St. James Catholic School 230 Humbercrest Blvd. • TORONTO, ON • M6S 4L3 • 416 393-5275

St. James CS website: https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stjames/Pages/default.aspx

Parish: St. James’ Church • 728 Annette Street • Toronto, ON • 416-767-6451 • Father Ignacio

Principal: K. Schneider Trustee: Barbara Poplawski Superintendent: John Wujek

416-222-8282 Ext 2732

happy new year! Bonne et heureuse annee a tous!

While January sees the beginning of the New Year, many of us also

regard it as the true beginning of winter. In this sense it is apt that the

virtue for January is COURAGE. The quote for this month is Isaiah

41:10, “Do not be afraid; I am with you” “Be not afraid!” is also

what the angel tells Mary at the annunciation. (Lk 1:30) and at the

resurrection, another angel uses the same words to tell the women at

the tomb that Christ has risen. (Mt 28:5) Jesus himself uses these

words to strengthen his apostles. (Jn 6:20) It takes a lot of courage to

practice and be true to our Catholic faith and to speak up for it. In

our secular society it is considered “not cool” to be a follower of

Christ and many times it is safer to remain silent and say nothing.

Let us all have the courage to profess the presence of Christ in our

daily lives and with the people we interact with. This month at St.

James we will demonstrate our courage to live our faith by speaking

out respectfully when we see that someone is speaking unkindly or

doing an unkind act to another person.

On December 14, 2016 we had our annual Christmas concert with our SK/1, Gr. ¾, Gr. 4/5, Gr.

6, Gr. 8 instrumental students and our Primary choir participating. Thank you to all the parents

for coming out to participate in this important community event with your child. It was a

wonderful time to celebrate the spirit of Christmas together. We wish to thank all the teachers

who made this concert possible.

As we begin the New Year let us continually give praise and thanks to God for all our blessings.

Wishing you all the best in your endeavours for 2017.

K. Schneider

Please visit us at https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stjames/AboutUs/AdmissionsAndRegistration/Pages/default.aspx

to register your child.

upCoMInG tennIs Lessons at st. JaMes Cs

I’m pleased to announce that the TCDSB has received $10,000 in funding through the RBC Learn to Play

Grant Program to implement an introductory tennis program in our elementary schools. This is a direct

response to the research conducted last February to identify the top 3 sports parents would like to

introduce to your school / acquire more resources for – TENNIS was among your top ranked sports.

Program Description: TCDSB and Ontario Tennis Association (OTA) have developed a partnership to

introduce and create greater access to the sport of tennis in our school. The Progressive Tennis School

program will provide all the training, equipment, and resources necessary for teachers and students to

learn the fundamental skills of tennis. Lastly, we will sustain tennis development and student’s growing

passion for the game and St. James CS will be encouraged to create a lunch-time or after school

intramural tennis league.

soCCer

Over the past two days the junior boys and junior girls’ soccer teams played at the south divisional

tournaments at St. Clare and St. Bruno respectively. The boys and girls displayed a positive attitude both

during and after the game. They worked together making the right decisions for the team. They believed in the

strength of the team and played with enthusiasm, dedication, sportsmanship and great teamwork. The boys and

girls represented St. James proudly with the girls finishing in second place in the round robin and the boys

making it to the semi-finals only to lose in a penalty shootout. We’d like to congratulate the following athletes

for their effort and dedication over the past month.

Congratulations to the following boys: Veshawn, Jason, Jason, Kaeshawn, Emanuel, Jomari, Julius, Dahvien,

Robert, Tyrese and Benjamin.

Congratulations to the following girls: Naomi, Sophia, Jaytasia, Lanesha, Tatiana, Gift, Naima, Alena and

Chloe (No picture available).

JK Registration for all children born in 2013

New students are always welcome to our St. James Catholic School community.

the Bata MuseuM On December 19th the Grade 6 class visited the

Bata Shoe Museum. They painted a wooden

clogs and learned about the history of many

types of shoes from around the world. Thank

you to all the parent volunteers that made the

trip possible.

CanDy Canes For ChaLICe

Message from Ms. Del Monte-Bahr:

Many thanks to our school community for

purchasing Candy Grams this past Christmas

Season. The Christian Leadership Team sold

245 Candy Canes with all profit going to the

International Aid and Development

organization, Chalice. We thank all for such

generosity and kindness as this will benefit

others less fortunate than us.

Thanks must also be extended to the young

volunteers at St. James who participate in our

Christian Leadership Team, without their

determination and willingness to help others, our

initiatives would not be possible. Thank-you to all

and God Bless.

t.e.a.r. presentatIon On Monday, January 23, 2017, Damielle

Brandford from the Victim Services Department

associated with the Toronto Police, shared a

presentation with the Grade 6 class. The

students were engaged in conversations about

being in healthy friendships. Cyberbullying and

issues of safe use when on social media were

also discussed. The presentation was fun and

informative!

upCoMInG IMportant Dates:

JANUARY 2017 Mon. Jan 30 Concerned Kids presentation

for JK- Gr. 6 students in the am

FEBRUARY 2017

Thurs. Feb 2 Safe School Meeting 3:30 -4:30 pm

Thurs. Feb 3 Pizza Day

Fri. Feb 9 Lockdown Practice 1:00-1:30 pm

Wed. Feb 15 Mass – 9:45 am

Thurs. Feb 16 Pizza Day

Thurs. Feb 16 Rosary Apostolate JK-8 am

Thurs. Feb 16 – Parent/Teacher Interviews 5-8 pm

Fri. Feb 17 – Parent/Teacher Interviews 9-11 am

Fri. Feb 17 PA Day – No School

Mon. Feb 20, Family Day – No School

Wed. Feb 22 – W5H – location to be disclosed

Fri. Feb 24 Civvies Day

Tues. Feb 28 – W5H – location to be disclosed

parents oF GraDe 7 anD 8 ChILDren:

TCDSB Community Relations Department and

CPIC, invite all grade 7 and 8 students and their

parents to attend an information session “From

Elementary to High School …Transitioning night!"

We are pleased to welcome Math, Program and

Pathways resource teachers as well as Special

Education who will be facilitating this presentation.

The presenters will offer an in- depth look at the

TCDSB resource ‘MyBLUE print and Transition

Guide for Grade 8 Students.’

The presentation will take place on Wednesday,

February 8th at Bishop Marrocco Tomas Merton

CSS located at 1515 Bloor Street West, Toronto,

ON, M6P 1A3 from 6.30-8.30 pm.

We encourage all grade 7 and 8 students and their

parents to attend this important presentation.

At the end of the presentation, there will be an

opportunity for a question and answer session.

However, if you have specific questions you would

like addressed during the presentation, please let us

know in advance. We would also appreciate knowing

if you can attend.

The presentations are carried out by our teachers in

English. Interpretation services will be available

throughout the presentation.

FaMILy LIteraCy Day On Thursday, January 26, 2017, St. James CS

held its first Family Literacy Day; Snuggle up

and Read. Our JK-Gr 4 students came to school

in their pajamas with their favourite stuffed toy

and a cozy blanket. Their parents accompanied

them to school and read their favourite books to

them. Our Grade 7 & 8 students also had picture

books on hand and read to any students whose

parent could not make it. Our Community

Liaison Officer Eric, Division 11, our Area 5

Superintendent John Wujek, and the

Dundas/Jane Library Branch Librarian Kara

Miley came out to give their support.

Congratulations to all our parents, CSPC

members and staff for making this such a fun

day for reading and learning!

To view more photographs from our St. James

Family Literacy Day, please check the following link

in February when the slideshow will be posted

https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stjames/News/Pages/d

efault.aspx