Spring Break is just around the corner. The last day of classes before March Break is March 12th. The first day of third term will begin on Monday, March 22nd. The arrival of the month of March and with it the season of spring brings joy to our hearts. Longer daylight hours, the disappearance of snow and some temperature moderation assure us that the word is unfolding as it should.

Yours in Catholic Education,
Mrs. S. Knetsch

The Lenten season is upon us.. Lent is a six week spiritual journey which offers us opportunities to become closer to God and one another. During Lent we prepare our hearts, souls and minds to celebrate the greatest love in all of history-the dying of Christ and His rising to New Life.

Please join us for the Lenten celebration of Mass with Father Peter on Thursday, March 4th at 10:45 a.m.  All parents are welcome.

Students in grades 4 - 8 will be busy preparing speeches on various topics in the upcoming weeks.  We celebrate the gifts of the many students who will represent their classes in our School Oral Communication Festival on Tuesday, April 13th.  The Junior Competition will take place at 9:00 a.m. and the Intermediate students will be                  
presenting their speeches at 10:35 a.m.  Parents are warmly welcomed to come and listen to these wonderful speeches.  We wish all our students "good luck" as they prepare to deliver their many interesting topics.

Term Two report cards will be distributed on March 30th.  There are no scheduled Parent-Teacher interviews this term.  If you require an interview with your child’s teachers, please contact them directly either by checking off the request box on the third page of the Provincial Report Card or by calling the school to make an appointment.

We would like to thank parents, staff and volunteers for their amazing support during our Valentine Cake Raffle.  Many, many students and teachers took home delicious goodies to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a special way.  We are grateful to Mrs. Henrigues and Mrs. Blight and their many volunteers who made the day such a great success as over $1300 was raised from the event.

The last day of school before the March Break is Fun in the Sun day!  We want to beat the blahs and prepare for a wonderful holiday.  Students are encouraged to wear their most colourful t-shirts and coolest shorts, bring their beach towels, sunglasses and sandals, and brighten up the school community on this last day.  Students will be heading outside for recess so they should still bring appropriate wear for outside play.

A special thank you also to Mrs. McConnell and her team of parents for organizing the purchase and distribution of pancakes for all our students and staff on that day.   We are most grateful to the students who brought in non perishable food items for the Markham Food Bank, truly “paying it forward” for those not as fortunate.

EQAO — the Education Quality and Accountability Office — conducts province-wide assessments at the primary, junior and secondary levels to measure student achievement against curriculum expectations. The data are widely used as additional tools to guide improvements in education at the individual and school levels. The tests will be administered during the weeks of May 31st and June 7th, 2010.  Please try to avoid scheduling holidays or appointments during these weeks if you have children in either grade 3 or grade 6.

Junior and Intermediate Basketball at St. Justin's
Our SJM Junior Girls and Boys' Basketball teams are well underway and have started practising in order to prepare for the upcoming season.  Both teams will be competing in a number of exhibition games in the upcoming weeks and will be participating in an all day Board Tournament in early May.  We thank Mr. Bouchard for coaching the girls' team and Mr. Iannelli for coaching the boys.  Coaches and players are eager to work on skill development, teamwork and personal growth.  We wish them the best of luck for this basketball season. 

A big congratulation goes out to our Intermediate Girls and Boys' Basketball teams.  The girls' team participated in several exhibition games throughout the season and competed at the East Area Local Tournament on February 23rd where they finished 3rd.  The girls should be very proud of their outstanding effort and dedication throughout the season.  Thank you to Miss Giardini for coaching the team.  Also, congratulations to our Intermediate Boys' team who won their East Area Local Tournament on February 24.  The boys' team will now move on to the East Area Board Festival on March 25th.  Thanks to Mr. VanLangenberg for coaching the team.

Basketball Intramural
Thank you to Ms Espee and the many teachers that have volunteered their time over the lunch hour to supervise our junior students for Intramural basketball.  This is a wonderful opportunity for our younger students to have the opportunity to learn the skills of the game and compete in friendly games with their peers.

This fall is a different flu season, with both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu in our communities. To help stop the spread of viruses in our schools, we are working closely with our local Health Department.

Symptoms: Watch for flu symptoms including fever & cough, and one or more of the following: sore throat, muscle ache, joint pain, and weakness. Children under five years may vomit & have diarrhea.

What is the contagious period? It is important to stay home when someone has flu-like symptoms.  Like seasonal flu, infected people may be able to infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and until symptoms have resolved.  Please keep sick children home from school until they are feeling well and are able to fully participate in all normal day-to-day activities.

Please let the school know if you are keeping your child home with flu symptoms. This helps the school and our local Health Department keep track of how the flu is spreading.

Emergency Contact Info: Please make sure we have your up to date emergency contact information. This is important if your child is sick and needs to go home.

Preventing Illness: Please teach your children:

• to wash their hands with soap and water thoroughly and often;
• not to share personal items like pens, pencils, drinks or food;
• to cough or sneeze into their sleeve or into a tissue.

You can get further information about seasonal flu and H1N1 through our School Board website at www.ycdsb.ca and by visiting our local Health Department’s website at www.york.ca

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Before we know it, wintry conditions will be upon us.  We ask that you pay special attention to the following procedures when deciding whether to send your children to school on a day when buses are cancelled.   
              
1.  First, listen to one of the radio stations listed below to determine if buses for York Region have been cancelled.  If the York Region District school buses are cancelled, then York Catholic District school buses are also cancelled as we share the same buses.  Once cancelled, buses will not be running in the afternoon. 

OR
Check www.schoolbuscity.com

2. Schools rarely close, even though buses are cancelled.  Please do not call the school to inquire if the school is open.  Radio stations will provide the necessary information beginning at 7:00 a.m.

3. Parents are asked to exercise good judgment in deciding whether to send a child to school when buses have been cancelled.  Approximately 50% of our students are bussed, in other words, at least half the school will not be in attendance when buses are cancelled.

This year, St. Justin, Martyr is undertaking three important initiatives in our quest to be a greener school:                

EcoSchool Program: We need your help!
We are in the process of becoming certified as an EcoSchool. In this government-sponsored program, initiatives are required in four areas: waste minimization, energy conservation, ecological literacy and a school greening project. The EcoSchool program requires participation by all members of the school community - administrators, teachers, educational assistants, custodial staff, students and parents.  We still need parent representation in this exciting undertaking.  If interested, please contact Mrs. Knetsch.

Zero Waste Pilot Project
Zero Waste is a project at St. Justin, Martyr instituted to reduce the school’s garbage. Waste reduction, promotion of reusable products, and paper and blue bin recycling are key components of our waste management program. This year, green bins for organic waste have been introduced throughout the school. We are proud to be the only elementary school in our board involved in this pilot project. Since implementation in September, we have reduced the number of outdoor garbage bins and added organic containers to our curbside pickup. This is fantastic news for the environment and a cost saving to our school! The support of the YCDSB and the Town of Markham has made this wonderful environmental initiative possible.

March Break will begin on Friday, March 13th and continue through to March 21st.  School will resume on Monday, March 22nd.  We would like to wish you and your family a restful and safe vacation and break from school.

“Go mbeannai/ Dia duit”- May God Bless You - March 17th
On March 17, people of Irish background in Canada and all over the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  St. Patrick is regarded as the patron saint of Ireland because he was responsible for spreading Roman Catholicism throughout the country.  Patrick was kidnapped as a teenager and brought to Ireland as a slave.  Later, he escaped, returned home and became a priest.  He returned to Ireland as a missionary and a bishop.  By the time Patrick died in 461 A.D., many Irish families had turned to Christ.  People usually wear a shamrock or something green in recognition of St. Patrick’s Day even if they are not Irish.

There are many, many items of clothing and other school related items overflowing in our lost and found box.  Parents, please stop by and claim your child’s lost belongings.  Any items unclaimed by Christmas time will be sent to a local charity

March Break is a time for relaxing and it is a break from school work.  But that does not mean that it cannot include some learning through reading.  Reading is an essential skill!  Reading skills affect our ability to do the simple and complex: baking a cake, learning a computer program, driving a car, and getting a college/university degree.  Please take the opportunity to promote and model reading in your home over the March Break.  Children learn what is valuable by observing what their parent’s value. The Blue Spruce Reading Program is running smoothly!  There are a total of 10 books that the students are being read to each week when the classes visit the Library.  At the end of the Program, the students will vote on their favourite book!  The more votes a book receives, that book will win the Blue Spruce award!  Happy Reading!

Congratulations to Cecilia, a Grade 3 student from Mrs. Papandrea's class who won the "Alien Life Form" contest by Scholastic Canada Inc.  Cecilia created and drew an alien and submitted her work during the Book Fair in November 2009.  There were a total of 100 winners from across the province of Ontario that were chosen by Scholastic Canada Inc.  Cecilia won a telescope, a tripod, and a collection of books from Scholastic Canada Inc.  Congratulations Cecilia! 

We are pleased to provide you with the attached highlights of our school results on the provincial EQAO test written by our grades 3 and 6 students last May.  We will be reviewing our detailed EQAO results and other school assessment data in order to build on our strengths and address areas requiring improvement. The students who participated in the assessment will be receiving their individual results later this week. For further information please visit www.eqao.com

<<<DOWNLOAD PDF>>>

Information on H1N1 Flu in many languages

Toronto Public Health is making available resources in many languages to support our multilingual city.

For more information, visit http://www.toronto.ca/health/cdc/h1n1/multilingual_resources.htm

We encourage you to visit our board website at www.ycdsb.ca to reference our York Catholic District School Board Parent Handbook.   It provides an overview of the key curriculum expectations for each grade level and highlights board policies as well. For those unable to access this resource on line, please request a hard copy from the school.

From the Student Transportation Services of York Region
www.schoolbuscity.com

Please note that a bus cancellation message will also be available at:
1-877-330-3001, after 6:30 a.m.

Download the pdf for details

<<<Download Here>>>

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