Principal ’s Message

December 2017

Season Greetings to our St. Catherine families,

As we enter December at St. Catherine School, we would like to wish you all a very blessed and reflective Advent Season. December, along with the preparation and waiting for the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, will see our students preparing for many other events taking place at the school. This year we will be celebrating the beginning and ending of the Advent Season with two liturgies. Our first Advent liturgy takes place at 1:30 pm on Monday, December 4th, and our second celebration will be Thursday, December 21st at 9:30 am. As always, we warmly welcome our parents to join us in this celebration of faith.

Our students have been busy at the school practic-ing their lines and their songs for the Christmas Play which will be on Wednesday, December 20th, starting at 6:00 pm. The theme for this year’s spectacle is “The Voice… of Christmas”. Seating is limited to this special evening event so please limit attendance to 2 people per family. Our teachers have been busy preparing our students, and the singing is coming together nicely! More information about the concerts may be found in the newsletter.

Our Grades 1-6 are getting excited for our trip to the theatre! We will be boarding the school buses on the 19th at 10:15 am to see Charlotte’s Web at Alberta Theatre Projects! This will be the first time for many of our students to experience live theatre!

We would like to extend our thanks to all families who supported our Angel Tree and helping make neighbouring families’ Christmases special. There are still a few more angels on the tree, so if you are able to help out, please be sure to pick up an angel or two when you visit the school.

C a l g a r y C a t h o l i c S c h o o l D i s t r i c t

School Council has been busy raising funds to help the students participate in extra-curricular events and help fund our Learning Commons revitalization. Council raised approximately $800 for the students through the Safeway/Superstore Gift Card Fundraiser! We would like to thank everyone for supporting our students and the programming at St. Catherine School.

With the school closing for the Christmas holidays on Thursday, December 21st, at 3:00 pm, December will be filled with activities. Be sure to ask your child about our Twelve Days of Christmas Trivia, starting on Wednesday, December 6th. See if you can get the trivia’s answers correct! We look forward to seeing you around the school during the month! The school will reopen on Monday, January 8th.

From all of us at St. Catherine School we wish you a very blessed and peaceful Christmas Holiday.

For unto you is born this day,

in the city of David, a Saviour,

St. Catherine School

11 Canata Close S.W.

Calgary AB

T2W 1P6

(403) 500-2061

Angel Tree

Dear St. Catherine Parents,

Once again St. Catherine School will be partnering with St. Gerard Parish to

sponsor families in need during this advent season. We will have our Angel Tree

set up inside the front door from November 30th until December 14th. You are

invited to visit the angel tree during parent/teacher interviews.

If you are able to help, please take an angel off the tree and provide the item

indicated on the angel. Please put the present in a gift bag and tape the angel

to the outside of the gift. This will ensure the gifts are going to our sponsored

families. You may drop gifts off back under the tree until December 15th!

Thank you for your generosity,

St. Catherine Staff

Advent Celebrations

1st Advent Liturgy -Monday, December 4th 1:30 p.m.

2nd Advent Liturgy-Thursday, December 21st 9:30 a.m.

Please come and join us!

St. Catherine Students Go to the Theatre!

ATP Student Matinees bring the excitement of live theatre to students from across Calgary. Bringing live theatre professionals and youth together, ATP strives to assist teachers in integrating the arts into their curriculum. ATP brings contemporary, relevant plays to life on the Martha Cohen Theatre stage and is proud to offer schools the opportunity to see these productions through their Student Matinee program. At St. Catherine school, we are extremely excited to be taking our stu-

dents to see their production of “Charlotte’s Web”!!

Back by popular demand, ATP brings E.B. White’s classic children’s book about the unlikely friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a spider called Charlotte to the stage. The music-filled adaptation follows Wilbur from his beginnings as a scrawny piglet who’s spared from becoming pork chops by a young girl named Fern. But as he grows and begins to cost his owners a fortune in feed, it will take help from all his new farmyard friends to save his life again, including the miracu-lous talents of a very special spider. E.B. White’s beloved children’s classic will be brought to life

through fun filled musical accompaniment and an aerial acrobat in the role of Charlotte!

Grades 1-6 students will be bussed downtown on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at approxi-mately 10:00 a.m. We will be having our lunch in the foyer of the theatre when we arrive. The show will start promptly at 11:30 am. It will be performed in 2 acts with one 15 min intermission. The performance will run approximately 2 hrs including the intermission. There will be a 15-20 minute Q&A after the show with the actors on stage. Students will remain in their seats for the talkback. We should be done by and ready to load onto busses for approximately 2:00pm.

As we journey through Advent toward Christmas, may we remember and cherish our friend-ships with one another. Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Web” reminds us: “Why did you do all this for me?” [Wilbur] asked. “I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.” “You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.” ― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

Holidays

If your child will be absent prior to Christmas or after Christmas holidays please notify

the school office the dates your child will be away.

You can phone the office at 403-500-2061 or email

jennifer.stewart@cssd.ab.ca

School Holidays

Thursday, December 21st-Full day of classes

Friday, December 22nd-Christmas holidays begin (No School

Dec.22-Jan.7)

Monday, January 8th-Students back to school

Twelve Days of Christmas

After its huge success last year, we will be continuing with our Twelve Days of

Christmas trivia, starting on Wednesday, December 6th. Each day for twelve

days, Mr. Osborne will include a trivia question with his morning announcements.

Students will give their teacher the answers and correct ones will be eligible for

prizes. Stay tuned for more information on this Christmas

fun!!!!

Christmas Celebration

St. Catherine School will be holding its annual Christmas Pageant on

Wednesday, December 20th, at 6 pm, in the school gym. This year's show

is entitled, "The Voice of Christmas" and is a special Christmas remake of

the popular television show, "The Voice." Doors open at 5:30, and seating

is limited. Please restrict the number of guests to two per family. If there

are special circumstances and extra seats are needed for your family,

please speak with Mr. Osborne or Ms. Mustapic to see if accommodations

can be made.

The Voice of Christmas should take approximately 1 - 1.5 hours from start

to finish. We hope this helps with your planning during the hustle and bustle

of this busy season!

Mission Mexico

Bishop McGrattan has declared the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

(December 12) Mission Mexico Day in our diocese. Donations may be

made through our schools on December 12 or the parish collections

on the weekend of December 9—10. Our goal is to have every parish-

ioner and every student in our diocese contribute a “loonie” to the

collection. Some schools celebrate Mission Mexico Day during the

Lenten season, and for this we are most grateful.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact

fmonk@shaw.ca or Sr. Rita at Rita.Kim@calgarydiocese.ca. 403-218-

5513.

Thank you to Allan’s Flowers in Bowness for donating our Christmas Urn at the front of our

school. Give them a call to order Christmas arrangements or for special occasions throughout

the year. #403-288-2190

PATROLLER NEWS

Please be aware that if the weather is below -18°C with wind chill, Patrollers do not go out. This is

a safety precaution used at all schools.

Patrollers put in a lot of extra time and hard work. To show our appreciation we will be having a

pizza party in December which is made possible by the School Council. Thank you very much!

Patrollers are aware to give cars more time to stop, yet if you are driving your students to school,

please take the extra time and go slow because of the icy road conditions.

Please do not do a U-turn in our crosswalk. This puts our students at risk.

Keep up the great work patrollers, and continue to wear your mitts, gloves

and boots!

Milk

As a reminder to our parents, we will not have milk for our lunch-es January 8th to 10th.

Milk will resume Thursday, January 11th. Please make sure that your children have a drink in their lunch until milk is availa-ble. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Fun Food Day

Fun food day will be held Thursday, December 21st.

Fun food order forms will go home on Monday, December 11th.

Cash only for orders. Exact change only, please. Unfortunately, late orders cannot

be accepted.

We will be having a PJ Day for all students. A Christmas movie will be shown in the afternoon.

School Council Grocery Card

Fundraiser

Our Grocery Card Fundraiser was a huge success!

School Council sold $16,000.00 worth of grocery

cards and raised approximately $800.00 for our

school.

Thank you everyone!

School Council News

No meeting in December.

Next school council meeting is:

Thursday, January 11th at 6:00 p.m.

All are welcome!

NEWS from ST. GERARD’S CATHOLIC PARISH

Dear Children and Parents –

As we enter the last month of 2017, school communities and church communities are very busy…and

it is a time of excitement and anticipation.

Our message from the faith community of St. Gerard’s is very simple:

Keep CHRIST in CHRISTMAS

Participate in the parish liturgies and activities

Focus on Family, on birthing Jesus into your family life, and on doing as much for the poor and the

disadvantaged as you are able to do

ST. GERARD PARISH ACTIVITIES FOR DECEMBER:

Saturday, December 2nd – COOKIE WALK – come and buy homemade Christmas cookies; 10:00

AM in the parish hall

Parish ADVENT RECONCILIATION SERVICE: Tuesday, December 5th, 7:30 PM

Reconciliation every Wednesday evening in Advent from 7:30-8:30 PM

Breakfast in the parish hall, following 9:00 AM mass, on Friday, December 8th in honor of Our La-

dy of Guadalupe; breakfast prepared by our Latino community; free-will offering for Mission

Mexico

December 9th/10th – MISSION MEXICO – bring your loonies & toonies

Filipino Advent Mass: SIMBANG GAMBI – Sunday, December 10th; 5:30 PM – carols; 6:00 PM -

mass

St. Vincent de Paul CHRISTMAS FOOD HAMPERS – packing on Friday, December 15th; delivery

on Saturday, December 16th

CAPPY BAND CONCERT -proceeds to St. Vincent de Paul – Tuesday, December

19th at 7:00 PM; $10/person $20/person

CHRISTMAS COOKIE GIFT PACKAGES – for our shut-ins and elderly; dona-

tions of homemade cookies solicited; bring donations to the parish hall

between 9:00 & 10:00 AM on Friday, December 22nd

ANGEL TREE gifts and FOOD/PAPER TOILETRY donations for St. Vincent de

Paul Christmas Hampers – ongoing through December 14th

Grade 6 PAT Schedule

Wednesday, May 9th ELA Part A

Friday, June 15th Grade 6 Science

Monday, June 19th ELA Part B

Wednesday, June 20th Social Studies

https://www.cssd.ab.ca/Parents/ProvincialTesting/Pages/default.aspx

CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES

CHRISTMAS EVE: 5:00 PM – Children’s/Family Mass; if children [of any age] would like to be

actively involved in this mass, please contact Mrs. Denise Webber at 403-253-5139 or

pdwebber@shaw.ca

8:00 PM – Mass

CHRISTMAS DAY: 10:00 AM

NEW YEAR’S DAY: 10:00 AM

All masses will have beautiful music. Come & celebrate with us!

SACRAMENTS for CHILDREN at ST. GERARD’S PARISH, 2018

We welcome all families and we encourage you to get involved with our parish.

SACRAMENT PREPARATION will begin in the new year. Both children and parents will have an

opportunity to deepen their relationship with our loving God, and will find joy in being part of a

healthy, loving faith community.

Registration for First Communion

Tuesday, January 23rd; 7:15 PM in the parish hall; bring child’s Baptismal certificate

Sunday, January 28th; 10:00 AM in the parish hall

Registration for First Reconciliation

Sunday, February 4th; 10:00 AM in the parish hall

Thursday, February 8th; 7:15 PM in the parish hall

Registration for Confirmation

Thursday, February 22nd; 7:15 PM in the parish hall; bring child’s Baptismal certificate

Sunday, March 4th; 10:00 AM in the parish hall

Love came down at Christmas; love all lovely, love divine; love was born at

Christmas, stars and angels gave the sign. [C. ROSETTI]

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all families –

Fr. Ignatius Tran, Mrs. Doreen Yochim

Pastoral Team at St. Gerard’s Parish