St. Agatha Catholic School 49 Cathedral Bluffs Drive

Scarborough, ON M1M 2T6 416-393-5302

twitter.com/StAgathaSchool

G. Grant Superintendent

N. Crawford

Trustee - Ward 12

Ingrid McEachen Principal

Nanssi Chahine Vice-Principal

Sandra Robinson

Secretary

Monique Martins Clerk Typist

Bayani Icaro Jim Benson Custodians

Father Robson St. Boniface Church

21 Markanna Dr. Scarborough, ON M1M 2H9

(416) 261-5983

Shark Tales

JUNE, 2016

Faithfulness

ADMINISTRATORS’ MESSAGE twitter.com/StAgathaSchool

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all of our amazing St. Agatha parents, incredible volunteers, School Council and our dedicated staff for their encouragement and support this year.

We would also like to thank our students for their hard work, enthusiasm and positive attitudes. As the late Maya Angelou has stated, “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.” There is no lack of positive attitudes here at St. Agatha.

In addition to saying farewell to our grade eight students, we also say a warm good-bye to a number of staff members who will be retiring (Mrs. Engelhardt, Mme Flynn and Mlle Sicotte) or leaving us for adventures in other cities (Mlle Gelinas, Mlle Bourdeau). All the best!

To our St. Agatha School community, please accept our best wishes for a safe, happy and relaxing summer! To those families who have ‘graduated’ or will not be with us next year, we will miss you! ‘Good Luck and Best Wishes!’

God bless, Ingrid McEachen & Nanssi Chahine

As we prepare for the end of the school year, we

are focussing this month on the virtue of

Faithfulness. The quote from John’s gospel

reminds us, “Happy are those who have not

seen, yet still believe.” John 20:29

We will encourage our students to continue to

put their faith into action by bringing the Gospel

spirit into every aspect of their lives.

Graduation

Our Grade 8 Graduation Ceremony took place on Thursday, June 23rd at 5:00 pm at Q-SSIS Banquet Hall. The students celebrated afterwards by joining their parents for dinner followed by a dance for the students until 10:30 pm. The cost of the Graduation was reduced substantially for our grade eights as our CSPC generously subsidized the evening, through Pizza Day profits and the allocated budget, allowing each Grade eight graduate to enjoy a free dinner.

Let’s Jump!!! Through skipping, shooting hoops and fundraising for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Jump Rope for Heart helped to teach our students about healthy living and social responsibility...and they had fun at the same time! St. Agatha raised a total of $4520. and earned great prizes! Congratulations to everyone for supporting such a worthwhile cause!

Volunteers!!! Our CSPC (Catholic School Parent Council) has been very dedicated and diligent in their efforts again this year to fundraise and spearhead many wonderful initiatives. Much appreciation goes to our volunteers who have given their time and energy to provide a number of events and activities for the betterment of our school. We are thankful to our Nutrition Program volunteers, pizza lunch providers, artists, gardening angels, coaches, chess club master, swim coaches, fundraising organizers, barbecue professionals and our parent drivers for various sports events. Kudos to all of these community and parent volunteers!

Play Day Thank you to Ms. Modica and our Intermediate students for organizing and leading an awesome PLAY DAY! This fun-filled event took place on Monday, June 27th. A rotation of ten exciting activities were organized for the students to challenge themselves and each other! Thank you staff, students & parents.

eCSLIT This year some of our intermediate students attended the Elementary Catholic School Leadership Impact Team (eCSLIT) monthly meetings which culminated in a cooperative and exciting fishing event at

Burds Family Fishing. The students even caught their own dinner!!!

Track & Field Track and Field was an exciting event again this school year as we earned much success during our participation in the divisional and regional meets at Pope John Paul II. We also had numerous students attend the City Final Meet at Varsity Stadium. All of our students trained with enthusiasm and dedication and the entire team demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship and camaraderie. They should all be congratulated for their determination and abilities. A very special thank you to Mr. Jonathan for his organization and the many coaches who trained and worked so diligently to assist the students in their events! Special thanks to our parents who not only attended the meets, but also kindly set up the tent and enthusiastically cheered on our team!

St. Agatha Celebrates

Canada Day Students across the Toronto Catholic District School Board will celebrate Canada Day on the last day of theschool year, Wednesday, June 29. Students are encouraged to dress in red and white, and gather inour school yard, to join with students and staff from across the Toronto Catholic District School Board in the singing of the National Anthem at 9:30 a.m.

ST. AGATHA CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL UPDATE

Our last meeting took place on Tuesday May 17th 14 Parents with the school administration team were in attendance. Nancy Crawford, our local school board trustee addressed the council to speak about the school board’s budget situation: TCDSB in in year 2 of a 4 year recovery plan relating to:

o Miscalculations in staff benefits of $20M o Provincial funding grants reductions of $8M per year o Transportation underfunding of $3.6M o $13.6M more in occasional teacher cost due to high rate of teacher sick days o Potential future impact cuts will be special education staff/programs

Parents are encouraged to contact their local MPP or Premier of Ontario to advocate for proper education funding for the TCDSB & all Ontario schools.

- Various miscommunications to parents & the school occurred - The program was originally intended to require 20 kindergarten registrants then

go to older kids when in fact, the program could apply to children of all grades within a minimum number of JK/SK registrants.

- Setting up a program for 2016-2017 is now not possible but if there is enough interest by families, there is possibility to start a program for the 2017-2018 school year

As a result of the work-to-rule campaign by TCDSB Elementary school teachers the following activities are impacted for the rest of this year:

o EQAO & CAT testing officially cancelled o Planning of field trips for next year (no impact to this year including

graduations) o Report card will only have marks, no comments

The Art Show & BBQ were deemed a success given the number of people that came out, staff preparation of artwork and volunteer coordination. Feedback received will be used next year including to ensure it is held away from the school parking lot.

Digital communication with parents and the school community are current available via:

School Website http://www.tcdsb.org/stagatha The school newsletters and calendars are loaded monthly.

Twitter @StAgathaSchool Lots of up-to-date information including school closures and bus cancellations

Should you wish to get in contact with the school council please email: cspc.stagatha@tcdsb.org

Our last regular meeting of the year is Tuesday June 7th, 2016

MAY 2016

ST. AGATHA CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL UPDATE

Our last meeting took place on Tuesday June 7th 15 Parents along with the school administration team were in attendance. Kirt Milligin from FYI Kids/CNIB spoke about the Braille System and the presentation format for grade 5’s. The parent council members learned the history of the Braille got an overview and introduction lesson of the Braille system.

A discussion and vote took place regarding child safety within the school yard. In light of parent concerns, practices at other TCDSB schools and events within the neighbourhood, the parent council and administration will be looking into the school policy for playground safety.

This year’s pizza profits will be directed towards GR.8 graduation as traditional from years’ past. This will potentially reduce each student’s graduation dinner/dance fee down to $10.

Next year, the school will attempt collection of email addresses to encourage direct digital communications from the school & board to parents/guardians. The following methods will continue to be used to share information:

School Website http://www.tcdsb.org/stagatha The school newsletters and calendars are loaded monthly.

Twitter @StAgathaSchool Lots of up-to-date information including school closures and bus cancellations The Campbell’s Label’s For Education program is ending this year. Please return all eligible labels to the school. Parents are encouraged to sign up their children for swimming lessons through the City of Toronto at Halbert Public School’s outdoor pool. The program was saved for another year due to community lobbying – sufficient registrations are required to keep the program available in future years.

Should you wish to get in contact with the school council please email: cspc.stagatha@tcdsb.org

Parent Council meetings will resume next year with election of a new executive at our annual AGM. Thank you to all parents who participated in meetings and events over this past school year. We look forward to your input and attendance next school year.

JUNE 2016