Monthly Archives: February 2024

“Do not forget that true love sets no conditions.  It does not calculate or complain, but simply loves.”  St. John Paul II

It is a busy week at St. Dominic Savio School! We are excited about celebrating Shrove Tuesday, Valetine’s Day, Candy Kabobs, and observing Ash Wednesday together as a Dragon community this week!

Shrove Tuesday – With the support from our Catholic School Council, our school will be providing one pancake with optional syrup to each of our students. We will have plates and cutlery available for students so there is no need for them to bring anything for this treat.  A pancake will be provided as a SNACK, not a meal replacement. Students will need to bring a lunch, drinks, and snacks for the afternoon.

Valentine’s Day – we will recognize Valentine’s Day on Shrove Tuesday and Pancake Day – on February 13th – so that we can quiet our hearts and minds to prayerfully acknowledge Ash Wednesday on February 14th.  If you plan to send in a Valentine’s treat for your child to share with their class on February 13th, please ensure it is store-bought, individually wrapped and nut-free.   On Tuesday, February 13th we will have our Dance-a-thon and students are encouraged to dress in Red, White, and Pink! Thank you!

February 14th, 2024, is Ash Wednesday. Each year, on Ash Wednesday all schools begin the Lenten season with a liturgy. In our Catholic faith, Ash Wednesday is a day of prayer and reflection to grow closer to God. We will welcome Father Roque who will lead us in our Ash Wednesday liturgy this week and help us celebrate Ash Wednesday on the first day of LENT.  During Lent and as we begin our spiritual journey, we will be focusing on three practices:  fasting, praying, and almsgiving.  By fasting, giving, and praying, we deepen our relationship with God. Ashes will be distributed on the forehead to symbolize the dust from which God made us.  Parents are invited to join us for the Liturgy.

Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

Prayer – By devoting more time to prayer, we enable our hearts to root out our secret lies and forms of self-deception, and then to find the consolation God offers.

Almsgiving – Almsgiving “sets us free from greed and helps us to regard our neighbour as a brother or sister.” We give alms to help God’s poor and support the good works of the Church.

Fasting – Through fasting, Pope Francis explains that we find our “spiritual hunger and thirst for life in God. Fasting wakes us up. It makes us more attentive to God and our neighbour. It revives our desire to obey God, who alone is capable of satisfying our hunger.”

Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) happened this year on Saturday, February 10, 2024. This year ushers in the year of the Dragon. Happy New Year to all of our families who celebrate!

Important Reminders

Monday, February 19th is Family Day. There is NO school on this day! This is a day to step away from other duties and distractions for a moment and just be together. Embrace the time and find joy in the small but beautiful moments with your family.

First Term Reports

First term report cards and the Kindergarten Communication of Learning will be coming home with your child on Thursday, February 15th and contains an evaluation of your child’s achievement of Curriculum Expectations, Learning Skills and Work Habits.  If your child has an Individual Education Plan, the IEP will be sent home along with the term one report card.  When reviewing the report card, you and your child may wish to consider the following questions:

Students – as you look to concluding this term and setting goals … 

• What is something that you did well this term?
• What represents your best work this term to date?
• How do you need to improve this term?
• What will you do to improve your work or your effort?

Parents/Guardians:

• What area did you notice your child has improved thus far in the term?
• What did you see your child doing well?
• What steps will you take during the next term to help your child?

We value the partnership between home and school and encourage all parents/guardians to contact their child(ren)’s teacher(s) should they have any questions about their child(ren)’s academic, social, emotional or spiritual development at school.

Extended Day – Pre-Registration for 2024-2025 is now open

If your family plans on taking advantage of the Extended Day program next year, then you are invited to pre-register before the end of April. The number of pre-registrations are used to determine whether the program will be offered at our school in the fall.
Please use this link to pre-register: https://regionofwaterloo.onehsn.com/wcdsb/

MDI survey and other upcoming large-scale data collection, School Climate Survey

Before the March Break, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) will be conducting school climate surveys to collect information from students and families. While the Ministry of Education requires all school districts to conduct these surveys (Education Act s.169.1(1)(a), (a.1), (a.2) and PPM 145), we are committed to providing a safe, caring, and inclusive place for everyone in our schools. The purpose of the school climate surveys is to assess the perceptions of safety (e.g., from students, and families), make informed planning decisions about programs to help prevent bullying and promote safe and inclusive schools, determine the effectiveness of programs on an ongoing basis, and build and sustain a positive school climate.

March Break

March Break has an extra day added to it this year.  Friday, March 8 is a board holiday, meaning that all schools will be closed. March Break will begin on March 8th and conclude on March 15th.  Students will return back to school on Monday, March 18th.

Have a fabulous week Dragons!

Good morning parents.

This is a correction to the ROWPH information sent out yesterday.   IMMUNIZATIONS WILL NOT be conducted at St. Dominic Savio School, only the updating of records.

The ROWPH will be utilizing our facilities for these information update appointments and appointments can be made by parents/guardians directly through the public health website or by telephone.

The Region of Waterloo Public Health (ROWPH) will be at St. Dominic Savio School on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH. 

First appt: 3:30 pm

Last appt: 5:00 pm

Sorry for the confusion.

If you need your child to be immunized, the following schools will have immunization clinics:

March 1 – St. Aloysius,

March 6 – Monsignor Haller,

March 7 – St. Josephine Bakhita,

March 15 – St. Anne’s (Kitchener)

Our Dance-a-thon is just around the corner!  Get your pledges into School Cash Online by Sunday evening for your chance to win a Chromebook as well as other great prizes!

Valentines Day Dance-a-Thon Fundraiser

Have an awesome weekend, Dragons!

Good afternoon.

This evening our Catholic School Advisory Council is meeting in the school library @ 6 pm.  The meeting is open to all so please join us if you can.  For those who are not able to make the meeting in person, you are welcome to join via Google Meet:  https://meet.google.com/hcs-vuio-gtq.

Also, tomorrow is Winter Walk to School Day.  The weather looks like it will be favourable, so let’s get out and enjoy this unseasonably warmer weather!

Good morning parents and caregivers.

What a beautiful weekend it was with the sun making an appearance on both days!  Last week was a busy week with the start of a new month.  Many of the Primary classes celebrated Groundhog Day and made their predictions for an early spring or more winter.  Wiarton Willy did not see his shadow and is predicting an early spring. This would be nice, but his accuracy is around 25% so don’t put away those boots and snowpants just yet!

We also started off February with the recognition that it is Black History Month. The Canadian theme for Black History Month for 2024 is Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build. Want to learn more? Click for Gov. of Canada’s site. Students will be learning about the contributions, stories, accomplishments and lives of various inspiring black people.

February’s Catholic Graduate Expectations

Throughout the month of February, our Catholic Graduate Expectation is …

I AM A LEARNER FOR LIFE!

• I use my gifts and talents given to me by God
• I always do my best
• I build on my strengths and weaknesses
• I set goals
• I accept change
• I am proud of the good things I do
• I am thankful for the gifts of others

Because I am a learner for life, I can reach for my dreams, by living my life like Jesus.

Winter Walk Day – February 7th 

Walk/wheel from home or park and walk a few blocks away from the school to qualify.

Register for a chance to win a $20 Indigo gift card if your child(ren) walked to school on this day! ENTER HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!

Kindergarten Registration is now open!

Children born in 2020 are eligible for JK/Year 1 Kindergarten.

Children born in 2019 are eligible for SK/Year 2 Kindergarten

We look forward to meeting our future Dragons!

LINK TO REGISTER

Important Notice: Vaccine Appointments Available at Public Health Clinics

Have you received a letter from Public Health telling you that your child is missing a vaccination?  Appointments are now available for any student who needs to catch up on their routine vaccines, including Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Meningococcal, Pertussis (whooping cough), and Varicella (chickenpox).

Book a catch-up appointment, if your child is missing a vaccine.
Report your child’s vaccinations, if they have gotten the missing vaccines.

You need to report your child’s vaccines to Public Health if they received their vaccines from a health care provider. You can easily report your child’s vaccines online. How to report your child’s vaccines.

The Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) requires all elementary and secondary school students to have proof of vaccination or a valid exemption on file with Public Health.  Vaccinations keep kids and schools healthy by stopping the spread of serious and preventable diseases.

Learn more about school and child care vaccinations

Vaccination notices providing six weeks to update vaccine records went out to elementary school families in November and December last year. Notices to secondary school families are being distributed now. Students whose records have not been brought up to date will receive a second notice in February (elementary) of pending school suspension. This second notice provides an additional four weeks to get vaccine records up to date before school suspension takes effect.  The elementary school suspension date is March 27, 2024.

School Highlights 

Valentine’s Day – St. Dominic Savio students and staff will recognize Valentine’s Day on Shrove Tuesday and Pancake Day – on February 13th – so that we can quiet our hearts and minds to prayerfully acknowledge Ash Wednesday on February 14.  Each year, on Ash Wednesday all schools begin the Lenten season with a liturgy. In our Catholic faith, Ash Wednesday is a day of prayer and reflection to grow closer to God. Valentine’s Day is a time to focus on the virtues of love, kindness, and charity. However, we need to recognize that this year, it coincides with Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Lenten season in the Catholic faith tradition. Therefore, we will be celebrating Valentine’s on February 13th – Shrove Tuesday. If you plan to send in a Valentine’s treat for your child to share with their class on February 13th, please ensure it is store-bought, individually wrapped, and nut-free. We will have a Fundraiser Dance and a Spirit Day for students to dress in Red, White, and Pink! Thank you!

February 9th Marks the 100th Day of School!

A hundred days of laughter and learning have come and gone, and it’s time to reflect on everything that the students have to show for it! The 100th Day of School is a symbolic celebration of students’ achievements during the academic year, and this year the 100th day is February 9th! The day for some classes focuses on the number 100, which helps develop learners’ understanding and recognition of numbers up to 100. But, beyond math activities like counting to 100, other activities done on this day can include creating art projects using 100 items, performing 100 acts of kindness, and other games and challenges related to and revolving around the number 100!

Candy Kabob Sales!
Our Grade 8 Leadership Team and Parent Council are taking the initiative to sell Candy Kabobs for February 13th!  You can purchase them through SchoolCash Online and our Grade 8 leaders will take care of the rest!

Term 1 Report Cards & Communication of Learning: February 15th

Term 1 Report Card for your child in Grades 1 to 8 and the Kindergarten Communication of Learning for your child in Kindergarten will be distributed to students on Thursday, February 15th.  Report cards provide an important opportunity to celebrate your child’s growth in learning and focus on the next steps.   If your child has an Individual Education Plan, the IEP will be sent home along with the term one report card. Although formal interviews occurred in November, please feel free to connect with your child’s teacher if you have concerns or questions about your child’s progress or how you can support your child’s learning at home.

We value the partnership between home and school and encourage all parents/guardians to contact their child(ren)’s teacher(s) should they have any questions about their child(ren)’s academic, social, emotional, or spiritual development at school.

Wishing everyone a fantastic week!

Good morning parents.

Bus 227 (Red Bus) is delayed as it was involved in a small collision. NO ONE was hurt and another bus has been summoned to run the route.  Student Transportation will be contacting parents shortly if your child is currently on that bus.

Hello parents and Caregivers!

On February 13th, our parent and student councils will be hosting a Dance-a-Thon Fundraiser. Every division will have an opportunity to dance in our school gym and we have some wonderful prizes. Students are asked to collect donations via sponsors (please do not go door to door) all money raised will go towards school initiatives.

You can keep track of sponsors on this sheet (Valentines Day Dance-a-Thon Fundraiser) but please DO NOT send cash or cheques to school. When you have collected all your sponsors’ donations, please submit the total amount via School Cash Online.  All sponsor money must be submitted by February 11th so the draw tickets can be organized for the prizes.

THERE ARE FABULOUS PRIZES TO BE WON!!!!!

FOR EVERY $50 RAISED YOU GET A BALLOT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A CHROMEBOOK!

GIFT CARD PRIZES FOR 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD HIGHEST DONATIONS COLLECTION!

CLASS THAT RAISES THE MOST GETS A PIZZA PARTY!!

Since Valentine’s Day falls on Ash Wednesday this year, all classes will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, February 13th.  Students can bring in any cards they wish to hand out to their classmates on this day.  Candy Kabobs will also be sold through School Cash Online for $2.00 each and will be delivered on February 13th should you wish to purchase one for your child.

We are looking forward to a day filled with fun, laughter and dancing!