On Saturday April 28, parents, friends, students, the Principal and Vice Principal of St. Charles in Chelmsford worked to create a masterpiece in the bathrooms at the school. Roxanne Shebtschuk, a parent who volunteers on the school’s Catholic School Council, came up with the idea to paint the stalls with inspirational quotes connected to the learning that the students and staff are doing around Growth Mindset. Growth Mindset, as developed by researcher Carol Dweck, is an understanding that “most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point.” Roxanne organized other Council volunteers who were interested in helping, and the project was born! The students were thrilled with their new and improved bathrooms. “We are so grateful to our parents for their hard work in support of the great learning that is happening at St. Charles,” said Principal David Soehner.

On Thursday, March 22 2018 St. Charles Elementary hosted a Math Night for their FDK and Grade 1 families. Parents and students visited five different stations where they engaged in activities focused on supporting the development of number sense and spatial reasoning skills. Each activity promoted the use of a model or manipulative to help visualize and represent thinking. To continue the learning at home, students left with an activity bag from every station, thanks to funding provided through the Ministry’s Parent Reaching Out Grant. A great time was had by all who attended!

Students in Ms. Cormier and Mme Bouzanne’s class at St. Charles Elementary School, participated in a presentation by the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario by Chris Doucette called Social Skills for Success. The students explored Emotional Awareness, feelings and social interactions.

The students of grade 5, 6 and 7 at St Charles are being inspired by great Canadian native artists such as Isaac Bignell, Norval Morrisseau, Benjamin Chee Chee and Glen Rabena amongst many others. They chose a piece to base themselves on and chose their favourite colours for their image. Now their beautiful masterpieces line our halls.