Pastor And so it begins again. While there is little doubt that

Pastor And so it begins again. While there is little doubt that

416–393-5373
St. Sylvester School
260 Silver Springs Blvd
Toronto, ON
And so it begins again. While there is little doubt that September is the official
start of the school year, in so many ways, January represents a new beginning as
well. Unlike September of course, there is none of the gradual process of getting
used to a new class, new routines and new workloads. Rather, January offers the
chance to build on the great learning from the first four months, and to continue
to develop and grow in the areas of faith, academics, and extra curricular skills.
M1V 1S4
Principal
Mr. R. Fernandes
Superintendent
Nick D’Avella
Secretary
Mrs. J. Palmeri
CSAC Chair
Ms. Ewing Chow
Pastor
Fr. J. Sultana
Trustee
Michael DelGrande
School Information
School Enrolment
181 students
School Hours
8:30—3:00
Lunch Hour
11:15—12:15
School Parish
St. Aidan Catholic Church
(416-494-2704)
TCDSB
416=222-8282
Www.tcdsb.org
@tcdsb
Rather than start the New Year off slowly, we’ll be continuing to grow with
renewed academic focus on areas we have focused on in our school learning plan
(inquiry based learning will continue); further igniting of our school spirit (our first
annual literacy/family games night spirit day is on the way); and centring it all in
our Faith.
January is a time when many turn to the popular past time of making New Years
resolutions. Resolutions are always a good thing to make, but as we know, it is the
act of staying resolute or persistent that make new goals a possibility. Our School
Code of Conduct as well as the Catholic Graduate Expectations (both found in
the agenda) are always a good place to centre your goals for your children. God is
inside everyone is the first point on our Code of Conduct. We talk about this
idea constantly, but continued reminders are key for this idea to be truly lived. The
Catholic Graduate expectations speak among other things of the need to create
self directed learners and discerning believers. Please take an extra minute or two
to review both our code of conduct and the Catholic Graduate Expectations with
your child—both are guaranteed good uses of time in the month ahead.
The New Year may bring both excitement at the idea of new possibilities and
apprehension at the thought of how to reach these possibilities. And it is for this
reason that January’s virtue of Courage offers so much comfort as we move
ahead. The words of Jesus provide our strength and guidance as always. “Do not
be afraid, I am with you.” It can be very difficult to remember or to truly
understand the support that God gives us, but it is so clear that He is there. No
matter what challenges, successes, or failures we experience, God is there. Knowing that He is there may not change the challenges, successes or failures we
endure, but it should definitely change the way we approach these things. With
God’s support we can face the obstacles put before us. Take courage.
And so as we welcome the year 2015 into our lives, we centre ourselves in the idea
that resolutions are something to consider at any time, but it is the staying resolute
that will lead to success. We focus on the School Code of Conduct, and the
Catholic Graduate Expectations. Most importantly, we allow ourselves to be
guided by Christ, our protector and guide. Blessings to you all and may the year
2015 be a time of health, fulfillment and prosperity for us all..
Sincerely, Mr. R. Fernandes
It starts with communication
Parents, we are constantly trying to find out ways that we
can improve our home and school communication. With
that in mind, we’re asking ALL families to complete a
survey that is being sent home with this newsletter. As
an added bonus, the first class to get all their surveys in
will receive an extra recess. I wonder what would happen
if EVERYONE got their surveys back the next day!
Please take some time to fill in our school survey. Your
honest input will help our school be that much better.
Parent involvement
Church News
Our school Family Advent Mass on Monday,
December 15 was a truly beautiful event. We were
blessed to be able to celebrate the Eucharist together
accompanied by performances from every class. The
staff choir was also a big hit for the night and the
baked goods in the Church hall prepared by our
parent council and principal were quickly devoured.
Thank you parents to taking the time to come to the
Church. The best way to model our faith is to live it
together.
Catholic Parent Involvement Committee (CPIC): www.tcdsb.org/cpic
OAPCE (Parent involvement) www.tcdsb.org/oapce-toronto
Jan 13th meeting—Our next parent council meeting takes place on Tuesday, Jan 13th at 6:15 pm. All parents are welcome.
Topics for discussion will include our school learning plan, safe schools, and upcoming school events. We look forward to
seeing you there.
Our CSAC Chair—Ms. Ewing Chow has arranged for the making of Operation Kindness Hats. The hat is pictured on the
Check in Page of our school website. Cost would be approximately $20 if enough orders are
placed. We
will be taking orders on the night of our family games night.
Faith and Character Development
December Virtues Stars (Charity)
Mrs. Bernardes
Jacob Quiros
Mrs. Anievas
Ryan Yuemo
Mrs. Ricetto
Egypt Rajroop-Miles
Ms. . Ironside
Jazmine Tolentino
Mrs. Liscio
Sandy Wu
Mrs. Povo
Alex Lam
Ms. Stoner
Amelia DelZotto
Mr. Juchniewicz/
Patricia Abuel
Ms. Harrietha
Congratulations to all these students for demonstrating our
Virtue of the month. They have been awarded a certificate
for remembering that God welcomes us all and that we
should try to welcome others as well.
Courage - Do not be afraid, I am with you
Isaiah 41:10
January is Courage month and we encourage everyone
to try and follow the points below. Those who do it best
will become our virtues stars for January
1. Let your actions be guided by the idea that God is
inside everyone .
2. Know that sometimes doing the right thing is very
tough but with courage you CAN do the right thing
3. Stand up respectfully when you see something
wrong that is being done
4. Live your life in a way that makes others know you
are a follower of Christ
Page 2
News from St. Sylvester
Happening at a School Near You
Healthy Living
While it may be cold outside, our DPA program is
ready to heat things up. Starting on January 15, all
students (and parents and staff) have the chance to
take part in the 60 minute kids club. The aim of this
club is to get kids active, eating healthy and reducing
screen time. We encourage all parents and students to
visit the website http://60minkidsclub.org/ You will
be able to register now, and begin tracking your progress as of January 15.
Snack Program
Our snack program continues to
roll right
along thanks to our coordinator Mrs. Coutinho and committed
volunteers Mr. Chua, Mrs. Stephen, Mrs. Deir, and Mrs
Mondaca. Unlike past years, we are not charging for the next
three months. There is a chance depending on the finance of
the program that we may ask for a $10 contribution for the
final three months of the year. Please feel free to check the
menu on our school website and to send any comments
about the program to Mr. Fernandes.
Literacy Day/Family
games night
Keep the night of Jan 22nd free
Pyjamas, games, reading and brownies. All of that is happening on Jan 22nd. It promises to be a packed and fun
day. We’ll start off with our first annual literacy games day.
Every class will be involved in literacy games in the morning
before our whole school silent reading and whole school
read aloud in the afternoon . All of this will happen in
pyjamas. Everyone can take part in the fun but we ask you
to bring in a toonie for the civies day portion.
That same night, we invite you to come join us at 6:30 for
our family games night and self regulation activities. It’s
going to be fun! Please complete the survey page coming
home letting us know if you will be coming the night of January 22nd so that we some treats ready for you. And yes
we’re living the eco world. If you’d like a brownie OR some
hot chocolate, you’ll need to bring a reusable container for
your brownie and a mug for your hot chocolate. Caring for
the environment starts with all of us thinking outside the
box, and sacrificing a bit of convenience for less waste.
Pizza orders
Seniors Home Carol Singing
We had a great time at Shepard
village. We met lots of people and
sang lots of Christmas songs like Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the red nose Reindeer. Our favourite song is a
song called Halloween Christmas written by the one and only
Mr. Noel. We all went to different levels. Mr., Povo’s class and
Mrs. Ricetto’s class went to the 5th and 6th floor while Ms.
Ironside’s Ms. Bernardes’ , Ms Anievas’, and Ms. Liscio’s went to
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th floor. We had a great time together. Our
teacher said that the elderly people don’t see or hear kids that
often so they were happy to see us. Some classes gave out cards
that they decorated and made themselves. I think we all had a
fun time. Leyon Jimmi Ms. Povo’s Gr. 4/5
Parents, the people have spoken, well most of you
have hopefully. The Gr. 6/7 class did a pizza survey to
see if you wanted to pay for pizza weekly or every
three months. The vote results showed 63% wanted
weekly pizza payments. With this in mind, we
respectfully ask that all pizza orders are in weekly by
Tuesday to the classroom teacher. Exact change is
needed. Please do not give orders to the office as this
creates extra work for our ever friendly and efficient
secretary Mrs. Palmeri. She has been instructed to not
take ANY pizza orders. Any orders that come in after
Tuesday will be not be able to be filled. Your help in
following the proper process is greatly appreciated. All
money raised from Pizza sales goes towards trips and
activities in the school, so your support is so very
helpful.
Page 3
And a few other important things
School improvement plan - Inquiry based learning
Each month we’ll try and share some different tips and information about our school improvement
plan. Last month, we spoke about the Catholic Graduate Expectations. This month, we’ll talk about
inquiry based learning. Our school learning plan aims to help all students become more engaged in
their learning through exposure to the inquiry based model. At its most basic, the inquiry system
centres learning around the big ideas of the curriculum. Everything that is taught in Ontario public
funded schools starts from the curriculum and the Ministry of Education specifically encourages
teachers to focus on the big ideas of each curriculum unit. We are further encouraged by the Ministry
to engage students in the learning process by asking them about questions they have as related to the
Big Ideas of each curriculum unit.
So what does this mean for you as parents? Two main things
1.
Encourage your child to ask questions about what they’re learning. The days of simply
memorizing facts and repeating them on a test have proven to not be the best form of learning.
Think back to your own learning—do you remember what you memorized or what you really had
an interest in? — the way to capture that interest is through questions.
2.
Educate yourself more about inquiry based learning—you can visit our school website under the
links page for more information about this valuable learning style promoted by our school board
and the Ministry of Education
Kindergarten registration keeps our schools growing and vibrant. Parents/guardians with children born in 2011 or earlier and who will
be enrolling in Kindergarten, have the opportunity to apply on-line using the “Student On-line Admission and Registration” platform
known as S.O.A.R. and found at the following link: http://soar.tcdsb.org . More info can be found on our check in page
TCDSB Trustees 2014/2015
Wards
1. Joseph Martino 416-512-3401
2. Ann Andrachuk 416-512-3402
3. Sal Piccininni 416-512-3403
4. Patrizia Bottoni 416-512-3404
5. Maria Rizzo 416-512-3405
6. Frank D’Amico 416-512-3406
7. Michael DelGrande Chair 416-512-3407
8. Garry Tanuan 416-512-3408
9. Jo-Ann Davis 416-512-3409
10. Barbara Poplawski 416-512-3410
11. Angela Kennedy 416-512-3411
12. Nancy Crawford,
Vice-Chair 416-512-3412
Chris MacDonald,
Student Trustee 416-512-3417
Hannah McGroarty,
Student Trustee 416-512-3413
Student Corner (views from the classroom)
I enjoyed our Family Advent Mass because instead of all the focus being
on us, it was focused on God. That’s what Christmas is supposed to be
about.
Jessica E Gr. 8
We enjoyed when we played snow soccer with the roadrunner group. It
was great cardio and a lot of fun to play in the snow.
Jabari Gr. 8, Aiden Gr. 5, Austin Gr. 4
James and the Giant Peach was awesome because there were so many
neat special effects. The singing in the play was really great as well. We
wish we could see the play again.
Nilayah, Mitzi and Jessica Mrs. Liscio’s Gr. 3/4 class (you can see
the full version of their writing on the What’s Happening page of our website.)