St. Vincent School February 2015

Principal: Mrs. K. Cascone Brown Secretary: Mrs. A. Hughes

Phone #: 905—849-0777

Fax #: 905-849-4579

Internet: www.schools.hcdsb.org/vinc

“Joy filled witness to Christ”

ADMINISTRATOR’S MESSAGE: The St. Vincent School Community continues to impress others with

not only their academic achievement but also the warm welcoming

community that we maintain. We recently had our District Review

around the School Effective Framework and St. Vincent School had

resounding success. The report included the following statements:

-It is evident from the presentation that this team works together and

is focused on student learning and achievement.

-St. Vincent school is a welcoming school community, there is a

sense of family with a sense of respect and kindness.

-The students seemed happy and wanted to engage with the visitors

not only in the classroom but also in the halls.

-It is evident that there is a good deal of growth in the development

of effective Instruction and Assessment at St. Vincent School since

the last review.

Teachers are working on report cards and we are all looking forward

to Valentines Day followed by the Holy season of Lent, when we are

reminded of God’s love for us. We have just held Kindergarten

registration for the fall program and we continue to have regular

inquiries about families who wish to join the St. Vincent School

community. That is a testament to the great program we provide and

the wonderful partnership we share with the families, Parish and

school.

Thank you for your ongoing support in your child’s learning,

K. Cascone Brown

To the milk and special lunch day volunteers for adding such a

healthy element to the children’s lunch!

To the many parents who volunteer in our school. We always have

room for more!

To all parents who remember to call in their children's absences each

day!

To the patient parents who are careful in our parking lot and follow

the rules!

To the many parents who drop by with a kind word of thanks and

appreciation to the staff. Your support helps keep us going!

To our wonderful parish team who help us bring the Gospel to our

community!

To the fine School Council led by Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Blackburn

who give their time to keep on top of school and Board happenings.

RECONCILITATION UPDATE

Msgr. Sheridan has rescheduled the Reconciliation Parent meeting

for January 31st at 10:00 am. Our grade 2 students will be

celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation on February 21

at St. Andrew Church at 10:00 a.m. We hope that their

commitment to their faith will allow them to keep God at the

centre of their life journey.

PUBLIC SPEAKING FESTIVALS Our Public Speaking Festival will be held in the gym

on Thursday, February 26 at 12:30 p.m.. Students

from Grades 4 - 8 will be competing for the opportunity

to represent St. Vincent at the Regional finals. Parents

and friends are welcome to attend.

PROFFESIONAL ACTIVITY DAY– Friday February 13th

will be a P.A. day. No school for students.

FAMILY DAY– Monday February 16th– No school for staff or

students. Enjoy the day!

SCHOOL COUNCIL Our next School Council meeting will be on Monday,

March 2- 7:00 p.m. in the School Library. All parents are

welcome to attend.

TABLE HOCKEY

Table hockey club had another successful run this season culminating

with a dramatic final series in which the savvy veteran and high

flying Lumberjacks squared off against the youthful and defensively

minded Medieval Claws. In the end the Medieval Claws prevailed 3

games to 1 to capture the Second Annual Winter Classic Table Hockey

Tournament. Congratulations to the winning team members: Mathew

Rukavina, Quintin Plutino and Mr. Zielke. We look forward to the

Spring Fling Tournament in April.

HOCKEY

Congratulations to the St Vincent Vikings Hockey team who won

the silver medal at the Wave Tournament on January 16th. The team

lost a heartbreaker in the final with only seconds left in overtime.

Goalie Thomas Rea was named tournament MVP for his outstanding

efforts in goal. Great work team!!! Photos of the tournament can be

viewed in our showcase by the Tree of Life, special thank you to Mrs.

Zuliani for her tireless work as the teams roving journalist and

photographer.

BASKET BALL

The boys basketball team has played in a tournament and a couple of

regular season games to start the year. They have shown great team

work and energy, and have improved their play with each game. Thank

you Mr. Sutherland and good luck, in the rest of the season and the

playoffs.

The girls team is off to a great start this season. Keep up the good work

and thanks to Mr. Zielke for his time and effort coaching.

SAFETY & COMFORT Please remember:

Shoes or slippers are required on your child’s feet at school because the

floors are cold and wet after the students come in. Please have your

children leave some kind of footwear in their lockers.

Physical Education classes - running shoes are required for daily physical

education classes. For your child’s health and safety, we cannot allow

either bare or stocking feet in the gym.

If your child is not feeling well, please keep him/her at home.

It is often difficult to track parents down during the day and we cannot

keep the children inside at recess breaks as the teachers on duty are

outside with the kids.

YOGA/Mindfulness

Our Grade 6 students are participating in a School Board pilot project

which looks at stretching and breathing as a way to help kids focus on

their school work and self regulate their behavior. There is no

connection between the stretching and breathing that the students are

doing and the Religious Yoga practice entrenched in Eastern religious

practices. Our yoga/mindfulness program is enthusiastically supported

by Bishop Crosby and Father Laurence Freeman.

CONCUSSION PROTOCOL

There is a new school board protocol where after a head injury

students are not allowed to participate in physical activity for 24 hours.

Also a form must be signed by parents and sometimes physician's

before a student may return to activities.

CASHLESS SCHOOLS IS COMING

The date is still to be determined however, St. Vincent School will be

going cashless and accepting online payments for all trips, lunches,

photo etc. We will keep everyone posted.

WINTER WEATHER

Winter has definitely closed in on us!! With the

colder temperatures, comes the need for warm

clothing and boots as the children need to go

outside and run and burn off energy during the

recesses.

We expect our students to wear the proper cold weather clothes you

have provided for them when they go out to recess. Please ensure that

your children are well dressed to face the often variable, bracing cold

weather. Children need to have their heads and ears covered; snow

resistant gloves are a necessity! All students must go outside for

recess, there is no supervision indoors during recess times.

Check local radio or television stations or the Halton Catholic District

School Board website for school closures and/or bus cancellations due

to inclement weather - you will not receive a call from the school with

this information.

You may also check the Board’s website: www.hcdsb.org.

In the case of an Emergency School Closure at St. Vincent School

during the course of a school day you will receive a call from

Synrevoice notifying you of the closure and the reason. The calling

system only takes place when school is to be closed during the day

(when the students are already here).

Students whose parents have given permission that they be

dismissed will automatically be dismissed by their classroom

teacher. Those students whose parents have indicated that they

are to remain at school and the parents will pick them up will

be held. For the safety of our students, anyone picking up

children that are not their own will require written permission

from the other child’s parent in order to do so.

SHROVE TUESDAY

We enjoy having parent volunteers in the school on Shrove

Tuesday each year to help flip pancakes for our students on the

day before Lent. Organized annually by Mrs. Glinski and her

class parents, this is a wonderful community event to celebrate

together before Lent begins. Students are asked to donate $2

each for pancakes and all funds raised will go toward

supporting our Lenten fundraising project. We look forward to

a wonderful syrupy Tuesday February 17, 2015.

ASH WEDNESDAY

Please join us for mass on Wednesday

February 18 at 1pm in the Gym. There

will be a full mass along with the

distribution of ashes.

MARCH BREAK

Please note that the March break this

year is on Monday March 16-Friday

March 20 inclusive.

School resumes on Monday,

March 23.

ARE YOU MOVING?

We are preparing a school organization plan for September

2015.

If you have moved or are planning to move to a new address

please notify the school office as soon as possible. In addition,

please provide the name and the grade level of any student who

will not be returning to St. Vincent School in September 2015.

Your assistance in this matter will help us with our organization

and with the preparation of the Ontario Student Record that

follows a student to a new school.

KISS’N RIDE

Thank you for your continuing support and patience with drop

off and pick up times here at school. The safety of all students,

staff, and the community continues to be our priority,

particularly during these busy times of day. While at times

lines form during these busy times, they are usually very brief

as everyone continues in an orderly fashion. If you are

planning on dropping your child off at the curb, please remain

in the lineup as it does move quickly rather than pulling out and

trying to pull back in again close to the front. There are many

students or parents who have parked and may be walking

through the lot. Your assistance with this continues to make

these busy times run smoothly and safely. Thank you also for

refraining from entering the front driveway of the school during

these busy times as they remain for the exclusive use of the

buses.

SPREAD THE LOVE FOR UNITED WAY

This year in celebration of Valentine's Day we will be spreading

the love to United Way! Students are asked to wear red, pink or

white on Thursday, February 12th and bring in a $1 or $2 dona-

tion for United Way. Student Council thanks you in advance for

your support!

SWEET HEARTS FOR SICK KIDS, LUKE’S LEGACY

Sunday February 8th from 11am until 4pm at Longo’s Market,

South East Oakville 469 Cornwall. It’s fun, sticky, and

sweet! Customize a confection for a good cause and donate while

you decorate! In December 2007, the St. Vincent community lost

a son, brother, and friend when Luke Holmes lost his battle with

Hypo plastic Left Heart/Critical Aortic Stenosis. He was treated

at Sick Kids from the time he was 2 days old and showed strength,

courage, and determination in every battle he fought. This event

always takes place on or around Luke’s birthday and this year

on Sunday February 8th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. you can decorate

a heart shaped nut free “Artsy Baker” cookie in support of the

Cardiac Critical Care Unit of Sick Kids Hospital in memory of

Luke. The suggested donation is $5 per cookie.

If you cannot attend the event but would like to support Luke's

Legacy, forms will be sent home to order cookie decorating

kits. These kits will be delivered to school on Monday February

9, for the children to bring home to decorate. Please make time on

the 8th to decorate and donate in support of the very worthwhile

work taking place at Sick Kids. For more information, please

contact Carolyn Holmes at cmandrowholmes@yahoo.com

ANGELMAN DAY

Sunday February 15th is International Angelman Day. We will

show our support for our Angel, Callum and all families and chil-

dren with Angelman’s on Friday February 20th. The primary divi-

sion (K-3) is asked to wear green, junior division (4-6) is to wear

purple, our intermediates (7 and 8) yellow

and all staff to wear blue to show our support.

YEARBOOK The Yearbook Committee is already hard at work on the 2014/15

book but we need your pictures to make this year's book the best

one ever! The Yearbook Committee strives to include multiple

candid pictures of every student and cover as many school events

as possible. But without great pictures, there wouldn't be a year-

book. Last year's book contained over 800 candid pictures (in

addition to the individual and grad pictures from Pegasus) selected

from more than 4000 pictures! This year, we hope to have the

same daunting task of going through so many wonderful pictures.

Please send us pictures of your child(ren)'s classroom events, par-

ties, trips as well as school-wide activities, presentations, fundrais-

ers, etc. Pictures can be emailed to Bridgette Currie

at love4pilates@gmail.com or through eShare (see attached for

information). The Yearbook Committee would like to thank the

teachers and parents who have already submitted pictures and we

look forward to seeing many more awesome pictures from our

talented St. Vincent community. Keep snapping!

STUDENT COUNCIL HAPPENINGS

The St Vincent Student Council; the St. Vincent’s Voice,

meets every Monday at lunch recess. Our weekly meetings

include reviewing and talking about school issues, discuss-

ing spirit and fundraising events, and sharing ideas on mak-

ing our school a better place. Thanks for your support for

Wii Bowling for Big Brothers/Big Sister in support of their

school based programs. From February 2nd to 5th we will be

selling Principal for the Day raffle tickets in support of Big

Brothers/Big Sisters. The winner will be announced on Fri-

day February 6th. Tickets are 2 for $1. Thank you again for

your support. On February 27th a team of St Vincent teach-

ers will bowl in the board’s annual bowl a thon for Big

Brothers/Big Sisters.

On January 29th we had crazy hat day to bring some fun

during these cold January days. Each month, St. Vincent’s

Voice will organize a fun spirit day. Stay tuned to the an-

nouncements and the newsletter for more information.

On February 12th, we will be holding Red, White and Pink

day in support of United Way.

Thank you for your support before Christmas with our gifts

for a baby drive for Halton Women’s Place. The letter we

received from the Halton Women’s Place quoted “the items

that were donated made a big difference in the clients of the

Halton Women’s Place’s this holiday season.”

Our school is a Me to We school as well. Our support of

local charities will continue and we are also working with

Free the Children during their Year of Empowerment, to

support a global initiative. Stay tuned for more information!

CHARITY RACE Lighthouse Program for grieving children will partner with

the Oakville Mercedes Benz race on Sunday, April

26th 2015. There is a 5km & 10km race and a 1km Junior

Jog.

There was great participation from St. Vincent in the Oak-

ville Half Marathon last year with 14 students running the

10km relay. Light house is now partnering with the Mer-

cedes Benz race because it a more convenient time in the

school year. Other pros include:

Great advantages for schools to participate in the Mercedes

Benz/Lighthouse race:

Local well organized event supporting Lighthouse: an Oak-

ville charity supporting children who have lost loved ones.

The elementary school with the top 3 fastest runners will get

a trophy. The best medal ever! - the kids will be so excited

to get these huge medals.-Kids get experience of running a

real race with chip timing. Great practice for track & field.

Easy to register: I register with Team Lighthouse

Kind regards,

Deirdre Thomas

Volunteer Marketing & Events Manager

Address: The Lighthouse Program for Grieving Children

82 Wilson Street, Oakville, Ontario, L6K 3G5

Phone: 289.772.8039

Email: deirdre.thomas@gmail.com

Web: www.grievingchildrenlighthouse.org