MONSIGNOR J.J. O’BRIEN SCHOOL 99 Bridlewood Road S.W., Calgary, AB T2Y 4J5 Mr. J. Mooney, Principal Mrs. J. Pablo-Wrzosek, Vice Principal Mrs. J. Patoine, Assistant Principal Phone: (403) 500-2104 Fax: (403) 500-2304 www.cssd.ab.ca/msgrobrien January 2015 Dear Parents, On behalf of the staff of Monsignor J. J. O’Brien School, we would like to extend our wishes for a Merry Christmas and a blessed and Happy New Year. We are very thankful for the gift of your wonderful children and appreciate your continued support. December has been a very exciting and eventful month. We had a tremendously successful production with our Drama group’s performance of Seussical the Musical. There was a great deal of work that went into the play and we sincerely thank Mrs. Sunderland as well as the cast and crew for their efforts. Our staff and students worked together to put on other great events like our Div. 1 and Div. 2 Advent Concerts, our Band and Choir Concert, and our Advent Celebration. Thank you to our teachers and students for your efforts and accomplishments during the busy Advent season. Seeing our students showcase their gifts and talents was truly a delight for us all. In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, our staff and students have been fundraising to support local charities. Thank you for your help in supporting the St. Vincent de Paul Society through our Feed the Grinch initiative. In addition, your generosity is kindly appreciated and will ensure that everyone experiences a Merry Christmas. Teaching students the importance of serving others is a valuable lesson of Love Kindness in our faith journey. As we await the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, let us reflect on the love that Jesus demonstrated for us here on Earth and model that love for others. A Prayer for the New Year Come, Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Risen Christ, Be with us today and always. Be our Light, our Guide, our Comforter. Be our strength, our courage and our sanctifier. May this New Year be a time of deep spiritual growth for us, a time for forgiving freely and unconditionally, a time for growing in virtue and goodness. Come Holy Spirit, be with us today and always. Amen. We are looking forward to seeing you all back on Monday, January 5th when school resumes. May God bless each of you and grant you a safe, healthy and peaceful New Year! Wrestling Recently the wrestling team participated at the City Championships. The team was made up of over 40 wrestlers and everyone competed hard, wrestled well and represented Lion Pride. The team and individual results were excellent! BRONZE Matt MacAskill Angelie Asturius Jeilyn De Guzman Patricia Maglalang Trey Baragar Mackenzie Sheridan Sham Masongsong John Corkum SILVER Jaja Aspiras Nicole Canonziado Obinah Capote Kaitlyn Coupal Bea Domingo Thomas Hanson Kaden Simank Evan Hudyma Light Ezeano GOLD Alyssa Gamilla Fiona Dela Cruz Hana Viktorin Delbert Majore John Garcia Erika Ashworth Braxton Schnurr Logan Henderson Basketball The senior boys’ basketball team has been chosen after two grueling days of try-outs. Good luck to Daniel, Marco, Jovan, JP, Sean, Mark, Atkins, Christian, Joseph, Liam, and Kenneth. We are expecting another successful season as many of our grade eights from last season’s team are returning and our new grade eights appear ready to continue our strong basketball tradition. Please come out on January 7th, to cheer us on as we begin our season at home against Father Whelihan and Cardinal Newman. Games begin at 4:00 pm. Band January marks the beginning of new music for the Junior High Band and Choir Program! A reminder that Band Camp for Grade 8-9 students will be happening on January 29th and 30th, in preparation for festival season in February. More details to come! Amanda McArthur (Ms. M) Parent to Parent Happy New Year from Parent Council! Thank you to those who came to the first Parent Council potluck in December. It was nice to visit with some of the members of council and their families. And thanks again for the wonderful food that our families brought. Everything was delicious  Our next council meeting will be Thursday January 16th. Please come and see what council has in store for the upcoming months, and have your voice heard. All are welcome. Hope to see you there! From Our Grade 3 Classes Our grade 3 classes put hour upon hour of hard work and dedication towards rehearsing and preparing for the Christmas concert. We would like to sincerely thank all the families who were able to make it to the concert and the students who were fortunate enough to attend. We would also like to extend a special thank you to students who fully participated in all rehearsals but were unable to attend the concert due to circumstances beyond their control. These children and their families were truly missed on the night of the big show! We would like to wish all of your families a wonderful Christmas vacation, and we look forward to welcoming in the New Year with your children! Merry Christmas! Joyeux noël! Nollaig Shona Duit! Nollaig chridheil! Felix navidad! Buon Natale! Maligayang Pasko! ‫ !ديجم داليم ديع‬Picristos afmansf!Boldog Karácsonyt! с рождеством! з різдвом! frohe Weihnachten! Vrolijk Kerstfeest! Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal! Shub Naya Baras! Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan! Shinnen omedeto! Sung Tan Chuk Ha! Gba ekeresimesi nke oma! Heri ya krismas! St. Bonaventure School is offering an Information Night for their Spanish Bilingual Program Wednesday January 14, 2014 7:00 p.m. 1710 Acadian Dr. SE 403-500-2062 High School Registration Important Dates Bishop O’Byrne High School Open House February 3, 7:00pm-8:30pm Meet the TA June 2, 7:00pm For more information see www.cssd.ab.ca/bishopobyrne Bishop Carroll High School Information Night January 8, 7:00pm Open House February 3, 9:30am - 3:15pm and 6:30pm - 8:30pm For more information see www.cssd.ab.ca/bishopcarroll Bishop Grandin High School Information Evening for Advanced Placement/Extended French/International Spanish Academy February 2, 7:00pm Open House February 5, 7:00pm For more information see www.cssd.ab.ca/bishopgrandin Bishop Grandin High School offers “Something Extraordinary for Every Student” We would like to invite all students, parents and guardians to two special evenings Monday, February 2, 2015 7pm - Advanced Placement/Extended French/International Spanish Academy Information Evening Students interested in any of the above programs are welcome to attend this informational evening. You will meet administrators and teaching staff and learn more about these exciting programs. Thursday, February 5, 2015 7 pm - Open House This Open House is for ALL students (within the school boundary and those choosing special programs) interested in attending Bishop Grandin High School. You will be able to tour the school, meet administrators, teaching staff and learn more about all the exciting opportunities available: robotics, iLearn courses, show choir and marching band programs, apprenticeship programs, athletic teams, drama productions, the Hockey Canada program and career and technology studies courses that include cosmetology, welding, mechanics, building construction, culinary arts, foods, and computer technology. School Fees Outstanding Fee Invoices have been sent home with your child’s report card and we encourage you to pay online, http://www.cssd.ab.ca/msgrobrien/. The fees pay for all the consumable supplies, field trips, presentations and noon supervision. You are able to pay by installments and postdated cheques if you cannot pay online. Noon hour supervision is provided for all students that are on school grounds during lunch time, on any school day. If your child goes home for lunch every day and arrives just prior to the bell ringing, you do not need to pay the noon hour fee. If your child stays some days, the noon hour fee still applies. Please call the office to let them know that your child is going home for lunch every day. If you are unable to pay fees due to financial matters, please contact John Mooney. Fees are due at your earliest convenience. Thank you.