St. Patrick's Blog Week of January 6th, 2014

St. Patrick's Blog

Week of January 6th, 2014

I hope our entire community enjoyed a peaceful and restful break with their families and friends.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very prosperous 2014.  While our students may be still playing with some video games, sports equipment or electronics that they received from Santa, the secular-commercial celebration of Christmas has come to an end.  However, the spiritual celebration of Christmas, from a Catholic point of view, endures.  The Christmas season in most Christian faiths continues through the baptism of Jesus on January 12th.  We take this time to continue to revel in the presence of the new-born saviour in our lives.  As we begin our new year  in 2014, let us also recognize the role model of Jesus, born to humble beginnings at Christmas.

I would be remiss in not rewinding a few weeks ago to our last few days of December at St. Pat's.  Our production group presented the play "Christmas Scene Investigators" to the full student population on Wednesday, December 18th.  It was great to see so many of our students involved with the cast, as well as behind the scenes of the production.  Thank you to all of our staff, especially Mr. Leury, who were involved in the planning, organization and practice.  On the Thursday before our Christmas break, Ms. Reilly and our musical groups presented a fantastic repertoire of songs.  Our full band, the Jam Session and glee club performed to a very receptive student body.  Many staff indicated that this was one of the most successful musical presentations in recent St. Pat's history.  Thank you to the dedication of all of our musicians, and a special thank you to Ms. Reilly who spends a great deal of time ensuring that our students are working hard and are well prepared.

Since the beginning of the year, a group of educators including the school administration, our guidance counsellor, resource, English as a Second Language (ESL) and student success teachers have been working hard to identify any students at St. Patrick's who may be experiencing difficulty.  We take feedback from current teachers, past EQAO scores as well as current classroom progress into account when reviewing student progress.  Any students requiring additional support are highlighted and a plan is put into place to discuss options.  If you have any questions, or concerns about your son/daughter's current progress, please contact the school administration.

Under a provincial Ministry of Education initiative, schools across the province are encouraged to apply for “Speak-UP” project grants at the beginning of the school year.  The projects should focus on ways of involving our youth voice in improvement activities at the school.  St. Patrick’s submitted applications for two projects, and we have found out that both were approved.  Congratulations to Paul Kozak our Chaplaincy Leader and Milena Paniccia our Guidance Counsellor who both had their speak-up grants approved just before our break.  Mr. Kozak’s “St. Pat’s Cares” and our student services initiative “Shamrock Hand of Welcome” will support student activities this year.  

Have a great week!

Sean Kelly