JANUARY 2024
St. Augustine School
Newsletter
Principal's Message
Happy New Year, St. Augustine School! I hope that everyone’s Christmas holidays involved both rest and spending quality time with loved ones. It is important to remember that, in Christian tradition, Christmas, just as Easter, is celebrated as a period of time, a season of the Church year, rather than just a day. Christmas begins with Christmas Day December 25 and lasts for twelve days until the Epiphany, January 6, which looks ahead to the mission of the Church to the world in light of the Nativity. As we ring in 2024, let us work to keep Christmas alive in our hearts the entire year. With this, I share with you a post- Christmas reflection:
Long after the angels disappear into the heavens, the shepherds return to their flocks, the magi journey home,
and the great star sets,
Jesus remains.
The Child in whom we rediscover God’s great love for humanity
becomes the adult Redeemer who challenges us to imitate his selflessness and compassion
in order that we might transform our world in love.
May we allow the miracle of Christmas to continue long after the holiday trappings have been packed away;
May we welcome the adult Messiah and his challenging Gospel to recreate our lives,
making the peace, justice and hope of this holy season
a reality in every season of the new year.
Happy New Year once again! All the very best for a safe, faith-filled, and healthy 2024! God bless!
Mr.Yaptinchay
LIVING OUR FAITH!
By December 22, St. Augustine School delivered your generous donations in support of the Sancta Maria House, families in need, the Holy Childhood, and the Oblate Missions in Kenya. What a fantastic and wonderful way to celebrate Christmas by continuing to care for others in our world as members of our extended family and to continue Christ's mission and the work of the Church! Our Advent Giving Initiaitves raised over $5000!
Thank you to all who so generously donated to our Advent Giving initiatives!
As we begin this new year, we want to continue our call to LIVE our faith to bring HOPE into the world through acts of charity. Our post-Christmas work will involve the collection of non-perishable food items for the Food Bank towards the end of January and into February. Details to follow.
There is NO SCHOOL Monday, January 8
(The staff will be on its annual winter retreat.)
The FIRST DAY back from Christmas Break for all students is
Tuesday, January 9.
OPEN HOUSE and INFORMATION EVENING (Thursday, January 11, 2024)
We are hosting our annual Open House/ Information Evening Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 7:00pm IN-PERSON in the school Learning Commons for new parents interested in Kindergarten for September 2024. Thank you for helping spread the word. Please, pre-register for the evening to receive the zoom link here: St. Augustine School Open House.
ADVENT EVENING OF SONG AND PRAYER
If you were in attendance December 14 or joined us virtually, we are certain you would agree that this was once again a beautiful Advent Evening of Song and Prayer that our school and parish celebrated.
Our church was packed, and it was beautiful to hear our children’s voices as they sang so passionately! Congratulations to Mr. Logan, Ms. Neary, Ms. Mulligan, and Mr. McCann for their wonderful work preparing the songs, harmonies, and melodies with the students! A special thank you to all grades for their beautiful singing and to our teachers and staff, in particular Mr. Yaptinchay, Mrs. Patzer, and Ms. O’Hara for their work planning, coordinating, and producing the event.
A special thank you to Father Ignacy and the Oblate Fathers, as well as to all the teachers, students, families, friends, and alumni from around the world who took time out of their busy pre-Christmas schedules to celebrate this special evening with us, wheteher in-person or virtually.
We are grateful also to the following parishioners and parents for all their their help: Peter Allen (music and sound), Aaron Seminianho and Alvin Cheng (photography).
Enjoy the story of the evening, including the recording of the live stream, as well as photos below.
ADVENT EVENING OF SONG AND PRAYER 2023
COACH’S CORNER
Basketball season has started! Be on the lookout the first week of January for an update from Mrs. Patzer.
FAMILY LITERACY AND DRESS-UP DAY (Wednesday, January 24)
Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy- related activities as a family. We are working on what this will look like this year. Stay tuned for details from Ms. Moffat.
One thing that can happen the same day is our eighth annual ’’Literature Dress-Up Day’' at SAS! As part of our literacy initiatives, all students are asked to dress-up as his/her favourite author or character from a book. Along with a costume, please, bring in a copy of the book that inspired the costume choice. Costumes must be school appropriate and violence-free. This is a non-uniform day!
SNOW DAYS (OR SCHOOL CLOSURE)
In case school is closed due to snow, the school will notify you by email. Please, also check the school website, as well as CKNW AM980 and Global News. This announcement will be made by 6:30am at the latest.
If the school is open despite snow falling, you will also be notified by email regardless. If you find it is unsafe to come to school in the morning, please, make the decision to stay home. We do not want anyone to risk injury or an accident if you feel it is not safe to drive to school from where you live.
Note: We have had a very mild winter so far yet the weather is getting colder. Thank you in advance to all parent volunteeers who can come out when it snows to shovel and clear the sidewalks around the school and the church.
WINTER CLOTHING
As the weather becomes increasingly colder this winter, we ask that all children be sent to school with proper rain/ snow and cold weather attire, which includes boots, winter jacket (hoodies don’t count!), mitts/gloves, and hats or toques.
THE EPIPHANY
Epiphany, also known as "Three Kings Day" and "Twelfth Day," is commemorated on January 6. It falls on the twelfth day after Christmas. The feast celebrates the manifestation of God in the form of human flesh through Jesus Christ, his Son.
The word epiphany means “manifestation” or “revelation" and is commonly linked in Western Christianity with the visit of the wise men (Magi) to the Christ child. Through the Magi, Christ revealed himself to the gentiles. In Eastern Christianity, Epiphany puts emphasis on the baptism of Jesus by John, with Christ revealing himself to the world as God's own Son.
EPIPHANY MASS Wednesday, January 10
We will be celebrating our sixth annual Epiphany Mass. This special bilingual mass is prepared by Mme Cocosila and a selection of students across grades. We hope you can join us at 9:15am Wednesday, January 10 as we celebrate the Epiphany and the last day of the Christmas season, which we mark a few days later because of the later start after the break.
IMPORTANT DATES IN JANUARY
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JANUARY 8- NO SCHOOL (STAFF RETREAT)
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JANUARY 9 - FIRST DAY BACK FOR STUDENTS
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JANUARY 10 - SCHOOL "EPIPHANY" MASS AT 9:15AM
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JANUARY 11 - OPEN HOUSE FOR INTERESTED NEW FAMILIES AT 7PM IN THE LEARNING COMMONS
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JANUARY 20 - GRADE 2 PARENTS SACRAMENTAL RETREAT (8:30AM TO 11:30AM IN PERSON AT THE PARISH CENTRE)
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JANUARY 21 - 9AM CHILDREN'S MASS
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JANUARY 24 - FAMILY LITERACY DAY & LITERACY DRESS-UP DAY (Stay tuned for more information)