PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

“MERRY CHRISTMAS AND BEST WISHES”

As we journey through the season of Advent, may we pray for patience and

for hope as we await the celebration of the birth of Christ. We continue to

pray for those in our community who are ill and in need of prayers. May they

find the Advent season a time of solace and peace.

At St. Elizabeth Catholic School, we continue to celebrate the efforts of all of our

students and parents and we have some activities happening during the Advent

Season. Please check the insert on this page about “What’s Happening”. Please

make a special note of our School Advent Family Mass at St . Mary of the Visitation

Church on December 16 at 5:00 pm. Please make an effort to attend our Christmas

Concert, “The Presence of Christmas” on December 21 at 1:15 pm . Our St.

Elizabeth Spirit Wear Webstore is open for business til Dec 11. Check out the flyer

enclosed in order to log in.

Be generous in donating to the Christmas Red Stocking Campaign of St. Mary of

the Visitation Church. All it takes is a trip to the “Dollar Store” to purchase nominal

school supplies to fill our stocking which in turn will be sent overseas through our

school parish.

We are well into the planning stage of our February Family Valentine Silent Auction

and Dance. Please review our School Council Annual Report for 2016-17 which is

posted on our website. On behalf of the Staff and School Council of St. Elizabeth

Catholic School, we extend best wishes to all of our valued community members

this Christmas season. May it be a time of peace and joy.

We also extend our best wishes to your families in the upcoming New Year. We look

forward to having our students back, safe and sound to St. Elizabeth Catholic

School on January 8, 2018.

Best Wishes,

Mr. L. Pellizzari, Principal

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2017: Issue 4

Here’s What’s Happening at St. Elizabeth Catholic

School during the Advent Season: December 2017

Annual Red Stocking Campaign for St. Mary of the

Visitation Church : December 3-17

Advent Liturgies following each Sunday in Advent:

(Dec 4 in Gym: 1:00 pm) ; (Dec 11: PA System

Liturgy); (Dec 18: PA System Liturgy); (Dec 22: Liturgy

in the Gymnasium: Whole School: 9:30 am)

Trip to Lanmark Theatre to view cartoon movie, ‘The

Star”: December 12: AM: Grades 1, 2, 3

Advent Family Mass : December 16 @ St. Mary of

the Visitation Church: 5:00 pm Mass

“ The Best Christmas Present Ever”: Play by Gr 6’s to

Parents: PM: Marchant; “Santa Gives Back

Christmas”: Play by Gr 6’s to Parents: AM: Venditti:

Library: December 19

Christmas Guessing Jar Contest : Spirit Activity”:

Dec 18– 21

School Christmas Concert: “The Presence of

Christmas”: Student Presentation and Dress

Rehearsal for Students @ 10:00 am & Presentation

to Parents & Visitors: 1:15 pm: Gymnasium: All Are

Welcome: Thursday , December 21

Staff Christmas Breakfast and School Christmas

Pajama Day : Dec 22

Thanks and Congratulations

to our Staff , Students and

Volunteers for their Great Works of Charity this

To get our School Newsletter sent electronically to your most preferred email address, you must go to our school website: http://stelizabeth.wcdsb.ca ; click the “NewsWire” link at bottom of page and enter your email address and then click “Subscribe.” It’s that easy!!!!!!! Timely WCDSB and St. Elizabeth Catholic School Information will be quickly sent to you. As well, follow us on twitter: @ST.ElizabethCS1

ATTENTION:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017 IS A

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY DAY AND THERE IS

NO SCHOOL THAT DAY

D E C E M B E R N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 7 : I s s u e 4

FAREWELL/CONGRATULATIONS/WELCOME

Congratulations to our Girls Basketball and Boys volleyball

Teams for their play this year. Our teams enjoyed a great

season and personal bests and gave a valiant effort in season

play. Thanks for their time and efforts to Mrs. Deignan for

coaching our girls and Mr. Mireault for preparing our boys .

Thanks to Mr. Nicholls and Mrs. Stere and their classes for

organizing and presenting a wonderful Remembrance Day

Service .

2017-2018

SCHOOL YEAR

CALENDAR “AT-A-GLANCE”

December 8: Professional Activity Day

22- January 7: Christmas Holidays

2018

January 8: First Day Back after Holidays

26: Professional Activity Day

February 15: 1st Term Provincial Report Goes Home

14: Ash Wednesday (Lent Begins)

19: Family Day: Provincial Statutory Holiday

March 10– 18: Spring/March Break

29: Holy Thursday

30: Good Friday

April 1: Easter Sunday

2: Easter Monday

13: Professional Activity Day

May 21: Victoria Day

June 1: Professional Activity Day

26: Term Two Provincial Report Goes Home

29: Last Day of School

Have a Successful

2017-2018 School Year!

Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations of the Month

This year we will be concentrating on a specific “Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectation” of the Month for us to reflect upon.

The O.C.G.E for the month of December is “ A Caring Family Member: A caring family member who attends to family, school, parish and wider community”

I Care

I love God, myself and my family

I care about and respect my “family “ at school, at Church, in the community, and the world

I care about and respect God’s creation and everything in it

Because I care, I pray for all my families , and I will live my life like Jesus”.

Join us for our St. Elizabeth School Community Advent Mass at

St. Mary of the Visitation Church on Saturday, December 16 at 5:00 pm. All

are invited to enjoy a Liturgy and Mass of the Advent Season

Come and enjoy the fellowship of the Advent Season with your School Community members.

ST. ELIZABETH EAGLES SPIRIT WEAR” WEBSTORE: WE GOT IT RIGHT!!!!

WE HAD TO “JIGGLE” OUR WEBSTORE A BIT BUT WE ARE GOOD TO GO AND EXTENDING ORDER

DATES

THE ST. ELIZABETH SPIRIT WEAR WEBSTORE IS NOW OPEN EVEN LONGER TO DECEMBER 11

WITH A DELIVERY DATE BEFORE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GO ON LINE TO

DO ONE -STOP SHOPPING FOR A VARIETY OF “EAGLE SPIRIT WEAR” IN A VARIETY OF COLOURS,

TYPES , SHAPES AND SIZES.

YOU CAN PLACE YOUR ORDERS STARTING NOW UNTIL DECEMBER 11. YOUR ORDERS ARE

DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO OUR SCHOOL IN YOUR CHILD’S NAME FOR SWIFT DELIVERY HOME

BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS. ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE SPIRIT WEAR WILL BE

PROVIDED LATER IN THE YEAR

CHECK OUT THE REVAMPED FLYER WITH HYERLINK THAT WAS SENT HOME

BY NEWSWIRE.

NEWS FROM OUR “ECO TEAM”

Season’s greeting from the ECO Team! We are busy this month re-educating students on best recycling practices. It is very important that we eat all food in our containers and rinse these containers out before we place them in the blue bin. This ensures that these products will not end up in our landfill sites. The team will be going to each classroom to present this information on Friday December 1, 2017. It is important that students are also encouraged to continue

ST. ELIZABETH CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CHRISTMAS AND ADVENT PRESENTATION

“THE PRESENCE OF CHRISTMAS”

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2017

1:15 PM: GYMNASIUM

Dear Parents/Guardians:

On Thursday, December 22 at 1:15 pm, our JK-8 students will be celebrating the Christmas and Advent season with the presentation, “The Presence of Christmas”. Each classroom will be performing a dance, song or skit for our families and the entire school. All parents and visitors are invited to attend for the presentation at 1:15 pm. We will be having a dress rehearsal in the morning of December 21 for all our students only.

The presentation is about 90 minutes and we ask that you attend the full presentation. Our Primary, Junior and Intermediate students will perform to a variety of seasonal songs

We are respectfully requesting that you observe the following guidelines during these performances:

No food or drinks are allowed in the gymnasium during the performances.

Attend and stay for the whole performance as not to create unnecessary “traffic flow” in and out of the gymnasium during the performances.

Keep your children, who are attending with you, near with you at all times. All children are to be accompanied by adults.

We look forward to seeing you at our presentation on Thursday, December 21

@ 1:15 pm in our Gymnasium

Sincerely,

Mr. L. Pellizzari

D E C E M B E R N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 7 : I s s u e 4

Christmas Red Stocking Campaign of St. Mary of the Visitation Church: Message from

Father Freitas

In 2006 our parish community began to partner with Canadian Food for Children and the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Our goal in this partnership was to aid mission schools in Kenya,

Africa. After researching needs we created the Red Stocking Campaign; a unique appeal

which gives individuals the opportunity to fill a Christmas Red Stocking with school supplies.

Why school supplies you might ask? Many schools in Africa receive limited funding, and like

our own schools, any funding is put into classroom needs. But in Kenya, Africa, school supplies

are not the greatest need. The greatest need is a meal. The majority of children arrive at school

without any meal, and some come to school hoping to be fed for that day. By collecting school

supplies in a single red stocking we are able to ensure that each child receives the supplies they

need for the entire year, but then, here is the bonus. Since the school supplies are provided by

you, the school in Africa can take the funds they would have put toward supplies and provide a

daily hot meal for students. The Red Stocking gives twice - in fact - it gives three times! First,

by providing the school supplies, second by offering the freed up financial resources to give a

lunch program, third by putting a smile on the face of a child who will receive this Red

Stocking!

During the weeks of December 3-11, 2017, our parish schools of Our Lady of Fatima. St

Elizabeth, St Gabriel and St Benedict will be collecting school supplies. Thank you for

permitting your child to be a part of this. If you have any further questions about this appeal

please contact the parish office and we can give you details. Our hope is to ship out

all that is collected shortly after December 11th so that it may arrive in time for

Christmas. Types of supplies needed: pencils, crayons, book marks, candy,

Winter Weather Update When we experience cold weather throughout the year families often have many questions. In light of

this we are informing the community of the policy that is followed when deciding to keep students

indoors for winter. Students will remain inside when temperatures, including wind chill, are at or below

–20°C. If the temperature, with wind chill, is between –16 to –19 °C, Students will have a shortened

lunch break. Otherwise all students will go outside for recesses and lunches. Students must dress for the

weather and be prepared to be outside before school, during the two 15 minute recess and the 40 minute

lunch break. Please check the weather each day before students are sent to school and ensure that they

are coming to school dressed to go outside every day.

In the event of severe weather, please listen to the local radio stations for school closure or bus

cancellation information beginning at 6:45 a.m. Announcements are made approximately every

quarter hour.

CHYM FM (FM 96.7) KOOL FM (FM 105.3) 570 News (AM 570) KIX (FM 106.7)

C JOY (AM 1460) DAVE FM (FM 107.5) MAGIC FM (FM 106.1)

D E C E M B E R N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 7 : I s s u e 4

St. Elizabeth School Council Minutes:

from Monday, November 13th, 2017 @ 6:30pm

In Attendance

W e l c o m e a n d P r a y e r

Meeting was called to order at 6:30pm.

Leo led us in prayer to open the meeting.

General Updates T r e a s u r e r – M i c h e l l e

C u r r e n t b a l a n c e = $ 4 2 0 0 . 6 7

N u t r i t i o n f o r L e a r n i n g – D e n i s e

Toonie sale $279.00

Sheri volunteered to do dairy on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons until birth of baby. Help will be required for this task after baby is born for a month or two.

6 bags of popcorn and 16 ring pops left after dance.

2 pizza days designated for N4L

L e o t o s u b m i t f o r m a l r e q u e s t t o L i s a t o h a v e S c h o o l C a s h O n l i n e u p d a t e d t o i n c l u d e p e r m a n e n t

p l a c e m e n t o f d o n a t i o n a v a i l a b i l i t y t o N 4 L .

F u n d r a i s i n g – T i n a

214 Treasure Cards sold

Put on School Cash Online. Countdown as purchased until sold out.

Lisa will print a weekly report

Friday mornings check for orders

Email blast to be sent out to include testimonials.

V a l e n t i n e ’ s D a n c e & S i l e n t A u c t i o n – A l i s o n

$1412 worth of silent auction items received to date. More items are required.

Mark offered 3 stuffed ride on animals to use

Photo booth will be back

Pizza again as it’s the easiest to manage

Pace painting/nail polishIdeas for next year? Willing to give up silent auction if viable ideas could replace it. Perhaps Movie night? Gym after school, PJ’s and blanket, well supervised. Pay copyright

fee.

P r i n c i p a l R e p o r t – L e o

-Annual Report 2016-17: Inclusion in December Newsletter: Leo and Michelle to finalize

-School Improvement Plan.

Math is the focus. Divisions working on Math during P/A Days

Spatial reasoning and numeracy. Exposed to activities to build special reasoning.

Numeracy 90-85% grade 3. Projections 76% in grade 6

School culture & caring

Student wellness and mental wellbeing

School is the healthiest school in the board

Strategies for building capacity and collaboration

Live document

-Kids targeted for improvements

What’s Happening during the Advent Season included in the December newsletter

-PRO Grant: Kate Jones and Associates Parenting Series: “GPS: Navigating Your Child’s Personality” 6:00pm-7:30pm November 22nd. Refreshments to be provided.

-Character Education and Bully Awareness Week: 10 expectations infused into the curriculum.

-Presentations throughout the school year

-2 junior presentations gr 5 & 6 Wellness & Resiliency

-Author later in January re: children’s resiliency

-Foundations for a Healthy School Updates – deferred to next meeting

-Action Plan for next year

Comprehensive list of all things happening in our school

Asked by public health to be a mentor school

Concentration on school wellness and mental wellbeing

Analysis at the end of the year to determine if we met objectives

-Swimming grant approved for grade 3’s (4 lessons + bussing)

-Learning Commons Furniture Upgrades

Transformation 3 year phase

We are year 5 major capital funding

Tackle furniture year 1 - $8000 budget

Balance reading with technology

-Grade 8 grad earmark $250.00. Michelle motioned, Denise seconded

-Leo to contact Lifetouch to get cost of composite plus folder together

Alison Wills (Chair) Colleen MacDonald (Secretary) Tina Cassidy (Spirit & Fundraising) Taryn Marchant (Teacher Rep) Leo Pellizzari (Principal) Denise Tordoroff (N4L)

Lindsay Reis Lori Humphrey Jennifer Newton Katrina Arevalo Anita Healy Michelle Bowman (Treasurer)

Kim Zilinski Leigh Anne Simpson Sheri Urquhart Sigrid Collas

The Blessings of Advent

It is Christmas, every time you let God Love others through you.

Yes, it is Christmas, every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand."

-St. Teresa of Calcutta

D E C E M B E R N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 7 I S S U E 4

ST. ELIZABETH CATHOLIC SCHOOL

SCHOOL

DECEMBER 2017 NEWSLETTER: ISSUE 4

D E C E M B E R N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 7 : I s s u e 4

Make Healthy Eating a Priority in your Home!

Take time to make a weekly meal plan

Making a weekly meal and snack plan is an important first step for healthy eating. Having a plan can prevent extra trips to the store and can reduce the amount of food you eat from restaurants. Involve the whole family in planning meals and snacks. For helpful information on meal planning, visit My Meal Planner at: www.eatrightontario.ca

Healthy eating starts with what you put into your cart

Plan meals and snacks and make a list of the food you need to buy before you go shopping. For ideas on healthy meals and snacks, visit Eat Right Ontario at www.eatrightontario.ca

Make time to eat together

Have regular meal times together as often as possible. At each meal serve a food choice from each of the four food groups from Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide.

Remember, it’s your role to provide the food to eat and to decide when and where to eat it. It’s your child’s role to decide if they are going to eat, and how much.

Offer healthy snacks

Eating small amounts of healthy food between meals helps keep your child energized throughout the day.

Did you know that children who eat supper with their families three or more times per week have eating habits that support good health?