2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL’S PRAYER OF LOVE:

Today Lord, I choose life,

I choose your love and challenge to live it and share it,

I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,

I choose faith, accepting you as Lord and God,

I choose to let go of some part of my burdens,

day by day handing them over to you,

I choose to take hold of your strength and power ever

more deeply in my life,

May this truly before me a time of new life, of change,

challenge and growth,

May I come to you with a heart open to you.

Amen

ST. JAMES CATHOLIC SCHOOL

230 Humbercrest Blvd. Toronto, ON M6S 4L3

Telephone: 416-393-5275 Fax: 416-393-5046

Joanne Saragosa

PRINCIPAL

John Wujek 416-222-8282 Ext 5371

SUPERINTENDENT

Barbara Poplawski 416-512-3410

TRUSTEE

St. James Catholic Church 416-767-6451

721 Annette Street, Toronto, ON M6S 2E2

PARISH

Debbie Hammond

CSPC CHAIR

www.tcdsb.org/cpic

CPIC (PARENT ENGAGEMENT - TCDSB)

www.tcdsb.org/oapce-toronto

OAPCE TORONTO (PROVINCIAL VOICE FOR PARENTS)

186 9:00-3:30 pm 11:45-12:45

ENROLLMENTHOURS OF OPERATION LUNCH HOUR

NEW REGISTRANTS WELCOME

Apply online: soar.tcdsb.org

Call 416-393Your sch number here or the TCDSB Admissions Department at 416-222-8282, ext. 5320.

For general information about the Toronto Catholic District School Board, visit www.tcdsb.org

Stay in touch with the latest news throughout the school year: Follow @TCDSB on Twitter or Toronto Catholic DSB on Instagram

FEBRUARY 2018

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS AT ST. JAMES C.S. Intermediate students at St. James, inspired by Golden Globe Award Winning Director Guillermo Del Toro, created their own collection of unique sculptures.

To see more, please view https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stjames/news/20172018/pages/inspired-by-

award-winning-director.aspx

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS AT ST. JAMES C.S.

Grade SK/Gr 1 students explain their mathematical thinking using 10 frames.

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

Valentine’s Day

Candy Gram Heart Shaped Lollipops $1.00 Each

Send your friends, teachers and even your whole class a special Valentine’s treat for

Valentine’s!

Starting Monday February 5th until Friday February 9th the St. James Grade 8

Grad Committee will be selling nut-free Valentine Candy Gram Lollipops. All profits

from the sale will help the Grade 8 Graduating Class end-of-year

celebrations.

Each Candy Gram includes a Happy Valentine’s Day message attached. All

lollipops sold will be hand delivered to the student’s classroom on Tuesday,Feb 13th.

Please fill out the form below and return payment to your classroom teacher to place

your order:

Your Name: ______________________Your Teacher: ________________

I want to send #_______ Candy Grams.

Enclosed please find $_________cash

Name of person receiving your Candy Gram Teacher Grade

Thank you for your support!

Grade 8 Grad Committee

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

Important Upcoming Dates:

Friday, February 2, 2018 M. Tavares: Gifted Class Excursion to Bishop Allen Monday, February 5, 2018 S. Costanzo, M. Jaglowitz, and G. Zamrij: Toronto Symphony Excursion at Roy Thompson Hall (pm) Toronto Public Health Peer Leadership Group (11:45 – 12:45)) Wednesday, February 7, 2018 CSPC Meeting: 6 – 7:15 pm Tuesday, February 13, 2018 Shrove Tuesday: Pancake Day - CSPC Report Card Distribution Parent Teacher Conferences 5:30 – 8 pm Wednesday, February 14, 2018 Ash Wednesday Mass at St. James Church: 1:30 – 2:30 Thursday, February 15, 2018 Parent Teacher Conferences 5:30 – 8 pm Friday, February 16, 2018 PA Day – School Closed Monday, February 19, 2018 Family Day – School Closed Wednesday, February 21, 2018 S. Costanzo & J. Pascucci: Excursion to Indigo Sherway Gardens M. Tavares: Excursion to Apple Store Sherway Gardens Friday, February 23, 2018 Fr. Ignacio Visit 11:15 – 12:15 Monday, February 26, 2018 Toronto Public Health Peer Leadership Group (11:45 – 12:45)

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN IN GRADE 8

For safety and efficiency reasons, Toronto Catholic DSB would like to reduce the amount of cash & cheques coming into our school. Please join the thousands of parents who have already registered and are enjoying the convenience of paying ONLINE! It takes less than 5 minutes to register. Please follow these step-by-step instructions, so you will begin to receive email notifications regarding upcoming events involving your child(ren). NOTE: If you require assistance, select the SUPPORT option in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Step 1: Register a) If you have not registered, please go to the School Cash Online

home page https://tcdsb.schoolcashonline.com and select the “Get Started Today” option.

b) Complete each of the three Registration Steps *For Security Reasons your password, requires 8 characters, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and a number.

Step 2: Confirmation Email A registration confirmation email will be forwarded to you. Click on the link provided inside the email to confirm your email and School Cash Online account. The confirmation link will open the School Cash Online site prompting you to sign into your account. Use your email address and password just created with your account.

Step 3: Find Student This step will connect your children to your account. a) Enter the School Board Name. b) Enter the School Name. c) Enter Your Child’s Last Name and Birth Date. d) Select Continue. e) On the next page confirm that you are related to the child, check in

the Agree box and select Continue. f) Your child has been added to your account.

Step 4: View Items or Add Another Student If you have more children, select “Add Another Student” and repeat the steps above. 8 children can be added to one parent account. If you do not wish to add additional children, select “View Items For Students” option. A listing of available items for purchase will be displayed.

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

Peer Leadership Program – World Changers On Monday January 22 an announcement was made by Ms. Saragosa asking for students to join the Peer Leadership Project that was being offered by Public Health. The first meeting was in the school library at lunch. There were students from Mr. Servello’s grade 8 class, Mr. Barber’s grade 7/8 class and Mrs. Constanzo’s grade 6/7 class. Ms. Saragosa and Mrs. Costanzo and two people from Public Heath asked us to form a line in alphabetical order by our first names. That was easy. Then we were asked to form another line in order of our birthdays without speaking. It was a very difficult task because most of us didn’t know anyone’s birthdays and we could not talk and had to communicate by hand gestures. Although it was hard we worked through it and got to know everyone’s birthday on our team. After that fun exercise we were given a presentation about the program and why we were there by Wendy and Prentice from the Public Health. They explained that we will be helping to improve the school environment and help our school be a more accepting society in our school. The program will be held for eight weeks and meet Mondays at lunch recess. We were asked to come up with a strong group name and finally chose “World Changers”: Once we announced our team name we all decided on rules that our team will follow. These rules were:

Attend and participate in all meetings

Participate as a team in all school activities all year

Help organize school activities

Make sure we keep doing our assignments and homework

Listen and respect others

Be open to everyone’s ideas

Be a role model The team is very excited to see what kind of fun things we will be doing and how we can help the school. By Sarafina Cellucci Grade 7

Update from the Board February 2018

Director’s Annual Report 2016-2017 Check out some of the highlights of the past school year in the newly published edition of the Director’s Annual Report. https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/BoardAdministration/DirectorofEducation/Pages/directors-annual-report-2016-2017.aspx Audited Financial Statements 2016-2017 The audited financial statements for the past school year are available online: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/BudgetandFinance/Documents/Toronto%20Catholic%20DSB%20-%20Audited%20Stmt%2016-17.pdf February is…

African Canadian Heritage Month https://www.tcdsb.org/FORCOMMUNITY/HeritageCelebration/AfricanCanadianHeritage/Pages/default.aspx

Psychology Month https://www.tcdsb.org/programsservices/specialeducation/psychology/psychologymonth/Pages/Psychology-Month.aspx

2017 - 2018 is THE YEAR OF THE SCHOOL

National Inclusive Education Month Learn more about the TCDSB’s Catholic Equity and Inclusive Education Policy: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Policies/Pages/hm24.aspx

TCDSB Energy Conservation Month: 4 Days - 4 Themes - One Month: Join the TCDSB each Friday in February to save on energy: https://www.tcdsb.org/board/environment/energymonth/Pages/default.aspx

o National Sweater Day - February 2, 2018

o Flip the Switch Friday – February 9, 2018

o Phantom Friday - February 16, 2018

o Energy Education Day - Friday, February 23, 2018

Winter Walk Day 2018 Winter Walk Day will be taking place this year on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. Winter Walk Day is an opportunity for all of us—students, staff, families—to focus on improved health and well-being, active lifestyles and building safer communities for everyone. Click here to register or for more information. Opportunities/Information for Students

Toronto Star and Toronto Public Library Annual Short Story Contest The 2018 Short Story Contest is open to anyone 16 years of age or older who lives in Ontario. The annual contest is co-sponsored by the Toronto Public Library and the Humber School for Writers. Entrants can write on any topic they want. Stories must be original, previously unpublished and no longer than 2,500 words. Entries are limited to one per person. There is no fee to enter the contest. All submissions must be received by 5 p.m., Wednesday, February 28, 2018. Details: https://www.tcdsb.org/FORSTUDENTS/OpportunitiesForStudents/Pages/ShortStoryContest.aspx

February’s Virtue is Love Please visit our website for the monthly resources connected to the virtue of the month. https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/VirtueoftheMonth/Pages/Default.aspx Other Event Notices:

February 2: World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

February 13: Shrove Tuesday

February 14: St. Valentine’s Day https://www.archtoronto.org/Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=95

February 14: Ash Wednesday; Lent Begins https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/Pages/Lent-and-Easter-Resources.aspx

February 16: Lunar New Year

February 16: Board-wide PA Day

February 19: Family Day Winter Weather Has Arrived Don’t miss out on information relating to cancellations or delays in school bus service. Sign up to receive alerts through the TSTG parent portal https://www.torontoschoolbus.org or follow @TCDSB on Twitter for the latest updates.