The month of February is a short month, yet it is filled with many activities. As we celebrate Valentine's Day, Black History Month, and Carnaval, we are reminded to love and respect one another. These special events, in addition to the wonderful experiences provided in daily classroom activities, encourage our students to remember that each one of us is a special gift from God and to be grateful for the experience of love, which He has bestowed on us. We must never take for granted the life which we have been blessed with and we must take every opportunity to thank the Lord for leading us on our journey in faith and love.
In this month when we reflect on WISDOM let each of us pray,
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can: and wisdom to know the difference.
Yours in Catholic Education, Mrs. S. Knetsch
January 2012, Newsletter
St. Justin Martyr Catholic School monthly newsletters will be available for download here.
Ash Wednesday
On Wednesday February 22, at 11 a.m we will join together to distribute ashes to students, staff and parents as we try as a school community to reflect and strengthen our relationship with God. All parents are welcome.
Sacramental Preparation Grade 2 and Grade 8 Families of St. Justin, Martyr students in Grade 2 are reminded of their enrollments on Sunday February 12 at 8:30 Mass.
Families of students in Grade 8 are reminded that Confirmation classes continue at St. Augustine High School.
Please contact the parish for further information.
Report Cards Your child’s 1st report card will be sent home on February 7. This report card is to provide parents/guardians with information about their child’s progress in meeting the curriculum expectations during the first half of the school year. There are no formal interviews scheduled as these occurred in November 2011. Interviews, by telephone or in person, may be scheduled upon the request of the teacher or parent.
Family Day Holiday – Monday, February 20 Please note that our province’s statutory holiday known as Family Day will occur on Monday, February 20. There will be no school for any of us on that day!
Catholic School Council Meeting
Please join us for the next Catholic School Council meeting on February 15 at 7:00 p.m. in the school library. All parents are welcome to attend.
Carnaval At St. Justin Martyr
French Carnaval will take place on February 8 and 9th at St. Justin, Martyr. Visits by Bonhomme, theme days, croissant and hot chocolate, snow soccer and many other fun activities are planned. We thank our French teachers, Mme Lupu, Mme. Chalifour-Vessio, Mme Perfetti and Mme. Barbuto, for all their hard work in making this carnival such a fun learning experience for our students Merci! With funds raised this year through our fundraising campaign, we are able to bring in to our school a concert by Jacquot, a French performer, on Wednesday February 8th. More details regarding Carnival will follow.
Make a Difference in Bullying
Parents are one of the most important persons in the prevention of bullying. Encourage open communication with your child to share concerns and fears with you. Teach your child about empathy, integrity and tolerance. Take time to develop your child’s special skills and confidence. Activities that children enjoy and experience success, will promote self confidence.
Daily Physical Activity
As part of the Ministry’s “Healthy Schools” program, all Ontario elementary schools will be participating in “20 minutes of daily physical activity”.
Studies show that daily physical activity leads to:
social, academic and health benefits;
improved memory, concentration and communication;
increased problem solving, creativity and leadership abilities;
attitude, discipline and behaviour improvements;
enhanced future health and well-being.
Dance Form
Intermediate Dance On Friday February 10, St. Justin, Martyr will host a Valentine’s Day Dance for students in Grade 7 and 8. Intermediate students from our family of schools are also welcome to attend. Permission forms for this event can be downloaded from our website. Thank you to our parent volunteers for making this event possible for our students.
PLEASE NOTE:
Just a note regarding the raffle ticket sales for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus:
a disclaimer will be posted by the ticket booth to advise that the parent
(s) of the winning ticket holder will be contacted to provide approval to
our school Principal (by form/phone) to take home the prize. We will
mention this to anyone purchasing a ticket to caution students from
purchasing a ticket if they think their parents will not approve.
During the month of February we will be learning about the experiences, achievements and contributions of African Canadians and those of African descent to Canada and to the world. In Canada, February is recognized as “Black History Month”. This month was proclaimed by both our Federal and Provincial governments. There will be library displays and posters honouring the contributions of many Afro-Canadians to our country. On February 2, we will have two assemblies for our students. One assembly will be for Grades 5 to 8 presented by “Down to Earth Conservation Organization”. They will compare the similarities and differences of life in Canada with those in Africa, leaning about climate, foods, homes, animals, clothing, cultures, transportation, languages and more. With a collection of over 100 authentic African artifacts for students to touch, smell and explore, students will also have an opportunity to play authentic African instruments, try on African clothing, use African cooking utensils, dance to African music and learn to speak Swahili. For Grades K-4, “Down to Earth Conservation” will retrace African roots as they make the historic journey from the heart of Africa to the New World. Through drama, students will learn about life on a sugar cane plantation and follow the freedom route into the hills of Jamaica and along the Underground Railroad. Students will have a chance to reflect upon the history, struggle and enduring spirit of Africans and their descendants.
Fraser Institute Awards of Excellence
We are pleased to announce that once again, St. Justin, Martyr School has received recognition as a school of distinction from the Fraser Institute for 2011. This award recognizes school teams that have produced outstanding results in the area of Language and Mathematics. This distinction recognizes that our school is in the top 1% of Ontario schools recognized for academic excellence! We are so proud of our students and staff who work so hard in the pursuit of excellence.
Photography Club
The Intermediate Photography Club has been meeting every Wednesday during lunch recess. It is headed up by Mr. Arbour. Students have been sharing and learning about what makes a great photograph, the elements of a photograph, and the composition rules for a landscape photograph. Students have also been practicing what they learn during photo shoot sessions! The students have been working very hard - keep up the great work! Everyone will have the opportunity to see their fabulous pictures in the foyer during Catholic Education Week in May.
School Volunteers
We value the assistance of many parent volunteers at St. Justin, Martyr. Would you like to get involved in some way? Look for our Volunteer Booth on Curriculum Night and sign up for at least one activity. Opportunities for involvement include:
Catholic School Council Member
Pizza Lunch Program
Fund Raising
Communion and Confirmation
Recognition Events
Graduation Committee
Coaching Assistance
Library Assistance
Environmental News
Our Environmental group meets weekly to discuss ways in which we can be proactive in keeping our school green. Before Christmas, a video was made by two grade 8 students, showing some Enviro Club members giving their fellow students some green tips they could use. Examples included bringing their own cutlery to parties to reduce plastic waste, and making their own decorations and gifts. Students had a lot of fun making the video and we hope students went home and talked about the environmental - friendly ideas! As well, the Enviro Club is proud to say that the school is yet again aiming to be certified as gold EcoSchool! Some intermediate students are already working with Mr. Tacchino and Mrs. Lacey to complete the EcoSchool application for this year. With the help of our students and staff, we're hoping to achieve three gold medals in a row! The Enviro Club will also present to all classrooms. another helpful way to become more environmentally friendly, the 'Whoops!' ticket. Using the 'Whoops!' ticket, Enviro club members will monitor every classroom to check if they are following the basic environmental routines, (such as turning off the lights when no one is in the room, proper waste is in the right bins, etc.) This will enable students to see how their class is doing to help out the environment.
We hope that we can continue to keep up the great work our students have shown so far in relation to the environment, and keep St. Justin Martyr green!
Do the Green Thing!!
Inclement Weather Procedures
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.
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, therefore, at least half the school will not be in attendance when buses are cancelled.
If you decide to drive your children to school, please consider that over the course of the day, weather conditions could worsen, and retrieving your child at the end of the day may be particularly hazardous.
Sports Update
Basketball – Intermediate
Our boys’ and girls’ basketball teams have been practicing diligently and have a variety of after school competitions planned throughout the month of February. The boys’ local area tournament will take place on February 27th at St. Justin, Martyr School and the girls’ local area tournament will take place on February 28 at All Saints School. Thank you to our dedicated coaches, Mr. V, Ms. Giardini, and Ms. Paniculam for volunteering their time and energy.
Volleyball –Junior
Congratulations to our junior boys’ and girls’ volley ball teams. They have shown tremendous effort and sportsmanship during their after school games and at their area tournaments last week. Thank you to our coaches Mr. MacLean, Mr Leone, Mrs. Nikitopoulos, Ms. Espe and Ms. Cornacchia. W 5 H
St. Justin, Martyr has begun a W5H intramural league. What is W5H? It stands for Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. It's a trivia challenge that grade 7 and 8 students play at lunch recess, where they compete in teams of 4. Top students from our school will compete in the Board W5H Tournament on May 8th. Thank you to our many teacher coaches, who will be preparing the students for this event.
EQAO
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 an additional tool to guide improvements in education at the individual, school. The tests will be administered this year during the weeks of May 23 and June 6, 2012Please try to avoid scheduling holidays or appointments during these weeks if you have children in either Grade 3 or Grade 6.
When students are absent from school, they miss a good deal of material covered that day. We appreciate the efforts of parents who offer to pick up the missed work for their child. Teachers are happy to provide the homework for the students, but we ask that you wait until the end of the day to pick up the work so that teachers have time to organize this. Please leave a message at the office requesting the work. Homework will be left at the school office. A good idea is to ensure that your child has a “homework buddy” that they can call when they have a question/concern about homework.
Food Restrictions at SJM
The York Catholic District School Board has a comprehensive policy to help protect students with life threatening allergies. Protecting anaphylactic students from exposure to life threatening substances creates a major challenge to all elementary schools. As outlined in the policy, parents are asked to inform the school of such allergies immediately and are required to fill in S15 and S15a forms which are available in the school office. Each form must have a passport size picture attached so that the student is easily identifiable to staff. Parents are also asked to ensure that students, for whom Epi-Pens are prescribed, have two Epi-Pens at school. Twin-jet Epi-Pens are not acceptable for school use. One Epi-Pen must be worn by the student in a fanny pack at all times, which includes on the bus, on excursions, and on all other school related activities/sports. The other Epi-Pen must be stored in the school office for emergency use only. This Epi-Pen will also be taken on trips.
The following are avoidance strategies we will be implementing at St. Justin, Martyr to help keep all our students safe.
We will continue with our “nut safe” school environment via food restrictions. Students will be informed of and reminded that they are not to share food. The school environment includes entire school grounds, buses and other modes of transportation, school trips, before/after school/weekend programs, and school sanctioned events involving pupils.
We will prohibit food outdoors to minimize exposure to insects (i.e. wasps, etc.).
We will continue to communicate regularly to the entire school community that we are a “nut safe” school via newsletters, and via posting of “nut safe” signs throughout the school.
We will continue to ensure that all products sold through the school for fundraising or otherwise are nut free.
We will continue to ensure that permit holders, visitors and all school staff are aware of these precautions.
At present, a number of children in our school have life-threatening allergies to nut products. Something as simple as a trace of peanut butter on the door knob or on a child’s desk could mean life or death for these children. We ask that NO PRODUCTS be brought into the school that may contain nut products such as peanut butter, Nutella, certain types of chocolate bars, cookies, Tim Horton’s products, and donuts. Fresh vegetables and fruit, ice cream bars, popsicles, raisins, Rice Krispie squares, Fruit Roll-Ups make great snacks and do not pose health risks. Please contact the office if you have any questions.
Library News
St. Justin celebrated Family Literacy Day on January 27th by wearing slippers at school and dedicating quiet time for leisurely reading. Reading is a fantastically fun and relaxing way to increase literacy skills. Thank you to all for participating!
February is Black History Month. Black history refers to the stories, experiences, and accomplishments of people of African origin. Black History Month is an opportunity for our school to recognize the past and present contributions that African Americans and Canadians have made in areas such as education, medicine, art, culture, politics and human rights. The Library Resource Centre has a collection of books to help enrich our understanding.
The Junior Book Club is up and running! We are reading books from the Forest of Reading program, focusing on Canadian authors. It is never too late to become a member – the more the merrier! All junior readers are welcome to join us in the library on Thursdays at lunch.
Parent Handbooks
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.
School Bus Information
School Bus Education Program
All students will participate in the School Bus Education program to be held at the school on September 19, 20. The program will educate students on how to safely ride a school bus and teach them the school bus emergency procedures, including evacuation.
For transportation information, please refer to the website www.schoolbuscity.com. This is the most up-to-date information on busing. We will not have any more information at the school about busing other than what you will find on this important website.
