St. Pat's Intermediate September 5-9

Welcome Back to School!

I would like to extend a very warm return to our grade 8 students and families, and an enthusiastic welcome to our grade 7's.  We are excited to begin the learning process within our school community this year.

On Tuesday, we will have a special schedule providing some additional time in homebase so that teachers can provide students with information about the school year, and distribute a number of forms that we are asking students to bring home to their parents/guardians.  Included in this package is a welcoming letter from me.  

Our staff met last week for a liturgy and to review directions for the school year, and I had the opportunity to thank a number of people at that time.  I would also like to share with our entire community my appreciation of the custodial staff, led by Mr. Joanisse, as well as our office administrators Ms. Clarke and Ms. Foley for their extensive work preparing for the start of this year.  

Our Welcome BBQ for new students and families last Wednesday was a huge success. The weather was perfect, giving everyone the opportunity to remain outdoors and meet. I'd like to thank our School Council for all their hard work and effort. The first School Council meeting is Tuesday, September 27 at 7 p.m. in Learning Commons 1. I encourage those interested to come out and get involved.

It is exciting to start another school year. One initiative that I will continue will be to keep students, parents and guardians up to date with school news through this blog.  There are other modes of communicating with the school found on the welcoming letter from me that your son/daughter will bring home on Tuesday.  Please review this and feel free to contact the school anytime.

Meet the Staff Evening
Our Meet the Staff Evening is this Thursday, Sept. 8 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. We look forward to meeting our community at this casual meet-and-greet event. We will start the evening by gathering together in the cafeteria. Hope to see you there!

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great first week back.

Don Murphy

Principal



Coming Up
Tues. Sept. 27:  School Council Meeting at 7 p.m., Learning Commons 1

St. Patrick's Intermediate June 27-July 1

Excursion to Calypso and La Ronde

On Friday our grade 7's went to the water park at Calypso and our grade 8's went to La Ronde in Montreal.  We were so fortunate to have excellent weather at both venues...sunny and not overly hot. Everyone arrived back home safely and all had a good time.  Thanks so much to staff for organizing both events and for supervising.  

Grade 8 Closing Ceremonies

Grade 8 closing ceremonies will take place on Monday, June 27 at Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica at 1:30 p.m. Grade 8 students have already been given tickets for the celebration. Students will need to be driven from the school on Monday to Notre Dame by a parent/guardian. We ask that students and family members arrive no earlier than 1 p.m. because there is a noon mass at Notre Dame and we will not be permitted to enter until mass is finished. When the doors to Notre Dame open, students should go to their assigned seating area according to their homebase. Parents and guardians will be seated immediately behind the student area. After the ceremony, students and family members are invited back to the school for a reception.

Grade 7 Awards Ceremony

On Monday, June 27, our grade 7 students will be recognized for their academic achievements at our Grade 7 Awards Ceremony at 9:15 a.m. Parents/guardians will be notified if their child will be receiving an award.

Lunch

Just a reminder that our school cafeteria is now closed for the school year; hence, students will not be able to purchase lunch from the servery.

2016-17 Student Transportation Information

Route Information will be available to parents as of August 19 via the online Parent Portal. Student transportation information can be found using Stop Finder found at www.ottawaschoolbus.ca which will link to the BusPlanner-Parent Portal. Parents are asked to enter the student's last name, birthdate, school and grade in order to access route and stop information.

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Final Blog for 2015-16 School Year

As this is my final blog until the new school year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank St. Patrick's students, staff, and parent community for the support and commitment that they have shown this year. A special thank you to our School Council for the support that they have demonstrated. I look forward to welcoming our new and returning students in September. I wish everyone a restful and relaxing summer.

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Intermediate June 20-24

Congrats Girls' Softball

Our girls' softball team won the Consolation Final at the softball tournament on Wednesday. The girls were amazing, finishing the day with three wins and two losses. Way to go, girls!

School Trips this week

Grade 7 Calypso Trip: Our grade 7 students will be travelling to Calypso water park on Friday as part of our year-end celebrations.  Students will be organized into groups based on a swim test at the park.  A reminder to parents and guardians that students will return from the water park at 5:15 to the school.  Students must be picked up at this time.

Grade 8 La Ronde Trip: This trip is an end-of-year celebration for the grade 8 students at St. Patrick’s Intermediate and will proceed rain or shine this Friday as well.  Students participating in the field trip will travel by bus to the amusement park.  They will depart from the school at 8:00 am and return at 8:00 pm.  Students must arrange to be picked up from school at 8:00pm by a parent or guardian.

YMCA Trip

A number of our students, including Stand Up Award winners, travelled to the YMCA camp in Dunrobin for activities and leadership skill training. The weather was perfect and everyone had a wonderful time. Special thanks to Ms. Corriveau for organizing this.

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy
Principal

St. Patrick's Intermediate June 13-17

2015-16 Student Transportation Information

Route information will be available to parents as of August 19, 2016.  Student Transportation Information can be found using the “Stop Finder” located on the http://www.ottawaschoolbus.ca/ website which will link to the “BusPlanner - Parent Portal”. Parents are asked to enter the student’s last name, birthdate, school and grade in order to access route and stop information.

Transportation Information During the Fall
We would ask parents to advise St. Patrick’s school directly of any changes to student home or caregiver address.  OSTA will require a minimum of three business days to implement a change to transportation services.

YMCA Trip

A number of our students, including Stand Up Award winners, will be travelling to the YMCA camp in Dunrobin for activities and leadership skill training on Thursday, June 16th.  This is an on-going tradition at St. Patrick’s where students work in small groups to accomplish various activities and tasks.

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy
Principal

Coming Up

Tuesday, June 14:  St. Patrick's Intermediate School Council meeting, 7 p.m., Learning Commons Building 1

St. Patrick's Intermediate June 6-10

Holodomor National Awareness Tour

On Friday, some of our students had the opportunity to become more aware of the Holodomor, a famine led by Joseph Stalin.  In this vehicle students are able to access digital materials, read stories by survivors, and understand the importance of protecting Canadian values of freedom and democracy. Students found this to be an extremely enriching experience overall as it connects with curriculum expectations on the Holocaust and on the novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, all studied in grade 8.

St. Matthew High School Collaboration
A few months ago, some of our grade 7 students studying the novel The Outsiders went to St. Matthew High School to collaborate with other classes studying the same novel.  This work continued afterwards via digital media.  On Thursday, St. Matt's visited us in order to take part in some final activities, dressing as characters from the novel.  This experiential learning opportunity really enhanced the study of the novel overall and provided students with many skills surrounding the important concept of working with others and of using digital media in an appropriate manner.

Boys' Touch Football  

Congratulations to our boys' touch football team who beat Immaculata, clinching the Tier 2 championship.  Way to go, guys!  

Professional Development Day

Don't forget that this coming Friday, June 10 is a Professional Development Day for all OCSB schools, meaning that there is no school for students.

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at 

chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy

Principal

Coming Up

Tuesday, June 14:  St. Patrick's Intermediate School Council meeting, 7 p.m., Learning Commons Building 1

St. Patrick's Intermediate May 30 to June 3

Arts Night at St. Pat's High
On Thursday at St. Pat's High we celebrated our Arts Night, with musical performances by our St. Pat's Intermediate Concert Band and Jazz Band as well as a play performance, Comic Book Artist, by our drama students.  Special thanks goes out to teachers Mary Reilly and Gabe Leury for an extremely successful and entertaining evening.



Grade 8 Retreat 
This Monday our grade 8 Retreat will take place.  This is a result of us having to cancel our planned date in the fall due to poor weather conditions.  The grade 7's had an extremely successful retreat experience in the fall and I am sure the 8's will as well on Monday.

School Innovation Planning for student achievement and wellness (SIPsaw)

A group of staff from St. Patrick’s participated in the Board’s SIPsaw planning date this past week.  This is an opportunity to set academic and student wellness goals for our 2016-2017 school year.  The team focused on initiatives in the areas of faith development, literacy, numeracy and diversity.  Our school is proud of our goal work this year and we look forward to the initiatives for focus next year.  

May 31 School Council Meeting
A special School Council Meeting will be held on May 31 from 7-9 p.m. in Learning Commons 1.  Members from our Board will be present to explain and answer questions about our joining of St. Pat's High School in September, 2018. Families and School Council members from our feeder schools have been formally invited as this year's current grade 4's will enter grade 7 in a newly constructed structure on the site of St. Pat's High School.  These certainly are interesting and exciting times for both St. Pat's Intermediate and St. Pat's High School.

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at 

chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy

Principal

Coming Up
Tuesday, May 31:  St. Patrick's Intermediate School Council meeting, 7-9 p.m., Learning Commons Building 1

St. Patrick's Intermediate May 23-27

Student Success Visit
On Tuesday a team from the Board visited us for our annual Student Success Visit.  We visited twelve classrooms and then reviewed our past and future goals, celebrating our successes and outlining what it is we need to work on. This visit went extremely well and will form the foundation for our School Innovation Plan for Student Achievement and Well-Being, which we will be working on this coming Thursday.







4th Aboriginal Lecture Series

For the past three years, Pleasant Park Public School Council has hosted three aboriginal lectures.  This year, St. Patrick Intermediate School Council has partnered with others, including St. Patrick High School Council to present a fourth aboriginal lecture series at Rideau High School on May 25th.  For more information, please access this link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByrlYMrTjslHVEozVlc4STFYaWhlb290REcwZzNUbi1hcmZ3

May 31 School Council Meeting
A special School Council Meeting will be held on May 31 from 7-9 p.m. in Learning Commons 1.  Members from our Board will be present to explain and answer questions about our joining of St. Pat's High School in September, 2018. Families and School Council members from our feeder schools have been formally invited as this year's current grade 4's will enter grade 7 in a newly constructed structure on the site of St. Pat's High School.  These certainly are interesting and exciting times for both St. Pat's Intermediate and St. Pat's High School.

Important Contact Information

Our School Council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at 

chair@StPatsInt-council.ca

Our Trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy

Principal

Coming Up

Wednesday, May 25:  4th Aboriginal Lecture Series, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Rideau High School (see information above).

Tuesday, May 31:  St. Patrick's Intermediate School Council meeting, 7-9 p.m., Learning Commons Building 1.