In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead, Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe; To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high, If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae 1872-1918

In Flanders Fields

Newsletter Date: November 1, 2013 Volume 3. Issue 3

St. Pius X Newsletter

November 2013

St. Pius X Catholic School 71 Jane Street

Toronto, ON, M6S 3V3 Phone: 416-393-5237

Fax: 416-397-6084

Principal: L. Sposato

Vice-Principal: A. Iwasykiw

Secretary: S. Pereira

Clerk Typist: S. Ciprietti (Supply)

Superintendent: Dr. J. Saraco, 416-222-8282

Trustee: Barbara Poplawski,

416-512-3410

Parish: St. Pius X Catholic Church

2305 Bloor St. W. 416-767-1859 Fr. MK Park

Masses: Saturday 5:00 pm Sunday 9:00 am

11:00 am

Entrance and Dismissal: 9:00 am Entry

10:45 am Recess 12:05 pm Lunch Hour

1:05 pm Entry 2:10 pm Recess

3:30 pm Dismissal

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

October was yet another productive and exciting month in the life of St. Pius X. The month seems to have just sped by! Amidst our school mass, Scientists in School visits, fire and lockdown drills, St. Pius Me to We initia-tives, and Hallowe’en

festivities (just to mention but a few of our highlights), our students continue to strive to do their best on a daily basis. Well done!

Many of the afore-

mentioned events have seen a number of parent volunteers present to assist us. Your time and effort,

as always, are much appreciated.

We very much look forward to mov-ing “full steam ahead” into November.

Sincerely,

L. Sposato Principal

SHIP OF RESOURCES To establish integrated decision-making structures and processes to support responsive and responsible allocation of resources 5. ACHIEVING EXCEL-LENCE IN GOVERNANCE To lead and model best practices in Board govern-ance 6. INSPIRING AND MOTI-VATING EMPLOYEES To create a learning and work environment that is equitable and di-verse, and that supports professional learning, in-novation and collaboration

We hope that you have had the opportunity to access the information through the TCDSB website and/or brochure provided at our school Curriculum Night. The MYSP is the result of a comprehensive and collab-orative process. In order to assess how well the MYSP is being communicated and implemented, the entire

Survey Regarding the Multi-Year Strategic Plan

The Toronto Catholic Dis-trict School Board ap-proved its Multi-Year Stra-tegic Plan 2012-2015 in last April. The Multi-Year Strategic Plan ( MYSP) includes revised mission, vision and values state-ments as well as a clear focus on six key strategic directions. 1. LIVING OUR CATHOLIC VALUES To apply Catholic Social Teachings to all that we do. 2. FOSTERING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND WELL-BEING To support our students in meeting the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations 3. STRENGTHENING PUB-LIC CONFIDENCE To create enhanced, regu-lar communication with all stakeholders 4. PROVIDING STEWARD-

TCDSB community, as well as representatives of our partner organizations in Catholic education, are invited to complete a brief electronic survey that will be available online from November 1st to November 17th.

Trustees, employees, par-ents, guardians, clergy, TCDSB ratepayers and community members will all be (are all) encouraged to take a few minutes to com-plete and submit the survey and provide feedback on the initial impact of the Mul-ti-Year Strategic Plan 2012-2015.

Please note that the Multi-Year Strategic Plan 2012-2015, hyperlinked Strategic Actions and supporting documents can readily be found on the TCDSB web-site: http://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Pages/MultiYearStrate-gicPlan.aspx

From the Office

“TCDSB is an

inclusive

learning

community

rooted in the

love of Christ.

We educate

students to

grow in grace

and knowledge

and to lead lives

of faith, hope

and charity.”

Page 2 St. Pius X Newsletter

CSAC Family Yard Day

On Saturday October 19th, our CSAC S.P.R.I.N.G Team and our St. Pius community participated in a most suc-cessful Family Yard Day and

Luncheon. Many parent and student volunteers were present to roll up their sleeves and lend a hand to help plant 12 new cedars and shrubs, and hang our creative and beau-tiful St. Pius murals. Special guests included representa-tives from Tree Canada (Carol Walker Gayle), FedEx

(Steven Anderson and Burcu Anabul), 3M (Jeff Uzbalis) and Freeman and Peter Signs (Chris and Alex Chris-toforou). Even our City Councillor, Sarah Doucette, and our own parish priest, Fr. Park spent their Saturday morning planting the much needed trees and shrubs in our school yards. Some of our younger volunteers also participated in face painting or decorated pumpkins. A wonderful luncheon followed

after all the hard work. St. Pius was blessed with

generous grants from Tree Canada, FedEx, 3M and Freeman and Peter Signs, making it possible for our CSAC SPRING committee to continue the greening project of our school yard. More importantly, creating a green and ecologically friendly space allowing our students to learn, appreciate and respect our earth and

our learning environment. On behalf of our St. Pius staff, students, and parent community, many, warm and

heartfelt thanks to all!

and the other in Kanda-har). He is currently living at CFB Trenton with his wife and 2 young children. This will bring true mean-ing and connections to the importance of Remem-

brance Day. We look forward to hear-ing his story and are grateful to him for making the long commute to our

school!

Remembrance Day Guest Speaker

On Friday, November 8th, at 1:15 pm, our St. Pius community will be wel-coming Mr. Francis Lapare to speak to our grade 5-8 students about his experiences serving with the Canadian military. Mr. Lapare was part of Canada's Special Forces, and served two tours in Afghanistan (one in Kabul

Christmas Bazaar

This year’s Christmas Ba-zaar is quickly approach-ing. December 6th will be here before we know it so there is plenty of planning happening and we need plenty of help. Visit our CSAC website www.spxcsac.com, or blog for more details and updates: http://www.stpiusxbazaar.blogs

pot.ca

“The

contributions

of Parent

Volunteers

enrich the life

of our school

and students.”

Page 3 Volume 3. Issue 3

St. Pius Me to We Committee

It’s been a busy month for the Me to We Committee. It began with our We Scare Hunger campaign. The com-mittee challenged the school to collect non-perishable food items to be donated to the Good Shepherd. Once again, the St. Pius X community rose to the challenge and collected over 1000 items. This will help many families during very difficult times. On October 31st, we held our second annual fall book sale.

The students were excited to come to the gym in costume and to pick out new books for their reading collection. We raised over $800, a great kick start to our school building campaign for this school

year. We would like to thank our Me to We committee for their dedication and organization of these events, and the CSAC Social Justice commit-tee, in particular, Mrs. Lamb, Mrs. Ackerley, Mrs. Wasiuk and Mrs. Bartlett for their support in this endeavour, and finally, warm thanks to

the St. Pius X community for

their generosity. As we look forward to No-vember, the Me to We Com-mittee has organized a speaker from Free the Chil-dren to speak to the grade 4 to grade 8 classes about the organization and the various opportunities they offer. Also, the Me to We Committee is starting to prepare recycled gift cards and tags which will be sold at the Christmas Ba-

zaar. Hope to see you there! Thanks again to all! St. Pius Me to We Committee

and ships this candy di-rectly to children who would rarely have an op-portunity to have such a treat. Sometimes chil-dren in developing coun-tries are so malnourished that they don’t have an appetite to eat even when food becomes availa-ble. Candy is not only a treat for these children, but the sugar in the candy can stimulate their appe-

Share Your Hallowe’en Treats!

Once again this year our school will be holding a Halloween Hard Candy Drive, collecting your ex-cess hard Halloween Candy (no chocolate or gum) so that it may be shared with children in developing countries. The Canadian Food for Chil-dren organization collects

tites for the more nourish-ing food. Candy contributions will be collected at the office

from...

Friday, November 1st to Wednesday, November

6th.

Thank you for your

generosity!

.

Page 4 St. Pius X Newsletter

“Take

action

against the

serious

issues of

poverty in

our world.”

School Entry/Supervision

Please be reminded that supervision (all school yards, bus loading zone) does not begin until 8:45 a.m. This also applies to student ac-cess to the school building in the event of inclement weather. Parents please do not accompany your child to

his/her classroom.

Late Arrival/Early Leaves/Interruptions Important, exciting, interesting and serious learning occurs at St. Pius. Staff try diligently to

ensure that time is not wasted and that all students are in-volved in all possible ways every moment of the day. With this in mind, students who ar-rive late and/or leave early miss out on many valuable experi-ences. Whenever possible and appropriate, please try to schedule appointments, before or after school hours. Students who leave early must be signed out by a parent or guardian from the office. Forgotten lunches, need to be labelled with the child’s name and dropped off on our Lunch Table outside the office. Par-ents please do not proceed to

your child’s classroom.

Secondary School Open Houses Grade 8 students and their families are invited to attend open houses at TCDSB sec-ondary schools to learn about the programs and services that they have to offer. Many have already taken place in October, but there are some open house opportunities remaining for November. Check the board website at http://www.tcdsb.org/school/OpenHouses/Pages/default.aspx for details, and remember that applications for high school are due in Novem-ber.

Parents are advised to look for pediculosis when their children are observed scratching their heads excessively. Lice devel-op through a three week cycle and the eggs (nits) are attached near the base of the individual’s hair, usually along the hairline

at the back of the head.

Routine checks are scheduled for our classes by Public Health Care Services, as the need arises. When a student is sus-pected of having head lice, the

following steps will occur:

♦ school will contact parent to

Pediculosis - Head Lice If you should discover that your child has been infected with head lice, we would ask that you advise the Principal of the problem in order that various classes can be checked to prevent further spreading. Outbreaks of pediculosis are common among school children and are not considered a health problem. Any person, however clean, may become infested by exposure to other infected per-sons or their belongings, partic-ularly clothing (hats, coats, combs, hair brushes, etc.).

pick up child from school

♦ school provides parent with Public Health literature for sug-

gested Treatment

♦ letter is sent home to all par-

ents in affected classroom

♦ parent provides necessary treatment until child is free of

head lice / eggs / nits

♦ the student will be readmitted to class upon presenting a

signed letter from the parent

♦ if necessary, the school will

request another check

and our bronze medalist, Hannah C. Special thanks to all our coach-es including: Mrs. Chown, Ms. Agres, Ms. Oliveira, Mr. Barber, Ms. Bondy, Ms. Bannon, Ms. Bris-sette, and all our parent volunteers

for their hard work and dedication.

Congrats also go out to our inter-mediate girls volleyball team who participated in the Holy Child invita-tional tournament. The team played with hard work and dedica-tion. In the end, the girls repre-sented St. Pius proudly, placing second. The participating girls are: Cassandra H., Jess L., Aleiah T., Michaela R., Sierra B., Hannah T, Hannah C, Arden K., Julia D.,

Olivia M., Olivia N., and Rachel D. Congrats to our team, coaches and

parent volunteers!

St. Pius Sports Teams Congratulations go out to all cross-country runners who participated in the Divisional, and Regional, meets at the Beaches Boardwalk. On Tuesday, October 29th, the St. Pius cross country team competed at the city-wide cross country championship meet. Sixteen of our students attended this meet at Earl Bales Park. St. Pius finished thir-teenth out of 131 schools. Con-gratulations to our students who qualified among the best in our school board. Among them are: Philip C, Arden, Hannah T., Alex Z., Amani T., Frannie F., Molly B., Lauren S., Julia T., Bridget A., Liam, Mikita, Simon D., Jack D.,

“Team

Work

means that

Together

Everyone

Achieves

More.”

Page 5 Volume 3. Issue 3

they may be. Loving our neighbour has global dimen-sions in a shrinking world. The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict. What can you do to be a peacemaker in your family, your class, our school, our

city and the world?

Lord make me an instrument

of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is

injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there

is darkness, light; and where

there is sadness, joy.

St. Francis of Assisi

During the month of Novem-ber we will be focusing on the virtue of PEACE at St. Pius X. The scripture pas-sage that guides us this month is, “Peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you John 14:27. As we celebrate the Year of Faith, we con-nect the virtue of peace to the Sign of Peace at mass. Each time we gather for Eu-charist we are invited to ex-tend a sign of peace to those around us, our family, friends, neighbours, and strangers. Catholic social teaching reminds us that we are one human family what-ever our national, racial, ethnic, religious, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever

Virtue of the Month - Peacemaking

St. Pius X Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 3: November 1, 2013

We’re on the web!

www.tcdsb.org

St. Pius X Catholic School 71 Jane Street

Toronto, ON, M6S 3V3 Phone: 416-393-5237

Fax: 416-397-6084

Upcoming Events

St. Pius Photo Retakes November 7, 2012

(AM ONLY)

Interim Reports

Progress reports will be sent home on Tuesday,

November 12, 2013. Parent/Teacher Confer-

ences will be held on: Thursday, November 14 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on the morning of Friday, November 15 (our Professional Activity Day) from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.

St. Pius X Christmas Bazaar December 6, 2013

St. Pius CSAC Website

Find CSAC news, up-coming school/CSAC events, and volunteer opportunities at www.spxcsac.com You can also follow St. Pius CSAC on Twitter @SPXCSAC!

Stay in Touch To receive regular updates on news and events from the Board, including urgent information about school bus cancellations and school closures, subscribe

to E-News: https://web1.tcdsb.org/InterestSubscription/subscription.aspx or follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/TCDSB Visit our website frequently for news and information at www.tcdsb.org. Tune in for live webcasts

of monthly board and committee meetings at http://www.tcdsb.org/LiveAtTCDSB/Pages/

Default.aspx

TORONTO CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

TRUSTEES 2013-2014

Wards 1. Peter Jakovcic, 416-512-3401 2. Ann Andrachuk, 416-512-3402

Chair 3. Sal Piccininni, 416-512-3403

Vice-Chair 4. Patrizia Bottoni, 416-512-3404 5. Maria Rizzo, 416-512-3405 6. Frank D’Amico, 416-512-3406 7. John Del Grande, 416-512-3407 8. Garry Tanuan, 416-512-3408 9. Jo-Ann Davis, 416-512-3409 10. Barbara Poplawski, 416-512-3410

11. Angela Kennedy, 416-512-3411 12. Nancy Crawford, 416-512-3412

William Lawrence, Enrique Olivo, Student Trustee, 416-512-3413

Angela Gauthier, Director of Education 80 Sheppard Ave. E.,

Toronto, ON ∙ Website: www.tcdsb.org