Sunday, October 27

As we enter a very festive week at All Saints we hope all our students and staff will participate in the many activities our Student Council and staff have planned for our community.

7-8 Progress Reports Distributed: On Wednesday we will communicate current academic performance through a formal Progress Report. The report will provide parents with anecdotal comments and an indicator (checkmark) of the current assessment of student learning. Students will see they are either Progressing Well, Progressing with Difficulty or Progressing Very Well in each academic discipline.

7-8 Parent-Teacher Interviews: Following the distribution of Progress Reports you will receive an email from our school account connecting you to our online interview booking platform. This service offers you the opportunity to book a schedule that hopefully works around your afternoon/evening on November 6. Please note the window for booking closes the night before (November 5) at 11:59pm. If you forget to book before then you will either (1) contact the subject teacher as you would normally do, or (2), hope there is an opening in the subject teachers schedule that evening. Please note teachers will prepare feedback for the 10-minute session provided interviews are books in advance.

Spirit Week: Our awesome Student Council has organized a second Spirit Week, capitalizing on the participation and feedback from our first earlier this year.
Monday: Sweater Day - Sold Out Movie Event Monday evening at All Saints!
Tuesday: Western Day
Wednesday: Grey Day
Thursday: Costume Day (no masks, culturally appropriate)
Friday: PJ Day

Cake Auction: Our annual Cake Auction in support of our Christmas Hampers and Todos Los Santos, our school in the Dominican Republic, will take place on Thursday, October 31st! 

Craft Fair: Our annual Craft Fair will be hosted at All Saints on Saturday, November 2 (10:00am-3:00pm). Our vendors are sold out again with many ideas and gifts for the upcoming Christmas Holidays. We hope to see many families from our community come out to support this fundraiser for our Christmas Hamper collection as well as support for our student Domincan Experience.

Student Vote: 

Last week more than 1.1 million students across Canada, including students in grades 10-12 at All Saints, participated in Student Vote 2019. Student Vote is a mock vote held alongside real elections to raise awareness among young people about the importance of getting out to the polls. When students across the country cast their ballot this past week, they elected a Liberal minority government with the NDP making up the official opposition. The full breakdown of the results can be found HERE. Using the online results platform, the results can be viewed nation-wide, by province/territory, by riding, and for each individual school.

At All Saints, it was a tight race between the NDP and the Conservatives, with 28.7 percent of students supporting the NDP and 27.7 percent voting Conservative. Before casting their vote, students learned about the electoral process, researched party platforms, and participated in a political spectrum survey tailored to young people. The goals of the Student Vote were to get students engaged in the voting process, have them exercise their democratic right to vote, and help them understand the value of democracy and how lucky we are to have it. Some grade 10 Civics, grade 12 Law, and grade 12 Business students also played key roles in the mock election, taking on the job of deputy returning officer, poll clerk or candidate representative. 

Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you and your family were able to celebrate family and gratitude over the weekend. We are truly blessed to live in a place where we can feel safe and know there is a community that we are part of.

Last week All Saints students and staff ventured into the surrounding community to clean the capital. A special thanks to Ms. Lessard for organizing this opportunity for our students to give back to the community that supports them.

We also gathered the high school (9-12) students who are new to our community for an event where they were able to share their first impressions of All Saints as well learning about opportunities to connect to the All Saints community outside of the classroom through sports and extra-curricular activities supported by our great teachers!

This week our 9-12 students will have the opportunity to participate in the Student Vote 2019. With thanks to our dedicated teachers (Mrs. MacKinnon and Mrs. Kirtz) our students will cast private ballots for the candidates and parties participating in the national election.

Action Item:
Please remember we have our first early dismissal (1:30pm) date this week as our 9-12 Parent-Teacher interviews take place on Thursday afternoon and evening. Please make sure to book your 10-minute interview timeslot online using the following links:

High School Parent Teacher Interviews: Teachers Last Names A - M

High School Parent Teacher Interviews: Teachers Last Names N - Z

As the first month of the school year comes to a close we find ourselves fully immersed in the school year. With all our "firsts" done we now look to support all our students as they experience the full course load of academic courses.
A special thanks to the parents who were able to participate in our first School Council meeting last week. I look forward to working with you for many years to come and sharing in the abundance of talent and willingness to make All Saints a great place to learn. 

THIS WEEK:
Monday: All our students are invited to wear an orange shirt on Monday in remembrance of the thousands of indigenous youth who were systematically separated from their homes and communities and placed into residential schools. We wear an orange shirt because it symbolizes the struggle of one indigenous youth (Phyllis Webstad) who was not allowed to wear her favourite shirt upon entering the residential school. Click HERE to access more information about the meaning behind the action of wearing the orange shirt. 
- We will offer a viewing of The Secret Path at lunch in our chapel for any student who would like to see the amazing story of Chanie Wenjack as told through the words and music of the late Gord Downie.

Tuesday: our Grade 12's will participate in "Inspiration Day", a half-day program where our graduating students are provided with the opportunity to define their class legacy, hear strategies for mindfulness during a pressure-packed year, listen to All Saints Alumni who will offer feedback on having successfully walked through their graduating year and build community as a larger group.

Friday: our Grade 7's and 8's will (hopefully!!!) participate in the Terry Fox Run on Friday. Same plan as last week, hopefully more accommodating weather!

ACTION ITEMS:

Please remember to check your closets and storage trunks for used linens. We have partnered with Shepherds of Good Hope to provide them with as many bed linens as possible. The service is in dire need of bedding to serve the growing homeless and working-poor population in Ottawa. Thank you in advance for considering this opportunity to give. Students are asked to drop off any donations in the chapel. 

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY:

Saturday Learning Club - Click HERE to access information about a free program designed to support students learning English as well as students who can use extra support in gaining literacy skills.

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Many thanks for your support and presence in attending our Meet the Staff event last week. It was great to see so many parents actively involved in supporting our students.

On Thursday night I spoke about the importance of having every student connect to our school. By participating in an extra-curricular activity, your child will learn the responsibilities of commitment, manage time, and learn new social skills. The learning that takes place on the field or in a club transfer to the classroom and hopefully academic performance. Please continue to encourage your young person to try out for a team and/or join a club.

In addition to all the learning activities happening in our classrooms this week also has:
HS Leadership Camp
7/8 Girls and Boys Volleyball
HS Girls Basketball
7/8 Girls and Boys Soccer Tournament
7/8 Ultimate Tournament
HS Co-ed Touch Football
7/8 Girls and Boys Flag Rugby
Sr. Boys Volleyball Tournament

This week we'll see the last of the opening activities for the new school year.

Catholic School Council
Please consider joining us for our first Catholic School Council meeting on Monday evening at 7:00pm in our Learning Commons. The council is a community of adults connected to All Saints either by a student, or, in some cases community members who like to be involved. The first meeting includes elections for the upcoming school year as well as information about the start up of our school year.

Opening Liturgies
We will gather as a community this week for our opening liturgies to celebrate the start of the new school year. All students and staff will gather on Wednesday morning in one of two liturgies organized by our Chaplaincy Leader, Paul Kozak. The Ottawa Catholic School Board theme for this year is "Love kindness and mercy". Throughout the year we will create learning opportunities for our students to understand the that love is indeed a verb and that we are called to action in being kind and showing mercy to others. 

September 15

This week we will gather as a staff to provide parents with a brief opportunity to meet the teachers they hear about at home. We will open our doors for you to join us on Thursday evening for our annual Meet the Staff Event. 

It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through September! I am amazed to see and hear about all the amazing opportunities our educators create for your young people both in and outside of the classroom.

Last week we met with our Grade 12 students to share important information and timelines for applying to post-secondary programs, we welcomed our Grade 9's to high school with a series of presentations and group-building exercises in our Amazing Race, we invited Grade 7&8 classes into our chapel to meet our Chaplain and communicate the opportunities for faith development outside of the classroom and we began running practices for many fall teams.

Important Action Items for this week:

Student Council Spirit Week:
- Monday - Beach Day: think Hawaiian shirts and ukeleles!
- Tuesday - Sports Day: think of that vintage jersey hidden somewhere in the basement!
- Wednesday - Disney Day: Who is your favourite character????
- Thursday - Twin Day: Same hair, same clothes, same shoes...
                                                      - Friday - Grade Colour Day -

Meet the Staff Event:
Will will host a BBQ ($6.00=Burger, Chips and a Drink) starting at 4:30. A quick formal address at 5:00 and then meeting the teachers from 5:15-6:30. Click HERE to access a detailed timeline for the event.
Please ask your child to provide you with a list of teachers to visit for this event.



Looking Ahead:

School Council Meeting #1: Monday, September 23 

Week 1 - September 3

And so it begins...
I am happy to share with you that the first day of the 2019-2020 school year is now complete. With the year started, there is so much opportunity for your young person to grow and learn at All Saints. I hope your dinner tables were filled with conversations about the year to come.
I am blessed to be the Principal of All Saints and am proud of the teachers and support staff who choose to work with the young people in your community.
The start-up procedures for the school year likely include course information coming home to you for review as well as other technical pieces that require your active parent participation. Please be sure to ask your young person if there is any paperwork you should be reviewing.

A few action items for you:
- School Cash Online - Please create an account with All Saints. Paying online helps our community and saves finding cash or cheques at the last minute. 
- School Photo Day - Friday, September 6
- Meet the Staff Evening - Thursday, September 19 @4:30-6:30

New Date for School Council
- The first meeting of our School Council will take place on September 23 at 7:00pm in the Learning Commons. The date was changed to allow parents to attend the Meet the Staff event the week earlier.

Back to School Supply Drive
The DREX Team is collecting school supplies to bring to the Dominican Republic in February. There will be a collection box in the main office where students can drop off items.
Thanks for considering helping scholars in the Dominican Republic when our students visit this year. 

All Saints Blog Week of June 10th, 2019

I wanted to begin this week’s blog by taking a moment to thank our entire All Saints School Community. I have proudly served as the Principal of the school for the past four years, and will be moving on to St. Francis Xavier High School next September. While I am anxious for the new challenge, I will definitely miss a community that has been very supportive and involved with their children’s education. You are left in good hands as Ryan Larose, currently an administrator at Notre Dame High School, will step in as Principal for next school year.
A very special thank you to the All Saints School Council, and specifically Michelle Taylor, your chairperson, for the extraordinary effort and time they have put in to support students and staff at the school. This was very evident as the council organized their staff appreciation breakfast last week. I will miss your involvement, advice and friendship.
Additionally, I would like to wish all of our school community a very safe and restful summer.
Sean Kelly

Volunteer Opportunity - CHEO/RBC’s Race for the Kids 

Students are encouraged to look at CHEO’s RBC Race for the Kids as a volunteer opportunity. It is a 2K, 5K and 10K all terrain walk/run event in support of youth mental health programs at CHEO. All of the closed courses make their way through beautiful Wesley Clover Parks - an innovative, four-season outdoor recreation and learning hub located in the National Capital Greenbelt that encircles the City of Ottawa. Further information can be reviewed at the website.

Playground LifeCycle Renewal - Whalen Park

The City is encouraging public feedback on their plans for the playground replacement in Whalen Park, adjacent to All Saints School. More information is available below:
https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-engagement/projects/whalen-park

The following concept plans and images depict the options for playground replacement. The community is invited to provide comments on the plan as shown below.

Concept Plan 1 [ PDF - 2.13 mb ]

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Concept Plan 2 [ PDF - 4.46 mb ]

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Please direct any further comments regarding the proposed concept plans to the Parks Planner listed below.
Contact
Mike Russett, Planner Parks and Facilities Planning
Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services
City of Ottawa
613-580-2424 extension 15459
mike.russett@ottawa.ca

National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism – June 23, 2019
Flags at all Ontario government buildings and establishments across the province will be flown at half-mast from sunrise to sunset on Sunday, June 23, 2019 to mark the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism.

Transportation Information for 2019-2020 School Year

As the end of another school year rapidly approaches, please note of the following information regarding transportation services for the 2019-2020 school year. Additional information is available at OSTA’s website address: www.ottawaschoolbus.ca.

2018-19 Student Transportation Information:
Route information will be available to parents as of August 19, 2019 via the online Parent Portal. Student Transportation Information can also be found using the Bus Stop Finder, located on the main page of our website, which will link to the “BusPlanner - Parent Portal”. Parents can enter the student’s last name, birthdate, school and grade in order to access route and stop information.

The “Stop Finder” feature returns bus stop and route information for eligible students who are assigned to regular yellow school bus or small school purpose vehicle service, or for students who are assigned to OC Transpo Service.
OC Transpo route schedules will also be made available through the OSTA website or can be found directly through the OC Transpo website at www.octranspo.com. More information on routes to specific schools can be obtained on OC Transpo’s Quick Planner under High Schools and Middle Schools.

Transportation for students in a joint custody arrangement and having two homes:
OSTA has developed a new policy & procedure to deliver transportation services to students in a joint custody arrangement and having two homes. An application process and other requirements need to be met for parents to receive this service, and the homes or daycares in question must meet all other eligibility requirements. The deadline for new applications or changes to existing applications for September start up transportation was June 1. Renewals of current schedule calendars (no other changes) are due June 30. All other applications will be reviewed after September 15, and prior to October 1.
More information can be found on our website:

Transportation Information During the Fall
In September, parents should be advising schools directly of any changes to student home address. OSTA will require a minimum of three business days to implement a change to transportation services, longer for transportation to two homes in a joint custody situation. www.ostabusplanner.ottawaschoolbus.ca.

Community Involvement Forms
The community involvement form is always accessible at ocsb.ca/beinvolved along with information on community involvement. All students, including grade 8 students, are reminded to use these forms as they complete community involvement hours over the summer. Since 1999, the Ministry of Education has required all students to complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement activities as part of the requirements for an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) (As stated in Ontario Secondary Schools, Grades 9 to 12: Program and Diploma Requirements, 1999). The purpose of the community involvement requirement is to encourage students to develop awareness and understanding of civic responsibility and of the role they can play and the contributions they can make in supporting and strengthening their communities. The Ottawa Catholic School Board has always encouraged this community service to take place in the Parish, School, or wider community. There is a list on the back of the Community Service form that all students complete that highlights many of the eligible activities that students may complete to fulfill this graduation requirement. When the expectation around community service was introduced by the Ministry of Education, they developed a list of activities that may not be chosen as community involvement activities and that are therefore ineligible activities. Included as part of that list of those expectations outlined by the Ministry is an activity “that would normally be performed for wages by a person in the workplace”. As your son/daughter works toward this graduation activity, we would encourage them to review the list of accepted activities to ensure they are meeting the proper requirements. You will find a link (below) to the All Saints community service hours form, with a list of appropriate activities on page 2. Hard copies of this form are available in our student services department.

Community Service Hours Form - All Saints

Summer School Information

Updates and changes regarding Summer School 2019:

• We are offering two senior religion courses (ie HRE4M via traditional Reach Ahead and HRT3M via online Reach Ahead).
• Credit Recovery Achievement Centre is being offered at 7 summer sites.
• The Skills Builder Program is being offered at 4 sites and free transportation is also available to learners. The focus of this program is geared for learners currently enrolled in grade 6, 7 and 8.
• We will be running ESLDO as a pilot at St. Pius X HS. ELLs from the centres are welcome to enrol.  (As this is a pilot, this course code does not appear on the summer course offerings).
• A “one stop shop” for all summer docs has been created. The two page flyer/course offerings and all summer registration forms are available here.  

There is a great deal of information on the CSPA website regarding information for parents and upcoming sessions. You can visit the website here.

Communications:

Check out our blog – allsaintschs.blogspot.ca and our twitter @AllSaintsOCSB (Mr. Kelly’s - @seankellyottawa) as well as our website ash.ocsb.ca for all that is happening at All Saints!

Coming Up:

• June 25th - 7&8 Report Card Distribution
• June 26th - Last day of school for 7&8 students
• June 27th - 1:00pm - Grade 12 Graduation at All Saints