IT STARTS in the Schools
June 2016
UPCOMING EVENTS June
Board-wide
National Aboriginal Education Month
June
Board-wide
Italian Canadian Heritage Month
June
Board-wide
Portuguese Canadian Heritage Month
June 1
Etobicoke Centennial Park 256 Centennial Park Rd, Etobicoke, ON M9C 5N3
2016 TDCAA Girls Softball Semi-Finals and Finals
June 3
St. Luke Catholic School 319 Ossington Ave., Toronto, ON 416-393-5347
St. Lukefest 2016 3:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
June 3
Holy Rosary Catholic School 308 Tweedsmuir Ave., York, ON 416-393-5225
Fun Fair
June 4
James Culnan Catholic School 605 Willard Ave. York, ON 416-393-5325
Parent Forums Strengthening Asian Parent and Community Engagement 12:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
June 7
Catholic Education Centre Quigley Lecture Hall – Ground Floor 80 Sheppard Ave. East, Toronto, ON 416-222-8282 ext. 2302
Roots of Empathy Baby Celebration 1:00 p.m.
June 7
Montecassino Reception Hall 3710 Chesswood Drive Downsview, ON
Celebriamo Insieme L’Italianita’! (Let’s celebrate our heritage together!) 6:00pm
June 8
St. Paschal Baylon Catholic School 15 St. Paschal Court, Toronto, ON 416-393-5283
Sod Turning Celebrating New School Addition 1:00 p.m.
June 8
Sala Caboto at Villa Colombo – 40 Playfair AvenueToronto ON M6B 2P9
TCPVA 2016 Appreciation and Awards Dinner 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
June 8
St. Barnabas Catholic School 30 Washburn Way, Scarborough, ON 416-393-5351
St. Barnabas participates in Jump Rope for Heart
June 8
St. Joseph Catholic School 176 Leslie St. Toronto, ON 416-393-5209
Family Fun Fair 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
June 11
St. Barbara Catholic School 25 Janray Drive, Scarborough, ON 416-393-5335
Parent Forums Strengthening Asian Parent and Community Engagement 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
June 11
St. Catherine Catholic School 30 Roanoke Road, North York, ON 416-393-5316
Summer BBQ 10:00 a.m – 2:00pm
June 11 – 12 June 16-18
Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts Theatre 36 Greenfield Ave., Toronto, ON 416-222-8282 ext. 2787
Staff Arts Presents: Mary Poppins Performance times vary.
June 13
Brebeuf College School 211 Steeles Ave. East, Toronto, ON 416-393-5508
Men for Others 10:00 a.m. Brebeuf College’s annual recognition of students as being “Men for Others” and embodying our monthly Catholic Virtues.
June 14
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church 72 Mansfield Ave., Toronto, ON M6J 2B2
St. Luke Catholic School Community Mass Mass at 7:00 p.m. to celebrate the new school addition
June 16
Holy Rosary Catholic School 308 Tweedsmuir Ave., York, ON 416-393-5225
Invictus Games School Program
June 17
St. Charles Catholic School 50 Claver Ave., North York, ON 416-393-5250
FUEL for KIDS event 4:00p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
June 17
St. John Bosco Catholic School 75 Holmesdale Road, York, Ontario 416-393-5305
50th Anniversary BBQ 6:00 p.m
June 19
Board-wide
Sickle Cell Awareness Day
June 24
Senhor Santo Cristo Catholic School 30 Humbert St, Toronto, ON 416-393-5367
School Closing Ceremony Mass at 10:00 am at Santa Cruz Parish (142 Argyle Street), followed by a Memory Walk in the school gym and a BBQ
June 29
Board-wide
TCDSB Canada Day Celebrations More than 50,000 TCDSB students will wear red and white and sing O Canada at 9:30a.m.
June 29
Trinity-St.Paul’s Centre 427 Bloor Street West Toronto, ON M5S 1X7
Msgr. Fraser College Under 21 Graduation 10:00 a.m.
July 5
Board-wide
Summer School Begins
July 6
Glen Eagle Golf Club 15731 Regional Road 50, Caledon, ON 416-222-8282 ext. 2195
The Angel Foundation for Learning Charity Golf Classic
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS Celebrating Funding for New School at St. Raymond MPP Han Dong visited St. Raymond on April 28th to announce funding for a new school for the St. Raymond and St. Bruno school communities. On hand to celebrate with staff, students and parents were Trustee Jo-Ann Davis, Associate Director Gary Poole, John Yan from Communications, and Mario Silva from the Capital department.
Click here to view photos.
Catholic Education Week (May 1 – 7, 2016) Catholic Education Week celebrates the significant contributions that Catholic education continues to make to the community, the province and the country. This year’s theme, Opening Doors of Mercy, combines the theme of mercy and the act of opening doors of reconciliation and forgiveness in our school communities, in our families and in the world, which complements Toronto Catholic District School Board’s year-long focus on the Family. Celebrations took place across the Board, beginning with the TCDSB Awards Night on May 2nd. The annual event recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of the alumni, students, staff and friends of the TCDSB Family. Click here to view photos.
Celebrating Catholic Education Week Kindergarten classes at Blessed Pope Paul VI celebrated Catholic Education Week by inviting parents to come and “Learn Through Play” with us. Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers spent time in our classrooms building with blocks and lego, reading stories, and climbing and sliding outside. Children enjoyed showing their parents around their indoor and outdoor learning spaces and sharing their favourite activities. Playing and learning was done by all.
TCDSB Awards Night Actor and Director Enrico Colantoni thanked Catholic educators and, in particular, the religious orders, that guided him while he attended Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School.
The audience of over 300 parents, students, staff, alumni and friends embraced the theme of family for the evening, joining recipients on stage for congratulations and photos. As the Chair, Angela Kennedy, remarked to the guests of the honourees: "We all need someone there to support us, to provide encouragement. It is on their shoulders that our recipients stand tonight." M.C. for the evening, Rob Gallo, brought a sense of humour to the proceedings, sharing personal and family-centered comments throughout his announcement of the awards. At one point, he brought out a selfie stick and snapped our cover photo with our Director, Angela Gauthier, with Enrico Colantoni "photo bombing" the pair from the audience who clearly enjoyed the fun. Click here to view photos.
Students Talk About Catholic Education Check out this short video created by students from Christ the King Catholic School, which talks about what Catholic Education means to them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpeXTMkbwbw
Physical/Mental Wellness Arts Retreat 2016 Thirty-six grade 10 students from across the TCDSB board attended the Physical/Mental Wellness Arts Retreat the week of April 18th to 22nd. The retreat was an opportunity for students to come together and build on their leadership skills through the arts. Students created beautiful mixed-media self-portraits that portrayed their personality and style. They also painted fabulous landscapes that was very calming to them. They build on working together and collaborating through drama and dance as well as demonstrating their artistic styles. Along with the many arts, the students did some rock climbing, horseback riding, shelter building, and other outdoor activities.Click here to view photos.
1st & 2nd Place Winners in YRE National Contest Anna Topacio and Hanna Caroline won 2nd place in the national Young Reporters for the Environment contest for their photo (above). What goes in the ocean, goes in you. When you litter and throw plastic bottles in the garbage, it ends up in landfills and oceans where animals end up eating it thinking it’s food and then you end up eating those animals, making this chain where we end up eating the plastic we threw away. A simple and obvious solution is to STOP using plastic. If you are using plastic then at least recycle it. Just put it in the right bin. It won’t just affect the environment, but it will affect you too. Jasmine Tong and Victoria Zeng won 3rd place for their video: http://environmentaldefence.ca/2016-yre-3rd-place-11-14-videos/
Minister Visits Construction SHSM at BMTM Minister of Education Liz Sandals, MPP Cristina Martins, Director of Education Angela Gauthier, Superintendent of Student Success Nick D’Avella, along with members of the Pathways and SHSM teams at the Board were on hand as the Province announced the expansion of programming opportunities for students at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton on May 4th. Principal Derek Chen welcomed the visitors to the school. The Minister spoke with students and the teacher about the various construction projects and aspects of the construction program at the school. Click here to view photos.
Intermediate W5H City Championship Congratulations to the Intermediate students in each of the elementary schools that participated in this year's Intermediate W5H Competition. Tournaments were held during the month of April with the City Finals being played at Madonna Catholic Secondary School on Monday, May 2, 2016. Kudos and accolades are extended to the following schools and all their participants: City Champions: St. Bonaventure Catholic School, City Finalists: St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School, 3rd place: Cardinal Leger Catholic School, 3rd place: Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School. Click here to view photos.
The Heart in Motion with Cardinal Carter Founded in 1990, Cardinal Carter is the oldest Catholic arts school in Canada and will be celebrating this year its 25th anniversary. As part of the year-long celebration, the Dance Department last month presented a show called "The Heart in Motion". Click here to view photos.
Gifted News! Toshiba Exploravision 2016 Honourable Mention Winners Several Gifted Withdrawal Centres have been awarded 2016 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Honourable Mention Winners. The Honourable Mention award places teams’ projects among the top 10% of all ExploraVision projects submitted to the competition from across North America this year. Click here for a list of winners and to view photos.
Our Lady of Wisdom New Addition Blessing & BBQ Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School celebrated the official opening and blessing of the new school addition, which includes dedicated kindergarten classrooms and outdoor playspace, a learning commons, staff room and special education classroom, on May 4th. On hand for the celebration were Trustee Michael Del Grande, Kirk Mark and Jodelyn Huang from the Community Relations Department, as well as Deborah Friesen from the Capital Department. Father Jude Coyle blessed the gathering, as well as all the new spaces in the school. The event concluded with a family barbecue complete with crafts and games. Click here to view photos.
Yes I Can Award Winners Congratulations to Viola Devine from Our Lady of Victory, and to Gregory, Alexa and Nikita and their wonderful D/HH teachers, winners in the Council for Exceptional Children’s “Yes I Can Awards”. Click here to view photos.
Robotics Gold Medal Winners Last week the Michael Power/St. Joseph Robotics team travelled to Waterloo for the Skills Ontario Championship. The team won Gold and is now headed to Moncton, New Brunswick for the National Competition. A special thank you to Dave Emer (Mary Ward) and Marco Dimonte (Francis Libermann) for their technical support and Madonna for introducing our team to the wonders of servo blocks. This truly was a board effort. Click here to view photos.
Asian Heritage Day Students were excited to celebrate Asian Heritage Day at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys on Friday May 6th. In preparation for the day, all students participated in painting. On the day itself, everyone gathered in the gym and in the Parenting and Family Literacy Centre and enjoyed presentations from distinguished guests and fun filled fellowship. Click here to view photos.
Love the Shape Love the Shape event took place at Madonna Catholic Secondary School. The event included a fashion show, two guest speakers, spoken word and a performance. The students, with the support of guest speaker Jill Andrews and See Different Facilitator Yara Kodershah, seized the opportunity during our Mental Health Awareness Week to discuss the notion of promoting positive body image and ultimately the value of "loving one's shape". Click here to view photos.
OFSAA A Flight Gold Ladies Singles Congratulations to Crystal Qu (shown right) from Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School for winning the 2016 OFSAA Badminton A gold medal for women’s singles in North Bay, Ontario this past weekend. In the quarter and semi-finals, Crystal defeated the Canadian National gold medalists, Giselle Tan and Chloe Rowe, respectively. In the finals, she defeated Katie Hoe Shue, a double-gold medalist in the 2015 Junior Pan Am Games. This is the first time anyone in the TDCAA has won the OFSAA A gold since the tournament was established in 1979. Crystal is an extraordinarily skilled player and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments as a member of our athletic association. Crystal was coached by Genevieve Simnett and David Castro. Congratulations to Rita Zha (shown left) from Archbishop Romero Catholic Secondary School for winning the silver medal in the OFSAA B tournament. This is the second time Rita has represented the TDCAA at OFSAA for women’s singles. Rita is coached by Steve Rumazza and SunRan Kim. Click here to view photos.
Play It Forward Spring Celebration On May 9th, the students who participate in Play It Forward met for the first time face to face after engaging in online chats throughout the year about the Year of the Family, virtues, Catholic Graduate Expectations and the good work they were doing in their own communities. The virtual friends celebrated Mass together, shared their own experiences, and shared a meal together before returning to their home schools. The choir from Fr. John Redmond provided the music for the liturgy. Click here to view photos.
O'Connor Students Win Mathematical Modeling Challenge Congratulations to Spencer Ki; Tobias Rozario; David Rolko; Thomas Rolko from Senator O'Connor College School, for winning a 2016 Best Paper for International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IM2C) in Canada! Their paper was selected to represent Canada to participate the international competition! The final judging at the international stage will be completed in June, 2016. Click here to read more.
Congratulations to Monsignor Percy Johnson’s Luca Sala and coach Marco Frattarelli On Tuesday, May 3, 2016, Luca Sala delivered a speech at the Skills Canada Provincial Prepared Speech competition in Waterloo. He spoke about the nature of skilled trades and entrepreneurship in Canada, and our need to redefine the titles so as to entice students to the prospects of careers in those fields. Underlying his entire argument was the mantra of "finding your passion" and the necessity to allow our hearts to govern our trade, often our most dominant marker of identity and purpose in life. He received one of the two Gold medals won by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. He will now be representing Msgr. Percy Johnson, the TCDSB, and the province in the National Competition in Moncton, New Brunswick on June 3-8. Click here to view photos.
TCDSB Schools Receive MusiCounts Grants Ten TCDSB schools are recipients of this year’s MusiCounts’ Band Aid Grant Program for a total of $100,000: St. Bernard - $10,000 St. Paul - $10,000 St. James - $10,000 St. Malachy - $10,000 Holy Spirit - $10,000 St. Jude - $10,000 St Paschal Baylon - $10,000 St Maurice - $10,000 St. Josaphat - $10,000 D'Arcy McGee - $10,000 Interesting Facts: Grants were received in all eight TCDSB Superintendent areas At $100,000, it represents the highest investment MusiCounts has ever made in our Board Over the past 3 years, MusiCounts has awarded TCDSB with a total of $255,000 in music instruments Click here to view photos.
St. Charles Student places Third in Provincial Public Speaking St. Charles Catholic School is pleased to announce that Jessica Iafrate, a grade one student, placed third in Ontario in the Provincial Public Speaking Primary Category, in London, Ontario. She did amazingly well. She received a monetary gift, a plaque, and a medal and a loot bag of many wonderful goodies from the Royal Canadian Legion to take home. This is the first time in St. Charles history that anyone has made it this far, with such a high honour in the province, and Jessica happened to be the youngest one in the competition too. An honourable mention goes to Sam Iafrate who advanced to the Zone and District levels representing St. Charles at the Junior Level and Bianca Campea who competed at the Zone level for the Intermediate Level. Click here to view photos.
Holy Name Challenge
Gifted
Students
Win
Science
The Let's Talk Science Challenge is an annual science competition for grade 6, 7 & 8 students. It is held at universities across Canada. The grade 8 team from the Holy Name Gifted Program, Hannah Agustin, Freddy Koehlmann, Cayleigh Pratt and Madelyn DeMelo, were the champions at 2016 Let's Talk Science Challenge at the University of Toronto on April 25. Click here to view photos.
TCDSB Schools Win Indigo Grants: 2 out of 20 across Canada! St. Angela and St. Dunstan Catholic Schools received a wonderful surprise yesterday: they are the lucky recipients of massive Indigo Grant monies. They were the TCDSB schools selected from 20 schools across Canada! St. Angela is receiving $90,000 (includes a 30% discount on books purchased) and St. Dunstan is receiving $45,000. Both announcements were made by telephone to the VERY surprised school staff yesterday. Beaches Coles made a surprise visit with cake and a giant cheque to mark the occasion. Click here to view photos.
Teacher Receives Ontario Volunteer Service Award Congratulations to Barbara Ruhr, Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, who received an Ontario Volunteer Service Award on May 11, 2016. The Ontario Volunteer Service Awards are for Active Citizenship and recognize individual volunteers for continuous years of commitment and dedicated service to an organization. Barbara received the award for her years of service with her therapy dog Charley at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital where she is the lead pet visiting volunteer and has participated in a pilot Behaviour Therapy Project called “Facing Your Fears” addressing anxiety in children.
Helping Fort McMurray The student council at Blessed Cardinal Newman raised close to $1500 for the Red Cross to support humanitarian relief effort in Fort McMurray on May 11th. Click here to view photos.
St. Richard Electronic Recycling Event On May 13th, St. Richard school partnered with Ontario Electronic Stewardship, to promote responsible recycling of endof-life electronics. We invited our local community to drop off their electronics during the day. We also collected used clothing to help raise funds for Cerebral Palsy. The Eco team have been working hard towards earning Platinum status this year and as well as organizing and running the electronic and clothing collection they hosted a series of eco centres for the community and students at the school to visit and participate in. These eco centres included making seed balls for dispersal in the nearby meadow, making bird feeders, weaving milk bags into squares using our weaving looms, a tree species scavenger hunt and making eco-friendly pots out of newspaper. It was a fun-filled, successful day with a visit from our trustee Nancy Crawford, SNAP newspaper and our priest from St. Rose of Lima parish Father Freddy. Click here to view photos.
Wizard of Oz a Smash Hit! On May 12, 2016 the cast of the Wizard of Oz along with the grade 2, 4, 5 and 7 classes performed an evening performance of the musical for our school community at Bishop Morrocco/Thomas Merton High School. The performance received wonderful reviews from many audience members. Click here to view photos.
Invictus Games Kick-Off Holy Rosary Catholic School attended the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 official launch at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on May 2. To extend this experience and learn more about the “historical and modern-day contributions of our Canadian Armed Forces, the importance of adaptive sport in the rehabilitation of wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans, and the unique challenges our military families face”, we are excited to welcome the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 school program on June 16. The school program will provide students with an understanding of the Invictus Games, their importance and how to become more involved. The school program also includes a visit from the games’ mascot, Vimy, a young golden Labrador retriever from Trenton, Ontario. Click here to view photos.
Interactive Storytime at St. Barnabas On Wednesday, May 4th as part of our Catholic Education Week celebrations, St. Barnabas invited Angela Walker a local author to visit the primary students. Through this interactive story time, children were introduced to Harry the Purple Monkey Dishwasher through his ‘real time’ experiences and they learned about Spider Monkeys. During her presentation, students were whisked into Harry’s First Adventure where they explored, discovered and laughed with Harry while learning valuable life lessons. The students were encouraged to share their ideas, use their imagination and to participate in activities including song, movement and juggling! Click here to view photos.
Turning the Sod as Construction Begins on Addition at St. Eugene Catholic School Students, staff and special guests are celebrating the start of construction of a new addition at St. Eugene Catholic School. A special sod turning ceremony was held on May 13th at the school with Trustee Joseph Martino, MPP Yvan Baker, Director of Education Angela Gauthier, Father Andre, Everton Lewis from community relations, and representatives of the parent council (CSPC). This addition of 294 pupil places will provide three FullDay Kindergarten rooms, nine classrooms, one Special Education room and a new gymnasium, as well as a new FDK playground, resulting in the removal of all 6 portables on the site and space for students who are being redirected from All Saints as a result of recent boundary review. Click here to view photos.
Skills Canada Provincial Competitions This past week the TCDSB participated in Skills Canada Provincial Competitions at RIM Park in Waterloo, Ontario. Over the course of this past year, dozens of teachers and students have volunteered their free time and devoted their undivided attention to competing at first in the TCDSB Skills Canada competitions and then moving on to the Provincial competitions in Waterloo, Ontario. Students competed in their selected category such as Plumbing, Hairstyling, Robotics, Restaurant Service, and Auto Service Technician, just to name a few. Click here to view photos.
BMT Student Wins UOIT Chancellor’s Scholarship Sushmitha Srinivasan has received the Chancellor's Scholarship worth $36,000 to the University of Ontario in Oshawa. Click here to view photos.
Loretto College 100th Anniversary Loretto College alumnae turned out in the hundreds to celebrate the school’s anniversary on Saturday, May 14th. Cardinal Collins celebrated Mass at St. Clare Catholic Church. In his Homily, he praised the Loretto order for their work and thanked them, personally, for the education he received. The Loretto Sisters were front and centre for the entire celebration with the Canadian Provincial Superior, St. Patricia Grant, speaking on their behalf at the reception back at the school. His Worship, Mayor John Tory, attended the reception where he spoke to many of those gathered, offering a unique perspective as a former UTS student who recalled travelling over to Loretto Brunswick after school to meet the girls, much to the amusement of the alumnae at the celebration. TCDSB Trustee Frank D’Amico offered congratulations on behalf of the Board of Trustees. He and Director of Education, Angela Gauthier, thanked the Loretto order for their work on behalf of Catholic education. MPP Cristina Martins, who herself is a Loretto alumna, presented congratulations on behalf of the Province, while enjoying a reunion with her former classmates. City Councillor Cesar Palacio presented greetings on behalf of the City. Other congratulations included a letter from the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. Click here to view photos.
TPS Crime Stoppers School of the Year Father Henry Carr was the recipient of the School of The Year Award form Toronto Police Crime Stoppers. They were given the prestigious award during the Crime Stoppers Dinner which was attended by various dignitaries such as the Mayor John Tory and Chief of Police Mark Saunders. Click here to view photos.
Child Abuse Prevention Presentation The grade 5 students at St Gerald put together a presentation for the whole school on Child Abuse Prevention. They made their own banners and blue lapel ribbons. Click here to view photos.
French Public Speaking Contest Winners Congratulations to the TCDSB winners of Concours d’arts oratoire: Luka Subotincic, Grade 12, Bishop Allen Academy, who won 1st place in the Francophone category and received $500.; Gabriel Blanco-Gomez, Grade 12, St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School, who won 2nd place in the Core French category and received $250.; Claudia Sassa , Grade 9 , Blessed Cardinal Newman Catholic High School who won 3rd place in the Francophone category and received $125. Luka Subotincic went on to represent Ontario at the 2016 CPF National Concours d’art oratoire on May 18th, 2016 in Quebec. Click here to view photos.
Police Week 2016 The TCDSB and Principal Ugo Rossi hosted the May 16th official launch to Police Week 2016 at St. Basil the Great College School. During the official ceremonies, the TCDSB also honoured the city’s longest-serving cop and the School Resource Officer (SRO) program. The theme of Police Week 2016, is "Discover Policing for Safer Communities." This aims to promote the profession of policing and showcase to potential recruits the diversity a career in policing has to offer. This year's celebration included remarks from various police and community leaders, focusing on the importance of education and potential careers in policing.Click here to view photos.
St. Kevin Raises Funds to Support the McMurray Relief Efforts St. Kevin students, parents and staff came together to support the Fort McMurray Relief efforts on Friday, May 13th through a sale of baked goods and through numerous donations. An astounding $708.75 was raised through the bake sale. St. Kevin is proud of their students and the school community for coming together to support this worthy cause. Funds raised have been forwarded to the school parish, Precious Blood Church, to be forwarded to the Archdiocese of Toronto, who will be facilitating the funds to the Alberta Wildfires through the Red Cross. Click here to view photos.
Madonna Students Fight Racism and Oppression A group of Madonna students passionate about anti-racism education created a campaign called "Richness of Our Afrocentric Roots" (ROOAR) to discuss issues related to antiracism and oppression. The students successfully raised funds to bring in a guest speaker from a youth outreach program called Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere (RISE). The speaker motivated and helped to empower our students through personal story sharing, spoken word and poetry. Click here to view photos.
Begonia Day Extravaganza at Sacred Heart Sacred Heart is looking to make itself a little more beautiful all the time and no time like the spring to get that done. We just got past the last frost and purchased over 500 begonias!! Students and staff spent time rolling up their sleeves and cleaning out and prepping our garden for the flowers. On May 16 staff and students selected their portion of the garden and got down into the fresh rich soil and started planting. It was a school-wide outdoor event where everyone got involved to freshen up the Sacred Heart grounds. We’ll be able to enjoy them now and until the fall. Click here to view photos.
Mini Pow Wow On May 18, 300 TCDSB students watched a Pow Wow presented by First Nations peoples at St. Patrick Secondary School. Pow Wows are the First Nations people's way of meeting together to join in dancing, singing, visiting and renewing old friendships and making new ones. Click here to view photos.
Michael Power Student in Top 1% in National Biology Competition Michael Power/St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School is pleased to announce that Jason Pu, a current grade 12 student enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program placed in the top 1% of students within Canada for the University of Toronto National Biology Competition held on Thursday April 28th 2016. This international competition tests student’s knowledge of senior level biology concepts such as biochemistry, genetics, and cellular respiration. Click here to view photos.
Michael Power/St. Joseph SHSM students Learn with Toronto Blue Jays The Blue Jays sponsored "Student Athlete Leadership Summit" gave educators and student/athletes the opportunity to learn and network with leading professionals in the fields of health and wellness so they can play an active role in their schools and community to promote healthy active lifestyles. Jays Pitcher RA Dickey and Paul Beeston were Keynote speakers. SHSM students from Michael Power/St. Joseph were pleased to be part of the experience. Click here to view photos.
McLuhan at National Ultimate Frisbee Championships Marshall McLuhan participated in the Canadian High Schools Ultimate Championships in May 2016, where the top 16 teams from around the Country compete. McLuhan was seeded 9th and was 1 of three Toronto teams, behind 1st ranked overall Northern. Their first game in the round robin was Northern and McLuhan came out strong and lead the whole game to finish with the biggest upset of the tournament and a 9-7 win, knocking the number 1 seed down to the bottom 9-16 seed. After a tight loss to the bronze medal winners Manitoba SJR, McLuhan beat the Sherbrooke Quebec Barons to make it to the top 8. Click here to view photos.
ARTucate at St. Catholic School
Gregory
St. Gregory held their Second Annual Arts & Craft Show, ARTucate. It was a huge event with many students & parents participating. I have included a write-up and put together a quick collage. Click here to view photos.
St. Rita Catholic School’s Nutrition Calendar: Fruits & Vegetables In January 2016, Principal Arciero visited each class and introduced a lesson on recipe writing. The students from Kindergarten to Gr. 8 were invited to work on their recipe with a parent and/or guardian. All the recipes were submitted to the Principal. The recipes were marked as a writing piece and each student received a rubric. Two recipes from each class were chosen to be published in their first school calendar. Each child who had their recipe published in the calendar, received a free copy for their family just in time for Mother’s Day. The school community was invited to purchase a copy of the calendar for their families too at a cost of $5. Click here to view photos.
Msgr. Fraser College Celebrates “The Greening Project” On May 19th, the Isabella campus of Monsignor Fraser College celebrated the culmination of "The Greening Project"! Throughout the year, work had been done to create an outdoor green space for their school which could be used for a variety of educational and mental wellness purposes. Their new addition includes artwork, picnic tables, and planters filled with many different vegetables, herbs, and flowers, all grown from seed over the last few months. For an inside look at our progress, visit: http://greenfraser.weebly.com/
New School Coming for St. Simon Special guests from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Province and the community were on hand to celebrate with the community this morning as the sod was turned to mark the start of construction of a new school for the students and staff at St. Simon Catholic School. The new building will house 542 pupils on two levels, and will include a gymnasium, stage and multipurpose room available for public use outside of school hours. The school is adjacent to a public park, and the L-shape of the new facility will provide for a more protected play area for the students to the south and the west. For safety, there will be an off street bus drop off area. The existing building is located at 20 Wallasey Avenue, and the new facility is just down the street from this site. Click here to view photos.
TCDSB Picnic for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students It was a gorgeous day for picnic on Friday, May 20th when deaf and hard of hearing students from across the board gathered with staff and their families to celebrate the end of the school year. Toronto Police Service was on hand to meet with the children and their families. Click here to view photos.
TCDSB Recognized for Interim Education Experience Program TCDSB was recognized at an Awards Presentation hosted by COSTI Immigrant Services, in the presence of His Excellency The Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada on May 18th, 2016 for the Interim Education Experience program. The program was created specifically for Syrian Newcomers who were in Toronto hotels awaiting a permanent residence. On hand to receive the award was Carla Marchetti, Senior Coordinator International Languages and Parent and Community Engagement and Carmen Puglia, International Languages, Resource Instructor. Click here to view photos.
Soccer Team Heads to Attawapiskat The Senior Boys Soccer Team at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton wants to help the students of Attawapiskat. The recent unfortunate events there sparked a desire in these young student-athletes to reach out to their counterparts at Vezina Secondary School. They will be visiting Attawapiskat June 23 to 30th to implement a soccer camp at the school with the local Recreation Coordinator. Click here to view photos.
Msgr Fraser Celebrates Completion of Mural In partnership with Toronto Police Service 51 Division, students from Monsignor Fraser Isabella Campus has been working for the past three years removing tags and unwanted graffiti from buildings in the neighbourhood, and earning community service hours. The group has also created a mural at 223 Church Street, with a local artist and the partners will be together to celebrate the unveiling of the “Dream Catcher” on May 31st at 10:30 a.m. Click here to view photos.
KLP 20th Anniversary TCDSB celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Kindergarten Language Program, which helps young students develop their language skills and fosters their love of learning. The KLP anniversary celebration was an opportunity to acknowledge the ongoing support of the Barbershoppers, who have been providing financial support for the KLP nutrition program for the past 16 years. Click here to view photos.
Turning the Sod as Construction Begins on Holy Trinity Secial guests from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Province and the City were on hand to celebrate with the community as the sod was turned to mark the start of construction of a new school in south Etobicoke. Construction of The Holy Trinity Catholic School is set to begin this summer on Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive south of Lakeshore Avenue. The new kindergarten to grade 8 school will bring together the school communities of Christ the King and St. Teresa Catholic School. Click here to view photos.
Breaking the Ground at St. Victor A little rain did nothing to dampen spirits as students, staff and special guests celebrated the start of construction of a new addition at St. Victor Catholic School on May 26th. On hand were Director of Education Angela Gauthier, Associate Director Gary Poole, Trustee Nancy Crawford, Superintendent Geoffrey Grant, Jenny Hung from Capital Development, CSPC Co-Chair Michel Lachance and Fr. Godofredo Claudio, Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish. This addition will provide three new Full-Day Kindergarten rooms, seven classrooms and one MEDD classroom and a new FDK playground, resulting in the removal of all portables from the site. Click here to view photos.
Toronto Star High School Newspaper Awards Congratulations to Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. The school has won ten (10) 2016 Toronto Star High School Newspaper Awards. Click here to view photos.
Blessing of New Kindergarten Addition at St. Augustine St. Augustine Catholic School celebrated the blessing of its new kindergarten addition on May 27th with parents and special guests from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto, including MPP Mario Sergio, Councillor Anthony Peruzza, Director of Education Angela Gauthier, Associate Director Gary Poole, Trustee Patrizia Bottoni, Superintendent Gina Iuliano-Marrello and Father Pedro from St Augustine Parish. TCDSB, in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Education, continues to invest in school facilities to better meet the needs of students across the city. Click here to view photos.
Cheer Champs Congratulations to the three cheer squads from TCDSB who won the Ontario Cheer Championships at Wonderland in late May: Bishop Allen, Blessed Mother Teresa and Father John Redmond. Click here to view photos.
St. Wilfrid 50th Anniversary Celebration St. Wilfrid Catholic School celebrated its past, present and future at a very special celebration to mark the school’s 50th anniversary. The Mass at St. Wilfrid parish set the tone with the involvement of all members of the community: parents, students, former and current staff and alumni. The offertory procession included significant items from the school community such as the Catholic Graduate Expectations plaques and were presented by students, staff and former staff of the school. Special Guests included Trustee Patrizia Bottoni, Associate Director Gary Poole and Superintendent Gina Iuliano Marrello who presented a congratulatory certificate to the school. Click here to view photos.
Jean Vanier Students win Girls Doubles Badminton Tournament Congratulations to the winners of the Girls Doubles badminton tournament in in North Bay, May 5-8, 2016. Czarlamagne Guce (Gr. 11) and Angelina Tan (Gr.11) from Jean Vanier were the winners of the tournament.
TCDSB Cricket Competition Another first for the Toronto Catholic District School Board-board-wide cricket tournament. Congratulations to the winning teams: Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School (for the Secondary competition) and Blessed Sacrament Catholic School won the elementary competition. Finalists were Msgr Percy Johnson and Mary Ward Catholic Secondary Schools. Click here to view photos.
19th Annual Special Mini Olympics Inclusivity, Acceptance and Friendships Triumphed at the 19th Annual Special MiniOlympics. Athletes, volunteers and supporters united on Tuesday, May 31st for the 19th Annual Special Mini-Olympics to continue building awareness of the importance of inclusivity and acceptance of all, especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Hosted by Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School and Regional Arts Centre, Michael Power/St. Joseph High School, Brebeuf College, and Bishop Allen Academy, the annual event fostered a relationship between special needs students and other children through games and sports. Click here to view photos.
Holy Cross Catholic School Wins Entrepreneurial Adventure Enterprising Spirit Award The Holy Cross Tech Team, under the leadership of Liane Paixao, won the 2016 The Learning Partnership Entrepreneurial Adventure Enterprising Spirit Award sponsored by BMO. Four awards were given in four different categories. For the first time, three awards were given to GTA schools. Holy Cross was the only winner from the TCDSB. Click here to view photos.
““IT STARTS IN THE SCHOOLS” is published monthly throughout the school year. Events, locations and times are subject to change. For more information, call 416-222-8282 Ext. 5314. This publication can be found on the Internet at www.tcdsb.org, see “news”.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board educates more than 92,000 students from diverse cultures and language backgrounds in 201 Catholic elementary and secondary schools, serving close to half-a-million Catholic school supporters across the City of Toronto. As the world’s largest publicly funded Catholic school system, we educate students in an inclusive learning community rooted in the love of Christ, where they are challenged to grow in grace and knowledge and to lead lives of faith, hope and charity. At Toronto Catholic we transform the world through witness, faith, innovation and action.
Toronto Catholic Schools June 2016 Toronto Catholic District School Board, 80 Sheppard Ave. E., North York, ON M2N 6E8 phone: 416-222-8282 website: www.tcdsb.org email:
[email protected]
