St. Gabriel Catholic School December 2014

Dear Families:

As we enter the season of Advent to prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus,

it is rather suitable that this month’s virtue is CHARITY. Many of us are already

engaging in the mad rush to purchase gifts to put under the tree on the 25th, but

let us be mindful of the fact that charity is not always about giving material things.

Our quote for the month is, “Where charity and love are, God is there”. As St.

Thomas Aquinas described it, “Charity is friendship first with God and secondly

with all who belong to God." (2a2ae, 25,4). *

This

Christmas

End a quarrel.

Seek out a forgotten

Friend. Dismiss suspicion,

And replace it with trust…

Write a love letter. Share some

Treasure. Give a soft answer. En-

Courage youth. Manifest your loyalty

In word and deed. Keep a promise. Find the

Time. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen.

Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand.

Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone

Else. Appreciate. Be kind; be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh

A little more. Deserve confidence. Take issue against malice.

Express your gratitude. Go to church. Welcome a stranger. Gladden

The heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.

Speak your love.

Speak it again.

Speak it still

Once again.

Peace and love begin With simple kindness,

And joy to the world happens One heart at a time.

Merry Christmas to you and your families.

P. Greco W. Kwon

Principal Vice Principal

St. Gabriel Catholic School

396 Spring Garden Ave. Toronto, Ontario

M2N 3H5 416-393-5256

FAX: 416 393-5199

Principal P. Greco

Vice Principal

W. Kwon

Secretary P. Monaco

Head Caretaker

S. Coulter

Superintendent: J. Shain

416-222-8282

Trustee: M. Rizzo

416-512-3405

CSAC Chair: M. Sparkman 416-397-6800

Mailbox #88256 csac.stgabriel@tcdsb.org

Parish:

St. Gabriel Catholic Church 670 Sheppard Ave. E.

416-221-8866 Pastor: Fr. Brando

Hours of Operation: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

____________________________

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

The Student of the Month Award is to recognize

students’ positive characteristics and actions towards

other students, staff and parents in our school

community. We would like to congratulate the following students who were chosen as recipients of the Virtue

of the Month for November. The virtue was

PEACEMAKING.

Soo Park Andrei Ganon

Elsa Ko Jackson Sparkman

Jordyn Wheeler Therese Celis

Keith Dayate Samantha Smith

Denasia Evans Jullie Lee

Maria Lopez-Bravo Seung Joo Oh

Amy Pimentel Amelia D’Alessandro

Josie Hanna Richard Antigua

Andre Panganiban Reichman De Morgan

Julian Sanchez

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL WINTER

CLOTHING DRIVE

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a

charitable organization that works to

relieve individuals of struggles with poverty, suffering,

and loneliness. Each year, through generous donations,

it provides countless individuals and families in need

with free, clean and seasonable appropriate clothing.

If you are looking for a way to help those who are

homeless and vulnerable this holiday season, please

consider making a donation to our St. Vincent de Paul

winter clothing drive.

In keeping with December’s virtue of the month,

Charity, from December 1st until December 12th the

grade 8 students will be collecting the following items:

winter coats, jackets, mittens, gloves, scarves and hats.

Items can be for men, women or children; however, we

are kindly requesting that they be clean and gently

used.

WINTER CLOTHING Winter weather is upon us. Parents are reminded to

ensure that their children have hats, gloves, boots,

scarves and warm winter coats. We also ask that the

students bring a pair of indoor shoes for school during

the snowy days. A reminder that all students are required to be

outdoors during morning, lunch and afternoon recess.

The school’s policy maintains that students who are not

well enough to go outdoors should be kept at home.

Children will be kept indoors only during inclement

weather or when the wind chill factor is high. We thank

you in advance for your cooperation and support in this

matter.

HELPING YOUR CHILD LEARN AND LOVE

MATHEMATICS

Parents, school and the local community have the shared task

of nurturing our students' confidence in learning mathematics

and in applying their mathematical knowledge to solve real-life

problems. The disposition of appreciating and enjoying

mathematics is necessary for our students to persevere in

learning mathematics with depth and precision, and to

continuously improve the clarity of their mathematical

communication. It is common knowledge that parent's/

guardian's attitudes toward mathematics has an impact on

children's attitudes towards mathematics. In fact, students

whose parents/guardians show an interest in and enthusiasm

for mathematics around the home will be more likely to develop

that enthusiasm themselves and persevere to learn and

succeed in Mathematics.

Participate in your child's learning of mathematics by:

-demonstrating a positive attitude towards mathematics

learning

-expecting your child to do and solve mathematical activities

and problems

-encouraging your child to persevere when the mathematical

work becomes difficult

-appreciating different ways to calculate and solve math

problems

-listening carefully to your child’s explanation of a solution to

a lesson problem

-estimate and count everything and anything in different

ways (forwards, backwards, by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, etc.)

-playing board and card games

-solving jigsaw puzzles, number puzzles and logic puzzles

-building models with different materials (e.g. lego, stacking

blocks, popsicle sticks)

-involving your child in household activities that involve math

(e.g. measuring in the kitchen, making patterns in the garden)

-looking for and describing mathematics in the books you

read with your child (e.g. find patterns, count objects, find

shapes, identify probability)

-support homework completion by being a co-learner and

providing encouragement to persevere to think

mathematically

REPORTING OF CANCELLATIONS OR CLOSURES

DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER

Winter weather arrived early this year. Please note that any

cancellations or closures due to inclement weather will be

reported before 7 a.m. Best place to get the info quickly is

through Twitter @TCDSB (please follow us), the board’s

website www.tcdsb.org and the 24-hour telephone

information line 416-222-8282 ext. 2873.

Angela Gauthier, Director of Education 80 Sheppard Ave. E., Toronto, ON ∙ Website: www.tcdsb.org

http://www.tcdsb.org/

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Kindergarten Registrations will begin for all Elementary

Schools on Thursday January 8, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. EST.

Parents/guardians with children born in 2011 or earlier

and who will be enrolling in Kindergarten, have the

opportunity to apply on-line using the “Student On-line

Admission and Registration” platform known as S.O.A.R.

and found at the following link: http://soar.tcdsb.org.

Parents will be able to complete an application for

registration from the convenience of their own home,

the office, a public library, or anywhere there is

internet access, 24 hours a day. The on-line application

also offers access to translations in different

languages with built-in help functions and features.

Alternately, families may choose to register in person

at our school. We will begin to accept registrations at

10:00 a.m. on January 8th.

As part of the registration process, school staff will

meet with parents. These meetings may be scheduled

on the electronic application or in person at the school.

During the meeting, school staff will verify the original

documentation requires for registration. This consists

of a Baptismal Certificate, Birth Certificate and/or

Passport, Immunization record, proof of residence and

Application for Direction of School support.

Applications to register children in grades other than

Kindergarten can also be done on the online S.O.A.R.

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