Dear Parents/Guardians,
I would like to wish all of the members of the OLA school community a very warm and sincere Happy New Year. The New Year is traditionally a time for God’s blessing on our world. It is a time to remember the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing “reveal” Jesus to the world as Lord and King. This is a time when we can renew and resolve to better ourselves and our world, and renew our personal and public life of prayer.
The month of December was very busy. Many thanks to the staff for organizing “A Magical Christmas” concert and to the community for the generous support of our Christmas Drive. This year, we supported the St. Vincent de Paul Society through our pyjama drive. In collaboration with our Luke 4:18 committee and organized by Mrs. Cipriani and Mrs. Carinci, we made Christmas a little more special for many families. Your kind generosity does so much good for many families in our community – thank you. Thank you, also for all of the warm wishes, gifts and treats that came into the office for the staff. They were appreciated by all!
During the month of January we will celebrate the virtue of unity. We will reflect extensively on how Jesus in the scriptures and the saints in their lives modeled unity and inclusiveness as we are all “one in Jesus.”
For the parents who drive their child(ren) and/or others to school, you are reminded that our bus loading zone driveway is restricted to buses between the hours of 8:45 am and 9:00 am and 3:15 pm—3:45 pm. On any given day we have 5-6 school busses, hence allowing other vehicles in the driveway during this time leads to congestion and a potential safety risk. Parents and/or guardians driving their children to school can drop their children off at the kiss-n-ride next to the field or they can park their car in the parking lot and walk their children to the gate. Your support and attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
Kindergarten registration begins January 6. If you have a child or know someone who has a child starting school September 2020, please come into the school to register from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm or visit the Board website for online registration forms.
The Junior (Grades 4-6) Boys’ and Girls’ All Stars Volleyball tryouts are complete and the practices will begin this week. The Junior Boys’ Volleyball Team will compete at the January 29th tournament at Fr. Frederick McGinn and the Junior Girls’ Volleyball Team will compete at the January 30th tournament at St. Marguerite d’Yourville.
There was an overwhelming interest by students to play for the OLA Junior and Senior Hockey Teams at this year’s Richmond Hill Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament. Given the level of competition and the number of students who expressed interest, it was deemed necessary to select only those students demonstrating skill who are presently playing organized hockey. The tournament schedule will be shared as soon as it is finalized.
Please mark your calendar for upcoming 2020 Catholic School Council meetings:
February 10th, April 15th, and May 28th. Council meetings are held at 7 p.m. in the school library and all are welcome to attend.
We have much to be thankful for at Our Lady of the Annunciation Catholic School. We have a very knowledgeable and caring staff, supportive parents and guardians, students who are motivated and caring towards each other, and a collaborative school community that works in partnership with our church. We are truly blessed! I look forward to another term of dedicated efforts so that our students may continue to strive to reach their full potential. I also look forward to engaging activities, student leadership and athletics and our school production of Grease to keep up our positive school spirit and morale alive.
I look forward to everyone’s safe return when classes resume on Monday, January 6th, 2020.
Proud Principal,
Mrs. D’Andrea