St. Mary Catholic School

Newsletter

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.

Success is no accident. It is hard work, studying, sacrifice, perseverance

and most of all : love of what you are doing.

February 2019

ST. MARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL 20 Portuga l Square, Toronto, Ontar io

Tel . 416 -393 -5205 Fax. 416 -393 -5781

Principal: L. Stamcoff Secretary: D. Costa Superintendent: John Shanahan Area 6 416-222-8282 ext. 5371 Trustee: Jo-Ann Davis 416-512-3409 Parish: St. Mary Church 130 Bathurst Street Toronto ON M5V 2R2 416-703-2326

Priest: Fr. Fernando Couto

TRUSTEES 2018– 2019 Wards

1. Joseph Martino 2. Markus de Domenico 3. Ida Li Preti 4. Teresa Lubinski 5. Maria Rizzo, Chair 6. Frank D‘Amico 7. Michael Del Grande– Vice-Chair 8. Garry Tanuan 9. Norm Di Pasquale 10. Daniel Di Giorgio 11. Angela Kennedy 12. Nancy Crawford

Joel Ndongmi, Student Trustee Taylor Dallin, Student Trustee

Virtue of the Month: Love

God gives a clear description of love in the Bible:

“Love never gives up. Love cares for others more than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, it isn’t always 'me first,' doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies.” (1 Corinthians 13).

For the students and all community members of St. Mary’s, we are called to love. That is God’s commandment. The first lines to do with love states that Love never gives up. It is a calling to each student in the school to not give up on…yourself. Treat yourself as you would a dear and close friend. When your dear ‘close friend’ (you) is struggling, how can you help them? What do you say to them? How do you show care, concern, understanding, forgiveness and encour-agement? It is these very qualities that make up love and it is these very same qualities that each student must offer to themselves. God wants you to love yourself. He knows we face challenges, but in showing the important traits of love to yourself, you show maturity. God has plans for you. God wants you to be the person He created. He knows your po-tential. In fact, He knows it even better then you do. But we all have a responsibility; we must show love to ourselves in the same way we would to a very dear and close friend. In doing so, we are also learning, by practice, of the love that we can offer others. It is all part of our responsibility of making the world a better place. It starts with ourselves! One of the simplest ways to show love to people is to simply listen. Listening is not something that just happens – that's passive. Listening is an active process in which a conscious decision is made to listen to and understand the messages of the speaker. Active listening is also about patience (“love is patient”). Listeners should not be tempted to jump in with questions or comments every time there are a few seconds of silence. Active listening involves giving the other person time to explore their thoughts and feelings, and be given adequate time for that. Make sure you smile, give good eye contact and body language, ask questions that help the person clarify what they are thinking about and help summarize thinking. Listening shows respect and confers dignity. For our St. Mary students, in the classroom, listening is key to growth and success. In summary, simple but so true: listening is love.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another (and yourself) in love.” Ephesians 4:2

L. Stamcoff Principal

Recognition Awards for January Congratulations to the following students who re-

ceived a certificate for demonstrating courage,

inclusion or other achievements during the month

of January:

Ben Bejoy, Owen Durst, Charlette, Fiona Thomas, Caio Ma-

rins, Leonardo Albano, Aleks Pazos, Nathaniel Hall, Anthony

Soares, Jael Halili, Shiloh O’Reilly, Matteo Adams, Sidney

Ohonsi, Sofia Spoltore, Lucy Bruce, Matthew Kagollo, Owen

Akhadia, Lucas Farinaccio, Trinity Leira, Alicia Liao, Adea

Langu, Tosin Ogbe, Brayden Farrar, Maeve Ahmad-Dickson,

Malak Kasella, Billen Mehari, Emylio Fernandez, Kevin

Porquez, Jhaslene Garcia Sundararajah, Aldrich Buensuce-

so, Peggy Guo, Leonardo Zuniga, Jeko Nikolov, Jordyn

Kelly, Marcus Benjamin, Chiara Marchesano

Well Done!

Mr. Ferreira’ s Grade 4/5 Class News

Inspiring the community through the

Arts

Children’s silhouettes with the city skyline at sunset does not

make for a very inspirational school mural. This was one of the

main comments made by Mr. Ferreira’s grade 4/5 class when

asked what they would change about our school. The tired and

outdated mural located on the south west yard of the school

did not reflect the current views and interests of the school

community and needed to be updated. The grade 4/5 class set

about creating a series of criteria for the project. It would need

to be inspirational, reflect the catholic values of our school and

most important be a topic that could be easily funded by out-

side sources. The students came up with a bunch of proposals

ranging from a mural about Terry Fox to several on sports.

Finally, it was decided that honouring the First Nations that

originally inhabited the area where our school is located would

be the best. We approached our parent council and are current-

ly in discussion with OCAD students in order to design the

new mural that will be completed in Spring or Summer of

2019. If you can assist us in completing this project in any way,

please contact the school.

Pizza Day & $1 Casual Dress Day

Friday, February 22nd

Last day to order:

Thursday, February 21st, 10AM

Reminder:

Friday, Feb. 15th P.D. Day

Reminder:

Monday, Feb. 18th

Family Day—No School

Reminder: Parent-Teacher Conferences

> Wednesday, February 13th

> Thursday, February 14th

Please remember to complete and return your child’s conference form if you haven’t already.

Running Club Every Thursday morning from 7:45-8:15AM in the gym

Lego at Lunch

The Lego activity begins the week of Jan 14 and

will run until the week on Feb 11.

Schedule is as follows:

Tuesdays – grade 1’s

Wednesday – grade 2’s & 3’s

Thursday – grade 4’s & 5’s

This activity is a paid for by parents individually.

The activity will run during the lunch hour and stu-

dents will bring their lunch to the classroom for the

activity.

Pink Shirt Day - For Aware-

ness Against Bullying Feb. 27

This date is to do with Anti-Bullying sup-port and recognition – a Canada wide en-deavour. The Pink Day activity on Feb. 27 complements an Anti-Bullying assembly the school held on Jan. 30 at the school and will further the on-going discussion about what is Bullying and how do we combat and ulitmately make it truly so-cially unacceptable. So on Wednesay, Feb 27 – students and all members of the St. Mary’s school community are en-couraged to show their support for Anti-Bullying by wearing Pink and hopefully be inspired by the school assembly scheuled for this day.

Guidance Corner - February High school acceptance/redirection letters will be couriered to the elementary schools during the first two weeks of February and will be sent to the Grade 8 teacher for distribution. Some Specialty Program offers may have already been sent out. Please pay attention to spe-cific dates for registration or re-directions in the packages that you receive. The 2019-2020 Program and Course Calendar for Secondary school will be available online this month. It includes a wide variety of important information related to high school, as well as highlight-ing the courses that each of our high schools will be offering for the coming school year. You may find this a useful tool in anticipation of course selection and registration that will take place in early March. The link is posted here:

https://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/SchoolProgramsK12/GuidanceCoopEd/ebook/mobile/index.html

As the Term 1 Report Card is sent home and Parent/Teacher Conferences take place, it is a good reminder of the importance of strengthening the development of the 6 Learning Skills & Work Habits and the vital role that parents play in helping their child master them. Look for opportunities at home for your child to take responsibility, collaborate with others, work independently, self-regulate, show initiative and be organized.

http://www.fslhomeworktoolbox.ca/homework_tips/learning_skills_and_work_habits.php

During the month of February, we focus on the virtue of Love: love of self, love of others, love of God. Here is a link to an article on helping to boost self-esteem in children:

http://www.yessafechoices.org/parents/tips-and-tools/help-your-child-feel-good-about-himself. Having a positive sense of ourselves, helps us to be resilient, be caring family members, and allows us to foster good relationships with others.

Church Corner

Weekly Mass:

Saturday at 5pm & Sunday at 11:30am

Sacrament of Holy Eucharist and Sacrament of Confirma-

tion:

Catechism classes for grade 2’s and grade 7’s (and any-

one else who needs to complete the Sacrament of the Holy

Eucharist and/or Confirmation):

Catechism for both grades starts on: Oct. 21 at 10:15 am

to 11:15 am

All classes occur at the Church.

No Catechism classes on:

Dec 30, Jan. 6,

Feb. 18

Mar. 1, Apr. 21

First Confession: Friday, April 5 at 7:30 pm

at Church for all students who will be making

their First Communion on May 5

First Communion: Sunday, May 5 at 1:00 pm

Mass at Church

Confirmation Rehearsal: Sunday, May 19 at

3:00pm at Church

Confirmation: Saturday, June 1 at 5pm Mass

St. Mary’s Scholastic Book Fair

The book fair will be held on Wednesday, February 13th, during Parent-

Teacher Interviews in the school gym . Parents are welcome to preview

the books available and purchase what they like. Some of the money is

retuned directly to the school to purchase books for the library.

CSPC - Catholic School Parent Council

If you would like more information, want to get involved, or simply have a question or suggestion, please email your CSPC Chair, Joanna McNish at cspc.stmary@tcdsb.org.

Next CSPC meeting:

Wednesday, February 21, 2018, at 6:30 pm. As always, we invite and encourage all parents to attend and participate!

Bussing & Alternate

After-School Arrangements

Please ensure that you contact the Secretary at the school office by 2:00 pm daily to advise of any change in your child’s after school arrangements. Please avoid calling dur-ing the AM/PM recess and lunch periods as the Secretary is unavailable.

416-393-5205

News From the Board

Registration for Kindergarten, French Immersion, Extended French and Night School as well as eClass continues during February. Visit the Board’s website for information www.tcdsb.org

February’s Virtue is Love Please visit our website for the monthly resources connected to the virtue of the month. https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/VirtueoftheMonth/Pages/Default.aspx

Director’s Annual Report 2017-2018 Check out some of the highlights of the past school year in the newly published edition of the Director’s Annual Report. https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/BoardAdministration/DirectorofEducation/Pages/annual-report-2017-2018.aspx

Audited Financial Statements 2017-2018 The audited financial statements for the past school year are available online: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/BudgetandFinance/Documents/Audited-Financial-Statments-2017-18-TCDSB.pdf

New Location: English Courses for Adults Coming in February to 270 Cherokee Boulevard, North York (former Our Lady of Mount Carmel school site)

ESL (full and part-time classes available) Essential skills training ESL for Health Care Professions (March-May)

www.tcdsb.org/adulted for information or 416-397-6600 contact.adulted@tcdsb.org

Winter Weather Has Arrived Don’t miss out on information relating to cancellations or delays in school bus service. Sign up to receive alerts through the TSTG parent portal https://www.torontoschoolbus.org or follow @TCDSB on Twitter for the latest updates.

February is… African Canadian Heritage Month

https://www.tcdsb.org/FORCOMMUNITY/HeritageCelebration/AfricanCanadianHeritage/Pages/default.aspx

The African Canadian Heritage Month Mass will take place at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts on Friday, February 8th from 10 am –

1:30 pm, and will feature special guest poet, speaker , and author Nadine Williams.

Psychology Month https://www.tcdsb.org/programsservices/specialeducation/psychology/psychologymonth/Pages/Psychology-Month.aspx National Inclusive Education Month

Learn more about the TCDSB’s Catholic Equity and Inclusive Education Policy: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Policies/Pages/hm24.aspx TCDSB Energy Conservation Month: 4 Days - 4 Themes - One Month:

Join the TCDSB throughout February to save on energy:

Flip the Switch Friday – Feb 1, 2019

National Sweater Day - Feb 8, 2019

Energy Education Day - Feb 14, 2019 Phantom Friday - Feb 22, 2019 Click here for more information about Energy Conservation Month. COSTI’s Refugees & Human Rights Child & Youth Poetry Contest Student in Grades 4 to 12 are invited to write a poem on the theme of “Refugees and Human Rights.” The deadline for entries is March 29, 2019. https://www.tcdsb.org/FORSTUDENTS/AwardsScholarshipsBur sar iesContests/Pages/COSTI -Poetry-Contest.aspx

School Uniform

Parents and students are reminded that St. Mary’s does have a school

dress code as per TCDSB Policy. The TCDSB Appropriate Dress

Code is outlined in the Student Parent Handbook. Briefly stated, the

school uniform is: a white top (no logos etc.) and blue bottom. When a

student regularly and/or blatantly demonstrates disregard for the

TCDSB Appropriate Dress Code, the student will be spoken to. If the

problem persists, a phone call home, as well as other code of conduct

consequences will follow. Each morning, before your child leaves for

school, your parental support and guidance in ensuring your child is

wearing their school uniform is appreciated. Adherence to the School

Uniform Dress Code will enhance the learning environment with the

goal of improved achievement and growth as the ultimate goal and

outcome.

Cold Weather Clothing

Parents, please ensure that your child is properly

dressed for school now that the weather has be-

come colder as well as snowy. Once the tempera-

ture decreases further and the snow continues to fall, it’s im-

portant that students have a warm winter jacket, boots, hat and

mittens or gloves to keep them warm when they are outside dur-

ing recess. We want all students to be well prepared for our

Toronto winter. Thank you for your support.

St. Mary School is Allergen Aware!

Please remember that all snacks and lunches for students must be nut free. We have several children in the school with life threatening allergies and we would like to ensure that they are not exposed to dangerous food items.

Snacks should not contain any type of nut product such as pea-nuts, almonds, cashews, peanut butter, Nutella, etc.

Also, please remind your child to not share his/her snack or lunch.

Let’s all do our part to keep our students safe.

Absenteeism

Please help us with our safe arrival program at school by inform-ing the school of your child’s absence. You may call at any time and leave a message on the automated system. Please remember to provide: the name of your child, his/her grade and teacher, and the reason for the absence.

Call 416-393-5205 to report an absence.

Parking

Please do not park in front of the school in the morning from

8:00-8:30 am or in the afternoon from 2:00-3:30 pm, as this

area is designated for our school buses.

The East and West parking lots are designated for

staff/school board personnel parking only.

Unfortunately, there are no extra spaces for

parents/visitors.

We thank you for your co-operation.

School Safety Parents are kindly requested to not walk through the hallway of the school, as per TCDSB Policy. This policy is specifi-cally to do with the safety and security of the students, staff and school building. To see their children walk to their class-rooms on the first floor only, parents may stand at the entrance area of the school, just north-east of the school office. This area can be called the ‘intersection;’ it is where three hallways meet: the east/west hallway and the hallway looking north. Your understanding and co-operation in this safety policy is appreciated. Thank-You

Safety on the Stairs In the winter (snowy - wet) months, the staircases will become wet, due to incoming ‘traffic’ from outside. From the very young to not so young (and everyone in between) using the handrail on the staircases is a wise safety pre-caution. An ‘accident’ can be defined as an unintentional injury, and is an undesirable, incidental, and unplanned event that could have been prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occur-rence. With this in mind, everyone is reminded to use the handrail and to never rush or run in the hallways. Your co-operation and understanding is appreciated.

African Canadian Heritage Month

St. Mary’s C.S. and the TCDSB recognize February as African Canadian Heritage Month. Classes will endeavor to recognize this

month through discussion and learning. As well, over the PA, anecdotes of prominent African Canadian stories and people will be

shared.

The commemoration of African Heritage Month can be traced back to 1926 when Harvard-educate Black historian, Carter G.

Woodson, founded Negro History Week to recognize the achievements of African Americans. Woodson purposefully chose Febru-

ary for the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, both key figures in the emancipation of enslaved blacks. In 1976,

as part of the American bicentennial celebrations, Negro History Week was expanded to Black History Month.

The vast contributions of African-Canadians to Canadian society have been acknowledged informally since the early 1950s. In De-cember, 1995 - The House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month following a motion introduced by the first Black Canadian woman elected to Parliament, the Honourable Jean Augustine. In February, 2008 - Nova Scotia Senator Donald Oliver, Q.C., the first Black man appointed to the Senate, introduced a motion to have the Senate officially declare February as Black History Month. The motion received unanimous approval. In March, 2008 - The adoption of Senator Oliver’s motion was the final parliamentary procedure needed for Canada’s permanent recognition of Black History Month.

Finally, did you know: the TCDSB shares a key connection in the creation of Black History Month in Canada. Jean Augustine is a former Principal with the TCDSB with strong ties to the Board. We celebrate one of our ‘own’ as we commemorate African Cana-dian Heritage Month here at St. Mary’s C.S.

News From the Board Continued

TCDSB Is Hiring!

Join the dynamic team at the Toronto Catholic District School Board where academic success and well-being go hand in hand with nurturing Catholic faith and values. TCDSB is currently seeking:

Supply Secretary Supply Educational Assistant Occasional Designated Early Childhood Educator Occasional Library Technician (certified and uncertified) Supply Caretaker Occasional Teacher Occasional French Teacher (certified and uncertified) Occasional Music Teacher(certified and uncertified)

Interested in exploring a career with TCDSB? Visit www.tcdsb.org/careers or contact hr.recruitment@tcdsb.org. Applications are

being received at www.applytoeducation.com Other Dates to Note for February: Winter Walk Day 2019 Winter Walk Day will be taking place this year on Wednesday, February 6, 2019. Winter Walk Day is an opportunity for all of us—students, staff, families—to focus on improved health and well-being, active lifestyles and building safer communities for everyone. Click here for more infor-mation.

Supporting all Students...Join Us!

TCDSB Special Education and Community Resources Fair 2019

Hosted by the Toronto Catholic District School Board Special Services Departments and Special Education Advisory Committee

February 2, 2019 9:00 am to 1:00 pm https://www.tcdsb.org/programsservices/specialeducation/newsevents/pages/special-education-and-community-resources-fair-.aspx Transition Planning Workshop for Parents of Children with Autism in Grades 7 & 8 February 2, 2019 10 a.m. to 12 noon https://www.tcdsb.org/programsservices/specialeducation/newsevents/pages/transition-planning.aspx February 2, 2019: World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life Pray for our Cardinal, Bishops, pastors, priests, deacons, sisters and other religious who provide spiritual support, leadership and guidance to our school communities and Catholics throughout the City of Toronto.

February 4-8, 2019 Canadian School Counsellors Week https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/chapters/school-counsellors/ Lunar New Year February 5, 2019 Angel Foundation For Learning’s Curiosities Art Show February 9 and 10 Featuring artwork created by TCDSB students, TCDSB graduates and local artists https://www.angelfoundationforlearning.org/?page_id=7725 February 11th is International Day of the Girl in Science http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/ February 14, 2019 St Valentine’s Day https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/News/2014-2015/Pages/St.-Valentine's-Day.aspx System-wide PA Day February 15, 2019 Family Day February 18, 2019 February 20, 2019 World Day of Social Justice http://www.un.org/en/events/socialjusticeday/ Feb 22-March 1, 2019 TCDSB Northern Spirit Games As part of the TCDSB's Indigenous Education programming initiatives, the annual Northern Spirit Games will once again take place in February. This year the games will take place at four locations:

St. John Paul II – February 22

Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton CSS - February 25

St. Patrick's CSS - February 28 Msgr. Percy Johnson – March 1 Since 2002, over 22,000 students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 have participated in these annual athletic, cultural and spiritual celebrations. Click here for more information.

Picking up Your Child at 3pm Dismissal

All picking up of students is done at the East Yard of the school only. Please do not come to the front entrance of the

school to retrieve your child at 3pm. This is a ‘heavy traffic’ area for bus students to wait and then walk to their busses.

This procedure includes when plans change – i.e. child normally takes bus, but they have an appointment – parent is to

tell child they will meet them in EAST YARD at 3 pm. Parents are requested to write this info in child’s agenda too so

child does not forget or get mixed up due to the change in end of day dismissal routine. Your co-operation and under-

standing in this matter is appreciated.

Busses Parents/Caregivers of students in grade 3 and younger: please ensure your child has a purple tag on knap-

sack– if you change knapsacks– please place purple tag on new knapsack. If you need a new one– call the school office

and we will provide a new one. A child with a purple tag on their knapsack means the child must be greeted by a Parent/

Caregiver when getting off the bus. The driver looks for this and if no one can be found, a child with a purple tag is to

remain on the bus. The child will be brought back to the school, the child’s home called and the parent/caregiver will

have to come to the school to pick up their child. As well, for any bus info, all parents are encouraged to access the

TCDSB Transportation link provided below. Also, having in your cell phone the phone # and the route # for the bus

company is recommended for when your child comes to school in the morning and leaves from school at the end of the

school day. If you are unsure of the phone # and route #, please call the school and we will provide it for you.

https://intranet.tcdsb.org/News/Pages/New-Transportation-Portal.aspx

Bussing– Snowy Day On ‘snow days,’ when busses are cancelled for the morning pick-up to school, all are reminded of the following: busses

cancelled in the morning means they do not run/operate in the pm. This is a basic transportation rule for school bussing.

Again; no busses in the AM automatically means no busses in the PM. If your child should make it to school, this means

that plans must be made in order for your child to be picked up at dismissal time 3 pm. Your co-operation

and understanding in this matter is appreciated.

Bus Transportation Information and Updates

Communications with parents regarding bus transportation for students is a priority. In order to stay informed, parents are

encouraged to register on the Toronto Student Transportation Group (TSTG) portal today by visiting

www.torontoschoolbus.org. The direct site to register for updates is https://can.busplannerweb.com/ This portal provides

TCDSB parents with online access to their children’s transportation information and up to the minute email notifications

regarding school bus cancellations or delays. If you have any issues signing up on the portal, please contact sup-

port@torontoschoolbus.org and staff will assist you with the registration of your account.

AM Routes PM Routes

CAR0109–Attridge Transportation CSW0407– Switzer Carty Transportation (Purple)

CSH0231–Sharp Transportation PSC0852– Stock East Transportation (Red)

PST0753–Stock West Transportation CSH0231– Attridge Transportation (Yellow)

PST0757–Stock West Transportation CAR0109– Stock West Transportation (Green)

PFT0095– First Student PST0753– Stock West Transportation (Orange)

TCDSB transportation homepage also has delay-cancellation info:

Www.torontoschoolbus.org

Anti-Bullying Assembly on Jan.30 On Jan. 30, grades 1 to 4 and then Grades 5 to 8 were treated to a “Magic’ show that was entertaining and had an important reminder to do with Bullying. The students were amazed at the Magic of Coby the Magi-cian. “How did he do that…?” was the oft-repeated phrase after the show. Of more importance, we trust our students were impacted with the message that Bullying is unacceptable and that we all have a part to play in eradicating Bullying practices. We owe it to ourselves and the school community to help make it – disappear. It’s not a magical trick; it takes honest effort on all our behalves. Let’s all be part of the solution.