September 2014 Newsletter

ST. MATTHEW CATHOLIC SCHOOL
405 Pastern Trail, Waterloo, ON N2K 3V6 Tel. (519)886-9311 Fax: (519)886-9121
http://stmatthew.wcdsb.ca
September 2014 Newsletter
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Welcome back to all!
Let me begin by expressing how excited I am to be returning to a
new school year! It is with much enthusiasm that I welcome you to
the 2014/2015 school year. A warm welcome is extended to all who
are new to our school community. A special greeting is also extended
to our Junior Kindergarten children who are starting school for the
first time. Together with staff, our parish team, and the parent
community we will strive to make this year one of excellence for our
students in the areas of academic, spiritual and emotional growth. I
invite our parent community to participate in our students’ education
through a visible presence through council, volunteering and other
school activities. It is important to remember that a teacher is only
one part of the learning process; parents are extremely important in
determining how well a child will perform and how much a child will
learn during the school year. Your involvement in your child's
learning is vital. Communication is essential in the teaching/learning
process. I look forward to working together to ensure an excellent
school year for our students.
Generous God,
As we step into this new year of growing together in our faith, we
pray.
May we be rooted and nurtured in the scriptures and traditions we
share.
May we listen for the whispers of the spirit as we discern our way.
May we seek the counsel of those who witness as disciples of the
Gospel.
May we embrace and celebrate a personal relationship with God
that will inspire Catholic leadership in the church and the world.
May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith as we are being rooted
and grounded in love. (Ephesians 3:17)
Catechism Classes
Are you interesting in learning more about your Catholic Faith?
The Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate are again running their Family
Catechism Program. There will be classes for students from JK to
Adult. Classes will be held on Tuesday evenings, from 7:00-8:30 at
St. Ambrose Church in Cambridge, beginning on September 23rd.
For more information of to register, please contact Sister Marie John
Paul, at [email protected] or 519-653-6752.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Thank you and God bless,
Sister Marguerite SOLI
Staff Welcomes
Please welcome our new staff: Mrs. Hackert( FDK), Mrs. Cherry
(FDK), Laurie Frith (DECE), Lisa Bruce (DECE), Mrs. Fundak
(returning from mat leave), and Mrs. Aubie (Library Tech)
Strong Start
If you have been trained in the Strong Start Program and
would like to volunteer your time at St. Matthew's school
for ten weeks this fall please contact Mrs. McKinnon at
[email protected]
WCDSB Policy to Protect Students
In following WCDSB policy to protect students from unwelcome
visitors and intruders, our school security system will be on at all
times. Please use the intercom to the left of the main doors to gain
access to the school. All visitors must report to the office to sign
in and obtain a visitor badge. During the first few weeks of
school, classroom teachers will review safety routines with
students. Should you wish to contact your child or a staff member
at school please notify the office. Only authorized personnel may
enter the schoolyard. Again this is to ensure the safety of all the
children and your attention to this is appreciated.
Free Tutoring on Mondays at St. David starting in
October
U of W tutors will provide free evening tutoring for all St. David
students and elementary students from our family of
schools. The drop in sessions are only on Mondays from 6-8 pm
in room 108. I will make announcements closer to the first session
which begins on Monday Oct 6th. If there is increased demand,
they may add another evening later in the year. Please promote
this worthwhile free service to your students.
Walking the Walk!!
Arriving at School on Time
Do you remember walking to school in beautiful fall days? Chatting Students who are continually late miss an important part of the
day. First thing in the morning, teachers go over the timetable for
with friends and playing a sidewalk game along the way made the
the day, often take up homework and frequently give out and
trip more enjoyable!
collect paperwork. Coming in 15 or 20 minutes late creates
disruption for the rest of the class and interrupts the lesson which
You may have noticed new street signs and sidewalk games along
has already begun. The student starts the day behind and often
some of the walking routes to our school. The signs indicate that
there remain 400 meters or 5 minute walk to school and the painted stays behind for the rest of the day. In addition, knowing that he/
games include hopscotch, paw prints, alphabets and number lines. If she is going to be late, rushing and often not eating properly make
for a bad start to the day for all concerned. The student arrives
part of your morning routine involves driving your child to school,
why not drop them off at one of the signs and let them walk the rest stressed and embarrassed to come in after everyone else.
Obviously there are valid reasons for being late such as medical/
of the way? You will be helping to reduce congestion around the
school and giving your child the opportunity to get a healthy start to dental appointments, but sleeping in because the alarm didn’t go
off is not a good reason.
their day.
Coming to school on time is an important habit to develop and
will ensure success at school and at work in the future.
Signs are located at the intersections of:
- Dansbury Drive at Forestlawn Place
Something to think about: If a child is late 5 minutes every school
- Crimson east of Bridge
day, he/she will miss a total of 650 minutes of instruction in one
- Pastern Trail at University
year.
Walking to school is (and always has been)
Safe
Healthy
Clean
Fun!
Arrival of Students and School Yard Policy
A reminder that students should not arrive at school before 8:35
a.m. each morning since we do not have yard supervision until that
time. Also, a reminder that only students and staff members on
supervision (identifiable by orange safety vests) are permitted on
the school yard. Thank you for your cooperation as we make our
school an even safer learning environment for your child(ren).
Safety in the Parking Lot Before School and After School
No one would disagree that student safety is the single most important priority for all of our students here at St. Matthew C.E.S. There is
a growing concern in our parking lot with the amount of traffic and the speed with which the traffic is travelling. I have personally gone
out to observe and was very concerned with the ever present dangers that exist in the parking lot. Let me review the parking lot
procedures, and I ask that you please forward this letter to anyone (grandparents, friends, neighbours, etc.) who drop off your child in the
parking lot before school or picks him/her/them up after school.
After consultation with school council, the following parking lot procedures will take effect immediately:
The only vehicles that will be allowed to enter the parking lot at St. Matthew C.E.S. will be: OWL daycare staff, OWL daycare
parents, St. Matthew staff, and WCDSB personnel. All of the above mentioned people will have a parking pass that will hang from
their rear view mirror. Staff members from St. Matthew, who are on morning and afterschool duty, will be looking for these passes on
vehicles. Those vehicles that do not have passes will be asked to turn around and exit the parking lot. The lot may be monitored by City
of Waterloo By-Law officers.
Please be respectful of this new policy here at St. Matthew C.E.S. and understand that our yard duty teachers, who patrol the lot before
and after school, have your child’s safety and best interest at heart. It is our moral imperative to provide a safe place for our students each
and every day they come to school.
Alternatives to dropping students off in the morning and picking up after school would be to park on the side of the road letting the
student(s) walk onto the yard or encouraging students who are within walking distance to walk to school safely. After school, students
will be directed to find their parents on the sidewalk in front of the school on Pastern Trail. Please ask your children not to wait on the
blacktop in front of the school where the busses load.
Thank You for all that you do to keep our kids safe.
Parking In Front of St. Matthew School
September DATES AT GLANCE
Please do not park your vehicles in front of the school on the side of
the road closest to the school building. There are signs posted
Sept 16
clearly indicating that vehicles cannot stop or park because the area
is designated as a school drop off zone. You are welcome to park
on the other side of the road on Pastern Trail as you drop off or pick
Sept 17
up your children.
Sept 23
After School
Sept 24
The policy at St. Matthew School is that once students are
dismissed at 3:20 p.m. they are to proceed directly to their bus,
parent ride or walk directly home. While we do provide supervision
Sept 26
after school, it is limited in terms of time duration. In the interest of
student safety we ask that you please reinforce with your children
Sept 28
that they need to be going directly home after they are dismissed
from class at 3:20 p.m. Thank You.
Grade 2 teachers First Communion meeting at
St. Agnes parish. 3:45
Open House/Meet the teacher night 5 to 6
School Council 6:30
Grade 7 teachers confirmation meeting 3:45 at
St. Agnes parish
Opening School mass 9:30 in the gym
St. Matthew feast day mass 9a.m. at St. Agnes
church & First Communion meeting for parents
following mass.
ST. MATTHEW CATHOLIC ELEMETARY SCHOOL
405 Pastern Trail, Waterloo, Ontario N2K 3V6
Tel: (519)886-9311 Fax (519)886-9121
Student Safety on the School Yard at St. Matthew CES – 2014/2015
September, 2014
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This is a friendly reminder that only students and staff members are permitted to be on the school yard (field and blacktop) from 8:35 to
8:50 a.m. If you walk or drive your child to school, we ask that you bring your child(ren) to the school yard boundary and then allow
them to proceed to our supervised yard on their own. The exception is our Kindergarten students. Once you have walked them to their
kindergarten play area (fenced area) – “kiss n go”. You are reminded however, that there is no parking in our lot for drop off or pick up.
We ask for your support and understanding for the following reasons:


The front of the school, bus area, blacktop, and yard are supervised by staff from 8:35 to 8:50 every school day
By only allowing staff members and students on the year, our staff supervisors can ensure only authorized adults are on the yard for
safety and monitoring
 We can ensure that student behavior is managed by our qualified staff members in a manner that is consistent with our school policy
At the end of the school day parents and guardians are permitted to wait on the yard to pick their children up but again, there is no
parking available in our lot at this time.
We thank you in advance for your support. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at the school.
Thank You,
Mr. P. Mendonca
(School Principal)
St. Matthew School Council
Cc. Mrs. L. Shoemaker
(School Superintendent)
Matthew 19:26: “With God, all things are possible”
St. Matthew School Council
Annual Report
2013-2014 School Year
Dear Parents and School Community:
As outlined in the St. Matthew School Council Constitution, “The purpose of the St. Matthew School Council is to
promote a Catholic school community, one in partnership with the home, school and parish that acts in an advisory
capacity to the school principal to meet the following ends:
To improve the overall effectiveness of the school
To provide and foster improved student learning in an innovative, inclusive and respectful school environment.
To promote a Catholic community characterized by reverence for all, justice, social equity, and inclusivity as modeled by
Jesus Christ, since community is the framework within which these values are taught and imparted with the ultimate
goal to enhance the spiritual, moral and intellectual development of our children.
Ultimately, the purpose of school council is to improve student achievement and enhance the accountability of the
education system to parents.
Parents and guardians are always encouraged to become involved in school council. We invite you to consider this
opportunity in the upcoming school year. Forms will be sent home in early September. All meetings are always open
to the public, and we encourage input from parents and members of our school community.
The School Council held seven meetings this past school year (September 24, October 22, November 26, January 28,
February 25, April 29, May 27) and we worked on and funded several initiatives.
Fundraising activities were held in October 2013 (Big Box of Cards and a Dance-a-Thon. Total raised $12,839.79).
Proceeds from the October fund-raiser were used to fund projects in accordance with school board policies such as;
subsidizing school agendas, funded the Bike Clinic Mechanics, Bus Transportation for various field trips (one trip per
class), Girls ROCK Conference. We had many presenters & artists available for our children, including ONE
Movement Performance and the Peter Shaw Christmas Concert. This year we also purchased Guided Reading Tables
for most of the classrooms, Chrome Books for eLearning, new Team Uniforms and a Tablet and Keyboard for Pathways
to Success Pilot. We also made a purchase of the Tomkar Trophy in memory of Matthew Knipfel.
We will continue on with our hot lunch programs. Our Wednesday pizza option will also continue for the 2014/2015
year. If you have any suggestions that you would like us to try, please contact a council member (or attend a meeting)
and we can discuss it.
For the fourth time, we offered a Bike Clinic for our local community. Unfortunately, this year, the number of participants
was much lower than previous years.
Please continue to have your children bring in Campbell Soup Labels. We are able to obtain points for the labels we
collect and it is an easy way to provide some additional resources for the school. We received $395.78 reimbursement
for our Zehrs tape collection, however as of January 2014, Zehrs no longer offers this program.
Year End BBQ
Our school council received a $500 Provincial grant, to be used towards any initiative that would promote community,
and once again St. Matthew hosted our annual year-end barbeque on Tuesday, June 17th. Many thanks to Battlefield
Equipment Rentals for providing the BBQ and propane for our use, to FreshCo for donating the buns and condiments,
to Pillers for donating the hot dogs and RK Machine for the cases of water. Also, thanks to the Waterloo Fire
Department for their community service to our school. Our sincere thanks to all the volunteers for coordinating the
event and giving of their time to make it a success.
We will be running a new fundraising initiative for the 2014/2015 school year as well as a Dance-A-Thon in October.
Further details will be provided shortly. Fundraising initiatives will be revisited for the 2015/2016 school year.
Once again, please consider your participation in School Council for next year. The first meeting will be held Tuesday
September 23rd at 6:30 pm. All council positions are a one-year term. Minutes of meetings held, and financial records
are available for public inspection at the school office. We wish to acknowledge this year’s council members for their
hard work and dedication. Thank you for volunteering your time and for contributing to the success of St. Matthew
School.
Patti-Jo Stoll
Erika Wulff Gomez
Andre Perrella
Barb Kleisath
Colleen Britton
Tara De Souza
Non-teaching staff: Mr. Mendonca
Melissa Koh
Laura McClenaghan
Aneta Hart
Teaching Staff:
Sasha Gruetzmacher-Einwechter
Adriana Fontaine
Mrs. Stephens
Thank you to all of the families, students, staff and community for making 2013-2014 another successful and memorable
year at St. Matthew. Council sends their best wishes to Mrs. Proudfoot, Mrs. Bergman-Billo and Mrs. McDonnell as they
move into a new chapter of their life – retirement. St. Matthew School Council would like to extend our sincerest wishes
for a happy and healthy summer! God bless!
Yours truly,
Stephanie Cordeiro
St. Matthew School Co-chair
Susie De La Serna
St. Matthew School Co-chair
St. Matthew School Council
Bank Account Transaction Summary
to June 18, 2014
Revenue/Expense Summary to Date
Prepared: June 18, 2014
REVENUE:
Opening Balance
Agenda Proceeds
Dance-a-thon Proceeds
Big Box of Cards Proceeds
Zehrs Tapes
Treasures Book Sale
$952.00
$5,191.20
$21,053.11
$395.78
$35.00
EXPENSES:
Tomkar Trophy (Matthew Knipfel)
Girls ROCK Conference - Cambridge YMCA
Big Box of Cards
Apples for Dance-a-thon
Student Agendas
ONE Movement Performance
Dance-a-thon Cash Prize - Top Fundraising Family
Professor Jamz - Dance-a-thon DJ
New Orleans - Pizza Party for top fundraising classes
Peter Shaw - Christmas Concert
Guided Reading Tables
Tablet & Keyboard for Pathways to Success Pilot
New BBQ Tank, Propane & Cover
New Barbeque for Courtyard
Team Uniforms
Bike Mechanics for Bike Clinic Held April 26/14
Busing - 1 trip per class
Chrome Books for eLearning
East Side Marios - Grade 8 Graduation
$147.11
$120.00
$12,512.34
$72.00
$3,182.85
$850.00
$200.00
$892.18
$53.66
$86.69
$3,297.72
$338.53
$74.11
$452.04
$1,568.39
$180.00
$2,576.00
$3,000.00
$799.00
CLOSING BALANCE
$5,250.52
$27,627.09
A $32,877.61
B $30,402.62
A minus B
$2,474.99

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