February 2014

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are just completing one of the coldest

months on record, but the cold weather has

not diminished our enthusiasm for being in our

beautiful new building !

We continue to discover new things about our modern and

environmentally friendly building. Did you know that, along with light

sensors, our rooms also have heat detectors? When a room is not

being used for a period of time, the room temperature goes down

slightly to save energy. The school windows that face the ravine have

a bird protecting film on the glass. All of our toilets are flushed with

recycled rainwater that is gathered in an underground storage tank.

We also have a water bottle refill fountain on the main floor that also

counts the number of bottles refilled. So far over 1280 bottles have

been refilled ! I will ask our student council to develop a campaign to

promote reusable water bottles throughout our school.

At our February 3, 2014 CSAC meeting, Mr. Capozzi and I will be

conducting presentations on our school leaning plan, District Review

feedback, and our homework guidelines. Please plan to attend. The

meeting begins at 7:00pm, and we will provide child care. Also, please

let us know if you are able to attend our Centsibles Financial Literacy

workshop with your child on Monday, February 10 in our gym.

Have an enjoyable month of February!

Anthony DeCiantis

St. Edward Catholic School

1 Botham Road Toronto, Ontario

M2N 2J6 Telephone 416 393-5255 Fax Number 416 512-3381

Principal Anthony DeCiantis

Email: Anthony.Deciantis@tcdsb.org Twitter: @StEdprinTCDSB

Secretary

Rina Kieda

CSAC Chair Daniel Amodio

Superintendent: John Shain

416-222-8282 ext. 2267

Trustee: Maria Rizzo

416-512-3405

Parish: St. Edward Church

75 Churchill Avenue Toronto, Ontario

416-221-9131

Pastor: Fr. Paul Saleh

School Hours

9:00am – 3:30pm Lunch Hour:

12:05pm – 1:05pm

Enrolment: 320

______________________________________ Catch the spirit!

VIRTUE FOR SEPTEMBER: HOSPITALITY VIRTUE FOR SEPTEMBER: HOSPITALITY

VIRTUE FOR FEBRUARY: LOVE

For this is the message you have heard from the

beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 3:11

News From CSAC

St. Edward School CSAC is ready for the rest of the school year in 2014. We have many things planned.

We will be hosting a Family Literacy Workshop at the

school on Monday, February 10th from 7pm to 8:30pm. Please send back your RSVP forms so that

we can plan attendance. On March 5th we will host a Shrove Tuesday Pancake

Breakfast. We have also launched our Grade Parent

initiative. You will become familiar with the program in the coming weeks.

We are also starting to plan for our yearly school Fun Fair. The date for the Fun Fair is set for Thursday,

June 5th, 2014 - the next day is a PA day. Please

mark that date in your calendar. We also continue to spend for our children on 1)

Literacy, 2)Technology, 3)In School Arts or Presentations, 4)Excursion Credits/Bus funding and

5)Classroom Resources and Teacher Stipends. We have already subsidized (built into our budget

plan) over $25 per student for excursions and

arts/presentations. We have spent over $5,300 on improvements to technology in the form of classroom

projectors and laptops. By the end of the school year we will have spent over $28,000 to improve the

learning environment for our children.

We would love to hear from you as your comments and feedback are very important to us. Our

next CSAC meeting is scheduled on Monday, February 3rd, 2014 at St. Edward - start time 7pm. Please try

to attend because as more participants attend CSAC meetings our ability to represent the needs of

everyone in the school community improves.

If you wish to contact CSAC please feel free to email us at csac.stedward@tcdsb.org.

Winter Weather Please remember to contact our office to report your child’s absence even when buses are cancelled and cold weather is here. For information, including bus cancellations and other issues, check:

Twitter @TCDSB

Our website at www.tcdsb.org

The Board at 416-222-8282, ext 2873.

Immunization Grades 8 girls Toronto Public Health is offering the 2nd HPV vaccine to grade 8 girls on Thursday, Feb 6. For information visit www.toronto.ca/health or call 416-392-1250.

Medical Information Please help our office maintain current and pertinent

medical records for our students. If your child has a

medical concern and requires any medication in case of emergencies or anaphylaxis, there is a requirement

for consent forms to be completed by the doctor and parent. Please contact the office for further

information.

Kindergarten Registration for Sept 2014 The TCDSB invites families with children born in 2010 to register for Kindergarten We ask that you answer the application questions on our new online program at www.soar.tcdsb.org. After this is completed, an appointment will be scheduled to attend the school and bring in the required documents.

YMCA Before and After School For information regarding the YMCA program or to be added to the waitlist, contact StEdwards@ymcagta.org.

Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences Please note that First Term Report Cards go home on Tuesday, February 11. There will be no interviews

scheduled for this term report cards.

School Map:

Attached to this newsletter, please find a map of our school grounds which outlines our parking and stopping areas, grade entrance doors, and school yard play areas.

Office Routines:

When you are at our school, please visit the office if you wish to drop off a lunch or pick up your child during instructional time, or for any other reason. If you plan to be in our building for a period of time, please sign in, and you will be given a visitor tag. Also, please do not use the student washrooms. Use the barrier–free adult washrooms instead. Finally, if your child will be absent or late, please call us and leave a voice message before 8:30am.

St. Ed’s Swim Team:

This year’s swim team will practice on Wednesday afternoons from 3pm to 4pm at Douglas Snow Aquatic Centre and on Saturday mornings from 8am to 9am at Northview Pool beginning on Wed, March 5. This year’s swim meet takes place on Sat, June 7, at the Markham Pool. Registration information will be sent home in the near future.

ELP/1 - Ms. Larracey & Mr. Schirripa

Our E.L.P. class has been fully embracing the winter

season! We have been discussing and drawing our

favourite winter activities, conducting experiments

with snow and making snowmen in the school yard.

We continue to learn new poems and songs during

our shared reading time. We are beginning to learn

how to retell a story, name the characters, setting,

problem and solution.

In math, we have been collecting and graphing data

on our eye colour, height and methods of

transportation. We are learning about non-

standard measurement using

popsicle sticks to measure our

height and counting how many

cotton balls are needed to cover

the body of a snow man picture.

We are also learning to make an

estimate of how many units are

needed before measuring. Thank

you to the parents for your understanding as the

staff and students adjust to the new school setting

and routines. Thank you for ensuring your child is

dressed appropriately for the cold weather and for

sending in extra socks and clothes. Please do

remember to send in the communication bag every

day. The communication bag is required as it is our

primary mode of communication with parents.

Please write us a note if there are any changes to

your schedule. Our class will have Scientist in the

School on Tuesday, Feb. 25 in the morning.

ELP/2- Mrs Rodriguez and Mrs Stagno

Happy New Year!

This month the students have had the opportunity

to celebrate the beginning of 2014 as well as the

lunar Chinese New Year. We tooted our horns to

celebrate the arrival of 2014, and danced the lion

dance to welcome the Chinese New Year of the

Horse. Perhaps your child will show you how to do

the Lion Dance!

January has been a month of transition and

learning. We have become more familiar with our

new school, and learned new routines in our new

environment. Mrs. Stagno and I are very proud of

how quickly the students have adapted to their new

classroom and learned the new routines. Well done

boys and girls! The only complaint the students

seem to have about the new school is that they do

not have a playscape to play on.

We have been reading

and comparing many

different versions of

the story, „Goldilocks

and the Three Bears‟.

The students have

coloured and cut out

puppets so they can retell their favourite version.

Look for the puppets and scenery pages to come

home in the, „Kindergarten Treasures‟ green duo-

tang.

We have also been learning a lot about our

classmates this month. We are asking questions,

surveying the students, recording their responses

and discussing the results. The students love

collecting data and creating graphs.

Finally, Mrs. Stagno and the students have been

creating a post office in our classroom. They are

busy collecting and organizing supplies. Just in

time for our Valentine ‟s Day deliveries!

ELP/3 – Mrs. Sabatini and Miss Russo What an exciting month! What a beautiful school!

We are so blessed and fortunate to be here at St.

Edward Catholic School. We started off the year

with a flag raising ceremony and a blessing from

Father Paul. We look forward to our official opening

in May. The students are very happy to be here.

They are adjusting to their new surroundings as are

the teachers. With this new space of course, come

some new routines. The ELP team is being diligent in

keeping routines as consistent as possible. We thank

you for your patience, cooperation, and support.

On January 6th, the students were surprised to

continue celebrating Christmas with the feast of the

Epiphany. They learned that this is the day the Magi

arrived in Bethlehem and brought gifts for Jesus.

We also celebrated the New Year with party hats,

songs, and New Year‟s resolutions!

In language we continue with shared reading

activities, independent writing activities, songs,

poems and chants. The students are also learning

how to retell a story, identify the characters in a

story and where it‟s taking place, describe the

problem in the story, and explain how the problem

was solved. In Math, the students are continuing to

sort (size, shape, and colour), make patterns, count

(simple addition and subtraction for SK students),

make graphs, measure using non-standard measuring

devices, and discover two-

dimensional shapes.

A few reminders…if weather

permits…when this polar vortex

subsides, students will be going

outside for outdoor play three

times a day. Please ensure your

child is dressed for the weather. Please send extra

socks and mittens/gloves. Waterproof

mittens/gloves are ideal. Ensure your child‟s

communication bag is sent to school daily. If there is

a change in your child‟s schedule (end of day pick up,

early dismissal, absence) please inform us.

Looking ahead…January 31 is Chinese New Year!,

February 2 is Groundhog Day, February 6 is Opening

Ceremonies for the SOCHI Winter Olympics,

February 11 report cards go home, February 14 is

Valentine‟s Day, February 15 is National Flag Day,

February 17 is Family Day (no school), February 21

Olympics Activity Day, February 24 (pm) Scientist in

the School, February 26 is Marlies Day. Refer to

school calendar for other events. Keep warm!

Grade 1 – Ms. Obljubek January brought many new things, a new school, a new

classroom, a new schoolyard, new routines. The grade

one class had fun adjusting to all the changes and

were very successful at doing so.

In language, we began to write weekly journals that

talk about our favourite activities during the

weekend. We wrote a story about being a snowman at

night and coming to life by the light of the moon.

That was followed up with a fun art activity, creating

a snowman out of torn paper. We continue to improve

our sentence and paragraph writing and continue to

retell key events in stories that we read. We also

acknowledged 100 days of school by writing a story

entitled The 100th Day of School.

In math, we had fun with 2-D and 3-D shapes. We

are working on a shape project at home, pretending

that we are architects designing a structure for a

client following a list specifications. We will be

presenting them to the class in February.

We look forward to the month of February and

Valentine's day. We will celebrate this special day by

singing songs of friendship, writing friendship stories

and creating some great art projects.

A note of thanks to all parents

who assist our class with our

skating outings.

Grade 1 – Mrs. Gascho It has been a very exciting and

exhausting start to the New Year in the grade 1

class. The students and staff have finally adjusted

to the new school building and routines. January has

brought us many challenges both in dealing with the

weather and curriculum. In Language, the students

have started Journal writing. We continue to work on

sentence writing with focus on details and structure.

We have completed our Geometry Unit in math and

we are now exploring addition and subtraction. The

students are looking forward to presenting their 3D

model projects as a summation to both our Math and

Science units. In Social Studies we are studying

neighbourhoods, the globe, location, and our many

needs. The Marlies game in February has always been

an exciting trip for all. We hope to have enough

volunteers in order to be able to participate in this

highly anticipated excursion.

Grade 2 – Ms. Soradi During the month of December, the main focus was

on Christmas. The students engaged in various

activities related to Christmas, such as writing a

letter to Santa Claus, preparing different arts and

crafts, learning new songs, reading different stories,

and learning about the Nativity story.

The students returned from their Christmas break

with full of stories to share. They were happy to see

their peers and to talk about their experiences.

They were also very excited about starting the new

year in the new school. It is hard to believe that the

much anticipated move has happened and that we are

in our beautiful new school!

In math, we finished our unit on

linear measurement and are

currently working on place value.

We are continuing to explore

different long ago and far away

tales and practice retelling them.

In science, we are learning about

animals. On January 15th, the students participated

in a “Scientists in School” workshop entitled “Move

It! Simple Machines”. The students had the

opportunity to engage in various hands-on activities.

The different centres served to be of great interest

to the students and the day was definitely a fun-

filled one. I would like to take this opportunity to

thank Mrs. Breda, Mrs. Bumagat, Mrs. Donovan and

Mr. Hinchcliffe for volunteering to help with the

various centres.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish

everyone a New Year filled with love, health, hope

and joy. God bless!

Ms. E. Soradi

Grade 2 – Mr. Habib January was very busy getting back into a new school

environment. The students are so excited and pleased

to have a wonderful building. Our classroom is very

comfortable and students are so excited to learn.

I am pleased to see that all of the children are

making great progress in their reading development.

In addition to their daily Home Reading Program,

special reading activities will be taking place at

school. We are still working to completing the unit

Long Ago and Far Away, we are reviewing some skills

to help understanding the text as next steps for

reading. Here are some activities that you can do at

home to reinforce the skills taught in class: 1) After

reading, have your child start at the beginning and

tell you what happened in the story. See if your child

can use the words first, then, next, after that, and

finally to retell the important events in the story.

Does your child use character names in this retell?

Does your child use important phrases from the book

in this retell? 2) Have your child retell the story then

let him/her write it down to improve their writing

skills. 3) Have your child explain the author's

message. What is the author trying to tell you? How

do you know? For math, we are going to finish chapter

6 about place value. Students are learning to read,

represent, compare and order whole numbers to 100,

including money amount to 100 cent. We will start

chapter 7 about two-dimensional shapes. The

students will be learning different properties of

shapes to sort and describe them. They also will learn

to compose and decompose two dimensional shapes.

In science students enjoyed investigating through

experimentation, interactions that occur as a result

of mixing and/or dissolving liquids

and solid. We will start new unit

about water and air. We will learn

about the water cycle. The four

parts of the water cycle that we

are discussing in class are

evaporation, condensation,

precipitation, and collection.

When it snows or when you notice condensation on a

window, talk to your child about the water cycle. Use

this real experience to help guide the conversation.

The students are looking forward to participate in

Scientists in School in Feb 4th.

I'm looking forward to another great month! Thanks

for your continued support!

Grade 3 Ms. Mazzitti

We are getting close to the end of the month and we

would like to thank the parents from CSAC for allowing

us to plan all of our trips and events so far. We enjoyed

Movie Night. This month we tried to show signs of

courage through our school work. Most of us worked

hard in our school activities, we tried to co-operate with

others and to do our best.

We went skating this month and challenged each other

on the ice playing tag and racing, and are looking forward

to our next skating date. We like to thank all parent

volunteers who come out and help with the tying of

skates and/ or helping us on the ice to skate.

In Language we wrote our own comic strips,

our own original fables that offered

valuable lessons. We also read about

“Henry‟s Freedom Box” and created story

pyramids. In Math, we practised mental

math strategies using addition and subtraction facts and

Linear Measurement using both standard and non

standard units. In Science, we are working on our plant

unit and beginning our weekly EQAOP activities.

We baked chocolate chip, banana muffins. With this we

learned about measurement using cups, teaspoons,

tablespoons, and degree Celsius. We also learned about

Procedure Writing, where we explained how to prepare

Banana Muffins. We are excited and cannot wait for

the Storytelling presentation at the end of this month.

By Vanessa and the grade 3 class.

Grade 3/4 – Ms. Gerardi

January has been a very exciting time for the grade 3/4

class. On January 6, we moved into our new classroom on

1 Botham Road! The students love their new classroom;

the colours, the space, the heated floors and especially

the proximity to the washroom and drinking fountain!

OOH LA LA! Throughout January, our class

settled in pretty quick in the new space! We

went on a skating trip, and also listened to a

Speaker for Black History Month! We

celebrated many January birthdays as well!

Last month, the grade three‟s completed

their beautiful Holiday Books which are used to compare

to Pioneer Traditions! The grade four‟s worked very

diligently on their physical regions of Canada project! I

can‟t wait to put up their work for all to see!

February, also known as the month of love, will be just as

exciting! We have lots of activities going on, especially

the Opening Ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Winter

Olympics, Valentine‟s Day <3, The Marlies Hockey Game

and the Northern Spirit Games at Brebeuf College! We

are very blessed that 2014 is here and treating us so

good. (Well, except for the cold! BURRR) Keep Warm!

Grade 4 Mr. Gerardi

It‟s been one month in our new school. We‟re finally

settled in our new class. We‟re all happy and excited

to be in a new school. I like our classroom. In Social

Studies and Science, we have been working on two

projects. In Science, we are doing group reports on

Light. In Social Studies, we are doing a project on

The 7 Physical Regions of Canada. Can you name the

physical regions of Canada? We just finished reading

a novel on the book called Frindle. It‟s about a boy

who created a new word that got put

into the dictionary. You‟ll have to

read the book to find what the new

word is. You‟ll be surprised. Here‟s a

hint. It‟s something you use in school.

In Math, we are doing addition and

subtraction of whole numbers and

money. We just did a math test on

Measurement. We‟ve just started learning about

Multiplication. This week, we are going to meet the

author of the book called, “Henry‟s Freedom Box”.

It‟s for Black History Month in February. We read

the book in class. It was sad. The message of the

book is that everyone should be treated equally. Mr.

Gerardi has a poster in his room. It reads, The hand

of Friendship has no color.

We are going to a Marlies game in February. We‟re

also going to the Spirit Games at Brebeuf College on

February 26. We‟re happy to be going to these

activities. I wonder what the Spirit Games will be

like. They will be taking place on the field probably on

a cold chilly day. It‟s like a Winter Olympics.

One last thing, the Monster Movie Night was

fantastic. I hope we have more of these activities.

How about next time it be a sleepover at St. Ed‟s.

Hummmmmmm! We think this was an awesome way to

open the new school.

By: Tatiana and Eric

Grade 5 Ms. Krotofil

Our new school is really neat! There is a big gym,

computer lab, and library. Our class is on the third

floor and we have a blue room. During this month, we

presented our speeches about current and historical

political figures and their significance in Canadian

politics. We learned so much about our Canadian

government too! In mathematics, we learned about

multiplication and division. We used

learning goals and success criteria to

solve the daily math problem. Also, our

class was so lucky because every

Thursday we had the Peace by Peace

program where we learned about

conflict, bullying, and how to handle

problems peacefully. Our teachers‟

names were Boris, Charmaine, Ester, Julie, and

Robert.

During this month, literacy continued to be a

big focus in our classroom. Ms. K. went to a literacy

meeting and then she told us all about inquiry based

learning. After her meeting, we had a lesson called

the “The Hot Seat” where one student took on the

role of a character in a book and the other students

asked that person questions. We used a question

chart (i.e., a Q-Chart) to help us with this activity.

Also, we did visual writing and had a lesson where we

used the inferring strategy to infer what a text

would be about.

We are very, very thankful to the APOLINARIO,

FRANCIS, NAYLOR, SCANGA, and WATSON

FAMILIES for donating their wonderful books to our

classroom library!!! We are having so much fun

reading! Thank you to Mrs. Scanga who continued to

order the Scholastic books for our class this month!!!

By: Nicole W.

Grade 6 Mr. Scali Happy New Year St. Edward!!! As you know, January

has been a month of change for us all. We have finally

moved to the new school and spent the whole month

getting used to it. We almost got lost!!!

The grade 6 class has

been doing many

exciting things this

month. We started

our math in chapters

7 and 8. During these

two units we learned

about different

shapes and how to

calculate their perimeter and area.

In language, we have just started our poetry unit! We

have learned how to write couplets, tercets, and

ballad stanzas. We have started learning about

electricity. We have done experiments where we have

tested different ways to use circuits. We are in

progress of creating energy saving posters for

science too. We are all looking forward to an

overnight trip, but we are

not certain that it is going

to happen. As you can see,

Mr. Scali has kept us very

busy this month! January

was truly amazing for the

Gr. 6 class. I‟m sure that

February will be just as

fun! Maybe even more!!!

By: Sofia and Maya

Grade 7 – Ms. Vecchiarelli January 2014 was a busy and exciting month as the

students adjusted to their new school and new

classroom environment. There is a sense of pleasant

bewilderment as we adjust to the new “sounds” of the

doorbell song, the PA sounds and the recess bell

sounds. We even have a very good lockdown alarm

that is clearly distinguishable (and obviously not as

pleasant) from all other sounds which make the

school efficient and safe. We were still completing

Term 1 work in January for Health and History;

however, Term 1 officially ended as of Thursday,

January 23rd. The evaluation for the math unit on

Transformational Geometry, along with the science

unit on Structures will appear in the term 2 report

card. The students have begun working on multi-

media projects and this will continue to be a central

learning experience for many subjects in the second

term. While the weather has been quite a challenge

for outdoor activities, the full sized gym has made it

possible to put much more effectively into practice

the specialized education and experience I have in

the area of physical education. It is much more

feasible now to teach very structured physical

education drills, games and activities whose purpose

is to develop gross and fine motor sporting skills,

cardiovascular

strength, endurance,

flexibility and agility

fitness as well as

sportsmanship, team

skills and a positive but

meaningful experience

of play and competition. It is therefore crucial that

students be prepared on Tuesdays and Thursdays

with indoor shoes that are clean and safe for gym.

This style of physical education is also somewhat

different and challenging to the students, however,

these challenges will be met with a gains in their

mental and physical development to develop a strong

sense of character, discipline and respect. We look

forward to February where we will experience a

Valentine‟s Dance, Scientist in the School visit

(February 3rd, 2014) and our final skating trip

(February 7th, 2014).

Grade 8 – Mr. Capozzi Another month of St. Edward learning has gone by.

Our class was still settling at the beginning of

January, but now we are used to the new

environment. A new school is a great way to start off

the new school year. Speaking of new things we have

started a new subject: History. With our technology

and the power of e-learning we are starting to learn

about the history

of Canada. But

starting a new unit

also means that we

are finishing a unit.

We have finished

the unit of

geography. In math

we were learning

about transformation, about rotations, reflections

and translations. Now we finished the unit and have

started integers. Yay!! Just a few days ago our class

and the grade 7s went on a fantastic field trip. We

went to the science center and watched an IMAX

movie on the human body. The movie taught us about

nearly everything (of course about the human body),

some of us were even quite disgusted! Other than the

movie we had a small workshop with other schools

teaching us about the athletes in the upcoming

Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. It looks like

next month has a lot of things waiting for us, it might

go even faster.

- Daniel P. & Rosen

French Department

Bonjour à tous!

I am happy to report that we have been working very

hard in French class. The Grade 3-4 & 4 classes are

currently working on learning about

“les animaux”. They will be able to

talk about many animals and

describe some of their

characteristics. Look forward to

seeing wonderfully drawn pictures and animal inspired

logos- Coming soon!

The Grade 5 class has also been diligently working on

descriptive adjectives. Students have been learning

how to describe their friends and themselves

(physical and personality traits). Students have

created a wonderful wall of stars describing their

friends‟ talents!

Last but not least, we have the wonderful M.E

students who have been working very hard to learn

their alphabet in French as well as some key

sentences. We are currently working on the weather,

and hope to be saying a lot more "il fait du soleil" in

the near future.

Keep up the good work-

C‟est magnifique!

Mlle. Baptista

TRUSTEES 2013 – 2014

Wards

1. Peter Jakovcic 5. Maria Rizzo 9. Jo-Ann Davis 2. Ann Andrachuk, Chair 6. Frank D‘Amico 10. Barbara Poplawski 3. Sal Piccininni, Vice Chair 7. John Del Grande 11. Angela Kennedy 4. Patrizia Bottoni 8. Garry Tanuan 12. Nancy Crawford William Lawrence, Student Trustee Enrique Olivo, Student Trustee

Angela Gauthier, Director of Education 80 Sheppard Ave.., Toronto, ON ∙ Website: www.tcdsb.org

Monthly Update from the Board

February 2014

thinkMATH@home: Helping Your Child Learn and Love Mathematics

Parents, school and the local community have the shared task of nurturing our students' confidence in learning

mathematics and in applying their mathematical knowledge to solve real-life problems. The disposition of appreciating

and enjoying mathematics is necesary for our students to persevere in learning mathematics with depth and precision and

to continuously improve the clarity of their mathematical communication. It is common knowledge

that parent's/guardian's attitudes toward mathematics has an impact on children's attitudes towards mathematics. In fact,

students whose parents/guardians show an interest in and enthusiasm for mathematics around the home will be more

likely to develop that enthusiasm themselves and persevere to learn and succeed in Mathematics. More info:

http://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/SchoolProgramsK12/Numeracy/thinkMATH@home/Pages/default.aspx

Voter Look Up – New Website

The Toronto Catholic District School Board has partnered with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC)

to launch a new website in support of this year’s Municipal and School Board elections. Potential electors can visit

voterlookup.ca and confirm and update their information in a few easy steps. Updating this information will help to

ensure Voters’ Lists are accurate in preparation for municipal and school board elections occurring this Fall. Visit

www.voterlookup.ca today.

If you are not assessed as an English-Separate School supporter and wish to redirect your support to Catholic schools,

please contact Sandra Vitale, Manager, Assessment Department at sandra.vitale@tcdsb.org telephone 416-222-8282 ext

2666.

Ignite: A showcase of student voices from across the TCDSB

Starting Friday May 30, 2014, Ignite introduces the world to the collective voices of students from across the Toronto

Catholic District School Board. Secondary school students enrolled in Media Arts, Photography and Communications

Technology will have an opportunity to submit digital media and creative works that are reflective of their critical voice.

Submissions accepted February 1-May 1, 2014

Click here for details: http://ignitetcdsb.wordpress.com/

2014-15 Minister's Student Advisory Council Students in grades 7 – 12 are invited to apply

Deadline is February 28th

The Minister's Student Advisory Council (MSAC) is a group of approximately 60 students who come from public

schools all across the province. Members share their ideas and advice with the Minister of Education on a variety of topics

about our publicly funded education system.

For information, visit: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/students/speakup/msac.html

February Events:

February is African Canadian History Month

To check out the online resources and information, or to find out what is happening in TCDSB schools to

celebrate, visit

http://www.tcdsb.org/forcommunity/heritagecelebration/africancanadianheritage/Pages/default.aspx

February 17—Family Day

February 20--World Day of Social Justice

PanAm Games 2015

Check out the Board’s website at http://www.tcdsb.org/pages/toronto-2015-pan-am-and-parapan-am-games.aspx for

information about volunteer opportunities, employment opportunities and other ways to get involved with the upcoming

games.

Overseas Credit Program—Study Semester in Italy

Information Meetings:

February 19, 2014 6:30 p.m. at Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School and Regional Arts Centre, 20

Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive, Etobicoke

http://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/ContinuingEducation/overseas/PublishingImages/ItalyNewsletterFJRFeb

192014.JPG

February24, 2014 6:30 p.m. at Chaminade College School, 490 Queen’s Drive, North York

http://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/ContinuingEducation/overseas/PublishingImages/ItalyChaminadeNewsle

tterFJRFeb242014.JPG

Faith in our Future Video Series

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association has launched on social media a short-video series to help Ontarians

better understand the Catholic segment of the province’s unique public education system. The short-video series is part of

the Catholic school system’s province-wide social media campaign entitled “Faith in Our Future.” The campaign is an

invitation for all Ontarians to explore the distinctive value and contribution of Catholic education to the life of this

province. For more than 170 years Catholic schools have been recognized by the government as an integral part of public

education in Ontario communities.

All OCSTA’s videos can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/ocstavideo1.

Follow TCDSB on Twitter

Get all the latest news and information from the Board, including notifications of weather related cancellations and

closures throughout the winter months by following @TCDSB on Twitter.

New Publications Recently Added to the Board’s Website

Director’s Annual Report 2012-2013: http://www.tcdsb.org/Board/BoardAdministration/DirectorofEducation/Documents/Final%20Director's%20Annu

al%20Report%20WEB%202012%20-%202013.pdf

Audited Financial Statements for 2012-2013: http://www.tcdsb.org/Board/BudgetandFinance/Documents/2013-

08-31%20Toronto%20Catholic%20District%20Sch%20Brd%2018413%20AUD%20Cons.pdf