Monthly Archives: May 2023

Bus 116 is running late.  It will be leaving the school in 5 minutes.

Thank you

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that we will enter into June this week! We have journeyed together through another incredible school year, and are always appreciative of your support and partnership. But…we are not done yet!

Congratulations are extended to our Intermediate Co-Ed Soccer Team (coached by Ms. Kasunic and M. Gonzalez) who demonstrated determination, teamwork, and athleticism throughout their tournament last week! A big win and some additional close matches – you made your Stars family extremely proud!

Congrats also to all of our students Grades 4 to 8 who participated in the Track & Field event this past Wednesday at St. David’s CSS. There were many smiles, high fives and personal bests. Sincere thanks to our staff who helped organize this event (Mrs. Hollohan and Ms. Weltman) and our junior/intermediate staff for running each event. Thanks also to family members who helped to cheer the students on!

As we soon finish off the month of May and head into June, we look forward to many more activities and continued new learning! Keep working hard, Stars!!

Cross Country Meet

Students in grades 3-8 have been practicing steadily for our WCDSB Cross Country Meet to be held this week on Wednesday, May 31st. We are sending a school team of over 70 participants! Thank you to our coaches and staff supervisor (Mrs. Spencer, Mr. Schindler and Mrs. Gehl) for supporting the students with training and attending this exciting event. Go Stars! Enjoy the run!

Calling All Library Books!

Each school year, June brings the year end library inventory. You can help us by returning ANY library books that your child(ren) have at home to the school over the next two weeks. All books are due back by Friday, June 9th.

Proud to Raise the Pride Flag

On Thursday, June 1st, St. Aloysius School and all schools in the WCDSB will be raising the Pride Flag. The flag-raising is part of our commitment to creating a nurturing, safe and inclusive learning environment where every student and every member of the community is welcomed, valued, and respected. We stand with all in our community and we commit to doing better – each and every day.

Educational Assistant and Child & Youth Care Worker Appreciation Day – June 2nd

The staff and students at St. Aloysius School would like to say a huge “THANK YOU!” to all of our Educational Assistants and our Child and Youth Care Workers. Our St. Al’s support team staff are friendly, patient, and sensitive towards the needs of all children – they are simply AWESOME! It is with their dedication to our students and their commitment to the growth of each child, that our students experience success and our school remains a safe and inclusive place where everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow, feel valued, and achieve their full potential. It takes a village to raise a child, and we couldn’t do it without all of you!

Reminder: No school for students on Friday

A kind reminder that this Friday, June 2nd is a Professional Activity Day and there will be no school for students. Our Extended Day Program will run for registered students.

Have a wonderful week, Stars! Enjoy the sunshine 🙂

Corrections – AGAIN! The holiday Monday is confusing our dates for the coming week.

Please find the CORRECT information below:

Grades 4 to 8 Track & Field Day at St. David’s CSS – tomorrow, Wednesday, May 24th

Welcome to Kindergarten Event – Thursday, May 25th from 5:30 to 7 pm

Thanks for your understanding and patience 🙂

Dear Families,

Our apologies on the date for Grade 4 to 8 Track & Field listed on our school newswire yesterday.

The correct date is tomorrow, Tuesday, May 24th.

Thanks!

Happy May Long Weekend to our Stars Families!

We trust that everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend together and we look forward to another great week of learning together! Below, please find some updates for the week ahead.

Track and Field Event

This Wednesday, May 25th is the day that our students from Grades 4 to 8 will be participating in the Track & Field meet at St. David Catholic Secondary School. Students will be taking a bus to Waterloo shortly after 9:00 am. We need all students to be on time for school! The weather forecast looks like it will be perfect and will make for a great day for our students to compete in their running and field events.

A few reminders:

• Lunch – make sure to pack a nutritious lunch with lots of healthy snacks (our students are not permitted to go into the school to buy any food)
• Water – bring an extra water bottle to stay hydrated throughout the day
• Sun protection – bring sunscreen and a hat
• Dress in layers – wear shorts, a t-shirt, sweatpants, and a sweater/hoodie
• Running shoes – make sure that they can be tied tightly for safety
• Blanket/Towel – students may bring a blanket/towel to sit on while not at their events

All students are reminded that we are guests at St. David’s and we know that you will show the same respect, enthusiasm, and sportsmanship that you do at school each and every day! Let’s have a great day, Stars!

Upcoming EQAO Assessment

Our Primary (Grade 3) Assessment will take place on May 25, 26, 29 and 30th.

Our Junior (Grade 6) Assessment will take place on June 5, 6, 7 and 8th.

Please encourage your child to do their best and congratulate your child on their efforts. Families will receive individual students results in the Fall.

CPIC Presents: Parent/Family Opportunities

Parents/Guardians, please join us for the following free events: Upcoming CPIC Events

• Free Virtual Paint Night
  • REGISTER for Virtual Paint Night: https://forms.office.com/r/1dFZJ6JMyY
• Guest Speaker Vicki Olatundun – Topic: Multiculturalism, Equity and Social Justice
  • REGISTER for Vicki Olatundun Presentation: https://forms.office.com/r/sA3ipdtpSu

Welcome to Kindergarten Event

We are so excited to welcome our newest Stars this Wednesday, May 25th! Our Welcome to Kindergarten Event will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. All registered families should have received information already. Come out to meet our school staff and make some great community connections!

Enjoy the remainder of your holiday Monday, Stars! Happy Victoria Day!

See you all tomorrow morning 🙂

Dear Families,

To all St. Aloysius mothers and any mothers-at-heart, we thank you for your care and kindness. Today we humbly recognize all those who have shared in our lives moments of love and joy. We give thanks for all the caring people who love us and are with us today and also those we hold close in our hearts. Wishing everyone in our community a wonderful and sunny week ahead!

Welcome to St. Al’s

This week, we will be welcoming students and staff from Colombia to our awesome school community! They will be part of our classrooms and school events over the next few weeks! We are looking forward to meeting our special visitors!

WCDSB Family Math Survey

Schools offer a variety of opportunities for parents to learn more about how to support their children: for example, events related to mathematics may be held at the school (e.g., family math nights); teachers may provide newsletters or communicate with parents through apps or social media; and school or board websites may provide helpful tips about how parents can engage in their child’s mathematics learning outside of school and may even provide links where they can learn more or enjoy math activities together.

The following brief survey will assist our school district in gathering data about how parents/families feel informed about what their children are learning in math, about how parents/families feel about supporting their children’s learning in math, and about parental access to math learning resources at home.

Family Survey Math Learning K to 8

The survey will remain open until June 14, 2023. Thanks for your consideration and participation.

Note: If you have any questions regarding the collection of this information please contact Student Achievement Consultant, Mathematics K-8 Petra LeDuc at petra.leduc@wcdsb.ca , 519-578-3660 ex. 2415.

Youth Impact Survey

On May 1st, our community launched a UNICEF Canada-sponsored survey, the Waterloo Region Youth Impact Survey. The survey hears directly from young people about their own well-being. It’s live until May 31st.

The survey is completely anonymous, and takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. Young people can skip questions they prefer not to answer. Young people who complete it have the chance to:

• Win some cool prizes (like a Nintendo Switch or a PS5)
• Make a difference in their community

Young people can complete the survey at youthimpactsurvey.ca. (A consent form is included in the survey.) To see the FAQs about the survey, click here.

The Youth Impact Survey helps us learn from youth about what it’s like to be a young person in Waterloo Region, then use what we learn to make our communities better. Our students can shape a better future.

Note: While this community survey is not administered by the school, it has been reviewed and approved by the WCDSB Ethics Board.

No School – Monday, May 22nd

Just a reminder that Monday, May 22nd is Victoria Day. There is no school on this day.

Enjoy the long weekend, Stars!

Dear Families,

It was wonderful to celebrate Catholic Education Week last week. Each day, we highlighted the theme of We are Many, We are One through readings, prayers, stories and reflections in class and as a whole school community. Our front foyer now showcases “one” dove made up of “many” individual hearts created by each student and staff member at St. Al’s.

With the complexities of our world and our communities today, we can sometimes stray from the peace that comes when we are in communion with each other. In our unity, we celebrate our diversity, all uniquely created by God. Unity brings us to peace and understanding.

May’s Umbrella Skill is Integrity

Integrity is when we have a set of positive values and our actions in life match that set of positive values. If you look up integrity in the dictionary, it also means ‘wholeness’, when the things that we say and do match up with what we value. Having integrity means that we can feel good about our choices all throughout life. It helps to bring the other Umbrella Skills together as well.

Many studies have shown that humans learn through modeling others. One great way to build integrity in your child is to help them find positive role models who help them believe that it is possible to succeed without compromising our values. Having positive role models helps our children learn strategies for achieving their goals, decide what is socially acceptable and make a difference in the world.

Examples of integrity are everywhere so when you notice them in books, movies and stories be sure to talk about it with your kids. Look for examples of integrity in the people your children already admire and discuss them. Make integrity something that has value in and of itself. For example, there is value in not cheating on a test even though your friends did and got a better mark because of it. It’s choices like that that can make integrity difficult to use and it’s important that children see those they admire making these difficult decisions. Making choices with integrity is not always the easiest choice and our kids need lots of examples of integrity to understand why it is the better choice.  ~Dr. Jen, The Umbrella Project

Emergency Drills

Each year, we complete fire drills and other safety procedures to ensure that all of our students know exactly what to do in case of an emergency. We will be conducting a fire drill this coming week. Thank you for discussing the importance of safety with your child(ren).

WCDSB Multi-Year Strategic Plan – Community Feedback

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board prides itself on being the Heart of the Community, providing Success for Each and A Place for All. With this Vision, we have developed our new WCDSB MultiYear Strategic Plan  (MYSP).  This short video from Director Tyrone Dowling summarizes the process, content and goals for our new Strategic Plan.  This plan was approved by the Board of Trustees in December 2022.  At this time, we are gathering feedback to assist with our ongoing monitoring of the implementation of the current MYSP. We are inviting all staff, parents/guardians, and community members to provide feedback on our new MYSP plan (one per family/staff). Your input is valued and appreciated.

The survey will take less than 8 minutes to complete and will be available until May 23rd @ 8 am.

Survey Link: WCDSB MultiYear Strategic Plan Survey

Participation in this survey is anonymous and voluntary. You will not be asked to provide your name, contact information, or any information that can identify you. As well, no identifying information (e.g., email address, IP address) will be automatically collected through the online tool.   If you have any questions about this collection or need assistance completing it, please contact the Research Department at research@wcdsb.ca

Finally, enjoy the week ahead, Stars! Here comes the sun!!