Mrs. Wheeler's Weekly Update- March 4
Dear Parents/Guardians of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School:
We have a snowy weekend ahead of us, stay safe and take lots of breaks while shovelling snow! I will not produce a Weekly Update for the March Break, so this week’s will be a bit more detailed than it normally is.
Seton hosted two Black History Assemblies on Thursday, with over one hundred parents and grandparents in attendance. Mr. Jim McCafferty, our Trustee for the City of Pickering attended both presentations, and commented on how excited the children were to be presenting what they have been learning about authentic inclusion and anti-black racism. Special thanks to Ms. Lewis and Ms. Riviere for their equity leadership. Every day is another opportunity to learn more about Canadian History, which is Black History, Indigenous History, the story of all Canadians past and present.
You will find enclosed a form concerning Term 1 Report Card Conferencing. I delayed sending this form out due to the electronic challenges the Board was facing with Report Cards. The form is similar to what we have used previously. Conferencing is optional, occurring if either parents or educators feel it would be valuable to connect. For students with Individual Education Plans, home and/or school may wish to have a School Team Meeting in the event that there are specific modifications, alternate programming or new information that would be important to share. Feel free to use this form, or if you prefer, message your child’s teacher on the classroom Edsby.
During this season of Lent, our school continues to focus on Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving as tangible ways of living the message of this season. I will have an update on a Lenten Food Drive the week after we come back from the March Break. Our Two Lenten Masses this week were beautiful opportunities for us to pause and remember how important time for prayer and reflection is.
At Board meetings this past week, we learned that Durham Student Transportation is going to be now providing information concerning bus cancellations on their website, but not directly communicating with the Board on a daily basis. What does this mean? It means that you need to be following any cancellations on the DSTS website rather than waiting for a message from our Parent Edsby – please sign up for notifications if you have not already done so: https://www.dsts.on.ca/.
If you need help confirming your child’s bus numbers ( in a few cases the bus numbers are different for the am and pm routes), please reach out to our Office and we will be most pleased to assist you.
Save the Date: Wednesday May 3rd – our amazing Catholic School Council already has some great plans underway for a Seton community night. Details will follow shortly, but mark your calendars Seton Stars!
Lastly, a remember that this Friday March 10th is a Non-Instructional Day. Thursday will be our final day together before the March Break, and we will ensure that students head to the Break with the items they will need for their week away. As well, for those of us who are Irish or who wish they were, Thursday will be Green Day in honour of the great St. Patrick. Whatever your plans for the March Break, whether they involve big plans or plans within Durham Region, be safe and God bless our Seton Family. See everybody on Monday March 20th.
Mrs. Wheeler, Principal