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December 10-14

Bidding a Fond Farewell to Heather Papp

For the past year and and a half we have been blessed to have Heather Papp serving as our vice-principal. She leads with her heart and has made already vibrant St. Dominic Community shine even brighter! On February 4th  she will be assuming Principal duties at St. Michael in Cambridge. It is a perfect fit for Heather as she is from Cambridge and attended St. Michael as a student. Her successor as vice-principal of St. Dominic is still to be named.

We wish her all the best. Let’s all agree to not cry because she is leaving, but  smile because she happened as we celebrate our last month together. She is a one of a kind!

Christmas Family Night!

We are so excited to share in Christmas Cheer with you all!  We hope you will be able to join us on Thursday December 13th for our Family Christmas Night!  There will be lots to do with face painting, crafting and our amazing silent auction! We will also have a special visitor that will join us to spread Christmas cheer!  We hope to see you there. The time of the event is from 5:30-7:00 pm.

Stemmler’s pick up in Thursday December 13th

Please be reminded that all orders for Stemmlers will be ready for pick up during the Family Christmas Night on Thursday December 13th.  Feel free to come and pick up anytime from 2:00pm – 7:00pm. This will be the only day for pick up as we do not have the facilities to refrigerate the product onsite.  Thank you for your support!

Maker Space – Christmas Crafting!

We are cycling through all of our Primary classes at lunch hour to give them an opportunity to participate in creating some Christmas crafts.  The Maker Space is alive and well and students are enjoying being able to use their creativity to build such items as cards, jewelery and artwork!

Mass

We will be participating in Mass on December 20th at St. Mark’s church.  Please be reminded to sign the permission form on cash online as soon as possible.

COBS Bread Fundraiser

St. Dominic’s has partnered with COBS Bread located 245-6 at the Boardwalk on Ira Needles in an on-going, year round fundraiser.

What we need from our school families is your support by shopping at COBS Bread at the Boardwalk. Before you pay for your transaction, let the cashier know your child(ren) attends St. Dominic’s Savio, it’s that simple!  Your total will be added to our schools “tab” and in June, the school will receive 10% of that total back which can be utilized to fund different programs/initiatives within the school.

COBS Bread is the local community bakery, offering a huge bread selection, sweet and savoury treats, all baked on premise, from scratch, without added preservatives! Products are Baked Today ~ Sold Today! All their unsold product is donated to local charity partners through our ‘End of Day Giving’ Program.   

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask our school council members:
Laura Bossenberry – lkbossenberry@hotmail.com or
Jamie Perham – JPerham@regionofwaterloo.ca

Wellness Tip of the Week –

It is easy for parents to identify their child’s physical needs: nutritious food, warm clothes when it’s cold, bedtime at a reasonable hour. However, a child’s mental and emotional needs may not be as obvious. Good mental health allows children to think clearly, develop socially and learn new skills.  Additionally, good friends and encouraging words from adults are all important for helping children develop self confidence, high self-esteem, and a healthy emotional outlook on life. A child’s physical and mental health are both important.

Basics for a child’s good physical health:

• Nutritious food
• Adequate shelter and sleep
• Exercise
• Immunizations
• Healthy living environment

Basics for a child’s good mental health:

• Unconditional love from family
• Self-confidence and high self-esteem
• The opportunity to play with other children
• Encouraging teachers and supportive caretakers
• Safe and secure surroundings
• Appropriate guidance and discipline

Give children unconditional love.

Love, security and acceptance should be at the heart of family life.  Children need to know that your love does not depend on his or her accomplishments. Mistakes and/or defeats

should be expected and accepted. Confidence grows in a home that is full of unconditional love and affection.

Math Matters!

Dates to Remember

• Mon. Dec 10 – Batiste and Schnarr – Class trip to Laurel Creek
• Tues. Dec 11 – School Council Mtg at 6:15pm
• Wed. Dec 12 – Cambridge Minor Soccer Presentations
• Wed. Dec 12 – Shermeto’s class to KW Gymnastics
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Boston Pizza Lunch
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Family Christmas Night
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Grade 3 KW Art Gallery visit
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Herzog class trip to Laurel Creek
• Fri. Dec 14 – Popcorn Day
• Fri. Dec 14 – Makerspace for Mr.s Herzog’z class
• Fri. Dec 14 – Science Olympics for Grade 6 at Resurrection
• Mon. Dec 17 – Grade 1-6 Trip to see The Grinch
• Tues. Dec 18 – Primary Concert at 9:30am
• Tues. Dec 18 – Maker Space for Parisi’s class
• Tues. Dec 18 – Rez Concert (PM)
• Tues. Dec 18 – Eco Team Presentation
• Wed. Dec 19 – Schnarr, Batiste, Herzog Trip to Museum
• Wed. Dec 19 – Dress Rehearsal for Drama Play
• Thurs. Dec 20 – Advent Mass at St. Mark’s Church
• Thurs. Dec 20 – Christmas Drama Club Performance of ELF
• Thurs. Dec 20 – Subway Lunch
• Fri. Dec 21 – Intermediate Bowling Trip (PM)
• Fri. Dec 21 – Menchies Treat Day

For all Parents/Guardians within St. Dominic Savio there is currently a Cash Online Event for December 20^th, 2018 for ALL STUDENTS to be transported to St. Mark’s Church for CHRISTMAS MASS. In order for your child to get to this event, you must go to the Cash Online Event and give them permission. This can be done by going to the following link: https://wcdsb.schoolcashonline.com/

For all Parents/Guardians of students in Grades 1 to 6, there is a Cash Online Event for all Primary/Junior students to attend a viewing of “The Grinch” at Landmark Cinemas on December 17, 2018. In order for your child to participate in this event you must pay and give permission via Cash Online. This can be done by going to the following link: https://wcdsb.schoolcashonline.com/

All Families are invited to the Family Christmas Night on Thursday, December 13, 2018. This invitation includes extended family as well. There will be a bake sale, silent auction and selfies with Santa! We look forward to celebrating this holiday season with you on Thursday, December 13, 2018

St. Dominic Savio New Toy and Winter Accessory Tree Campaign continues until December 17, 2018. Please give whatever you can to help children in our community. Whether, it’s new hats, mitts, games or socks; everything is appreciated.

REMINDER: Friday, December 7^th, 2018 is a PA Day. That means there is no school for any students at St. Dominic Savio tomorrow. Enjoy your long weekend Dragons!

December 3 – 7

Thank you  to Mr. Ross our convener and Mrs. Evans-Martin and Mr. Kropf our coaches for making our large school basketball tourney another glowing success.

Stemmler’s orders are due on Monday!!!

This is your last chance to participate in our Christmas Fundraiser and order some pepperettes!  All fundraised dollars go towards our St. Dominic community. Please ensure that all orders are in by Monday as no late orders will be accepted.  Stemmlers will be available for pick up on Thursday December 13th at the Family Christmas Night. Thank you in advance for your support!

Mass

We will be participating in Mass on December 20th at St. Mark’s church.  The permission form is on cash online and we ask that all parents sign the permission form as soon as possible.  Please let the front office know if you have any concerns.

COBS Bread Fundraiser

St. Dominic’s has partnered with COBS Bread located 245-6 at the Boardwalk on Ira Needles in an on-going, year round fundraiser.

What we need from our school families is your support by shopping at COBS Bread at the Boardwalk. Before you pay for your transaction, let the cashier know your child(ren) attends St. Dominic’s Savio, it’s that simple!  Your total will be added to our schools “tab” and in June, the school will receive 10% of that total back which can be utilized to fund different programs/initiatives within the school.

COBS Bread is the local community bakery, offering a huge bread selection, sweet and savoury treats, all baked on premise, from scratch, without added preservatives! Products are Baked Today ~ Sold Today! All their unsold product is donated to local charity partners through our ‘End of Day Giving’ Program.   

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask our school council members:
Laura Bossenberry – lkbossenberry@hotmail.com or
Jamie Perham – JPerham@regionofwaterloo.ca

Greenhouses

St. Dominic has greenhouses!  Our staff will be using greenhouses to support our instructional teaching in our classrooms.  We will need some pots to start growing. If you have any extra pots that you are willing to donate, please drop them off to the main office.  Thank you in advance for your support! A special thank you to our School Council for supporting this initiative and purchasing the greenhouses!

Cold Winter Days

With the winter months approaching, winter safety is an important consideration. Children should always come to school dressed appropriately for the outside each day. Even in extreme cold when they might be kept inside, there is always the consideration of coming to and from school, as well as the risk of an emergency procedure where we must evacuate the building. When the snow hits the ground, students are going to be tempted to play in it. There will be no throwing snow or ice. Snow must be left on the ground. Students should also follow the direction of the supervision staff about playing on snow piles. Sometimes these piles will be deemed off-limits. School winter safety policies are designed to protect everyone on school property from injury.

During periods of severe weather your best sources of information about possible school closing and/or school bus cancellation is the School Board Website ww.wcdsb.ca or a local radio stations. Please do not call the school. For further information, refer to student’s agenda.

Wellness Tip of the Week – How to promote GRIT in your child

(https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/social-emotional-learning/social-skills-for-kids/power-defeat-how-to-raise-kid-grit.html)

Let him fall — and model resilience.

Being able to pick himself up from low moments is probably the most important skill a child can learn. Sarah McCoy’s oldest son was devastated when he didn’t do well in a chess tournament. The Eugene, OR, mom tried bucking him up, but eventually just gave him time to feel his negative emotions. “Later, I told him, ‘Chess is mostly a game of skill, but it’s also somewhat a game of chance,’” McCoy says. “I reminded him that it’s possible to be smart and accomplished, and still lose.”

• Teach It: Share your own struggles. Kids learn from the adults around them, so if you want your children to handle setbacks with grace, model calm and determination in the face of yours. “Lots of parents don’t want to talk about their failures in front of their kids, but that’s denying kids the potentially powerful experience of seeing their parents bounce back,” Tough says. “If they see that adults can mess up and then come back and solve a problem, that’s an important example they can use.” McCoy takes this advice to heart and reminds her kids all the time that failure is nothing to be afraid of. “All of the most successful people in the world will tell you that it’s about trying again for the 112th time,” she says. “When you give up after a failure, you never get anywhere.”

Math Matters!

Communicating with Children Using Math Language – Talking About Math:

Talking about mathematics with your child – whatever his or her age – helps strengthen his or her mathematical reasoning and understanding.  Some ways to keep the talk engaged and focused while you support your child include:

1. Revoice – Repeat what you heard your child say, then ask for clarification (e.g., “So you are saying it’s an odd number?”).
2. Repeat/Restate  – Ask your child to restate your reasoning (e.g., “Can you repeat what I said in your own words?”).
3. Reason – Ask your child to apply his or her own reasoning to someone else’s reasoning (e.g., “Do you agree or disagree? Tell me why.”).
4. Adding On – Prompt your child to participate further (e.g., “What more would you add to that?”).
5. Think Time – Wait several seconds (try five) to give your child time to think (e.g., “Take some time to think.”). You may be surprised by how hard it is to stay silent in that time!

Dates to Remember

• Sat. Dec 1 – Confirmation and First Communion Enrollment Mass at St. Mark’s Parish – 5:00pm
• Sun. Dec 2 – Advent begins
• Mon. Dec 3 – Santa Hat Day
• Mon Dec 3 – Stemmlers Order Forms Due
• Mon Dec 3 – Advent Celebration – 9:45am
• Tues. Dec 4 – Makerspace for Mrs. Coehlo’s class
• Wed. Dec 5 – Shermeto’s Class Trip Gymnastics
• Thurs. Dec 6 – Makerspace for Mrs. Batiste’s class
• Thurs. Dec 6 – Grade 3 KW Art Gallery visit
• Thurs. Dec 6 – Pita Pit Lunch
• Fri. Dec 7 – PD Day
• Mon. Dec 10 – Batiste and Schnarr – Class trip to Laurel Creek
• Tues. Dec 11 – School Council Mtg at 6:15pm
• Wed. Dec 12 – Cambridge Minor Soccer Presentations
• Wed. Dec 12 – Shermeto’s class to KW Gymnastics
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Boston Pizza Lunch
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Family Christmas Night
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Grade 3 KW Art Gallery visit
• Thurs. Dec 13 – Herzog class trip to Laurel Creek
• Fri. Dec 14 – Popcorn Day
• Fri. Dec 14 – Makerspace for Mr.s Herzog’z class
• Fri. Dec 14 – Science Olympics for Grade 6 at Resurrection

CHRISTMAS FUNDRAISER

Our Christmas Fundraiser is coming to an end. As of Monday, December 3^rd, 2018 this will be the last day to order your Stemmler’s Meat Products.   Stemmler’s high quality meats come from our local community of farming families. All pepperstix are Gluten, Lactose, Dairy and MSG free. Facts and nutrition content are available at www.stemmlermeats.ca.

All profits raised will go directly to our St. Dominic students by enriching their learning environment by supporting school improvement projects and student activities.

We are offering the following:
Regular Pepperstix                         $5.00             (12 pieces)
Hot Pepperstix                                $5.00             (12 pieces)
Turkey Pepperstix                          $5.00             (10 pieces)
Honey Garlic Pepperstix               $5.00             (12 pieces)
Teriyaki Pepperstix                        $5.00             (12 pieces)
Summer Sausage Chubb             $16.00           (1.75 lb)

Orders can be paid in cash or by Cash Online (https://wcdsb.schoolcashonline.com).

There are no late orders and cheques will not be accepted.

Orders will be available for pick up on Thursday December 13th, 2018 between 2:00pm and 7:30pm to coincide with our Family Christmas Night. Pepperstix and Summer Sausage Chubb must be refrigerated and orders must be picked up promptly.

We thank you for your generosity to our school fundraiser for this year!

Attention all Early years (JK/SK) and Primary (gr.1-3) parents/guardians
You are invited to come and celebrate this joyous occasion by
watching your child participate in this years Christmas Concert.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 18th, 2018 at 9:45am
Where: St. Dominic Savio gymnasium
Any questions/concerns, please contact your child’s planning time teacher –
Susan Campbell, Shannon D’Arcy or Brittany Hambleton.

NOVEMBER 30 UNTIL DECEMBER 17

It is that time of year again! St. Dominic Savio School has a great tradition of getting its staff and students involved in Social Justice activities where individuals and groups in the surrounding community can be assisted. The Christmas Food Drive, NEW Toy Drive and Winter Accessory Tree Campaign is our Social Justice activity for the month of December. As a school, we will be collecting non-perishable food items. This is includes but is not limited to: – Jams, jellies, jello & pudding mixes – Snacks for school lunches – Cereals – Canned fruit, vegetables & beans 
All of the food we collect during the Food Drive will be given to the St. Vincent de Paul unit (at St. Mark’s Church) where it will be distributed to those families in need. (Please remember not to send any food products with nuts in them due to allergies).
Games for children during our Toy and Winter Accessory Campaign, will also be collected during this time. Each class will be asked to buy a game or a craft for a boy and a girl of their age group (i.e. Grade 5 = 10 year old boy and girl) as well as hats, scarves, socks &/or mitts for those individuals. The St. Vincent de Paul Society has specifically asked for:
***Games & crafts
***Hats, scarves, socks & mittens
St. Vincent de Paul will collect the gifts before Christmas and will distribute the gifts in hampers to specific families.

All that we ask, is you give whatever you can to help kids and families in our community.
Please bring in food, unwrapped NEW games, hats, scarves, mitts, socks for boys, girls or adults.

November 26 – 30

Lots of Experiential Learning for our Dragons!

Our students learn in so many ways and we are blessed at St. Dominic’s to have our staff that plan and prepare lots of experiential learning opportunities outside of our regular classroom environment!  We have visits to the museum, Laurel Creek, Gymnastics Clubs, Theatre and the local Universities! Smiles are everywhere when our students get to learn in different environments and get to explore new places!

Stemmler’s is BACK!

We will continue this year with our fundraiser of Stemmler’s Meats. All proceeds from this fundraiser go to support school initiatives!  Order forms go out this week. Please take some time to order some delicious pepperettes and/or SUmmer Sausage Chubb’s for your family – just in time for the holidays!  Order forms are due December 3rd. There will be no late orders and all orders must be paid online or in cash. No cheques will be accepted. Thank you in advance for supporting our school fundraiser.

CP Holiday Train

The CP Holiday Train will be making a return trip to Cambridge this year to help support the work of the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank.  The train will arrive in Cambridge Thursday, Nov. 29, at 4 p.m. This year the train is carrying the Sam Roberts Band and JoJo Mason, who will be performing from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. at the old Galt Railway Station, 10 Malcolm St.  From Cambridge, the train will move on to Ayr, arriving about 5:20 p.m. at the CP crossing at Inglis and Wilson streets. The performance is set for 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Since CP established the Holiday Train program in 1999, it has raised more than $14.5 million and gathered 4.3 million pounds of food for local banks along its routes in Canada and the United States.  Anyone planning to see the holiday train is encouraged to bring along a non-perishable food donation for the food bank.

Please visit the following page for more information:

https://www.cambridgetimes.ca/community-story/8988941-cp-holiday-train-returning-to-cambridge-ayr-nov-29/?s=e

Wellness Tip of the Week – How to promote GRIT in your child

(https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/social-emotional-learning/social-skills-for-kids/power-defeat-how-to-raise-kid-grit.html)

Welcome boredom and frustration.

Success rarely occurs on the first try. In fact, there’s usually a pretty long road peppered with all sort of bumps and potholes to navigate along the way. Being confused, frustrated, and sometimes completely bored out of your mind is part of the journey. And when kids understand that learning isn’t supposed to be easy all the time—and that having a tough time doesn’t mean they’re stupid—perseverance comes easier.

• Teach It: Instead of jumping in with a solution when your child hits a roadblock, see if she can come up with a way around it on her own. Say she’s struggling to build a school project. Resist every urge to do it for her. Then if it’s clear she’s at a loss, talk her through the problem: “It looks like you’re really having a hard time getting that roof to stay in place. What do you think might work instead?” Help her to think through what the steps might be instead of telling her what they are. “It’s so much more powerful for a child to be able to deal with adversity and overcome it,” says Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed. “What the child takes from that experience is, ‘Hey, I can solve things.’”

Math Matters!

Dates to Remember

• Wed. Nov 28 – Tank/Johnston Class Trip Gymnastics
• Wed. Nov 28 – Cambridge Soccer Presentation for Grade 3 students
• Wed. Nov 28 – Grade 8 Parent Night at Ress
• Thurs. Nov 29 – Maker Space for Ms. Schnarr’s class
• Thurs. Nov 29 – Grade 3 KW Art Gallery visit
• Thurs. Nov 29 – Holy Guacamole Lunch
• Fri. Nov 30 – Menchies Treat Day
• Fri. Nov 30 – School Confessions
• Sat. Dec 1 – Confirmation and First Communion Enrollment Mass at St. Mark’s Parish – 5:00pm
• Sun. Dec 2 – Advent begins
• Mon. Dec 3 – Santa Hat Day
• Mon Dec 3 – Stemmlers Order Forms Due
• Mon Dec 3 – Advent Celebration – 9:45am
• Tues. Dec 4 – Makerspace for Mrs. Coehlo’s class
• Wed. Dec 5 – Shermeto’s Class Trip Gymnastics
• Thurs. Dec 6 – Makerspace for Mrs. Batiste’s class
• Thurs. Dec 6 – Grade 3 KW Art Gallery visit
• Thurs. Dec 6 – Pita Pit Lunch
• Fri. Dec 7 – PD Day

We are off to a great start for the Christmas Fundraiser and we hope to continue on the same path.  If you have not already done so feel free to buy your Stemmler’s Meat Sticks from Cash Online.  Enter the link to get directed to Cash Online: https://wcdsb.schoolcashonline.com/.
All Pepperstix (except Turkey) are $5.00 for a package of 12!  Turkey is a package of 10.  You can also purchase a Summer Sausage Chubb for only $16.00 for 1.75 pounds.  That’s almost 2 pounds of Summer Sausage for only $16.00.  All proceeds go to help school initiatives.

Today is Colour House Day!  All students can where their colour house colours to gain team points!
Please see attached link to determine student’s colour house colours.   House Colours List