Post on 24-Sep-2020
From the Principal
Volume 2, Issue
10
News from St. Sylvester
Principal
Mr. R. Fernandes
Secretary
Ms. P. Spatora
CSAC Chair
Ms. Deir
Pastor
Fr. J. Sultana
June 2016
Dear Parents:
A quote I recently shared with staff went like this “The bad news is that time flies. The
good news is that you’re the pilot.” Our gr. 8 parents likely find it mind boggling that
their children’s time at St. Sylvester is coming to a close and I equally find it shocking
that my first two years at St. Sylvester are coming to a close as well. Time does fly..
Let’s take a quick review of the year that was.
From the initial spirit of the Terry Fox Run, our primary Christmas play,Young People’s
Theatre plays, Interest Day, Education Night, Zero Waste Project, Roseneath Theatre
Productions , Capturing pennants in volleyball, basketball, and Cross Country, Trips
Galore, Virtues assemblies, Literacy Day/Night, forays into self directed and inquiry
based learning, the list could go on and on. A common thread weaves through all these
activities and that is—Holistic Education at its best. Our belief as educators at St. Syl-
vester is that learning takes place all the time and in every place—be it on stage, on the
roadrunner course, in the Church, in the classroom, on field trips, in the school yard,
and of course at home. We encourage you to continue this learning journey throughout
the summer holidays at the library, the Church, your backyard, the grocery store and
wherever else you choose. The most important thing for our students and for us as
adults is to continue the life long learning process in whatever way we can while always
remembering that life indeed is a journey rather than a destination.
Ten months have seen us go through ten virtues and I would ask you to discuss with
your children which of the ten virtues (all found in the agenda) are most important and
most relevant to your life. I would like to start by focusing on the virtue of gratitude.
Thanks to our staff for continually bringing their energy, motivation and innovative
teaching to our classrooms and school. Thanks to our parents for sending your children
to us to learn and for trusting that our goal is to help your children succeed. Thanks to
our students for giving our mission a reason. Together all three groups have made St.
Sylvester an excellent place to be.
Our final virtue of the year is Faithfulness and it is a very appropriate idea to consider.
Always believe that there is a reason for things and trust in God’s plan. I hope you will
continue to embrace the main point of our code of conduct. God IS in everyone and this
should impact our every interaction. Respect DOES breed respect and laughter is a gift
that should always be shared. Thank you parents for the privilege of working with your
children. We appreciate your faith in us and I feel confident in saying that over the last
ten months, we have together ensured a positive year for our students at St. Sylvester.
God’s Blessings on you all for a safe, happy and recharging summer holidays ...when
they arrive!
416–393-5373
School Information
School Enrolment
180 students
School Hours
8:30—3:00
Lunch Hour
11:15—12:15
School Parish
St .Aidan Catholic
Church
(416-494-2704)
Home, School, and Church
Page 2 News from St. Sylvester
It starts with communication As we begin the process of creating class lists for next year, we are asking for your input on class placement for your child. If there is anything you would like us to consider with regards to your child’s placement for next year, please send a letter to Mr.
Fernandes by June 6th with all the details. Please be assured that we will carefully consider your concerns and suggestions, however final decisions regarding class lists are made collaboratively by the staff. You can be guaranteed that much thought goes into the process of creating the most beneficial class groupings for all of our students. Regardless of classroom placement, at St. Sylvester Catholic School, our priority is to ensure that all students receive a quality education and enjoy a positive learning experience in a caring and supportive
environment.
Church News
As we move into the summer holidays, we remind all our
parents, that our faith is one that is best celebrated when we
find time to devote to God. Finding time to get to Church over
the holidays is the best way to show our children that our
Catholic faith is not something that exists only at school but
rather year round. God has given us much to be grateful for,
and in return, we are encouraged to thank Him in His house.
Coming out of the Year of the Family, we move into the second
stage of the Board’s pastoral plan—the Year of the Parish.
.
Faithfulness - – “Happy are those who have not
seen, yet still believe” John 20:29
June is the month of Faithfulness and we encourage
everyone to try and follow the points below. Those who
do it best will become our virtues stars for June
1. Being a Catholic is founded in Faith—Faith in the
Lord.
2. Remember that it is through our words and actions
that our faith becomes evident
3. Let your actions be guided by Centurion’s words to
Jesus “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only
say the word and I shall be healed”
4. It is our Faith in God that brings comfort to our lives.
Faith and Character Development
May Virtues Stars (Compassion)
Ms. Semple Gabrielle Bautista
Ms. Chen Shawn Tom
Mrs. Ricetto Rona Li
Ms. Ironside Jasmine Broadnax
Mr. Nemes Aleena Tomy
Ms. Harrietha Giovany Williams
Ms. Stoner Adejah Peters
Mrs. Povo Taja Francis Fuller
Congratulations to all these students for demonstrating our
Virtue of the month. They have been awarded a certificate
for being a follower of Christ
Parent involvement Catholic Parent Involvement Committee (CPIC): www.tcdsb.org/cpic
OAPCE (Parent involvement) www.tcdsb.org/oapce-toronto
At our final parent council meeting of the year on May 17th, plans were discussed for a school curriculum night bbq in
September.
Results were also discussed from our Pro Grant Survey. The majority choice was Parenting skills. Our CSPC chair Ms.
Deir has submitted an application in the hopes that we receive the $1000 ministry grant to run this parenting workshop
next year.
Page 3
Track and Field
Our second biggest school sport of the year is
Track and Field. Our first meet took place on Fri-
day, May 13th at St. John Paul Secondary school.
The Regional track and field meet was on Wednes-
day May 18 and the City Track Meet took place on
Wednesday, May 25.
A special acknowledgement to our three city Ath-
letes. Sumaya who qualified in the 200, 400 and
high jump. Amelia who qualified for the 800 m,
Japheth who qualified for the shot put. Sumaya
ended up as a double medal winner—
gold in the high jump, and bronze in
the 200 metre.
Happening at a School Near You
Jump Rope for Heart
This year the entire school participated in the
Jump Rope for Heart event on Tuesday, May
24th . We got physically active, had fun and
raised money to help others. Congratulations
St. Sylvester for raising just over $2,400.00
for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. A BIG
thank you to everyone for their hard work,
dedication, and great attitudes towards help-
ing others! A special thank you goes out to my
grade two students for the excellent attitudes
and patience running the stations. We look
forward to doing this again next year. S. Iron-
side
Eds note—Thanks to Ms.
Ironside and her Gr. 2
class for their leadership in
running our event.
Education night
On May 5th, we had our school Education night.
There were phenomenal displays from each class in
the gym demonstrating how every class has worked
towards meeting our school learning plan of engag-
ing students in the curriculum. Our Gr. 4/5 class
lead parents in an art workshop at 6:45 p.m. Perfor-
mances started at 7 pm and included, the Gr. 7/8
instrumental band, our School Choir, Winning Public
Speakers and our Zero Waste play performed by the
Gr. 5/6 class. Education night is designed to be a
celebration of all we have learned and our night was
a full and complete one.
Interest Day
One of the Catholic Graduate expectations is
becoming a Life Long Learner. At St. Sylvester we
took on that task with our School interest day
Students from JK– Gr.8 indicated areas they were
interested in learning more about and from there
we went about finding activities that we thought
could match these interests.
On May 11th, we had our first ever interest day at
St. Sylvester. The day included options for
cooking, lego, animal care, special effects make
up, arts and crafts, karate, and a high ropes
leadership course. Students and parents were
asked to comment on our padlets and we thank
those who took the time to do so.
Career day was last year. Interest day was this
year. Any thoughts for next year? No matter what
comes next, we feel we are continuing to provide
opportunities for our students in their world of life
long learning.
JK/SK
Jump rope for heart—Jordyn
When we went to the movies Nana
When we went to the Oark Jovan
I liked cooking pizza on interest day - Alphy
Our trip to the St. Lawrence Market—Ryan
Our trip to YPT (Goodnight Moon) Nathaniel
Gr.2:
Skating—Jasmine
Different celebrations like tropical day—Althea
Jump rope for Heart—Ashly
TTC trip—Therese
Caterpillars—Egypt
Stations of the Cross—Katrina
Christmas Play – Jason
Gr. 3
My favourite memory with Ms D'Amico was Halloween because we made a cookie monster pumpkin! - Aiden My favourite memory with Mr. Nemes was April Fool's Day when Mr. Nemes said he had brownies for the class, but he only had the letter Es and they were brown. Then the whole class laughed! - Kerrie
Gr. 5/6
I loved Mansfield! My Mom missed me but I was in her heart! (Javier) I loved building the LIVING DESK! It taught me how hard jobs like that are. (Sabinus) I loved being a PHANTOM SHOVELER because helping people goes hand-in-hand with Operation Kindness! (Clara) I loved how Mr. Nemes and Mrs. Stoner taught us team-work in Junior Volleyball! (Mitzi) I loved INTEREST DAY because I learned how to con-quer my fear of heights! (Joshua N.) I loved our REAL LIFE MATH because it will prepare us for the future! (Lisi) I loved the whole ZERO WASTE EXPERIENCE! (Narek)
Some of our Favourite Memories from 2015/2016