The mission of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is to realize each student’s potential within our inclusive Catholic learning community by nurturing and developing their mind, body and spirit. As June is nationally recognized as Pride Month in Canada, our Board will join other Catholic School Boards across Ontario by flying the Progress Pride flag which we have recently obtained at the Catholic Education Centre and each June going forward.

While the Progress and Rainbow Flag are strongly connected to the 2SLGBTQ+ community, they are also a representation of respect, dignity, openness and a universal symbol of inclusion. A visible sign such as the Progress Flag is a sign of solidarity that tells our students and staff that we welcome and value students and celebrate diversity. It also indicates that our schools are a safe welcoming space for everyone.

We believe that we are all created in the image and likeness of God, and we teach our students to honour the dignity in each person by treating one another with empathy, compassion and respect.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board remains firm in its resolve that the work that our staff and students engage in each and every day will confront injustice, racism, oppression, and violence. We advocate for acceptance, healing, and reconciliation. Flying the Progress Flag aligns with our Board’s equity plan and our Board multi-year strategic plan which emphasizes inclusion and belonging, as well as student and staff well-being.
We are pleased to support the flying of the Progress flag and the positive impact it will have on our Board community.

Note: There are several variations of the Rainbow Pride flag including versions that include black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ+ people of colour. Most recently, graphic designer Daniel Quasar has added a five-coloured chevron to the Rainbow Flag to place a greater emphasis on “inclusion and progression”. This flag is often referred to as the “Progress Flag” or “Inclusion Flag”.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board invites feedback on its draft 2021/2022 budget until 5 pm on June 28.

If you would like to share your budget views with respect to our strategic priorities and goals for the upcoming year, please email feedback@sudburycatholicschools.ca.

Family Literacy Day takes place every January 27th to raise awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Since 1999, thousands of schools, libraries, literacy organizations and other community groups have taken part in the initiative. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to a child’s development and to improving a child’s literacy skills.

K-12 students at Sudbury Catholic schools participated in a variety of activities to celebrate this day!

Here are just a few highlights:

• Kindergarten/Grade 1 Remote learners in Ms. Jarrett’s class read Artic Living and then visited Iqaluit using Google Earth and even learned some Inuktitut language.
• Grade 5/6 Holy Cross School Students in Ms. Mehes dressed up as their favourite book character and prepared a short presentation “en francais” about their chosen character.
• At Holy Trinity School, Mrs. Yasko and Mr. Vicedomini’s FDK students welcomed Kathy Leroux (via zoom) into their classroom to do a virtual reading of her story book “Tess Baker, With the Right Ingredients Anything is Possible.”
• Staff and students at St. Paul School wore their comfy pajamas and curled up to read a book!.

Later in the day, families were invited to virtual story time with Superintendents, Nicole Bedard and Rossella Bagnato. They read the book Cadeaux/Gifts and then joined ABC Life Literacy’s national celebration where Author and illustrator Barbara Reid demonstrated how to use clay to create a picture.

It was a fantastic day for our students, educators and families!

Watch Improving Literacy Together as a Family for more information about Family Literacy Day 2021.