November 2015 ST. SIMON NEWSLETTER€¦ · Thanksgiving Food Drive In the month of October, St. Simon Catholic School students once again demonstrated their commitment to charitable

Highlights For November

November 4– Grade 2 trip to Ripley’s

November 10– Immunizations (HPV & Hep B)

November 16– Picture Retake

November 17– Anti-Bullying Presentation in gym 9:15 am

November 17– Parent Teacher Interview (PM)

November 18– Parent Teacher Interviews—PA Day for students

November 14-18 Scholastic Book Fair

November 14-18– Grade 8 Trip to Teen Ranch

November 29– Mini We Day

—Parent prensentation: Kids Have Stress Too 6-8 pm Gymnasium

Contacts

Principal:

Mr. M. Boccia

Vice Principal:

Mrs. R. Di Felice

Superintendent:

Mr. A. Della Mora

Trustee:

Mr. S. Piccininni

Parish Church:

Fr. Joshua

St. Jude

Catholic Church

3265 Weston Rd.

416-742-9072

Secretary:

Ms. L. Losiggio

CSAC Chair

Mr. E. D’Alfonso

Happy Children Who Love to Learn

St. Simon is an eco-friendly school:

The newsletter is only available in electronic form.

If you would like a newsletter sent to your email, please send a request to: [email protected]

The newsletter is also accessible via the school website: http://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stsimon/News/Pages/Newsletters.aspx

If you wish to receive a paper copy please contact your child’s teacher, or the office.

St. Jude’s Parish newsletter is also available on the school website.

St. Simon Catholic School 20 Wallasey Ave. Tel - 416-393-5383 Fax - 416-397-6299 School Hours 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m

Catholic Parent Involve-ment Committee

(CPIC):

www.tcdsb.org/cpic

School website:

http://www.tcdsb.org/SCHOOLS/STSIMON

ST. SIMON NEWSLETTER

November 2015

Virtue of the Month: Peace Making

A Prayer for Peace In Our Communities and

the World

We pray to you, Creator:

Hear our voices, for they are the voices of the vic-

tims of all wars and violence. Hear our voices, for

they are the voices of all children who suffer when

people put their faith in weapons and war. Hear our

voices, when we beg you, Lord, to instill in all hu-

man hearts the wisdom of peace, the strength of

justice and the joy of solidarity. Hear our voices,

for we speak for the multitudes in every country

who do not want violence and war and are ready to

walk the road of peace. Hear our voices, and grant

us insight and courage so we may always respond

to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedica-

tion to social justice, to need with sharing, and to

war and peace.

- St. John Paul II

ST. SIMON NEWSLETTER November 2015

Happy Children Who Love to Learn

The Year of The Family

St. Simon Helps Others in Need

Cross Country

Congratulations to the St. Simon Cross Country Team! Our proud and strong 67

runners ran their personal best and St. Simon is proud of each and every one of

them! A big thanks to all our coaches and parent cheerleaders who joined us at

each of the races.

Thanksgiving Food Drive In the month of October, St. Simon Catholic School students once again demonstrated their commitment to charitable causes. The students were challenged to donate a food item a day to support families in need in our community. The students and families came through once again to help others. Over the course of the month, 1010 food items were collected. They will be distributed to families via St. Jude’s Parish. To support our school wide Math learning focus, each classes’ donations were analyzed using data management skills learned during Math lessons. The number of items collected were recorded on a graph and displayed in the classes. Students could use this information to compare the results from the various classes. Using real world learning experiences and applications of Math knowledge helps students understand and value the multiply applications of Math.

Book Fair

Volunteers Needed

From November 15-18 St. Simon’s will once again be hosting a Scholastic book fair. If you are interested in volunteering to assist setting up, running, and packing up, please contact Mrs. Di Felice

ST. SIMON NEWSLETTER

November 2015

Happy Children Who Love to Learn

Student Information Updates

As the year progresses, often some information

changes. Please ensure that all emergency

contact information is current. If an emergency

were to happen, the school must have current

contacts. If you have changed your phone

number or address please inform the office.

Wet Weather is Here!

As the weather is changing, please ensure that stu-

dents are dressed appropriately for the cold, wet, ever

changing weather. Students should have a pair of

indoor shoes to wear in the building and packing an

extra pair of socks, gloves and pants is recommend-

ed.

To report an absence please call 416-393-5383 (4pm-8am)

From the Office

Wards

1. Joseph Martino 7. Michael Del Grande

2. Ann Andrachuk 8. Garry Tanuan

3. Sal Piccininni 9. Jo-Ann Davis

4. Patrizia Bottoni 10. Barbara Poplawski

5. Maria Rizzo 11. Angela Kennedy

6. Frank D’Amico, Vice Chair 12. Nancy Crawford, Chair

Christopher MacDonald, Student Trustee Hannah McGroarty, Student Trustee

TORONTO CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

TRUSTEES 2016-2017

Uniform

As the colder weather approaches, often students forget what the school dress code entails.

Students are expected to wear the following dress code:

Appropriate Dress Code – consists of any combination of navy blue and white garments (i.e., plain

white top, navy blue bottom, navy blue top and bottom, no denim). Only blue and or white sweaters

are to be worn in the class. All student attire must be in keeping with our Catholic teachings and be-

liefs, and reflect principles of modesty.

TCDSB School Year Calendar

2016-2017

Number of school days 194;

Number of Professional Activity Days 7;

Labour Day September 5, 2016;

First Instructional Day September 6, 2016;

Thanksgiving Day October 10, 2016;

Christmas Break December 26, 2016–January 6, 2017;

Family Day February 20, 2017;

Mid-Winter Break March 13–17, 2017;

Good Friday April 14, 2017;

Easter Monday April 17, 2017;

Victoria Day May 22, 2017;

November Message from Your Trustee The school year is already well underway, and I hope that everyone has had a smooth start to the year. I congratulate and welcome the newly elected members of our Catholic School Parent Coun-cils and look forward to working with all of you in the months ahead. We appreciate your willing-ness to share your time and talents with your respective school communities. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to the Board’s newest Superintendent Shawna Camp-bell. Shawna will be working with schools in area 8 which comprises the southern half of Scar-borough. Although the weather has cooled, at the October 20th Board of Trustee’s meeting I asked staff to in-vestigate options available to deal with extreme hot weather at schools without air conditioning. Alt-

hough the solutions may not be perfect, I hope to see some progress for when the hot weather returns. During the month of November we take time to remember those we have lost, and pay tribute to those who have served self-lessly in the interest of peace and freedom. I encourage you to pause and reflect as we mark All Saints Day, All Souls Day and of course Remembrance Day. Appropriately enough, the virtue for November is peacemaking, and with it comes the Board’s focus on bullying awareness and prevention. We take great pride in the many student leaders who help to foster peaceful, happy and welcoming school communities. I take this opportunity to wish all of you a peaceful month, and a blessed start to the Advent season, which begins on No-vember 27th. Best regards, Sal Piccininni

Monthly Update from the Board

November 2016

The Year of the Parish: The Celebration Continues

We look forward to continuing the celebration of the Year of the Parish throughout the school year.

It is a wonderful opportunity for our schools and parishes to connect, or re-connect, and plan activities and ongoing initiatives to-gether that will support the important partnership between Family, Church and School.

Parents, school administrators, parents, teachers, pastors and parish representatives were invited to sit down for some preliminary discussions earlier this year. To see the many ideas that came forward from those Year of the Parish Conversations, visit our web-site https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/YearoftheParish/Pages/Ideas-Conversation-Starters.aspx

More information about our pastoral plan here:

https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/YearoftheParish/Pages/default.aspx

November’s Virtue is Peacemaking

Find all the monthly resources associated with our virtues of the month online https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/VirtueoftheMonth/Pages/Default.aspx

Free English as a Second Language Courses for Adult Immigrants

The TCDSB Adult Education Program offers free language training courses for eligible adult immigrants at various locations across Toronto. After an assessment of language ability, eligible immigrants can enroll in our courses throughout the year. For more information and to locate courses using our online Course Finder, visit https://www.tcdsb.org/FORCOMMUNITY/AdultEducationESL/Pages/Default.aspx.

The 2016-2017 TCDSB Awards Season has begun!

Nominations are now open for the following awards which will be presented at Awards Night on May 1, 2017: DEAD-LINE: third Friday in January (January 20)

TCDSB Alumni Award: open to TCDSB alumni who are still active in the Catholic community and who have distinguished

themselves in their career or accomplishments.

TCDSB Award of Merit: open to former staff, parents and trustees who have made outstanding contributions to the TCDSB and to Catholic education (can only be considered for award after a three-year period has passed since departure from the TCDSB)

**NEW** Friends of Catholic Education Award: open to members of the general public (individuals or organizations) who have accomplished extraordinary service to Catholic Education but who may not be Catholic.

For nomination forms and information, click here: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/CatholicEducationWeek/Pages/AwardsNight.aspx

Prime Minister’s Awards

Do you know a terrific teacher or early childhood educator? Consider nominating them for a 2016-17 Prime Minister’s Award! This prestigious program honours innovative and outstanding elementary and secondary school teachers and early childhood educators who are helping prepare Canadian youth for the challenges of tomorrow. Looking for inspiration? Check out some of our previous teaching and early childhood education award recipients.

2016-17 nomination packages are now available at www.pma.gc.ca.

2016 OCSTA Short-Video Contest for Students

OCSTA is now accepting submissions for the fall 2016 short-video contest for grade 4-12 students in Ontario’s publicly funded English Catholic schools. The contest theme for 2016 is:

"The Story Behind the Name of our Catholic School”

This year’s theme is designed to encourage students to delve into the history of the person/saint for whom their school was named, and to be creative in telling that story.

Deadline November 28, 2016

https://www.tcdsb.org/forstudents/opportunitiesforstudents/pages/2016-ocsta-short-video-contest-for-students.aspx

Humanitarian Aid for Haiti

As you are aware, Hurricane Matthew battered Haiti on October 4, 2016 causing widespread damage, flooding, and landslides. The storm destroyed both crops and food reserves, many homes and schools, even entire villages. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have been impacted by this recent natural disaster.

To learn more and find out how you can help, visit: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/Pages/Humanitarian%20Aid%20for%20Haiti.aspx

Get Your 40 Hours : Student Community Involvement

Community service for our TCDSB students is more than a diploma requirement. Our TCDSB community members are called to apply Catholic social teachings in all that we do; invited by our board vision to be people who “transform the world through witness, faith, innovation and action”. The experience gained through community involvement allows students to grow in knowledge and appreciation of themselves and their God-given gifts, and to find meaning, dignity and vocation in work which respects the rights of all and contributes to the common good. It is hoped that this experience early in their high school years will continue to motivate our students to stay involved and to answer the call to support Catholic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and sacredness of human life in their community involvement experiences.

All students who earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma must complete 40 hours of community service.

Find resources, information, and volunteer opportunities here: https://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/SchoolProgramsK12/GuidanceCoopEd/Communityservice40hours/Pages/Default.aspx