Mississauga Brampton Central Family of Schools

Trustee Times – December 2017

Anna DaSilva

Vice Chair

Wards 1, 3, 4

Darryl

D’Souza

Wards 2, 5, 6

Anna

Abbruscato

Ward 4

Thomas Thomas

Ward 5Luz del Rosario

Wards 6, 11

Anna Da Silva

Vice-Chair of the

Board

Brampton Wards

1, 3 & 4

Mario Pascucci

Chair of the Board

Mississauga Wards

1 & 3

Congratulations to Anna Da Silva who was

appointed as

Vice-Chair to the Board of TrusteesCongratulations Anna!

“Advent is a journey towards Bethlehem. May we let ourselves be drawn by the light of God”Pope Francis

Our grade 2/3 class have welcomed ‘Baby Amariyah’ and her mother

to their classroom as they are all participating in the Roots of Empathy

program. This program teaches children about feelings their own

feelings and the feelings of others. At school, in preparation for

Christmas, we celebrated a wonderful Advent Mass with Fr. Jan.

Furthermore, our staff are busy preparing for our Christmas Carousel

Night. An evening of singing, dancing, craft making, cookie

decorating, community building and a special visit from Santa.

Finally, our Catholic Advisory Council has been working hard sorting

through many new and gently used community donations for our

Christmas Market for Kids.

School Based News …

On Friday, December 22 from 1:15 pm-2:00 pm our gymnasium will

be full of Christmas spirit through the gift of song. Each class has

prepared a song to sing. They will be led by our School Choir. All

parents and guardians are welcome to join in and sing with us! In

partnership with our Peel Police Liaison officers, we will be holding

a Christmas food drive to collect non-perishable food items to help

feed those in need over the Christmas holidays. Students are asked to

bring in one non-perishable food item to pack into the police cruiser

on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 @ 10 a.m.

The San Lorenzo Ruiz School community had an opportunity to

demonstrate its generosity through our Angels Among Us program during

the month of December. Students selected an Angel from the tree

that represents a student from the Dufferin-Peel community that they

wish to sponsor. Our primary Christmas Concert will take place on

Wednesday December 20th at 6:30 pm. Our dance team who won

platinum last year will be performing along with our students on that

evening. We will celebrate Advent as a school community at our school

Mass on Tuesday December 12th at 9:00 am led by our primary division

and beautiful school choir.

During the month of December, St. Barbara students, staff and parents

have continued to focus on living our Gospel Values by participating in

“Angel On The Tree”. Through this project all of us give gifts to

orphaned children, we also give new hats, scarves and mittens and we

are doing Christmas food and gift hampers for several families. We are

continuing to instill a love for learning and engaging students in

numeracy through the use of technology and math manipulatives. In

order to ensure we have top notch technology, we are also continuing to

do fundraising for new technology at our school. We are welcoming the

Advent Season with daily PA, classroom and division prayers, liturgies

and promoting an understanding of our Gospel.

“THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US” JOHN 1:14

St. Brigid is having its annual Christmas Festival on the evening of

December 6. This CSC sponsored event is open to students and their

families and features craft and other Christmas activities. Our

Kindergarten classes are having a Christmas Celebration on December

21 at 2 pm. We are having Advent Liturgies for the whole school every

Monday in December. We have our Advent Mass at St. Jerome on

December 13. During Advent we will be running a coat drive, a food

drive and will have a mitten and hat tree. We will have a Christmas

Spirit Week to raise money for Sharelife the week of December 18.

School Based News …

On Thursday November 30th, St. Gregory hosted our first Girls Night

In. The theme " I am Strong" embodied the night's events. We had 2

guest speakers who shared with the young women their personal

stories of overcoming obstacles in life by believing in their inner

strength. We had 2 special guests - one who have the girls a lesson on

boxing. Amazing! The evening allowed girls to get to know each other

as the two communities of St. Gertrude and St. Gregory continue to

develop relationships. The evening started and ended in prayer and

reflection and proved to be very moving and emotional. We had 43

girls come and they were supported by 22 staff. It truly was a very

special and empowering night.

Mrs. Dias and Mrs. Paniconi's junior classes from St. Hilary

school raised $880 for Toys For Tots. Students and teachers shopped at

Square One on Friday after attending the movie The Star. Busses were

donated by First Student Canada. What an amazing feeling to give

children a wonderful Christmas!

Our school Christmas food drive runs until this Friday.

The Advent season is alive at St. Joseph! Student and Parent Council

members collaborated in decorating our foyer as we started the month

of December. Father Jan joined us as we celebrated the first week of

Advent with a Mass and lighting of the first candle. Our kindergarten

teams are hosting a Christmas Open House for their students and

parents. On December 19th at noon, our School Council is organizing

the annual School-wide Christmas Luncheon for the students and staff.

Tables will be set up for the entire school to sit down for a meal

together. Santa Claus will hopefully make an appearance. On December

21, our Grade 5/6 class will present our Virtue of Hope assembly to the

school community.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”Matthew 1:23

In the spirit of community building , the St. Jude parent council,

hosted a morning and invited the parents to decorate the school for

Christmas. The school council is also hosting a movie night on Dec 6.

From 5:30 to 7:30 pm. During the evening pizza and popcorn will also

be available for the families. Our school Advent Mass will be held on

Friday Dec. 8. The primary Christmas Concert will be held on the

afternoon of Dec. 19. Food is being collected to support our parish

food drive.

School Based News …

This month St. Julia is participating in a variety of Advent activities as

we prepare for the birth of our Saviour. On Thursday, December 5th,

Father Nieman celebrated mass with St Julia staff and students and our

junior choir shared their gift of song. Each Friday morning during

Advent staff gather to celebrate morning liturgy. Classes also gather to

pray and reflect each week on the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love

this Advent season. Our YFA have been putting our faith into action by

organizing our Giving Angels outreach initiative. The generosity of the

St. Julia community has allowed us to support 21 families through the

SVDP Society of St. Joseph Parish. Our Kindergarten and Primary

classes are busy preparing for our annual Christmas concert which will

take place on Tuesday December 19th.

St. Kevin School community celebrated the beginning of the Advent

Season by gathering together on December 4th for our Advent Mass. We

were pleased that many family members were able to join us and we

thank Fr. Gustavo Campos for presiding over the Mass. We are excited

about the upcoming volleyball game on December 21 where Peel Police

will challenge St. Kevin staff and the Intermediate Volleyball teams to a

fun-filled game. We are also looking forward to Christmas Spirit Week

which will include a Sing-a-long and the Christmas Extravaganza.

Classes are preparing diligently for their performances. We congratulate

our many students who will be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation

on November 9th.

The St. Matthew School community will be very busy over the Advent

season. We will come together to prepare our hearts and minds for the

coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at our Family Advent Mass at Cristo

Rei Church. Other events during this season include an Advent Retreat,

a Virtue of Hope Liturgy, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” play,

photos with Santa and a Christmas Sing-a-long. In the spirit of giving,

we will also collect food for the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Cram-

a-Cruiser with toy donations along with Peel Police in support of the

Toys for Tots drive in Peel.

“Be shepherds of the flock God has given you” (1 Peter 5:2)

School Based News …

We are continuing with our St. Monica School “Gifts of Warmth”

tradition. To help those in need this winter we will be collecting NEW

mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, winter headbands, earmuffs, socks,

jackets, snowsuits and neck warmers. The posts on the first floor will

be decorated with yarn. For each new item a student, community

member or staff bring in, they will receive a cut out lightbulb and print

their name on it to acknowledge their kind and generous donation. We

will give our gifts of warmth to those in need through St. Vincent De

Paul Society or St. Louise Outreach. Special thanks to M. Scalise, T.

Gratton, Gr. 6 EF and Gr. 1 students for coordinating.

During the month of December, St. Veronica’s youth faith ambassadors

are preparing our hearts for the Advent season by modelling how to

show compassion for other families through the Christmas Angel Tree.

We asked the community to purchase gift cards for families in our

community who are experiencing hardships. Our primary division will

be ringing in the Christmas season with our Christmas Concert on

Wednesday December 20th at 6:30 pm. We will be offering family

photos in front of our new green screen with all donations going to our

Angel Tree. whole school sign-a-long to bring Christmas cheer!

St. Marcellinus celebrates December’s virtue of the month Hope as it

opened its doors to over 90 refugees from Sojourn House back on

November 30th for its annual Family Faith Night. Also, our special

education students prepared for its annual Christmas Market as

students were busy creating hand-made items including stained glass

ornaments and wreaths to be purchased by staff and students. The Co-

Op students showcased their careers during the Co-op Fair on

December 4th. Moreover, our football players accompanied by their

parents and staff celebrated the athletes talents and gifts during the

Parent/Football Banquet held on December 7th. Furthermore, our

community will come together to prepare for the coming of our savior

Jesus Christ during our Advent mass scheduled December 13th.

Finally, our Arts Christmas Showcase that displays all of the visual arts

and performing arts talent at St. Marcellinus will take place Thursday,

December 14th at 7pm with an open house art gallery between 6pm

and 7pm and with the performing arts show starting at 7pm . All

community members are welcome.

“It Is I; Be Not Afraid” John 6:20

Advent season at St. Augustine Secondary School is filled with

wonderful activities in preparation for the coming of Jesus on

Christmas Day. The school is busy collecting items for our Annual

Christmas Basket Drive which helps the members of our own school

community and their families, helping over 15 families in our school.

Our Advent liturgy will take place on December 14, 2017. We will be

celebrating our students who display the virtues and make a difference

in our school with our Breakfast of Champions on December 8, 2017.

Our Christmas Art Show will take place in our cafetorium on

December 7, 2017. Also our Annual Dunk the Halls Basketball

fundraiser and buy out will be held on December 20, 2017.

School Based News …

St. Francis Xavier Secondary School has a strong tradition of

supporting those individuals and families in our community who are

in need. This year marks the 9th anniversary of the St. Francis Xavier

Community Christmas Dinner. On December 13th, the school will be

hosting over 200 guests from Angela’s Place, Vita Manor and other

families recommended by the local St. Vincent DePaul Society. The

Christmas Celebration is intended to offer the best of the Christmas

season to some of the most marginalized families in our community.

Angela’s Place and Vita Manor are two local community

organizations whose work supports many of our disadvantaged

neighbours. Angela’s Place offers transitional housing for families

experiencing homelessness while Vita Manor offers counseling and

help to pregnant and parenting teens.

The school community is working together to make this a memorable

night for everyone. The cafeteria will be transformed into a dining

hall equipped with festive linens, china plates and napkins to create a

welcoming environment. Our school choir will add to the festivities

with their beautiful renditions of traditional Christmas carols. Our

Hospitality SHSM students will be feverishly working to create a

traditional meal with all the trimmings.

“Be shepherds of the flock God has given you” (1 Peter 5:2)

February 15th – Mississauga Brampton Central Council

Chairs Gathering at St. Marcellinus

6:00 p.m. followed by regular Catholic

School Council Meetings in designated

rooms

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who

loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him” 1 John 5:1