December Newsletter.

St. Daniel Weekly Update

December 15 - December 19, 2025

Prayer

Dear Jesus,

As we light the third candle of Advent, help us to prepare our hearts for Your coming. Fill us with peace and joy, and teach us to share Your love with everyone we meet.

Amen

Fifteenth  Week of School

We are thrilled to announce that Mrs. Farrugia-Pavan and her family welcomed a baby boy, Levi Bennett, on December 6th! Levi weighed a healthy 9 lbs, 15 ounces. Both Mom and baby are doing exceptionally well. The excitement was particularly visible among the Grade 4/5 students when the news was shared! We already suspect Levi will be cheering on the Senators in the near future!

Our entire school participated in the annual live Bus Evacuation Drill conducted by OSTA this past Wednesday. Since most of our students utilize bus transportation during the year, this training is critically important. We are very proud of our students for their respectful participation and for learning valuable safety lessons.

Our annual White Elephant Sale was a tremendous success! The event raised funds for both St. Basil Church and our Grade 6 class, while also allowing students to purchase thoughtful gifts for their loved ones. A huge thank you to Mrs. Farrell, Ms. Hebert, and everyone in the St. Daniel's community who made this wonderful event possible.

We are incredibly proud of our school choir, led by Mrs. Harlin. On Friday, the choir performed at the Medex Home for Seniors, truly bringing the spirit of the season to all who were present. Thank you to all our dedicated choir members—you made our community so very proud.

Snow Days

In the event that extreme weather results in the cancellation of school buses, parents are required to submit their child’s absence to the safe arrival if they take a school bus.  The school will remain open.  Should you choose to send your child to school, parents are responsible for transportation to and from school that day.  School hours are from 9:15 to 3:45 p.m.  If you wish to have someone other than a family member pick your child up, a written request with your signature must be delivered to the office.

EQAO Assessment Results for Grade 4 Parents

Your child’s EQAO scores are now available on the Parent Portal. Please see this video for steps on how to access. https://youtu.be/uSgRuMoNA7E

St. Daniel Christmas Mass

Our Christmas Mass will be held on Monday, December 15, 2025 beginning at 10:00 AM at St. Basil Church. The students will be bussed over to the church, and back to school.  The school will be sending out permission forms (hard copy) to parents/guardians on December 3, 2025 and ask that they be returned to the school no later than December 10, 2025. Please see the letter and forms below that will be sent via school messenger on December 3, 2025.

Christmas Mass

Permission Form

Pizza Orders  January 6 - March 31, 2026

Please be aware that Pizza Orders are now available on the Cash On Line.  The orders will be closed on December 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM. 

OPH Announcement

Ottawa Public Health Announcement 

KG Transportation Information for 2026 -2027

Please see the information provided by OSTA.

Game On Christmas Camp

December 29-31 / 2025  Frank Ryan CS

Features:

A camp with active participation and the FOCUS ON FUN!

For Girls & Boys Ages 7-13; 9:00am-4:00pm

We will play a variety of sports like: Basketball, Tchoukball, Floorball, Badminton, Target Games & many other great activities.

Professional Physical Educators as instructors

Help Develop Fundamental Movement Skills & Basic Sports Skills

Limited number of campers - register early to avoid disappointment

Pizza Lunch on the final day

Includes Before-Care from 8:30-9:00am & After-Care from 4:00-4:30pm

To Register - Game On Registration - December 2025

St. Daniel Catholic School Council  

Next Meeting:  January 28, 2026   6:00 PM Learning Commons

St. Daniel Christmas Concert 

Save the date!!!!  December 18, 2025.  The concert will begin at 1:30 and should end by 3:30.  

Christmas Spirit Week

 Christmas Spirit Week from December 15th to the 19th to spread some Christmas cheer.  

Christmas Colour Day: Wear red and green 

Twinkle Tuesday: Dress up like a Christmas Tree, an Elf,or Santa, a reindeer or a toy from Santa’s workshop

Candy Cane Day! Wear stripes in any colour!

Ugly/Christmas Sweater Day: Find your best ugly or Christmas sweater

Christmas (Break)! Get cozy and enjoy a Christmas movie Pyjama Day

Edge Imaging

Celebrate 2026 early with FREE SHIP-TO-HOME!

Spend $55+ on at least one student for your order to qualify for FREE ship-to-home!*

HURRY! Until December 31: get free ship-to-home with coupon code NY26 just add your products to your cart then enter your coupon before checkout!

Visit edgeimaging.ca/order and enter your portrait codes to get started. Lost codes? Check out our online look-up form edgeimaging.ca/lookup or call the Edge Customer Care team at 1-888-416-3343. Otherwise, email us at customercare@edgeimaging.ca.

*NOTE: Promotion applies only to elementary and high school (not grad) students who order between Dec 9-31, 2025. The Edge Team will be enjoying their holiday break from Dec 22-Jan 4. All orders will be promptly shipped after our shutdown period, should you place your order during that time.

Thank you for helping families preserve these milestone memories just before the new year!

Warm regards,

The Edge Team

REMINDERS

Arrival / Dismissal Drop off / Pick up

Please be aware of the procedures that are in place for dismissal and pick up.  To promote the safety of our students at St Daniel Catholic School, we have developed and implemented a plan to ensure the safe arrival and dismissal of our children. Parents and school staff have a vital role in this process. 

ARRIVAL: Children enter the gate which is located at the east end of the school . They do so between 9:00 - 9:15 a.m. Students will then proceed to the schoolyard. No adults are allowed on the school yard before, during or after school. Educators will be in these designated areas.  At 9:15 when the bell rings, students will line up with classes, and then they will proceed into the school through their designated door, and be escorted with their teacher to their classroom.  In the case of inclement weather, students will enter the school from designated doors, and be directed by staff to their classrooms. We ask for your full cooperation as the safety and security of our children is a whole school approach.  

Dismissal:  Everyone will be dismissed from their classrooms between 3:38 - 3:45pm.  When the buses arrive, kinders will start boarding buses at 3:40, followed by Grades 1-6 students.  EDP students will leave at 3:44 to walk directly to EDP.  Walkers will leave at 3:44 to leave school for home.  

Drop Off /Pick UP If you are driving your child to school in the morning or picking them up at dismissal time, we ask you to park your car away from the school and WALK-A-BLOCK. We ask that you do not enter the Bus drop off zone, these are off limits to all cars between 9:00 AM - 9:30 PM and  3:30 PM - 4:00 PM .

Volunteers

Snowsuit Fund

The Snowsuit Fund provides new snowsuits to children aged 0-15 who are Ottawa residents and considered low-income. Eligibility criteria include proof of the child's age, household income, and address. Families can apply for the program by appointment only through the Snowsuit Fund website. There is a nominal $10 fee to help cover administrative costs.

Breakfast Program

All students are invited to attend the breakfast program.  If you do not want your child to participate in the breakfast program, kindly contact your teacher with this request.

School Messenger

 Please sign up for School messenger to make sure you will be receiving all communication from our school. If this is not completed you may miss out on receiving some important announcements from our school. School Messenger

Parent Portal: 

Please visit Login - enCompass to access your students information and in future their report cards.  Please review the contact information listed.  If any changes need to be made please email Daniel@ocsb.ca with the new updates.  

Office Administrator 

Please take note that oftentimes you will not be able to speak to our Office Administrators 30 minutes before the end of school bell at 3:45 PM. This is a very busy time.  Requests to have students be removed from the bus or ready for you to pick them up early should be done in the morning,  by communication in the agenda or a voicemail message before 12:00 PM.  Please understand that these types of requests may not be addressed if you are calling late. We would kindly ask that if you are requesting a pick up at 3:30, please wait until 3:45.

Thank you 

Important Dates

December 15         St. Daniel Christmas Mass

December 18         St. Daniel Christmas Concert

December 19          Last day of School before Christmas Break

December 15th to the 19th    Christmas Spirit Week

Future Dates

December 27          Sens vs Leafs

January 5                First Day back from Christmas Break

January 5                 World Junior Gold Medal Game  Canada vs ? 

Triduum Schedule