1023 Hampton Circle Saskatoon, SK S7R 0G1

Phone: (306) 659-7950 Fax: (306) 955-2877

Principal: Maria Monteiro Vice Principal: Kevin Leschyshyn

Office Coordinator: Angela Sheldon Secretary: Melanie Reeder

Trustees: T. Hawkins, R. Boechler, A. Risling

st.lorenzo@gscs.ca

Picture Day is coming up on September 23 and 24!

Kindergarten M/W—September 23rd All other Classes—September 24th

https://www.gscs.ca/studentsandfamilies/schools/LOR/Pages/Calendar.aspx

NEWSLETTER 1 SEPTEMBER 2020

Message from

Administration For both returning and new families to St. Lorenzo Ruiz School, it is truly our pleasure to welcome you to the new school year! We are so excited to have you all back at school after all these months! Here at St. Lorenzo you will find a dedicated staff committed to providing our students with an academically rich and challenging instructional program while fostering a learning community filled with love, compassion and respect for each other. Our students have learnt the new rou-tines and procedures to navigate the pan-demic safely. We are now thinking of crea-tive ways where we can still connect as a school community and have some fun! We look forward to a memorable year that will go down in history! God Bless! M. Monteiro and K. Leschyshyn

First Student Hotline 306-343-3300

Please feel free to phone this number any-time there is severe weather to check if

your child’s bus is running!

In place of our traditional “Meet the teacher” night, each class-room teacher, Gr 1-8 will be sending out a video to introduce themselves, the classroom expectations, the communication tool that will be used, and any other information that is specific to their room. We know that many of you would like to see what our learning environment looks like in these pandemic times. You will be able to get a virtual tour through the vid-eo! Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions. The link to the video will be emailed to families between September 28th and September 30th

https://www.gscs.ca/studentsandfamilies/schools/LOR/Pages/default.aspx

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT ST. LORENZO

SEPTEMBER 23—Picture Day 24—Picture Day 25—Spirit Day (Family Group Colours)

28—St. Lorenzo Feast Day (Wear School Colours—Blue) 29—Terry Fox Run 30—Orange Shirt Day OCTOBER 12—No School—Thanksgiving 26—No School—PLD NOVEMBER 11—No School—Remembrance Day 9—No School—PLD 19—3-way Conferences 20—3-way Conferences 20—No School in pm DECEMBER 21 –31—No School—Christmas JANUARY 25—No School—PLD FEBRUARY 15-19—No School—Break MARCH 8—No School—PLD 18—3 way Conferences 19—3 way Conferences 19—No School in pm APRIL 2-9—No School—Easter Break 30—No School—Staff Retreat MAY 7—No School—PLD 24—No School—Victoria Day JUNE 7—No School—PLD 24—Last Day of School

Staggered Recess Schedule

Group A Group B

KM, KS/KLE, 2/3P, 5C, 5K, 6C, 6S, 6/7L, 7T, 8D,

8W

1K,1R, 1W, 2C, 2R, 3P,

3T,3/4S, 4IV

Morning Recess

10:43am to 10:58am

11:02am to 11:17am

Lunch

Out - 12:00pm to 12:23pm

In - 12:00pm to 12:25pm

In - 12:23pm to 12:45pm

Out - 12:25pm to

12:45pm * KM, KS/KLE

Afternoon Recess

2:13pm to 2:28pm

2:32pm to 2:47pm

A reminder that all students are to

enter the building through the doors assigned

to them. Doors will be opened at 8:45am.

SCHOOL EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITES

At this time, all school extracurricular activities, choir, and field trips to public spaces are on

pause.

GSCS FOUNDATION NEWS The Greater Saskatoon Catholic Foundation Schools Win Twice campaign has been placed on hold at this time. Updates will be communicated as they are made available.

ST. LORENZO RUIZ CATHOLIC SCHOOL—SEPTEMBER 2020

This year is the 40th Anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope and St. Lorenzo Ruiz School is proud to be continuing the legacy of one of our greatest heroes. On September 29th we will be partici-pating in the “What’s Your 40?” activity. Each class will be completing a fun activity, 40 times to commemorate this important event. Please join us and support this wonderful cause by donating to: http://www.terryfox.ca/StLorenzoRuizSchool. Together, we can all make a difference!

@StLorenzoStoon

REPORT A STUDENT ABSENCE To help ensure your child arrives safely at school, our school is using a system called SafeArrival to make reporting absences easier for parents and guardi-ans. This system reduces the time it takes to verify student attendance and easier (and faster) for staff to respond to unexplained student absences. You have three convenient ways to report absences, and you can report planned absences in advance.

1. On your mobile device, download and install the SchoolMes-senger app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store (or from the links at https://go.schoolmessenger.com). The first time you use the app, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.

2. Use the SafeArrival website, https://go.schoolmessenger.com. The first time you use the website, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.

3. Call the toll-free number 844-425-7221 to report an absence using the automated phone system.

If there is an unreported absence, parents/guardians will be contacted via the SchoolMessenger Communicate automated notification system. The au-tomated notification system will attempt to contact parents at multiple con-tact points until a reason is submitted for the absence. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, office staff will follow up. Email communication will come from broadcasts@schoolmessengermail.com. Please ensure you have this email address on your approved sender list so it won't be filed as junk or spam.

ST. LORENZO STAFF 2020-2021

Mrs. Maria Monteiro Principal

Mr. Kevin Leschyshyn Vice Principal

Ms. Jennifer LaRose-Ekren Kindergarten

Mrs. Chera Suwala Kindergarten

Mrs. Hayley Muench Kindergarten

Mrs. Kathleen Ketterer Grade 1

Mrs. Vanessa Robillard Grade 1

Mrs. Mandie Wawryk Grade 1

Mrs. Penny Condon Grade 2

Ms. Maureen Romanchuk Grade 2

Mrs. Arielle Popick Grade 2/3

Mrs. Cynthia Tesch Grade 3

Miss Michelle Puchala Grade 3

Mr. Nicholas Sarauer Grade 3/4

Mrs. Maureen Irlbeck-

Vandale

Grade 4

Mrs. Erica Kelly Grade 5

Miss Ashley Colson Grade 5

Mr. Michael Clark Grade 6

Mr. Mark Loran Grade 6/7

Miss Jillian Tenaski Grade 7

Mr. Jeff Willick Grade 8

Mrs. Connie Davis Grade 8

Mrs. Jocelyn Urban EIP

Mrs. Christine Collard EAL

Miss Kayla Heck Release

Mr. Dave Laroque Release

Mrs. Sherry Pentilchuk Release

Mrs. Marissa Kortko Release (Temporary)

Mr. Travis Vellacott Educational Assistant

Mrs. Charlene Zipchen Educational Assistant

Mrs. Cheryl Forseille Educational Assistant

Mrs. Betty Gibson Educational Assistant

Mrs. Dara Hardy Educational Assistant

Mrs. Dianna Krushelniski Educational Assistant

Mr. Michael Mendoza Educational Assistant

Mr. Brandon Panasiuk Educational Assistant

Mrs. Tanya Radics Educational Assistant

Miss Angela Sheldon Office Coordinator

Mrs. Melanie Reeder Secretary

Mr. Kevin Knihnitski Head Caretaker

Mr. Jun Resabal Evening Caretaker

ST. LORENZO RUIZ CATHOLIC SCHOOL—SEPTEMBER 2020

ST. LORENZO RUIZ FEAST DAY St. Lorenzo Ruiz is our patron saint, who is from the Philippines. Our school will celebrate his feast day on Monday, September 28. Please wear blue, our school colour!

We need you help in locating missing library books and text books! St. Lorenzo is still missing many library and text books that were borrowed during the 2019 – 2020 school year and were not returned due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Notes were sent home last week with students who have overdue library books. Please take a few minutes and check to see if you have St. Lorenzo Library books or text books at home. The books can be returned to your classroom teacher as soon as possible. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

https://www.gscs.ca/studentsandfamilies/schools/LOR/Pages/default.aspx

COUNCELLOR’S CORNER Hi St. Lorenzo family! This year, I have been asked to take over a little corner of our monthly newsletter to address topics that pertain to the wellness of our school family. I am hoping the information and strategies that I share over the course of the year will be helpful in promoting positive, healthy living. However, September’s “little corner” will be longer than usual, as I want to focus a little more in-depth on our unique return to the 2020-21 school year. Back-to-School Stress and Anxiety. 2020 has certainly been a challenging year for society as it has brought with it so many questions, much trepidation, many degrees of varying information, and so many differing views on issues that affect all of us. As a result, feelings of uncertainty and anxiety are poten-tially higher than normal. As we begin a new school year, this has been especially true for our children, who count on structure, predicta-bility, and boundaries in order to feel safe…so they may strive as they explore, learn and grow. Before I go any further, I would like to clarify some terminology and perceptions surrounding the concepts of Anxiety and Stress. Some people mistakenly think that if they feel stressed or anxious in life that they may have an Anxiety Disorder. In truth, an Anxiety Disorder is a cognitive disorder that affects normal functioning in everyday life for extended periods of time. Anxiety Disorder is irrational, pervasive and unpredictable. On the other hand, some stress/distress and anxiety IS a normal function of our human existence. In fact, it is a com-mon response to everyday life and it teaches us how to adapt to our ever-changing environment. In other words, having some stress in our lives is actually good for us, because experiencing it (although not pleasant) teaches us problem-solving skills and resilience for other situations that will come up in the future. However, having said that, this new situation is extremely stressful for many of us and should be handled with extra care this year. As a parent or student, you may experience some varying reactions to our unique situation this year. Typically, these feelings will often come up when a stressful event is looming…when we are unsure of what outcome to expect. Additionally, as parents, we may be feeling extra anxious about sending our children off differently than we are used to. Some behaviours you may be experiencing, or see your child exhibiting, might include: 1) worries about safety, 2) negative ideas about others, 3) mistrust of others, 4) an increase in disruptive behav-iours, 5) increased crying/sadness or intense emotions, and 5) variations in energy levels. So…how can we create that feeling of calm and safety for our children, and for ourselves, and teach/practice positive coping skills during these first few weeks of back-to-school? One of the most important things you can do with your children is called “co-regulation.” Simply, it means to practice calming our thoughts and body together. It is our job as parents and care-givers to model to our children positive coping strategies when we ourselves might be feeling out of control. We all know that children will follow our lead and use our socio-emotional cues as a jumping off point for their own behaviour. If we can practice calming and self-soothing in stressful moments, then our children will follow suit. Perhaps you could get into the habit of saying something like “hey, it looks like I/we need a moment…” and then do some preferred calming activities, ideally together with your child. This may include mindfulness, controlled deep breathing, counting, positive self-talk, prayer, taking a walk, going for a bicycle ride, baking, listening to music, reading, arts and crafts, coloring, yo-ga, exercise, doing a favorite hobby, and so on. Finally, every day…remember to take many deep breaths, slow down, be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and to always put your faith and trust in God!

Rick Janzen (School Counsellor)

Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Math and Reading summer challenge.

• Grade 2: Ezekiel Chan, Briella Dymterko, Chloe Medalla, Daenielle Icalia, Aliyah Fischer , Jack Allard, Richie Hem, Mukhtar Bello, Danielle Solomon

• Grade 3: Jennifer Nguyen, Clark Jr. Umaming, Su Do, Marcus Chan, Isabella Ardell, Brandon Bauer, Kadence Rolph, Marcus Chan, Kaja Vancheva

• Grade 4: Sarina Hem, Martin Carrero-Sanchez, Avyukut Amithap

• Grade 5: Mark Daniel Chan, Lian Cagampan, Inumindun Olantude, Dimercia Kusinza

• Grade 6: Janette Sarmiento

• Grade 8: Janessa Majorenos, Chelsea Ballelos

ST. LORENZO RUIZ CATHOLIC SCHOOL—SEPTEMBER 2020

@StLorenzoStoon

CSCC NEWS Please consider joining our Catholic School Community Council. Every-one has something to share…TIME, TALENT OR TREASURE!! We need you to join and offer your ideas to our continued improvement as a school! Also, your children LOVE when you are a part of the school. For now, our meetings will be held virtually; however, we have faith that we can get back to 'normal' soon! Meetings are usually no longer than an hour to hour and a half and childcare is provided if needed. Our next AGM meeting is via Zoom on Monday, October 5 at 7:00pm. Please call the school if you would like us to send you a link to attend the AGM. We are accepting nomina-tions for the position of Secretary. If you are interested or know of some-one who is interested, please email the name, telephone number and email address to Kendal at 306-291-1920 or kkayter@hotmail.ca

ST. LORENZO RUIZ CATHOLIC SCHOOL—SEPTEMBER 2020

September – Family Group Colours Day October – Cowboy day and Black and Orange Day

November – Wacky Hair Day December – Ugly (Christmas) Sweater Day

January – Pajama Day February – Favourite Character Day

March – Twin Day April – Animal Day

May – Wacky Tacky Day June – Career/Future You Day

https://www.gscs.ca/studentsandfamilies/schools/LOR/Pages/default.aspx

To ensure our records stay up-to

-date, please remember to send

back your verification form, stu-

dent media release consent form,

and lunch break registration

form as soon as possible!

ENTRY POINTS FOR ONLINE AND FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING It is hard to believe that we are already in the third week of school. Our classroom groupings are made, and we are well on our way to an amazing first term. One of the many differences for this academic year is that we have some of our students who have opted for learning online and some who are learning face to face. In August, we shared that families opting for online learning would be able to re-enter into face-to-face instruction during natural transition times throughout the academic year. Below are the dates and deadlines established for transitions between online and face to face instruction. Having these defined dates reduces the challenges in calibrating what was taught online vs face to face, it reduces the possibility of outcomes being missed and allows time to build relationships with a new teacher and classmates.

• September 30th – Families are able to transition from online to face to face until this date. Students will continue to learn in their cohorts until the end of the first reporting period.

• November 27th - By this date, we ask that families inform schools if they plan to transition back to face to face.

• December 18th - By this date, we ask that families inform schools if they plan to transition back to face to face after Christmas.