make sure that you
set your clocks ahead one hour before going
to bed on Sat., March 7th.
Join in The Fun – Ray Scapinello Road Hockey Tournament:
The 11th annual tournament is scheduled to take place on Saturday
April 25, 2015 and will be held at the University of Guelph. This is a charity 4-on-4 open to children from 9 to 14 years
of age, with 2-year groupings for divisions (9 and 10, 11 and 12, and 13 and 14-year olds). For more information, please
visit http://www.raysroadhockey.ca/ to get a registration form.
March 2015
Holy Trinity Catholic School
Attention all Newly Registered JK Parents and Current JK Parents
The Wellington Catholic District Board has a contract with the YMCA to provide before and after school care at Holy
Trinity Catholic School for September 2015. The program will be run out of one our Kindergarten classrooms. They do
require a minimum amount of students to run the program. We have provided a survey link to all parents that have
registered for the fall of 2015, as well parents of students in SK. We urge you to fill these out as soon as possible so we
have an idea of how many parents will be interested in this service.
Holy Trinity Office Procedures
We would just like to remind parents that if you have a concern to please attempt to make an appointment with the
appropriate personnel. For example, if you need to see a teacher please call ahead and arrange a time that will work for
both you and the teacher. If it is an issue regarding a concern that your child’s teacher(s) can assist with, we encourage
you to meet with the classroom teacher first. If you need to see the Principal or Vice Principal, we also encourage you to
make an appointment and ensure you have already spoken with the teacher if it is a classroom matter they can assist you
with. As it is extremely busy in the office first thing in the morning, and we may not be able to give you the time you
require, we ask that you please avoid this time of day if at all possible. We want to ensure we give you and your children
the time and attention you deserve, and the onset of the school day does not always allow this. We thank you for your
continued support and cooperation.
We also like to remind parents that student pick up at the end of the school day should be at the designated classroom
exits, not the office, unless there is a pre-arranged pick up that has been properly communicated with the secretaries.
The office is very busy at the end of the day and we do not have the room to house a great number of students, while
conducting regular school business. We thank you for your support and cooperation with this.
Safe Arrival Policy
Holy Trinity School values regular and punctual attendance. Please make this an important priority. If your child is going
to be absent from school, or late, please inform the office. Messages can be left on the school answering machine
(between 4:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m.). Let your child know that it is important to be on time. A student is deemed late if
she/he is not in class by the time O Canada begins in the morning (8:55am), or by 12:40pm for afternoon classes. Late
students must report to the office for a late slip before going to class, so the attendance register can be amended.
Get Cyber Safe
Last year Holy Trinity hosted internet safety expert Paul Davis who delivered two very engaging and thought provoking
presentations to our students and parents. Providing a range of topics from handheld devices and texting, to Twitter,
Facebook, and Instagram, Mr. Davis educated us on the Common Sense Approach to dealing with the technology our
children have. If you are interested in reading further, more information can be found on the website:
www.socialnetworkingsafety.net.
With the ever increasing use of and improvement in technology both at school and home, with BYOD (bring your own
device) projects, iPad carts and chrome book libraries at some of our sites, media awareness has become a focus in
education. As part of our yearly Safe Schools plan, it would be remiss if we didn’t provide updates to the Holy Trinity
community throughout the school year. Some points of note with regard to becoming more cyber safe for you and your
child(ren) can be found in this excerpt from the getcybersafe.gc.ca website:
Talk with your child about cyberbullying
Open up a discussion with your child about cyberbullying. It's the best way to show them you think it's important to their
lives – and will make it easier for them to come to you in the future:
 Let them know you've become aware of the issue; you might mention it's been in the news a lot, and seems to have
become a pretty big thing among teens lately.
Set ground rules for your child's online activity
If you haven't already, start setting some ground rules with your child about their online activity.
March 2015
Holy Trinity Catholic School
 Insist your child use privacy settings.
Learn about what your child does online
While you didn't grow up with it yourself, your child's use of social networking, texting, and a whole range of online
activity can seem very foreign. Find out what your kids are doing online. It's the first important step to keeping them
safe:
 Learn what sites your child uses and what accounts they have.
Teach your child safe online behaviour
A lot of social networking activity is entirely harmless and is part of the way kids today stay connected with each other.
But there are also serious risks. Help your child understand what they are.
 Make sure your child understands that once they post something online, it doesn't go away.
Be available to help your child
Whether it's something they've done themselves, or they've seen someone else do, you want your child to be
comfortable enough to come to you if there's a problem.
 Let your child know that if they ever do something online they regret, such as posting something they think they
shouldn't have, you won't over-react.
Teach your child how to respond to cyberbullying
A child can become a target of cyberbullying without ever expecting it. It can happen suddenly. You can help your child by
teaching them in advance what to do should it ever happen to them.
 Do not respond to the cyberbullying.
More information can be found at the following website:
http://www.getcybersafe.gc.ca
March 2015
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
1
2
3
Guatemala
Fundraiser
Assembly
Gr.6,7 & 8
8
Daylight
Savings
9
15
16
10
Board Chess
Tournament@
St Ignatius
CSC Mtg @
7p.m
17
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
4
Cardboard
Boat Races Gr.
7&8
Cyberbullying
Assembly
11
5
Guelph Lake
Ms. Nettleton
& Mrs. Circelli
6
Pizza Day
7
12
13
Beach Day
Pizza Day
14
18
19
20
21
25
26
27
Pizza Day
28
1st
Reconciliation@St
John Parish
1
Grad Photo
Day
SK & 8’s
Raise
2
the Flag for
Autism Day
Stations ofthe
Cross@10:45
3
March Break
22
23
29
30
24
VIP Gr 6, 7
&8’s
2/3, 3 & 4’s
River Run@
1:15
31
Good Friday