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

St. Barnabas Catholic School Newsletter December 2013

Please visit our WEBSITE: http://stbarnabas.tcdsb.org “Where there is charity and love, God is there.”

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s), The month of December begins our liturgical year with Advent, a word derived from Latin that means "coming." During Advent we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and we look forward to his second coming at the end of time. During this Season of Advent, our virtue of the month is Charity and our quote of the month is “Where there is charity and love, God is there.” We ask for your charity this month by bringing in Christmas gifts for our less fortunate families in our community. A letter went home last week detailing the family information. The Advent wreath is a part of our long-standing Catholic tradition. The four candles represent the 4000 years prior to Christ’s coming and the four weeks of Advent. The unlit candles represent the Dark Ages before Christ’s coming. The lit candles represent Christ, the Light of the World. Each week we light one more candle representing the idea that the coming of Christ is closer. The circular form of the wreath symbolizes that God has no beginning and no end. The green of the boughs indicates HOPE-just as the green of spring indicates new life. This is an appropriate reminder that we are in the Year of HOPE. Please continue to check our website at http://stbarnabas.tcdsb.org for this newsletter and our school calendar. We will be slowly phasing out paper copies of our newsletter by June 2014. Yours in Catholic Education, K. Quan King Thompson Principal

Family Advent Evening Mass and Christmas Social for St. Barnabas Catholic School Staff, Parents and Children

December 17th

, 7:00 pm

Come see your children take part in Mass as readers, offertory servers, choir members and musicians as they lead us through a memorable Advent Mass on Tuesday, December 17, 2013. Mass will begin at 7:00 pm with our Children’s Christmas Choir and then a Social in our school gymnasium where the children’s choir will sing again, and everyone will get a chance to meet SANTA CLAUS, take a Family Christmas Photo, buy food from our bake sale and win prizes from our Raffle.

If you return the RSVP form at the bottom of the flyer that will be sent home shortly, you will be entered into a draw for free movie tickets! If you would like more chances to win great prizes, CSAC will be selling 1 ticket for $3.00 and 3 for $5.00 that evening. Please join us for a wonderful Advent evening!

St. Barnabas

Catholic School 30 Washburn Way

Scarborough, Ontario M1B 1H3

416-393-5351 Fax: 416-397-6980

Principal

K. Quan King Thompson

Head Secretary J. Brown

Clerk Typist

L. Greif

Superintendent Nick D’Avella

Trustee

Garry Tanuan

Hours of Operation 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Lunch Hour

11:35a.m. – 12:35p.m.

Parish

St. Barnabas Catholic Church

10 Washburn Way 416-298-0989

Priest: Fr. Edwin

__

Important Upcoming Dates December 2 Family Christmas Gift Collection Begins, Celebration of Excellence 12:35 pm December 4 Advent Mass @ St. Barnabas Church 10:45 am, Immunization Clinic Gr.7/8 PM December 13 Pizza Day, Dress Down Day ($1.00 to dress down) December 16 Trip to Willowgrove Farm Gr. 3/4 December 17 Family Advent Evening Mass and Children’s Choir/Social 7:00pm December 18 Rosary in the Classroom, Family Christmas Gift Collection Pickup December 19 Last Day of School for 2013 December 20 No School January 8 Full Day Kindergarten Registration Begins, please apply at www.soar.tcdsb.org

Mission and Vision

At St. Barnabas Catholic School, our MISSION is to foster 21

st century

fluencies, enhance our environmental initiatives, and sustain our positive catholic school culture. Our VISION is to create and sustain a nurturing Catholic, eco-friendly, 21

st century environment that

enhances learning.

December’s Virtue of the Month is CHARITY

In this, the second year of the TCDSB’s pastoral plan, the focus is on HOPE. Our quote for the month is “Where there is charity and love, God is there.” During the month of December we will be focusing on the virtue of CHARITY. 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 purchasing gifts to put under the tree for Christmas, but let us be mindful of the fact that charity is not always about giving material things. As St. Thomas Aquinas described it “Charity is friendship first with God and secondly with all who belong to God." (25,4). How can we practice charity and generosity in our community without necessarily giving material things?

Literacy Resources for the Virtue of Charity

God Gave us Christmas The Giving Tree By Lisa Tawn Bergren By Shel Silversteen ISBN 9781400071753 ISBN 0000060256652

Full Day Kindergarten Registration New Online Application Process

www.soar.tcdsb.org Registration for Full Day Kindergarten for September 2014 will begin on Wednesday, January 8, 2014. This year, the TCDSB is introducing a new way to register through an online application. Please go to www.soar.tcdsb.org and fill out the application form before coming in for an appointment any time after January 8, 2013, with all of the required documents. In order to accommodate parents who work during the day, St. Barnabas will have a registration evening on Thursday, January 23, 2013 from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. We ask that you fill out the online application form prior to attending this evening. Once the application form has been filled out, we can obtain copies of your original documents to complete your registration that evening.

Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)

Our Catholic School Advisory Council meeting (Parent Council) was held on Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 6:00 pm. Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 6:00 pm. All parents are welcome! If you are interested in helping out for our Family Advent Evening Mass, please contact the school.

Celebration of Excellence

For October our virtue of the month was Gratitude. Our quote of the month was “This is the day, the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad (Psalm 118:24). The following students were recognized at our Celebration of Excellence Assembly in November: Eliana Sem, Lara Bundang, Mikayla Alleyne-Joseph, Michelle Selvaraja, Chelsey Labit, Emanuel Brown-Moore, Marcel Bancaya, Gabriel Balsomo, Paolo Reyes, Jesse Bastian, Alexander Yeh, Briana Rondilla, Abigail Landsberg, Philip Fernandez, and Jessica Lobo. Our Academic Award for the month of October was Religion. The following students were recognized at our Celebration of Excellence Assembly in November: Hoover Osea, Aisha Vignarajah, Emmanual Carpio, Mikayla Pinto, Paul Macarag, Noah Almeida, Lianne Masangkay, Rachel Fernandez, Zeus Abulencia, Marlorne Edquila, Hanna Louise Latina, Josh Reyes, Nicholas Penna, Kimberly Laranang and Charlene Omo.

Environmental Initiatives @ St. Barnabas

Eco Christmas Wreath Contest

The Eco Club is running a school-wide Eco Christmas Wreath Contest this year. The purpose is for the students to learn that old materials can be reused in another way to make something beautiful, instead of just using new materials. The categories are K- gr2, gr3 – gr5/6, gr6 - gr8. The winning classes will win an extra gym period or an exciting French period of games!!!!! Christmas wreaths are due on Monday, December 9, 2013. The winning classes’ wreaths will be judged on the following criteria: effective use of used/old materials, creativity, and esthetic appeal. We are looking forward to some unique and creative eco Christmas Wreaths this year!

School Parking Lot A reminder when dropping off and picking up students from school to please NOT use the handicapped parking spot for this purpose. As well, when dropping off and picking up students, please do not occupy a parking spot. In the morning staff and guests to the school require a spot for work, as well as keeping traffic to a minimum both before and after school. We advise you to use the loop for drop off and pick up but please do not park in the loop. You may also use the far end of the parking lot to drop off your children. Thank you.

Toronto Public Health

Grade 7 and 8 Immunization Clinic

Our first immunization clinic at St. Barnabas is scheduled for December 4, 2013. Grade 7 students will receive free Hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines, and Grade 8 girls will receive the HPV vaccine.

Healthy Eating Facts

Helping Your Child Do Well in School and in Life! 1. Eating a variety of foods means choosing foods from each of the four food groups in Canada’s Food Guide. Eating a variety of foods will help us to grow and stay healthy. Choose foods from the four food groups – Vegetables and Fruit, Grain Products, Milk and Alternatives and Meat and Alternatives. See how many different foods you can mix and match. The possibilities are endless! 2. Starting the day without breakfast is like starting a car without gas. It does not work. Make a quick breakfast. Cereal, fruit and milk, whole grain bread with cheese, yogurt and fresh fruit are all healthy choices. From now on, enjoy breakfast before you head out the door! 3. What did the ghost eat for breakfast? Booberry pancakes! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives you energy and nutrients to start the day. A balanced breakfast has at least 3 of the 4 food groups and can be a bowl of cereal and chopped fruit with milk, or a whole grain bagel with cheese and an apple. 4. Canada’s Food Guide recommends that we eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day. Can you think of some dark green and orange vegetables that you can eat? How about baby carrots or a salad made with dark green romaine lettuce. What did the first tomato say to the second tomato? You go ahead and I’ll ketchup! 5. Why is broccoli called a “super vegetable‟? It is packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Its great raw with a little dip. You can also eat it steamed, stir-fried or microwaved. For more information you can consult with your school's social work, psychology or guidance departments, or call Toronto Health Connection at 416-338-7600 and speak with someone, or visit www.toronto.ca/health.

Toronto Coalition for Bullying Prevention at St. Barnabas

As you were informed last week, Global News was at our school to cover the Kick off to National Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. Organizations such as the Toronto Argonauts, Canadian Red Cross, Roots of Empathy, KidSafe Productions, Herb Carnegie Foundation and the Family Channel were here with guest speaker, Anthony McLean, Founder of I Engage, to talk to our school about what we can do to eliminate bullying. We were aired on the noon hour and 6 o’clock news on November 18

th and again on the

morning show on November 19

th.

The Director of Education, Superintendent of Safe Schools and our Area Superintendent were all in attendance. Our grade 4 and 4/5 classes participated in a workshop by KidSafe Productions. It was a fantastic day!

TCDSB Multi Year Strategic Plan

The Toronto Catholic District School Board approved its Multi-Year Strategic Plan 2012-2015 in April 2012. The Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) includes a revised mission, vision and values statements as well as a clear focus on six key strategic directions. The MYSP is the result of a comprehensive and collaborative process.

Please note that the Multi-Year Strategic Plan 2012-2015, hyperlinked Strategic Actions and supporting documents can readily be found on the TCDSB website: http://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Pages/MultiYearStrategicPlan.aspx.

St. Barnabas School Learning and Improvement

Plan(SLIP) Goal On October 11th, 2013, the St. Barnabas Staff analyzed school data and compared various assessments in order to identify our critical need. Our goal is to help meet the 6% increase target set by the board for 2014. Overall for St. Barnabas C.S, we have set a SMART goal for all the grades that: By June 2014, the St. Barnabas staff will create opportunities for authentic learning experiences and experiential learning in all classrooms, in order to improve student achievement and wellbeing in MATHEMATICS by 5% as indicated on our EQAO scores in grades 3 and 6, focusing on improvement in measurement through problem solving. Teachers are working together to achieve greater results and we all have a common goal. We are also working with students and parents on continuing to understand and use learning goals, co-created success criteria and meaningful descriptive feedback to improve student success especially in mathematics.

Annual Danceathon Fundraiser The CSAC Parents would like to thank everyone for helping to make this year’s fundraiser another great success! All together we raised a grand total of $8145.00!!!!!. This is over $2000 more than last year! Here are the winners for our various prizes: Grand Prize – Samsung Galaxy - Ilyanna York Abate Primary Top Divisional Prize – Stephen Maingot Junior Top Divisional Prize – Jordan Odwin Intermediate Top Divisional Prize – Chelsea Hamlet Top Individual Prize – Jordan Odwin Top Class – Ms. Rukavina’s Class – Free Bus Class Pizza Parties – Mrs. Straub, Mrs. Richardson, Mr. Nabzdyk, Mrs. Jarrett, Ms. Rukavina, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Sulmona, Mrs. Gordon Early Bird Winners – Krystyn Ruiz, Kyle Laranang, Glantine Claude, Aniyah Ferreira, Samuel David, and Shane Pestano School Prizes – Pajama Day, Wacky Hair Day, Crazy Hat Day, Free Dress Down Day and No Homework Day Principal for the Day – Symphani Barclay As stated before, the money raised for our Danceathon goes to pay for Enrichment Programs i.e. Scientists in the School, classroom supplies, subsidizing school performances, buses for school trips, agendas, graduations, and 21

st century learning in the classroom i.e.

Smart boards, netbooks, iPads etc. Thank you again for your time and efforts raising money for our children’s school needs.

Social Justice at St. Barnabas

The Social Justice Club has begun a campaign this November called We Create Change. On the last Friday of every month (starting November 29

th) we ask you to send in any loose change you may have. This money

will be counted, and every $20 is one brick to build a school in an area around the world in need. We can change the world one coin, one brick, and one school at a time! We have been selling Rafiki Chains again this year, taking orders just in time for Christmas presents. Each ABC Rafiki Friend chain is multi-coloured, and for just $10 you equip a child overseas for school for one year. You will even receive a code with your chain, so you can track the impact your gift is having on the life of a child. Thank you for your orders!

Humanitarian Relief for the Philippines

Thank you to everyone who has donated money for humanitarian relief for the Philippines. We have raised a total of $841.60. I will donate the balance to be able to give a total of $1000.00 for St. Barnabas Catholic School.

Family Christmas Gifts for Less Fortunate This year again we are called to help out those families less fortunate than our own to provide something for Christmas. We ask that you look at the family or families of your children in specific divisions to buy gifts, wrap them and label them so that we know who to give the gifts. A letter with detailed information about the families was sent home last week. Please help us to help those who will not have this Christmas. Donations of gifts are due by Wednesday, December 18, 2013.

St. Barnabas Intermediate Boys Volleyball City Champions!

From the desk of Coach MacLEAN Congratulations to our Boy’s Intermediate School Volleyball team for their victory at the City Championships played at Humber College on Wednesday November 27

th. The team posted a 6 win 0 loss

record in pool play defeating St. Pius X, St. Roch and St. Wilfrid along the way. The semi-final pitted St. Barnabas against St. Brendan in a rematch of the regional final the week previous. The Boys were able to exercise their will and showed determination and ability en route to a 2 straight set victory. In the championship, the team came up against the other undefeated team from Blessed John XXIII who had over 60 loud and enthusiastic student fans pulling for them. After some initial distractions from the crowd, the Boys were able to put it into cruise control en route to a straight sets victory thus securing our 3

rd championship in the last 4

years. Madame Carvalho and yours truly Mister MacLEAN are proud to have been able to work with this group of Boy’s this year. Here is a list of their many accomplishments during the course of the season: 1

st place in the Catholic Cup, quarter finalists at the

Provincial Cup, 1st place in the annual St. Barnabas Invitational, 1

st

place in the divisional, regional and city finals for all Toronto Catholic Elementary Schools. We would like to offer special thanks to all parent and grandparent supervisor/drivers who assisted with transportation, especially Mrs. McNeilly. Special thanks to Mr. Carvalho for his support yesterday. Team members include: Captains Justin C., Nicholas T. and Thomas S. Other team members include: Daniel M., Skylar G., Austin K., Zyril E., Heron P., Cashius M., Lloyd A., Brandon L., Jordan D., Kokoy P., Jayden H., Isaiah K., and Nehemiah K.

A Prayer for Advent Almighty and loving God, soon the whole world will celebrate the birth of Your Son, Jesus. Even as we rejoice in our remembrance of His birth at Bethlehem, we find greater comfort in His promise to come again. May our preparations for this wondrous season remain with us, increase in us, and become as much a part of us as our breathing and our heartbeat. Then, may we say, "Come, Lord Jesus, we are ready." Amen

St. Barnabas School Website Please visit our school website at http://stbarnabas.tcdsb.org to view our monthly newsletters, calendars, and dates and events taking place at our school. We hope to slowly eliminate the need to send home paper. This is part of enhancing our environmental initiatives and 21

st century environment at St. Barnabas Catholic School. We

hope to go paperless by June 2014.