A New Year and a new beginning is once again upon us. As we are preparing to make plans, set goals and create solutions – let us remember to keep the presence of our Lord near to our hearts and present in all that we do. The New Year gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the incredible gift that God gave us in children. As parents and teachers, we have been asked by God to guide the way for our children. Let us work together in this coming year for what is best for our children. On behalf of the staff of St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School we would like to wish you and your family a very Happy, Healthy and Faithful New Year! Sincerely, St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School Staff

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION:

Commencing Wednesday January 16th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. and onwards, Junior Kindergarten registration for those students born in 2015 has be-gun. Please register at www.soar.tcdsb.org . An evening registration was held on Tuesday January 22, 2019 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at St. Pas-chal Baylon Catholic School. The following documents are required for registration: Roman Catholic Baptismal Certificate; Birth Certificate; Im-munization Papers; Immigration Papers (if child not born in Canada); Proof of Residency; Two utilities bills; A lease or a letter from a notary public. The TCDSB offers a Student Online Registration Form. It will be available for JK/SK registration which began on January 16

th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

(Student must reside in Canada). Parents will be able to complete an ap-plication for registration from the comfort of home, the office, a public library, or anywhere there is internet access! The online application of-fers access to translations in many different languages with built-in help functions and features. Parents are also able to schedule their appoint-ment for registration with the elementary school online. Upon completion of the registration form, parents will be informed of the original documen-tation that will be required by the elementary school at the time of their registration appointment. If you have children that are eligible for JK/SK beginning September 2019, we encourage you to visit the following site and complete the application for registration online: http://soar.tcdsb.org

If you are planning to remove your child from school for more than 15 school days, it is imperative that you contact the

school office before you make travel arrangements.

St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 NEWSLETTER

Principal: V. Stellato Vice-Principal: K. Wagner Secretary: Mrs. A. Abate

Clerk Typist: M. Sujitno, C. Picco, A. Zanutel Parish: St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church

(905) 889-9021 Pastor: Fr. V. Rosato

Superintendent: P. Aguiar Trustee: M. Rizzo

Hours of Operation

8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Lunch Hour: 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Morning Recess: 10:12 a.m. Afternoon Recess: 1:40 p.m.

TORONTO CATHOLIC

DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES 2018—2019

Wards

1. Joseph Martino 416-512-3401 2. Markus de Domenico 416-512-3402 3. Ida Li Preti 416-512-3403 4. Teresa Lubinski 416-512-3404 5. Maria Rizzo, Chair 416-512-3405 6. Frank D’Amico 416-512-3406 7.Michael Del Grande 416-512-3407 8. Garry Tanuan 416-512-3408 9. Norm Di Pasquale 416-512-3409 10. Daniel DiGiorgio 416-512-3410 11. Angela Kennedy 416-512-3411 12. Nancy Crawford 416-512-3412 13. Taylor Dallin 416-512-3413 Student Trustee 14. Joel Ndongmi 416-512-3417 Student Trustee

Important Dates:

February 12, 2019 : Report Cards will go home February 13 and 14, 2019: Parent/Teacher Interviews February 15, 2019: P.A. Day –No school for students February 18, 2019: Family Day February 26, 2019: CSPC General Mtg @ 7:00 PM Library March 6, 2019: Ash Wednesday March 11 to 15, 2019; March Break April 19, 2019: Good Friday April 21, 2019: Easter Sunday April 22, 2019: Easter Monday May 17, 2019: School Blessing

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL

St. Thomas Aquinas CELEBRATION OF FAITH VIRTUES OF THE MONTH JANUARY… COURAGE While January marks the beginning of the New Year, many of us also regard it as the true be-ginning of the long, hard winter. In this sense it is appropriate that the virtue for January is COURAGE. The quote for this month is Isaiah 41:10, “Do not be afraid; I am with You” “Be not afraid!” is also what the angel tells Mary at the annunciation and at the resurrection, anoth-er angel uses the same words to tell the women at the tomb that Christ has risen. Jesus him-self uses these words to strengthen his apostles. It takes a lot of courage to practice and be true to our Catholic faith. It is our challenge to show courage at all times in our lives.

FEBRUARY … LOVE Chocolates, flowers, valentines, and red hearts! What would the month of February be without the celebration of Valentine’s Day? While the rest of the world may choose to celebrate the ideal of romantic love on February 14, TCDSB schools focus on the virtue of LOVE as expressed in the gospel. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son.” (John 3:16). As we focus on the virtue of love at St. Paschal Baylon this month, let us remember that love not only inspires the practice of all other virtues, but is the form and completion of all the other virtues. We will not limit our celebration of the virtue of love to February 14th, but demonstrate this virtue through month long activities.

ADVENT COMMUNITY MASS The St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School community attended Mass on Wednesday December 12, 2018 at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church. Thank you to Fr. Vin-cenzo, our celebrant, and Sister Patricia for guiding our students. A special thank you to all who helped and participated, especially the school choir under the direction of Mrs. Lynde and the musical accompaniment provided by Mr. Chong.

STUDENTS PRAY THE ROSARY The students of St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School are learning the importance of prayer and how to pray the Rosary. The many dedicated volunteers generously offer their time and talents to spread the love of Jesus and Mary to the students. The Rosary Apostolate volun-teers visit the school once a month, on a Friday, to pray the Rosary with students from grades 1-8. The next visit for St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School is Friday February 22, 2019 and Friday March 22, 2019.

SAFE SCHOOLS ALLERGEN AWARE Please take special note that we have children in our school who have a very serious allergy to nut products. According to Sabrina’s Law, we must make every effort to maintain a nut free environment, in order to help keep these children safe. We ask that you not bring in to school or send in any food items to be shared with other students in the class. Please note that baked goods and treats are not permitted for Birthday celebrations. Please consider other options that do not involve any food-perhaps donating a game to the class for indoor recesses. We apologize for the inconvenience, however, we are certain you will agree that these measures are necessary in order to ensure the safety and welfare of our children.

EAST DOOR OPEN AFTER THE 8:30 AM BELL In our continued efforts to make St. Paschal Baylon a safe and welcoming environment, we have a member of our school staff stationed at the east door of the new building after the 8:30 a.m. morning bell. This will ensure that all stu-dents may enter the building in a safe and orderly manner under the supervision of an adult after the bell. This also helps to alleviate the congestion at the front entrance in the morning. Please have your child enter and exit the building through their regular entry and dismissal doors. Your co-operation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Let’s choose safety over convenience.

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL

St. Thomas Aquinas INCLEMENT WEATHER On days when the weather is inclement the students may be permitted to enter the building at 8:00 a.m. On such days, the recess periods may be cancelled and those students who stay for lunch will be supervised in the building. However, weather conditions must be particularly severe. Cold weather alone does not war-rant an early entry into the building or a cancellation of the recess periods. Those decisions will be made accordingly. We believe that children profit greatly from re-cess breaks as they get out into the fresh air and burn off some energy in play ac-tivities. This will make them more alert which will help the students to continue their studies when they come in. It is important for children, particularly the younger children in the primary grades, to come to school dressed properly for the weather. A reminder to everyone that students that are well enough to be at school are well enough to go out for recess. We do not have personnel to supervise students who wish to stay in for recess due to illness. If they are too ill to go out for re-cess, then they should be home for the day. This will allow for quicker recovery and less teaching and learning time lost to illness.

REPORTING OF CANCELLATIONS OR CLOSURES DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER Cancellation of school bus transportation or school closures due to inclement weather will be reported through the fol-lowing vehicles: News releases to all media outlets in Toronto (Note: although the news release is provided to the media outlets, there is no guarantee that all television and radio stations will broadcast the information in a timely fashion.) Communications will endeavour to send an email to everyone on exchange to advise them of any cancellations or clo-sures. Communications will also endeavour to send out the information electronically to E-News subscribers (Note: If you do not already subscribe to E-News, but wish to do so, please visit our website at www.tcdsb.org and click on the E-News icon on the top right hand side of the homepage). Updates will also be posted on the Board’s 24-hour information line, 416-222-8282, extension 2873.

ATTENDANCE / PUNCTUALITY/ PREPARATION The Education Act states that students must attend school regularly and punctually. Students who arrive late for school must check in at the main office to ensure safe arrival and to help in keeping accurate attendance profiles. Attendance referrals will be sent to the Social Worker for persistent tardiness. Students are expected to arrive prior to the bell. All students are to arrive prepared to work and learn. Preparation includes the completion of daily assignments that are done to the best of the individual student’s ability. Preparation also implies that the student devotes appropriate time to study in advance of test situations.

STUDENT SAFE ARRIVAL Beginning January 14, 2019, you are asked to report your child’s absence in advance through the Safe Arrival feature of School Messenger App. Please use any of these three convenient methods:1) Using your mobile device, down-load and install the SchoolMessenger app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store (or from the links at https://go.schoolmessenger.com). The first time you use the app, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attend-ance then Report an Absence. 2) Use the SafeArrival website, https://go.schoolmessenger.com. The first time you use the website, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence. 3) Call the toll-free number 1 (833) 251-3286 to report an absence using the automated phone system. These options are available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time up to a maximum of 10 consecutive days. It is important to note that when setting up your account, you must register using the email address and phone number asso-ciated with your child’s student record. Please report absences in advance using SafeArrival instead of sending notes or calling/emailing the school. Staff will be using the School Messenger automated notification system to let you know if

your child is absent (when you haven’t reported the absence in advance). Please ensure that we have a current emergency number where you can be contacted. LUNCH POLICY Children may remain at school for lunch if there is no one at home for care for them at that time, they live approximately 1.5 km from the school or they are bussed to school. Stu-dents who stay for lunch are not permitted to leave the school grounds unless they are picked up and signed out by a parent/guardian. Children who eat lunch at school must follow the lunchtime rules and the directions given by the lunchroom supervisors. Students who do not abide by the rules will lose their lunch privileges.

LUNCH DROP-OFF TABLE If you are dropping off your child’s lunch, please put it on the lunch table outside the main office. Clearly label your child’s lunch. Please do not drop off lunches at the classroom door as it is disruptive to lessons and does present a safety concern.

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL

LEAVING SCHOOL If you are picking up your child early, please send a note to your child’s teacher. Please be sure to report to the office to sign them out. If you are returning before the end of the day, please sign your child back in at the office. All students on buses must ride the buses home. Students are not permitted to leave the school for any reason unless they are signed out and accompanied by a parent/guardian. If you ask another adult to take your child out of the school, please send a note, or call our school secretaries to make them aware of the situation. Please do not call the school to request that your child be dismissed early. Children are not permitted to walk home on their own during school hours. These precautions are in place for your child’s safety. Please note that students not adhering to this school rule may face an immediate school suspension. Rules are enforced for your child’s safety and so your assistance in helping us make them understand why the rules should be followed would be greatly appreciated. If you require your child to leave school early, please write a note in your child’s agenda.

PERSONAL PROPERTY The school does not take any responsibility for the loss or theft of personal items brought onto school premises by stu-dents. The school will, therefore, not reimburse or replace lost or stolen articles, under any circumstances. This will include all articles of clothing (label items with a marker); personal school supplies such as fancy or expensive pens, markers, binders and pencil cases, simple or electronic toys; calculators, laptops, IPod’s, CD’s, etc. Please note that collector cards of any kind are not permitted, in addition to all cell phones and any other social media devices. These items will be immediately confiscated by staff and brought to the principal’s attention if they are used according to our Acceptable Use Policy. We ask both parents and students for their full co-operation in this matter. (Please note that the Board’s insurance policy does not cover property owned by staff or students).

MEDICATION Principals, teachers and support staff of the TCDSB are not permitted to administer any type of pre-scription medication during the school day, unless we have written, signed authorization signed by you, the parent, and the prescribing physician. The forms to dispense any medication must be updated on a regular basis and are available from the school principal. Please be advised that staff in TCDSB schools will not dispense non-prescription medications to students. Students who need “puffers” should have one at school and at home. All medications will be stored in the main office. Please notify the school if your child suffers from any type of allergy.

TCDSB APPRORIATE DRESS CODE I hope everyone is having a wonderful 2018-2019 school year at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Elementary School. We enjoy all the benefits of an Appropriate Dress Code at our school. All of our students are proud to be affiliated with St. Paschal Baylon and wear their appropriate colours proudly every day. We would like to encourage everyone to continue to comply with our appropriate dress code expectations at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Elementary School. The Appro-priate Dress Code - guideline to assist you when purchasing articles of clothing for your children: TOPS - White ; White Collared Polo/Golf Shirt; White Collared Dress Shirt/Blouses; Long or Short Sleeved; White Turtlenecks in winter; Navy Sweater, Vest or Pull-Over. BOTTOMS - Navy (Dark Blue); Navy Dress Pants or Cotton Pants; Navy Walking Short; Navy Skorts or Capri Pants for Girls; (No Jeans/Jeggings/Yoga Pants or Denim). Please remember that all tops and pants are to be plain with no visible logos, stripes, etc. It is the parent’s duty and responsibility to ensure that each child is suitably attired. The principal may exercise discretion to allow exceptions to the School Dress Code. Parents may be contacted and in some cases may be required to pick up their child if their manner of dress is not appropriate. Thank you for your support and consideration in this matter.

PARKING & TRAFFIC SAFETY Parking and traffic safety has been a longstanding issue around St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School. Please familiarize yourself with all restricted areas. For the safety of all children, the fire hydrant lo-cated directly across the street from the school is never to be blocked. School buses must not be blocked from exiting or entering our bus loading zone from Crossen Ave. Parking on Crossen Ave. and St. Paschal Court is a serious safety hazard for our children. The school and Parking Enforce-ment Officers from TPS have been informed and will be monitoring the situation very closely. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Parking in our Bus Loading Zone and our handi-capped spaces is not allowed at all, even if it is for a few minutes. Please note that fines for such offences are significant. We thank you for your continued patience and co-operation. STUDENTS WALKING TO AND FROM SCHOOL January is a good time of year to review safety before and after school. Take a moment to review your expectations for your child when walking to and from school. Walk directly to school and walk directly home. No changes to the routine without your permission– no stops along the way. Use the crosswalk and be aware of their surroundings.

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL

USING THE FRONT DOORS OF THE SCHOOL In reviewing our safety routines with staff and students, we were advised that some of our parents prefer to use the front entrance of our school and then bring students directly into the classroom upon arrival at school in the morning. Safety is a priority at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School. As you know, all visitors, including parents and caregivers, are re-quested to report to the office during school hours. Should parents arrive with their children at the bell, staff is located at east entrance to receive students and to ensure that they get to their classrooms. We ask, therefore, that you refrain from entering the school using the front entrance when classes begin in the morning and before classes finish in the af-ternoon. Please make arrangements to pick up and drop off students in the school yard. We would be most apprecia-tive if you would share this information with friends and family and care givers as well. It is important that everyone re-spects the routines of the school for the safety of our students and staff. We ask you to choose safety over convenience.

TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNET USAGE The TCDSB Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) governs the proper use of technology and elec-tronic communication in our schools. The purpose of the AUP is to provide students and their parents with a set of guidelines that outline the safe and appropriate use of technolo-gy within our Catholic School system. Included in the AUP is a definition of electronic communication to include social media, website publishing, and the use of personal electronic devices (PED’s). In addition it addresses expectations surrounding the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy effective as of September 2012. While these devices are not mandatory for classroom activities, they may be included when there is a clear educational purpose that has been identified by the teacher. All parents and students are encouraged to familiar-ize themselves with the AUP. For parents, the full text of the TCDSB AUP can be found at: http://www.tcdsb.org/board/policies/aup. A summary of the AUP expectations for students in the TCDSB: Behaviour Expectations: It is a privilege, not a right, to use the Board’s network and devices. Privileges may be restricted or taken away if the AUP is violated. Students must use their own student account and keep it private when using the board network or devices. Students must use the network and electronic communication for educational purposes only. All students and their par-ents must sign the "Student Access Agreement" before they will be allowed to use the Board’s network and devices. For further information about the Board Policies please go to the following site: http://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Policies/Pages/Default.aspx#schools

CURRICULUM FIRST TERM REPORT CARDS First term Report Cards will be sent home on Tuesday February 12, 2019. As you may al-ready be aware, there are two formal parent-teacher interview scheduled for the current school year. The first interviews took place on the evenings of November 14th and 15th and the second interviews will take place on the evenings of February 13th and 14th. This is an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s teacher and discuss your child’s progress. Alt-hough this will be the only system-wide interview date for the current academic year, please remember that parents are encouraged to contact the school at any time throughout the school year to discuss their child’s progress and any spe-cific concerns that arise. The Toronto Catholic District School Board is committed to the goals outlined in the document Growing Success: which states that “communication with parents and students about student achievement should be continuous throughout the year, by means such as parent-teacher or parent-student-teacher conferences, portfolios of student work, student-led conferences, interviews, phone calls, checklists, and informal reports. Communication about student achievement should be designed to provide detailed information that will encourage students to set goals for learning, help teachers to establish plans for teaching, and assist parents in supporting learning at home.” Parental in-volvement is essential to student success, and your child’s teacher welcomes your support and participation in his/her education.

OLSAT TESTING Gifted testing for our grade 4 students will take place on Tuesday February 5, 2019 in Mrs. Kourousis’, Mrs. Ioannidis’ , Mrs. Balsamo’s and Mrs. Wong’ s classes. The results of these assessments will be communicated to parents only if your child meets the criteria for Gifted Classes.

SETTLEMENT WORKER AT ST. PASCHAL BAYLON Did you know that St. Paschal Baylon now has a counsellor for our immigrant parents? St. Paschal Baylon will be providing settlement services to newcomers to Canada. She can help you with employ-ment, housing, immigration issues, and more. Tagalog: Blaise Cabanban 416 455 8641; Korean: Sue Kim: 416 455 8531; Russian: Svetlana Kravchenko 647 999-9385. Their services are confidential and free for everyone.

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES PRIMARY CHRISTMAS CONCERT What a wonderful way to celebrate our first Christmas in our new addition! Our new gym was filled to capacity as our Kindergarten students performed on December 19th and our Primary students performed on December 20th. A special thank you to the concert committee for their hard work in bringing the concerts to performance. A special thank you as well, to our families for your support and for the generous donations of non-perishable food items for St Francis table. COVENANT HOUSE Thank you to our community for your generous support of our Christmas initiative. We collected toiletries for Covenant House. Covenant House is a shelter for homeless youth that provides basic human needs-food, clothing, a shower and medical attention.

QUANTUM KIDZ LEGO PROGRAM AT ST PASCHAL BAYLON Quantum Kidz LEGO school program is built on the much loved classic LEGO building bricks. This program provides our students a creative learning experience, as they build a new LEGO project in each of the five sessions, based on exciting curriculum themes that draw from Sci-ence, Math, Nature and Literature. These programs help to strengthen math and science con-cepts, along with an appreciation for how things work. Our Primary and Junior students have been enjoying the program this month.

INTERMEDIATE BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ BASKETBALL Our Boy’s and Girl’s Intermediate Basketball teams have been diligently practicing and preparing for the North Regional Basketball Tournament Tuesday, February 12, 2019 (Boys) and Wednesday February 13, 2019 (Girls). Good Luck! Thank you to our coach, Mr. Grella.

BOYS AND GIRLS JUNIOR SOCCER St. Paschal Baylon was proud to host the Boys and Girls Junior Soccer Tournaments on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 and Thursday January 24, 2019. Thank you to our coaches Mr Genova and Mrs. Wong

SKATING FOR THE LOVE OF IT St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School skating program is off and skating. Students without equipment are able to access the school skates and helmets donated to the school. Thank you to Mr. Grella and Mr. Wong for organizing the skating program and fitting all of the skates and helmets. Thank you to all of our teachers who support the program and take their students to Goulding Park Arena each week. What a great way to enjoy winter!

SWIM TO SURVIVE Our Grade 4 classes are enjoying the Swim to Survive program at Antibes Com-munity Center. Swim to Survive provides training in three essential skills needed to survive an unexpected fall into deep water: ROLL into deep water, TREAD water for 1 minute & SWIM 50 metres. Thank you to our teachers Mrs. Wong, Mrs. Balsamo, Mrs. Kourousis, and Mrs. Ioannidis.

CARNAVAL DE SAINT PASCHAL BAYLON C’est la semaine de Carnaval! Stay warm and enjoy the midwinter fun –week of February 19-22. Watch for visits from Bonhomme, Can you guess who it is? Watch for more info to follow. A special thank you to our CSPC for supporting the activities of Carnaval week with a subsidy to fund this celebration. INTERMEDIATE SKIING Our Intermediates are looking forward to a day of Skiing on February 6th at Uplands Ski Centre. Students will have a great opportunity to experience the challenge of downhill skiing. A special thank you to our CSPC for supporting the ski excursions with a $1000.00 subsidy which helped to fund this worthwhile activity for our Intermediate students.

ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL

CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL MEETINGS Our Catholic School Parent Council is an integral part of our school community. All parents and staff are most welcome to attend any or all of the meetings. The next CSPC meeting will be held on Tuesday February 26, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the school Library. Everyone is welcome to attend.

THANK YOU TO CSPC AND OUR PARENT COMMUNITY The staff and students of St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest appreciation to all the parents who have volunteered throughout this school year on all our school initiatives and events. It is through the support of individuals like you that we are able to continue to strengthen our initiatives and to develop new and innovative fundraisers to serve and benefit our children and school. Volunteers with your passion and dedica-tion are so hard to come by. The fact that each and every one of you give so selflessly of your time speaks volumes. We know how busy we all are and for you to take this on really speaks to your character and dedication as parents. Thank you for helping to make St. Paschal Baylon a wonderful place for learning.

PARENT CORNER HOMEWORK HELP FOR STUDENTS A new term begins in February. For students needing help with math homework, online support is available after school. Certified teachers are available to respond to specific questions or broad concepts in mathematics. Visit the Homework Help website for more information: https://homeworkhelp.ilc.org/