PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE February marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Christ. It is a time to be awakened to the urgent need to share our faith, to proclaim our hope and to spread love wherever we go. It is a faith journey we all share in which Jesus himself accompanies us, sustaining us on our way to the joy of Easter. In keeping with the spirit of Lent, we ask that we all take a moment to “slow down” and to reflect. We are busy people and we have busy lives; however, the safety of our most precious gifts, our children, should be our primary concern. As adults, in our daily interactions with others we model patience and respect for our children. Thank you for continuing to teach respect and to model patience and we look forward to working together to keep our children safe. Notable dates for Lent as follows :

Shrove Tuesday, 28th February 2017

Ash Wednesday, 1st March 2017

Holy Thursday, 13th April 2017

Good Friday, 14th April 2017

Easter Sunday, 16th April 2017

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St Joan of Arc Catholic School

2912 Westoak Trails, Oakville, On L6M 4T7

905 847 3581

@sjoa5 website http://schools.hcdsb.org/jofa/ Principal : Vince Monaco Vice Principal: Marie Murad Chair of the Board : Jane Michael Oakville Trustees : Anthony Danko, Helen Karabela, Paul Marai, Anthony Quinn

Grade 8 Graduation Photo Grad Photo day for the Grade 8 students will be April 11th 2017 in the forum. An order form has been sent home with the students, that contains all photo session information.

EQAO Assessment Annually, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) assess Ontario’s Grade 3 and Grade 6 students in the areas of mathematics, reading and writing. At St. Joan of Arc Catholic School, the assessment period for Grade 3 - 6 is from May 23rd – June 5th (more details to follow) . We ask for your cooperation in not making any appointments for your child during this time so they do not miss any of the testing periods.

First Term Report Cards First term report cards will go home on Thursday, February 23, 2017

Days off in February

We have a PA day Friday February 3rd which means children do not attend school on this day. We also celebrate Family Day on Monday February 20th. All Schools are closed.

Deadline to Receive Cross Boundary and Non-Resident Applications

Cross Boundary and Non-Resident Applications due by February 2nd, 2017. Parents that are requesting 2017-2018 School Year Cross Boundary/Non-Resident status for their child/ren must submit their applications to the school office by February 2nd, 2017 Please note that each request will be judged on its own merit. Parents will begin to receive response letters in mid-May. Parents who currently have cross boundary/non-resident status within our school must have the request renewed on an annual basis. The request for renewal of Cross Boundary/Non-Resident application should be submitted to the school office by February 2nd, 2017. Requests received after this date may be reviewed based on exceptional circumstances. To view the Policy, please visit the Board website www.hcdsb.org under Policies and Procedures Policy I-04 Cross Boundary School Attendance

Catholic School Council Updates We would like to thank families for all of your participation in various school activities and events this year. This success is entirely due to the joint effort of our school community, which includes parents, students, staff, and our fantastic

volunteers. Parent involvement is such a vital aspect to the success of our school and we welcome and invite your participation. We would like to extend an invitation to all parents to attend our regular School Council meetings at the school. At each meeting, time is taken to review things that are happening in the school and activities that your children are involved with. Next meeting is on Monday, March 6th, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.. All are welcome!

SCHOOL CASH ON LINE A HUGE THANK YOU to every family who has already signed up for School Cash on Line. We have had a huge uptake this

year. We are now at 96% cashless families but are looking to reach 100% cashless. Way to go SJOA families !!!

If you have not had the opportunity to sign up – we are urging you to do so as soon as possible

How to Register You may access the School Cash Online registration here, and register by selecting the "Get Started Today" option, followed by the required steps. You may wish to watch the step-by-step registration video to learn more. You may also view a video presentation about the benefits of the program.

Need Help? Please contact the school and ask for Mrs. Heath or if you have any questions during the registration process after hours or while shopping online, please select the GET HELP option, in the top right hand area of the screen. Please note: The School Cash Parent Help Desk is available to assist parents/guardians with the registration process, password recovery, accessing your account, or payment issues. For more information, and to contact the School Cash Parent Help Desk, please call: 1-866-961-1803, or email the parent help desk at: parenthelp@schoolcashonline.com.

All About Me Catholic Edition As educators, we work to deliver the provincial curriculum in a way that is consistent with Catholic values. One of the resources that we provide to all students in Halton Catholic is All About Me; an interactive portfolio tool that supports K-6 students with the inquiry process, self-discovery, and reflection. As of January 2017, we have access to the new Catholic Edition of the program that includes a new My Faith section; inviting students to add daily prayers, reflect on the Sacraments, and explore the Catholic Graduation Expectations.

myBlueprint's Who Am I? Surveys The Student Success Team at Halton Catholic works to ensure that every student's diverse interests, goals, and strengths are supported in and outside of the classroom. One of the programs that we license to support student success, as well as the Individual Pathways Plan and inquiry-based learning, is myBlueprint Education Planner.

Built from the ground up for grade 7-12 students, myBlueprint promotes self-discovery and exploration through various features including the Who Am I? surveys. Students can complete six comprehensive assessments (including Learning Styles, Personality, Interests, Knowledge, Motivations, and Compatibility) to learn more about themselves and potential high school courses, post-secondary programs, and career opportunities related to their interests and passions. The interactive design and realistic insight provided by the surveys help students gain self-confidence and sparks their curiosity into planning for the future.

SL Corner Valentines around the world

Vietnam: Couples wear the same style and/or colour of clothes. Japan: There are two Valentine’s Days. On February 14 there is a tradition of women giving chocolates to men. On March 14th, men give cookies or white chocolates to the women they like. Dominican Republic: Family and friends play games. The game played in the Dominican Republic is called “Angelito”. Dominicans rip pieces of paper and write the name of another person, either boy or girl. A name is chosen and each player gives his/ her “angelito” a present. China: The equivalent of Valentine’s Day is the “Oixi Festival,” which means “The Night of Seven”, and is usually celebrated in early August, in the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Spain: Only people in love get and give presents. Friends or family don’t exchange notes or presents. Italy: On Valentine’s Day couples get together to enjoy music, poetry and exchange gifts like the “baci perugina,” a box of small hazelnut-filled chocolate "kisses" (baci means "kiss" in Italian). Brazil: “Dia dos enamorados” is on June 12th. Brazilians love to exchange chocolates, flowers, cards etc… but in addition, musical performances are held throughout cities and towns, bringing together couples and families from all elements of society. France: Paris is considered the Capital City of Love and couples from around the globe flock here for the special day. Love is a global phenomenon and Valentine’s Day is celebrated around the world in fascinating and different ways. Happy Valentine’s Day!

A fun craft for Family Day – Make a Chilean Rainstick!

www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/music/rainstick/

H

ARE YOU MOVING ?

Each February, we begin the preliminary planning of the school organization for next September and need to know enrolment estimates for the upcoming school year. Please advise the school office as soon as possible if your children WILL NOT be returning to St. Joan of Arc Catholic School for the 2017-2018 school year. Whether you are moving or your children are changing schools, including French Immersion registrations, advance notification enables us to effectively plan for the upcoming school year. Please note: even if you have notified your child’s classroom teacher of your plans, PLEASE follow-up with a call to the school office.

ECO TIP FOR FEBRUARY

Wednesdays are wasteless at St Joan of Arc. Try not to throw any garbage into the grey bins at school. Leftover pizza or lunch goes into green compost bins. Milk and Smoothie Containers go into the blue recycling bin. Remember to empty and rinse out drink containers before putting them in recycling bins. Good Job SJOA School Community

Foodbank Fridays!

Foodbank Fridays are back for 2017 ! We have collected 182 bags and 204 laundry powder to date. The Grade 4s will deliver reusable bags and a most needed list on Tuesday, February 16th. The list will be e-mailed to all SJOA families and watch the website. Thank you for your continued support.

HALTON FOOD FOR THOUGHT LIVES HERE

The Halton Food For Thought - Student Nutrition program is in it's 2nd successful year here at St. Joan of Arc. Who is Halton Food for Thought? An organization, in partnership with the community that feeds students healthy foods so that they can achieve academic success. Their Vision - No student goes hungry at school. Here at St. Joan of Arc we host a Food Bin program, where every Monday bins get filled with a variety of healthy snacks (fresh fruit, grains, applesauce, etc.), then the bins gets delivered to the classrooms so when students are hungry, they can grab a healthy snack to keep them moving through their day. There are proven links between healthy eating habits and a child' ability to learn and grow at school. At St Joan of Arc we want to give every student their best chance at academic success. How can you help? The program here at St Joan of Arc costs almost $10,000 a year to run. Volunteers and a group of dedicated students maintain the manpower aspect but the cost of healthy snacks increases. We would love your support by making a donation to our healthy snack program - this can be done by: a) making a donation on the cash-on-line system or b) gift card from a major grocery store sent to the office attn: Food Bin Program. Online Donations: Donations can now be made online by parents and non-parents at the following website: https://hcdsb.schoolcashonline.com. Click “Items” and then “Make A Donation”. Complete the form by selecting a donation amount and St. Joan of Arc as the school you would like to donate to under the “Fund Destination” field. Please be sure to indicate “HFFT donation”. You can then “Add to Cart” and proceed to check out. Tax receipts will be automatically generated and emailed upon payment. Please note that you must have a registered account with School Cash Online in order to make a donation. Thank you in advance for your support of the Student Nutrition Program at St. Joan of Arc. If you require further information on the programs please visit www.haltonfoodforthought.com or contact the school's coordinator: karynsavoia@yahoo.com

National Sweater Day February 2nd On Thursday February 2nd, millions of Canadians will support this World Wildlife Federation initiative and turn down the heat in their homes, schools and workplaces in order to save energy and reduce the effects of global warming. That means this Thursday it will be a little chillier at SJOA so let’s start having fun while

conserving energy !!

Everyone is invited to wear any school appropriate sweater on top of their uniform on Thursday to school.

Students are expected to come to school in full uniform but can wear their own extra sweater overtop to keep warm. What a great way to show our stewardship of God’s Creation.

Keep Germs Out!

Parking Lot Safety As previously mentioned, the front of the school is a bus and fire route. We ask that you please respect these routes and park in designated parking spaces during our morning Kiss & Ride drop off time. When exiting the east parking round-about, please turn right. Left hand turns slow down traffic flow. Right turns will help not to impede the flow of traffic onto Westoak Trails.

Over 1 million cold germs can fit on the head of a pin! It only takes 1 of these germs to get in your body and less than 10 minutes for a

germ to start multiplying. In less than seven hours there could be more than million germs in your body! So don’t give germs the chance

to get in by washing your hands often and keeping your hands out of your eyes, nose

and mouth!

Is it Cold Enough For You? Winter is here and students need to dress appropriately for the conditions. Please remember that even though we may have sunny or mild days, the wind chill can be significant and students should be appropriately dressed for the outdoors. Board policy directs us to keep students indoors for recess at -20 Celsius (with the wind chill). Also, please remember that students need a pair of boots for outside recesses and “indoor shoes” as this helps keep the floor dry and the students safe.

School Closures/Bus Cancellations Due to Inclement Weather Conditions

Check out www.hcdsb.org and your local TV station for closures and/or bus cancellations due to inclement weather. When transportation services have been cancelled due to inclement weather, schools will remain open and operational for walkers. As always, it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to decide if conditions are safe for a child to walk to and from school. If you are a parent of a bus student please go to www.haltonbus.ca and sign up for email notification of delays or cancellations

MILK and PIZZA order forms- please note all orders forms are through cash on line

SEAC SOUNDBYTES

Raising awareness of the Special Education process at HCDSB February 2017

WHO is your team at school?

When most people think of special education, they think of Special Education Resource Teachers (SERTs). While SERTs certainly play a key role, there are many other team members involved in helping to achieve the best possible outcomes for our students with special needs. Besides parents, perhaps the most significant team member is the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher should always be the first point of contact for questions or concerns regarding your child’s progress, whether or not they have been identified. As the educational professional who knows your child best, they are significantly involved in developing and revising programming to continually meet the ongoing and changing needs of students receiving special education programming. Open dialogue and a collaborative relationship between parent and teacher is critical to ensuring every student’s success! Exceptional students sometimes require additional support beyond what the classroom teacher can provide. Educational Assistants (EAs) work directly with those students throughout the school day. While SERTs are primarily responsible for coordinating special education programming and services, they too may provide extra support to students withdrawn from the classroom for part of the day. SERTs can also assist parents who have programming concerns. Itinerant SERTs and Special Education Consultants, operating at the Board level, provide additional support to school level SERTs. Principals have ultimate responsibility for successful program delivery and would be the next point of contact for issues not resolved at the teacher / SERT level. Every elementary school has a Child & Youth Counsellor (CYC), either full or part time. They are there to assist with social, emotional and behavioural issues and play a key role in the mental health of our students. There are many other professionals who may provide support to students, depending on their individual needs. These include: Communicative Disorder Assistants, Speech-Language Pathologists, Social Workers, Psych-Ed Consultants, Sign Interpreters and Audiologists, to name a few!