St. Daniel Weekly Update

May 19 - May 23, 2025

Prayer

Dear God, 

As we journey through these days of May, we thank You for the beauty of Spring and the joy it brings. Help us to appreciate the wonders of Your creation and to care for the world around us. Guide us in our studies and play, and help us to be kind and respectful to one another. May we grow in wisdom and love, always seeking to do what is right.

Amen          

Thirty-fourth Week of School

Many of our St. Daniel Lions are such devoted Senators fans that they remain loyal even when their Principal playfully encourages them to support another team! This was especially clear on Tuesday with the "2-2" greetings our Lions exchanged at the entry gate. It's all in good fun, of course, and hopefully, this spirited enjoyment will continue.

The recent spell of incredible weather has truly lifted everyone's spirits. During recess, we're delighted to see both our Ultimate Frisbee and Girls' Soccer teams practicing. Furthermore, our students are finally back to enjoying the play structure now that the sand has been freshly rototilled and the equipment inspected and approved for regular use. We were also very pleased to see the kindergarten play area similarly revitalized by rototilling.

Our Grade 3 and Grade 6 students are diligently preparing for the EQAO tests, which are scheduled for the week of May 26th. With valuable support from our Board, we're implementing targeted small-group instruction. This approach focuses on teaching students key skills to help them more effectively understand and respond to the types of questions presented in these assessments. Our aim is that these strategies will not only support our students for these upcoming tests but also equip them with lasting skills for their academic journey ahead.

Regular fire drill practice is crucial. Our drill, initially planned for Friday, May 16th, was moved to Thursday, May 15th, after Mr. Gentle informed us of a rainy forecast for Friday. We are immensely proud of our Lions! They did an outstanding job during their first spring practice. We also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our Kindergarten students who, on Thursday morning, thoughtfully sent Mr. Oliver a box of Kleenex to help him through the disappointment of the Maple Leafs' loss the previous evening—a sentiment that only a few shared!

It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm on Friday morning as our Ultimate Frisbee team, led by Mme. Corinne, headed off to their tournament in Manotick. The weather was on their side, and they had an amazing time. This team had dedicated a significant amount of time to practice and proved to be a very competitive group.

It is also wonderful to see the participation of all the students that have signed up for Girls at Bat which takes every Friday during the lunch hour.  This could not take place without the support of both Mr. Hynes and Mrs. Boyle.

EDP Entry and Exit Door

To further enhance student safety and school security, a new pin pad system has been installed at the main front entrance. All student drop-offs and pick-ups for EDP will now be facilitated through this single point of entry. Consequently, the EDP access code will only function with the front door pin pad, and the rear pin pad will be deactivated as of Tuesday May 20. The front parking lot has been allocated for EDP parent use during drop-off and pick-up times. The rear parking lot is now designated for staff parking only. Please note the operational hours for the front pin pad: access is available from 7:00 AM until 9:00 AM and resumes at 3:45 PM to 6:00 PM. We appreciate your cooperation as we implement these important safety improvements.

As a reminder, the north side of the street in front of the school is a no-stopping zone. Please be mindful of the no-parking zone on the south side as well. 

Fire Drill Practice

Now that the Spring has arrived, we must complete 2 more practice fire drills.  Our first planned drill was on the 15th of May and it went very well. The second practice will take place on the 30th of May, and finally our last practice will be on the 4th of June.

EQAO

Please see the following information regarding EQAO assessments for Grade 3 and Grade 6 parents.

Framework Document

EQAO Testing May 26th - May 30th, 2025  Grade 3 / Grade 6

September Planning

Planning for September is well underway.  To help with staffing and scheduling, please let us know as soon as possible if your family (JK - Gr. 5) is planning to change schools in September.  You can call the school at 613-225-4603 or email us at Daniel@ocsb.ca.  Please include if your children will attending another school in Ottawa or if your family will be moving outside of Ottawa, please let us know the province or country where you will be living.

There is no need to respond if your family plans to return to St. Daniel in the fall.  We'll be happy to have you back!

The Nepean Centrepointe Library

Program Details:

What: Fun and interactive 30-minute read-aloud sessions

Who: Each child will be paired with a teen volunteer

When: Tuesdays from 4:15 to 4:45 PM

Where: Nepean Centrepointe library, 101 Centrepointe Dr

Dates: March 25 – May 27

Registration: Required via email at NepeanCentrepointe@BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca

Hello St. Daniel School

I hope that you and your students are doing well! 

 I am writing to invite families at your school to visit the Ottawa Public Library this summer to take part in the annual, Canada-wide TD Summer Reading Club literacy initiative! 

The TD Summer Reading Club (TDSRC) is Canada’s biggest, bilingual summer reading program for kids of all ages, interests and abilities. This free Club is offered at more than 2,200 public libraries across Canada, as well as online. The TDSRC celebrates Canadian authors, illustrators and stories, and inspires kids to explore the fun of reading their way. This is key to building a lifelong love of reading.  For more information about the TDSRC, follow this link: www.tdsummerreadingclub.ca. 

We’re starting to plan our June school visits to let students and teachers know about the Summer Reading Club. As you know it’s a fun presentation to get children excited about summer reading, and avoid the summer slide. 

What to expect from this visit: 

• We can usually speak to 2-3 classes at a time (usually close in grade level) 

• Each presentation is about 20-25 minutes, but we can be flexible on timing to suit your school’s schedule 

• The school usually sets up a schedule/sign-up list for teachers, and the classes come visit us in the library/Learning Commons, based on that schedule.  

I was wondering if you wanted to set up a visit for your schools? Right now, we have availability in late May-early June. Please let me know what works best for you, and we’ll go from there! 

Children are also invited to pick up their free TD Summer Reading Club kit at any OPL branch starting June 9th, and to join us at the library for free Club programs: https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/program. We hope to engage all children in our city in the joy of reading this summer, supporting their continuing success at school next year. 

You will find a letter to families attached to this email. Please share widely to help us promote this important initiative.  

Thank you in advance for helping us to promote the TD Summer Reading Club program to children and families at your school! 

Sincerely, 

Suzanne McCormack (she/her/elle)

Supervising Librarian, Children's and Teen Services / Bibliothécaire superviseure, services aux enfants et aux adolescents

Succursale Nepean Centrepointe Branch, Ottawa Public Library | Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa

BOOKFAIR

The Bookfair will be held May 26 - May 30.  We are presently still looking for Parent Volunteers to help out.  It you can spare a few hours, please contact the school.

The classes will have scheduled times that they will visit the book fair over the week.  Parents are welcome to drop in to the book fair during regular school hours.  Please note that book fair will be closed during recess time and over the lunch hour.

With regards to payment, the have a new electronic credit card terminal ,cash and cheque.

School Climate Survey

It is once again time for the School Climate Survey to be administered. This is a Ministry of Education requirement. There will be three school climate surveys - one for students (grades 4-12), one for staff and one for parents/guardians. The parent survey will be “live” on Wednesday May 7. The student and staff survey will be “live” May 26 - June 13. For the student survey, there are 2 versions so that students respond to an age-appropriate survey, accessed when the school code is entered.

This is the Parent letter 

This letter contains the following information:

1) Information about the survey in general

2) Information about consent for the student survey

3) Invitation for parents to complete the parent survey with the link included

4) Contact information for the research team from Ottawa U should there be questions about research or ethics 

St. Daniel Spirit Wear

St. Daniel Spiritwear is now available to order on our new webstore.  Please go to https://stdaniel.secure-decoration.com/ to shop our expanded line of St. Daniel merch!  

The webstore will remain open year round. THIS IS ALSO ON THE LANDING PAGE OF OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE.

OSTA

Ottawa Student Transportation Authority has launched a user-friendly progressive web application to

provide real-time updates about your child’s transportation status. With this app, you’ll receive timely

alerts and notifications directly to your device via push notifications. It’s easy to set up, it’s free, and

notifications are instant. The app will replace emails when it comes to weather cancellation

notifications only; emails will still be circulated for delays, cancellations and other alerts.

Visit www.ottawaschoolbus.ca to learn more. Questions and concerns can be directed to

pwahelp@ottawaschoolbus.ca.This initiative reflects our commitment to better serving our communities and improving the well-being of our students during transportation.

Summer Camps

Game On 2025 Summer Camp

June 30-July 4 (4 day-camp; $199 cost; St Pius location only)

July 7-11; 14-18; 21-25 & July 28-August 1

Ages: 7-13 yrs

Price: $249 (Sibling: $239, first child pays full price)

9:00 am – 4:00 pm (Pre-camp 8:30 – 9:00 am; Post-camp 4:00 – 4:30 pm)
Locations - St Pius HS (Nepean) & St Mother Teresa (Barrhaven)

The Goal of Game On is for campers to actively participate in a variety of sports with the FOCUS on FUN!

The sports include: basketball, volleyball, soccer, badminton, tchoukball, ultimate, disc golf, floorball, target games and others. Adult educators as head instructors. Professional sport-specific instruction with the aim to develop and improve Fundamental Movement Skills by experienced Physical Education teachers. Includes camp t-shirt (one per camper), daily/weekly prizes & Friday Pizza Day.

Game On Camp Information

Game On Summer Registration

Parking

As a reminder, the north side of the street in front of the school is a no-stopping zone. Please be mindful of the no-parking zone on the south side as well. We've noticed increased congestion in these areas, which creates a potentially unsafe environment for our students and neighbours.

To help alleviate this, we kindly ask that you park a block away and walk the short distance to school. Your cooperation in making our school zone a safer place for everyone in our community is greatly appreciated!

Breakfast Program

Dear Parents/Guardians,

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.

Arrival / Dismissal Drop off / Pick up

Please be aware 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 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 .

Reminder EDP

We kindly request that students and parents refrain from entering classrooms and the junior floor area before and after school. These rules have been in place for some time and we appreciate your cooperation in following them.

St. Daniel Catholic School Council  

Next Meeting: May 20, 2025  LC

Council News: Parent Pulse

School Website

We encourage all of our Parents/Guardians to check our St. Daniel website daily during the week.  Updated information from the Board is published, as well as weekly updates from the school, as well as important dates  listed on the school calendar. Please take note that the information that is on weekly updates will also be sent via school messenger.

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

****** VERY IMPORTANT TO COMPLETE THIS PROCESS OR YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO ACCESS REPORT CARDS 

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 often times 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

May 19  Victoria Day (No school)

May 20   Parent Council Meeting

Future Dates  May 26 - 30   EQAO Testing Grade 3   Grade 6

Future Dates  May 26 - 30   Book fair

Triduum Schedule