March 2015

November 2016

Dear Parents/Guardians:

During the month of October, we had a very successful Thanksgiving Food Drive organized by Mrs. Palermo, Mlle Ogokeh and our student council. The items collected were donated to St. Francis Table. Many thanks for everyone’s generous support of this worthwhile initiative. On November 15, students in JK – Gr. 8 will bring home their progress report card and parents will have a chance to discuss their children’s progress during scheduled parent/teacher conferences on November 17 or 18. The November progress report card is a mid-point check for Term 1 which continues until the end of January. Similarly to other years, all students will receive two provincial report cards, one in February and the second in June. Parent/teacher conference times will be included with the report cards. Please return forms requesting a time as soon as possible. November is also a time for us to observe Remembrance Day and to reflect on the sacrifices that previous generations have made to secure the freedoms that we all enjoy and to pray for our young men and women serving in Afghanistan. A ceremony is being planned to commemorate this important date on November 11. Please join us, if you are available.

Sincerely, R. Leone

St. Cyril Catholic School News Our virtue for November is Peace

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

St. Cyril Catholic School

18 Kempford Blvd. Toronto, M2N 2B9

Tel: 416-393-5270

Fax: 416-393-5119

Principal: Rocchina Leone Superintendent: Peter Aguiar

416-222-8282 Ext.2267

Trustee: Maria Rizzo 416-512-3405

Parish: Fr. Patrick O’Dea St. Edward the Confessor

75 Churchill 416-221-9131

CSPC Co-Chairs: Philip Doyle and Raphael Leong CPIC (Parent Engagement--TCDSB) www.tcdsb.org/cpic OAPCE Toronto (Provincial Voice for Parents) www.tcdsb.org/oapce-toronto Enrollment: 325 students

Hours of operation:

Office Hours 8:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.

School Hours 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Lunch hour:

11:45- 12:45 p.m.

NEW REGISTRANTS WELCOME: Call 416-393-5270 or the TCDSB Admissions Department at 416-

222-8282, ext. 2383.

For general information about the Toronto Catholic District

School Board, please visit the website at www.tcdsb.org.

Stay in touch with the latest news throughout the school year:

Follow @TCDSB on Twitter

A Prayer for November – Celebrating the Saints, Remembering the Departed The saints are living people who spend their eternity walking next to us and praying for us, while at the same time they bask in the marvelous Light of God’s presence. Truly, they are with us, urging us to goodness. Lord, what tender care you have for all your creatures! You are higher than our minds can wonder, deeper than we can imagine, but you care for each of us as your own dear children! Help us to see one another through your eyes so that one day, with all the saints in heaven, we, and those we love, may see your face. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Remembrance Day Please join us for our Remembrance Day ceremony on November 11 at 11 a.m.

Dress down day donations On pizza days, students have the option of dressing down for the day. A donation of a loonie or two is encouraged. The money is used to sponsor organizations such as the Angel Foundation and ShareLife.

St. Cyril Catholic Parent School Council News (CSPC) Our next CSPC meeting is on November 1 at 7 p.m. in the library. Our meeting dates for the remainder of the year are as follows (all Tuesdays): December 6, January 10, February 7, March 7, April 4, May 2, and June 6. Please join us for the following special event on November 21 at 6:30 p.m.: The St Cyril CSPC is proud to host the following event. Save the date and join us! T.A.S.A.M. Tackling Anxiety and Stress through Arts and Mindfulness. A parent discussion led by a child development expert to cover strategies and tips that will effectively help parents deal with shy, anxious or stressed children. Presented by Arts Express www.ArtsExpress.ca When: Monday November 21 6:30pm to 8:30pm Location: St Cyril School Gym Please see the flyer at the end of this newsletter. Advent Community Mass – December 1, 2016 at St. Edward Church at 7 p.m.

Saint Therese of Lisieux

(St. Therese the “Little Flower”)

The grade 5 religion class enjoyed reading about the life of one of our modern-day saints. Therese was a young woman who devoted her life to God and at the tender age of fourteen, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, France. She loved flowers and saw herself as “a little flower of Jesus”. Flowers, particularly roses, have been associated with her. In mid-October, the grade 5 religion class, planted some bulbs in honour of St. Therese. We enjoyed this experience very much! The sun came out as we were planting –a sign that “The Little Flower” was with us that day!

My Rose Prayer

O Little Therese of the child Jesus, Please pick for me a rose from the Heavenly

gardens

And send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus,

Ask God to grant the favors I now place With confidence in your hands.

(Specific intentions) St. Therese, help me to always believe As you did in God’s great love for me,

So that I might imitate your “Little Way” each day.

Amen. -Mrs. Delfino and the grade 5 Religion Class

Terry Fox Run

Way to go St. Cyril students – this year we raised $2938!! We are very proud of our students for surpassing the goal of $2000. The Terry Fox Foundation is very appreciative of our efforts and a thank you letter from them will follow. Many thanks to Mrs. Claudia Jones for leading this terrific initiative!

St. Cyril Green Team is a Go!!

St. Cyril has been registered with the

Ontario Eco-Schools with the aim to receive

Eco-certification this year. Eco-schools

nurture environmental leaders, reduce

the ecological impact of schools, and build

environmentally responsible school

communities. The Green Team’s objective

is to spread Environment awareness within

our school community through various

initiatives such as a school waste audit,

energy consumption assessment and school

ground greening activities. We are proud to

share some of our upcoming initiatives:

School Correspondence Sibling List,

Boomerang Lunch and an Electronic

Monthly Newsletter. Go Green!

Measuring the garbage we are generating,

with the hope of reducing it!

Changes to Accessing the

Monthly Newsletter

For November and December, families will receive hard copies of the school newsletter, as usual, along with the newsletter being posted on the school’s website at: https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stcyril/news/Pages/Newsletters.aspx. Beginning in January, we will be e-mailing

newsletters to families, with a hard copy

sent home with the youngest student in each

family. Beginning in March 2017, we will

move to only e-mailing school newsletters to

the parent e-mail address provided through

the student update forms. The newsletter

will continue to be available on the school’s

website as well. We are very pleased that

the TCDSB is developing a platform to allow

us to distribute the newsletter electronically

and know that the Green Team welcomes

this important development!!

Sharing our School Successes! Scientific Mathematicians in Grade 5 By: Sofia Cruz Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Do you recognize that sound? It’s the beating of our heart according to Bill Nye, the Science Guy! The heart is a muscle in our circulatory system that is just about the size of our fist. Even though it is inside our body, we know from the outside that our heart is working - through our pulse. Did you also know that it takes less than a minute for the blood to travel all around our body and back to the heart? This month in Grade 5, we are learning all these interesting facts and more about our circulatory system in Mrs. Palermo’s Science class. And in Math class, we are collecting and recording data in charts and getting to know all the different types of graphs. Our class had the chance to combine what we are learning in both subjects by doing a fun activity. At first, we counted our heart rate per minute while at rest and then recorded our heart rate after doing jumping jacks. We organized the information we collected by tallying and making bar graphs which we discussed later on in groups. We

learned that the heart beats faster with physical activity because the heart works harder when the body needs more oxygen. Graphs are pretty cool visual tools to use when comparing information as we can see the results a lot quicker and easier!

Gr. 7 and 8 News

The Grade 7's are busy researching how various structures are designed and built and the effects of forces on the stability and strength of same. They will test their knowledge by building a variety of bridges that will go through stress tests on Friday, October 28th.

The Grade 8's are busy researching the causes, effects and solutions to water pollution and how we need to examine our global footprint with respect to waste and how we dispose of it. They are creating power point presentations to convey their acquired knowledge.

Kindergarten Corner!

Autumn Celebrations in Mme Ghabour & Mme Julien’s Class

As we continue to celebrate "Autumn", Mme Ghabour & Mme Julien students enjoyed decorating the pumkins (les citrouilles) with the dry leaves. They were singing the song of L'Halloween: La citrouille rit, rit, rit ... to reinforce the vowels taught to date. They

also learned about other fruits and vegetables. Some students were able to count and found the total number of pumpkins that decorated the board (big pumpkin + small pumpkin=?).

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY IN MME GUEGUEIRRE & SARROUH’S JK/SK F.I. CLASS

The children are happy and settled into their routines. They love to sing songs and “comptines” (sung poems) especially around the theme of Halloween. They enjoyed making their “citrouilles” (pumpkins) by painting or using strips of construction paper. They loved carving the pumpkins with their teachers and then having a chance to feel the inside of the pumpkins and counting the seeds. The students are counting to make to 30, finding different ways of making 10, recognizing and printing numbers. They love singing numbers from 1 to 10 and then from 10 to 1 with the “citrouilles” song. Halloween was so much fun! The children loved dressing up and seeing the other costumes of the older students.

Artistic Learning in M. Zacchilli & Mlle. Anthony’s JK/SK F.I. Class The kindergarten students have expressed their love for art and their interest in arts and crafts. The children are learning to paint with items other than a paintbrush, such as their fingers and hands. In celebration of Thanksgiving and Halloween for the month of October, the children painted pumpkins using the imprint of their knuckles. We displayed this art project in the hallway as Notre Champ de Citrouilles (Our Pumpkin Patch). The students are practicing the alphabet and are learning how letters make up words. They are also learning about the virtue of the month, which is gratitude for October. Together, we were able to create an acrostic poem expressing their gratitude to God, using the word “Merci”. Their artistic creation is displayed in the hallway for all to see.

The view from grade 2

The grade 2 students in Mme Venditti’s

class have been busy brewing a tasty

recipe for their witch’s cauldron, and

writing their very own spooky stories. In

art they created beautiful fall trees using

warm colours and pointillism, and are

now working with cold colours to create

a chilling night nature scene. In math we

had some fun with patterns and

measurement – come by and see our

hard work! Soon we will be taking the

plunge and building our very own boats

in science! Look out for our November

update!

Mme Venditti

Congratulations to the Cross Team who represented St. Cyril with pride both on and off the course at the Regional Cross-country meet which took place on October 12th, 2016 at Earl Bales Park. A dedicated team of 68 students participated in early morning training sessions, as well as afternoon training in preparation of the meet. School spirit was electric in encouraging our runners to personal success and an outstanding school performance. Twenty- one children qualified for the Divisional meet on October, 19th 2017, with a further nine runners participating in the City Finals. Special mention to our medalists: Grade 8 - Hunter Marentette 3rd place, Grade 3- Deigo Nunes 3rd place, and in Grade 4 Matthew Kmecz for a 1st place finish at Regionals and a 3rd place finish at Divisionals. Excellent running everyone!

St. Cyril Student Council

Ambassadors of

Kindness!

Our trip to WE DAY! We were very excited when we found out

we were going to ME to WE. We would like

to thank Craig and Mark Keilburger for

starting this wonderful foundation. It was

a wonderful opportunity to attend. We

learned that we can change the whole

world by doing something as simple as

picking up a piece of garbage. This little

foundation started because a little boy

thought it was unfair for another boy like

to die because he spoke about injustice.

Come on ST. Cyril let’s change the world

view from “ME” to “WE”. If the

Keilburger can change the world so can we

with your help. Stay toon for all our

events.

In November, we are starting a new

leadership workshop for all student

council members to attend. In this

workshop we will learn leadership skills,

how to be a leader and work in a group

with our piers. It is a great addition to

our student council activities. It will be

held every first Monday of the Month

from 3:30 to 4:30 in the gym with Mlle.

Ogokeh and our first meeting will be on

November 7th, 2016. See you there!

Math Suggestions! Inspiring Your Child to Learn and Love Math Inspiring Your Child to Learn and Love Math is a tool kit for parents developed by the Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE). This toolkit was created specifically for parents of children in the elementary grades in Ontario (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8). The toolkit emphasizes the many ways in which parents’ help and support plays an important role in inspiring their children to learn and love mathematics. The goal of this resource is to provide parents with the most significant research-based information to help them be the best, most knowledgeable and most confident supporters for their child's mathematics education. Inspiring Your Child to Learn and Love Math provides modules with simple, but effective methods and materials for parents to support their child’s math learning. It shows parents how to get involved in their children's learning, and offers guidance for

working with students of different ages. This Parent Tool Kit was developed by experts in mathematics education, with input and advice from parents and students. When families and educators join together, students of all ages can experience greater success in their learning. Parents and educators alike can use the Implementation Guide to host a parent engagement session, and give parents in their school communities information they need to help their children navigate the K-8 mathematics program. The complete tool kit is available at: English: http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/parent_engagement-math/en/index.htm French: http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/parent_engagement-math/fr/index.htm

Monthly Update from the Board

November 2016

The Year of the Parish: The Celebration

Continues

We look forward to continuing the celebration of

the Year of the Parish throughout the school

year.

It is a wonderful opportunity for our schools and

parishes to connect, or re-connect, and plan

activities and ongoing initiatives together that

will support the important partnership between

Family, Church and School.

Parents, school administrators, parents, teachers,

pastors and parish representatives were invited to

sit down for some preliminary discussions earlier

this year. To see the many ideas that came

forward from those Year of the Parish

Conversations, visit our website

https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatho

licCommunity/YearoftheParish/Pages/Ideas-

Conversation-Starters.aspx

More information about our pastoral plan here:

https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatho

licCommunity/YearoftheParish/Pages/default.asp

x

November’s Virtue is Peacemaking

Find all the monthly resources associated with

our virtues of the month online

https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatho

licCommunity/VirtueoftheMonth/Pages/Default.

aspx

Free English as a Second Language Courses

for Adult Immigrants

The TCDSB Adult Education Program offers

free language training courses for eligible adult

immigrants at various locations across Toronto.

After an assessment of language ability, eligible

immigrants can enroll in our courses throughout

the year. For more information and to locate

courses using our online Course Finder, visit

https://www.tcdsb.org/FORCOMMUNITY/Adul

tEducationESL/Pages/Default.aspx.

The 2016-2017 TCDSB Awards Season has

begun!

Nominations are now open for the following

awards which will be presented at Awards

Night on May 1, 2017: DEADLINE: third

Friday in January (January 20)

1. TCDSB Alumni Award: open to

TCDSB alumni who are still active in

the Catholic community and who have

distinguished themselves in their career

or accomplishments.

2. TCDSB Award of Merit: open to

former staff, parents and trustees who

have made outstanding contributions to

the TCDSB and to Catholic education

(can only be considered for award after

a three-year period has passed since

departure from the TCDSB)

3. **NEW** Friends of Catholic

Education Award: open to members of

the general public (individuals or

organizations) who have accomplished

extraordinary service to Catholic

Education but who may not be Catholic.

For nomination forms and information, click

here:

https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatho

licCommunity/CatholicEducationWeek/Pages/A

wardsNight.aspx

Prime Minister’s Awards

Do you know a terrific teacher or early childhood

educator? Consider nominating them for a 2016-

17 Prime Minister’s Award! This prestigious

program honours innovative and outstanding

elementary and secondary school teachers and

early childhood educators who are helping

prepare Canadian youth for the challenges of

tomorrow.

Looking for inspiration? Check out some of our

previous teaching and early childhood education

award recipients.

2016-17 nomination packages are now available

at www.pma.gc.ca.

2016 OCSTA Short-Video Contest for

Students

OCSTA is now accepting submissions for the

fall 2016 short-video contest for grade 4-12

students in Ontario’s publicly funded English

Catholic schools. The contest theme for 2016 is:

"The Story Behind the Name of our Catholic

School” This year’s theme is designed to encourage

students to delve into the history of the

person/saint for whom their school was named,

and to be creative in telling that story.

Deadline November 28, 2016

https://www.tcdsb.org/forstudents/opportunitiesf

orstudents/pages/2016-ocsta-short-video-contest-

for-students.aspx

Humanitarian Aid for Haiti

As you are aware, Hurricane Matthew battered

Haiti on October 4, 2016 causing widespread

damage, flooding, and landslides. The storm

destroyed both crops and food reserves, many

homes and schools, even entire villages. Our

thoughts and prayers are with all who have been

impacted by this recent natural disaster.

To learn more and find out how you can help,

visit:

https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatho

licCommunity/Pages/Humanitarian%20Aid%20f

or%20Haiti.aspx

Get Your 40 Hours : Student Community

Involvement

Community service for our TCDSB students is

more than a diploma requirement. Our TCDSB

community members are called to apply Catholic

social teachings in all that we do; invited by our

board vision to be people who “transform the

world through witness, faith, innovation and

action”. The experience gained through

community involvement allows students to grow

in knowledge and appreciation of themselves and

their God-given gifts, and to find meaning,

dignity and vocation in work which respects the

rights of all and contributes to the common

good. It is hoped that this experience early in

their high school years will continue to motivate

our students to stay involved and to answer the

call to support Catholic social teaching by

promoting peace, justice and sacredness of

human life in their community involvement

experiences.

All students who earn an Ontario Secondary

School Diploma must complete 40 hours of

community service. Find resources, information, and volunteer

opportunities here:

https://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/Scho

olProgramsK12/GuidanceCoopEd/Communit

yservice40hours/Pages/Default.aspx

November Events/Observances:

November is Aboriginal Education

Month

November 1--All Saints Day

November 1-7--Down Syndrome

Awareness Week—“See the Ability”

November 2 --All Souls Day

November 2--Take Our Kids to Work

Day

November 6-12—Treaties Recognition

Week

November 8—A Catholic Call To

Serve

November 11--Remembrance Day

November 14-19--Bullying Prevention

and Awareness Week

November 18—PA Day

November 22--Memorial Mass to

Celebrate the Lives of Staff and

Students in the TCDSB Community at 7

p.m. at the Catholic Education Centre

November 27—Advent Begins

November 28—TCDSB

Caucus/Inaugural Meeting—including

election of Chair, Vice-Chair

Get all the latest news

Follow @TCDSB on Twitter to get the news as

it happens.

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