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 [email protected]
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
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.
application. Please share this information with any
parents/guardians with school aged children in the
community.
For further information, please contact our school
office at 416-393-5256. For general inquires or
further information you may contact 416-222-8282 or
visit our website at www.tcdsb.org.
SAFE SCHOOLS ACTION TEAM
Members of the Safe Schools Action Teams from St. Gabriel
Catholic School (Mr. Kwon, Ms. Della Mea, Joe B., Daniel H.)
attended this year’s anti-bullying symposium at Montecassino
Convention Centre. It was a day of active listening,
participation and serious reflection a propos the perils of
cyberbullying, social media networks, texting and its effects,
as presented by Detective Michelle Bond of the Toronto Police
Services. A great deal of information was communicated about
the dangers of using instant chat services that enable
unregistered users to experience all manner of extortion and
requests for inappropriate images and money and the
availability of the site www.cybertip.ca as tool for reporting of
crimes related to cyberbullying.
Safe Schools Action Teams were delighted and entertained by
the powerful performances of recording artist, Sacha Visagie
and her messages of the effects of bullying behaviours and the
need to stand up in the face of such behaviours. A dramatic
presentation from the T.H.I.N.K. initiative of Cardinal Carter
Academy for the Arts, showcasing an original dramatic
rendering of the effects of cyberbullying on youth as part of
their outreach campaign, the premiere of the Charity project
from the TCDSB Safe Schools Dept. and the free style soccer
skills of Swirl solidified the message of action against bullying.
WALK-A-THON
Our annual Walk-a-thon was an enjoyable and healthy event for
all students and staff at St. Gabriel. The students raised a
total of $3412.50 and we are truly grateful to all of our
families for your continued support. Once again, we are
supporting the Terry Fox Cancer Foundation by donating 10%
of this total. The remainder will be used to pay for
transportation costs for our skating programme and some
extra-curricular transportation costs. A special thank you to
Mr. Coulter, our St. Gabriel Tech Squad and our student D.J.’s
who helped make the day so enjoyable.
TRUSTEES 2014-2015
Wards
1. Peter Jakovcic 5. Maria Rizzo 9. Jo-Ann Davis, Chair 2. Ann Andrachuk 6. Frank D‘Amico 10. Barbara Poplawski 3. Sal Piccininni 7. John Del Grande 11. Angela Kennedy 4. Patrizia Bottoni 8. Garry Tanuan 12. Nancy Crawford, Vice-Chair Christopher MacDonald, Student Trustee Hannah McGroarty, Student Trustee
Angela Gauthier, Director of Education 80 Sheppard Ave. E., Toronto, ON ∙ Website: www.tcdsb.org
SCHOOL SAFETY In an effort to keep our students safe at all times, the
following has been implemented:
All school doors are kept locked.
All visitors entering the school grounds and/or
building, including parents/guardians,
babysitters and siblings, must first report to
the office to identify themselves and obtain a
visitor’s badge. THIS IS SCHOOL BOARD
POLICY.
Parents are to drop off their children in the
school yard when bringing them to school. If
your child attends daycare, you are to drop off
your child(ren) at the daycare and then exit
the building. Please do not wander through the
halls or attempt to go to your child’s classroom.
Children are to wait in the yard until their
teachers come to pick them up at the bell.
Parents are not to accompany their children
inside the school building.
After school, parents are asked to pick up
their children in the school yard. Please make
sure that all children are picked up promptly at
dismissal time. There is no supervision after
3:30 dismissal.
If you are picking up your child during school
hours, please report to the office to sign your
child out; your child will then be called out of
class.
INTERMEDIATE BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL On November 10th, our Team travelled to Blessed
Trinity School, for the North Region Divisional
Tournament.
Our first game was against Blessed Trinity and the
team displayed some nerves, but managed to display
spurts of awesome teamwork and chemistry. We ended
up losing 25-12, 25-14.
The next game was versus St. Agnes and the team
performed very well, working together and showing
fantastic sportsmanship. The team won 25-13, 25-19.
Our last round robin game was played against Holy
Redeemer and once again, the boys showed a lot of
resiliency, winning 25-9, 25-14 respectively.
As a result of our record, we were re-seeded #2 which
meant we played St. Agnes again. We won the first set
25-20 but lost the second set 20-25. In the final and
deciding tie-breaker set, after a valiant effort, the
team lost 14-15, subsequently ending our day. The team
gave their best effort and left all they had on the
volleyball court!
In closing, we would like to make a special mention to
the Girls Team, their coaches; Ms. Corvinelli and Mr.
Coulter who helped us practice and get better.
ME TO WE
The St. Gabriel’s Me to We Committee will be selling rafiki
chains at the Advent mass on December 11th and all masses on
December 13th and 14th. In Swahili, the word rafiki means
friend. Every rafiki friend chain is hand made by a “mama” in
Kenya. They will be sold for $10.00. Most of the initial $5.00
will go back to the “mamas” to help their families. The rest of
the money will be donated by the school towards clean water.
After the masses our students will be available at tables in the
gathering space. The rafikis being sold come in red, blue,
green, white, and a mixture of blue and white. They are
beautiful and they can be worn as a headband, a necklace, a
bracelet or an anklet. Rafiki chains make great gifts for
Christmas! For more information please visit:
www.metowe.com.
There will be catalogues in the church foyer, available
for families who would like to make a larger donation.
The catalogues offer options such as buying a goat for a
family for $50.00. This would provide milk for their
family or provide a source of income to buy food or
necessities. We look forward to seeing you there!
St. Gabriel School will be selling the rafiki chains during
the lunch hour, beginning November 24th, 2014. Thank
you for your support in empowering the students to
contribute to global charitable causes. God Bless.
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL
On November 12 our Intermediate Girls’ Volleyball Team
participated in the North Region Divisional Volleyball
Tournament at Blessed Trinity. Our team faced stiff
competition from some highly skilled teams which made for
exciting matches.
However, after five games our girls prevailed finishing first
and winning the divisional title! On November 19 we competed
in the regional final. The spectators were treated to a
tremendous show as all the teams came with talented players
and excellent coaching. The level of play was exceedingly
strong and extremely entertaining. Despite a solid effort, our
girls were not able to get past St. Roberts. Nevertheless, they
made our school community very proud. Our team members are
as follows: Hannah Routledge, Julie Pimentel, Sarah Zuker,
Kiara Wong Brown, Bianca Junio, Yvette Baaye- Wiafe, Darya
Barghian, Kiana Tiangco, and Cristina Socas. A special thanks
to our coaches Mr. Coulter and Ms. Corvinelli for their
enthusiasm, dedication and hard work.
Angela Gauthier, Director of Education 80 Sheppard Ave. E., Toronto, ON ∙ Website: www.tcdsb.org
ADVENT MISSION
“God is with us”: Bringing hope to those living in darkness Saturday, December 6th from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM NOT TO BE MISSED - reflection with Fr. Rick Frechette CP on our Christian commitment that will be both inspiring and enriching!
Father Rick is a Passionist who went to Haiti 27 years ago to serve as a priest. Seeing the poverty and the dire need of the people there for medical care, he went back to the U.S. in his 40s, took up medical studies, and returned to Haiti as both a priest and a medical doctor. The needs of the people whom he served prompted him to give himself to their service by not only ministering to their spiritual needs, but their physical needs as well. His presence among the people of Haiti is truly an amazing witness of love.
At the beginning of the season of Advent, when we are preparing for Christmas, Fr. Rick will talk about our Christian commitment to share the Good News, especially with those who are living in the darkness of poverty, injustice, and slavery in its many forms. It will be an excellent opportunity for all parishioners to pause and look deeply. We encourage especially our young people to join us! A simple lunch will be provided. Cost is $5 per person. To register, please call the Parish Office at (416) 221-8866 or email [email protected]
Christmas Schedule 2014
INDIVIDUAL ADVENT CONFESSIONS Day of Confession: Wednesday, December 10th from 10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon
and from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM Saturday, December 20th from 10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon
MASSES
CHRISTMAS EVE - Wednesday, December 24th No 9:00 AM Mass 7:00 PM Family Mass - Carol Singing 9:00 PM Contemporary Group 12:00 AM Midnight Mass - Adult Choir - Carol Singing
Office Open 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM only
CHRISTMAS DAY - Thursday, December 25th 10:30 AM 12:30 PM
Office Open 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
BOXING DAY -Friday, December 26th No Mass, Office Closed
NEW YEAR’S EVE -Wednesday, December 31st No 9:00 AM Mass Mass at 4:30 PM for the Feast of Mary the Mother of God Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM only
NEW YEAR’S DAY -Thursday, January 1st FEAST OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD 10:30 AM
12:30 PM Office Closed
Parking
While parking at ground level is limited to 51 spaces, there is plenty of space in the underground parking lot. Please follow the instructions of the attendants. Do not park in front of the Church since this is a fire route and must be kept clear. Additional parking is available on the east side of Elkhorn Public School and in the bus loop. Again, please follow the instructions of the attendant. The school requests that we do not park on the grass. Many thanks to Holly Richards, the Principal of Elkhorn Public School, for allowing us the use of the school property.
Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)
Corner
A Christmas Prayer for You When prayers are said each evening, this happy time of year Wishes turn to family, friends and everyone held dear May your Christmas days be Merry And your New Year day be bright May peace and goodwill bring you joy. And His blessing much delight.
CSAC presents our Annual Christmas Fair
Monday, December 8th Children from JK to Grade 7 are given the opportunity to do their Christmas shopping for two special people in their lives. Each gift will cost $0.50. All funds raised will be donated to charity. CSAC still needs donations of gifts (at least one male and one female gift). We are requesting new or gently used items (please no toys or books) to be delivered to the school by
Thursday, December 4th. Also, if you have any Christmas bags, wrap, gift tags, ribbon or tape that you are able to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. Volunteers for this Shopping Extravaganza are welcome and are asked to come to the gym between 11:45 and 3:00 pm on Monday, December 8th.
Halloween Bake Sale
A big thank you to everyone who helped with the Halloween bake sale with baked goods. We were able to raise over $600.
CSAC Parents Survey
Thanks to the families that took the time to return the survey. If you have not yet had a chance to return it, please do so. From the entire CSAC committee we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Regards, Mandy Sparkman
