Principal’s Report: Hello, As I reflect on my first year at St. Francis School, this has been quite a year! I wish to thank you for your support and welcoming me. I am thrilled with the progress we made to date and look forward to reaching more goals, next year. Recently, EQAO seemed to have gone very well, this year, again. Thanks for getting your students to school, on time. Last week, we completed the Grade Six testing. This week is the Grade 3 test. School Improvement Plans for 2017-18 have been submitted. Academics - Our Theory of Action: If we provide multiple opportunities for increased student voice within the classroom and throughout the school, then students will feel empowered and valued in all aspects of school life and student achievement and engagement will increase. Student Well-Being - Our Theory of Action: If we increase the number of student centered and relevant problem solving opportunities through rich tasks in which students demonstrate perseverance and resiliency, then student engagement and academic success will increase.

May certainly proved to be an eventful month, at St. Francis. We had great attendance at our “Welcome to Kindergarten”. Our enrolment is up, presently we are at 171.

Our Playground renewal project is progressing. Thanks for supporting our fundraisers. I have had the iron rod fencing at the front of the school removed. It will be reinstalled at the primary side of the school in a U formation. Presently our sandbox has been delivered and filled. We have hired Ms. D'Angelo to complete our natural Kindergarten Play Area. We will install an outdoor chalkboard, tree stump table and chairs, labyrinth of rocks, etc. Three contractors have submitted quotes for the new outdoor track. I am hoping to start construction this upcoming fall. I am also working with the Principal at St. Pat's HS to have the Tech/Shop classes construct an outdoor classroom for our playground. Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful dads of these great kids. Lastly, I would like to wish you and your family a healthy and happy summer. I look forward to the final year of my career, 2017-2018. Therefore, I would like to make it a memorial year for all the students and staff at St. Francis. God Bless, Shelley

Up Coming Dates: June 7&8 - Elementary Track

Meet June 16 - PD Day June 18 - Father's Day June 20-22 - Book Fair June 20&21 - Ultimate Frisbee June 21 - Family BBQ 5:00 - 7:00 June 22 - Raindate for BBQ June 27 - Year End Mass

at St. Domenic Church 10:00

Grade 6 Luncheon - Da Vinci 11:30

June 28 - Kindergarten

Celebration at 2:00

June 29 - Play Day June 30 - Last Day of School

On May 2nd we hosted our

Welcome to Kindergarten Orientation. Below of some photos of our future

St. Francis Kindergarten Students, with their parents. Special thanks to all parents and grandparents who attended and helped to

make our orientation a success. A big thank you is also extended to our wonderful

Kindergarten teachers.

A smile - is a sign of joy.

A hug - is a sign of love.

A laugh - is a sign of happiness. Happiness

Library News BOOK FAIR Once again, St. Francis will be having its annual Scholastic Book Fair. The money raised will purchase new books for our school library and home reading program. It will be held in our school library on Tuesday, June 20th to Thursday, June 22nd. It will also be open during the Family BBQ. A class schedule and Book Fair pamphlet will be sent out a week before the fair.

CANADIAN BOOK CHALLENGE In honor of Canada’s 150th Birthday, Member of Parliament Don Rusnak, put forth a challenge to young Canadians to read as many pieces of Canadian Literature as possible, between March 15th to May 15th. Here at St. Francis School, Mrs. Jacobson was able to find approximately 250 books by various Canadian authors. Students from Grades 3, 4 and 5 took part in this challenge and were able to collectively read 641 books altogether. Terrific!

Congratulations & Best

Wishes to Mrs. Savioli and her family on the safe arrival of their

new baby boy, Nathan.

Farewell

to Mme. Bursey, who will be moving to

Bishop E.Q. Jennings. We wish you all the best!

You will be missed!

Here comes the sand…… for THE NEW SANDBOX!

Thank you to all of our students and their families for participating in our

Chocolate Bar Fundraiser. It was a huge success. Our students raised over $2,900.00. This money will be used towards our Playground Renewal Initiatives.

Getting our sand delivered was quite the challenge. After all the wet, rainy weather we’ve had recently, the dump truck sunk and required a tow truck to pull it out.

This created a great deal of interest by our students. After watching the sand being delivered, the children were excited to dig in. Our Kindergarten students are greatly enjoying our newly installed sandbox. We look forward to more additions

to the playground, that will be coming soon.

Green Team News

The Plastic Bag Grab Challenge is in full swing and collection closes the

first week of June.

Thank you to everyone who has brought in plastic shopping bags for this great recycling initiative.

St. Francis students were out in full force helping to keep our

school ground and surrounding area clean by picking up garbage for our Spring Up to Clean Up event.

Keep up the great work with

litterless lunches for your chance to win some eco-friendly prizes!

********************************** Caribou

Contest Our last Caribou Math Contest of the school year was held on Thursday May 4th.

We are very proud of all our students who participated in this challenge.

Certificate of Achievements were awarded to the following students.

Tyler Wilke ~ Grade 6 Keyahnna McGowan ~ Grade 4 Reid Hull ~ Grade 3

***************

St. Francis Winners

also go out

to these successful students!

Julia Curtis – Grade 6 Anna Guadino - Grade 5 Logan Kucher - Grade 5 Aletha Purdy - Grade 5

Alessio Notarbartolo - Grade 4 Jorja Gallant - Grade 3

Mischa Loi - Grade 3

K I N D E R G A R T E N

Fun

Mrs. Fazzari and Mrs. Kuschak’s Kindergarten class have been exploring our outdoor field. The students have been noticing

different ecosystems. There were some fairly deep puddles with some worms and beetles swimming around. They were also exploring

the colour of the water as it changed on their gloved hands. We have also seen many different plants, like creeping Charlee, dandelions,

little violas, and raspberry canes. The weather has been warming up and it has been wonderful to get outside to enjoy the sun.

Mrs. Workman and Mrs. Melideo's Kindergarten class explored the wonderful world of worms! Mrs. Pye came in to show us a vermi-compost during our worm investigation and taught us about how they move, how they eat, how they lay eggs and how we can care for our own vermi compost. It was very exciting!

We are learning about…. Wiggly Worms

The Grade 1 class has been investigating measurement using non-standard units of measure. After estimating how many snap cubes it would take to measure the width of our room, some children got together to check to see if their estimations were correct.

As part of our measurement unit, the Grade 1 class also used non-standard units of measure to determine the height of their classmates.

As part of an eco-schools initiative, all classes in St. Francis School participated in a school yard clean up. The Grade 1 class cleaned up the front yard of the school and they were very proud of all their hard work.

NEWS ____________________________________________________________

May is the month of Mary. The Grade Two's learned how to pray the rosary and made their own rosary prayer beads

The Grade Two students have been learning about fairytales and fables. We read the story Jack and the Beanstalk, and afterwards we planted our own magic bean.

The Grade Two's had fun learning about simple machines. They made toy trucks and tested them carrying a load down different ramps.

The Grade Two Class ended Catholic

Education Week with a Friendship Party.

In Other

The students are learning about Communities in Canada from 1780–1850. We put our measurement skills to the test while baking and would like

to thank Ms. Tinsley for helping us make bannock.

Some of our Grade Two friends made their First Holy Communion at St. Dominic's Church

Mr. Mirabelli's class cleaning up the schoolyard!

The Grade 4/5's took part in a

supper cooking session that was

run by the Thunder Bay Health Unit

throughout the year.

Soccer Jamboree

Some of the junior

students took part in the annual Junior Soccer

Jamboree last week at the James St. Field.

The kids had a great time and had a chance

to wear their new orange and blue St. Francis jerseys. Both teams

played amazing!

Mr. Mirabelli's Class

Getting a WORK OUT! Jenn Poirier, Masters Kinesiology in Children's Fitness and General Manager of Push Fitness invited Mr. Mirabelli's Grade 4/5 students to participate in her one hour fitness class. There was excellent participation by all students, a few grandmother volunteers, Mr. Mirabelli and Ms. Taylor. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves while having a great workout.

Special Thanks to Jenn and Push Fitness Centre

St. Francis Grade 6 Graduates

Wishing you much success…today, tomorrow and always!

Congratulations

All the BEST to every one of you

at PJPII !

Leandra Aggamway

Kyran Annala

Kaius Backman

Julia Curtis

Adam D’Angelo

Antonio De Leo

Sophia Downton

Ethan Edison

Aubrey-Belle Girouard

Brayden Gordon

Hailey Hull

Madeline Michaelis

Raden Scott

Branden Skelding

Tyler Wilke

Meagan Wiseman

******

Our Bike Rodeo

By Shyla

At my school, on May 31st, we had a Bike Rodeo. It looked like about nineteen people or more came. It took place outside at the back of our school. For our safety, they had a nurse, a person to fix bikes, and even a few policemen. They showed us how to check our bikes, and make sure they were safe to ride. They asked questions like, what is the first thing we need to check? We checked our breaks, nuts and bolts, and the air in our tires. We learned about hand signals, like right hand and left hand turns when riding your bike. We were also learning about straight line riding. After that, we went for a bike ride around the block. We had to stay in a straight line. When we were riding around the block we had to use our hand signals to tell the other person behind us if we were stopping, turning right, or if we were turning left. After the ride, we came back to the school and it was over. I think that is was a really, really fun day.

The Bike Rodeo

By Ava On Wednesday, May 31st we had a bike rodeo with the school. We all were put in groups so it would be easier. First we looked at our bikes and helmets to check if they were okay. We checked our helmets first and to see if the straps fit. Next, we did our bikes to see if all the important things were working. It was called the A,B,C check. A was for air, B was for brakes and bars, and C was for the chain. Then we rode our bikes in a straight line and after that we were practising signals. Next we went on a ride around the block and came back in time. As we rode back they were handing out bells for our bikes. That was the bike rodeo!

EXTRA, EXTRA…Read all about it!!

CROSSING GUARD Appreciation Day – June 2nd Mrs. Crystal Wilson is our friendly and helpful crossing guard. This year celebrates her 32nd year at St. Francis. When you see her outside… Please

& say THANK YOU to her for keeping our kids SAFE! We appreciate you, Mrs. Wilson! ____________________________

PARTY Mrs. Workman’s JK-SK Class had the highest sales during our Chocolate Bar Fundraising Event. Her class alone raised over $1,275.00 and will be enjoying a free pizza party for their hard work & dedication to our Playground Renewal Project. Way to Go!

* * * * * * * *

to all of the dads in our

school community!

Save the Date Reminders

TBCDSB Elementary Track & Field Meet

– Legion Track June 7th & 8th

Book Fair – June 20 – 22nd

Family BBQ – June 21st (Raindate if required – June 22nd)

Year End Mass – June 27th

Report Cards Home - June 29th

LAST DAY of SCHOOL - June 30th

Canada’s 150th

Birthday - July 1st

Happy Birthday Canada

National Denim Day St. Francis collected $120.00, which we donated to the Cure

Foundation/ Breast Cancer