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December 2016

Principal: S. Wilson

Vice Principal: M. Vitale

Head Secretary: S. DiBello

Assist. Secretary: M. Gallant

Trustee: Darryl D’Souza

Superintendent:

L. Storey

(905) 890-0708

Parish: Guardian Angels

(905) 970-9175 www.guardianangelsparish.com

Pastor: Fr. Jan Gogolewski

guardianangels@bell.net

School Hours:

8:15 Supervision in Yard

8:30 Entry Bell

10:36 Morning Recess

11:31 Lunch

11:51 Lunch Recess

12:31 Afternoon Bell

1:54 Afternoon Recess

3:00 Dismissal

Heavenly Father, your son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us, a

great sign of your love. Guide us as we strive to walk in that

love together as a family this Advent. As we prepare our

hearts for Christmas, bring us closer to each other and to your

son. Give us the grace and strength we need every day. Help

us to always trust in you. Come, Lord Jesus, lead all people

closer to you. Come and dispel the darkness of our world with

the light of your love.

Amen.

MERICI

MESSAGES December 2016

Dufferin-Peel

CDSB

Our Virtue for December is…. Hope

A hopeful person is…

inspired and inspires others

optimistic

one who seeks good things from life

one who sees the good in the world

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

As we enter the month of December we are quickly reminded

that Christmas is fast approaching. As Catholics this marks

the time in our liturgical calendar whereby the beginning of a

new liturgical year begins with the start of Advent. Advent is

a time of quiet, joyful preparation for the celebration of Jesus’

birth and also a time to remember that we wait for Christ to

come again at the end of time. It is also a time when we

prepare ourselves spiritually awaiting for Christ’s arrival.

At this time, we would like to thank our students, staff, and

parents for the blessings that our school community of St.

Angela Merici has come to represent. From the generous

donations that both staff and students have contributed to our

school, to the various athletic events, clubs, and retreats that

our staff dedicate their countless hours to, a big thank you is

extended.

St. Angela Merici School will be a busy place during the week

of December 5th. On Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6th

and 7th our primary students will be performing in a Christmas

concert, while our grades 4 to 8 students will be participating

in a Jingle Ball dance with their families. Celebrating the

Christmas season with our school community is always an

exciting time. As always, our school will be collecting new

unwrapped toys at these events. In addition, throughout the

month of December a mitten and hat drive will also be

occurring. Students are invited to add new mittens and hats to

our Christmas tree. These items will be donated to needy

families in our community. Thank you for your support.

On behalf of the staff of St. Angela Merici, Merry Christmas

to you and your family. May the peace of the Advent season,

the joy of Christmas and the excitement of a new year be a

part of your celebrations. Wishing you and your families a

blessed Christmas and a safe and joyful New Year.

S. Wilson M. Vitale

Principal Vice Principal

Message from Trustee D’Souza

Thank you for Choosing a Dufferin-Peel Catholic

Education

Dear Parents and Guardians:

During this Advent Season, as we prepare our hearts for

the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, I would like

to take this opportunity to thank parents and guardians

for choosing a Catholic education for your children.

As we approach Christmas, it’s a good time to

reflect on the very busy, but very successful start

to the school year. Our schools enjoy strong

relationships with our families, local parishes and the

community at large, and continue to be safe, caring,

healthy and inclusive places to learn and to work. We

continue to see strong performances by our students

across the board in terms of EQAO scores and

graduation rates, which are among the highest in the

province. But we’re not resting on our laurels by any

means, and we continue to work hard to make sure

that each student has every opportunity to achieve

success.

As we celebrate this sacred season, I thank you for

supporting Catholic education, and wish you all a

Blessed Christmas and a happy and prosperous New

Year.

Darryl D’Souza

Trustee, Brampton Wards 2, 5 and 6

PARISH NEWS

GUARDIAN ANGEL PARISH HALL

Masses are celebrated at:

10630 Creditview Road, Brampton Our Pastor is Father Jan Gogolewski

Phone: (905)-970-9175

Fax: (905)-970-1054

guardianangels@bell.net

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FROM THE LIBRARY

On Friday, December 2nd Merici’s Competition Choir

Cats will perform at the Cassie Campbell Winter Lights

Festival between 5:20 and 5:40 p.m. We will be

singing some classic Christmas Carols, and will even

invite the audience to sing along to some of our

favourites. Cassie Campbell Recreation Centre will be

hosting fun events for the whole family. Come on out

and cheer us on. Hope to see you there!

St. Angela Merici School will be

starting a Tree of Hope this Monday,

December 5th, 2016. We are collecting

new mittens, gloves, scarves, and hats

to be given to children in need. In the

spirit of the upcoming Christmas and winter season, please

help us ensure children needing a little extra warmth are cared

for. The tree will be set up at the school entrance. We

encourage students to bring in mittens, gloves, scarves, and

hats to hang on the tree. All donations will be accepted up

until December 23rd. Thanks in advance for your support –

St. Angela Merici’s Youth Faith Leaders.

SPIRIT WEEK

On the last week before our Christmas break, our school

community will be celebrating SPIRIT WEEK !! We have

decided to make each day of the week a festive one !! You

will find the themes for the day in the list below :

Monday ~ Christmas Colours – wear red or green

Tuesday ~ ELF Day – dress like an elf!

Wednesday ~ UGLY Christmas Sweater Day

Thursday ~ Christmas Hat or Christmas Themed

Crazy Hair Day Friday ~ Pajama Day

A donation of a loonie or toonie will be accepted for

ShareLife and Free the Children on each spirit day. Feel free

to contribute one lump sum.

Lunch Lady is a hot meal option available to our

school community on Friday’s. This is an optional

service provided to families: there is no obligation to

participate. If you are interested in ordering for your

child(ren), The Lunch Lady is now accepting orders at

www.thelunchlady.ca or over the phone at 905-495-

8100. Thank you for your continued support of the

Lunch Lady program.

St. Angela Merici Catholic School Council

ST. ANGELA MERICI CATHOLIC

SCHOOLCOUNCIL

Next Meeting:

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

@ 6:30 pm in the Library

and January 18, 2017

All meetings are open to community members.

Please join us if you can.

Thank you to the students, teachers,

parents and all the members of the

St. Angela Merici community for

another successful Book Fair. As well, a very special

thank you to our Volunteers: Mrs. Dal Dosso, Mrs.

Baltazar, Mrs. Milando, and Mrs. Birnie for their time

and hard work. Your support is essential in helping

us obtain new books and resources for our library and

classrooms. Total Sales were over $6,000! Thanks

again Wildcats and Merry Christmas! - Mr. Di

Giovanni

ST. ANGELA MERICI CATHOLIC

SCHOOL COUNCIL

COMPETITIVE CHOIR AT

WINTERLIGHT FESTIVAL

TREE OF HOPE

LUNCH LADY

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St. Angela Merici’s Eco School Team is up and running.

We will continue to have waste-less lunch Wednesdays and

LOL Wednesdays (Lights Out Lunch). We will be starting

our Crayola Cycle. It is a program where we will be

accepting and collecting any time of markers or dry erase

markers that no longer work. Thank you for your continued

support.

A reminder to both parents and

students that yard supervision does

not begin until 8:15 a.m.

School begins promptly at 8:30 A.M. Students and parents

are reminded that each student has the responsibility to be on

time. Arriving late disturbs the students in the class,

interferes with the program of instruction, and centers

attention on the latecomer. Please help us teach the value of

being on time, as the number of late students continue to be a

concern.

During the winter months,

inclement weather may cause

disruption of regular school

operations. A decision to close

schools or cancel busses is usually made by 6:00 a.m.

You can obtain information by listening to the

following radio stations:

CKFM 99.9 CFTR 680 CFTO

CJCL 590 CHFI 98.1 FM CBC

CFNY 102.1 CHIN 100.7 EZ Rock

CFRB 1010 CJMR/CHWO 1250

CKFM 99.9 CITYPULSE

CHUM 104.5 FM CHUM 1050

FOXY 88.5 FM CJBC (Fr.) 860

WEATHER NETWORK

Please ensure the announcement is for the Dufferin-

Peel Catholic District School Board. If

transportation is cancelled, the schools will remain

open. If buses are cancelled and parents or guardians

choose to bring their child to school, it is also their

responsibility to pick them up at the end of the day.

Under extraordinary circumstances an announcement

may be made which indicates that all Dufferin-Peel

schools are closed.

The STOPR website address is www.stopr.ca. This

website provides access to up-to-date information

regarding delayed buses and bus cancellations. Parents

must have their child’s OEN in order to obtain

transportation information.

https://businfo.stopr.ca

SCHOOL YARD SUPERVISION

STUDENT ARRIVAL AND

PUNCTUALITY

WEB ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION

INFORMATION

INCLEMENT WEATHER AND

TRANSPORTATION

ECO SCHOOL

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As the weather turns colder parents are

reminded that children need to dress

appropriately. We recognize that

temperatures can change throughout the

day and suggest that children come

dressed in layers.

During the winter season, many parents are concerned about

school policy on outdoor recess. It is generally accepted that

when the wind chill factor drops below –25◦C, students

should not go outside for recess. Dufferin-Peel C.D.S.B.

policy uses a wind chill of –20◦C as the determining

temperature for modified recesses. At St.Angela Merici

School, students will remain inside when the wind chill is

reported at –25◦C or lower and we will modify the duration

of lunch recess when the temperature reaches –20◦C. As

always, ensure your child is prepared for the extremes of

Canadian weather.

Studies indicate that well-nourished children feel better,

behave better and are more attentive and ready to learn.

Some possible Healthy Snack choices:

Veggies and dip

Fruit & dried fruit snacks

Cheese and crackers

Popcorn (without salt & butter)

For more healthy eating information visit: Ontario.ca/eatright

We encourage all students to

experience their outdoor recess breaks

in an enjoyable and safe manner. To

ensure that students play safely and

never endanger the safety of other children during

recess times, we remind students to avoid all rough

play. We consistently remind our students that they

should keep their hands and feet to themselves.

As mentioned in our newsletters, our attendance line

is our connection with the safe arrival of your child.

Please continue to call in your child’s absence. All

children that have not been reported as absent are

confirmed absent by our safe entry protocol.

VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL

All visitors, including parents, must check in at the

main office rather than proceeding through the school

for any purpose. If you are signing in as a volunteer or

visitor you will receive a Visitor Sticker or tag.

If you are picking up your child during regular school

hours, we ask that you report to the office and we will

arrange for your child to meet you there. This

procedure will reduce interruptions to classroom

instruction and also helps us to maintain a safe

environment for the children.

We thank you for your co-operation in supporting

a safe environment at St. Angela Merici School.

CRIMINAL REFERENCE CHECKS

Anyone working with children as an employee or as a

volunteer must have a Criminal Reference Check. If

you would like to volunteer at St. Angela Merici

School or participate as a supervisor on one of our field

NUTRITION CORNER

CHANGE IN WEATHER

RULES FOR RECESS PLAY

ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION PROGRAM

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trips we require that you have an updated Criminal Reference

Check. CRCs are free of charge for volunteers. Forms may

be picked up from the school office.

Registration for Full Day Kindergarten for the 2017-2018

school year, will take place at St. Angela Merici School on

the following days:

January 24th, 2017* from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

and

January 24, 25, 26, 27 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

*A snow date has been designated on January 25th from

7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Information Session to Support the Transition of

Children with Differing Abilities into

Kindergarten 2017

There will be an information and entry planning session

for families of children with differing abilities including

vision, hearing, autism, physical/medical and/or

developmental delays who are transitioning to

Kindergarten in September 2017.

The information session will be held at the Dufferin-Peel

Catholic District School Board -- Catholic Education

Centre, Room 301 on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 from

7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Snow date, Monday, January 16, 2017, from 7:00 p.m.

to 8:30 p.m.

Families are also reminded to register their child at their

local school. Official registration dates are stated above.

In addition to the above-noted dates, Kindergarten

Registration occurs continuously throughout the remainder

of the school year.

FIRE ROUTES & BUS ZONES-

NO PARKING ROUTES

As you may have noticed orange pylons have been

placed in areas designated as No Parking Zones.

Please continue to refrain from parking in areas that

are designated as no parking zones and/or school bus

zones. Student safety continues to be our first

priority.

Please remember that what we model is what we

teach our children.

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 6 and 7th, Primary Concert –

Grades FDK to Grade 3

December 8th, Jingle Ball Dance –

Grades 4-8

December 23rd, 2016 – Last day for

students before the Christmas Break

January 9th, 2017 – Classes resume –

Welcome back to a New Year in 2017

Full Day Kindergarten Registration

for 2017- 2018