TCDSB 2012/2013 Budget Input Opportunity

I've received the following message from the TCDSB and provide it for your information and consideration:

As part of our Budget consultation process, the Toronto Catholic District School Board invites its major stakeholders for their input into the development of the 2012-2013 Budget.

The Board is pleased to invite the community to attend A Public Consultation Meeting on May 29^th at 7:00 p.m. at the Catholic Education Centre, 80 Sheppard Avenue East. The evening will include a brief overview of the TCDSB draft budget, as well as an opportunity for participants to ask questions or share their ideas for consideration by the Board.

To facilitate the organization of the meeting, participants who wish to speak at that meeting are encouraged to register with the Recording secretary at 416-222-8282 ext. 2293.

Those who are unable to attend, are invited to visit the board’s website at http://www.tcdsb.org/board/budgetandfinance/pages/20122013budgetconsultation.aspx and send written submissions to “Budget Consultation” c/o TCDSB, 80 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, ON M4L 1M5 or by email to budget@tcdsb.org.

The Board is committed to ensuring that programs and services will continue to support high levels of student achievement, pursue equity of opportunity and learning outcomes by aligning to one or more directions of our Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP):

· Fostering Student Achievement and Well-Being

· Living our Catholic Values

· Strengthening Public Confidence

· Providing Stewardship of Resources

· Achieving Excellence in Governance

· Inspiring and Motivating Employees

Our hope is that you will identify the areas that are priorities for you, for our students and for our schools.

For those who prefer to share their ideas through an online survey, please visit the board’s website at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/consultation2012 by no later than Friday, June 1, 2012.

If you have any questions about the survey or the consultation process, please email your inquiry to budget@tcdsb.org.

For more information about the Board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan, please visit the Board’s website at www.tcdsb.org, and refer to the goals of the plan as you complete the survey.

We thank you all for taking the time to participate in the budget consultation process.

Regards,

John McAteer

Chair, St. Agnes CSAC

Free Online Interactive Reading Resource Provided by the Ministry of Education

The Ontario Ministry of Education has recently purchased a subscription to Scholastic’s BookFlix for K-Grade 3 students. BookFlix is an interactive, online literacy resource that pairs classic video storybooks with related nonfiction texts. This engaging resource will help early readers (K-Gr. 3) develop and practice essential reading skills. Bookflix is quite intuitive and easy to navigate. Each unit includes the following elements:

· Watch the Story: streaming video of the story. A Read Along option can be activated to display the audio portion of the story, with word-by-word highlighting, as it plays.

· Read the Book: related nonfiction text presented in a flipbook format. The Read Along option can be activated to hear the text read aloud with word-by-word highlighting. Key content vocabulary words are highlighted in yellow. Placing the cursor on the highlighted word will display its definition, and the ear icon can be clicked to hear the definition read aloud.

· Puzzlers: interactive games related to the specific pair. Ear icons can be clicked to hear the game directions, as well as all statements and definitions, read aloud.

· Meet the Author: a profile of the author of the story. An ear icon can be clicked to hear the profile read aloud.

To access from home, use the following link, username and password:

http://www.scholastic.ca/education/bookflix_ontario

USERNAME: toroncdsb

PASSWORD: toro5988

Please use this resource at your convenience and spread the word about it  . . .  and where you learned about it.

Regards,


John McAteer
Chair, St. Agnes CSAC

The Passing of Mrs. Ammendolia's Father

It is with sadness that I convey the news to our school's parent community on the passing of Mrs. Ammendolia's father, Mr. Salvatore Caminiti, on Tuesday, May 22nd.

Below is the information received from our School Board regarding Mr. Caminiti's passing and funeral arrangements:

Salvatore Caminiti	Who passed away May 22nd. He was the father of Lucia Ammendolia, Secretary at St. Agnes Catholic School and grandfather of Julia Ammendolia, Teacher at St. Bernard Catholic School and Stefania Failla, Occasional Teacher at TCDSB.
Visitation: Service/Mass:	Newediuk Funeral Home 2058 Kipling Avenue Etobicoke, ON Thursday, May 24th 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday, May 25th 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. St. Roch Catholic Church 2889 Islington Avenue Toronto, ON Saturday, May 26th 10:00 a.m.

As a school community, we offer our prayers to Mrs. Ammendolia and her family. Flowers and condolences will be sent to the family on behalf of our CSAC and school.


Regards,


John McAteer
Chair, St. Agnes CSAC

Free June 4 Seminar at St. Martha Catholic School

I wanted to relay a seminar invitation that has been circulated by the St. Martha's CSAC to all GTA CSAC's (as we have) for their free seminar (with childcare) on the evening of Monday, June 4th. RSVP by Wednesday, May 30. St. Martha is on Sheppard Avenue, in Downsview. Here's the full invitation:

St. Martha Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC) invites all parents to attend:

How to Get Out The Door in the Morning

Special guest with Doone Estey, BA, MA

(Certified Adlerian Parent Educator, a longtime workshop facilitator

and mother of 4 teenagers)

RSVP is required in order to provide adequate Pizza & Refreshments for Parents in attendance and to arrange Childcare. Everyone is Welcome!!!

When:  Monday June 4, 2012 @ 7-8:30 PM

Where:  St. Martha’s Gymnasium (1865 Sheppard Ave. W.)

• Are you too controlling, not controlling enough?
• Too many power struggles in the morning?
• Wish you had more cooperation and less backtalk?

What you will learn:

• Responses that create more cooperation
• The use of consequences and other positive discipline methods
• How to handle everyday problems such as mealtime, getting dressed and dawdling
• The parenting style that has the best long-term impact on your child

For Teachers and Parents alike - Bring Out the Best in Children by Fostering Respect, Cooperation and Responsibility

RSVP email csac.stmartha@tcsdsb.org or call (416)397-6800 ext. 88344, by Wednesday May 30, 2012, indicating:

• Your Name
• Number of attendees
• Number of childcare spots required and ages

Best Regards,


John McAteer
Chair, St. Agnes CSAC

Your Input Please (Quick Poll on Seminar Topics)

As you may recall, in February, your CSAC provided a fantastically popular Internet Safety seminar (for parents and an age appropriate version of the older grades). This seminar was funded by a Parent Reaching Out Grant received from by the Ministry of Education.

To plan for next school year's CSAC seminar(s) and our new application for this Grant, your CSAC received a number of topic suggestions which are now shown in a Quick Poll on our site (very bottom right corner). Please take just a moment to let us know which subject most appeals to you. The Poll will close on the evening of Thursday, May 31st.

As always, thank you for your input.

Regards,


John McAteer
Chair, St. Agnes CSAC

CSAC May 22 Meeting

Dear Parents & Guardians of St. Agnes Students,

Your Catholic School Advisory Council’s (CSAC’s) next meeting is on Tuesday, May 22 (7-9 PM, in the school's library). This is the final meeting planned for this school year. Some Agenda items of interest include:

• Principal Shea's report on the school’s tentative staffing model for next year (which teachers will teach which grades, combined grade classroom plans) and the Board’s Safe and Caring Catholic School Climate Survey results (student survey of St. Agnes);
• Potential areas for student safety improvement;
• Election planning for next year’s CSAC (your chance to become even more involved in your child’s education and improve our school).

The full Agenda is posted in our site's Key Documents area.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you should have any questions regarding the Agenda. Your input is always welcomed and appreciated.

Regards,

John McAteer

Chair, St. Agnes CSAC
csac.stagnes@tcdsb.org