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St. Matthias Catholic School

101 Van Horne Ave, Toronto, ON M2J 2S8

https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stMatthias/

OCTOBER 2 0 1 8 V I RTUE OF GRAT ITUDE

St. Timothy’s Parish Father Roger and

Father Daren 416-494-6526

Superintendent Mr. Peter Aguiar

416-222-8282 Ext. 2267

Trustee Ms. Angela Kennedy

Angela.Kennedy@tcdsb.org

CSAC Chair Ms. L. Pergola

Principal Ms. L. Graham 416-393-5357

Secretary Ms. Marjorie Chua

School Hours 8:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.

Lunch Hour 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Telephone: 416-393-5357

Fax: 416-393-5168 Twitter: @StMatthiasCES

https://twitter.com/

StMatthiasCES

Portal: https://

www.tcdsb.org/schools/

stMatthias/

ST. MATTHIAS WE SCARE HUNGER FOOD DRIVE In October, the WE team will spearhead a canned and/or dried food for our food drive. Please stay tuned for the date(s). This is one way that our students can serve the community and remain faithful to our Catholic values.

WORLD TEACHER DAY Friday, October 5th is World Teacher Day; as that is a P.A. Day, we will cele-brate on October 4th. Teachers make a great contribution to society by culti-vating the minds of our young. All of us can name teachers who made a differ-ence in our lives. There are few professions that have such a profound effect on young people. That is why we celebrate World Teacher Day.

PARENT COUNCIL CHOCOLATE FUNDRAISER Our CSPC has sent out a notification about our fundraiser that will run from October 4th to October 25th. Monies raised will go to supporting the stu-dents. Please take the time to read the information, the entire school profits from this initiative.

SCHOOL CASH ONLINE If there is an activity that we can accommodate cash online transactions, we will indicate that in our correspondence. For instance, you can pay for the choc-olates online, and many of our field trips can be paid for online. This provides peace of mind as you do not have to send large quantities of cash to school with your child(ren).

NEWSLETTER ALERT!!! In keeping with the vast majority of schools’ eco-certification, St. Matthias is hoping to become formally certified this year. To this end, there will be a number of student led initiatives. In support of this, I will make the newsletter available on our portal https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stMatthias/ under News and under School Calendar. Please look for the newsletter and calendar around the first Monday of each month.

DATES TO REMEMBER

October is Autism Awareness Month October 2nd—We appreciate our Custodian Day October 3rd—Orange Shirt Day October 4th—We celebrate our teachers for World Teacher Day October 4th—First pizza Thursday (continues until December 6) October 4th—Curriculum night at 6:30 p.m. in the gym October 5th—P. A. Day—no school October 8th—Thanksgiving Day—no school October 11th—Terry Fox Donations due back to school October 16th—We appreciate our ECEs October 17th—CSPC meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the staff room October 26th—Community BBQ from 6:00—9:00 p.m.

NEVER MISS OUT ON THE LATEST NEWS! Follow @TCDSB on Twitter, or subscribe to ENews, to receive a

weekly update via email: https://web1.tcdsb.org/ InterestSubscription/subscription.aspx

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OUR PARISH We had our first school mass at St. Timothy’s and look forward to a mass there on All Saints Day, No-vember 1st in the a.m. Many thanks to Father Roger and Chris Elliott for supporting us. CSPC ELECTIONS Our CSPC elections were held on Wednesday, September 26th at 7:00 p.m. Our Catholic School Parent Council at St. Matthias is com-prised of: Lori Pergola – Chair Yvonne Fiamengo – Secretary Julia Baccinello – Treasurer

Henry Agu – voting member Nour Beidas – voting member Michelle Borges-Brady – voting member Marcia Bumbury – voting member Kenny Fernandes - voting member Meriel Lumbao – voting member Paul Mann – voting member CURRICULUM NIGHT Curriculum Night will be held on Thursday, October 4th at 6:30 p.m. in the gym. Families of grade 8 students will gather in Ms. Weiss’ portable at 6:15 p.m. to enable them to attend the St. Joseph/Brebeuf Open Houses. Also, Ms. Dias’ parents will attend her class at 6:15 p.m. We will all gather in the gym at 6:30 p.m. TERRY FOX WEEK Our Terry Fox Week was an enormous success. Students learned the story of a remarkable Ca-nadian who continues to teach us many lessons about resiliency and hope. We are hoping to reach our goal of $1000.00 to donate to the Terry Fox foundation which is key in fighting cancer. EPI-PEN DROP OFF If your child has an Epi-pen, please ensure it is sent back to the office. Students with epi-pens are required to keep one on them at all times, and the school is to have one in the office. PIZZA DATES We will be implementing an organized monthly Pizza Day on Thursdays. The session will run from October 4th—December 6th. Pizza has been pre-ordered so no late orders were allowed. There will be a new session in December. All money raised will go to buying technology in support of our students’ learning. SUPERVISION Most buses arrive at 8:15 a.m., and there is no supervision in the school or yard before that time. Supervision in the yard is only available from 8:15 a.m. onward. Please do not drop students off before this time as it is unsafe for them to be unsupervised. STUDENT PICK UP If you normally pick up your child up at the end of the day, please wait at the back of the school for the 3:00 p.m. bell. Children will exit by the back doors under adult supervision. It is very unsafe for there to be multiple entry and exit points in the school, as we are not able to monitor our stu-dents’ safety. If you need to pick up your child early for an appointment, please notify the teacher via the agenda and let the office know. We will call your child to the office. This may seem like an extra effort, but you are notifying the teacher, so that s/he can keep your child up to date with homework; and you are notifying the school so we can take them off bus lists and/or keep them safe for pick up.

VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL In the interest of safety for all of our students, please abide by the following during school hours. Visitors must enter the build-ing through the front doors located by the office and report directly to the office. Only staff may move beyond office area; all other adults must be accompanied by a staff member. Student safety is our main concern. EXCURSION PERMISSION FORMS From time to time your child will be attending excursions and sporting events that are valuable components of their school life. Teachers will send home permission forms that must be signed by the parent or legal guardian. NO VERBAL PERMISSIONS WILL BE ALLOWED. These forms must be returned to the teacher, with your signature, by the deadline indicated. If there is no signed form, your child cannot phone home and request permis-sion—this is a legal issue. Also, let us remember that we are help-ing students to develop positive character traits when we model these habits of organization and responsibility. PARKING AT SCHOOL When dropping off or picking up your child/ren at school please DO NOT PARK IN THE SCHOOL BUS LOADING ZONES OR IN THE STAFF PARKING LOT. We must keep the School Bus Loading zone free in order to ensure the safety of all students boarding the busses. The staff parking lot is very busy and we run the risk of a terrible accident if your child goes through the lot. You may park in the west end of the school in the tennis club parking lot. This is never busy, and right next to the gate to the yard. Your child will then be safe to enter the school yard. HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES Grade 8 students and their families are invited to learn more about their secondary school options at open houses this fall. For a complete schedule, see: https://www.tcdsb.org/school/OpenHouses/ CLASSROOM UPDATES We will include monthly updates from different classrooms. This month’s curriculum update is from the ELPs and Intermediates. ELP Our month of September has been focused on getting to know your Kindergarten child, establishing routines and developing their listening skills. The students have had the opportunity to explore our classroom centers through self-selected activity time as well as participating in several activities during circle time. Our focus this month has been on establishing student and teacher expectations within the centers and also with routines within the classroom. Themed topics focused on ‘Getting to Know You’, ‘All About Me’ and ‘Name Recognition and Name Writing’. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to establish our routines, form relationships and get to know your child. Our Kindergarten Team is looking forward to a great year! GRADE 7 The Grade 7s have done a lot in Mathematics this past Septem-ber. Whether it was a review or new learning, this subject has been educational – and fun – at the same time. Some of the topics we have done in Math so far include multiples, factors, divisibility rules, powers, exponents (and the rest of BEDMAS), square roots, and exploring, solving and communicating about ration, rate and percent problems. The most recent two chapters had “Do You Remember?” (to check if we remember what we accomplished last year), many different lessons to teach us new ideas about the section, and chapter reviews/tests at the end of the unit to see if we understood the work we were completing. All in all, Mathematics has been great this month. … Antonio G.

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CLASSROOM UPDATES Grade 7 cont’d This year, in Grade 7 Language, we are making inferences from real-world articles. So far, we have read about the tweet from Christina Freeland to Saudi Arabia and why that tweet basically severed ties with it. Another article we read was about our unnecessary usage of plastic and how its ruin-ing the gorgeous planet we live on. Finally, we looked at how global warming is causing horrific forest fires more and more often. For each of these articles we completed “on the line” questions, or questions directly from the text. Then we wrote what inferences we could make from what we just studied. Then we got into small groups to discuss our thoughts about the article. Lastly, we completed mini-projects. This week we had to write a factual story, based off a picture of fire-fighters hauling hoses to put out the blaring fires. Another thing we are doing we are doing in language is our daily journals. Some days we are given a quote or an opinion that we have to either agree or disagree with. Other times we are given a topic to write creatively about. We do this in the morning to ignite our creative fires! The questions make us think critically about life and current events. We are also focusing on paragraph writing. We are learning about the structure of a paragraph and all the components t a suc-cessful, exciting one. Our main theme in language is making inferences, real-world events, and critical thinking. ….. Mia C. The Grade 7 Leadership Team has come together and made a bright, cheerful, and colourful leadership board located across from the office. It gives you information about up-coming events, for example school dances and activities. It includes the “Leadership Toolbox” which includes different virtues and ways to be a good leader. The board even has a compliment box for students that are feeling down. The leadership team is responsible for the Terry Fox Walk Fundraiser, the Hallowe’en Dance, Orange Shirt Day (October 3, 2018). Stay tuned for more information! Youmna A. Grade 8 In September the Grade 8’s focused on establishing strate-gies for organizing their assignments. We emphasized the importance of self-advocacy. We learned how to use media to educate and inform different audience groups. Our over-all focus is to develop and improve verbal, written, and non-verbal communication styles, with an emphasis on how we present ourselves to others. We are learning to use the Scientific Investigation to record and understand experiment outcomes. We are learning to understand how artifacts validate the stories of our history. We are beginning the novel, “Freak the Mighty”, which extends our ongoing theme of inclusion and social justice. OUR EQAO RESULTS EQAO results are in. Our students are performing at or above the provincial standard with some excellent results in Literacy. Individual results will be sent in the next 2 weeks. What EQAO results tell you about your child? EQAO is:

a snapshot of your child’s achievement in relation to the provincial standard, and

an objective, reliable indicator of how well your child is

HOW CAN I SUPPORT MY CHILD AT HOME? Edugains is a valuable website which offers a variety of ideas in support of math learning. http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/math/homesupport.html

meeting the reading, writing and math expectations expecta-tions defined in The Ontario Curriculum.

As a school, we design a school learning improvement plan (SLIP) . This is the result of gathering data about our strengths and needs from a variety of sources—EQAO results, CAT4 results, classroom assessment and reporting, and observation. We then ensure that our strategies, methodologies, assessment and evaluation are geared toward improvements in the areas of need. HOW CAN I SUPPORT MY CHILD AT HOME? Edugains is a valuable website which offers a variety of ideas in support of math learning. http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/math/homesupport.html ROOTED IN CHRIST—VIRTUES AND CATHOLIC GRADUATE EXPECTATIONS If our Virtues and Graduate expectations are to take root, they must be aligned. Below is an example of how we align the Virtue of Gratitude with an accompanying Graduate Expectation and Catholic Social Justice Teaching. Overview of the Virtue of Gratitude The virtue of gratitude shapes our entire outlook on life. It is the channel through which we become aware of the sacred, and the many blessings of our lives. To learn the grammar of gratitude, practice saying "thank you" for happy and challenging experiences, for people, animals, things, art, memories, dreams. Gratitude allows us to appreciate and accept our lives. Gratitude allows us to accept our life as a gift. Catholic Graduate Expectation -- I AM A LEARNER FOR LIFE A SELF-DIRECTED, RESPONSIBLE, LIFE LONG LEARNER WHO: Demonstrates a confident and positive sense of self and respect for the dignity and welfare of others. Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability. Takes initiative and demonstrates Christian leadership. Responds to, manages and constructively influences change in a discerning manner. Sets appropriate goals and priorities in school, work and personal life. Applies effective communication, decision-making, problem-solving, time and resource management skills. Examines and reflects on one's personal values, abilities and aspi-rations influencing life's choices and opportunities. Participates in leisure and fitness activities for a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Principles of Catholic Social Teaching — RIGHTS AND RE-SPONSIBILITIES: Catholic Tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Every person has a funda-mental right to life and a right to those things required for hu-man decency. Corresponding to these rights are the duties and responsibilities to one another, to our families, and to larger so-ciety.

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FOOD ALLERGIES Please note that we have a growing number of students in our school that have severe, life threatening, allergies to peanuts and nuts. This is a medical condition that causes a se-vere anaphylactic reaction to specific foods and can be fatal. Although this may not affect a student in your child’s class directly, we ask that you DO NOT SEND ANY PRODUCTS THAT MAY CONTAIN PEA-NUT OR NUT PRODUCTS TO SCHOOL, as children can come into contact with one another elsewhere in the school. As well, it is for this reason students are not allowed to share food at school. This includes treats that you may wish to send for celebrations, such as birthdays. If you wish to treat the children for a special occasion please purchase non-food items, such as pencils, stickers etc. that can be shared without risk. McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and many other fast food restaurants have declared that they are NOT a peanut free facility. For this reason, we ask that you not send in or drop off these foods. We thank you in advance for your support in helping to keep all the students in our care safe. OUR SCHOOL DRESS CODE (MANDATED BY THE TCDSB) CONSISTS OF:

A White Top, such as a T-shirt, Golf Shirt or Tur-tleneck with No Logo, or with a Very Small Logo and No Lace;

NO Muscle Shirts, Tank Tops, or Hoodies are al-lowed;

White or Navy (dark) Blue Sweaters and Sweatshirts to go over the white top without a Logo, or with a Very Small Logo, and without Lace trim; NO Hoodies are allowed;

Pants, and Skirts or Shorts that are KNEE LENGTH, are to be only Dark Blue and not Blue Jean Fabric;

Skirts are acceptable, but girls may find playing in one awkward, or be cold wearing one in the winter;

Short skirts with tights under them ARE NOT ac-ceptable uniform items.

Please DO NOT purchase for school:

Any Denim (Blue Jean)

Tops/bottoms with Lace Trim or Large Logos, Short Skirts or Short Shorts or leggings

If you are unsure, please feel free to call us. before buy-ing any uniform items. Students must always be in uniform, with the exception of dress-down days and special events. You will be notified of these exceptions. DRESS DOWN DAYS We hope to have a monthly dress down day which will be the first Friday of each month, beginning October 12th (as the 5th is a P. A. Day). Participation is voluntary, however, if your child decides to dress-down, they should bring in a toonie. Money raised will go to Sharelife, the Angel Foundation and/or our technology fundraiser. It is a good idea to remind our chil-dren to save and to contribute to their community. Why not have them begin their toonie collection now so they don’t have to bother you each month. This makes your life easier and teaches them responsibility.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES Please do not allow your children to bring electronic devic-es to school. We have no way of ensuring that they will not be stolen, damaged or lost. The school cannot be responsi-ble for student’s electronic equipment. Students may have a telephone at school for safety reasons. As part of that same safety issue, students are not permit-ted to use the telephones during school hours. If you need to contact your child, please call the office and we will ensure that they receive any messages you may need to forward. Students should come to the office if they need to contact you. This is imperative for, if they are not well, or have been hurt, we need to know immediately so we can help them. Of course, technology is fast becoming an integral part of education. While we might want to turn back the clock on this, we cannot. Your child’s teacher may have a BYOD (bring your own device) policy, but you will know this through a note in the agenda, or from your older student. If students are using their phones during school hours, for non-educational reasons, I will look after it until the end of the day. PHOTO RETAKE DAY Our photo retake day is Friday, November 2nd. Students should be in uniform as an important component of this day is the class photo. FINAL CLASSES The Board did not mandate any changes to our staffing model. Some classes are at cap, but no changes could be made. Stu-dents and teachers have settled nicely and the learning is obvious! ECO-CERTIFICATION Many, many schools throughout the province have attained eco-certification. To this end, we will launch a number of initiatives that will be teacher supervised and student led. We look forward to becoming a greener school. Some easy things to implement, that make a significant difference:

Litterless lunches (pack food in reusable containers),

No plastic water bottles—reusable water bottles only,

An electronic version of the newsletter which can reduce photocopying by at least 50%. Money saved can then be reinvested in learning materials, includ-ing technology.

Correspondence by email, TCDSB portal, or Twitter; this is also a timely way to communicate.

TCDSB SCHOOL DONATIONS Donations to schools are used to enhance local fundraising efforts, which support school initiatives that are not funded through Provincial Ministry of Education grants. School Cash Online makes donating to schools easier than ever, and all donations of receive a tax receipt. Click here to learn more or donate today: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Pages/TCDSB-School-Donations.aspx

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UPDATES FROM THE BOARD

Municipal Elections October 22, 2018

Including the election of Catholic School Trustees

Details on the City of Toronto website: https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/elections/

Note before You Vote

Check your designation as a Catholic school supporter on your latest property tax assessment. If you are not designated as a Catholic school supporter you will not be eligible to vote for a Catholic School Trustee. Inquiries should be directed to the TCDSB Assessment Department: 416-8282 ext. 2246

CPIC Elections October 2, 3 and 15 Become a Voice for Catholic Parents Representatives sought for Wards 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Elec-tion October 2, 2018. Elections October 3, 2018 for vacancies in Wards 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 Election of Parent Members at Large, October 15, 2018 at the Inaugural Meeting. https://www.tcdsb.org/forparents/parentinvolvement/cpicelections/pages/default.aspx

Visit the Board’s website www.tcdsb.org

Subscribe to ENews to receive updates via email every week https://web1.tcdsb.org/InterestSubscription/subscription.aspx

Or Follow @TCDSB on twitter to get updates throughout the day

Register for the Toronto Student Transportation Group Parent Portal to receive real time notifications about school bus cancel-lations or delays: https://www.torontoschoolbus.org/transportation-portal/Account/Register/

LOCKDOWN AND FIRE DRILLS We are required to have a number of fire and lockdown drills. This will ensure that we are all confident of our students’ safety in the unlikely event that one of these should be needed. Students are always aware ahead of time, and teachers work to alleviate any anxiety our stu-dents may have. If we need to vacate the building for any reason, the community centre next door is a safe place for us to go. STUDENT MEDICAL INFORMATION Kindly provide the school with any information regarding med-ical conditions that your child may have, or conditions they may be affected by, to enable us to assist your child if a med-ical emergency arises. ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION AT SCHOOL From time to time students may need to take prescription medication at school. In order for this to take place, par-ents/guardians and physicians will need to complete and sign the appropriate Special Services Medical Forms which can be requested through the school secretary. The aim of these forms is to ensure that any medication that is being adminis-tered at school is carried out as prescribed by the attending physician. Non-prescription medication WILL NOT be admin-istered to students, nor should they be sent to school. E-CURRICULUM CORNER Each month we will bring you links to educational websites. www.mathplayground.com is a free interactive website for students and families from K—grade 12. It is divided by strand and is consistent with the Ontario curriculum.

MILK BAGS FOR HAITI We are continuing our Milk Bags for Haiti Program. This is a program that collects the outer bags from 4L milk. These bags are collected, sorted, cut, and then weaved into mats. These mats are delivered to many different countries that have been affected by natural disasters. You can drop off your milk bags (remember only the outer) at the designated bucket by the school office. We appreciate your support. Thank You!

SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR 2018-2019 The Toronto Catholic District School Board has approved a School Year Calendar for 2018-2019. Number of school days - 194 Number of Professional Activity Days– 7 Labour Day—September 3, 2018 First Instructional Day—September 4, 2018 Thanksgiving Day—October 8, 2018 Christmas Break—December 24/18 to January 4/19 Family Day—February 18, 2019 Mid-Winter Break—March 11—15, 2019 Good Friday—April 19, 2019 Easter Monday—April 22, 2019 Victoria Day—May 20, 2019 Last day of classes —June 27, 2019 The calendar also includes 7 PA Days. • October 5, 2018 - Prov. Educ. Priorities/Faith Dev. • November 14 and 15, 2018 - Parent-Teacher Conferences • December 7, 2018 - Provincial Education Priorities • January 18, 2019 - Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting • February 15, 2019 - Parent-Teacher Conferences • June 7, 2019 - Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting • June 28, 2019 - Provincial Education Priorities

TRUSTEES 2018 - 2019 by Ward

1. Joseph Martino 5. Maria Rizzo , Vice-Chair 9. Jo-Ann Davis 2. Ann Andrachuk 6. Frank D‘Amico 10. Barbara Poplawski, Chair 3. Sal Piccininni 7. Michael Del Grande 11. Angela Kennedy 4. Patrizia Bottoni 8. Garry Tanuan 12. Nancy Crawford Taylor Dallin & Joel Ndongmi, Student Trustees

Rory McGuckin, Director of Education 80 Sheppard Ave. E, Toronto, On. Website: www.tcdsb.org

OCTOBER IS AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH

In Canada, October is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a

neurodevelopmental disorder that includes impairments in language, communication skills, and social interactions

combined with restricted and repetitive behaviours, interests or activities.1 Today prevalence rates of ASD in Canada are

approximately 1 in 66.2

An increase in the number of students with Autism has been observed in the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Currently there are over 1,700 students with Autism in our schools, making this the third largest exceptionality in the

board.

The TCDSB offers a range of programs, services and resources to support students, staff and families.

Multi-disciplinary staff on the Autism Team are available on a referral basis to help support schools and students

in building capacity around best practices focusing on ABA strategies.

Connections For Students is an Ontario government initiative, intended to facilitate the transition of children

with Autism Spectrum Disorders from Autism Intervention Programs (AIPs) to school. This initiative partners

schools boards with AIP providers.

The Program to Assist Social Thinking (PAST) is an elementary school program for students with high functioning

Autism. Students are supported through a one-day per week withdrawal program.

Information about resources available through the Autism Department are available on the board’s portal

Autism Programs and Services . Resources and materials for board staff can be accessed at Autism Team Site.

Parent workshops for students transitioning into secondary school and for students transitioning into post-

secondary will be offered again this year.

During the month of October:

A group of students with Autism who attend the PAST program will be attending an overnight Outdoor

Education experience at Teen Ranch.

Weekly tip sheets around best practices focusing on ABA Strategies will be shared with schools.

The following websites may be of interest for those looking to learn more about Autism.

Autism Ontario: www.autismontario.ca

Autism Canada: www.autismcanada.org

For additional information, please contact Autism Programs and Services at 416-222-8282 ext. 2799

Watch out for information on events being planned for World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd!

1 American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association. 2 Public Health Agency of Canada. (2018). Autism Spectrum Disorder among Children and Youth in Canada 2018: A Report of the National Autism Spectrum Disorder Surveillance System. Ottawa, ON.