MARY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC SCHOOL - Mary Immaculate School

FEBRUARY 3, 2020 | VOL. 6

                  MARY IMMACULATE
                  CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Dear Mary Immaculate Families:

Thank you to all families for your involvement in our school life and for your continuous
support of our activities at Mary Immaculate. We value your contributions and your ideas.
January has been a great start for the 2020 school year, without any snow days!

One thing that is a great reminder for all our students at this time of year is the
encouragement and reminder for all students to take some time for reading every day,
including on a strike day or weekend. There are many benefits to reading everyday,
including vocabulary expansion, memory improvement, stronger analytic thinking skills,
improved focus and concentration, as well as better writing skills! These skills provide good
foundations for learning and help students achieve well in school.

February’s virtues is Empathy. At Mary Immaculate, we will focus our        WHAT'S INSIDE:
prayers on the suffering, poor and marginalized people around the
world. We will also continue to speak about Empathy for one                 Mental Health - 2
another, especially with “Family Day” and “Valentine’s Day”                 Virtue of the Month - 2
                                                                            Dates of Importance - 3
coming up.
                                                                            Thank you! - 3
                                                                            Green Team - 4
As always, your feedback and support are truly appreciated.
                                                                            Ash Wednesday - 4
                                                                            Speeches - 5
Happy February!
                                                                            Birthdays - 6
                                                                            Blue Slips - 6
Sincerely,
                                                                            Parent Council - 7
                                                                            End of School Day - 7
Leslie Boerkamp
                                                                            Allergy Awareness - 8
Principal                                                                   Science Fair - 8
                                                                            January Highlights - 9 & 10
                                                                            Closing Prayer - 11
                                                                            Community
                                                                            Involvement - 12 - 15

MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health is a part of our overall health. It can determine how we think, what we
feel and how we behave. Our mental health can have a great impact on our
relationships, self-esteem and ability to learn new things. Mental health issues can
happen to anyone regardless of age or circumstance. Did you know that one in five
students struggle with mental health? This is why it is so important to talk to your
children about mental health and be able to recognize signs of poor mental health.
What are signs of poor mental health?
   Avoiding friends and family
   Rebelling against authority
   Not doing things they used to enjoy
   Frequent mood swings
   Getting significantly lower marks in school

What can you do as a parent to help your children develop
good mental health?
   Encourage children to talk about their feelings
   Respect their feelings
   Stay positive and avoid being judgmental
   Take children to their family doctor to explore concerns
   Your child can speak over the phone or chat online with a
counsellor from Kids Help Phone at 1-800- 668-6868 or
kidshelpphone.ca
   For more information visit
   publichealthgreybruce.on.ca/Your-Environment/Healthy-Schools

            Virtue of                      Empathy is being able to identify with,
                                           and feel the concerns, feelings and
           the Month:                      needs of another person. A person of
                                           empathy is able to listen sensitively,

            Empathy                        understand and lovingly “be with”
                                           another person. Empathy is at the
                                           heart of the ministry of Jesus who first
                                           sought to love and understand the
                                           people he later healed, and empathy is
                                           also at the heart of discipleship.
                                           (The Virtues Project, p. 215)

DATES OF IMPORTANCE:
February 2020
Feb. 1st - PD Day - no school for students
Feb. 3rd - Spaghetti lunch
Feb. 10th - Blue Mountain trip day #3
Feb. 13th - Chess Tournament @ St. Teresa of Calcutta
Feb. 14th - Wear RED, PINK, or WHITE for Valentine's Day
Feb. 15th - K of C Free Throw District Competition
Feb. 17th - Family Day - no school
Feb. 19th - 1st Term Report Cards sent home
Feb. 20th - Parent-Teacher Interviews @ 3:30 - 6:50 p.m.
Feb. 21st - Therapy Dog Visit
Feb. 24th - Virtues Assembly @ 2:20 p.m.
Feb. 25th - Shrove Tuesday ~ Pancakes for lunch!
Feb. 26th - Ash Wednesday Mass @ 9:15 a.m.
Feb. 26 - 28th - Muskoka Woods trip for gr. 7 & 8's

March 2020
March 2nd - Parent Council Meeting @ 5:15 p.m.
March 5th - Girls Basketball @ St. Teresa of Calcutta
March 6th - Boys Basketball @ St. Teresa of Calcutta
March 16 - 20th - March Break
March 23rd - Virtues Assembly @ 2:20 p.m.&

THANK YOU GRILL CHEESE VOLUNTEERS!
Thank you to all of our parents and grandparents that helped the Gr. 1/2 class with their Grill
Cheese Fundraiser! We truly couldn't have offered this lunch option to our school without your
help and support.
Special thanks to: Vanessa Clancy, Val Eddyvean, Mariott Hatt, Kathy Hehn, Joanne Kelly,
Lise McDonald, Kathleen Powell, Doris Powers, Tony & Colleen Regier, Pam Weppler!

GREEN TEAM
 Our Green Team is an absolute gift to our school. Did you know that this team meets regularly
 to come up with ideas about how to make our school more sustainable and environmentally
 friendly? These students lead by Madame Dunn, Mrs. Cummings, and Mrs. Finlay are truly doing
 God's work!

 Students have come up with a new initiative and will be starting "Lights Out Lunch" on pizza
 days. Light Out Lunch is where we will be turning off the lights in the classrooms while
 students eat their lunch. This small but clear step is an effort to reduce electricity and save
 energy. Stay tuned for more ideas and initiatives from this group.

“God so loved the
world that he
gave his only-                Ash Wednesday, February 26th, marks the
begotten Son, so              beginning of the Lenten season for the
                              Catholic church.
that everyone
who believes in               Please join us for Ash Wednesday mass @
him might have                9:15 a.m. on February 26th if you are able to.

eternal life.”
- John 3:16

SPEECHES
What great public speaking competitors we have here at Mary Immaculate School! At the
competition in the gym today Kate B. placed first in the Intermediate Division, Jayla C. placed
second and Ella E. placed third. In the Junior Division, Ashley E. placed first, Lyla K. placed second
and Ben F. placed third. In the Primary Division, Colton K. placed first, Tessa K. placed second and
Charlotte F. placed third. The audience was treated to some great humour, information and original
topics. Way to go public speakers! Thank you to judges Bonnie Miller, Cheryl Kuntz, Shawn Eckert
and to Mrs. Stanley who did the timing for us.

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY CALL!                                                 Let's Do Lunch!
Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate their
birthday this month:
   Chloe
   Robine
   Chelsea
   Charlie
   Payton
   Ian
   Ben
   Elloise
   Jackson
   Easton

HAVE YOU HEARD OF "BLUE SLIPS?"
In accordance with the Safe Schools Act, all schools are required to have in place a Progressive
Discipline plan including tracking and communication of student behaviour. The purpose of our
“Blue Slips” is to track student behaviour. These slips are not designed to be the primary
method of informing parents about behaviour issues, rather a tool used for tracking and
identifying areas for growth and learning for our students.

At Mary Immaculate School we have developed a procedure to address this need. If a behaviour
is worthy of a note in the agenda or a call home, it is worthy of a blue slip. Should any student
behave inappropriately (aggressively, disrespectfully, inappropriately, or in an exclusionary
way) during recess or in class, the staff member who witnessed the event or to whom the event
was reported by a student will discuss the problem with the student in question and they will
collaboratively come up with strategies that can be used next time in a similar situation.

Having dealt with the situation through restorative justice process, they will also complete a
“blue slip” for that child. Parents are notified of a blue slip on the third similar incident within
a month. At this time, the Principal sends home the Progressive Discipline letter to the
student’s parents informing them of the incidents and the next steps/consequences. A call or
conversation will also be placed to the parent. The next blue slip for a similar incident follows
the same process except that this time, the parents will be called in for a meeting and a
behaviour plan could be implemented for the student. This plan will include next steps should
the behaviour reoccur.

If you have any questions about this, please don't hesitate to connect with the school.

PARENT COUNCIL DATE CHANGE
Our parent council was to meet on Monday, February 26th at 5:15 p.m. in the library.
This meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, March 2nd at 5:15 p.m.

At this meeting we will have special guest, Alecia Lantz, Superintendent of Business
attending to discuss our current bussing/waiting situation and to hear parent concerns. We
invite all parents to attend all of our parent council meetings, but we especially invite you
to attend if you have concerns, comments or questions.

END OF THE SCHOOL DAY
As a school we have been piloting a new procedure at the end of
the day for students who are bussed home from school. Students
end their day with an indoor recess from 3:20 - 3:35 p.m. in their
classrooms. At 3:35 p.m. they transition to the gym and wait
respectively with their bus line. For the entire month of January
there has not been ONE blue slip while trialling this end of day
procedure change.

As a staff we have noticed the positive change in the end of the day
for our students and are happy with how this change has helped.
 This pilot period has changed from trialling to doing, and we ask
you to discuss the change of day with your child. Here are a few
pictures of what this "looks like:"

ALLERGY AWARENESS FEBRUARY
I3-year-old Shannon Sabrina passed away from an anaphylactic reaction in 2003 from cross-
contamination of food at her school. Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening reaction that giving an
EpiPen or an Epiauto injector can help buy the person (approximately 10 minutes per injection)
to get to a hospital.

Giving Epinephrine is the first line of defence against the mildest anaphylactic symptoms
such as red blotches on the face and itchy watery eyes. Each exposure to food allergens
produces a more progressive anaphylaxis reaction. Even those in the health care community
will discuss using medication such as Benadryl as a first line medication during a reaction.

Benadryl is metabolized slowly in the body to have an effect on a person experiencing an
allergic reaction. If your child is diagnosed with an allergy, we ask you to please keep us
informed and up to date with their medical history.

THE 2020 REGIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FAIR
Science fair is open to students who wish to participate. Scientific experiments are
challenging and an opportunity for students to demonstrate perseverance and resilience. We
strongly encourage parents to allow students to work as independently as possible on their
projects.

As we will not be "officially" doing science fair in our classrooms at Mary Immaculate, students
are still encouraged to participate. Anyone wanting information about Science Fair can speak
with Mrs. Boerkamp. Successful students will represent MIC at the Blue Water Regional Science
fair, on April 4th and 8th at the Bayshore Centre in Owen Sound.

More information can be found at www.brstf.org for all the information you will need to
prepare your children. The registration portal opens on February 1, 2020.
ALL REGISTRATIONS MUST BE IN BY MARCH 24th.

FEBRUARY 19TH & 20TH REPORT CARDS & PARENT-
TEACHER INTERVIEWS...
Report Cards will be sent home on February 19th with students. The following evening we will
also hold our Parent-Teacher interviews. Interviews will take place between 3:30 - 6:50 PM and
are for 10 minutes in length. Interviews are by request of the teacher or by parents. We will be
sending home information shortly about signing up for an interview time using our online
booking system. Stay tuned!

JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS

JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Please see the list of attachments that follow our newsletter for information and activities offered in
our local community area.

DEAR GOD,

I BELIEVE THAT YOU ALWAYS LISTEN TO ME
LOVINGLY, AND FOR THIS I PRAISE YOU.

TEACH ME TO BE LIKE YOU, AND LISTEN WITH MY
EARS AND MY HEART TO UNDERSTAND OTHERS.

GUIDE ME TO COMMIT MYSELF TO RESOLVE THE
SUFFERING OF OTHERS.

HELP ME TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT OF JESUS,
AS I LEARN ABOUT, AND RESPOND TO THE MANY
NEEDS OF OUR WORLD.

AMEN

Parish Priest: Father Luc Payette
School Council Co-Chairs: Anne Bester & Krista Graf
Trustee: Lori DiCastri
Office Administrator: Susan Wolfe-Dales
Principal: Leslie Boerkamp
Superintendent of Education: Michael Bethune
Director of Education: Gary O’Donnell

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT