St. Therese Tribune

Principal: C. Duke

Administrative Assistant: J. Lusk

Catholic School Council Co-Chairs: Mrs. D'Souza & Mrs. Piasecki

Superintendent of Mississauga West: L. Odo

Trustee Wards 9 & 10 Brea Corbet (905) 301-9373

St. John of the Cross Parish Information Website: http://www.saintjohnofthecross.com/

Email: St.ThereseoftheCJinfo@dpcdsb.org
Website: www.dpcdsb.org/TCHLD
Location: 6930 Forest Park Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Phone: 905-785-0066
Twitter: @StThereseDPCDSB

Please feel free to click on the Translate button on the bottom of the newsletter to choose your language of preference! (Arabic, Spanish, Hausa, Portuguese, Taglog, Polish, Italian, Malayalam, Hindi etc.)

Archbishop Leo's message for October

Please read Archbishop Francis Leo's message for October: Month of the Holy Rosary and of the Missions here

Our Lady of the Cape Pilgrim Statue

The pilgrim statue of Our Lady of the Cape which is on its way to Rome for the Jubilee 2025 will be visiting our parish.

Children's Liturgy

The Liturgy of the Word for children during Mass has returned

Every weekend during the 5pm, 10am, 12pm & 4pm Masses

All children ages 5 to 8 years old are invited to join

Parish Prayer Group

The Parish Prayer Group invites all parishioners as their sessions reconvene

Every Thursday starting September 12th at 7:00pm in the Lisieux Room

All are welcome to attend

Children's Bible Study

The Jesus Youth Ontario Initiative will be hosting a God's Plan in Scripture (GPS) Bible study for children in grades 3 to 5

Friday September 13th at 6:00pm to 8:00pm for 12 classes on alternating Fridays at the Parish

Cost is $30 per child, or $50 for two siblings. Limited spaces are available.

For more information please email gps.ontario@jesusyouth.ca or call 647-989-0468

Men's Fraternity Group Fall Session

The Men's Fraternity Group invites all men ages 18 and up to join their Fall session "The Fight of Faith"

Every Saturday morning starting September 14th at 7:00am to 8:30am in the Nessinger Hall

To learn more click here. To register click here.

Parish Youth Group

The Parish Youth Group invites all youth Grades 7 to 12 to join the youth group

Every other Sunday at 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the Carmel Room in the basement

October 6th & 20th, November 3rd & 17th, December 1st & 15th

For more info please email sjoc-youthministry@archtoronto.org

Praying the Rosary for Canada

Canada Needs Our Lady invites all to join them as they pray the Rosary for Canada

Saturday October 12th at 12:00 noon outside the Church by the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

We turn to God, through His Holy Mother, asking His urgent help

Parish Children's Choir

The Parish Children's Choir invites all children from Grades 3 to 8 (8 to 13 years old) to join the choir

The choir practices every Saturday morning at 10:00am and sings every other Sunday at the 10:00am Mass

October 13th & 27th, November 10th & 24th, December 8th

For more info please contact the Parish office at 905-821-1331

Fall Harvest Dance

The Catholic Women's League invites you to their semi-formal Fall Harvest Dance

Saturday October 19th at 6:30pm in the Nessinger Hall

Tickets are $45 per person

To register please contact Marina 647-973-2829 or Vanessa 437-262-8065 or email sjocrosscwl@archtoronto.org

Young Adults Conference

RENEW Toronto, the Archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Youth (OCY) largest gathering of Young Adults, invites those ages 19 to 39 to deepen their Catholic faith

Saturday November 23rd

Attendees will enjoy keynote presentations, breakout sessions, praise & worship, Mass, Confession, Eucharistic Adoration and fellowship

For details please click here or email youth@archtoronto.org

2024 – 2025 1ST COMMUNION & 1ST RECONCILIATION SCHEDULE

1st Communion Registration Meetings

Sunday, September 22nd 7:00pm @ the church

Tuesday, September 24th 7:00pm @ the church

Reconciliation

Monday, November 25th 7:00pm @ the church

Tuesday, November 26th 7:00pm @ the church

1st Communion Registration Meetings

Sunday, January 19th 7:00pm @ the church

Tuesday, January 21st 7:00pm @ the church

Enrolment Ceremony

January 25th & 26th, February 1st & February 2nd All Sunday Masses

Ash Wednesday is March 5th, 2025

Easter Sunday is April 20th, 2025

1st Communion Masses

Saturday, May 3rd 10:30am @ the church

Sunday, May 4th 2:00pm @ the church

Saturday, May 10th 10:30am @ the church

Sunnday, May 11th 2:00pm @ the church

SCHEDULE FOR CONFIRMATION 2024 – 2025

Drop off Confirmation Package to Schools: Monday, September 9th

CONFIRMATION PARENT MEETINGS

Sunday, September 29th, 2024 6:00pm @ church

Tuesday, October 1st, 2024 7:00pm @ church

CONFIRMATION DATES

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Our Virtue of the Month God helps us to keep on working for a more peaceful world even when we feel discouraged. A hopeful person is …

• inspired and inspires others

• always counts on God to help them in tough situations

• trusts that things will work out in God ’s way

• one who sees the good in the world

God has given us this Advent Season to focus our minds and hearts on the good all around us. We believe that God created the world and all of us in it to be good. However, sometimes bad things happen to us that we cannot explain. During these times, we tend to get mad at God for putting us through so much pain. We may get discouraged and forget that God is always with us to help. When you feel sad and alone, remember to never lose HOPE, pray to Jesus, and things will get better.

Let us now pray for the grace and courage to be people of hope - people who can see, participate in and contribute to God ’s goodness emerging around us.

AMEN.

I believe that God is an awesome God I believe and have faith in God I believe that God is with us always I believe that we can talk to God anytime and any where, through prayer I believe in the stories of the Bible I believe in the stories of Jesus' life, death & resurrection I believe in the Church community, celebrating Mass, and the seven Sacraments I believe in forgiveness Because I am a believer, I will live my life like Jesus.

We welcome all community members to join us at our meetings!! You do not need to be a voting member to participate in council meetings. Your support, input and presence are all greatly appreciated.

Our Next School Council Meeting:

*All meetings begin at 6:00pm in the school library and access is available virtually. Our next School Council Meeting is on:

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025

This year our Peel Health Nurse Jacylyn Newman in collaboration with her Peel Health partners provided an excellent presenation to our intermediate students on the awareness of vaping, side effects and educational information. Students were engaged in activities, question and answer sessions and also completed a class game in collaboration with teachers and Peel Health Nurses. Our Child & Youth Worker Mrs. Donaher was also involved with engaging our students.

This year our Remembrance Day assembly was led by Mr. Knapp's Grade 7 EF class and supported by Mrs. Chacko's Grade 8 EF class and Mrs. Siracusa's Grade 1 class. All students, staff and community members gathered for a thoughtful and heartfelt presentation focussing on the importance of this National Day and key members of service, such as women. Students demonstrated their faith by listening attentively, singing our national anthem with pride and participated throughout the liturgy.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus has partnered with Region of Peel Health in order to bring many healthy programs to our students. Our first program is called Playground Activity Leaders in Schools or PALs for short. Many students (grades 5 & 6) volunteered and wrote applications to be part of the program. They received several hours of instruction from a registered nurse with Peel Health on how to play healthy games and to help problem solve conflicts on the playground with younger primary students (grades 1-3). Our junior students are already developing leadership skills as they design games, actively promote the program and have been starting to play games with primary students at recess time. Their leadership qualitites have already begun to shine! Mrs. Kellie Donaher also acknowledges those amazing leaders weekly who are making a difference! A special thank you to Mrs. Kellie Donaher CYC for her help with implementing the program.

Our school takes much pride in celebrating the hard work and dedication of our Girls and Boys Intermediate Volleyball Team. The teams played hard in the PODS and showed good team work and sportsmanship. Although our teams did not advance to the finals our coaches, Mrs. Marchand and Mme. Falbo are very proud of their efforts!

Advent marks the beginning of the Church ’s liturgical year. The four weeks of Advent lead up to the celebration of Christmas. Advent’s familiar sights and sounds stir in us a readiness to receive our Saviour, while sharpening our sense of the world ’s need for redemption and of the great mystery of God becoming human for us. Advent is a Latin word meaning the coming. The season of Advent is a time to prepare to celebrate the three comings of Christ: his lowly birth in the past, his mysterious coming to the world in the present, and his promised return in Glory at the end of time. Advent is a special time of waiting. Since the latter half of the 6th century, Christians have set aside the four weeks before Christmas to remember and to celebrate that Jesus Christ is the one who comes. It is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. Traditional symbols and customs help us to celebrate this special time of waiting.

The Advent Wreath is used to help us prepare for Christ ’s coming. We use evergreen branches to make the Advent wreath. These stay green all year long. This reminds us that God and His love for us never changes. The circular shape reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, his never ending love for us, which has no beginning or end. The light reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent or the four Gospels; unlit they represent the ages “sitting in darkness” awaiting the coming Christ; the growing circle of light represents the “approaching” light of the world. Three of the candles for the wreath are purple, as a sign of our need to repent and turn back to God in preparation for Jesus ’ coming. During Advent we try to say that we are sorry for not loving Jesus enough and we promise to try hard to do better in our Christian walk. The fourth one, lit on the third Sunday of Advent, is rose or pink to express our joy that Christmas is so close. Some Advent wreaths have a large white candle in the center, the ‘Christ Light ’, to be lit on Christmas Eve to herald the birth of Jesus. Each time we light a candle on the Advent wreath we are reminded that Jesus is the light of the world. His teachings are our guiding light. If we listen to what he wants us to do, we will be happy with him forever.

Father of our lord Jesus Christ, ever faithful to your promises and ever close to your Church: the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior ’s coming and looks forward with longing to his return at the end of time. Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will bestow, for he is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

On Thursday, December 12, 2024, we will be gathering as a school community at 10:00am with Father Joyson from St. John of the Cross parish to celebrate the advent season. Parents are welcome to join.

Please join us On December 19th for St. Therese of the Child Jesus Christmas Concert!! Parents are welcome to come and participate in the magic! Please join us in the gym beginning at 1:30pm. It's going to be great!!!

Our Christmas break begins on Monday, December 23, 2024. Children return to school for classes on Monday, January 6, 2025. From the staff at St. Therese of the Child Jesus, we wish you and your family a joyous and peaceful Christmas holiday.

On December 11th our Catholic School Council will be hosting a community Christmas Cheer evening event. Please view the flyer. Payment can be made through School Cash Online. Family Chrstmas photos are paid in cash and first come first serve.

Please access School Cash online to purchase individual Santa Pictures provided by Bright Pics. The cost of this will be $10.00 per picture which includes a 5 x 7 print out of your image. Due to the volume of students, we will not be able to accommodate sibling or group photos. All proceeds will be used to purchase grocery gift cards to support St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Drive.

Show your Christmas spirit during the week of Monday, December 16th to Friday, December 20th and support ShareLife through School Cash Online.

Monday: Wear a Christmas Hat

Tuesday: Creative Ugly Christmas Shirt/Sweater

Wednesday: Colourful or Christmas Socks

Thursday: Dress as Your Favourite Christmas Character (ie. Nativity Scene, Santa, Elves...)

Friday: Christmas Comfy Wear or PJ's

Our Grade 8 students will be selling Candy Canes to the school to raise money for Sharelife.

Each Candy Gram costs $0.50. Purchasing Candy Canes will take place during our Christmas Spirit Week.

Inclement Weather Reminders

Our winter season is here! At this time we would like to remind all students to dress appropriately for the season by wearing the proper winter attire which should include hats, gloves/mitts, winter coats and boots. When students are dressed properly for the winter conditions, they can go outside and enjoy some fresh air and activity in comfort. There will be a few times during the course of the year where a recess may be shortened or held indoors due to extreme cold temperatures. Our school board policy states that although consideration should be given for keeping students indoors during recesses when the wind chill reaches -20C, students are to be kept indoors during recesses when the wind chill reaches -22C.

In the colder weather, we receive numerous requests to allow children to remain indoors when students have a cold, the flu, etc. Please note that we cannot comply as we neither have the facilities nor the staff to supervise these students. Moreover, the health officials indicate that the fresh air is good for children, not harmful as long as they are dressed appropriately.

SNOW Safety Expectations

Now that the snow is here it is important to remind students that St. Therese of the Child Jesus has a strict rule of forbidding the throwing of snowballs and kicking of snow. Every student has been made aware of the importance of this rule in the preventing of injury to others.

S Snow stays on the ground

NO No standing, sitting, sliding down hills

W Winter wonder: building snow angels, snowpeople, snow forts!

Please review our Snow Safety Expectations with your children. Thank you for your support.

Some of the students in our school have severe life threatening allergic reactions to nuts, peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oils and any peanut by -products. For some children the smell of nuts can bring on a severe attack. We need your cooperation! We kindly ask that you DO NOT send snacks to school that contain nuts or any nut products.

Please note that to ensure the continued safety of all students, the Dufferin -Peel Catholic District School Board with the support of the Anaphylactic Society and the Peel Health Department has recommended that students not bring peanut butter alternatives (soy butter, sunflower butter) to school. We thank you for your cooperation in supporting student safety.

We ask that parents continue to support their children in their morning routines so that they can arrive to school on time. This ensures that your child learns an essential life skill, participates in the entire school day, and that disruptions to the learning environment are minimal.

When a student receives an injury/bump to the head (however minor), it is Board Policy that we inform parents. This is precautionary only, and we ask that you check your child when he/she gets home for any signs of a concussion or illness. We will also provide your child with a brochure containing information about Concussions, again this is a precautionary measure and for information purposes.

Please note that there are children who have allergies to animal hair, and who have a fear of dogs. In order to prevent a potential concern for our students, please do not bring your dog onto school property during school hours. Thank you for your continued cooperation.

The Dufferin -Peel Catholic District School Board acknowledges the value of the use of technology for learning. Students are permitted to register and use personal electronic devices (PEDs) on board premises and/ or board sanctioned events for educational purposes, under the direction of staff and only with parent/ guardian permission. Students may register their PED for the purpose of connecting to the board wireless network. Students are required to adhere to the student “Personal Electronic Device Used with WI - FI Network Student Agreement” (GF 337) and the “Network User Application and Agreement” (GF066). Please be advised that the Dufferin -Peel Catholic District School Board will not be responsible for any cost incurred through the use of personal data plans.

PEDs are to be used responsibly and should not interfere with learning; their use must comply with the Catholic Code of Conduct, board policies and procedures. Any personal communications (i.e. phone calls, text messages, etc.) will continue to be directed through the main office. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in a loss of PED privileges and/ or any other consequences deemed necessary by school administration.

The school principal may authorize limited acceptable uses of personal electronic devices during school -sanctioned activities for a specific designated purpose outside of instructional spaces and/ or in common areas. Students are responsible for the safety and security of PEDs at all times and the Board assumes no responsibility for lost, damaged or stolen devices.

The safety of our students, staff and visitors remains our number one priority. The following policies will be implemented to ensure the safety of all students, staff and visitors

Please review the following Kiss and Ride Safety Expectations:

• Keep traffic flowing. Proceed as far to the stop sign as possible before stopping your vehicle.
• Have your child exit from the right side (passenger doors) of your vehicle.
• NO PARKING in Kiss and Ride.
• If you wish to wait and see your child enter the school, park in the designated areas and wait in the designated pick-up/drop off locations.
• DO NOT stop or park in Bus Lane (side of the school).
• The same expectations apply during rain/snow. Do not stop or drop your children off at the side of the school. This is a Bus Lane only.

Are you interested in volunteering at St. Therese of the Child Jesus? Our volunteers support programs and activities at the school. We appreciate and rely on parents who can devote a small portion of their time to help. People who volunteer in schools and attend trips are required to have completed Vulnerable Sector Check -Level 3. You can also pick up a Volunteer Authorization Letter from the main office.

Please note that if you have previously submitted a Criminal Reference Check, they have expired due to the pandemic time lapse, unless you have completed the Annual Declaration. Please connect with the main office if you are unsure.

Once the form is completed, your volunteer service can begin. We look forward to working with you for the betterment and support of all students.

Whether it’s a medical appointment, an illness or other important event, there are times when students may need to be away from school. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District school board is introducing a new method for parents to report their child(ren)’s absences. Using the SafeArrival system, parents will be able to report daily or future absences in one of three ways:

Web:

1. Go to the SafeArrival website at go.schoolmessenger.ca
2. Select Sign Up to create your account. (Only needed for the initial setup, after that you will click on login).
3. Select Attendance.
4. Select Report an Absence.

App:

1. Download and install the SchoolMessenger app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Please note that SafeArrival uses the SchoolMessenger app.
2. Select Sign-Up. (Only needed for the initial setup, after that you will click on login).
3. You will be prompted to enter your email (same email address your school has on file) and create a password.
4. The system will send a link to the same email address the school has on file, please click on the link you have received in your email to activate your account.

Phone:

1. Call the toll-free number 1-844-435-3440
2. Listen to and follow the instructions to report an absence.
3. If the system doesn’t recognize your caller ID, you will be asked to enter the student’s home phone number or any phone number for the guardian that is on file with the school.

You can now reset your password remotely by registering for the Password Reset Tool. You must know your old password to create a new one.

To reset your password remotely you must first register with the “Password Reset Tool”, which you can do by following one of these two steps:

Students: students.dpcdsb.org and select Password Reset

Staff: https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/PasswordReset/Register.aspx ​

**Access to personal email/cell phone is required for registration.

Once you are registered, please follow the Password Reset Instruction

December 4th - Santa Visits for Photos

December 9th to 12th - Scholastic Book Fair

December 11th - Rosary of Apostolates

December 11th - Community Christmas Cheer (6-8pm)

December 12th - Advent Christmas Mass

December 16th - 20th - Christmas Spirit Week

December 19th - Primary Christmas Concert (1pm)

December 23rd - January 3rd - Christmas Holidays

January 6, 2025 - First day back to school from Christmas Break