From The Principal’s Desk …

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to Blessed Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School for the 2016 – 2017 school year.

We are so pleased to be joining the BMT community as your new administrators this year! We know that we have a caring and dy-namic group of staff members; talented, enthusiastic students; col-laborative, supportive parents; and a dedicated Pastoral Support Team through St. Patrick’s Church. Thank you for selecting our Catholic school for your child’s learning experience!

This September marks the wonderful occasion of the canonization of Mother Teresa by Pope Francis in Rome (Sunday, September 4

th). We are very proud and excited to celebrate all that our new

patron saint stood for as a committed disciple of our Lord. She lived her life in such a way as to inspire kindness and compassion for all those in need – she lived in the image of Jesus. Stay tuned for updates regarding our school name change and our efforts to recognize this special occasion as a school community! If you are looking for something to do at 4:30 am on Sunday morning (), click on the following link:

http://saltandlighttv.org/specialcoverage/mother-teresa

Not to worry though as the mass/ceremony will be rebroadcasted throughout the day/weekend.

Finally, we look forward, with enthusiasm, to continued academic, spiritual and social growth, as we commit to learning with each other, and caring for one another, in our school community. In the words of our “Mother”, a simple smile can make all the difference…

Respectfully yours,

Mrs. N. Sabo Mr. F. Petrella Principal Vice Principal

VOLUME 18 ISSUE 1

SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER

Critical Dates for

2016 - 2017 School Year

September 5: Labour Day

15: Meet the Teacher BBQ

22: Opening Word Celebration

23: Professional Activity Day

October 10: Thanksgiving Monday

19: School Photos November 3: Progress Reports Distributed

5: Parent, Student & Teacher

Conferences

13: Professional Development Day

17: Eucharist Fall Celebration at

St. Patrick’s Church

December 8: Advent Marion Celebration

9: Professional Activity Day

26 - January 9: Christmas Break

2017

January 9: First Day Back After Holidays

27: Professional Activity Day

February 20: Family Day

18: 1st Term Report Cards

Distributed

March 13 - 17 March Break

April 7: Professional Development Day

14: Good Friday Holiday

17: Easter Monday Holiday

20: Eucharist-Spring Celebration

at St. Patrick’s Church

29: First Reconciliation, St. Patrick

Church

May 22: Victoria Day

26: 1st Communion Rehearsal

27: 1st Communion @ 2:00 St. Patrick

June 22: End of Year Celebration

23: 2nd Term Report Cards

distributed

30: Last Day of School

FALL PHOTOS BY LIFE TOUCH PHOTOGRAPHY

Wednesday, October 19th

Blessed Mother Teresa CES Staff 2016-2017

Principal Mrs. Sabo

Vice Principal

Mr. Petrella

Early Years Teachers

Mrs. Stewart Mrs. Freitas Ms. Bracken

Early Childhood Educators

Miss Sousa Mrs. Medeiros

Miss Ancion Mrs. Laturney

Mrs. Stypa

Primary Division Teachers

Mrs. Rau Ms. Ringwald

Miss Kelly Mrs. MacDougall

Mrs. Ferraccioli-Firenze Mrs. Ventura

Mrs. Fernandes

Junior Division Teachers

Mrs. Janzen Miss Vandervoort

Ms. Becks Ms. Gardeazabal

Mr. McIlveen Mrs. Kroeger Mr. Tavares

Intermediate Teachers

Mr. Simpson Mrs. De Frias Mrs. Carson

Mrs. Streppel

French Teachers

Mrs. O’Hagan Ms. Armstrong

Special Education Teacher Mrs. Hache

Colleen Deneau

Planning Time Teacher

Sheila Sweeney

Educational Assistants

Mrs. Goldrick Mrs. Oliveira Mrs. Richard Mrs. McGarr Ms. Van Wyk Mr. Sterling

Ms. Beer Mrs. Bascoe

Mrs. Raymakers-White

Library Technician

Mrs. Johnston

Lunch Hour Supervisors

Mrs. Hardcastle Mrs. Figueiredo

Mrs. Stoyles

Secretary

Mrs. Emiljanowicz Mrs. Meyers

Custodian

Mr. Normore Mr. Meyers

@BMTTimberwolves

BLESSED MOTHER TERESA CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENT HANDBOOK AND ALL NEWSLETTERS ARE LOCATED ON OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE

AND DISTRIBUTED THROUGH NEWSWIRE. http://motherteresa.wcdsb.ca/

YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE A PAPER COPY OF THE NEWSLETTER IF YOU NOTIFY YOUR

CHILD’S TEACHER.

Safe Arrival/Departure Program: Attendance Check Procedure

Parents and Guardians are responsible for notifying the school of any late arrivals or absences incurred by

their children. We ask that an adult call the school directly or leave a message notifying us of the child’s

absence. Please do not have your child place the call. Our school answering machine is in service from

4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. to record your calls. Please state your child’s name, grade, room number, their

teacher’s name and reason for the absence. If your child will be late, please leave the reason and the

expected time of arrival. If a parent fails to communicate an absence, the school will make every effort to

contact the parent in a timely fashion to request a reason for the absence. If no one can be reached, police

may be notified.

It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to inform the school of names and current telephone numbers, in order of priority of

parents, guardians, caregivers or other individuals to be notified in case of an unexplained pupil absence.

When picking up or returning children for a variety of reasons during the school day, we are requesting that parents check in at the

office and enter appropriate information in our Sign In/Sign Out Binder. Children must have a note from their parents if they are to

leave the school at times other than the regular dismissal time.

In the case of picking up your child, you are not to go to their classrooms. Contact will be made from the office to the class for your

child to meet you in the foyer. All adults granted permission and access to our school hallways must display visible identif ication or

passes screened at the office.

In a situation, where the child misses their bus after school, the child is to report to the office where alternate arrangements will be

made for their passage home. We encourage all parents and caregivers to be consistent with these procedures in order to provide

the best means of ensuring their child’s safety to and from school. We need to be aware of all individuals entering our building in

order to ensure a safe and secure school. Thank you for your co-operation.

Are You Moving?

Are you relocating, either in or out of Blessed Mother Teresa School boundary? If you

have not already done so, please contact the school office as soon as possible.

In partnership with Remember Me Inc., we will be continuing with our “Fresh Lunch Thursdays” and our “Milk/Smoothie Program” this year. This will give families the option to order milk (white or chocolate) or a smoothie for their student(s) every day of the week if they wish and the option to order, from a wide variety of healthy choices, a fresh lunch every First Thursday of the month (delivered for the beginning of lunch break). All orders can be conveniently placed on the Remember Me Inc. website at www.remembermeinc.com. Families with an existing account need to log in and re-create their child’s profile as all data from last year gets erased and we want to ensure that orders get delivered to the correct 2016-2017 classes. Families new to Blessed Mother Teresa C.E.S. are encouraged to log on to the easy-to-navigate Remember Me website and create your child’s profile. Milk and fresh lunch orders for the months of September and October can now be placed. All online orders must be made by 5 p.m. at least 2 school days prior to the delivery of the milk/lunch. Families without internet access may contact the office for a hard copy of the order form. Our milk program will start Monday, October 3rd and our first fresh lunch will be on Thursday, October 6th.

Students Transported To/From School by Bus:

As we begin the school year, we would like to remind all students eligible for bus

transportation to/from school and their parents of the following:

When traveling to school, students should be at their designated pick-up location five minutes

before the scheduled arrival of the school bus.

The student and her/his parents should develop a contingency plan should the child miss the

school bus when traveling to school (e.g., return home; walk to a neighbour’s home; walk to

school, etc.)

When departing school, should any student miss her/his bus, that child should immediately go

to the school office for assistance. She/he should not walk home.

If a student will not be taking the bus, parents are asked to write a note in their child’s

agenda

Only students eligible to ride a school bus will be allowed to do so when riding to/from

school. Those who are not eligible to ride a bus will not be permitted to do so. If a child is

not eligible and she/he wishes to visit the home of a classmate, it will be the responsibility of

her/his parent to make alternate transportation arrangements.

Transported students will only be allowed to ride their designated bus to/from school. A pupil

will not be permitted to ride another bus for which they are not eligible.

IMPORTANT REMINDER RE: MEDICATION AT SCHOOL

If your child is required to receive ANY form of medication during school hours,

either over the counter (i.e. Tylenol) or prescription, the school is required to

have on file your signed consent. It is also necessary that the medication be

in the original prescription bottle or packaging.

Please contact the office (624-7115) if you will require an “Administration of Oral Medication”

form for your child/children.

All medication must be kept in the school office and administered by one of our staff.

We are not able to accept a verbal request to administer any form of medication.

Please also note, that all children are expected to enjoy outdoor recess when at school. We

ask that you be aware of this policy when sending your children to school if they are still

recovering from an illness. Thank-You

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES OF

WATERLOO REGION (STSWR), INC

4275 King Street East Kitchener, ON

N2P 2E9

Tel: 519-650-4934 Fax: 519-650-2979

September 2016

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

Transportation details for the 2016 - 2017 school year for eligible students is now available.

Parents can login and view your child’s transportation details online by going to http://

www.stswr.ca and following these easy steps:

Click on “Student Login”

Enter your child’s Ontario Education Number (OEN)

The OEN can be found on your child’s report card

Numbers only, no space, no dash

Enter your child’s birth date

dd/mm/yyyy

Enter your child’s street number

house number only

Select the school your child is attending from the drop down menu

Please note: any address changes need to be done through your school. If you are moving

this summer or change caregiver arrangements for the fall, you should communicate the

change of address to your child’s school before the end of the 2015-2016 school year.

You can also visit http://www.stswr.ca to see bus delays and cancellations, subscribe to

receive e-mail notifications for late buses and closures and follow us on Twitter.

Sep-

temb

er

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

30

31 1 2 3

4 Canonization of

Mother Teresa

5 6 7 8 Divisional

Assemblies

9

10

11 12 13 14 15 9:15 - 10:15

Opening Word

Celebration/Gym

5 - 7 pm

Meet the Teacher

BBQ

16

17

18 19

Terry Fox

Assembly

12:50 pm

20 21 22

23

24

25 26

27 28

Public Health

Visit

Gr. 8 Girls

Gr. 7’s

29 “Toonies for

Terry”

Terry Fox Walk/

Run

30 Grade 8

Retreat Day

At Camp

Brebeuf

Milk Program

Begins

Oct. 3

SEPTEMBER

2016

Pick up your 1st Day Package

“Together We Will Do Something Beautiful For God” ~ Mother Teresa

Watch the Canonization of Mother Teresa on the following link: http://saltandlighttv.org/specialcoverage/mother-teresa