St. Patrick's Blog Week of Sept. 28-Oct. 2

School Council Meeting - Monday, September 28

I would strongly encourage all members of our school community to join us at our first School Council meeting of the year this Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in our Learning Commons.  This is an opportunity for us to share information about our student activities, our school and the learning experiences we are offering.  Our meeting on Monday will be an opportunity to review information from last year as well as to fill positions for the St. Patrick’s School Council for the 2015-2016 school year.  As mentioned at our Meet the Staff evening, the focus for our school council has always been the mutual sharing of information.  Please come out and provide us with an opportunity to speak more about our plans for the school year.

Terry Fox Run - Thursday, October 8

We have been encouraging students to assist with fundraising for our Terry Fox run which is coming up in October. This is a great community building activity that goes to a very worthy cause. We are hoping to raise $5000 this year.

Homework Club

Homework Club starts up again this coming Wednesday from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30. This provides students with an opportunity to complete assignments right after school and to obtain help from staff if necessary. Transportation home after Homework Club is the responsibility of the student.

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This Week

Monday, September 28:

• 7:00 pm - School Council meeting

Have a great week,

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of September 21-25

Meet the Staff Evening

I would like to thank all of our parents and guardians who joined us for our meet the staff evening last Thursday.  It was great sharing our direction for the year with such a large crowd.  If there is any information that you require between now and our first set of interviews on November 12, I would encourage you to contact the school.  Teachers do not have voice mail at St. Patrick’s; however, our office administrators would be happy to leave a message for you.

School Photo Day

Students will be called down during the day for school photos on Thursday, September 24.  There is no need to send money ahead of time, students will receive picture proofs, and parents can make decisions about ordering later on.  For helpful hints from Edge Imaging, simply click here:  

Photo Day Information

Dine Out Ottawa Sept. 22

For information on Dine Out Ottawa, which supports various Ottawa school Breakfast Programs, please click on the following link: 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByrlYMrTjslHbEhhTllvemxQamoxS0FPNmVFYWFKNGtrekNn

Homebase T-shirts

Students are encouraged to purchase a homebase t-shirt this week through their homebase teacher. The shirts are worn during intramurals when classes play against each other.  We also put them on for our Terry Fox run on October 8.  It’s a great opportunity to see all of our classes represented by different colours.  The cost of the t-shirts is subsidized by the school and they only cost $5, with some gently used ones selling for $2.

Grade 7 and 8 Math Diagnostic Testing

Our grade 7 and 8 students will all be involved in a diagnostic Math test on Tuesday (7's) and Wednesday (8's) of this week.  The students are told that there is absolutely no preparation or study required for the session. This is a baseline test to provide information to the staff regarding the learning process of our students.  Most of the information on the test will be a review of concepts learned prior to grade 7.

Student Verification Sheets

Student verification sheets will be sent home on Monday. Please have a look at this important information and make any changes necessary. The forms are due back to the school on Friday, September 25.

Dress-Down Day on Friday

On Friday, for a small donation of $2 which goes to charity, students will be able to wear appropriate non-uniform clothing. This will be mentioned at our Monday Morning Assembly as well as what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate clothing items.

Wishing everyone a great week,

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of September 14-18

Opening Week

We had a great first week at St. Patrick’s Intermediate.  There were a number of orientation sessions for students so they could quickly become comfortable in their surroundings.  Grade level assemblies gave us an opportunity to speak to students about being kind to each other and steps to take if bullied or if a witness to bullying.  We have a strong tradition at St. Patrick’s of demonstrating care and concern for each other.  This doesn’t happen by accident - we need to continually review our approaches and make sure we are all content both in and outside the classroom.  

Boot Camp Organization

Our annual “Boot Camp” provided a separate morning for grade 7’s and 8’s to review expectations in 4 different areas.  Our staff outlined information and answered questions in the areas of Respect and Responsibility, Community Resources and the use of Technology as a learning tool.  Mr. Murphy and Ms. Burgoyne spent time in the fourth session reviewing routine expectations and speaking to goal setting.  Mr. Murphy also spent some time explaining that the $25 student fee is used to help offset costs completely related to student activities throughout the year. It would be greatly appreciated if student fees could be paid as quickly as possible and via the new online payment system. Any questions regarding student fees may be directed to the school.

Monday Morning Assembly

For our grade 7 students, our weekly Monday Morning Assembly will be a new experience in organization and in building spirit.  We gather Monday mornings as a full community to listen to our Glee club sing O Canada, to pray and reflect, and to review the weekly agenda.  Another part of our assemblies include student presentations that shine light on learning skills, gospel values and our Catholic Graduate Expectations.

Meet the Staff Night

We are hoping all of our parent/guardian community is able to join us on September 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm for our Meet the Staff evening.  It provides us an opportunity to introduce staff, discuss school priorities and answer any questions that our community might have.  Please contact the school if you require some language support for this evening.

Have a great week.

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of September 8-11

St. Patrick's Blog

September 8-11

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 thisyear.  

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 the administration which is also on our website.  

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 our 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 Thursday 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 Monday, September 28 at 7 p.m. 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 the administration that your son/daughter will bring home on Tuesday.  Please review this and feel free to contact the school anytime.

Have a great first week back.

Don Murphy
Principal