April 2019 Newsletter -

Saint John Paul ll Catholic School

155 Red Maple Dr Richmond Hill

L4B 4P9 Tel:905 709 3134

Fax: 905 709 3646 http://pjp.ycdsb.ca

Trustee: Maria Iafrate Dominic Mazzotta Superintendent: Anthony Arcadi Principal: Sebastiano Romano Head Secretary: April DeVuono Pastor: Father Mark and Father Wen St Luke’s Catholic Church

SAINT John Paul II

CATHOLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY:

HOME, PARISH and SCHOOl,

Committed to ONGOING COMMUNICATION

AS PARTNERS IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION

@sjp2_ycdsb

Bell Times 8:20-classes begin 9:50-10:05-AM recess 11:25-12:25-Lunch 1:50-2:05-PM recess 2:50– Dismissal

The month of April is devoted to

the Catholic virtue of Reverence.

Reflective of this virtue, we have

chosen to highlight the children’s

book:

The Best Part Of Me

An award-winning photographer

asked several children "What is the

best part of you?," and presents

their answers in this sometimes

funny, sometimes moving, deeply

personal book that includes

striking black-and-white photo-

graphs taken by the author. Ideal

for parents and teachers to use to

discuss body image, self-esteem,

and diversity with children.

Easter is the gift... Easter is the gift of HOPE Easter is the gift of PEACE Easter is the gift of LOVE

Let us rejoice in Him, Who gives them all.

May God bless you at Easter, And keep you all year through.

May God give you all the faith it takes,

To make your dreams come true. May God’s love and wisdom

always help, to guide you on your way. May God’s light shine down

upon you now, to bless your Easter Day.

Integration of our Catholic Faith

April~ Catholic Virtue - Reverence

I will honour and respect God’s gift of life I will appreciate the awe and wonder of God’s creation I will celebrate the joy of Christ’s resurrection

CELEBRATIONS OF FAITH On Holy Thursday April 18th, St John Paul II students will be presenting our annual “Stations of the Cross”. This re-enactment of Jesus’ last steps will take place in our Gym “A” beginning at 10:15am. All members of St John Paul II school community are welcome to attend.

CATHOLIC VIRTUE OF THE MONTH

In our Catholic school, we celebrate that we are all children of God and share the unique gifts, talents and virtues that God has given us. Each month students are encouraged to recognize the featured Catholic Virtue in themselves or others. Congratulations to the following students who were recognized for demonstrating the Catholic Virtue of Perseverance in our school community during the month of March: Ana C, Karolina A, Jonah H, Noah L, Giorgia M, Bryce D, Han-Bi, Tristan M, Sanam M, Valencia N, Katharine J, Eva Y, Julian N, Johnny C, Aiden Y, Sareena O, Jayden H, Juliana S, Hyeonsu S, Ayrton D, Eric Y, Valerie C, James B, Alicia C, Ryan C, Andrew C, Connor E, Zeyad A, Levi S, Kevin G.

Thank you to Father Wen for joining us on Thursday, March 28th for our Lenten Mass celebration. We thank Father for his presence in our school community and for his blessing. Our next Mass celebration will be on Thursday May 9th @ 8:50am in our Gym “A”. A reminder that there will be no class instruction for students on Good Friday, April 19th and Easter Monday, April 22nd. Classes resume on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019.

St. John Paul II staff would like to wish all our families a happy and blessed Easter.

Holy Thursday: April 18th

Good Friday: April 19th

Easter Sunday: April 21st

Easter Monday: April 22nd

To

Integration of our Catholic Faith

Earth News!!! The students at SJPII have been working very hard to raise awareness about the importance of taking care of the Earth. During the month of March, we learned about Earth Hour, a global movement organized to raise awareness about climate change. This year, it was celebrated around the world on Saturday, March 30th from 8:30pm to 9:30pm but here at SJPII, we turned off all lights and electronics for one hour on Friday, March 29th.

We hope that you also had the opportunity to join the rest of the world in enjoying some quality time free of electronics and lights on Saturday, March 30th. Please continue to send in your Earth Hour stories by filling in the light bulb that was sent home or sending in a picture. By sharing our stories, we can show how big a difference, small changes can make!

Our work continues as we head into April - Earth Month! Stay tuned for new announcements about ways to help the Earth. During Earth Week, SJPII will be participating in a neighbourhood clean-up. We will also focus on getting outdoors to engage with nature, walking/biking to school and creating less waste. Although our campaign focuses on Earth month, we encourage these activities all year round! The Earth thanks us for it! In recognition of Earth Hour, Civvies Day proceeds on March 29th will be donated to Kortright Centre.

Continuous Improvement of Student Achievement

INTERMEDIATE BOYS BASKETBALL

On Monday March 25th our IBBB team travelled to Pope Francis for their area tournament. Congratulations to: Carmelo T, Markus D, Nicholas D, Kalaun M, Zeyad A, Jonah P, Jordan S, Nicolas C, Osarumen I, Brandon P, Aloysius C, Aiseosa I, Emin K, Andrew D. Thank you to Ms. Sebastiano, Ms. Palladino and Ms. Rosettis. GO LIONS GO!!

RICHMOND HILL FIRE DEPT

On Tuesday and Wednesday March 26th and 27th firefighter Shanyn made a visit to our Grade 1-8

students to discuss fire and safety in our school and our homes. Our kindergarten students will enjoy a visit from our firefighters complete with a fire truck on Friday April 12th. Oh, the look on their faces!!!

INTERMEDIATE GIRLS BASKETBALL

On Tuesday March 26th our IGBB team travelled to St Anne for their area tournament. Congratulations to: Victoria D, Lorena D, Ava A, Kiana D, Olivia D, Ashley B, Sofia M, Caitlin P, Mackenzie F, Sophia T, Ashely Y. Thank you to Ms. Sebastiano, Ms. Palladino and Ms. Rosettis. GO LIONS GO!!

CCEL GRANT APPROVED SJPII

Congratulations goes out to Ms. Puopolo’s Gr 4 class and Ms. Gruppuso’s Gr 3 class for having their Community Connected Experiential Learning proposal approved. Both classes received a grant total of $5000 to create “The Learning Garden”. If there are any members of our community who is experienced in carpentry work they would love for you to participate. Please contact Ms. Puopolo and Ms. Gruppuso.

SPRING TIME REMINDERS

As the lovely warm spring weather arrives, we kindly ask

parents to continue dressing their children appropriately. Proper outdoor shoes that are water resistant are a must. As well, kindly provide your children with a change of clothing in case of muddy and wet accidents. Sometimes the field and outdoor playground areas may be off limits due to water, mud and excess sand on the black top.

Engaging Our Community

Catholic School Council 2018-19

Please join us for our next meeting on Wednesday April 24th 2019. The meeting will take place in our staff room and will begin promptly at 7:00pm.

All SJPII family members are welcome to attend.

MAPLE LEAF JERSEY

Congratulations to Natalia K. who’s lucky ticket was drawn for the signed # 43 Maple Leaf Kadri jersey. The ticket also included 2 tickets to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Thank you to our SJPII community for supporting the purchase of our new tech carts.

SAFE ARRIVAL To report student ab-sences/lates, please dial: 1-855-856-7862 Or Visit go.schoolmessenger.ca

KISS ‘N’ RIDE/DROP OFF

Spring weather brings more walking opportunities! We encourage our SJPII families to continue to use the general parking area and walk to

the school yard along the sidewalk. For those who use our KISS and RIDE we ask that you drive up and stop as far EAST as possible. There is NO PARKING in the drop-off area or along fire and bus routes. Please allow your child to exit the vehicle independently from the passenger side. SAFTEY FIRST - single lane of traffic only whenever possible. Please avoid passing other vehicles in the drop-off area as students exit vehicles from both sides. Drive slowly. Patience and cooperation ensures student safety. The safety of our students is our #1 priority. Thank you for your cooperation and safety concern.

2019-2020 NEW REGISTRATIONS New student registration is now also open at St. John Paul II. Current St. John Paul II families, if you know of any new families in our neighbourhood or new families that will soon be moving into our boundaries please inform them that we are now accepting new registrations. Thank you!

ALYSON SCHAFER

Please join us on Wednesday April 10th at 7:00pm in our Gym A as our CSC and Red Maple’s SC welcome Alyson Schafer. Alyson is a parenting expert who will be discussing how to raise resilient children and foster wellness in the family. Alyson will also speak on how to address the present mental health issue of anxiety. We thank our CSC for their PRO grant proposal.

Engaging Our Community

Engaging Our Community

Engaging Our Community

Engaging Our Community

Engaging Our Community