St. Luke, Nepean Catholic Elementary School April, 2015 Newsletter Our Motto: Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You Principal: Anne Marie Duncan School Phone: 613-825-2520 Superintendent: Peter Atkinson Trustee: Spencer Warren Visit us at https://luk.ocsb.ca – this newsletter is posted there 2014-2016 Board Spiritual Theme: Restore One Another In a Spirit of Gentleness Catholic Graduate Expectation Theme this month: Faith Lenten Charity at St. Luke Our global charity this Lenten season has been the Birthing House in Penyam Village, the Gambia, West Africa. This house was built in response to a need to provide the women of Penyam Village a safe place to give birth. We have fundraised to replenish supplies such as birthing kits, and to provide a new front door, generators and solar paneling. Please visit founder Shauna Mullally’s blog at: http://www.penyembirthinghouse.blogspot.ca/ Thanks to your generosity, we raised an astonishing $3750.15! On top of this, our Catholic School Council donated the proceeds from popcorn sales during Lent – a whopping $713. A sincere and heartfelt thank you to this wonderful community for the kindness and caring which you show at every turn! St. Luke students Sarah Genereaux and Christopher Jenkins generously offered their hair to victims of cancer to make wigs. In their honour, we took the proceeds from Crazy Hair Day on March 26th - $170 - and gave them to the charity which is receiving their hair: Hair Donation Ottawa http://www.designit.ca/hdo/aboutus.html We are very proud of you, Sarah and Chris! There is no school on Good Friday (April 3rd), or on Easter Monday (April 6th). Our next School Council meeting is Thursday, April 9th at 6:30pm in the Staffroom. All are welcome. Dance education group “Luv 2 Groove” will be giving workshops to each class during the week of April 13th. Check them out at http://www.luv2groove.com/. Our Catholic School Council is hosting a family movie night on Friday, April 17th, starting at 5:30pm. More information to follow. Grade 6 graduation photo retakes will be on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Catholic Education Foundation of Ottawa (CEFO) is hosting a fundraising gala on April 23rd. Please see the flyer at this link: Gala Flyer St. Luke, Nepean Catholic Elementary School Friday, April 24th is a PD Day – there is no school for students. On Tuesday, April 28th, our students will enjoy performances by Rag and Bone Puppet Theatre – one performance for JK-Grade 3, and one for the Junior students. Check the out at http://www.ragandbone.ca/ On Wednesday, April 29th at 7pm, the St. Luke Choir presents The Spyglass musical, music and lyrics by our own Library Technician and Choir/Drumming Director, Michelle Sherwin. Tickets are $2 at the door. Education Week Open House – Save the date! On Wednesday, May 6th we will have our Open House from 8:00 – 9:30 am, then special presentations by our choir, our Dance Showcase team and our Drumming team afterwards in the Gym. Our Easter mass will follow at 10:45am in the Gym also. Please join us! Reporting Vaccinations You might have read in the March 21st Ottawa Citizen about the percentage of students who are vaccinated in each Ottawa school. According to their statistics, only 86.7% of St. Luke students have been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and only 33.3% of our students have been vaccinated against Diphtheria, Polio and Tetanus (DPT). In all likelihood, these statistics are higher, but Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has not received the information. These vaccines are mandatory to attend school in Ontario. Three additional vaccines have been added as mandatory to those required to attend school in Ontario: meningococcal disease, varicella (chickenpox) and pertussis (whooping cough). Accurate immunization record-keeping relies on parental input to OPH. To update your child’s immunization, contact OPH at 613-580-6744, at [email protected], and fax at 613-5809660. Make sure that the immunization record clearly shows the child’s name, birth date, OHIP number, and school. Thank you for your assistance and cooperation in this important endeavour. Preparing for EQAO testing Students in Grade 3 and 6 write the EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) provincial standardized tests each year, in late May and early June. We prepare them for these tests in every grade, however. Please peruse the EQAO website at http://www.eqao.com/Parents/parents.aspx?Lang =E for further parent resources. Are you moving? To assist us in our planning for the 2015 – 2016 school year, please let us know if you are moving and therefore will not be returning to St. Luke School in September. Please send a note to the school, or call Soula Pezoulas, our Office Administrator, indicating the new school which your child or children will be attending. Thank you for your help. Kindergarten Registration is ongoing. Please encourage friends and family to register in JK for September. The best advertising is word-ofmouth! Happy Easter! 2