Calendar Updates

Our online CSAC & School events calendar has been updated. It's routinely updated for you, so check-in often!

Thank You for Your support of the Catholic Children's Aid Society

To The Families of St. Agnes,

I would like to thank all of you who helped achieve our school's goal of providing our adopted families with a joyous and memorable Christmas.  Both families were extremely well provided for despite any financial challenges our own community may be facing during this uncertain time in our economy.

I am happy to report that both families had their immediate needs met in the way of winter attire, as well as some items on their wish list. The Variale family generously donated a gently used washing machine which allowed the $100 raised in Home Depot gift cards to go towards the purchase of a dryer for the Primary Family.  The Di Gasbarro family also donated a gently used Television which was not on the family’s wish list, however, the Catholic Children's Aid Society informed us that it would be of good use to this family.  Mr. & Mrs. Merenda and some members of their extended family took good care of the family for Grades 5 – 8, supplying them with winter coats and boots.  In addition to the many toys, games, clothes, bath products etc. that were donated by the whole community, we also raised over $700 in gift cards for food stores that were split between the families.

Once again, the St. Agnes community came together in the spirit of charity and giving to those less fortunate.  Thank you to each and every one of you.

Best regards,

Anne-Marie O’Donnell

CSAC Secretary

Update: St. Agnes & CSAC Support for the Catholic Children's Aid Society

Your CSAC is proud to continue its support of our school's adoption of two families this Christmas, through the Catholic Children's Aid Society.

To update everyone on the status of this charitable activity, on December 12, the school emailed three letters (the cover letter is reproduced below), to the parent community. Your CSAC wishes to support the school by also circulating that cover letter. If you have not received your email from the school, please contact the school office as soon as possible.

To The Families of St. Agnes,

I would like to take this opportunity to update you on the status of this year’s Adopt-A-Family initiative with the Catholic Children’s Aid Society (CCAS). Thank you to those who have already sent in items for our designated families; they will go a long way to bringing joy to these very needy children and caregivers this Christmastime. 

I have outlined below the articles that have been received to date.  As you will see, we are still a long way from meeting the needs of our families as outlined by CCAS.  Understandably, we are in a more difficult economic climate than last year and we may have to cut back on charitable contributions.  I do urge you, however, to still do what you can no matter how small. In times like these as donations decrease, the needs of charitable organizations and the clients they serve only increase.  

We are in the final stretch of this drive and are due to transport our gifts to the CCAS office on Friday, December 16^th.  Please take some time to review the gifts received list below, as well as the original wish list and needs list of each family (attached). 

Adopted Family for K – grade 4

Gifts for Family received:  As of Dec. 9

Adult gifts and food:

$60 Home Depot Gift Cards

$40 Cash

Chocolates

Gently-used washing machine

Gently-used television set and stand

Children’s gifts and candy

Kre-O Bumble Bee Transformer

Craft Kit Tool Box (markers, glue, paper, crayons, scissors etc)

Miniature action figures

2 Medium boys shirts

1 small boys long sleeve shirt

1 winter hat

Candy canes

Adopted Family for Grade 5 – Grade 8

Gifts for Family received:  As of Dec. 9

All gift items are still required.

There is a box in the office for donations, and Mrs. Ammendolia is accepting the cash and gift cards directly. Please, give what you can and do not hesitate to contact the school or myself directly with any questions or concerns.

Kind regards,

Anne-Marie O’Donnell

CSAC Secretary

Save the Date (Feb 1, 2012): Social Networking Safety Presentation

Please mark February 1 on your calendar for a student and parent presentation on Social Networking Safety. More information shall follow.

Calendar Updates

Our online CSAC & School events calendar has been updated. It's routinely updated for you, so check-in often!

St. Agnes & CSAC Support for the Catholic Children's Aid Society

Your CSAC is very proud to support our school's adoption of two families, through the Catholic Children's Aid Society.

The school emailed three letters to the parent community this past week (if you didn't receive yours, please contact the school soon), explaining how your family can contribute to this charitable activity. The following covering letter, summarizing this activity, was provided in that email (please check your email from the school for complete information):

To The Families of St. Agnes:

In conjunction with the beginning of advent and the charitable activities at the school, St. Agnes Catholic School has once again adopted a needy family for Christmas through the Catholic Children's Aid Society. 

This was an enormously successful drive last year, and one young family had a very memorable Christmas due to the overwhelming generosity and spirit of our community.  Based on your positive feedback and suggestions, we have elected to adopt two families this year.  Kindergarten through grade 4 will be responsible for one family, while grades 5 through 8 will be responsible for another.

Details on the history of each family is provided, including a wish list (items that the individuals desire but do not expect) and a needs list (items that are necessary but the family currently lacks).  As items are donated, a list will be circulated periodically indicating what has come in and what still needs to be provided.  Please feel free to round out the gifts with things such as chocolate or candy for the children, specialty foods or bath products for the parents etc...  Whatever you can offer will be greatly appreciated!

The aim is to provide these families with a Christmas with dignity. The Catholic Children's Aid Society asks for new and unwrapped donations as well as donations of food store gift cards that can be used by the family to purchase their Christmas dinner. This way we can ensure that the families have a warm, nutritious meal to share with their family on Christmas Day.

Please note that in addition to new items, second- hand clothes and toys may also be donated provided they are in very good condition. The school will be accepting donations beginning today and running through to the Christmas Concert on December 15^th. We would ask for any assistance in packing up and delivering these items to the Catholic Children’s Aid location on Drewry on December 16^th.

Again, please refer to your email from the school for complete information on this charitable activity, including how you can help pack and deliver the school's donations on December 16th.

Thank you.

Highlights of the October 18 CSAC Meeting

What follows are edited excerpts from the Meeting's Minutes (posted once the Minutes are approved at the next meeting). The actual Minutes are available in the school library.

The St. Agnes CSAC Financial Statements for the year ended 9/30/2011 were reviewed, showing that the CSAC General Fund account balance was $18,764 at that date. The CSAC school BBQ was another tremendous social event success.

The Principal reviewed in detail the extremely encouraging results of the school's EQAO tests performed last year. See our CSAC site's "Information Links" area for the full EQAO results for our school. He also confirmed that $1,000 was raised by our students recently for the Terry Fox Fund.

In a discussion of lessons learned from last year's concert, it was concluded that planning for future events with a large budget should include increased governance (possibly consisting of a sub-committee, including the treasurer), to address ways to oversee expenditures.

The Chair will attend the Catholic Parent Involvement Committee (CPIC) conference on Saturday, November 5th and report back to the Council. It has a number of great workshops to choose from and is open to all parents.

CSAC's 2011 school year meeting dates were determined and are as follows: Nov. 22; Jan. 18; Feb. 21, Apr. 18; May 22; June (tbd). These dates are posted within the CSAC site's online calendar.

The Communications Committee Chair reviewed the draft CSAC site. With recommendations for the protection of privacy, it was approved for promotion to the school community.

The Library Committee Chair relayed details of the upcoming Scholastic Book Fair and briefed the Council on the Acorn Cards program scheduled to be launched in time for Christmas.

The Fundraising Committee will be co-Chaired by Angie Sanchez and Maria Aprile. Tina Matins and Beverly Emer will also serve on this Committee. The Fundraising Committee will research completing the Capital Fund donation letter project this school year.

It was asked if CSAC may accept outside donations or sponsorships. The Chair offered to research this.

CSAC will organize an educational evening with a speaker on the subject of Internet Safety. Details to be confirmed ASAP.

November 22nd CSAC Meeting Reminder

Your Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC) next meets at 7 PM, on Tuesday, November 22nd. This is an important, budget focused, CSAC meeting and your opportunity to vote on CSAC's expenditures for this school year.  The entire Agenda is posted on our site's "Key Documents" area for your review (free Google Docs account required).

The meeting starts at 7 PM, sharp, and will conclude by 9 PM. Free coffee available.

As always, we encourage all St. Agnes school parents to attend this and every meeting of your CSAC. Your CSAC's meeting schedule for the entire year was posted to our site on October 22nd. Check the site's October posting archive or live calendar for more information.

Uniform Sale (Nov. 17 & 18)

CSAC has received many donations of gently used school uniforms in the past few months and will be holding a sale of these uniforms during the parent/teacher interviews, on Thursday, November 17th (from 5:30 - 8 PM) and Friday, November 18th (from 9 - 11 AM). Thank you to all who made these generous donations.

CSAC also requests volunteers to assist with holding this sale. If you are able to assist, please contact the school ASAP. Thank you in advance to those who are able to assist.

Calendar Updates

Our online CSAC & School events calendar has been updated. Our online, live, calendar is routinely updated for you. Check-in often!

Acorn Cards

In the upcoming week our students will be bringing home an information flyer regarding Acorn Custom Cards®, as well as a completed work of art that can be reproduced as your beautiful, professionally manufactured, set of greeting cards, post cards, calendars and/or placemats.

Students will be delighted to see his/her creation reproduced into customized, professional quality items.  The original artwork will be displayed on the front of his/her item and a brief biography of your artist will be on the back of each folding card and on the front of the postcards, calendars and placemats.   These make unique gifts to family, grandparents, friends, and teachers.  Just in time for Christmas!

Choose from a set of 12 folding cards with envelopes, or a set of 24 postcards, or a calendar, or a placemat of your child’s artwork at $20.00 for the first item and $15.00 for additional items of the same artwork.  You can even mix and match the items (i.e. your first item might be a calendar @ $20 and your second item might be a placemat @ $15 (based on the same artwork). BONUS OFFER : Purchase 4 or more items and receive a free item of your choice.  Extra forms  are available at the school office if your child wishes to create more than one type of artwork or if he/she has siblings or family members at home who wish to participate. Our school receives 40% of the proceeds less shipping and taxes.  Any funds raised will come back to St. Agnes School and put towards items approved at the November 22^nd CSAC budget meeting.

Please fill out the order information requested on the back of your child’s artsheet and return to school the artsheet/order form as well as your payment by the FIRM due date of November 15th .  Our aim is to have orders back to the school the week of December 12^th.

Please make your cheque payable to: St. Agnes Catholic School. Please do not attach anything to the artwork. Thank you in advance for supporting this initiative.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Anne-Marie O’Donnell               Mr. John Shea
CSAC Secretary                                 Principal

acorncustomcards.com

CSAC Halloween Dance

CSAC's Halloween Dance is on Monday, October 31.

Admission to Dance and Scary Cemetery: $2
No violent or offensive attire.  No weapons (toys included) of any kind will be permitted.

Grade 6 Fundraising Project:

Kernel’s Popcorn bag $2 each

Glow Stick 50¢ each

Guess how many “candies” in the jar – 25¢ /guess

Me-to-We Haunted House:

Admission: Non-perishable food item

Come Dance With Your Kids:

9:00-9:30 am    JK/SK am class

9:30-10:10 am   Grade 1 to 3

10:15-11:00 am  Grade 4 to 6

11:00 -11:45 am         Grade 7 and 8

12:50 – 1:20 pm         JK/SK pm class

Scholastic Book Fair (Oct 24-27)

Your CSAC Library Committee is excited to announce that St. Agnes will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair in the month of October.  The Scholastic Book Fair will be held during our regular school hours (8:45-3:15) daily in the library from Monday, October 24 to Thursday, October  27, 2011.  

On Monday and Tuesday, students will all visit the library with their respective classes to browse through the collection of books for sale.  Your children may purchase books on Wednesday and Thursday. All parents, grandparents, and relatives are invited to visit the book fair during school hours and purchase books on any of the four days.

The Scholastic book fair has always been a popular and important event at our school. Not only does it promote literacy by exposing children to carefully selected, quality books but it is also a worthwhile fundraising opportunity.

Proceeds from the book sales will be used to purchase new resources for our school library.

Please drop in and visit the fair. We accept cash or cheques for all purchases.

See you all at the book fair!

2011/2012 CSAC Meeting Information and Dates

At their October 18 meeting, your CSAC scheduled the following meetings for the balance of the 2011/2012 school year. Meetings commence at 7 PM, in the library, and are scheduled for up to 2 hours. Agendas will be posted to this site ("St. Agnes CSAC Key Documents" area) up to one week in advance of each meeting. Parents are encouraged to participate in any meeting.

Tuesday, November 22 (Budget Meeting): A General meeting - all parents in attendance can vote on CSAC's planned expenditures for the upcoming school year.

Wednesday, January 18: Regular meeting.

Tuesday, February 21: Regular meeting.

Wednesday, April 18: Regular meeting.

Tuesday, May 22 (Budget Meeting): A General meeting - all parents in attendance can vote on any planned expenditures for the balance of the school year and review the expenditures year-to-date.

June Meeting: TBD (if required).

Highlights of the 1st Regular CSAC Meeting of the 2011/2012 School Year (09/20/2011)

What follows are edited excerpts from the Meeting's Minutes (posted once the Minutes are approved at the next meeting). The actual Minutes are available in the school library.

The Council’s elections for the 2011/2012 school year were completed.

The St. Agnes CSAC Constitution is up to date and will be posted to our CSAC website as soon as that is ready. The CSAC Chair volunteered to Chair the Communications Committee, to produce the website and manage the distribution of CSAC information.

The CSAC Secretary volunteered to Chair the Library Committee.  The Fundraising Committee requires a Chair.

The school’s Halloween Dance will be on October 31, managed by volunteers from the school staff and the parent community.

The Vice-Chair is organizing the CSAC BBQ on September 28. Additional volunteers needed. Donations to defray the cost were indicated from No Frills, Starbucks, ValuMart,  and Lablaws.

The cost and nutritional information from possible pizza lunch suppliers (Pizza Nova and Fresh Slice) as well as the Board’s requirements for school pizza lunches was reviewed. We will try each of these suppliers with upcoming lunches and survey the kids for their preference going forward.

Highlights of the 2011/2012 CSAC AGM (09/20/2011)

What follows are edited excerpts from the Meeting's Minutes (posted once the Minutes are approved at the next meeting). The actual Minutes are available in the school library.

A presentation was given by Fresh Slice Pizza, who would like to supply our school’s pizza lunches.

Our new Principal introduced himself, reviewed his career with the Board and announced that he will present the school’s new EQAO results at the next CSAC meeting. He stated that the Board initiative is to “witness your faith” and that he will reinforce that initiative.  He believes kids learn by doing and sharing and being kind to one another.  He was asked to report back to CSAC on his findings of ways in which the school could improve and he agreed to do so.

The Treasurer reviewed the St. Agnes CSAC Financial Statements for the year ended 9/30/2010 with year-to-date transactions to 9/20/2011, showing that the CSAC account balance was $15,199 at that date.

The school produced a Venue of Virtues concert in June 2011, with financial sponsorship from CSAC . The Treasurer reviewed the expenditures of this concert, confirming that it went over budget and suggested appointing a committee to increase governance over expenditures for similar projects in future, if CSAC is to sponsor it. The subject will reviewed again at the next meeting.

CPIC Conference on November 5th

The TCDSB's Catholic Parent Involvement Committee (CPIC) is holding their annual, free (parking, breakfast, lunch and child minding service included) conference, titled "Closing the Gap: Parents Supporting Student Achievement",  on Saturday, November 5, 2011, for CSAC Members and the parent community.

The conference is funded by the Ministry of Education.

Details on the conference, its many free workshops and the online registration form are on the TCDSB's site (see the INFORMATION LINKS area, below).

SJMP/BT Site Update

The following article appears in our TCDSB Trustee's Fall 2011 newsletter.

ST. JOSEPH MORROW PARK / BLESSED TRINITY JOINT SITE

Over the last number of months, we have been meeting with some key members of the community outlining the current state and challenges of this joint project. As it currently stands, the Board received funding for the replacement St. Joseph Morrow Park facility for up to 800 students.

An architect has been retained to work on some feasibility drawings of the site and configuration options. Once some concepts have been completed, a more open public meeting will take place to discuss options, timelines and other details including offsite student accomodation during construction.

Depending on final design and project complexity, the site could be potentially available for occupancy in the 2016 school year.

Contact our TCDSB Trustee, John Del Grande (see link below) for more information.