Pius XII Catholic Elementary School

Early Learning Kindergarten Program Open House at Pius XII

Louisa Bianchin, Principal of Pius XII Catholic School welcomed parents and families to the school’s “Open House and Kindergarten Registration Night.” Mrs. Bianchin was especially pleased to announce that Pius XII was one of three schools selected by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board to offer the “Early Learning Kindergarten Program” or ELKP as it is more commonly referred to. “I am very excited about the new full day Early Learning Kindergarten Program at Pius XII Catholic School,” stated Bianchin. “The Early Learning program offers the teacher and the early childhood educator the opportunity to team plan and teach. Together, they will provide a play-based program which will focus on the development of the “whole” child. Recent studies have shown that all children learn best through active involvement and play. I look forward to working with the kindergarten team and parents as we begin the development and implementation of a stimulating full day Early Learning Kindergarten program.”

Pius XII Students Try Out New Sports

Students at Pius XII Catholic School participated in the “Try-it” Parasport Clinic recently.

During the clinic students were provided with a specific sport and an equipment demonstration of different types of sports activities, such as basketball, hockey, bocce and curling. The importance on being “physically fit” was also emphasized throughout the clinic.

Susan Levesque with SportLink Greater Sudbury Sport Council lead a Parasport clinic with the Pius XII students. Numerus classes including the Special Education class participated in wheelchair basketball, sledge hockey, bocce and curling.

The Pius students were able to experience what it feels like to be in a wheel chair, and they quickly realized that it was possbile to participate in many sports activities through the use of a specially designed equipment.

Pius XII Catholic School would like to thank Susan Levesque with SportLink for providing the students with the equipment which allowed them to participate in this unique sports activity.

Pius XII Catholic School Presents, “Meet the Candidates”

Pius XII Catholic School presents “Meet the Candidates” on Tuesday, October 7 (9:30 a.m.), at Pius XII Catholic School, 44 Third Avenue, Sudbury.

The Pius XII Catholic School students are participating in the Student Vote Program and students will cast a vote ballot on October 10, 2008 in a mock election. The Student Vote Program offers students the opportunity to converse with peers and family about the upcoming federal election.

Students will explore different points of view, develop habits of informed citizenship and learn our rights and responsibilities. The following candidates have confirmed their attendance for the discussions on that day; Gerry Labelle, PC Party, Diane Marleau, Liberal Party, and Richard Eberhardt, representative for the NDP.

Pius XII School Drama Club to Present 1950 Fairy Tale “Doo-Wop Wed Widing Hood”

Pius XII School Drama Club is proud to present Doo-Wop Wed Widing Hood (Red Riding Hood). It’s a 1950 Rock and Roll fairy tale!

Date: April 22, 23, 24, 2008 beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Place: Pius XII School
Time: 9:30 a.m. (approximately 1 1/2 hours)
Cost: $2.00 per student

Please call Brenda Barbe to book your class.

SCDSB Celebrates Grand Opening of Best Start Hub at Pius XII Catholic School

Children and families, child care agencies along with community and school staff joined Sudbury Catholic District School Board Trustees and Senior Administration and Board staff in celebrating the grand opening of the City of Greater Sudbury’s Best Start Hubs at an Open House held at Pius XII Catholic School recently.

The Best Start Program referred to as “Hubs” is a one-stop centre for families, bringing together kindergarten, childcare, parent-child programs, parenting supports and a wide range of specialized services. The Hubs are located in schools or other locations that are closely linked to schools. Best Start is an initiative of the Provincial Government but is directed at the local level by a Best Start Network which is made up of representatives from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the City of Greater Sudbury, all four school boards, and the child care, family support, health and specialized children’s services sectors.
The Best Start Hubs incorporate services for families such as kindergarten, childcare and family supports, tot playgrounds, workshops for parents, dad and baby night as well as access to other services. Over time, more services such as selected Preschool Speech and Language and Health Services will be offered in the hubs. The goal of the Best Start Hub is to integrate all of these services so that they are all working together and providing families with seamless services.

The Pius XII Catholic School, Best Start Hub is one of twelve hubs located in the City of Greater Sudbury and surrounding area dedicated to serving the needs of children and families in the Minnow Lake and New Sudbury community.

Parents will also have the opportunity to become involved with Best Start Hubs as they develop and expand their programs. Advisory groups, made up of a minimum of 40 percent parents will decide how the Hubs will run, hours of operation, and the types of programs the Hub will be offering. Parents who wish to involved in the planning for Best Start at a broader level may put their name forward to sit on a Best Start Network as a parent representative or join a group of parents who meet occasionally to provide advice and input to the Best Start network on specific issues related to overall planning of Best Start.

For more information on Best Start Hubs, please call 311 to find a Best Start near you!

PIUS XII Deemed SCDSB School Conservation Challenge Champions

Pius XII Catholic School was proclaimed as the winner of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s 2006-2007 Conservation Challenge. Board Chair, Paula Peroni presented the Pius XII Catholic School students with a $500 cheque and a specially designed banner which will be displayed at the school for one year as part of the Grand Prize. The presentation was made during the last Board meeting before the summer break.

The School Conservation Challenge was created by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board to increase the participation in the Dearness Conservation Initiative that was introduced into all of the Board’s schools in 2001. Since the inception of the DC program, the Board has been able to achieve substantial utility savings by educating teachers, students and staff and providing them with the necessary resources through this program.

To help revitalize the program in 2006-2007, senior administration decided that a “Conservation Challenge” would be an excellent way to enhance the effectiveness of the program in addition to acknowledging the “Environmental Champions.”

The selection of the 2006-2007 School Conservation Champion involved a point system based on three categories; (i) an unannounced site visit by the SCDSB’s Facility Services Department, during the visit specific items were identified and reported with each school receiving a certain number of points (ii) an interview was conducted with the principal from each participating school. Based on the answers from the school principal, each school received points from the questionnaire (iii) In late May, schools were requested to submit reports dealing with Lifestyle Conservation Campaigns and other relevant materials such as videos/newsletters/announcements and presentations. Schools were awarded points based on their submitted materials. Pius XII Catholic School was chosen as the Grand Prize Winner based on the school that had accumulated highest total points in the three evaluations.

Pius XII Catholic School Participates in ‘Mining Rocks’ Race

The Grade 2 and 3 students at Pius XII Catholic School participated in the ‘Sudbury Rocks Race’ in downtown Sudbury on Sunday, May 6, 2007. The one kilometre race started at the YMCA on Durham Street. The children ran down Durham to Beech Street around the corner to Elgin and back up Elgin Street to the YMCA.

The students at Pius XII Catholic school trained hard for more than a month for the race with representatives from the Running Room and have completed the Kids Fit fitness tests. The students’ fitness scores improved so remarkably that the Running Room suggested that the students enter the Sudbury Rocks Race which is also the qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

Proceeds from the race went to the Diabetes Foundation.

Home Depot Staff Help Kick Off Pius XII Catholic School Yard Transformation

Staff from Home Depot will be helping to kick of the Pius XII school yard transformation on Wednesday, May 9 between 9:00 a.m. and
3:00 p.m at the school.

As part of their Earth Day Community Project, thirteen Home Depot staff will be planting trees, making picnic tables and clearing out the bush area for a nature trail behind the school.

Parents for Parents at Pius XII Catholic School

In January 2007, Pius XII Catholic School Council was awarded a grant of $2,500 from the Ministry of Education: Parents Reaching Out Grant. The grant was made available to the school council for their project proposal which consisted of a five-day parent workshop, (one workshop per month), with each workshop focusing on the developmental characteristics of children and adolescents. A core group of eight parents received a course in the TRIBES process by Jean McHarg, Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. Parents were introduced to the TRIBES process for the purpose of encouraging parents to work together as a professional learning community to bring forth the care, active participation and positive expectations for all students.

Pius XII Catholic School parents were invited to participate in all five workshops being offered at the school. The focus of the workshops is to build inclusion among the parents. Parents participated in a number of activities, such as Getting to Know You, Finding What We Have in Common, The Characteristics of Birth Order, Goals for our Children, and Goals for Our Parent Workshop. Guest speaker, Debbie Smith from the Family Enrichment Centre offered parents a very informative workshop re “the affects of birth order on children.”

The March 21 workshop was also a tremendous success with 15 parents joining the Parents for Parents group. The focus for this day was learning about child development from “birth to teen.” The Pius XII Catholic School Council would like to see more parents join the
May 16 and June 13, Parents for Parents Workshops which will be held at the school. “At Pius XII, parents are sharing information, learning from one another and building community,” states Louisa Bianchin, Principal of Pius XII Catholic School. “Our parents gather together because they believe in, value and care about creating a better home and school for their children.”

Pius XII Basketball Free Throw District Champs

The Basketball Free-Throw hosted by Pius XII school and directed by the Knights of Columbus was a huge success. Students competed with other schools in throwing 25 shots to the basketball net. The student who sunk the most baskets was the winner in their age category.

Congratulation to the 3 students from Pius XII school who will proceed to the Regional Levels:

photo 1: Mario Malerba winner for the age 10 boys category
photo 2: Cory Levesque winner for the age 11 boys category
photo 3: Andrew Phillion winner for age 14 boys category

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