December 2016/January 2017

Dear Parents/Guardians:

“During the Advent, season as a community of faith,

we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord,

Jesus Christ. It is a time of preparation, and of sim-

ple living and prayer.

Advent is time to open our hearts and our homes for

the coming of Jesus, our Saviour. Let us open our

hearts to the Christ Child. Let us take the time with

our families to pray together, to celebrate and re-

ceive the Eucharist, and allow God’s light and love

to shine within and among us. We are a light to

each other. Like a candle, Christ’s love is trying to

burn and shine brightly through each of us. We

treat Advent, therefore, in a most positive way, indi-

cating that its mood is one of happy expectations

and so in Advent’s spirit of Joy, it is appropriate to

consider how we can make life happier for those

around us. Let us, then, together in our lives, within

our families and community, allow the Holy Spirit to

make Jesus present to us so that we can be present

to Him.

Advent Prayer

Father, we come together to begin our preparation

for the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, the Lord.

Dear God, bless those who use the wreath. May

this wreath’s light remind us of your creative pres-

ence within our lives. Let its greenery bring your

eternal faithfulness to mind. May its circle be a sign

to us of your constant love for us.

We place our lives and this prayer before you

through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mr. M. Femia Ms. B. Muron

Principal Vice Principal

From the Principal

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Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School

35 Saffron Crescent Etobicoke, Ontario M9C 3T8

Telephone: (416) 393-5288 Fax: (416) 393-5053

Important Contact Numbers

Nativity of Our Lord School Phone: (416) 393-5288 Fax: (416) 393-5051 Nativity of Our Lord Church Fr. Michael Machacek (416) 621-2732 Mr. D. Yack (Superintendent) Ms. A. Andrachuk (Trustee) Ward 2 Public Health Dept. (416) 338-7600 Dental Health Dept. 311 Elmbrook Public Library (416) 394-5290

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November Virtue Stars

Kindergarten Registration for September 2017

The Toronto Catholic District School Board invites fami-

lies with children born in 2013 to register for Kindergarten

beginning Wednesday, January 18, 2017 at 10 a.m. EST.

Evening Kindergarten Registration from 4:00—7:00 pm

Registration:

Online: Parents will be able to complete their application

online at: https://soar.tcdsb.org/Login.aspx. A follow up

with visit to the school to present the required documents

will be scheduled following the online application. Please

see below for the list of documents.

Information: 416-222-8282 ext. 5320 or 5314,

www.tcdsb.org/kindergartenregistration

Please ensure you bring the following information with you

to register:

Child's Baptismal Certificate in the Catholic Faith

Child’s Birth Certificate (if born in Canada)

Child's Immunization Record

Child's passport or immigration documents (if born

outside Canada)

Proof of Residency (i.e., lease or ownership, utility

bills) (at least 2 proofs)

Students must reside within the school boundaries

Rathburn Road to Mill Road/Mill Road to

Burnhamthorpe Road

Burnhamthorpe to West Mall/West Mall to

Faversham

Reporting of cancellations or closures due to inclement

weather

Cancellation of school bus transportation or school clo-

sures due to inclement weather will be reported through the

following vehicles: News releases to all media outlets in

Toronto (Note: although the news release is provided to

the media outlets, there is no guarantee that all television

and radio stations will broadcast the information in a time-

ly fashion). Communications will endeavour to send an

email to everyone on exchange to advise them of any can-

cellations or closures.

Communications will also endeavour to send out the infor-

mation electronically to E-News subscribers (Note: If you

do not already subscribe to E-News, but wish to do so,

please visit our website at www.tcdsb.org and click on the

E -News icon on the top right hand side of the homepage).

Updates will also be posted on the Board’s 24-hour infor-

mation line, 416-222-8282, extension 2873.

The information will also be posted on the Board’s website

at www.tcdsb.org or www.tcdsb.org/weather.htm. The

Transportation Department will post this information on

its website at http://www.schoolbus.to/c_home.asp

Ms. Sousa — ELP1 Teodora Culum, Cara McKnight, and

Bryan Valdes

Mrs. Panzeca— ELP2 Lily Rea and Joshua Sousa

Mrs. Stergiou – SK/01

Franly Vittini and Tristan Soriano

Mrs. Aceto – Grade 1 Lia Canga and Cora Chattargoon

Ms. Montaldo – Grade 1/2

Julia Wisniewski and Charlotte Teskey

Mrs. Leonetti – Grade 2/3 Braeden Keaney and Pasko Gojanovic

Mrs. Cirinna – Grade 3

Maria Jose Diaz and Oliva Sevakian

Ms. O’Toole – Grade 3 Abigayle Buckley and Kuba Klaudel

Mrs. Morson – Grade 4

Sophia Marshall, Brianna Heim and Eldon Torres

Mrs. Parente – Grade 4/5 David Marku and Chloe Baylon

Mr. Tanguay – Grade 5

Jenna Savosardaro and Isabella Salgado

Mrs. Cavaliere – Grade 6 Mya Williams, Antonio Lepore, and Sarah

D'Souza

Mrs. Hawley – Grade 6 Elsie Fisher and Anthony Cochrane

Mrs. Muzzatti – Grade 7

Brandon Lopez and Immanuel Bauman

Mrs. Blandi – Grade 7 Madeleine Morais and Rachel Da Silva

Mrs. Carey – Grade 8

Bill Nguyen and Madeline Triumbari

Mr. Jozwik – Grade 8 Celeste Miranda-Silva and Luca Furlano

Volleyball Teams On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the intermediate boys par-ticipated against 5 other schools in a Divisional Volleyball Tournament located at Holy Angels’ School. The students played with sportsmanship and battled hard Nativity defeat-ed Our Lady of Peace. Nativity then advanced to the semi-finals against Our Lady of Sorrows. All of the students showed Christian leadership, and truly represented Nativity well. A special thank you to Ms. O’Toole for coaching the team. The team members were: Sere Otubu, Rayhan Moraldo, Matthew Wilson, Jacob Tigley, JC Dziama, Alesio Kacaj, Dennis Polyutov, Danny Brunetti, Ricky Elezaj and Alex Veric. On Wednesday, November 9, 2016, the Intermediate Girls’ Volleyball team played in the Divisional Tournament at Holy Angels School. The girls played superbly well! Most of the games were nail bitters, finishing at 26-24, or 27-25. We missed going into the finals by one point! The girls were super athletes and great ambassadors for our school. The team members were: Gaby Paez, Teah Stupar, Cristina Diaz, Jocelyn Aryeetey, Cassie Ignas, Samantha Espinosa, Gabriella Petizian, Jayda Bowen, Chloe San Juan, and Stephania Lepore. A special thank you to the coach, Mrs. Drozdowsky for coaching the team. .

CPSC Our next CPSC meeting is on Wednesday, Jan-uary 25th, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the library. Child care is available.

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St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers We are working in partnership with St. Vincent de Paul Society once again this year to help needy families in our community. Our drive will run until Friday, December 9. We are asking students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6 to bring powdered milk, canned meat, canned vegetables, canned fish, canned fruit, dried fruit, soups, pasta, pasta sauce, fruit juic-es, crackers, cookies, cereals, granola bars, rice, jello, pudding, fruit cocktails, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, pop, fruit cake, stuffing, cranber-ry sauce, candy, gifts for girls and boys, family gifts, etc. We are asking the grades 7 and 8 stu-dents to contribute a toonie to our drive to raise funds for the gifts. Thank you for your continued

support.

2016 Christmas & New Year Mass Schedule

Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24th, 2016

5:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass 9:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass

Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25th, 2016

9:00 am Christmas Day Mass 11:30 am Christmas Day Mass

Celebrant: Most Rev. John Boissonneau

Auxiliary Bishop – Western Region

Monday, December 26th, 2016. ** No 9:30 am Mass **

New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31st, 2016 5:00 pm New Year’s Eve Mass

New Year`s Day, Sunday, January 1st, 2017

9:00 am New Year`s Day Mass 11:30 am New Year`s Day Mass

Parent Surveys for Before and After School Programs As of January 18, 2017, parents, of cur rently-enrolled Year 1/Junior Kindergarten students, will be provided with a survey to indicate interest for a Before and After School Licensed Child Care Program to po-tentially open. A minimum of 20 positive surveys and then 20 registrations will be needed in order to consid-er a program. During that same week, parents of currently-enrolled children from the ages of 6 -12 will be able to access a Before and After School survey online through the following link: https://soar.tcdsb.org/soarsurvey2/schoolagesurvey.aspx

A minimum of 25 positive surveys and then 25 regis-trations will be needed in order to consider a school-age program for 6 – 12 year olds. Before and After/After School Programs generally op-erate on a cost-recovery basis therefore minimum num-bers are required in order to be financially-viable. Completed surveys (whether online or paper copies) are due by Friday, February 17, 2017. For school sites that have an existing Before and After School and or just After School Program (authorized recreation), parents are still welcome to complete the surveys to show interest in a program that may not cur-rently be available in the school. Note that every effort will be made to open programs

where there is sufficient interest. This is contingent

upon identifying a qualified third party agency that

accepts the opportunity to open a program within a

school site.

Student Safe Arrival Program Parents are asked to call the school @ (416) 393-5288, press 1 and leave a message if your child(ren) is going to be LATE or ABSENT from school. Please state the date, your child’s name, their grade and the reason for the absence/late. Fitness Club Nativity of Our Lord is starting a Fitness Club that will be held every Wednesday (Grades 3 & 4) and Friday (Grades 5 & 6) morning from 8:20-8:45. The Nativity Fit Club will be open to students from grades 3-6. Students will be working with grade 7 student volunteers and Mr. D’Souza on various fit-ness activities including; stretching, circuit/interval training, strength/conditioning activities and promot-ing overall healthy living. The club will start in December and run until the end of the school year. We are looking for parent volunteers to help supervise the student participants and also parents that would be willing to offer their talents to help participate/instruct a fitness class. Attendance and Punctuality Regular school attendance and punctuality are important for student progress. Children should be kept home only when they are ill. Appointments, whenever possible, should be ar-ranged outside of school hours. Being on time for the start of class is important. The bell rings promptly at 9:00 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Your child/children should be in the school yard by this time so that they can assemble with their peers and be involved in all activities from the begin-ning of class. All children who arrive after the class has entered the school will be marked late. If dropping off your child late, please do so at the office and they will be escort to their class-room.

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Extended French Program Registration All parents of Grade 4 students interested in enrolling their child for September, 2016 in our Extended French Program, which begins in Grade 5, are invited to come to our Open House Evening on January 25th at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. Grade 8 Overnight Trip Information Night on January 25th, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. in the school library.

Front Door Access and School Yard Safety If you are entering the school through the front doors between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., please use the buzzer located to the left of the doors. Unless arriving late or leaving early, students must always enter and exit the school through the back doors only. Supervision in the school yard begins at 8:45 a.m. and is in place until 3:45 p.m.

School Advent Family Mass On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 Nativity of Our Lord School will be celebrating an Advent Mass with Father Michael. The Mass begins at 7:00 pm sharp at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church. Please mark your calendars. We are celebrating the second year of TCDSB's pastoral plan, which is focusing on "Together With One Voice: Harmonizing our Faith through Family, Parish and School". Our Advent Mass serves as another opportunity to celebrate the important role that our parishes play in our school communities and in the lives of the students, staff and families that we serve. This Mass is also a time for Nativity staff, students and community to prepare the way of the Lord for His coming as our King and Saviour. Several staff and students are preparing for this Mass by re-hearsing songs of joy for the Advent season.