NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Principal: Alex Van Wieringen

Secretary: Irene Devlin and Leianne West

Trustee: Norm Bethune

Superintendent of Education: Francine Pilon

Director of Education: Jamie McKinnon

Parish Priest: Father Rafel Tomon

885 25th Street East

Owen Sound, Ontario N4K6X6

Phone (519) 371-0161 or (519) 371-5703

Fax: (519) 371-6637

website: http://ndm.bgcdsb.org

FEBRUARY 2016

A Prayer For God's Inspiration

Father,

May everything we do

begin with your inspiration

and continue with your saving help.

Let our work always find its origin in

you and through you reach

completion.

We ask this through our

Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the

Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen

FEBRUARY VIRTUE OF DEEP CARING

‘EMPATHY’

Empathy is being able to identify with, and feel

the concerns, feelings and needs of another person.

A person of empathy is able to listen sensitively,

understand and lovingly ‘be with’ another person.

Empathy is at the heart of the ministry of Jesus

who first sought to love and understand the people

he later healed, and empathy is also at the heart of

discipleship.

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit,

sympathy, love for one another,

a tender heart and a humble mind. 1 Hebrews 3.8 Dear God,

I believe that You always listen to me lovingly,

And for this I praise You.

Teach me to be like You

And listen with my ears and my heart to

understand others.

Guide me to commit myself to resolve the

suffering of others.

Help me to walk in the Spirit of Jesus,

As I learn about,

And respond to the many needs of our world.

Amen.

BUS CANCELLATIONS SNOW DAYS

On inclement weather days, our school will remain open when buses are canceled unless a school closure is announced. Parents should continue to listen to local radio stations (CFOS 560 AM, MIX 106.5 FM and Country 93 FM) for bus cancellations or access this information at http://stscgb.wordpress.com Links to the Bus Cancellations website are also posted on each school website. Notre Dame Catholic School is in Zone 11. Subscribe to receive an email notification or Tweet when buses are canceled. You can subscribe to receive alerts from the Bus Cancellations and School Notifications website via email or Twitter. Go to http:stscgb.workpress.com, select your ‘Zone’, click on ‘follow’ and enter your email address.

BUSSING DESIGNATIONS

Please note that the following buses are

designated In Town Buses for

the purposes of bus cancellations.

#823 #871 #875 #876 #878 #881 #899

All other buses are considered

Rural Buses

When only In-Town buses are running, only the above noted routes will pick up students. Parents of students on rural buses deciding to bring their children to school will be responsible to pick those children up at the end of the day. When in-town buses are running and your child will be absent from school or if your child nor-

mally walks to school and will be absent a phone call from a parent is expected in

accordance with our Safe Arrival procedure. Many hours are spent on phone calls to parents/guardians during these days.

Each phone call received saves the office having to call you.

519-371-0161

It Matters: Discipline Talk with Your Child About The Importance of Respect

To be successful in school, your child must learn to respect himself and others, including teachers, school staff and classmates, Still, many students aren’t quite sure what respect really is. Talk with your child about the importance of respect and the role it plays in: Behaviour. Your child should always think

before acting. He should ask himself, “Would I like to be treated this way?” “Will this action give me a positive result?” If he can answer yes, he will probably act respectfully.

Disagreements. Your child can disagree with someone and still be respectful. Respect uses words, the gentler the better, to disagree. Using curse words or being violent is the ultimate form of disrespect.

Property. Your child should take care of his textbooks and return items he borrows on time. He should be sure to leave things in the same or better condition than he found them.

Friends. Your child should surround himself with peers who treat him and others with

respect. Remind your child that people will judge him in part by who his friends are. That may be all it takes to convince him to choose his friends carefully.

Reprinted with permission from Parents still make the Difference!

Rainbows Program

With the support of Mrs. Exel, Mlle. Pike and Mrs. Kenny, Notre Dame Catholic School is pleased to offer the Rainbows Program in our school this year. This program is a support group designed specifi-cally for students who are identified as needing guidance to work through grief after having suffered a recent loss, death, family illness or a significant change in family structure (ie. divorce, separation, new family member). The Rainbows Program focuses on verbalizing feelings, acceptance, and self-esteem building. It is delivered in a small-group setting and confidentiality is important to all members. If you feel your child would benefit from the Rainbows Program, please call the Resource Department at 519.371.0161 and we will send a registration letter home. This Program is scheduled to begin February 1st.

Reminder to Gr. 8 Students ST MARY’S HIGH SCHOOL

COURSE SELECTIONS FOR 2016-2017

Please make sure to return your course selection sheets

no later than Friday, February 12th.

Students are encouraged to meet this deadline so that

SMHS can begin planning timetables for the fall.

Please contact St. Mary’s High School guidance

department at 376-4278 ext. 3002 or ext. 3011

or email karen_majury@bgcdsb.org

if you have any questions.

REMINDER

February 4th - PD DAY February 15th - Family Day

NO SCHOOL

An extra PD Day has been added to our school year. Please mark your calendar for Friday, April 22nd as a PD Day. There will be no school for students that day.

FIRST TERM REPORT CARDS The first report card for the 2015/2016 school year will be sent home on Friday, February 19th.

Parent/Teacher Interviews for students will be held on Wednesday, February 24th from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Unless requested by Teacher, there will not be a scheduled interview. If you would like to request an interview time to

meet with your child’s teacher please complete the form below and return to school by February 9th.

Priority will be given to Teacher requested interviews and then to parent requested interviews.

**********************************************************************************************

To coordinate interviews for families with two or more, please indicate below the child(ren) and the teachers with whom you wish an appointment. Only one form is required per family.

Please select a preferred time and indicate first, second and third choices

4:00 _____ 4:15 _____ 4:30 _____ 4:45 _____ 5:00 _____ 5:15 _____ 5:30 _____ 5:45 _____ 6:00 _____ 6:15 _____ 6:30 _____ 6:45 _____

Student Name Teacher’s Name

Bruce-Grey Catholic Strat Chat

Strategic Plan for 2016 - 2020

Our Strat Chat is gaining momentum, but time is getting short. The goal is to hear from as many community

members as possible, staff, parents, students, and community. Renewing strategic plans is only great work if

it represents the hopes, dreams, and commitment of the organizations greatest resource - its people.

That's you!

We know that quality education in mind, body, and soul is our mission, and we do it well, but the world is

changing. How do we become the best for the world?

Strat Chat and online collaboration is new for everyone, but it is consistent with our strategic commitment to

leverage technology and foster collaboration.

Join in http://brucegreycatholic.mindmixer.com

Please join us for our next Notre Dame Catholic School Council meeting

on Monday, February 22nd

7:00 p.m. in the Library

BGCDSB VOLLEYBALL NEWS

JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL SKILLS DAY On January 28th, 12 junior students from Notre Dame Catholic School traveled to Sacred Heart High School in Walkerton to participate in a volleyball skills development day. Students improved their skills in four different areas, volleying, bumping, serving, and the importance of teamwork. There was a mini-tournament in the afternoon where students came up against four different schools. The team worked well together and were very encouraging of each other. It was a great day! Ms O’Hagan would like to thank all students who participated and for being wonderful representatives of Notre Dame. The following students represented

Notre Dame Catholic School: Alex Adair, Jasmine Adams, Paige Buckton, Kylie Coish, Jacob Duncan, Aubrey Heard, Darren Hodgkinson, Bradley McConkey, Matthew Molinski, Ashley Strathy, Brett Warrilow, and Sebastien Van Wieringen. INTERMEDIATE GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT Intermediate Girls’ Volleyball Tournament was held at SHHS on Friday, January 29th with the following students representing Notre Dame Catholic School: Grace Alderman, Isabel Andonian, Megan Arnold, Emily Clements, Larissa-Mae Davis, Jessica Greavette, Mia Labus, Mecayllah Patos, Kirsten Roy, Caitlyn Schmitke, Bonnie Slocombe and Rose Wright. INTERMEDIATE BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT Intermediate Boys’ Volleyball Tournament was held at SHHS on Monday, February 1st with the following students representing Notre Dame Catholic School: Cody Danyluk, Caelan Fernando, Kyle Filipe, Kaleb Fischer, Mitchell Kaufman, Will Kazarian-Hodder, Jack Prentice, Tyler Rudolph, Alex Simonato, Cameron Swailes, Garret Watson and Carson Yost. All students showed true Notre Dame spirit and were great representatives for our school. Thank you to Ms. O’Hagan, Mme. Ogilvie and Mr. Pritchard for your coaching skills and dedication to our students.

GO DRAGONS!

Autism Ontario Grey Bruce Chapter - www.autismontario.com/greybruce Autism Ontario Presents

Family Day Bowling - February 15, 2016 at The Bowling Alley Owen Sound Free for families with children with ASD Registration Is Required – http:/familydaybowlingowensound.eventbrite.ca Family Sleigh Ride - March 20th, 2016 at Glendale Farms, RR2, Gordon Sutherland Pkwy, Owen Sound Free for families with children with ASD Registration Is Required—http://2016familysleighrideowensound.eventbrite.ca

Knights of Columbus Free Throw

Congratulations to the following students who competed in the Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition and placed in their age category: Mila Jiron, Madisen Mallais, Noelle Cook, Emily Carruthers-Genoe, Olivia Hiehn, Matthew Austin, Will Kazarian-Hodder, Bradley McConkey, Cody Rudolph and Dominic Morassutti. These students will now go on to the next level of competition.

FIRE SAFETY WINNERS Students in grades 4, 5 & 6 were encouraged to complete a fire safety questionnaire. Those who returned the questionnaire were entered into a draw to win Cineplex movie passes. Congratulations to the following students: Brenna Kirby, Ryan Cooke, Nathan Honorkiewicz, Jacob DiTursi, Keagan Nopper, Emerson Brown, Carter Moran, Daniel Johnston and Ashley Strathy who each received a movie pass from Cineplex. Mme. Dumais’ class was treated to a pizza lunch from Boston Pizza for having the highest percent of stu-dents returning their forms. Thank you to Georgian Bay Fire & Safety Ltd., Boston Pizza, Owen Sound Fire & Emergency Services and Mr. Matthiew Bonnin, Fire Prevention Inspector, Owen Sound Fire & Emergency Services for their continued support in this worthwhile event.

CHESS NEWS Chess playoffs have begun at Notre Dame Catholic School

in preparation for the upcoming BGCDSB Chess Tournament scheduled for Thursday, February 18th.

Permission forms and details will be coming home with students in the near future.

Use Report-Card Time to Set Goals and Celebrate Academic Success

Your child just brought home a report card. You can use this as a learning opportunity if you: Talk about it. Are there any surprises - good or bad? Discuss them. If you’re upset about a particular grade, though, don’t start yelling. Not only will it shut down communication with your child, it’s also pointless. So stay calm. “I’m disappointed about that C in language arts. We need to talk about it some more.” Set goals. Use your child’s report card to chart a course for the rest of the year. If they

did well, talk about how they can keep up the good work. If they struggled, brainstorm ways to improve things going forward. “You did a great job of turning in your science homework, but you stumbled on tests. What if I start quizzing you each night the week leading up to a test?”

Celebrate. Straight A’s are always a reason to celebrate, but if your child worked hard to bring a C up to a B, they deserve a pat on the back - or a surprise treat.

“What you get by achieving your goals is not

as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

- Henry David Thoreau

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

BGCDSB

BOYS’

VOLLEYBALL

@ SHHS

2 3

GR 8

ORIENTATION

@ SMHS

PIZZA DAY

4

P D DAY

NO SCHOOL

FOR

STUDENTS

5 RECOGNITION

ASSEMBLY

9:OO AM

WINTER

CARNIVAL

EVENTS

1:00 PM

6

7 8

PUBLIC

HEALTH

HEAD

CHECKS

9 10

ASH

WEDNESDAY

SERVICE IN

GYM

PIZZA DAY

11

12

GR 8

COURSE

OPTIONS

FORMS DUE

13

14 15

FAMILY DAY

NO SCHOOL

16

17

PIZZA DAY

18

BGCDSB

CHESS

TOURNAMENT

@ MOTHER

THERESA

Reconciliation

19

CHESS RAIN

DATE

REPORT

CARDS GO

HOME WITH

STUDENTS

20

21 22

PARENT

COUNCIL MTG

7PM LIBRARY

23

24 PARENT

TEACHER

INTERVIEWS

4 - 7 PM

PIZZA DAY

25

SCHOOL

SCIENCE

FAIR

26

SCHOOL

MASS

27

28 29

March 2,3,4 - Gr. 7 & 8 Muskoka Woods trip March 7th - BGCDSB Girls Basketball @ SHHS March 8th - BGCDSB Boys Basketball @ SHHS March 14th - 18th March Break March 25th - Good Friday (no school) March 27th - Easter March 28th - Easter Monday (no school)

FEBRUARY 2016