June 2025
St. Augustine School
Final Newsletter
Principal's Message
Dear St. Augustine School families,
As we approach the end of the academic year, I want to extend my heartfelt wishes to each and every one of you for a safe and joyful summer.
Reflecting upon the past school year, I am overwhelmed with a deep sense of affection. These nine months have only reinforced my profound gratitude for belonging to such a remarkable and extraordinary community. It truly is a privilege to be a member of this affirming, joyful, faith-filled, and supportive community, where we consistently look out for one another, regardless of the circumstances we face. I am constantly reminded of the incredible nature of our St. Augustine family.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Father Ignacy, the PEC, all the dedicated teachers and staff, as well as the students and their families, for the unwavering support provided throughout the year. Your commitment has been truly invaluable, and I am deeply grateful to be part of this blessed community that I proudly call my home.
As the year comes to a close, I would like to share the following prayer with you:
We praise and thank you, Lord, For the gift of this school year. It has been a time filled with grace and blessings, With challenges and opportunities, joys and sorrows. The days have passed quickly.
The weeks, the months, the seasons, the holidays and holy days, The exams, vacations, breaks, and assemblies, All have come forth from your hand. While we trust that your purposes have always been at work each day, Sometimes it has seemed difficult to understand and appreciate just what you have been up to in our school.
Give us the rest and refreshment we need this summer. Let our efforts of this past year bear fruit. Bring all of our plans to a joyful conclusion, And bless us, according to your will, With the fulfillment of our summer hopes and dreams.
Watch over us in the weeks of rest ahead, And guide each day as you have done this past year. Help us return to school with a new spirit and a new energy. May we continue to grow In age, wisdom, knowledge and grace.
Amen.
Enjoy this last month of the school year and have a wonderful, safe summer, St. Augustine’s! Take good care over the holidays! See you in September.
God Bless,
Mr. Yaptinchay
IMPORTANT DATES TO NOTE IN JUNE
FUN DAY
Friday, June 20 will be FUN DAY at SAS. Our students will be dressed in team colours for this annual celebration. It is a noon dismissal that day. Stay tuned for full details!
TALENT SHOW
We want to continue to honour and celebrate all our talented students! A Talent Show is scheduled for June 23. We will offer a hybrid opportunity for students this year once again: you can submit your talent show performance to a shared album as we did the last couple of years OR you can perform live on stage in front of the student body (the show will NOT be live-streamed for parents so they can watch virtually, but we will film and post the performances to the shared album after). The deadline to sign up for a live performance will be June 9, our audition date. The deadline to submit a pre-recorded performance is June 23. The criteria for either option is simple: 1) the performance should be limited to 1-2 minutes and 2) attire, lyrics, and language should be appropriate. We are excited to be entertained by and to celebrate the many, many talents of our students!
SIGN-UP HERE.
FAREWELL
Our Grade 7 Farewell will be in-person at the church to honour and celebrate our departing students. Farewell will be Thursday, June 19 at 7pm. We will begin with mass followed by student recognitions then a reception in the Parish Centre. More details to follow.
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL & FINAL SCHOOL MASS (Thursday, June 26)
Our last day of school is Thursday, June 26. We will be celebrating our final school mass of the year at 10:15am.
Staggered pick-up will begin at 12pm. Final Learning Updates (Summary of Learning) will also be issued on this last day.
FIRST DAY OF CLASSES
School re-opens on Tuesday, September 2 with classes scheduled from 8:30 AM until 12:00 PM for Grades 1-7, and Kindergarten beginning their gradual entry.
MONTH AT A GLANCE
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June 1 - Ascension Sunday
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June 4 - CISVA Track Championships Day 2
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June 5 - New Kindergarten/Families Wine & Cheese Social at 7pm (at Parish Centre)
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June 8 - Pentecost
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June 9 - Talent Show Auditions
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June 12 - Grade 7 Parents Farewell Social at 7pm (in Learning Commons)
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]une 15 - Fathers’ Day
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June 19
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Grade 7 Farewell Assembly at 10:45am
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Grade 7 Farewell Mass and Reception at 7:00pm
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June 20 - Fun Day (noon dismissal)
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June 23 - Talent Show
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June 25 - Soak-the-Teacher
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June 26
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Last Day of School for Students
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10:15am School Mass
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Noon Dismissal (first stagger begins at 12:00)
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Staff Changes for 2025-2026
It is with sadness that I officially announce that several of our beloved teachers and staff will be leaving us at the end of this school year. Ms. O'Hara, Mrs. Moffat, Ms. Santos, Ms. Nugent, Ms. Hussey, Ms. Della Siega, Ms. Tuan, Ms. Pope, and Mr. Cooper will be saying farewell to St. Augustine School at the end of June.
Thank you to our departing Education Assistants for their dedication to the school over the last year. Ms. Tuan and Ms. Pope, we thank you for your service to our community, and we wish you all a fond farewell and thank you for taking such good care of our students during your time at our school.
Ms. Santos, after 8 years at St.Augustine School during which time she taught Grade 5 and Kindergarten, will be transfering over to St. Bernadette School in Surrey, only 5 minutes from her home. We will miss Ms. Santos and wish her a fond farewell and an immense thank you for taking such good care of our students in the first year of our primary grades, Kindergarten.
Ms. Nugent, our grade 1 teacher, and Ms. Hussey, our grade 3 teacher, will be returning to Ireland to be closer to family and continue their careers back home. We thank them both for their professionalism, their steadfast commitment and service to our community, and, especially, the love they showed the children in their care during their time at our school. We wish them both all the very best in the future and hope perhaps to see them back in Vancouver one day.
Ms. Della Siega has dedicated the last 3 years of her career to the students and community of St. Augustine’s; her faith-filled love, passion, and dedication for her students were foundational in establishing and developing the high quality of education as one of our Grade 6 teachers. We wish her all the very best, as she takes all her gifts and talents with her to West Point Grey Academy.
Mr. Cooper, who has worked passionately and unwaveringly as our School Facilities and Maintenance Cooridnator for the last 5 years will also be leaving us to move to the Netherlands this summer with his wife, who will be starting her PhD this fall. We are ever so grateful for his many years of service to our community and for helping maintain our facilities in such a commendable and exemplary fashion.
We congratulate Ms. O'Hanrahan, one of our Education Assistants, who is expecting this summer. She will be on maternity leave commencing in September. We look forward to meeting her new baby and her return to us after her leave.
Finally, as announced last month, after many years of teaching, Ms. O'Hara (46 years) and Mrs. Moffat (32 years) announced their retirement this year. We cannot thank them enough for their years of faith-filled service to St. Augustine's and the multitude of lives they have touched and influenced. The halls of our school will not be the same without them. Their Retirement Celebrations will be on June 22, as you know. Do not forget to RSVP here.
No new hires have been made to date, and positions are still open as we continue our search for the right teachers and staff. Interviews are on-going, and we will keep you updated when we fill these roles.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire staff of St. Augustine School for their continued dedication and undying commitment to the community and the children in their care!
In gratitude, we thank all our departing staff for being an instrumental part of the high level of Catholic education at our school. Their gifts, talents, and the love they each have for our school and our students across all grades will be greatly missed. We congratulate them on their new endeavours and wish them all the very best in the future! Please, join us the last day of school as we say goodbye to our beloved staff at the end of year mass and recognize them more fully.
God bless all our teachers, friends, and families at
St Augustine School and Parish.
Have a wonderful and safe summer!