St. Joseph Elementary C.E.S.

Address: 249 Church Street, Mississauga, ON, L5M 1N1

School Phone Number: 905-826-4422

St. Joseph General Mailbox: St.JosephESMississaugaInfo@dpcdsb.org

Principal: A. Cavaliere

Administrative Assistant: S. Camaioni

Catholic School Council Chair: T. Prsa

Superintendent of Schools- Mississauga North: L. Odo

Trustee Ward 6 & 11: L. del Rosario

Associate Pastor: Rev. P. Dobson, St. Joseph Parish

St. Joseph Parish Email: stjosephMI@archtoronto.org

School Hours:

St. Joseph School Hours for the 2024-2025 school year are:

Morning entry: 8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

AM Recess: 10:09 a.m. - 10:24 a.m.

Lunch: 11:48 a.m. - 12:48 p.m.

PM Recess: 2:12 p.m. - 2:27 p.m.

Dismissal: 3:15 p.m.

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In October, we celebrate the Virtue of Empathy. An empathetic person believes that we all share one Spirit; that we are many parts of one body because we are all created in the image and likeness of God.

An empathetic person…

• Listens attentively
• Watches people’s body language
• Notices and responds when someone is upset
• Can name their feelings
• Can see a situation from another person’s point of view
• Knows that different people may feel differently about the same thing

Our daily prayer for October:

Let us now pray… for the grace and strength to be people of empathy – people who can really identify with and feel the concerns of those around us.

Amen +

Address: 5440 Drurie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5M 2J5

Parish Team:

Pastor: Fr. Paul Dobson

Associate Pastor: Fr. Anish Alex

Deacons: George Jurenas & Lionel Gomes

Parish Staff: Ann Cavallin, Michele Mullins

Sacramental Coordinator: Zahra Pilar Alvarez

Youth Minister: Megan Dominguez

Office Phone Number: 905-826-2766

Parish Email: stjosephMI@archtoronto.org

Parish Website: http://stjosephmi.archtoronto.org

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's Sacraments, please contact St. Joseph Parish via email for a quicker response.

• First Holy Communion will take place on Sunday, May 18th at 2 p.m.
• Confirmation will take place on Tuesday, May 20th at 6 p.m

• An information package was distributed to all Grade 2 and 7 students in early September. If your child is NOT in Grade 2 or 7 and will be receiving the Sacraments, please contact the office for an information package.
• For information about Sacramental preparation, please email your questions to mailto:sacraments.stjosephmi@gmail.com

October 2024

• October 11 : PA Day- No School for Students
  
• October 14: Thanksgiving- Enjoy time with family and friends!
• October 15: Junior Boys Volleyball Tournament at Mt Carmel
• October 15: Primary Trip to Downey's Farm
• October 16: Rosary Apostolates at JOEST/PALS Training/Sub Lunch/Thanksgiving Food Drive Ends
• October 17: Junior Girls Volleyball at Gonzaga/Pizza Day
• October 18: Pizza Lunch (Due to Downey's Farm Trip)
• October 22-24: Grade 4 CCAT Testing
• October 22: Pizza Lunch/Board Cross Country Meet at Centennial Park
• October 23: Take Me Outside Day/Bus Driver Appreciation Day/Sub Lunch
• October 24: Pizza Lunch/Cookie Day
• October 25: Popcorn Wednesday Orders due/Virtue of Faith & Empathy Assembly at 1:30 -2:00 p.m. led by Grade 7 & 8 classes
• October 29: Pizza Lunch
  
• October 30: First Popcorn Wednesday/Subway Lunch/Ms. Leko's Halloween Maze for Gr. 4-8
• October 31: Halloween/Halloween Dance & Popcorn Treat for all students /Pizza Day

November 2024

• November 1: Molisana Lunch- Pancakes and Bacon (Yum!)
• November 4-11: Veterans' Week
• November 4: Picture Retake Day
• November 5: Pizza Day
• November 6: Grade 8 Trip to Explore Gonzaga Secondary School/Subway Lunch
• November 7: Pizza Day
• November 11: Remembrance Day
• November 12: Progress Reports go home/MWAA Flag Football Tournament/Pizza Day
• November 13: Rosary Apostolate Visit AM/Subway Lunch
• November 14: Progress Interviews (as requested by teachers or parents/guardians)/Pizza Day
• November 18: Molisana Lunch
• November 19: Pizza Day
• November 20: Vaccination Clinic #1 for Grade 7 & 8's/Catholic School Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m./Subway Lunch
• November 21: Cookie Day/Pizza Day
• November 22: PA Day: Provincial Priorities
• November 26: Pizza Day
• November 27: Subway Lunch
• November 28: Pizza Day
• November 29: Gonzaga Music Presentation at St. Joseph AM

The new school year offers us an opportunity to reflect upon our personal, professional and spiritual growth and to set some new goals. The theme chosen for the upcoming 2025 Catholic Education Week theme is:

Pilgrims of Hope

Catholic Education Week Prayer

Hope is our calling, O Lord,

and the destination of our pilgrim journeys.

As we mark this Jubilee Year of hope,

keep our eyes focussedo on Jesus,

and on the hope he reveals to us.

All our hope is in you, O God, in the name of Jesus

our Lord and companion.

Amen +

Parents/ guardians are reminded to avoid parking in front of the school on Church Street. There are no parking signs posted in this area.

Parking in this area is creating a safety concern for our vehicles exiting our parking lot and pedestrians trying to cross the street. Buses and vehicles cannot exit safely while cars are parked in this area which delays our buses from dropping off students in a timely manner.

Alternatively, we advise parents/guardians to use our Kiss N Ride or park in designated parking spots (i.e., Green P) across the street.

Parents/Guardians and students are reminded to use the crosswalk and obey the stop sign to ensure pedestrian safety.

The safety of our students, parents/guardians and staff is our main priority. Please note, Peel Regional Police have been notified and will be ticketing vehicles.

Thank you for your support in creating a safe environment for all at St. Joseph!

St. Joseph is a cashless school environment. All payments for field trips, lunch programs, programs, events and fundraisers must be processed through SchoolCashOnline. Please create an account to receive notifications for upcoming orders. Please review the attached document for instructions. Alternatively, you can contact the office for assistance.

Parents/guardians are reminded to continue to report their child's attendance daily. Attendance continues to be taken daily by 9 am and 1 p.m. Please continue to use the School Messenger application when reporting your child absent or late for school.

Here is the link for your reference: https://www3.dpcdsb.org/parents/absence-reporting

Web: go.messenger.ca

App: SchoolMessenger

Phone: 1-844-435-3440

Web:

1. Go to the SafeArrival Website at go.schoolmessenger.ca

2. Select Sign Up to create your account. (Only needed for the initial set up, after that you will click on login.)

3. Select Attendance

4. Select Report Attendance

APP:

Or you can download the SchoolMessenger App from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Please note that the SafeArrival uses the SchoolMessenger App. You will be prompted to enter your email address. Please use the email address that we have on file in the office and create a password. The system will send a link to your email address on file, please click on the link to activate the account.

Phone:

1. Call the toll-free number 1-844-435-3440

2. Listen and follow the prompts to report the absence

3. If the system doesn't recognize your caller ID, you will be asked to enter your student's home phone number or any phone number for the guardian that is on file with the school.

Parents/guardians are reminded to follow the flow of traffic by entering Kiss N Ride via the south driveway at all times.

We would like to remind our parents/guardians and other visitors to the school to wait in the designated areas outside of the fenced area on the upper pavement and away from the gate at the Kindergarten yard. This helps to ensure the safety and security of our students.

School yard supervision does not begin until 8:30 a.m. every morning. Please do not drop students off prior to 8:30 a.m. unsupervised.

The Catholic Code of Conduct sets the standard of behaviour that we promote, encourage and foster in a shared commitment to gospel values in daily life, respect for dignity of persons created in God's image, responsible participation in civic life of the school community, peaceful conflict resolution, respect for diversity, and a commitment to exemplary conduct and service to others. At St. Joseph, we continue to work together to provide a safe, caring, inclusive and healthy Catholic school community for all.

Halloween is an annual event celebrated across DPCDSB. The purpose of this communication is to raise awareness regarding costume choices to make sure that this Halloween is safe, enjoyable and inclusive for all.

In an effort to create safe, caring and inclusive spaces within our school, students and staff are asked to consider the impact their costume choices have on others. Students are proactively encouraged to select costumes that may not be considered offensive to someone's religion, culture, race, gender, gender expression, ability, heritage, or sexual orientation.

Everyone has the freedom to express themselves within reasonable limits. As a caring Catholic community, we must ensure that the costume choices of our staff and students are not offensive to or mocking of others.

These are questions that will help you to determine what constitutes offensive/disrespectful costumes:

• Does your costume mock or condescend historically oppressed people or cultures? Is the costume respectful of all or can it be viewed as culturally insensitve?
• Does your costume include face painting for the sole purpose of matching the skin colour of a specific person or people? Although face painting is safer than wearing a mask, particularly for younger children, the potential to be offensive to others must be considered.
• Does your costume mock or condescend religious or religious beliefs? Use sacred objects, clothing of others' religions or cultures?
• Does your costume caricaturize marginalized groups or persons (historical or current) in a way that may serve to trivialize them?
• Avoid wearing masks, swords or weapons to school for student safety. Please save these for Halloween Trick or Treating instead.

Thank you for helping to create a safe, caring and inclusive school community.

Students will be treated to a fun Halloween Dance on October 31st and will receive a bag buttered flavour popcorn. Please let your child's teacher know if your child will be opting out of the popcorn.

Ingredients: GMO-Free popcorn, canola and/or Sunflower oil, Seasoning (maltodextrin, salt, flavour, spices, beta carotene).

Vaccine clinics for routine immunizations Human Papillomavirus (HPV-9), Hepatitis B (Hep B), and Meningococcal ACYW-135 are coming to our school! To help protect your child from severe diseases and get them back on track, Peel Public Health will be offering these immunizations to Grade 7 and 8 students at school. Please complete a consent form to ensure your child is vaccinated during the clinic dates at their school. Visit Peel Region’s website and follow the instructions to print and fill out the consent form and the standard assessment questionnaire. Please return the completed form to the school before or on the morning of the clinic date. Students who have an existing consent from earlier this school year or previous years, or if parents completed an online or verbal consent, do not need to complete a new consent (unless your consent choice has changed). If you have any questions or want to learn more, please visit peelregion.ca/immunize or call Peel Public Health at 905-799-7700.

Courtesy Seats:

Some of our courtesy seat requests have been processed and bus tags have been distributed to students. If you have any questions, please contact the main office for an update.

Bus Delay Notifications:

We recommend to check the www.stopr.ca website for the most up to date information and to check bus delays. Parents/guardians can create an account to receive notification and updates on your child's route. You will require your child's student number to register for an account. Please contact the school if you require assistance in locating your child's student number.

If your home address changed during the summer, please notify the school as soon as possible so that we can make the changes to our system. Address changes after June 30th will not be reflected in the planned bus routes to begin in September and may result in transportation services not being available for your child during the first weeks of school.

The distance criteria for transportation eligibility is:

• more than 1.0 km from the school for FDK to Grade 1
• more than 1.6 km from the school for Grades 2 to 4
• more than 2.0 km from the school for Grades 5 to 8

As in the past, we continue to have students with severe, life threatening food allergies. Although this may or may not affect your child's class directly, please send lunches and snacks to school with your children that are free from peanuts or nut products including "Nutella". Please let caregivers know about our allergen awareness policy.

We ask that you do not send in food products for the whole class to celebrate birthdays or social occasions. A donation of a book, a game to the classroom, or stickers are safe alternatives to food products and enjoyed so much longer by the children.

Please DO NOT send Halloween treats to your child's class.

Parents/guardians are responsible for ensuring that all medication and forms are updated annually for any student who requires medication to be administered at school. If your child requires medication, please have the necessary forms completed and return them to the office to Ms. Cavaliere as soon as possible.

Friday, November 22nd, there will be a Professional Activity Day. Teachers will be involved in professional development activities. Students do not attend school on this day.

If you are interested in being a back up student monitor for the 2024-2025 school year? This is a paid position which involves supervising students inside and outside during the lunch hour each day. Applicants must have a Criminal Reference Check before beginning work. Should you be interested in further exploring this opportunity, please contact the main office for further details and/or obtain an application package.

DPCDSB Policy Affecting All Volunteers

A reminder that all volunteers are required to complete a Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS) to volunteer for excursions such as field trips, helping to drive to sporting events, and to volunteer within the school (i.e., Catholic School Council, Pizza, Milk, All Star Reading, etc.) We recommend that if you plan to volunteer during the 2024-2025 school year, that you complete your CRC as soon as possible.

All you are required to do is come to the main office between 8:30 a.m. -3:30 p.m. to pick up a document that must be taken to the required form by the Peel Regional Police for processing. Please note, that this does require a number of weeks to complete, so it is recommended that you start this process as soon as possible.

Parents/guardians who have a valid Vulnerable Sector Screening filed in the office prior to September 2024 are asked to sign and return the Annual Offence Declaration Form 2024-2025 which is available in the office. Please inform your child's teacher if you require an annual declaration. Failure to do so, may result in you having to complete another Criminal Reference Check and delay your ability to attend field trips with your child or volunteer within the school. Thank you for your cooperation in following this school board policy.

Fall Re-Take Photo Day is scheduled for Monday, November 4th!

2024-2025 Catholic School Council Members:

• Chairperson: Tania P.
• Treasurer: Mellissa A.
• Secretary: Katherine L.
• Parish Representative: Isabella F.
• OAPCE Representative: Renee H.
• Fundraising Representatives: Kerri R. and Lauren J-C.
• Parent Representatives: Wendy P., Laura W.
  
• Teaching Representatives: Melissa S., Cindy B., Pina G.
• Non-Teaching Representatives: Regina Z.

All parents/guardians are welcome to attend our Catholic School Council meetings this year. Our meetings are hybrid (virtual and in-person). Zoom meeting links will be emailed to the community in advance of our meetings.

Future Meeting Dates:

• November 20, 2024 at 6 p.m.
• January 29, 2025 at 6 p.m.
• March 26, 2025 at 6 p.m.
• April 24, 2025 at 6 p.m. (Public Budget Consultation)
• May 28, 2025 at 6 p.m.

By directing your tax support to the Separate (Catholic) School System:

• You may vote for Catholic School Trustees in the Municipal elections
• Your children may attend Catholic elementary schools
• You show your support for the Catholic school system

To verify that you have registered as a English Separate (Catholic) school supporter:

• Check the assessment section of your Tax Bill or Property Assessment Notice

Have you moved?

Even if you have been an English Separate (Catholic) School Supported in the past, the designation does not follow you when you relocate. By default, your property taxes support your municipality's English public school board. Every time you move or if there is a change of ownership, it is essential that you register yourself as an English Separate (Catholic) school supporter.

To register as an English Separate (Catholic) School Supporter or change your Direction of School Support, please contact the DPCDSB Admissions Department by phone at 905-890-0708 ext. 24512 or by email at admissions@dpcdsb.org

Learn More:

• Visit the Direction of School Support webpage
• Watch our Direction of School Support video

School Mental Health Ontario has updated their list of resources. We invite you to review their list of resources available on our DPCDSB Well-Being SharePoint to help support you and students during this time of transition back to school. For a list of community telephone-based mental health supports, please see below.

• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text "CONNECT" to 686868 (0-18 years of age)
• 24.7 Crisis Support Peel Dufferin: 905-278-9036 I 1·888·811·2222. (for all ages)
• Hope for Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310 (support for all Indigenous peoples across Canada)

Email: St.JosephESMississaugaInfo@dpcdsb.org
Website: www.dpcdsb.org/JOEST
Location: 249 Church Street, Mississauga, ON, Canada
Phone: (905)826-4422
Twitter: @StJosephDPCDSB