Newsletter - St Clair CDS Board

http://www.st-clair.net
Director: Dan Parr
Superintendent: D. Crawford
Principal: Mrs. L. Sfalcin
Secretary: Mrs. E. Helps
Board Chair: C. Bryden
Trustee: J. Van Heck
ZONE
5 January 2014 – Responsibility
If we want our children
to keep their feet on the ground, put somee responsibility on their shoulders. Author Unknown
Principal’s Message
Happy New Year
and welcome back! I hope all of our St.
Elizabeth families
had a memorable Christmas. We are
looking forward to a productive and rewarding
remainder
of the academic year. The return
from this two
week
break provides us
with a great opportunity to review and
rework routines and procedures in order for our children
to be successful in
school. Below
are suggestions to
support your child’s success.
Please make
a renewed commitment to help your
child get to school on time each day. Prior to the
holiday vacation, we noticed a marked increase in
tardy and absent students.
Have your child organize belongings the previous
evening; mornings are too busy and rushed.
Take time to
review teacher newsletters and/or
websites with your child to
learn about upcoming
assignments.
Feel free to contact your child's teacher with
questions and ongoing concerns. Email
communication is an effective tool or leave a
message with Mrs. Help’s our school secretary and
your call will be returned.
Does your child need help in school? We
do have
some opportunity for tutoring before school starting
at 8:20. Please call and speak with Mrs. Dedecker
our Special Education Teacher. While Academic
Assistance is
a voluntary opportunity for students, it
is intended to give your child a chance to
make up
missing assignments or catch up on unfinished work
and/or review
work.
Finally, what to wear? As the weather grows colder,
please help us by sending your child with
snow
pants, hats and extra sockss and mittens in
case they
get wet during one of the Nutritional Breaks.
By
working together to ensure a successful start to
the
2014 school year, everyone wins and our
partnership between home/school is strengthened!
Thank you for your continued support and interest!
Mrs. L. Sfalcin
Virtue of f the Month: : Responsibility
As we begin this New Year, our school community will
focus onn the virtue of Responsibility and on
the Catholic
Graduate Expectation “I am a learner for life!”
Responsibility is the
virtue that calls us to do some pretty
tough things. It callss us to accept responsibility for the
consequences of our choices and actions. It
means we are
accountable for what we do or don’t do. It means we have h
to choose to do what is right even when that is the
hardest choice. When we make
a mistake we have to offer o
a genuine apology rather than an excuse and perhaps
most difficult of all, we have to make the behavior
changess necessary to show thatt we really are responsible.
Up Comingg Lock Down Drills The Ministry of Education stipulates that
each school board update and review its Emergency Response Protocol so
there is consistency across the province in all schools in responding to crisis.
The ministryy also requires that each school performs lockdown practice drills.
Therefore, next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we will practice a
Lockdown att 10:50 am. Thee drill will be approximately 15 minutes from start
to finish. The drill will include:
‣ Staff and students will secure in
locked classrooms until Lockdown
Is over
‣ Classroom curtains and blinds will be pulled, lights turned off
‣ Staff and students assumed safe position away
from windows and
sightlines and Students remained SILENT until drill is done
All teachers will review the protocol with their students before the drill. Like
all drills (i.e. Fire and Tornado) staff and students have the opportunity to
practice what to do and where to go to be better prepared.
Thank youu for keeping our St. Elizabeth Catholic School
a “Nut Safe” Zone!

Saturday, January
11 th – ROC
2 nd Super Saturday at OLHC Parish
Centre 9:45am ‐2pm
Thursday January
23 rd ‐ 10 a.m. Mass ‐ St. Elizabeth School Masss – St. Elizabeth
School
Our January 8 th Catholic School Advisory
Council Meeting has been cancelled and
replaced for our Council to attend Dr. Terry
Nelson‐Johnson presentation on
Soul Play to
all of our St. Clair Catholic Councils on
Monday, January 20 th at UCC in the theatre
at 7:00 PM. For tickets, contact Mrs. Sfalcin.
Catholic School Advisory Council
Meetings for
the School Year:
Feb. 5 Apr. 2 May 7
Jun. 4
We welcome all parents to our meetings
throughout the year.
Bus Cancellations – Inclement Weather
St. Elizabeth is in Zone
5. If the weather promises
to be hazardous and the bus routes affected,
notification of bus delays and cancellations is
carried over the local radio stations and websites
(e.g. CKXS-FM 99.1 on the dial and
www.schoolbusinfo.com.) All school activities (i.e..
sports games) are cancelled for thatt day and when
possible, are rescheduled to when buses are
running.
We have a SAFE ARRIVAL POLICY PROTOCOL thatt
requires we call all missing students to ensure
to school. Generally, no mid-
they are
safe, so if your child(ren) walk to school
and if you choose to keep them home on a bus
cancellation day, please take time to call the
school office and leave a message letting us know
they will not be attending school. Thank You!
Newsletter by email In an effort
to reduce
paper, we are once again asking
families to
sign upp for the monthly newsletter by email.
If you would like to
receive your newsletters
in this manner rather than through your child,
please email the Secretary with
your request.
erin.helps@st‐clair.net
Special thanks to The Black Goose, Mark Childs
and Staff who catered a delicious Turkey
Christmas Lunch on
December 18 th . St.
Elizabeth staff and students would like to thank
you forr your generosity and your amazing
meal.
to our Parents on our
School
Advisory Council as well as the parents who
made our Christmass Turkey Lunch so successful
in volunteering their time to set up, serve and
clean‐up. Thank you
also to all the parents who
sent inn desserts. What an amazing feast!
Kingdom
Assignment Congratulations to the following
Grade 8 students who were mandated in December at UCC
Secondary School for thee Kingdom Assignment:
These students were given $100 with the mandate thatt this
money does not belong to them, but belongs to God and
they are to work to “pay it forward” in the community.
Our Kingdom Assignment students with their school events
raised $1000.00 to donate on behalf of St. Elizabeth
to
United Way.

Trustee Corner
Happy New Year from the Board of Trustees for the St. Clair Catholic District School Board!
As you may know, St. Clair Catholic, along with the Diocese of London and the Huron Perth, London and Brant Haldimand
Norfolk Catholic district school boards, have worked to organize an evening with Terry Nelson‐Johnson. The event for St. Clair
Catholic is at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 20 th at the Ursuline College theatre in Chatham.
Dr. Terry Nelson‐Johnson is the Animating and Creative Partner of Soul Play, an experiential, theological and education
enterprise serving congregations families and adults. His art is the written and spoken word. Through storytelling, poetry and
humour, he connects our life stories to the story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Ten seats have been reserved for each elementary school; and 25 seats for each secondary school; however, more seats can be
made available. Please contact your principal if you would like to attend.
The event is free and is made available through a Ministry of Education “Parents Reaching Out” grant.
I hope you are able to attend.
Yours in Catholic education,
Carol Bryden, Chair of the Board; John Van Heck; Vice Chair of the Board
Trustees – John Fontaine, Anita Labadie, Michelle Parks, Brenda Rumble and Linda Ward.
A Message from our Director
Helping Your Child to Succeed at School
Each month in this space, look for tips on ways in which parents can help keep their children safe when
using online tools and social media.
For January, I will highlight some specific examples of cyber bullying.
Dan Parr
Director of Education
Source: Ontario Provincial Police
Cyber Bullying
Although there are different definitions regarding the topic of cyber bullying, it can generally be defined as
sending or posting harmful or cruel text messages or images using the internet or other digital
communication devices.
Some Specific Examples of Cyber Bullying Would Include:
Sending cruel, vicious and sometimes threatening messages;
Creating websites that have stories, cartoons, pictures and jokes ridiculing others;
Posting pictures of classmates online with intent to embarrass them;
Breaking into an email account and sending vicious or embarrassing material to others;
Engaging someone in IM (instant messaging), tricking that person into revealing sensitive
personal information and then forwarding that information to others;
Taking a picture of a person using a digital phone camera and sending that picture to others
without consent.