St. Aidan

Principal: Adrienne Dalli

Vice Principal: Nitu Hukil

Head Secretary: Donna Gilley

Superintendent: Viviana Varano

Trustee: Darryl D'Souza (Brampton Ward 6) Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi (Caledon Ward 2)

St. Aidan Catholic Elementary School
34 Buick Blvd.
Brampton ON , L7A 3B9

Phone: 905 840 3042 Email: St.AidanInfo@dpcdsb.org

Guardian Angels Parish

10630 Creditview Road

Brampton, Ontario

L7A 0T4

Pastor: Rev. Ravi Babu Kakumanu

Email: jdelcastillo@archtoronto.org

Phone: 905 – 970 - 9175

Website: guardianangelsbr@archtoronto.org

Principal’s Message

Welcome back to all who were part of the St. Aidan community last year. We extend a warm welcome to new members in our community, especially our Year 1 Kindergarten children, who are beginning school for the very first time. I hope that you and your family had a restful and enjoyable summer holiday.

Each new school year is an exciting beginning. Over the past few weeks, teachers have been very busy preparing and organizing classrooms in order to create a warm and friendly learning environment for the children. My heartfelt appreciation is extended to our custodial staff, for the amazing job they have done in preparing the school for another academic year.

St. Aidan Catholic School is truly a vibrant and welcoming place, with an outstanding school community. Teaching staff have dedicated a great deal of time to prepare classrooms and learning materials for students prior to the beginning of the new school year. We are thankful for our custodial team who worked extremely hard over the summer to prepare our school and our fantastic office staff, who dedicated a great deal of time organizing and preparing materials for a smooth school start-up. Furthermore, our Catholic School Council members continue to be actively involved in ensuring our school is a remarkable place to work, to learn and to play.

We are also pleased and fortunate to continue to work alongside our school trustees Mr. Darryl D’Souza- Brampton Ward 6 and Ms. Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi – Caledon Ward 2, and our Family of Schools Superintendent, Viviana Varano. Our trustees and superintendent, guide and support the great work at St. Aidan Catholic School.

We welcome Father Ravi Babu Kakumanu!

Father Ravi Babu Kakumanu the Pastor of Guardian Angels Parish along with the Pastoral team, will continue to provide our school community with spiritual guidance. We look forward to our collaboration in nurturing the essential partnership between school, home, and parish.

Ms. Hukil, the staff and I look forward to working with you and your children to provide a rewarding year, both spiritually and academically. Our goal is to make St. Aidan Elementary School a place where Catholic values are lived daily, where children are excited about learning, where excellence thrives, where students and staff work safely and where we all take pride in our accomplishments. Together, we will continue to create a Catholic community, through prayer, following Jesus’ message of love and learning with each other.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you back to school and work in collaboration with all stakeholders to provide St. Aidan students with an outstanding Catholic Education!

To all, our best wishes for a very successful school year.

Growing Together,

Principal A. Dalli and Vice Principal N. Hukil

We look forward to seeing all parents and students on Wednesday, September 18th, at our Open House and Book Fair. (Details to follow.)

Mrs. Dalli & Mrs. Hukil

A WARM WELCOME TO ALL!

Class Placements

An email will be sent out on Saturday, August 31st via School Messenger.

Please note we may require reorganization on Monday September 16th which is a PA Day for students. As such, we will not be moving any students until that time.

First Day of School – Tuesday September 3, 2024

All staff will be outside at 8:05 a.m. to receive and welcome students. Classroom teachers will have a designated area (look for grade level sign), to gather their students. Incase of rain we will be gathering in the Gym.

Save-the-Date- Welcome Back Meet and Greet and Book Fair September 18th 5p.m.-7p.m

Please ensure that you are set up for School Cash Online. The ordering window for Pizza will be open from September 5-12. Orders can only be placed through School Cash Online. No cash will be accepted for Pizza.

We will have snack items available for cash in the foyer also.

We will also be running our Annual Book Fair Event this week. Purchases can be made on the evening of Sept 18th .

School Hours

Supervision begins at 8:05 a.m.

*Please note that school begins promptly at 8:20 a.m. please ensure that all students are at school on time,

Also, there is no supervision for students after 2:50 p.m. unless they are enrolled in the

YMCA after school program

New School Year Prayer

Good and Gracious God, as a new school year begins,

Fill the hearts of our students with an eagerness to learn:

About the world You have created,

About themselves and

Most of all about You!

Bless our teachers with the gifts of wisdom and patience,

That they may help students find the truth.

Give our parents generous hearts,

To encourage and support their sons and daughters.

Help us all work together to form a community of learning

That teaches not only skill for material success,

but all that we need

To live our faith fully in this world.

Amen

During the month of September we will focus on the virtue of Faith.

God made us to live together as a family community.

From the perspective of the Catholic Graduate Expectations, a person of faith…

• Knows the saving story of our Christian faith
• Speaks the language of life
• Prays and worships God

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1)

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

• First Day of School

Monday, September 16, 2024

• PA Day - No School

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

• Welcome Back Event and Book Fair Evening

September 23 - 27, 2024

• Truth & Reconciliation Week

Monday, September 30, 2024

• Orange Shirt Day

Upcoming Events are posted on the Events webpage on the DPCDSB website: DPCDSB Upcoming Events

Popcorn sale on Thursday, September 5th. We will be selling Butter Salt, Salt & Vinegar and White Cheddar for $ 2.

Parents are welcome to drop off their child(ren)'s lunch to our lunch table. Please be sure it is labelled with their name and teacher. If children will be going home for lunch each day, it is our expectation that your child will go directly to their own home and then return to school. A written note signed by a parent/guardian will be required for any students who normally stay for lunch to go out for lunch. Students are encouraged to arrive at school with a full, reusable water bottle along with snacks and lunch each day.

Please note that 3rd party delivery is not permitted.

Due to safety reasons St. Aidan school will not accept food deliveries for students from any third party delivery services.

This year St. Aidan will be starting a Birthday Book Club. At the end of your child’s birthday month, he/she will be invited to a special celebration in the library where they will receive a slice of pizza and a juice box. They will also be able to select a new book from the Birthday Book Club collection to “donate” to the library. We will place a bookplate honouring your child on the inside of the front cover & take a picture of your child that they will be bringing home. Students will receive an invitation to the celebration one week before the celebration. You will be able to make a $20 donation through cash online. The Birthday Book Club is a way to recognize your child’s birthday while helping our Library Learning Commons continue to build its collection. More information to follow!

The email will be sent out on Saturday, August 31st via School Messenger to Guardian 1 and 2 as per PowerSchool records that list the contact has custody and access to the child’s record. The email will include teacher name, grade, homeroom and room number.

We Respect!

The school will be engaged in class and school wide activities during Truth & Reconciliation Week Sept. 23 - 27, 2024 and Orange Shirt Day September 30, 2024.

We believe!!

Youth Faith Ambassadors will be leading us in liturgical celebrations.

At St. Aidan we are very proud to have achieved Platinum.

Our Eco Warriors will continue to plan and organize events.

If you are First Nation (Status Indian or Non-Status Indian), Métis and/or Inuit you can self-identify as Indigenous. You do not need to produce any documentation or proof of ancestry. Self-identification is voluntary and confidential.

“This has been really important for us because of the sense of community and the connection to other Indigenous families.” ~ Melanie Cormier, parent

Self-identification will provide access to culture and language programs and monthly programming for students and families. Relevant information will be sent directly to you about upcoming cultural events and opportunities which help to build community and a sense of Indigenous pride in Dufferin-Peel.

To learn more about opportunities for Indigenous students and families please visit: https://www3.dpcdsb.org/students/indigenous-self-identification

On Wednesday October 9th St. Aidan will be hosting the first Catholic Parent Council Meeting of 2024-25. This will also serve as the last official meeting of our previous year’s council.

The meeting will be held in our school library from 6:30-7:30pm. Should you wish to be a voting member of our council please read through our bylaws thoroughly to ensure that you meet the criteria for the position that you are interested in. Note that a rationale, completed nomination form and a current Vulnerable Sector Criminal Reference Check dated within the last 6 months is needed to participate on Parent Council. Applications without these 3 components will not be processed. Also note that council meets approx. 4-5 times per year and requires quorums to vote on agenda items so your attendance at all meetings is required. Complete packages will be accepted via email at St.AidanInfo@dpcdsb.org or in person at the school office until Wednesday September 18 2024.

Just a reminder that if you are interested in volunteering within the school in any capacity, including field trips, student support, Catholic School Council member, etc., a Valid Criminal Reference Check (CRC), with Vulnerable Sector and Local Records Check is required. Due to COVID closures and not having volunteers in the schools for multiple years, many of our filed CRC and CRC Annual Declarations have lapsed. Therefore, we would like to begin now for any possible volunteer opportunities that may arise this year. Please note that there may be some time required to process a CRC, thus waiting for an announced volunteer opportunity to obtain your CRC may not provide sufficient time for processing. Therefore, we are asking all parents that if you feel that you may be interested in volunteering in any capacity in the school this year, it may be best to start the process now.

As planning has begun with respect to formulating classes and general school organization for the 2024-2025 school year, please inform the office as soon as possible if you are planning to move between now and September 2024. Also, if you have already moved and not informed the office of your new address, please do so immediately as our school records must be accurate at all times.

With the arrival of warmer temperatures and more time spent outdoors, we wanted to remind you how to protect yourself and your loved ones from Blacklegged Ticks, which are native to our region, live in wooded areas, tall grasses and bushes, and may carry Lyme Disease. In this regard, we encourage you to read the attached fact sheet from Health Ontario which indicates how to prevent tick bites when outdoors.https://files.ontario.ca/moh-lyme-en-factsheet-2019-11-20.pdf

It is important for students to be at school on time and ready to work. When students are late they miss important information and routines. We realize that throughout the year there will be times that your child will be away from school.

SafeArrival is an application within SchoolMessenger that will allow parents/guardians to report their children’s absences in one of the following three ways:

SchoolMessenger App

SchoolMessenger website https://go.schoolmessenger.ca

Toll Free number 1-844-435-3440

What is SafeArrival:

SafeArrival is an absence management system that improves student safety.

It supports school staff to follow up on unexcused absences.

It allows parents and/or guardians to notify the school in advance about an upcoming absence.

In the event that your child is late or absent, please use one of the three ways to access Safe Arrival.

Students who arrive late to school must proceed to the office to sign in.

If your child rides the bus daily, it is important that they are aware of the safety rules on the bus. Students are required to:

• Listen to the Bus Driver at all times and report any problems or injuries to him/her
• Go directly to their assigned seat and remain seated during the entire bus ride
• Do not eat, drink, swear, fight or chew gum on the bus
• Do not put arms out the window, or throw items or garbage out the window
• Be at least 5 minutes early at your bus stop to ensure that you don't miss the bus

Improper conduct on the bus will be dealt with at the Office. Repeated or serious incidents can result in busing privileges being suspended or removed. Please review these rules with your child.