Welcome Back! It seems only yesterday that school was closing for the summer break. Holy Child’s staff hope you all enjoyed a wonderful sum-mer with family and friends. We now look forward to many learning experiences, ac-tivities, and events that will take place dur-ing the upcoming year.

Principal’s Message Thank you to all of the Holy Child commu-nity for making the 2014-2015 school year very rewarding for me, as Principal. I look forward to this year with excitement and enthusiasm and welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with staff, students, parents, and our Parent Council, as we work together to educate the children of Holy Child. As we welcome our students back to school in September it seems fitting that this month’s virtue is HOSPITALITY. Our teachers have been busy preparing their classrooms, gathering together resources, supplies and putting up bulletin boards that will invite the students back into a welcoming environment. But hospitality is more than just a welcoming back. Our quote for the month is from Matthew 25:40, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my peo-ple, that you do unto me”. According to Henri Nouwen, “the German word for hos-pitality is Gastfreundschaft which means friendship for the guest.... It means the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend in-stead of an enemy.” In our school commu-nity and in our homes we can discuss the concept of the least of our people or the stranger who needs our hospitality, be it the newly arrived to Canada or the new student at our school. Today hospitality is more important than ever and it is only through a deep moral obligation to hospital-ity that we can transform our communities. Let us all work together to achieve this im-portant goal.

Confirmation Registration Effective this fall, Cardinal Thomas Collins

extends the invitation to the sacrament of Confirmation to youth in Grades 7, 8 and up including youth in high school. Regis-tration is now open until September 15th. Contact Antoniette: 416-743-3830 ext. 4. To register, a copy of your child’s bap-tism certificate is required.

Sacramental Preparation

As parents, you have the privilege and responsibility of nurturing your child’s faith life. If your child is not yet baptized in the Catholic Church or has not made First Communion, the sacramental prepa-ration process is available at St. Benedict Church to help with your child’s faith formation. This sacramental preparation process is called Faith & Family. It is ide-al for your child if he/she is in:

Grades 2-8 and wants to receive Baptism in the Catholic Church or

Grades 3-8, is already a baptized, and now wants to receive Holy Communion

Faith & Family meets from October - May on Monday evenings, from 6:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. in the Church Hall.

Offering your child this rich faith for-mation experience is very easy. Simply register your child NOW for the upcoming season of Faith & Family which begins in October.

To register or for information, contact:

Mr. Wayne Sellars

Faith & Family Coordinator

416-748- 6304

New Staff Members

We would like to extend a very warm wel-come to our new staff members: Ms. Car-olyn McMillan is on a Long Term Occa-sional assignment in our grade 3/4 class for the duration of this school year. Mr. John Kassar is currently covering in our ELL/Special Education class and Ms. Clelia Silvi is covering as our Early Child-hood Educator in our ELP 1 class. Each of our new staff members are a great addition

Volume Issue

Newsletter Date

Holy Child Catholic School NEWSLETTER

September 2015

Important Numbers

Holy Child School: 416-393-5433 St. Benedict Catholic Church: 416-743-3830 McCauley Daycare Centre: 416-394-4766 Public Health Department: 416-338-7600 R. J. McCarthy School Uniforms: 416-593-6900 Police Services: 416-808-3100

Neil McGrath - Principal Adrian Della Mora Joseph Martino St. Benedict Catholic Church CSAC Lucy Pagano - Admin Assistant Superintendent Trustee, Ward 1 Fr. Michael Pace, Pastor Eunice Rodrigues - Co-Chair Lucy Kuchta - Clerk Typist (416) 222-8282 ext. 2732 (416) 512-3401 (416) 743-3830 Hilda Cupeta - Co-Chair

September’s Virtue of the Month is Hospitality

to the Holy Child School Community. Our students will benefit from their experience, talents, enthusiasm and commitment to Catholic Education.

Community BBQ/Curriculum Night We invite you all to participate in our Annual BBQ/Curriculum Night on Wednesday Sept. 23 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. This is a great opportunity for our community to come together and enjoy food and fun in the central yard. You will also have the opportuni-ty to meet your child’s teacher and other Holy Child staff. Order forms for food will be sent home the week of September 14th. We hope to see you there.

Catholic School Parent Council (CSPC) The revised S. 10 Catholic School Parent Council policy changes the name of the council. Thus it is no longer a CSAC but a Catho-lic School Parent Council (CSPC). The first meeting of the School Council will take place on Wednesday September 30th at 6:45 pm. At this time we will hold elections and review the meeting dates for the year. If any parents are interested in serving on CSPC you are asked to pick up a nomination form at the school office. Alter-natively, the nomination form will be available under CSPC on the Holy Child web portal. https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/holychild/Pages/default.aspx

School Day Schedule Our school day begins at 8:30 am and ends at 2:50 p.m. In an ef-fort to build a healthier approach to eating, we will continue with two energy or nutrition breaks this year. Please pack two smaller nutritional meals that your children may eat to give them energy throughout the day. Nutrition breaks are from 10:15–10:35 am, followed by a 20 minute recess and 12:35 – 12:55 pm followed by another recess. The school day ends at 2:50 pm.

Frozen Cookie Dough Fundraising

It’s back by popular demand! The frozen cookie dough fundraiser will begin on Thursday September 24th and run until Wednesday October 14th. Delivery is scheduled for Nov. 12th, which will coincide with the interview day for our student Progress Report Interviews. Students will attend an assembly on Sept. 24th where they will receive their catalogues and order forms. We encourage every student to try and sell one box of cookie dough to support school activities. We thank you in advance for your participation and support!

School Day Supervision Supervision of students begins at 8:10 am in the school yard and school begins at 8:30 am. Parents should not drop their children off prior to 8:10 am as students will be unsupervised until the teacher on duty arrives. Students are expected to line up with their class when the bell rings. It is very important to teach children to be on time, as this is an important life skill that is best instilled at an early age. Late arrivals have a negative impact on the teaching/learning environment. Students who arrive late must receive an admit slip from the office before they are allowed to go to class. Dismissal time is at 2:50 pm. Parents are reminded to please pick your children up on time if they are not being bussed home. For the older students, parents are encouraged to have them go straight home after dismissal, as there is no further supervision provided. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Students who are not met by a parent or caregiver must report to the office. At that time we will make phone calls home. Both the school and the public library are not responsible for the students after dismis-sal. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure there is adequate su-pervision of their children before or after school.

Please refer to the Holy Child insert in your child’s agenda for more information regarding school procedures

Dress Code School uniforms are part of Holy Child Dress Code and can be purchased from McCarthy’s. Families can either shop online by visiting www.rjmccarthy.com or by contacting Customer Service & Orders at (416)593-6900. ALL students must wear the school uniforms consisting of a Holy Child crested vest or equivalent and navy blue bottoms. Dress down days will be recorded on the school calendar, which will be sent home monthly.

School Agendas Holy Child has made a school agenda available for students to purchase for $10.00. Please see the attached form for details. School agendas are a priority for developing organizational skills. Please ensure that your child has his/her agenda and monitor it regularly for student success. The agendas are an excellent form of communication between the teacher and the parent.

Homework Please monitor that your child is doing their assigned homework on a daily basis. Homework responsibility is meant to be a rein-forcement and extension of skills taught in school. It helps to de-velop good study and organizational habits and supports a pattern of lifelong learning. Through homework checks, parents also have the opportunity to see what their children are learning.

Allergy-Safe School We have children with severe food allergies, especially to peanuts/nuts. This is a medical condition (anaphylaxis) that causes a severe reaction to specific foods and can potentially result in death. As this affects the entire school community, we request that you do not send food with your child to school that contain allergens e.g. peanuts, nutella, milk, eggs, shellfish etc. If your child has been diagnosed with such a medical condition, please let the school know, so that we can plan for their safe integration. Children are asked not to share food with other children. Please respect the ‘Allergy-Safe’ designation for our school and help ensure a safe and healthy environment for all children.

TCDSB SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR 2015-2016

Number of school days 194 Number of Professional Activity Days 6 Labour Day September 7, 2015 First Instructional Day September 8, 2015 Thanksgiving Day October 12, 2015 Christmas Break December 21, 2015 to January 1, 2016 Family Day February 15, 2016 Mid-Winter Break March 14–18, 2016 Good Friday March 25, 2016 Easter Monday March 28, 2016 Victoria Day May 23, 2016 Last day of classes for elementary students June 29, 2016

Professional Activity (PA) Days for

ELEMENTARY schools:

Parent-Teacher Conferences November 13, 2016 Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting January 22, 2016 Parent-Teacher Conferences February 12, 2016 Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting June 10, 2016 Provincial Education Priorities June 30, 2016 More details including PA Days here: https://www.tcdsb.org/school/SchoolYearCalendar/Pages/FutureSchoolYearCalendar.aspx