Dragon Update for September 16th-20th  

School BBQ and Open House

Our School BBQ and Open House was a resounding success! It was great to see so many of our families enjoying themselves and taking the opportunity to meet their child(ren)’s new teacher. Even though there was a little rain near the end of the evening, this did not dampen the spirit of our Dragon Community. What a great night!

Excitement is  Building!

Dragon Nation is growing. One of our two new portables has arrived on the scene last week. There was a beehive of activity  as it is being prepared for our Grade 6 class to move in. Move in day is still upcoming but we are very close! Stay tuned!

Newswire & School Cashonline

For those families not aware, Newswire is an electronic communication tool that we use daily at St. Dominic to keep the community up-to-date on various events. To register, enter your email address beside the prompt found near the bottom of the school web site homepage. Cash Online is the new Payment system we will be using this year to pay for everything including pizza and class trips. https://wcdsb.schoolcashonline.com. If you need any clarification, please contact the school for assistance.

Catholic School Council

We are looking for parent volunteers for our Catholic School Council. The purpose of this council is through the active participation of parents, to improve pupil achievement, well-being and enhance the accountability of the education system to parents. Our council meets once per month (on Mondays) with our first meeting occurring on Monday, September 23rd at 6:15 pm. All interested parents are invited to come out to this meeting where we will set our executive for this coming school year. Thanks for your interest!

Twitter

If you were not already aware, St. Dominic Savio is on Twitter! We are very active on this social media platform and share up to the minute details and news via Twitter. Please consider signing up and following us. Our Twitter address is @wcdsbStDominic. We would love to have you follow us. Come see what we are all about!

Safety Drills

We completed our first two Safety Drills for the school year. Both went well, but a little more practice is still needed. We will be holding a few more safety drills in the coming days to make sure our Dragons are able to get out of the school safely and quickly. 

Parent Drop Off and Pick Up (Rebroadcast)

Thank you to our parent community for keeping our Kiss and Drop area a safe place for student pick-up and drop off.  Please have your child(ren) arrive at the school after supervision begins in the morning. In addition, when picking up your child(ren) in the back schoolyard, we are asking for all parents to remain on the path.  The safety of your child(ren) is our main concern. Furthermore, just an additional reminder that the school parking lot is now closed to parents and is marked closed with pylons and a school safety sign. This was necessitated by the need for more parking spots for our additional staff. Please use the visitor spots at the front of the lot or park on the street. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

Spirit Wear is Back!

We will be setting up our online store again ready for you to purchase some amazing St. Dominic Spirit Wear!  Stay tuned for a flyer home with the link of the website for purchases.

Donations needed!

We are looking for any gently used sports equipment that we can use on our yard during recess times.  We are looking for volleyballs, basketballs and/or soccer balls. If you would like to donate, please bring your items to the main office.  Thanks in advance for your support!

Numeracy Tip of the Week

As a parent, you can help your child be a whiz at math, even if it wasn’t your best subject.  Some tips include:

Be positive about math.  Express confidence in your child’s ability to do math.  Don’t stress either your own fear of math or how difficult math is or how much you admire anyone who can do math.  Remember, everyone can and does use math all the time.

Show your kids math at work in their world.  Get your kids used to math by thinking out loud when making calculations.  Then, let your children work out some real-life puzzles themselves. For example:

• Let them measure when you bake.
• Ask them to figure out how long of a hose you need to reach from the faucet on the side of the house to the garden.
• Let your child figure out how many miles you’ll be driving on your next trip by using the information on a map.
• Sort silverware by knives, forks, and spoons.  Sort cards by suit or numbers.

Make math a game.  Math games are fun and inexpensive.  They are a wonderful way to get your kids to enjoy working with numbers, as well as improve their number skills.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Many games that we take for granted are excellent math lessons.  “Go Fish” teaches counting and grouping in sets. Games that use play money teach how to make change.  Board games that use dice teach addition and counting. Backgammon teaches addition, subtraction, and strategy.
• Beans, stones, or marbles can be used to play number games.  Let your child develop his or her own games by sorting beans into different sizes or types, setting up the rules for a counting game, or using different types of pasta to make a picture.
• Give your children a geometry lesson by letting them create a collage of circles, squares, and triangles.  Challenge them to come up with as many different shapes as they can using only triangles.
• Play store with the items in your cupboard.
• A pan of water and some jars or cups of different sizes will amuse a child for hours while teaching capacity and volume.

Dates to Remember

Mon September 16- Pizza Day

Tues September 17- Intermediate 3 Pitch Tournaments at RIM Park PM

Tues September 17- John Howard Society Presentation to Gr 1 & 2

Thurs September 19 – WE Day!

Fri September 20 – PA Day

Mon September 23- Pizza Day

Mon September 23- Junior Coed Soccer Tournament at RIM Park PM

Mon September 23- Catholic School Council Meeting 6:15 PM in the Learning Commons

Tues September 24 – School Photos

Wed September 25- Little Jammers Guitar Presentation Gr 1 to 6

Thurs September 26- Terry Fox Run AM

The Catholic Parent Involvement Committee (CPIC) is recruiting! We are recruiting in the following areas:

• Kitchener Secondary
• Resurrection Elementary
• St. Mary’s Elementary

• Member at-large

WCDSB “Called to Belong” Twilight Retreat Opportunity for Parents/Guardian

Our Board’s theme for this year is: Called to Belong!  The experience will be facilitated by Fr. Joseph de Viveiros, C.R., the Spiritual Animator for the Board.  Come and discover more about the spiritual journey upon which our staff and students have embarked.  All are welcome to come and learn and pray around the awesome mystery of God’s universal love!

You may join us at the location that is most convenient to you.  All retreats begin at 7:00 p.m. and are 2 hours in length. Please sign up at this link:

“Called to Belong” Twilight Retreat”. Light Refreshments will be served. 

Cambridge – Wednesday September 25^th –  St. Mary of the Visitation Parish (16 Cooper St, Cambridge, ON)

Waterloo –  Thursday September 26^th – St. Michael Parish (80 University Ave W, Waterloo)

Kitchener – Wednesday October 9^th – St. Anthony Daniel Parish (29 Midland Dr, Kitchener, ON)

Called to Belong

  “All are one in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:28

Meet the new staff at our school:

• Mr. Kyle Kraemer, Grade 3/4 will be in the Learning Commons
• Mr. Morgan Gallagher, Intermediate FSL Teacher, will be in the Intermediate area
• Ms. Daelin Chaves, Junior FSL Teacher , will be in the Junior Area.

We look forward seeing you and your family tonight!

Exciting news Dragon Families! Due to tremendous growth in our student population here at St. Dominic Savio this year, the school board has granted us an additional classroom and teacher. This will allow us to reduce the class sizes from Grade 1 to 4. The class created will be a Grade 3/4 split to help our class sizes meet the mandated Ministry of Education guidelines. We have met with the reassigned students and shared their new class assignments. All the changes in classroom assignments have been made with the students’ academic and social-emotional needs in mind and in consultation with  their current and former teachers. The new class assignments will start on Friday, September 13th. Staffing for the new Grade 3/4 class has not been finalized for the teacher yet but will be completed shortly. Unfortunately, the parents of the students in this newly created classroom will be unable to meet their child’s classroom teacher at the Open House tomorrow evening. They are still encouraged to come out to join us in our New School Year celebration.

Thank You in advance for your patience and understanding.

Your Partners in Catholic Education,

Pat Runstedler & Richard Setler

St. Dominic Administration

Dragon Update for September 9-13th  

First Week Success!

Our Dragon Community had an AWESOME first week of school. A huge Thank You goes out to our fantastic teachers and students for making it so memorable! Based on what we saw during our first week, we cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us! Way to go Dragons!

School BBQ and Open House

Everyone is welcome to come to our BBQ on Wednesday, September 11th. Classrooms will be open for visits and teachers will be in their classrooms starting at 5:30 to 6:15 to meet parents and informally discuss curriculum expectations. From 6:15 – 7:00, classrooms will be closed and everyone will be invited to participate in the festivities outside. Remember Me Catering will be selling hamburgers and hotdogs. We look forward to seeing everyone on the 11th!

Kindergarten Students

Just a reminder that all Kindergarten students will be in class on Monday as our regular schedule begins. It was great seeing all of our new Year 1 students come in last week with their parents and joining their Year 2 friends. What an exciting time for our newest Dragons!

Gagaball Pit

Our Gagaball Pit has been the talk of the school. Most classes have come out to play with Mr. Runstedler and Mr. Setler, and the students cannot get enough! Make sure to stop by the pit to see what it is all about at our Open House BBQ on Sept 11th!

Nutrition For Learning

St. Dominic School is very fortunate to be able to offer the Nutrition for Learning program again this year. Nutrition for Learning provides our school with healthy snacks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The program will begin the first week of October, so please be sure to pack your child enough snacks until we start receiving our food. Soon you will see the Nutrition for Learning Toonie Postcards coming home with your child. Please consider taping a toonie to the postcard to help fund our schools program. We appreciate all of your support!

Safety Drills

It is our goal to continue to provide a warm, welcoming and safe learning environment for all.  The entire school community will be participating in various safety drills this upcoming week including both fire and lockdown drills.  Please continue to talk to your children about the importance of safety in a school environment. We take a lot of pride to ensure that we offer a safe environment and will continue to support students through this lens. Our first drills will take place on Tuesday, Sept 10th. Ask your child(ren) how they went!

Parent Drop Off and Pick Up

Thank you to our parent community for keeping our Kiss and Drop area a safe place for student pick-up and drop off.  Please have your child(ren) arrive at the school after supervision begins in the morning. In addition, when picking up your child(ren) in the back schoolyard, we are asking for all parents to remain on the path.  The safety of your child(ren) is our main concern.

Parking Lot

Due to an increase in staff members this year, we are going to have to close the side parking lot to parents dropping their children off in the morning and picking them up in the afternoon. There will be orange pylons put out too effectively close off this area to anyone other than staff members. Parents are welcome to use the Visitor Parking spaces at the front. We are also looking into our options with the School Board to reconfigure our parking lot to add needed spaces. More information to come. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

ALLERGIES, MEDICATIONS AND MEDICAL ALERT 

If your child has an allergic reaction to any food or insect, please contact the main office and ask for an Administration of Medication: Epipen form. We ask that all children who require Epipens carry them on their persons (not in their backpacks) at all times. In addition, we ask that all children bring a spare Epipen to school in the event of an anaphylactic reaction and a second dose is required. 

If your child has an illness, a medical condition or a physical disability that may require monitoring/awareness/a special response in an emergency, you are asked to contact the main office. We will send a Medical Alert form home. We will also request a meeting to develop a protocol for your child while at school or at a school related event. 

According to Board policy, school staff or volunteers should not be involved with the administration of medication. However, the Board recognizes that on occasions, schools will need to be responsible for students who are receiving medication, or who under certain circumstances may require an emergency response to a severe allergic reaction. If your child requires such medication, please contact the main office and ask for an Administration of Oral Medication form. This from MUST be completed before any medication may be administered!

Dates to Remember

Tuesday September 10- Safety Drills

Thursday September 19 – WE Day!

Friday September 20 – PA Day

Tuesday September 24 – School Photos

Numeracy Riddle of the Week

Which shape doesn’t belong?  Why? There is more than one correct answer!

Dragon Update for September 03-06th

Welcome back Dragons to a new year of learning together!  We have had a wonderful summer filled with great weather and hopefully the chance to re-energize and rest for the upcoming school year!  This first week of school is one that will be filled with lots of laughter, smiles and love…and we can’t forget the learning! Students will be engaged in various activities including lots of team building exercises that will have the students learning their new class routines, bonding with their classmates and setting the foundation for a memorable 2019-20 school year!

Welcome to our New Dragons!

We welcome many new Dragons here at St. Dominic.  We hope you feel welcome and loved. In addition to new students, we would like to welcome the following new staff members to our school community:

• Kelly Koenig – Early Learning Teacher

• Lauren Huston – Early Learning Teacher

• Jessica Koppers – Early Learning Teacher

• Lisa Ceccomancini – ECE

• Ann Kenning – ECE

• Michelle Williams – EA

• Catharine Pankhurst – EA

• Erica Hayes – Lead Admin Assistant

• Daelin Chaves – FSL – 1.0

• Morgan Gallagher – FSL .5

• Anne Coelho- Gr. 6 LTO

• Cierra Carere- Gr. 3 LTO

• Amir Sepahi- EA

First Day of School Tomorrow

School starts Tuesday September 3rd at 9:15, dismissal is at 3:45.

NOTE: All SK students start Wednesday September 4th 9:15.  All JK students should have received your student information in the mail. If you have any questions please call the office on Tuesday September 3rd.

Grades 1-8:

On the first day, Staff will be outside to greet the students.  Staff will be wearing their vests and have a sign that indicates what grade they are teaching.  Teachers will call students that are in their class and head to their classrooms for the day. Parents are not able to visit the classroom at this time as the learning will be starting right away. If you arrive late, you must go to the front of the school where you will be greeted by staff that will take your child to their appropriate classroom.  This will help us to move along efficiently without having large groups of people in our front foyer. Please feel free to wish your child(ren) a happy first day of school on our school yard and then begin your day; we will have a lot of supervision to support and supervise the students. Thanks for your support.

We have had many registrations over the summer. If your child’s name is not called please proceed to the front of the school where they will be placed in a classroom at that time.   With that being said, due to the number of registrations, there MAY be some class changes to accommodate the new student registrations.

Thank You!

A HUGE Thank You to the parents and students who came out to clean up our school gardens. This was not an easy job and the gardens needed your TLC! Our gardens look great and are now ready for the first day of school tomorrow!

Gagaball Pit

We are very pleased to announce that our Gagaball Pit has arrived and is ready for some Dragon action! Thank you to the Catholic School Council for the purchase of this amazing game that all of our Dragons are going to love playing!

Opening School BBQ

Our Opening School BBQ will take place on Wednesday September 11th from 5:30-7.  Come and take the opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and enjoy a hot dog/hamburger, chips and a pop.  We hope to see you there!

Safety Drills

It is our goal to continue to provide a warm, welcoming and safe learning environment for all.  The entire school community will be participating in various safety drills this upcoming week including both fire and lockdown drills.  Please continue to talk to your children about the importance of safety in a school environment. We take a lot of pride to ensure that we offer a safe environment and will continue to support students through this lens. Dates have not been set, but 3 fire drills will take place in the fall and 3 more in the spring. 

Important Dates to Note

Thursday September 19 – WE Day!

Friday September 20 – PA Day

Tuesday September 24 – School Photos

REMINDER to all EARLY LEARNING STUDENTS AND PARENTS!

Please see the First Week schedule below.

Teachers have reached out to all new families regarding staggered entry dates and orientation times!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!

School Garden Clean-Up….Help Needed!

The St Dominic Parent council  would like to invite you to join us at the school for a garden clean-up on Tuesday, Aug 27 from 6 pm until 8 pm. Please stop by even for an hour to help us weed the gardens and trim out the dead grasses. Feel free to bring along your school-age children who could help too. Please bring along your own garden tools (clippers, trowels, shovels) and we will have yard waste bags. Pizza supper provided.

Pls VIP to arivanna@hotmail.com

Hope to see you there!

St Dominic Parent Council

School Garden Clean-Up….Help Needed!

The St Dominic Parent council  would like to invite you to join us at the school for a garden clean-up on Tuesday, Aug 27 from 6 pm until 8 pm. Please stop by even for an hour to help us weed the gardens and trim out the dead grasses. Feel free to bring along your school-age children who could help too. Please bring along your own garden tools (clippers, trowels, shovels) and we will have yard waste bags. Pizza supper provided.

Pls VIP to arivannna@hotmail.com

Hope to see you there!

St Dominic Parent Council