St. Daniel Comboni
Newsletter for JUNE 2021
Principal : A. Scigliano
Vice-Principal : S. Salameh
Superintendent: T. Peel
Trustee: Brampton Wards 2, 5 and 6: Darryl D’Souza
Head Secretary: D. Whiteman
Asst. Secretary: J. Harvey
120 Veterans Drive, Brampton, ON, L7A 3Z7
P: (905) 495-4621 F: (905) 495-8620
dpcdsb.org/COMBO
School Council Chair: A. Marchao
SCHOOL HOURS
The school hours for students are as follows:
9:15 a.m Class Begins
12:16-1:16 p.m Lunch
3:45 p.m. Class Dismissal
WELCOME TO THE LION'S PRIDE
Prayer for the End of the School Year
God of wisdom,
We thank you for all the gifts
you have given us throughout this school year.
We praise you for giving us life,
for saving us in Christ,
and for choosing us to be your people.
As we come to the end of this school year,
we voice our gratitude for the good things you have done in us,
and we praise you for all who have shared in the work of this school.
We ask you to bless them in your love and give them refreshment and peace.
We praise you, God,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
Administrator's Message
We greet the end of another school year with grateful hearts for the many blessings our Lord has bestowed upon us. Although this year has been unlike any other, we have been blessed in recognizing the value of having each other's company and being together to share our daily adventures. It is hard to believe that Distance Learning will continue for the remaining weeks and we will close this academic year with a “virtual” good bye.
Throughout this unprecedented time, we have been inspired with the exemplary acts of compassion, dedication, work ethic and professionalism of our staff. In addition, we are in awe of the ways we have remained “together and connected” as a school community despite being apart, and thank our beautiful families for your patience, acceptance and support as we have “learned’ these online platforms while balancing the pressures of work and home. We are incredibly proud of our Lions for their adaptability to our new way of learning, perseverance with tech issues, and motivation to work hard. Our Lions rose to the challenge even when the changes came down the pipes fast and furious!
A huge shout out to our Custodial Team, for working tirelessly to keep our school and grounds clean, disinfected, healthy and safe for us all.
We would like to thank our Pastor, Father Jan Gogolewski and the entire Guardian Angels Parish Team for leading us in Faith celebrations throughout the year. We look forward to celebrating the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation with our students when it is deemed safe.
We extend our gratitude to our Trustee, Darryl D'Souza, for his continued support of the voices of families in our school community, and the voices of all DPCDSB families for Brampton Wards 2, 5 and 6. Your continued commitment and dedication to Catholic Education is exemplary for all of us.
We extend our profound appreciation to our Superintendent, T. Peel, of the Brampton West Family of schools for her dedication, guidance and support throughout this academic year.
A special thanks to our Catholic School Council under the leadership of chair, Mr. A. Marchao. We thank our members for the many hours of service dedicated to faith, community and fellowship at St. Daniel Comboni.
Lastly, we would like to wish our Grade Eight Graduating class all the best as they venture on to high school. I am confident in our future with these admirable young men and women, knowing that they have the power and will to make a difference in our world. May the gifts of the Holy Spirit guide you and may you look back on your days at St. Daniel Comboni with fond memories, knowing you are loved and will be greatly missed.
Thank you for your kindness and support throughout this extremely challenging year. We have no doubt when we do return, our incredible sense of community will be stronger than ever at St. Daniel Comboni. Please enjoy this summer, savouring in the delights of family, good weather, special hobbies and a whole lot of relaxation.
Please continue to check our Board website: www.dpcdsb.org for any updates on return to school procedures that will be communicated by the Ministry of Education or our Board.
May God continue to bless and keep you and your families safe.
A. Scigliano & S. Salameh
Our Virtue for JUNE (Fairness)
Goodbye, Thank You & Best of Luck!
Each year schools experience teacher transfers and we would like to wish the following teachers best of luck in all of their new endeavors as they embark on a new Journey.
The St. Daniel Comboni Community says goodbye and a big thank you to:
Ms. Casey
Ms. Sousa
Ms. Petrozza
Ms. MacSween
Mr. DeMaestri
Ms. Vella
Each year Long Term Occasional Staff step in and support schools to assist in covering various leaves and we would like to wish the best of luck to our Long Term Occasional Staff that supported us up to the end of the school year here at St. Daniel Comboni. Thank you and best of luck with your new experiences that await:
Ms. Abraham
Ms. Caldito-Brech
Ms. Rego
Mr. Sponagle
Ms. Ferreira
Ms. Borg
Ms. Naguib
Ms. Perez
Ms. Crump
Newcomers to St. Daniel Comboni
A Big Welcome to Newcomers to St. Daniel Comboni!
Each year, especially in a growing community we welcome new staff to our St. Daniel Comboni Family. We would like to welcome some new staff members to St. Daniel Comboni, welcome to:
Ms. Ashien
Ms. Fantin
Ms. Carlini
Mr. Sterling
Ms. Rodrigues
Ms. Sementilli
Ms. Burgos
Ms. File
We are excited for you to join us for the 2021-2022 school year!
Happy Father's Day
We celebrate all our Fathers:
Grandfathers, Fathers, Godfathers, new Fathers, Step-Fathers, Foster Fathers, Adoptive Fathers and all those who care for us in fatherly ways.
We also pray for all Fathers who have entered the heavenly kingdom.
Wishing you a Father's Day that is as unbeatable as all of you!
STUDENT TRANSPORTATION
Opt-Out form for Transportation: Please note that STOPR has now created a new online transportation "Opt-Out" form (TFL005). If you do not require your bus seat, completing this form will update the system and allow for others to access the bus. While this form has always been available in hard copy format, we are very pleased to announce that it is now available for parents/guardians to complete online. A link to this form and additional information is posted on the STOPR website (www.STOPR.ca)
PARENTS CORNER
Guardian Angels
When you choose to send your child to a Dufferin-Peel school, we assure you a holistic Catholic education. We do this through…
· Teaching Religious & Family Life education in each grade,
· living our faith daily through prayer, celebration and liturgy,
· building community and “retreat”,
· active involvement in charity and initiatives of social justice from a Catholic context,
· assisting the Guardian Angels Parish team with the preparation of students for the sacraments,
· ensuring everything we do is embedded with Catholic values and content.
Our school is part of the parish of Guardian Angels Parish. We consider our Pastor, Father Jan Gogolewski to be an integral member of our school community.
Information can be found on the parish website - https://guardianangelsbr.archtoronto.org/
Report Cards
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB) will be providing students with their final report cards through the DPCDSB student email accounts commencing June 22. Please refer to the attachment at the end of the newsletter or the email communication that was sent out recently.
Celebrating the Graduates of 2021
With the recent memo received from our school board, we here at St. Daniel Comboni would just like to confirm for all parents that the graduation ceremony of 2021 will be virtual with a face to face component where students will have the opportunity to come in person to receive their Graduation Diploma.
GRADUATION CEREMONIES
As you may be aware, the province expressed interest in school boards offering some form of in-person recognition to supplement the virtual graduation ceremonies being planned. Prior to the recent announcement by the Premier of Ontario, DPCDSB had been planning for virtual graduation ceremonies followed by an in-person opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate graduating students this year. The in-person component was to be an opportunity for students to return to their school, receive diplomas/awards/certificates as appropriate, return technology and pickup personal items and to be acknowledged and congratulated by school staff.
St. Daniel Comboni staff members would like to acknowledge the achievement, growth and developments of our grade 8 students over the course of their elementary years. Their ongoing leadership and contributions to the St. Daniel community will always be remembered in the highest regard. It is unfortunate that our school year has been impacted by COVID-19, however we will not allow this pandemic to interfere with honouring and recognizing our graduates’ accomplishments!
A Graduation Committee has been working diligently to plan a meaningful celebration with multiple events despite the impact of the current school closure. We appreciate the feedback that we have received from many of you through the earlier board survey, as well as our Catholic School Council members, as this information has helped us to shape this year’s unique graduation activities.
We will have our Graduation Photos on Monday June 14th. Parents will have the opportunity to purchase Grad Photos through our photo vendor and in the fall a Grad composite will be provided free of charge from the school, for all graduates.
On Thursday June 17th, at 7:00 pm, the Archdiocese of Toronto will also be broadcasting a live stream Graduation Address for all of the graduates within the Archdiocese, Hosted by Cardinal Collins. Please see PDF attached and join us.
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/98298917778?pwd=NkZ6a3czZFlXTENKRnFTeGVETXZsQT09
Passcode: uhJPH2
On Friday June 18th at 10:00 am Father Jan will host a virtual End of Year/Graduation mass. This Mass can be accessed using the following link: https://cdn.boltwave.com/ga_brampton_on_ca__cdn_stream.html
On Thursday June 24th, Graduates and their immediate family members will have an opportunity at a scheduled time to pick up graduation diplomas and take a picture at the school with a graduation backdrop that our Graduation Committee is creating for our students. This provides an outdoor special space commemorating our Graduates.
The Virtual St. Daniel Comboni Graduation Ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 24th, 2021. The link will be released to families at 6:30pm. It will include a Graduation Liturgy, words from our honoree guests, Valedictorian speech, and Principal address. Please feel free for the graduates to dress up, ready to celebrate their accomplishments virtually, with their loved ones safely at home.
We wish our Grade 8 Graduates the very best as they approach new challenges, friendships, learning environments, always staying steadfast to their goals and achieving their potential. We look forward to future school visits where we can reconnect and hear their stories of rising above these unprecedented times and finding courage to grow and not be defined by difficult circumstances. We will deeply miss this extraordinary group of students. Despite the obstacles we are very proud of everyone’s resiliency and look forward to celebrating our graduates through these multiple opportunities to do so.
Thank you for your ongoing understanding and support as we work toward making this celebration most memorable for all our Grade 8 students! God bless and keep safe and healthy!
Sincerely,
St. Daniel Comboni Graduation Team
Personal Belongings
St. Daniel Comboni School Access Procedure
Our school access procedure will occur on Friday, June 25, 2021 and Monday, June 28, 2021.
Our schedule will be as follows:
Students with last names from A-M are scheduled to come to the school on Friday June 25th, 2021 at the following times:
9:15- 12:15: Scheduled for students with the last name starting from A-G
1:15- 3:45: Scheduled for students with the last name starting from H-M
Students with the last name N-Z are scheduled on Monday June 28, 2021 at the following times:
9:15- 12:15: Scheduled for students with the last name starting from N-S
1:15- 3:45: Scheduled for students with the last name starting from T-Z
Students and parents/guardians are NOT required to come to the school to retrieve personal belongings if they believe they no longer require these items or if they have nothing to return. Please be aware, however, that any items not picked up will be disposed of according to our regular year end practice. If parents would prefer to come to the school to pick up and drop off at an earlier date, please call the office and we can arrange this, please note that no teachers will be here on those earlier dates requested, but you can certainly come in and drop off Tech and other items and pick up any personal items.
We will also be collecting all school owned devices at this time.
- RETURN OF DPCDSB PROPERTY INCLUDING LEARNING DEVICES
DPCDSB has deployed almost 50,000 devices to students throughout the system to engage in remote learning. In order to conduct an inventory, DPCDSB will require that all learning devices loaned to students over the past year (both elementary and secondary students) must be returned.
Please note, only those few students who are already enrolled in summer school may hold on to their technology, all other technology including all devices and charging cables must to be returned. We ask that all technology is placed in a plastic bag and clearly labeled with your child’s full name and student number.
Pick Up & Drop Off Items
The following items apply for pick up:
- Personal belongings (directly from your child’s teacher)
- EpiPens® or other medications
The following items apply for drop off:
- Special education equipment
- Library Books, Snuggle Up Books (Dropped off at entrance)
- Textbooks
- Technology / Chromebooks (placed in a clear plastic bag and labeled with your child’s full name and student number) Please submit in the Tech Return Bins located near your classroom
- Grade 6/7, and 7/8 classes please return your Edwin Chromebook, charge cable and computer bag, directly to your classroom teacher
School access will occur through all 3 main level school access doors that are located at the back of the school building (in the school yard). There will be social distancing indicators outside of each door, allowing everyone to line up safely as they await access to the school.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you are not able to make your scheduled day
- Please contact the school and make arrangements to schedule a new date. Please Note: Your child’s classroom teacher may not be available during this day as the teacher will be supporting the class online. School office staff will be in the building commencing June 14th to help with these requests.
PPE
- We ask that all parents bring their own PPE (i.e. masks, gloves) for all when accessing the school to keep both themselves and the school staff safe.
Washroom Access
- For your safety, unfortunately there will be no access to either washrooms or water fountains during your visit.
Continuous Learning
- Just a reminder that your classroom teacher will be present at the school during these scheduled access day, thus preventing the teacher from being available for synchronous continuous learning on this day.
Conversations With Teachers
- With a great deal of respect, we understand that all parents are very interested in the educational growth of their child, but this is NOT an appropriate time to discuss this with your child’s teacher. The success of our school procedure and minimizing the wait time for others. Please remind your child to access the classroom and gather their materials as quickly as to ensure safety and social distancing.
Lost and Found / PLASP Items
- There will be a table placed in the gym with these items available for pick up. Please ensure that you follow social distancing measures to access these materials.
Thank you parents for your understanding and patience. Through this exceptionally challenging school year you have all been so very supportive of our school community and it is so greatly appreciated. We are looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces. These are unprecedented times and sometimes unforeseen challenges may arise. We have spent a great deal of time thinking about St. Daniel Comboni and what would work best for our school community, what would be most efficient but most importantly, what would be safest. Short delays and line-ups have become our reality and although we have planned to minimize these, we thank you for your continued support.
Please read the information below before visiting the school as all school entry plans are carefully created with our local health authority for everyone’s safety.
Any person accessing a school should be directed to perform a COVID-19 self-assessment before arriving at the school. The Ministry of Health’s self-assessment can be accessed here: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/
· If the self-assessment directs you to stay home and monitor your health or to get tested for COVID-19, do not come to the school.
· Entry shall be denied to any person who has any of the symptoms outlined in the ‘COVID-19 Reference Document for Symptoms’ on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 website.
o Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever (temperature of 37.8°C or greater), new or worsening cough, and shortness of breath.
o Other symptoms of COVID-19 can include sore throat, difficulty swallowing, new olfactory or taste disorders, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, etc.
· Entry shall also be denied to any person who has been in contact with anyone suspected or confirmed of having COVID-19 in the past 14 days.
· Although it is important to maintain physical distancing of 2 metres at all times, people should consider wearing a non-medical mask/face covering as an extra layer of protection where physical distancing may be difficult. Wearing a homemade mask is beneficial to protecting others from you in the case you have the virus but not showing signs or symptoms.
All visitors will have to verify that they completed COVID screening upon arrival
1) Accessing the School
· Anyone accessing the building should do the following:
o Clean their hands upon entry and upon exit with hand sanitizer.
o Avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.
o Cover a cough and sneeze with a tissue or arm, not a hand.
o Maintain physical distancing of two metres from others and wear a mask in the building and on school property.
· All parents/guardians/students are asked to please leave the building immediately after they have picked up and/or returned devices and other items belonging to the school.
· Persons should be directed to stay only within the area(s) of the school they need to access and refrain from lingering.
· Use of washrooms and drinking fountains is not permitted.
· Persons should not be permitted to gather in groups on the school premises.
Thank you everyone for you continued support in keeping our school community safe!
Kind regards,
St. Daniel Comboni Catholic Elementary School
MOVING?
To help us with our planning for next September, it would be appreciated if you could let us know now if you will be moving out of our school area over the summer. If you know of any families moving into the area with children who plan to attend St. Daniel Comboni, it would be helpful if you could alert us and perhaps let them know that registration can take place online at: www.dpcdsb.org.
The more information we have, the better we are able to organize staff and students for September. In the absence of accurate information, schools often have to reorganize classes in September due to unexpected fluctuations in population.