SAINT MATTHEW CATHOLIC SCHOOL 405 Pastern Trail, Waterloo, Ontario N2K 3V6

Phone: 519-886-9311 Fax: 519-886-9121 http://stmatthew.wcdsb.ca

Heart of the Community, Success for Each, A Place for All

March 2017 Newsletter

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our

commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism. In our busy world, Lent provides us with an

opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and

failed to do, and to be generous to those in need.

I wanted to share with you an inspirational Easter reflection written by Brian D. McLaren.

“Easter celebrates not only the resurrection of one man, but the resurrection of the whole human race.

Perhaps this is the full meaning of the term "son of man," so important to the gospel writers: Jesus is the

new generation of humanity, a new humanity. By proclaiming His resurrection now and not at the end of

time, we are inviting people everywhere to join him—in a new birth, as part of a new humanity,

celebrating a new covenant, to walk "in newness of life." We are saying, "You don't have to wait for some

distant future to start practicing kindness, nonviolence, reconciliation, reverence, joy, hope,

neighbourliness, and peace. You can leave the old humanity behind and start practicing this new

humanity now”.

May God bless you and your family during the Easter season.

Lord of life

We pray for all who bring your word of life As a light to those in darkness

For those who bring your word of peace To those enslaved by fear

For those who bring your word of love To those in need of comfort

Lord of love and Lord of peace

Lord of resurrection life Be known Through our lives and through your power

Christ the Lord is risen today.

Alleluia!

Safe Arrival Program:

A reminder to please phone in your child’s absence or lateness (519) 886-9311.

Our answering service is available 24 hours a day.

March Dates At a Glance

Mar 1 Ash Wednesday Celebration 9:15 am

Mar 3 Cst. Zalmay of the Waterloo Regional Police visits grades 6 – 8

Mar 7 Grade 6 Retreat at St. Agnes Parish

Mar 7 School Council Meeting 6:30 pm Mar 13 – 17 March Break

Mar 20 Grade 7 Hep B and HPV; Grade 8 HPV

Mar 21 Lenten Reconciliation 9:15 am Mar 29 - 31 Grade 8s @ Mount Mary

Mar 29 Bishops Banquet

APRIL 7 PD Day

EQAO Primary and Junior Assessment Annually, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) assess Ontario’s Grade 3

and Grade 6 students in the areas of mathematics, reading and writing. At St. Matthew Catholic

School, the assessment period for Grade 3 is from May 23rd to 26th. The Grade 6 assessment

period is from May 29th to June 1st. We ask for your cooperation in not making any

appointments for your child during this time so they do not miss any of the testing periods.

Sample tests for the Grade 3 and 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics are now

available on EQAO’s Web site, www.eqao.com. You will also find other great resources like

“Understanding Levels of Achievement” which uses EQAO information to improve student

learning. Take a moment to look at this site, as there is valuable information and activities for

you and your children. In addition to these resources, we have purchased test practice booklets

for every student in grade 3 and 6. Please ask your child’s teacher for information on these and

suggestions on how they can be used at home.

CCAT- Grade 4

The Grade 4 board-wide screen using the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test (CCAT) will be

administered during the period of April 24 – 28, 2017. CCAT appraises reasoning skills – the

essential cognitive construct in learning and problem solving.

The purpose of the CCAT is to provide a description for educators of a student’s cognitive

resources for learning in order to help them achieve instructional objectives. Separate scores for

verbal, quantitative, and non-verbal tasks enable educators to identify stronger or weaker areas of

cognitive skills that have crystalized to this point in development. We ask for your cooperation in

not making any appointments for your child during this time so they do not miss any of the

testing periods.

CAT 4

Modeled to fit Canadian curricula, the CAT 4 is a testing system that assesses the essential

learning outcomes of the following basic skill areas: reading, language, spelling, and

mathematics. Essentially, as well as being a tracker of learning abilities, the CAT 4 also

evaluates how well students perform in comparison to other students across the district, region,

or in Canada as a whole. Our grade 7 students will be writing the CAT 4 test between the dates

of May 8 – 12.

Classes for 2017-2018 As we approach the end of another successful school year, preparations have slowly begun to ensure that

our class structures are in place for September. Preparing class lists is a process that involves hours of

work, on behalf of all staff, to ensure that the needs of all of our students are met. Lists are fluid

documents that may be changed and revised several times from now until the beginning of school in

September.

Each new school year is a tremendous opportunity for students to meet new friends and expand their

circle of acquaintances. Our goal is to place a child were they will achieve the most success academically

while trying to balance their social development. A balanced class reflects the diversity and needs of our

school community and all of our students.

A great deal of thought and reflection goes into the placement of each child. Many factors are considered

in student placement including: academic abilities, social groupings, and gender ratio. In addition, we

consult Board and Ministry of Education guidelines including those for combined classes.

The teachers and administration take great care to ensure, to the best of our ability, that all students’ needs

are met. Since it is very difficult to honour requests from parents as well as make the most prudent

decisions for all students in our care, we will not be soliciting classroom requests for the 2016-2017

school year.

We ask that you trust that the staff will continue to make professional decisions on placements that are in

the best interests of all the students at St. Matthew.

Spirit Days St. Matthew School Spirit is running wild! Thank you for participating in our theme days this year. The

following Spirit Days are scheduled:

March 10 Wear green for St. Patrick’s Day!

March 31 Crazy Hair Day

April 6 Backwards Day

April 28 Super Hero Day

May 4 Sports Day

May 26 Twin Day

June 1 Early Canada Day

We have a new set of Spirit Team Leaders who will collect Spirit Team points for the rest of the year.

They are: Rebecca G., Nicole M., Olivia G., Taylor K., Isabella W., Lilly Z., Julia K., Mason M., Primo

E., Julia C., Nathan K., Lea D., Jenaya N., Sara R., Haliya M., Brooke V., Liam W., Kaitlyn Y.

Go Wildcats!!!

Girls Volleyball The Girls Volleyball Team enjoyed a very successful season overall. The team was comprised of girls

from Grades 5 - 8 and they worked well together to build their skills and support each other throughout

the last few months. The team placed 2nd in the St. David/Resurrection Family of Schools and narrowly

missed advancing to the Regional Tournament. Each of the girls had a lot of fun and should be proud of

their effort and sportsmanship. We say goodbye and good luck to the Grade 8 members of the team and

look forward to seeing the younger players back in December as they try out for a new season. Way to go, Wildcats! Thanks to all drivers and fans throughout the season! Members of the team included: Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Hannah C Shannon R Sara S Chloe B Julia M Chantal L Makayla T Emma B

Jada S Grace W Ella C Sophie Z Natalie R Emma K Julia Y

Iva B Aliyah K Rachel W

Coaches: Ms. Harris and Mrs. Godin

Wildcat Intramurals Our next session of Wildcat intramurals is under way for the Primary and Intermediate students.

Tchoukball and Four Corner Soccer have been fun and engaging and a great way to stay active despite the

messy weather.

Skills Canada Congratulations to our three Skills Canada teams for their hard work and successes in Coding, Robotics,

and Design Technology. Mrs. Healy and Mr. McKinnon are proud of all the Wildcat team members.

A BIG Thank You goes out to all of our parent volunteers for another amazing

Shrove Tuesday!

Catholic Education Week – May 1 – 5, 2017

Catholic schools across the province of Ontario will be celebrating Catholic Education week from May 1-

5. The theme for Catholic Education week this year is Walking Forward Together. Further updates and

school events will be forthcoming.