masthead2014
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - Volume 16, Issue 16

A Message from Administration

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferencing

Conferences will take place tomorrow--Thursday, April 4th--from 2:30 to 4:30pm and 5:30 to 7:30pm. If you haven't already, you can book and manage appointments using our booking pages linked here.

Admin Team

Mr. J. Figueiredo
Principal
A & International

Mr. M. Anderton
Vice Principal
B-G

Mrs. L. Craftchick
Vice Principal
H-N

Mr. R. Roque
Vice Principal
O-Z
  • Respect each other and always treat others with dignity. Talk to staff and other students in a calm, appropriate, and respectful manner. Positively communicate and follow directions of staff in the hallways.
  • 5 minutes out of the classroom should be all the time needed to use the washroom.
  • Same Floor means that students should be using the closest washroom to their classroom.
  • Washroom Expectations all students have the right to a washroom experience that is free from disruption, video recording, image capture, bullying, violence, vaping, smoking, etc.​ Students are expected keep this a safe place.

Class of 2024!

Looking for Convocation updates?

Check out the Convocation 2024 page on the school website. Important updates posted! Click here for the Convocation 2024 Information Session presentation.

OSSLT Spring Date

Our second session of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test will be Wednesday, April 10th. All grade 10 and 11 students who are yet to satisfy the literacy requirement will be required to write and will be the only ones in attendance that day. Students are expected to be in full uniform.

All students in grade 9, 11 and 12 along with all students in grade 10/11 who have satisfied the literacy requirement will be working from home ASYNCHRONOUSLY. Teachers will have work posted to their LMS on that date by 8:00am.

Schedule for Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Student participating in the OSSLT will follow the schedule below:
Warning Bell: 7:55 am
Instructions: 8:00 - 8:10 am
Session 1: 8:10 - 9:30 am
BREAK: 9:30-9:40 am
Session 2: 9:40 - 11:15 am
Survey: 11:15 - 11:25 am
Dismissal: 11:25 am

**Students who require extra time will be able to do so.

Change in PA Day Schedule & Solar Eclipse Safety Tips

Please be advised that the Professional Activity (PA) Day originally scheduled for April 19, 2024, will now be held on April 8, 2024. This change is being made to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff during the Total Solar Eclipse expected on April 8, 2024.

School Climate Survey for Families

This survey will be available from March 27th until April 14th, 2024


Dear Parents,

We value your feedback as a parent / legal guardian of a student in our school. Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey and share your opinions with us. We want to learn about your child’s experiences at school so we can understand what is working well and how we might improve in order to contribute to a more positive school climate.

School Climate Survey for Families [link]

The WCDSB conducts this School Climate survey with parents/guardians every two years as a key strategy to building a positive school climate and is also a requirement of the Education Act s.169.1(1)(a), (a.1), (a.2) and PPM 145. Specifically, this survey will invite parents/guardians to share their experiences so that your child’s school and the Board can:
  • make informed planning decisions about programs to promote safe and inclusive schools,
  • determine the effectiveness of programs on an ongoing basis, and
  • build and sustain a positive school climate.
No personal information will be collected from any participant on the survey (e.g., email) and therefore responses from the survey cannot be connected with information already held by the Board in our student information system. All responses will be combined to create school-level and Board-level reports. No program, service or benefit may be withheld because a respondent does not participate, or refuses to participate, in the school climate survey.

If you have questions about the school climate survey collection, please contact your school administrator, the WCDSB Research Team (research@wcdsb.ca) or the WCDSB Privacy Records and Information Management Officer (privacy@wcdsb.ca).

Important Notice: Vaccine Appointments Available at Public Health Clinics

Have you received a letter from Public Health telling you that your child is missing a vaccination?

Appointments are now available for any student who needs to catch up on their routine vaccines, including Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Meningococcal, Pertussis (whooping cough), and Varicella (chickenpox).

Book a catch-up appointment, if your child is missing a vaccine.

Report your child’s vaccinations, if they have gotten the missing vaccines.

You need to report your child’s vaccines to Public Health if they received their vaccines from a health care provider. You can easily report your child’s vaccines online. How to report your child’s vaccines.

The Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) requires all elementary and secondary school students to have proof of vaccination or a valid exemption on file with Public Health.

Vaccinations keep kids and schools healthy by stopping the spread of serious and preventable diseases.

Learn more about school and child care vaccinations

Schedule of Notification and Suspension

Vaccination notices providing six weeks to update vaccine records went out to elementary school families in November and December last year. Notices to secondary school families are being distributed now.

Students whose records have not been brought up to date will receive a second notice in February (elementary) and April (secondary) of pending school suspension. This second notice provides an additional four weeks to get vaccine records up to date before school suspension takes effect.

The elementary school suspension date is March 27, 2024. Secondary school suspension date is May 1, 2024.

Questions? Need help? Call Region of Waterloo Public Health at 519-575-4400.

Did you know? Fun fact...

This is the 16th issue of the 16th year of the BENN Newsletter. And if you were to print this newsletter... yup, it would take 16 pages.

Looking for a quick way to navigate all things WCDSB for parents?

Check out the Board website for information and information pertaining to Aspen Portal, Brightspace, School Cash Online, Transportation updates, and other resources

https://www.wcdsb.ca/parents/

Stay Connected with
St. Benedict's!

Twitter

@StBenedictCSS
Instagram
@bennies_sac_updates

News from Guidance

Who is your Guidance Counsellor?

Counsellor’s Name

Ext

Last names

Mrs. O’Toole
5190
A – De
Ms. Varriano Lane
5635
Dh – Ho, International students
Mrs. Novakovich
5636
Hu - L
Mr Betik
5633
M - Ri
Mrs. O’Neill
5634
Ro – Z
Administrative Assistant: Mrs. McAulay-Arruda, ext. 5631

GUIDANCE D2L

For additional information throughout the year, please visit the Guidance D2L page.

Community Service Hours

It is a requirement of graduation that each student complete 40 hours of community service. There are many opportunities to fulfill this requirement. Please visit the school website for links to community opportunities and a fillable form to submit their hours.

Want to be better informed?

Welcome to Guidance D2L!

The Guidance Team would like to communicate regularly with students and parents about:
  • college and university visits - and bursary and scholarship opportunities
  • volunteer and exchange opportunities
  • available academic supports including homework club
  • convocation etc.
We have now moved to D2L and would like to make sure all students are able to access this important information.
When students sign in to D2L (through My Apps), they should land on the Bennies D2L page (see logo in yellow).
If, when students log in, they land on the WCDSB D2L page (see logo in yellow), scroll down the page until you see My Schools on the left and choose St. Benedict.
Next, are you taking an elearning course from another board? Please be sure to scroll down to My Courses In Other Orgs on the left - as this is where your elearning course(s) will be found.
Lastly, please be sure to turn your notifications on so you do not miss any announcements!

Yearbook Update

Hello St. Benedict Students and Parents! Our 2023-2024 Yearbooks are now available for purchase through School Cash Online. There are a limited number available, so make sure to get yours today. They will be available for September 2024 distribution.

Athletics

Girls' Softball Tryouts

The varsity girls' softball tryouts will be held on Thursday April 11, 2024, after school on the front field. Please bring your glove, we are looking for any girls who have played ball or who love the sport.

Boys' Slo-pitch Tryouts

Attention ALL boys interested in trying out for the varsity slo-pitch team, there will be a mandatory meeting at the beginning of lunch on Thursday April 4th at the beginning of lunch in Room 325. If you are unable to attend, please see Mrs. Edwards or Ms. Buhlman.

JUNIOR SAINTS VOLLEYBALL SPRING LEAGUE

The time has come! We are offering a 5 week Spring Volleyball league for students in Grade 6-8. This 5 week program will begin on Thursday April 25th and run until Thursday May 30th from 5pm-6:30pm.
This program is an new initiative at our school where student athletes from the volleyball program here at Bennies will be passing on their knowledge, leadership and love for the sport of Volleyball while helping potential incoming students build relationships and connections with the school. Each session will include skill work and tournament style games with a championship game to be held on the last session.
Important Details to know:
  • Each participant will receive a T-Shirt
  • Treats will be given at the end of each session
  • Championship prize for the winning team
  • Certificates of accomplishment
  • Cost: $40
If you are interested in signing your child up, please use the following:
If you have any questions, please reach out!

Clubs

Debate Club Friday

Want to flex your smarts and debate skills? Join us this Friday, April 5th in the lecture hall after school for Model UN’s Debate Club! This week’s topic; is a hot dog a sandwich?

Other News

News from the Library

From the librarian’s desk

Hello Bennys - Happy Easter and Ramadan Mubarak! I’m celebrating Spring by buying new games for our in-library use collection! I’m looking for new board games, video games, and ‘active’ games (think table ping-pong or office golf) for use in the library. Have any suggestions? Let me know what you want to play at rorr@ideaexchange.org.
Don’t forget to stop by the library from 2-3pm, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to actually PLAY these games, get a snack, and connect with our amazing community partners. These partners can help connect you with volunteer opportunities, jobs, and other recreation opportunities.

E.K. Johnston is coming!

New York Times bestselling YA author E.K. Johnston is visiting the library on 1 May from 230-4pm for an author talk and book signing. Don’t miss the chance to hear from and meet the author of Star Wars: Ahsoka, Aetherbound, The Druid’s Call, and more. I can’t wait to chat about her amazing Star Wars and D&D novels, as well as her original forthcoming (and fabulous!) story Pretty Furious.
Have questions for the author? Email them to me at rorr@ideaexchange.org and I’ll ask them on stage!
Please register for this event here, at the library service desk, or by calling us at 519.740.6294. The author will be selling copies of her work at the event.
Note: This is an Idea Exchange event and not affiliated with the WCDSB.
For your virtual library needs, visit the St Benedict Library Learning Commons site here or the Idea Exchange site here.

Calendar of Events

Thursday, April 4
6:15am: Rowing Club
10:35am: IRIS Club (GSA)
10:35am: French club
10:35am: Reach for the Top Trivia club
10:35am: HOSA Club
10:35am: Seams Sew Easy Club
10:35am: Coding Club
10:35am: Model UN Club
10:35am: Percussion Ensemble
10:35am: Chess Club
10:35am: MCU Club
2:15pm: Robotics Club
2:15pm: E-car Club
2:30pm: Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences
5:30pm: Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, April 5
6:15am: Rowing Club
10:35am: Indigenous Student Group meeting
10:35am: Girls Garage club
10:35am: Choir
10:35am: Star Trek Club
2:15pm: Ping Pong club
2:15pm: Doctor Who club

Monday, April 8
PA Day
3:00pm: Solar eclipse

Tuesday, April 9
10:35am: IRIS Club (GSA)
10:35am: Mario Kart Club
10:35am: Arts Council
10:35am: Chess Club
10:35am: MCU Club
11:00am: Rosary Club
2:15pm: Robotics Club

Wednesday, April 10
OSSLT Literacy Test

Thursday, April 11
6:15am: Rowing Club
10:35am: IRIS Club (GSA)
10:35am: French club
10:35am: Reach for the Top Trivia club
10:35am: HOSA Club
10:35am: Seams Sew Easy Club
10:35am: Coding Club
10:35am: Model UN Club
10:35am: Percussion Ensemble
10:35am: Chess Club
10:35am: MCU Club
2:15pm: Robotics Club
2:15pm: E-car Club
2:15pm: Concert Band
2:15pm: Math Club
2:15pm: Games Club
4:00pm: Jazz Band

Friday, April 12
6:15am: Rowing Club
10:35am: Indigenous Student Group meeting
10:35am: Girls Garage club
10:35am: Choir
10:35am: Star Trek Club
2:15pm: Ping Pong club
2:15pm: Doctor Who club
Monday, April 15
9:30am: SHSM Workshop: Intro to EMS tools and techniques (ALL)
10:35am: Coding Club
10:35am: SEEC Club
10:35am: Choir
2:15pm: Robotics Club

Tuesday, April 16
10:35am: IRIS Club (GSA)
10:35am: Mario Kart Club
10:35am: Arts Council
10:35am: Chess Club
10:35am: MCU Club
11:00am: Rosary Club
2:15pm: Robotics Club

Wednesday, April 17
BENN Newsletter release
Semester 2 - Term 2 Begins
6:15am: Rowing Club
10:35am: Guitar Club
10:35am: Cosmo Club
2:15pm: Robotics Club
2:15pm: Rock Climbing club
2:15pm: E-car Club

Thursday, April 18
6:15am: Rowing Club
9:30am: SHSM Workshop: Leadership Training (ALL)
10:35am: IRIS Club (GSA)
10:35am: French club
10:35am: Reach for the Top Trivia club
10:35am: HOSA Club
10:35am: Seams Sew Easy Club
10:35am: Coding Club
10:35am: Model UN Club
10:35am: Percussion Ensemble
10:35am: Chess Club
10:35am: MCU Club
2:15pm: Robotics Club
2:15pm: E-car Club
2:15pm: Concert Band
2:15pm: Math Club
2:15pm: Games Club
2:15pm: Doctor Who club
4:00pm: Jazz Band

Friday, April 19
10:35am: Indigenous Student Group meeting
10:35am: Girls Garage club
10:35am: Choir
10:35am: Star Trek Club
2:15pm: Ping Pong club
2:15pm: Doctor Who club

Monday, April 22
10:35am: Coding Club
10:35am: SEEC Club
10:35am: Choir
2:15pm: Robotics Club

Be sure to check out the calendar on the school website for updates!

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