Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Sudbury Catholic District School Board Encouraged by Students’ Scores on Recent Provincial OSSLT’s

Grade 10 students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board continue to score well on Ontario Secondary School Literacy Tests (OSSLT) written in March 2007. The Board’s overall success rate of 89 percent for “Fully Participating Students” was consistent with previous scores surpassing the Provincial average of 84 percent. Marymount Academy lead the charge with a 100 percent success rate for “Fully Participating Students” followed closely by St. Benedict CSS with 91 percent, St. Charles College with 88 percent and Bishop Carter CSS with an 83 percent pass rate.

The OSSLT, introduced in 2002, measures whether students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects to the end of Grade 9, according to the expectations set out in The Ontario Curriculum. Meeting this standard is a requirement for obtaining an Ontario Secondary School Diploma and positions students for success in their life beyond high school.

Rossella Bagnato, Interim Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic Board is thrilled with the efforts of her students. “We are extremely pleased with the test results of our
Grade 10 students,” stated Bagnato. “The results from the Province of Ontario’s EQAO Assessment testing indicate that our OSSLT plan is working and reflects admirably on our students, teachers, principals and parents.”

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic Board is also encouraged by the Literacy Test results stating that, “Our mandate as trustees in conjunction with senior administration at the Board has always been and will continue to be, to provide our students with the tools ands resources that they require to receive the best education possible. The very fact that our secondary schools show an 89 percent pass rate which is 5 percent higher than the Provincial average is proof that we are on the right track and will continue to improve on these results.”

Full details of these results are available at www.eqao.com.

Greater Sudbury Public Library Introduces Changes in Hours of Opening

The Main, Chelmsford, Lively, New Sudbury, South and Valley East libraries will be closed Sundays, beginning Sunday May 20, 2007. Sunday openings will be resume October 14, 2007.

All Greater Sudbury Public Libraries will be operating under Summer Hours beginning June 4, 2007. Pick up a flyer outlining the hours at any of the 13 Greater Sudbury Public Library locations.

Families can access the Greater Sudbury Public Library’s website at www.sudbury.library.on.ca.

CUPE Local 1369 Ratifies Tentative Agreement with Sudbury Catholic Board

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 1369 and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have ratified a new
three year collective agreement with its custodial, maintenance and warehouse staff (retroactive) from September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2009. The new agreement includes the following wage increases; 2.5 percent in the first year, 3 percent in the second year and 2 percent in year three. The agreement ensures that the stable and co-operative work environment will continue at the Board’s 24 Catholic elementary and secondary schools.

On Sunday, March 18, 2007 the union membership voted in favour of the tentative settlement and on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 Trustees for the Sudbury District School Board approved the new contract.

David Chezzi, National Representative and Associate Coordinator for the OSBCC stated that, “when both parties began negotiations there was a willingness on both sides to come to an agreement without having to resort to work interruptions, a strike or lockout and/or arbitration.”

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Board’s negotiating committee and Board Chair is pleased with the fact that the contract has been ratified by the membership. “The fact that the majority of the CUPE membership voted in favour of the agreement is extremely encouraging,” stated Peroni. “It reflects the outcome of the goodwill demonstrated by both parties throughout the negotiation process.”

Catholic School Trustees Welcome Funding Announcement

We congratulate the Minister of Education for the timely announcement of the Grants for Student Needs. Receiving this information in mid-March will greatly assist school boards in the 2007-08 budget planning process,” said Paula Peroni, Vice President of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA).

“Today’s announcement contained news regarding a number of initiatives that are good for Ontario students including funding to support improved Aboriginal student outcomes and more flexible implementation guidelines to assist boards in meeting Primary Class Size standards,” explained Peroni.

OCSTA is pleased that the Ministry of Education maintained its commitment to funding the fourth year of the provincial framework for education and we are encouraged by the continued priority focus on education. This announcement does not, however, address the need for updated funding benchmarks. Funding shortfalls in such areas as employee benefits, special education and student transportation will create financial challenges for some school boards across the province as they plan their budgets for 2007-08.

OCSTA will monitor and analyze the impact of these announcements on schools boards and will continue to work closely with the Minister of Education to ensure that boards have the necessary resources to meet the needs for student success.

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association is the provincial voice for Catholic education. Founded in 1930, OCSTA represents Catholic school boards that collectively educate more than 600,000 students in Ontario, from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12.

Power of Young Minds Unleashed at SCDSB’s Annual Science Fair

Rossella Bagnato, Interim Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board visited St. Francis Catholic School on Thursday to view a number of interesting and unique projects at the Board’s annual Science Fair.

Mrs. Bagnato reviewed Cortnie Pinard’s and Maddie Dempster’s Science Fair Project, In A Cat’s Eye. The purpose of the project was to determine “why cats pupils change and what effect, if any, does this change have on their vision.” The girls’ hypothesis was that “the beams of light are directed into the cat’s eyes and change the size of the pupils.” The young scientists also informed Mrs. Bagnato that cats can see 90 percent better than humans can in the dark and they can also see in colour, except red.

Zachary Sarmatiuk, a Grade 7 student at St. Francis Catholic School made a presentation to Vice Principal Cassandra MacGregor and Rossella Bagnato regarding the effect of “winglets on airplanes.” The purpose of Zachary’s experiment was to determine if the “winglets” placed on tips of the wings of three different paper airplanes (at various angles) would increase the length of their flight. Zachary’s results indicated that with a wider-winged plane, “winglets” impacted the distance of flight. It is important to note as Zachary was quit to point out that “this experiment was only performed on paper air planes and it really depends on how good a thrower you are.”

Zachary gave special thanks to his little brother Owen who let him use his airplane book for the Science Fair project.

Twenty one of the 150 Science Fair projects were selected to advance to the Regional Science Fair that will take place at Laurentian University on March 31 and April 1, 2007.

Congratulations to all our winners, and good luck at the Regional Science Fair on March 31 and April 1, 2007 at Laurentian University!

School Student
Name(s)
Project
Title
Marymount
Academy
Katherine
Gedey
Lindsay Henderson
The
Beat Must Flow On
St.
Francis
Jeff
Lafantaisie
Boat
Hulls and Hydrodynamics
Marymount
Academy
Alysha
Mills
Processed
vs. Non-Processed
St.
Francis
Jennifer
Trevisiol
What’s
In a Name?
St.
James
Nicole
Denomme
Mikaela Iturregui
The
Amazing Race
St.
Mary
Alex
Bottigoni
Justin Konrad
Does
Music Affect Heartbeat?
St.
Francis
Scott
Fleury
Bouteille
d’eau recyclable…
Bon ou mauvais
St.
Francis
Mark
Verrilli
Mike Fabiili
Bending
Under Pressure
Marymount
Academy
Brittany
Caines
Le
memoire
Marymount
Academy
Emily
Cortolezzis
Cecilia MacDonald
La
vitame C
St.
Francis
Alex
Trottier
Resistance
a la rupture des formes
St.
Raphael
Matt
Spina
Steven Dinnes
Stitching
Span
St.
Charles
Alex
Predon
Tyerone McCoshen
Catching
the Wavelength
St.
Raphael
Marie
Longo
Water
Quality
St.
Francis
Conner
Boyce
La
terre serre
St.
John
Kaiana
Freskiw
Rachael Guerin
Does
Colour Affect People’s Perception?
Marymount
Academy
Angelica
Fievoli
What
a Headache!
Marymount
Academy
Cara
Loney
What
Are You Eating?
Marymount
Academy
Vanessa
DiFeo
Separation
101
St.
Francis
Loren
Ellero Dionne
H3PO4
& Teeth
St.
Raphael
Desiree
Tomassini
Sara Schroeder

Will Flouride Make Teeth Stronger?

CBC National News Comes to the Sudbury Catholic District School Board

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce that it has been selected by CBC News in Toronto to be the host site for the National News featuring Peter Mansbridge on Monday, March 12, 2007.

The request to air the CBC National News “live” from the grounds of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was granted by Board officials earlier in the week and confirmed by the CBC today. According to producers of the CBC National News, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was selected as the site for newscast because of “its unique and picturesque setting, which affords a great view of the City of Greater Sudbury and the city lights at night”.

Crews and equipment for the CBC National News will arrive at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board at approximately 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 12, 2007 to begin the setup and preparations for the newscast. The CBC National news will begin broadcasting at 9:00 p.m. to stations in Canada’s eastern time zone with Mr. Mansbridge anchoring the show from a news set positioned on the back of a 5-ton truck located on the grounds of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board welcomes the opportunity to be the host site for one of Canada most prestigious and highly respected national news programs.

SCDSB Proud Partner in Interactive Home Audit Program

Approximately 27,000 students and their families in Greater Sudbury will be asked to take part in the Interactive Home Audit (IHA) over the next few weeks – an innovative and comprehensive education program that will provide a framework for changing habits when it comes to energy conservation.

The Interactive Home Audit involves the City of City of Greater Sudbury’s four school boards and includes all 94 schools. Coordinated by the City of Greater Sudbury and the Dearness Environmental Society, the program features an online tool designed to encourage students, their families, and the general public to reduce electricity, energy and water use in their homes.

Rossella Bagnato, Interim Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was on hand for the official launch of the Interactive Home Audit program at Science North. Mrs. Bagnato is proud of the role that her students are playing in the Home Audit Program. “By educating and assisting our families about conservation in our homes and businesses we are taking a positive step to sustainable change,” stated Bagnato. “We are very committed to this community wide strategy and take our role as stewards of the earth seriously.”

The information users will find when completing the Interactive Home Audit includes:

• The amount of energy being consumed in their homes
• How much money energy use is costing per month
• What efficiency measures can be implemented to reduce consumption
• Dollar savings after efficiency measures are implemented
• The impact that personal actions have on the environment

As a component of the Interactive Home Audit Challenge, a number of youth environmental teams, representing each of the four school boards, will be visiting neighbourhoods in Greater Sudbury during the month of March, to promote the IHA and Efficient Sudbury campaign. The youth teams will be sharing information on these two community initiatives and giving residents a free Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulb.

Tom Tamblyn, President of Dearness Environmental Society, developed the Interactive Home Audit to connect student learning about the environment with actions in our homes and community. As Tom stated recently, “we all have a responsibility to think globally and act locally. The home audit was designed to help students become ‘system thinkers’, so they can better understand sustainability principles and the impacts of their actions on their community and their environment.”

The IHA can be found online at http://sudbury.yourhomeaudit.com.

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