Holy Redeemer C.S.

111 Aspenwood Drive, Toronto, Ontario M2H 2G2

P:416-393-5353 F:416-397-6334

March 2017 Forgiveness-Celtic Heritage Month Holy Redeemer C.S. News

School Start

Time

9:00

Morning Recess 10:42-10:57 a.m.

Lunch 11:45 a.m.– 12:45p.m.

Afternoon

Recess

2:10 p.m.

Dismissal 3:30 p.m.

Office Hours 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

March 2017

SCHOOL HOURS

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents,

THANK YOU KINDLY to our moms, Mrs. Hudak, Mrs. Wong and Mrs. Kwon who gave up their own time on Shrove Tuesday to make pancakes for our children. They were so delicious that several students came back for second and even third servings! We are fortunate to have such a kind and caring parent community! God Bless you!

How quickly the school year has gone by this year. I can’t believe that it is already March! This month is not so busy at Holy Redeemer. Next week we have the children putting on a dance performance on the evening of the 7th. A flyer outlining the timelines and ‘dress code’ for that evening went home one week ago. Let us know if your child has misplaced their copy and we will send home a new one. Let us know if you need any further information regarding this evening as well.

The CSPC and the school is in the process of planning a movie night that will take place at 7 p.m. on the 30th of March. I am hoping to see each of you at Holy Redeemer on each of these two evenings.

In regards to the Accommodation Review process for Holy Redeemer C.S., on February 23rd the Board of Trustees for the TCDSB voted in favour of closing our school in June, 2017. We will be receiving a letter shortly from the TCDSB with further information for parents.

As always please call the school if you have any questions or concerns that you would like addressed.

The March break (March 13-17) will soon be here! Wishing all of our families some well-deserved time spent with friends and family.

Fernanda Pires, Principal, Holy Redeemer C.S.

CSPC Holy Redeemer C.S.

Christine Demetriades-Chair

Joanne Dinan-Co-Chair

Hui-Anne Colavincenzo-Treasurer

Stephen Colavincenzo-Secretary

Lidia Cancelliere-Secretary

Paul Mann-Fundraiser

Pedro Fernandes-Parent-at-large

Principal: Ms. F. Pires

Admin. Assistant: Ms. M. Painter

Superintendent: Mr. P. Aguiar

Monthly Update from the Board

March 2017

TCDSB Expands French Immersion Sites

The Toronto Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce the expansion of French Immersion sites, making it possible for more children and their families to take advantage of French Immersion programming. Parents and guardians can re-register their child for French Immersion using the SOAR-French Immersion application until March 10, 2017. Apply for French Immersion here: http://fisoar.tcdsb.org

Anonymous Alerts Starting in March, students in TCDSB secondary schools will be able to anonymously message their school principal about a range of issues including bullying and other safety concerns. www.anonymousalerts.com/tcdsb

Let’s Get Ready to Celebrate Canada 150 Everyone in the Toronto Catholic District School Board community is invited to join in Canada’s 150th birthday celebration throughout 2017. The 150th anniversaries of our nation and our province, coincide with our ongoing focus on our Pastoral Plan: “Together With One Voice: family, parish and school” which honours the three partners who have created the solid foundation on which Catholic education has been built. Catholic schools have been a rich and vibrant part of Canada’s and Ontario’s heritage since before confederation. JOIN US as we recognize our Boards unique place in Canadian history during this sesquicentennial year. A website has been created for the many exciting events and initiatives that are already underway around the board: https://www.tcdsb.org/Canada150

Parish Family Day Happening May 5, 2017 As we continue to celebrate our Year of the Parish we want to know what makes your pastor and/or your parish unique. Students are invited to create a short video, an original song, or piece of original artwork, write a short story or poem, or express themselves in any way artistically to highlight the relationship that the students have with the local parish and/or the priest/pastor at their church..

Remember that this does not have to be an additional assignment. Why not use the pastor/parish theme for a

regular classroom lesson--whether that be a writing exercise, a poetry writing session or visual art project. “Promote Your Parish” and let’s celebrate the many ways that our parishes and our parish priests contribute to our schools and communi-ties. Submit the completed projects via email to parish.project@tcdsb.org by no later than April 7, 2017.

2017 ShareLife Parish Campaign During this, our Year of the Parish, we encourage all students, staff and their families to consider supporting the many local Catholic chari-ties that are funded through ShareLife. These Catholic agencies help families, single parents, the elderly, individuals with special needs, immigrants and refugees, the homeless and the needy, as well as the education of clergy within our own City of Toronto. Learn more about these organizations here: http://www.sharelife.org/Public/ShareLife-List-of-Agencies. During Lent, and throughout the coming months, we invite you to consider partnering with your parish and support the work of ShareLife as it continues to “work wonders” in our own community and around the world. .

A Mission of Hope for Haiti--Lenten Project with Missionaries of the Poor This year, in co-operation with the Missionaries of the Poor, we are inviting our schools to participate in a special Lenten Drive, A Mission of Hope for Haiti. Our goal is to fill a 40-foot-long container with food, toiletries and school items that we may take for granted—e.g. food items, like rice and beans, toiletries, like toothpaste and toothbrushes, or school items, like pencils and pens. These items would be picked up from your school by volunteers from the Missionaries of the Poor, and through Canadian Food for Children, these items will be shipped to the Missionaries of the Poor to Haiti. The hope is that all schools will consider participating to some extent. If every student and staff provides just one item, it would be a tremendous help to the people of Haiti. Details are online here: https://www.tcdsb.org/board/nurturingourcatholiccommunity/pages/hope-for-haiti-lenten-project.aspx

March Mental Health Newsletter https://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/SpecialEducation/mhs/newsletters/March%20MH%20Newsletter%202017.pdf

Event Reminders: March is Celtic Canadian Her itage Month https://www.tcdsb.org/FORCOMMUNITY/HeritageCelebration/CelticCanadianHeritage/Pages/default.aspx

March 1, 2017—Ash Wednesday; Lent Begins https://www.tcdsb.org/board/nurturingourcatholiccommunity/pages/lent-and-easter-resources.aspx March 3, 2017—World Day of Prayer https://www.tcdsb.org/board/nurturingourcatholiccommunity/news/2016-2017/pages/world-day-of-prayer.aspx March 4, 2017—Lift Jesus Higher Rally https://www.tcdsb.org/pages/liftjesushigher-rally.aspx March 6, 2017--Education Support Staff Appreciation Day https://www.tcdsb.org/pages/education-support-staff-appreciation-day.aspx March 7, 2017—Pray for Vocations https://www.tcdsb.org/pages/prayers-for-vocations-a-spiritual-bouquet.aspx March 8, 2017—International Women’s Day https://www.tcdsb.org/Pages/International-Womens-Day.aspx March 12, 2017—Clocks go forward 1 hour March 13-17, 2017—March Break March 20, 2017—Voices that Challenge Student Leadership Conference https://www.tcdsb.org/forstudents/catholicstudentleadership/news/pages/voices-that-challenge.aspx March 21, 2017--International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination https://www.tcdsb.org/pages/international-day-for-elimiination-of-racial-discrimination.aspx March 21, 2017--World Down Syndrome Day https://www.tcdsb.org/pages/world-down-syndrome-day.aspx March 22, 2017—World Water Day https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/environment/water March 24, 2017—Earth Hour https://www.tcdsb.org/board/environment/earthhour/pages/default.aspx

Follow @TCDSB on Twitter or subscribe to Enews https://web1.tcdsb.org/InterestSubscription/subscription.aspx to get all the latest news and information throughout the year.

Parent input being requested.

The TCDSB is considering implementing an online application that would permit parents to make pay-

ments electronically through two methods.

Method 1: Parents can securely transfer funds from their bank account directly to an online ‘myWallet’

account. When they wish to make a payment to the school, they simply add an item to their shopping cart

and pay for the item from their ‘myWallet’ account.

Method 2: Parents can use a credit card such as VISA or MasterCard

Using this electronic payment application, for large payments such as overnight trips, parents would also

be able to pay through installments.

In order to offer this application, the TCDSB would have to charge a 1% administrative fee to help offset the

cost of the application. To do this schools would set their charges 1% higher.

For example, an item that costs $9.90 would cost $10.00.

At the time of the purchase, $9.90 would remain in the school account to pay for the item and $0.10 would go

directly to the TCDSB central account to help offset the cost of the online application.

In order to gauge interest in such an online application, we are engaging in a consultation process, in the

form of a short survey.

The survey is open now and will close on Tuesday 7 March at 12 noon.

To participate in the survey, please click on this link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/

Onlinepaymentconsultation

Or scan this QR code using a QR code reader app on your phone or tablet:

SAFE AND CARING CATHOLIC SCHOOL CLIMATE SURVEY Elementary Students

March 1, 2017

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

Providing our students with opportunities to learn and develop in a safe and caring environment is a shared re-sponsibility. A positive school climate exists when all members of the school community feel safe, comforta-ble, and accepted. In order to promote a positive school climate, student safety issues are addressed by a Safe School Team through the cooperative efforts of the school, parents, students and community partners. The Safe School Team in every school helps respond to some of the challenges faced in addressing complex student safety issues.

In an ongoing effort to keep our Catholic schools safe and caring places in which to learn, the Toronto Catholic District School Board is collecting information from students about their feelings of safety and the general school climate. The Safe and Caring Catholic School Climate Survey for elementary students is administered on-line to all Grade 6 and Grade 8 students.

The results of the survey will allow our Safe Schools Team to assess students’ perceptions about the safety and climate of our Catholic school, and will focus our efforts to address any identified needs. All of the infor-mation gathered will be anonymous and confidential, and only group-level results will be used to inform plan-ning.

Thank you for your support of this important initiative for the well-being of our students. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or if you require further information.

In partnership for a safe and caring Catholic school,

F. Pires, Principal, Holy Redeemer C.S.