Monday, October 3, 2016

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

October proved to be a very busy, but fun month for everyone here at St. Clement. Lots of activities that

kept our students engaged on many levels thanks to our fantastic Staff, as well as our very vibrant Parent

community.

From visitors coming in to speak with our students, to excursions that took the students out of the school,

our Staff made sure that the students were challenged and inspired throughout the month of October.

Students were also placed in positions of leadership too, especially our WeTeam Council. They continued

to initiate activities within the school community, emphasizing the importance of ‘service’, as well as the

importance of ‘being the instruments for change’.

The parents in our community continued their incredible support of both Staff and Students throughout

this past month. Whether it was through financial support that the CSPC offers with the various activities

going on in the school, to organizing the various lunch days (Pizza/Subway) that go on during every month,

to offering support during our Cross Country events, our parents are a very visible component to the energy

that exists at our school and we appreciate their consistently incredible efforts.

Parents are a vital part of every child’s learning. Although Teachers introduce the Curriculum and build a

friendly, respectful learning environment at school, Parents can offer more supports in an even more

comfortable and supportive environment; home. Within the link below, you will find video clips that offer

resources and strategies with assisting your child in the area of Mathematics. There are different clips

depending on the age of your child, as well as resources to help support your child at home. Our school is

focusing on the following areas to assist our students in the subject of Mathematics throughout the year:

Computation, Collaboration, and the Growth Mindset that “mistakes are valuable”. I encourage everyone

to watch these clips to provide the extra support our students need, both at school and at home.

http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/parent_engagement-math/en/

Sincerely,

S. Peters

Principal

St. Clement Catholic School

4319 Bloor St. West 416-393-5307

November Newsletter 2016

Principal: Stephen Peters Secretary:

Sobita Pereira

Clerk Typist:

Elena Simone

Pastor: Reverend

Msgr. Zimmer

Superintendent

D. Yack

School Trustee:

A. Andrachuk

CSPC. Co-Chairs: Katie Piccininni and Jenn Casuccio

Parish: St. Clement Catholic Church 409 Markland Woods Toronto, Ontario M6J 2P4 (416) 621-4060

The Year of the Parish

Virtue of the Month for November - Peace

Just a reminder that Progress Reports go home on November 15th.

Parent/Teacher Interviews are November 17th (evening) and November 18th

(morning).

November 18th is a PA Day. Students are not to be at school on that day.

CSPCtivities (November 2016)

We hope that all of you enjoyed a spooktacular Hallowe’en! Thanks to all who took part in our Hallowe’en Cupcake

Raffle and a big thanks to our very own Ms. Julien (ECE in Ms. Dulong’s classroom and owner of Kiss My Goodies

bake shop) who so beautifully baked the delicious nut-free cupcakes! And of course congrats to our winners!

As November begins, so does our QSP magazine drive! Your child will be attending a kick-off assembly on the morning

of Monday, November 7th and coming home with a cool lanyard and all sorts of information. Please be sure to read

the package for details. We are looking forward to an exciting (albeit shorter) 7-school-day campaign! This is our

school’s biggest fundraiser and we are asking for your support! Please note that QSP is now also offering e-books

and gift items (including wrapping paper!) – with all profits going to our school of course! Online orders can be placed

anytime at www.qsp.ca. The final deadline for all orders is Wednesday, November 16th.

For those who are participating, don’t forget that this month’s Pizza Lunches are being held on Friday, November

11th and Friday, November 25th. This month’s Subway Lunch will take place on Thursday, November 17th.

Keep an eye out: There will be information coming home about the Gingerbread Workshop fundraiser coming up in

December! Also, CSPC is once again going to be offering our new spirit wear clothing line closer to the end of this

month – look out for more details!

As always, we encourage you to volunteer just a little bit of time to CSPC and to attend and support our fundraisers,

so that we can raise as much money as possible for our school! We are grateful to all our volunteers for their efforts.

But if life is simply too busy right now, and/or you can’t seem to support CSPC in the way you want to, please know

that donations of cash or cheque (payable to St. Clement CSAC) are always welcome and appreciated! Simply hand

in your donation in an envelope (labeled “CSAC Treasurer” at the school office) – all donations will greatly benefit all

St. Clement students!

Our next CSPC meeting is being held on Tuesday, November 22nd (please note the change in date). We hope to see

many of you there!

Sincerely……………Your CSPC Team

Jenn Casuccio & Katie Piccininni, Co-Chairs

Lisa Lippa, Treasurer

Didy Perugini, Secretary

Our Campaign is Starting Nov. 7th!

Back by popular demand! St. Clement will be participating in the QSP Magazine Fundraiser again this year from November 7th -

16th. Last year, we had the most successful QSP fundraiser we’ve ever had! This year our campaign will be slightly shorter, but we’re

hoping to raise just as much money. Let’s hope we can all work together to meet the challenge! The campaign will still be full of just

as many amazing prizes!

If you have subscriptions already, RENEW through our school campaign. Just go to www.qsp.ca and order at any time. All on-line

orders count towards the student awards!

Why order?

● Our campaign Promotes Reading at home!

● Save up to 85% off of the cover price

● Subscriptions make perfect Gifts for delivery anywhere in Canada

● We earn an average of $10 profit from every item ordered

● New for 2016: Classic eBooks and dozens of gift items

● Customized photo products like photo books and cards are available too.

● Your child will receive awards for every item they sell!

● Support the school - even with Renewals

● It's super easy!

QSP’s online store now offers hundreds of different products, with profits going back to our school with every single purchase.

You’ll find giftware, jewellery, kitchen gadgets, wrapping paper, bags, bulbs, chocolates and more.

STAY TUNED...

School News

A) Student Safety and Visitors

Once again, thank you to parents with respecting the proper doors when entering the school building. Although I realize that

at times the back doors may provide more convenience, we would appreciate parents/visitors checking in through the main

doors where the office is so that we are aware of who is in the school at any given time. This provides a safer environment for

your children while they are here at the school.

B) Kindergarten Parents

Our Kindergartens have come a long way since that first day in September. Our JK’s are beginning to pick up on routines and

regular class rules, while our SK’s are truly showing that they are great role models for our JK’s.

However, as we turn the calendar page from October to November, we still need to continue to allow our Professional Catholic

Educators (our Kindergarten Teachers and Early Childhood Educators) to do their jobs with teaching your child academically,

socially and spiritually. In order to do that more efficiently, we continue to ask parents that when they drop their child off in the

morning they refrain from hanging around the Kindergarten fence area, or lingering in the hallways. Allowing your child to focus fully

on his or her Teacher and/or ECE will allow them to adapt to their new environment quicker.

Virtue of the Month Winners

The St. Clement School community would like to recognize the following students for displaying wonderful GRATITUDE throughout

the month of October: Congratulations to all our winners!

(Kindergarten) Martin Meneses, Bethany Song, Daniel Cinat, Sophia Efraimidis, Chokwu Nwosu, Callie Saunderson (Grade 1)

Aidan O’Riordan, Lilah Krubnik, Julia Santamaria, Harry Leopold (Grade 2) Elysse Ranieri, Owen Rocha, Paul Yeaman, Brianna

Rideout, Justin Mazarakis (Grade 3) Duyen Tran, Naythan Rennick, Lauren Evans, Annina Valvano (Grade 4) Samouil Dzamov,

Majella Martin, Alexander Sain, Ridley O’Regan (Grade 5) Mathias LaFleche, Scott Yeaman, Madison Lai (Grade 6) Lucy Moreira,

David Hanley, Marianna Carvallo, Nathan Menezes (Grade 7) Nour Boulos, Michael Tahirovic, James Siddeley (Grade 8) Nicole

Miaskik, William Craig, Armando Carvallo

Our Virtue for next month is PEACE!

Inclement Weather/ Sick Students

A reminder to parents that during periods of inclement weather (ie. Rain, Freezing Temperatures) students will be kept inside for

supervised recesses and lunch. The school will make the determination for indoor recess based on the weather at the time of that

particular recess. Parents should always be aware of the weather for any particular day to make sure that their child is dressed for

the elements. For example, the weather being just cold, might not be a reason for there to be indoor recess. Therefore, gloves,

hats, warm jackets and boots are imperative for students to be wearing.

If your child is not feeling well, please do not send them to school with the expectation that they will be allowed to stay in for recess

because of their ailment. The rule of thumb is that if you are well enough to be at school, you are well enough to go outside for

recess.

If your child is not feeling well, the best option, if possible, is to keep them at home.

Classroom Birthday Celebrations

One of the wonderful events that occurs during the school year is when a student can celebrate a birthday with their peers at

school. A tradition attached to these celebrations has been the bringing of food into the class by a parent to help make the

celebration more special (ie. cakes, baked goods). However, with the growing number of students that have a wide range of

allergies to various foods in our schools, this tradition creates an unsafe environment for many of our students. For those parents

that would like to still enhance their child’s Birthday celebration at school, we encourage you to bring other items to school to

distribute to the other students in the class, rather than food (ie. Decorative pens, pencils, erasers). This assists us with keeping the

school environment safer for all of our students, as well as provide a more inclusive environment for all of the students to take part in

.

Progress Report Cards

On Tuesday, November 15th, students will be receiving their Progress Report Cards. This reporting form provides parents with

a checklist as to how their child is achieving within all of the subject strands. For our Grade 1-8’s, Learning Skills and Work

Habits appear first on the Progress Report, as these qualities allow students the ability to perform at their best and assists them

with achieving to their full potential. Subjects will be checked as either Progressing Very Well (Level 4), Progressing Well (Level

3), or Progressing With Difficulty (Level 1 or 2). For our Kindergartens, the Progress Report will have 3 anecdotal comments

regarding the student’s Personal and Social Development, their Areas of Strength, and their Areas of Growth.

After receiving the Progress Report, parents will have an opportunity to discuss any concerns or questions with the Teacher during

our Parent/Teacher Interviews.

Parent/Teacher Interviews

St. Clement’s Parent/Teacher Interviews will be held during the evening of Thursday, November 17th, and the morning of Friday,

November 18th (PA Day). Letters have already been sent home regarding parent preferences for setting a time with your child’s

Teacher(s). These interviews are always an excellent time for parents and teachers to meet to communicate about how to make

your child’s learning more successful.

Please keep in mind that these meetings are scheduled for only 10 minutes in length. If you feel that a longer discussion is

required, please communicate with the teacher about a future meeting to discuss your child’s concerns.

Book Fair

Attention all parents!!! St. Clement’s Book Fair will be returning once again this year. Beginning the week of November 14th,

students will have an opportunity to travel to the Library with their class and view all of the great books we will have for purchase

from Scholastic. Later in the week, students will have another opportunity to purchase their desired book choices. Parents will

have an opportunity to visit the Book Fair on both Parent/Teacher Interview dates (the evening of Thursday, November 17th

and the morning of Friday, November 18th).

‘Walk To School’ Winners

On October 5th, our school participated in “Walk To School” day. It was nice to see so many students and parents walking

together, as they made their way to school on that day. I apologize for not notifying everyone what classes were designated as the

winners that day for having the most “walkers”. Congratulations to Mr. Arduini and Ms. Ferreira’s classes for having the most

walkers on that day. They will be receiving a gift of Hot Chocolate for their efforts.

WeTeam Activities

The St. Clement WeTeam was incredibly active throughout the month of October. Under the Supervision of Ms. Ferreira, Ms.

Tatangelo, and Madame Morrison, the students were able to lead our Thanksgiving Food Drive for the Daily Bread Food

Bank, promote our Dress Down Day Fundraiser for “Health Care in Haiti”, as well as advertise the need for Toothpaste and

Toothbrushes for Covenant House. They coordinated our Toronto Sports Teams Spirit Day, as well as participate in the

WeDay celebrations at the ACC. Their participation on the WeTeam is a wonderful leadership opportunity for them, while they

promote the importance of ‘service’ to the rest of the school. Great job WeTeam!! Please review the attachment to this email

dedicated to the initiatives of our WeTeam Council for the month of November.

Advent Mass

On December 5th, our Grade 1-5’s will be participating in St. Clement Church’s Advent Mass. These grades will be participating in

Caroling prior to the Mass (6:00 PM), with the Mass immediately following the Caroling at 7:00 PM. Intermediate classes will be

asked to contribute Arts and Crafts to decorate the Church Hall, with our CSPC hosting a reception for parents and students after

the Mass. Please make the effort to join our community on that evening. It promises to be a very special night for our St. Clement

School Community.

MPP To Visit St. Clement

Our Grade 5 students will have a special visitor to their classes on Friday, November 4th. Yvon Baker will be visiting the Grade 5

students to talk to them about Civics, Elections, and Service. Mr. Baker offers his time to several schools in the area regarding

various issues, and we are very fortunate to have him come and speak to our students about these topics. Should be a very

informative visit for our students.

Ballroom Dancing

Throughout the month of November and December, our Grade 2’s and 3’s will be participating in Ballroom Dancing sessions with

Alexander Smith. Alexander is a certified Dancing Instructor and will be working with the students during five 1 hour sessions,

culminating with an afternoon performance for our parents on December 20th. Not only will the sessions be fun and exciting for our

students, but it will also be part of the student’s overall assessment for Dance.

Swim To Survive

Our Grade 4 classes are continuing with their “Swim To Survive” program throughout the month of November. The program is a

wonderful opportunity for the students to either learn, or re-enforce prior knowledge of water safety. The program takes place at

Etobicoke Olympium, and includes three 45 minute sessions. The students have truly enjoyed the program.

Picture Re-Take Day

Just to let families know that our Picture Re-Take Day (as well as sibling photo day) will be Wednesday, November 23rd (in the

morning). If you would like your child to have a re-take, or would like to have a sibling photo, please make sure they are at school

on this day.

Athletics:

Cross Country

Our Cross Country Team did amazing at their 3 Meets this past month. At the Divisional Meet on October 12th they finished 1st

overall. At the Regional Meet on October 20th, they placed 5th overall. Then finally at the City Meet on October 25th, they placed

6th overall. That is out of 168 Elementary Schools in the entire City!!! The team demonstrated incredible dedication with their

training all month, under the watchful eyes of their coaches (Ms. Ross, Mr. O’Neill, Mr. Sgro, Madame Morrison, Ms. Di Tomaso,

Mr. Arduini, Mr. Punter). We are so proud of their accomplishments!!! Congratulations to all of the athletes that competed for the

team, as well as to all of those that tried out!!!

Volleyball

Our school’s Intermediate Boys and Girls Volleyball teams have begun practicing for their respective Tournaments. The Girls

team is being coached by Ms. Ross and Mr. Arduini, while the Boy’s team is being coached by Mr. Punter. The Boys Divisional

Tournament is November 8th, while the Girls will be on November 9th (both tournaments will be at Holy Angels Catholic

School). Good luck to both teams as they prepare for their competitions.