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AUTUMN 2016 NEWSLETTER “GO JAGUARS”

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AUTUMN PRAYER We see signs of summer's passing in golden leaves, shortening days, misty morn-ings, autumn glow. We sense its passing in rain that dampens, winds that chill, Harvest's bounty placed on show. Creator God, who brings forth both green shoot and hoar frost, sunrise and sunset, we bring our thanks for seeds that have grown, harvests gathered, storehouses filled, mouths fed. And, as your good earth rests through winter's cold embrace, we look forward to its re-awakening when kissed by Spring's first touch.

YEAR OF THE PARISH The second year in our three pastoral plan focuses on "Together With One Voice: Har-monizing our Faith Through Family, Parish and School". It is an opportunity to cele-brate the important role that our parishes play in our school communities and in the lives of the students, staff and families that we serve. During the Year of the Parish, we look for ways to more fully engage our staff and students in the lives of their local par-ishes. Thank you Fr. Paulos for celebrating our Thanksgiving/New School Year mass with us on October 5th and your ongoing commitment to our school community.

R. Di Domizio, Principal A. Gingerich, Vice Principal M. Caccamo, Superintendent (416) 222-8282 Ext:2267 P. Bottoni,Trustee Fr.Paolos Beraki, Pastor Ashley Sawh/Darlene Real CSPC

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STUDENT SAFETY REMINDERS

1.In the morning, parents are asked to take their child directly to the school yard. Teachers will pick up their lines from the yard following the bell. In the interest of student safety, parents are not to ac-company their children into the schoolyard or building. At dismissal time, teachers escort the chil-dren outside. Please meet your children outside the doors they normally use. Do not arrange to meet your child outside the main doors. When many adults are in the schoolyard, students have a difficult time properly identifying school staff. 2.Our school bus loading zone is directly in front of the school. This is a no parking/no stopping zone; especially between 8:00am and 8:40 am and 3:00pm and 4:00pm. Students should not be dropped off/picked up in the school parking lot. The school parking lot is for staff only during regular school hours. 3.During inclement weather and upon the Principal’s discretion, students will remain indoors. Howev-er, if a student is well enough to be at school, then they are well enough to be outside for recess. 4. We still have quite a number of students who arrive late to school on a regular basis. Our school day begins at 8:30 am. Please ensure that your child is in line with his/her class before open-ing bell. Students who are late, must enter through the main doors and get a late slip. 5. Call if your child is late or absent. Each family should have received a fridge magnet with this message. 6. Parents who drop off their children each morning are asked to use extreme caution while driving. The area in front of the school should be a quick drop off of children. The safest place to stop is Dovehouse Ave. 7. Please ensure the office has your updated cell and home telephone numbers. Safety before convenience.

BUSSING Our bussing system works with a number system. Each child who takes the bus is assigned a number at the beginning of the school year. That number is attached to their knap sacks so the staff on bus duty know who is boarding on and off of the bus. Please ensure the following for the safety of all of our students: Parents: You are responsible to notify the school if your child must be met at the school bus drop-off. Please ensure that you are at the stop on time to meet your child or to notify school staff that you will not be able to pick up your child, in which case the child will remain at the school for parental pick-up. The Student: is responsible to keep their number tag on their backpack and report a missing tag to their parents or school. They are responsible to know who is to meet them at the bus stop. If the person who normally meets them is not there, they need to inform the driver. The School: is re- sponsible for num-bering all students and to replace tags if necessary.

THE ELEMENTARY GUIDANCE COUNSELLORWhat does an Elementary Guidance Counsellor do? The most important role of the Guidance Counsellor is to be an advocate for students as they strive to meet the challenges and demands of their everyday school life. In addition, the Guidance Counsellor also: helps with the personal and academic growth of students, develops educational and career decision making skills for students, promotes the development of interpersonal skills

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among stu-dents, pro-videsser-vices to the com-munitywhich will assist in the growthand learn- ing of all stu-dents. For more in-

formation on the role of the Guidance Counsellor or how your child can receive guidance, contact the school

Paging Sarah Roposa…. Paging Sarah Roposa…. Hi, I’m Sarah Roposa from Ms. Talarico's

class. For the last month, I was at Queen’s

Park serving as a Legislative Page! In this

job, I got to work in the parliament building

delivering messages and documents such as

bills, petitions and reports to the Speaker of

the House, the Clerk and throughout the

Legislature. I interacted with the MPPs eve-

ry day and got a firsthand taste of what hap-

pens in the government. I learned many

things, such as how a bill becomes a law,

the traditions in the legislature, and much

more. I met so many wonderful people from

FAITH AND CHARACTERDEVELOPMENT Congratulations to all stu-dents who intrinsically dis-played and exuded the vir-tues of Hospitality and Grati-tude in September and Octo-ber respectively. November’s theme is Peacemaking.

PRIDE AWARDS Each month we gather as a community to celebrate stu-dent success. Part of this cel-ebration is our Pride Assem-bly. Here students are recog-nized for successfully and consistently contributing to one of their Learning Skills. Congratulations to those stu-dents who worked diligently and received awards in the areas of Positive Attitude (Sept.) and Organization (Oct.). (Parents and caregivers are always welcome at our monthly Pride Assem-

blies. (Check the calendar).

In late September Intermediate students from Ms. Lancione and Mrs. Talarico’ s classes found some time to see both our MPPs and Sarah in action. Congratulations Sarah!

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LOVING AND LIVING MATH EVERYDAY Remember to checkout our Math Bulletin Board just by the main office. Students and staff love math by living it everyday. A different theme outlining the learning goals and success criteria will be available for all to witness. Studies have shown that students whose parents show an interest in and enthusiasm for math, will be more likely to develop that enthusi-asm themselves and persevere to learn and suc-ceed in mathematics. Here are just some ways parents can participate in their child’s learning. Show a positive attitude towards mathematics Expect your child to complete and solve math problems Encourage your child to persevere Appreciate that there are different ways to make calculations and solve problems Play board and card games together Include your child in household activities that involve math (pairing socks, measuring in the kitch-

en, setting the table…) Estimate and count anything in different ways (by 2s, 5s, 10s, 100s…)

WE DAY On Wednesday, October 19th, a group of Grade 8 students were granted the opportunity to attend "WE Day," hosted by "Me to We" at the Air Canada Cen-tre. "Me to We" is an organization that spreads awareness for all the social problems in the world. We saw many activists and performers who are help-ing to spread the word about making global change. Overall, it was an amaz-ing experience and we would like to thank teachers involved in the Leader-ship Team for organizing this event. Written by: Lana Yu, Grade 8 student in Miss Lancione's class

CROSS COUNTRY On Wednesday October 12, St. Jerome’s Cross Country team participated in the Divisional Cross Country meet at Earl Bales Park. We are proud to announce that the team represented St. Jerome with great sportsmanship, confidence and excel-lent athletic ability. We congratulate all the students who participated in tourna-ment. We would like to congratulate those students who went on to compete in the Regional Finals on October 19th. They were : Treshon Tuck (Gr. 8) Kataleena Lowe (Gr. 5) Vince Bondoc (Gr. 5) Dante Wright (Gr. 4)

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THANKSGIVING

FOOD DRIVE Last month the St. Jerome Leader-ship Committee held a canned food drive entitled We Scare Hunger. We are very happy to announce that the very charitable students at St. Je-rome collected over 420 canned goods. These canned goods will go towards all the needy people in our community. A big thank you to all the students who donated canned goods! Thanks to all the staff that helped us to organize this great event. (Mariel, Emmy, Abby, gr.8)

DRESS DOWN FRIDAYS

Congratulations to the entire staff of St. Jerome. As part of Dress Down Fridays, staff donated over $ 530 to the Angel Foundation. The Angel Foundation for Learning is the charitable organization that serves the needs of students in the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). Through the generosity and compassion of donors, the AFL support students by nurtur-ing their body, mind and soul through nutritional, educational,

and spiritual programs. They serve us well. For more information on the Angel Foundation, visit www.angelfoundationforlearning.org

THE NED SHOW The NED show was great. We saw some really cool tricks with a yo-yo. I won a yoyo and 3 more people too. Matt told us what NED stands for: Never give up. Encourage others. Do your best. I say that the NED show was a lot of fun and really cool. (By: Sebastian Servello, gr. 4)

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PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES Parent Teacher Interviews are one way for parents to participate in the school sys-

tem. An important opportunity to find out about your child’s progress, interviews

are not just for parents of students who are struggling.

Great Questions to Ask

What skills does my child need to work on?

What activities can we do at home to strengthen those skills?

Does my child do his/her homework and assignments efficiently and consci-

entiously?

Is my child facing any struggles in class not related to her/his schoolwork?

Progress Reports go home November 15th.

Interview Tips

Talk to your child about school before the interview. Ask how they think

they are doing and how the teacher can help them meet their goals.

Go over their homework. Get an idea of what the curriculum is like, the level

your child is working at, and areas where they are struggling.

Decide what you want to know. Make a list of what you want to know before

you go into the interview. You can even prepare questions ahead of time if it will

make you feel more at ease. Knowing what you want to know and writing it down

ensures that you don’t forget anything, and that you get the information you need.

Be open and honest. Feel free to add your own observations around your

child’s behaviour, strengths and weaknesses.

Find out what they’re learning. Ask curriculum questions, find out what your

child has learned and what is coming up in the term ahead. Know the skills your

child will need to be successful in the term ahead (i.e. knowing how to multiply

and divide fractions)

Ask about strengths and weaknesses and possible problems. Find out about

problems before they happen. Building on weaknesses allows students to get help

before they fall behind.

Ask about homework policies. Find out how often and how much homework

is being assigned. Also ask if your child is completing his/her homework regular-

ly, how long the work assigned should take to complete and does the teacher cor-

rect the homework regularly. The answers to these questions will help you better

monitor your child’s homework habits.

How can you work together. Ask what you can do at home to help your

child. Make a commitment to support your child by monitoring their home-

work,

and

helping

them

ADOPT A BOOK We will once again be offering the Adopt A Book Program. During our Book Fair, (November 14 to 18), parents will have the opportunity to purchase a book, take it home for a week and then donate it back to the school to build up our Library reading materials. Each book donated to the school will have a message inside dedicating the book to that special individual (ie your child, a teacher, another student).

Here’s how Adopt a Book works: Parents will select a book on display

during our Book Fair Parents will complete a dedication form

and pay for the purchase by cash or cheque.

We will then take the book and have the dedication prepared.

Our library/technician will present the book to the appropriate person on the date requested.

The recipient will have the honour of taking the book home to enjoy for a few days before it is put into the library for all to enjoy.

The Adopt A Book Program is not a fund-raiser, but rather a delightful way to impress upon our children the joy of reading. We hope you can all participate in this worth-

FABRIC MAGIC On Monday, October 17

th, 2016, “My

Clothes, My World” presenter Ms. Cassandra Ciarallo came to Mrs. Paniccia’s Grade 7 class. She taught the class that people are hurting and damaging our world to make clothes for us. The people living in Bangla-desh or other third world countries are not getting paid fairly and do not have a safe working environment. Also they do not get treated equally and some workers only make $68 every month. Lastly, Ms. Ciarallo showed us a way to “upcycle” our old T-shirts into something useful. Each student made a unique bag to carry around our school work or our everyday items out of our old T-shirts…how creative! By: Christopher Burgess and Michael Lotito

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learn specific skills

CSPC CORNER I are pleased to introduce your 2016-2017 CSPC executive members. Co-Chairs - Ms. Ashley Sawh/Darlene Real Treasurer - Mrs. Sheryle Corpuz Secretary - Mrs. Adriana Aviles As we welcome a new school year, your new CSPC is working diligently to help enrich the lives of our children academically, physically, mentally, and emotionally. We have a fantastic school year filled with engaging activi-ties for both students and parents. Scientists in the School is back this year and is fully funded by CSPC. A spe-cial thank you to the parents who paid their child’s Activity Fee. If your child’s Activity Fee is outstanding, please submit payment immediately ($25 per child/$60 for 3 or more children).Parents are encouraged to get involved by contacting a CSPC member if interested in becoming a volunteer for any school events. E-mail us @ csac-stjerome@tcdsb.org. Please join us on Thursday, November 10th at 6:45 pm for our next CSPC meeting. We look forward to your ideas, suggestions, and support to ensure a great year for the students of St. Je-rome.Collectively, we will make a difference!

MAYBE NEXT YEAR.

Despite all of our cheers, words of en-couragement and Jays Theme Days, our Toronto Blue Jays did not quite make it to the to the World Series. It was a great run though. We are proud of our baseball team. We will get them next year. Many thanks to our students and families who supported our Blue Jays Spirit

THANK YOU! Each year the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care invites school boards to recognize the many professionals who work in the child care centres in our schools. Wednesday, Oc-tober 26

th has been set aside for this purpose.

We are pleased to join school boards across the province to salute the Child Care Workers and Early Childhood Educators who work with our youngest children, in partnership with teachers and other staff in our schools, to en-sure that these young learners get off to the best start possible.

ECO FRIENDLY The St. Jerome Eco team is back in action this school year! We, the members of the eco-team, encourage the entire school community to help protect the environment! One way that you can do this is by bringing litter-less lunches to school. Beginning in November, every Wednesday will be designated litter less lunch days, all garbage cans at St Je-rome will be turned over and all items for lunch that have been brought to school should be recyclable. We also en-courage all students to bring reuse able water bottles to school. Please refrain from bringing plastic water bottles to school. We appreciate all your support in helping the envi-