CATHOLIC EDUCATION GROWING IN FAITH 2014-2015 St. Emily C.E.S. 60 Vellore Woods Blvd. Woodbridge On L4H 2K8 Phone: (905) 3034554 Attendance Line: (905) 303-6427 Fax: (905) 303-8898 Principal: Lucy Rizzi Vice Principals: Anthony DiFlorio Carmen Falcone Head Secretary: Mrs. R. Danese General Secretaries: Mrs. L. DiCarlo Mrs. E. De Rose Director of Education: Patricia Preston Trustee: Maria Carnovale maria.carnovale@ycdsb.ca Superintendent: Donna Hackett donna.hackett@ycdsb.ca PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE: St. Emily was a whirlwind of activity during the month of October! As part of our School Character Building Initiative, our Character Assembly for the month of September and October will be held after our Spook-a-Thon Assembly to recognize students who have demonstrated exemplary conduct with respect to courage and compassion. We will continue to hold assemblies on a regular basis in an effort to highlight Catholic values and promote student leadership. Our Halloween Spook-A-Thon Fundraiser was once again a “Spooktacular” success! Our students thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as their favourite Halloween costumes! Thanks to all the parents who attended. The success of such an event occurs only with the hard work of a dedicated group of individuals within our school community - the combined efforts of the school staff, secretaries and custodians. Special thanks go out to the organizing committee for their leadership. It was a remarkable team effort from start to finish! Student pledges are due by Friday, October 31st. Our Prize Assembly will take place on November 12th at 1:15pm (prizes and winners will be published in the December newsletter). Please note that all of the funds raised are given back to the students through the purchase of school equipment and/or programs which will be offered throughout the year to students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Thank you again for your incredible generosity and support- it is much appreciated! November begins with a double feast in remembrance of those who have died: All Saints Day and All Souls Day. On November 1st, we take time to remember the saints who God has called to heaven. As we venerate their memory, may we also follow their examples of virtue on earth as kingdom builders. We also remember family members and friends who have died and of whom we think with love. During the month of November, we are called to reflect and pray for peace. We remember in this month of Holy Souls, that our faithful departed are with God in heaven. Students will be commemorating this special day by joining in in the gym for a Remembrance Day Liturgy at 10:40 a.m. on Tuesday, November 11th , . 2014. Let us mark this solemn occasion by reminding ourselves and our children of how lucky we are to be living in a country blessed with peace. This year, especially, in light of recent events that occurred in Ottawa and Quebec resulting in the deaths of two Canadian soldiers, it is so important for us to pay our respects and offer our prayers for those who put themselves in harm’s way for our safety. Sincerely yours in partnership, Pastors: Father John Borean Lucy Rizzi Father Peter Turrone On Remembrance Day, we remember, learn and pray… O God, Open our eyes that we may see the needs of others; Open our ears that we may hear their cries; Open our hearts that we may feel their anguish and their joy. Let us not be afraid to defend the oppressed, the poor, the powerless, because of the anger and might of the powerful. Show us where love and hope and faith are needed, and use us to bring them to those places. Open our ears and eyes, our hearts and lives, that we may in these coming days be able to do some work of justice and peace for you. Amen CATHOLIC FAITH LIVING OUR UPCOMING SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS: CELEBRATING OUR FAITH AS A COMMUNITY While we pride ourselves on our high academic standards, St. Emily is first and foremost a Catholic learning community and our faith provides the guiding principles for everything we do. Remembrance Day Liturgy 10:45 am November 11, 2014 PLEASE JOIN US! This year we continue to work with Father John, and Father Peter so that our students can recognize the real presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Father Peter will continue making regular classroom visits as well as, celebrating masses and the sacraments through the upcoming school year. As always, we appreciate the time he devotes to our school and the spiritual guidance that he provides. Parish Information CONFIRMATION The Celebration of Confirmation will be held on Tuesday, March 10th, 2015 @ 6:45pm. November’s Character Attribute / Catholic Virtue: FIRST HOLY COMMUNION JUSTICE A gentle reminder to parents that First Reconciliation for parents of children in grade 2 will be held on February 27th, 2015 at 9:30am. The Celebration of First Holy Communion will be held on Saturday, April 18th, 2015 @ 12:30pm. ● I will treat others in a just, equitable and unbiased manner. ● I will play by the rules, take turns and share. ● I will be open-minded and listen to others. Students are encouraged to demonstrate these monthly virtues in their daily actions and words with one another. PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN GRADES 3-8 who have not yet received First Reconciliation/ First Holy Communion, please contact the parish immediately at 905-653-8005 and leave a message for the catechetical administrator. ‘Me to We’ Our ‘Me to We’ Student Council attended We Day on October 2nd. Visit: St. Clare of Assisi website at: http://sca p.org/index.htm Our school was selected as a ‘Shout Out School’ during the performance and had amazing front row reserved seating!!!! There will be a We Day Broadcast on Tuesday, November 11th, at 8pm on MTV. St. Clare Parish Corner Please watch the telecast and look for St. Emily Catholic Elementary School. Come join us for: St. Clare of Assisi Christmas Craft & Bake Sale November 16th from 10am to 5pm and November 17th from 9am to 12 noon 2 SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS SCHOOL SAFETY: Kiss ‘n’ Ride Loop Your child’s safety is always our first priority. Teachers have discussed fire safety rules and procedures with their classes and we have already completed our three mandatory fire drills for this term. Our school also practiced the Lock Down procedures and Hold and Secure during Safety Week. A reminder that the Driveway loop directly in front of the school is restricted to “Buses Only” between the hours of 8:00 am and 9:00 am and 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm. We ask that you use the ‘Kiss ’n Ride’ at the North end of the building when dropping off your children during these times. We also remind parents who access the Before and After School Program, that traffic in this area is restricted to one way only. PLEASE respect all traffic signs on school property for the safety and care of our students. CHILDREN & INDEPENDENCE Parents are encouraged to allow their children to enter the school with the other children. This procedure builds independence and cuts down on traffic in our hallways. All parents must enter the school via the front door and at any time must check in with the office to obtain a visitor’s badge. This procedure is in place for safety purposes. This applies to the yard as well as inside the school. No parents should be in the school to pick up children at the end of the day. Parents and caregivers are to wait at the exit doors for their children. Thank you for your cooperation. FLU SEASON ONCE AGAIN! Symptoms: Watch for flu symptoms including fever & cough, and one or more of the following: sore throat, muscle ache, joint pain, and weakness. Children under five years may vomit & have diarrhea. What is the contagious period? It is important to stay home when someone has flu-like symptoms. People may be able to infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and until symptoms have resolved. Please keep sick children home from school until they are feeling well and are able to fully participate in all normal day-to-day activities. We remain committed to the safety and well-being of all our students. With that in mind, we respectfully remind you that we have some children with life-threatening allergies to certain foods. Emergency Contact Info: Please make sure we have your up-todate emergency contact information. This is important if your child is sick and needs to go home. 1. We continue to ask for your cooperation in ensuring that the food you send with your child does not contain nuts, peanuts, tree nuts, peanut butter, Nutella, etc. Preventing Illness: Please teach your children to: • wash their hands with soap and water thoroughly and often • not share personal items like pens, pencils drinks or food • cough or sneeze into their sleeve or a tissue • stay home when they are sick 2. We also do not allow students to trade snacks at school. 3. Our school’s anaphylaxis safety plan does not allow students to buy food while on field trips. We are concerned that a student may purchase a product containing nuts and then contaminate a chair, seat on the bus, etc. For more information, please call Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 or www.york.ca/health TTY 1-866-252-9933, or Even the scent of peanuts could lead to a life-threatening anaphylactic shock. visit On October 21st, all students and staff from JK-8 had a presentation about Anaphylaxis. We thank you in advance for your cooperation. PEDICULOSIS—HEAD LICE School children are prone to getting head lice because they are frequently in head-to-head contact. Anyone can get head lice Medic Medic Alert: No Child Without Program regardless of cleanliness. They are not a health hazard but rather a nuisance. If a student is found to have pediculosis, If you would like information on how to obtain free he/she will be removed from the classroom and parents will be MedicAlert Identification please contact : called. The student will be readmitted to class after the parent/guardian has contacted the principal to confirm that treatment Mrs. Falcone at St. Emily and an information package has been administered. We encourage you to instruct your chilwill be provided to you. dren to avoid direct contact with the head, hair, clothing, or personal belongings of other students. Specifically, children should Dress Appropriately for the Weather not be sharing hats, combs, brushes, etc. The cold winds of winter are upon us. Students need If you require further information please call: coats/jackets, mitts/gloves, a hat, a scarf and boots. Please label Health Connection @ 1-800-361-5653 1. each item. Students are expected to go outside for all recesses. Please ensure that your child (ren) have a pair of indoor shoes. 2. Lice Squad @ 905-893-9888 or 1-800-LICE OFF 3 SCHOOL COMMUNITY NEWS AND EVENTS Scholastic Book Fair PROGRESS REPORTS FOR Gr. 1—8 STUDENTS Progress Reports for Gr. 1 to 8 students will be going home on Tuesday, November 11th. General progress in Learning Skills and Work Habits and general progress in working towards meeting the expectations in specific subject areas will be the focus. All parents are also invited to participate in Parent-Teacher interviews. The Scholastic Book Fair will run between Thursday, November 20th through Wednesday, November 26th during school hours. Please remind your child to fill in the Family Prize ballot at the back of the flyer for a chance to win $25 in free books from the fair. All proceeds from the fair are used to buy new books for our school library. See you at the fair! Interviews will be: Thursday, November 13th - 4 pm-5 pm and 6 pm-9pm Friday, November 14th - 9 am-12 pm Please note: Friday, Nov. 14th is a P.A. Day and there is no school for students. Parents you should have received an interview request form on which you were asked for a preferred interview date and time. Please complete it and send it to school with your child by November 5, 2014. Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week Parents will receive a confirmation of their interview time in the Progress Report envelope. JK and SK students will receive a letter with the interview information, not a progress report. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/safeschools/prevention.html Environmental Committee News Ontario has designated the week beginning on the third Sunday of November as Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week to help promote safe schools and a positive learning environment. THINK RECYCLE! During Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week – November 16-22, 2014 – Ontario students, school staff and parents are encouraged to learn more about bullying and its effect on student learning and well-being. The November winner of a $10 Chapters gift certificate is: Chiara L. in Ms. Augello’s class. Congratulations! Bullying is defined as a form of repeated, persistent and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, selfesteem or reputation. Bullying occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance. Remember to keep sending in your old cell phones and printer cartridges, labeled with your child’s name and teacher’s name, so that their name can be entered in the monthly draw. All prizes awarded to students are from funds earned from this recycling program. St. Emily will be using this opportunity to explain the differ- ent forms bullying can take. These include: Did you know that Canadians are creating 1031 kg of waste per person each year? Over 75% of this waste is just ending up in landfills all over the country. If each of us took just one small action to reduce our waste, our impact on the environment would be huge! • • • Here at St. Emily, we do our part to care for our Earth. November will be the kick-off of our Waste-Free Wednesdays! Please limit the amount of garbage in school lunches. Try to pack food in reusable containers, drinks in reusable bottles and avoid using plastic cutlery. Let's work together to REDUCE! REUSE! RE- • 4 Physical – hitting, shoving, stealing or damaging property Verbal – name calling, mocking, or making sexist, racist or homophobic comments Social – excluding others from a group or spreading gossip or rumours about them Electronic (commonly known as cyberbullying) – spreading rumours and hurtful comments through the use of cellphones, e-mail, text messaging and social networking sites Catholic School Council Corner The autumn leaves are falling, and the days are shortening, a signal that winter will soon be here. As we begin the third month of school, November marks a time of Remembrance. During these days, and on Remembrance Day, may we all take a moment to remember those who have gone before us; and those who have given the greatest gift to us to maintain peace and freedoms in our country. CSC News… The QSP Magazine Fundraiser took place in October. A big thank you goes out to all those that supported our magazine fundraiser! Please remember that magazines can be ordered at any time throughout the year from www.qsp.ca - please remember to continue to use our school code: 3742160 when placing your order. Thanks go out to all parents who continue to order pizza lunches for their children. The fall pizza lunch program runs until January 28th, 2015.The CSC Healthy Living Committee will be looking at other hot lunch options. Lunch options follow the guidelines of the P/PM 150. Parents may also continue to order from the Lunch Lady program. At our first CSC meeting in October, the following sub-committees were established: Special Events Committee, Healthy Living Committee, Fundraising Committee and Angel Hair Day Committee. Parents are welcome to join any one of these subcommittees. Sub-committee meetings take place separate from regular CSC meetings. Anyone interested in joining a subcommittee is asked to email contact info to stemilyparentcouncil@rogers.com or send a note with their contact info with their child to the attention of CSC VOLUNTEER. Some of the events that are organized by the Special Events sub-committee are the St. Emily Annual Family Bingo Night, Family Skate Night, and the annual year-end BBQ. Angel Hair For Kids is a beautiful tradition at St. Emily. Once again this year, the Angel Hair Day sub-Committee will be organizing the St. Emily Angel Hair for Kids Day. More information will be sent home in the coming months. Girls that would like to donate their ponytails: please note that the minimum length for hair donation is 12 inches. Parents are invited to join us at our CSC meetings. Our next meeting will be taking place on November 6th at 7:00pm in the library. Child supervision is available for children 4 years old and up. IMPORTANT INFORMATION…. 5 School Bus Cancellation Notice To ensure the safety of students, school bus service may be cancelled from time to time due to inclement weather, extreme temperatures and/or poor road conditions. In these cases, parents and students should develop alternate care/transportation arrangements. Since some busing schedules begin by 7:00 a.m., cancellation decisions must be made by 6:00 a.m. to allow time to communicate this message to bus drivers. Cancellation decisions will only be made after thorough consultation with the Safety Officers of school bus companies servicing York Region and are based on several factors including precipitation, air temperature, road conditions and weather forecast. Please note the following; • A decision to cancel school bus service will be region-wide meaning all school buses, vans and taxis will not operate. • School bus routes may be cancelled when severe weather may not be affecting all municipalities in York Region. Both the YRDSB and YCDSB operate many regional educational programs. Students attending these programs are transported over large attendance areas encompassing several municipal boundaries. This limits the ability to cancel bus service using a municipality or zone methodology. Unless otherwise stated, schools will remain open and parents can make arrangements to transport their children to and from school even if school bus service is cancelled. If buses are cancelled in the morning, they will not operate in the afternoon. Therefore students transported to school by parents will require the same transportation home. Parents, students and school staff are asked to access the following radio and television stations after 6:00 a.m. to receive bus cancellation information: RADIO 590 AM 640 AM 1540 AM 1580 AM 88.5 FM 680 AM 860 AM 1010 AM 89.9 FM 92.5 FM 93.1 FM 94.9 FM 95.9 FM 97.3 FM 98.1 FM 99.1 FM 99.9 FM 101.1 FM 102.1 FM 104.5 FM 100.7 FM 107.1 FM 1050 AM TELEVISION CITY TV CTV Barrie CFTO TV CP24 GLOBAL NEWS A bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com and by calling 1-877-3303001, or by following the YCDSB and YRDSB on twitter. 6
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