September 25, 2008

 

OCSTA Meetings at a Glance

 

OCSTA Regional Meetings	Dates
Central – Host: Dufferin-Peel CDSB	September 30, 9:30am – 3pm
North East - Host: Huron-Superior CDSB	October 2, 9:30am – 3pm
West – Host: St. Clair CDSB	October 7, 9:30am – 3pm
East – Host: CDSB of Eastern Ontario	October 14, 9:30am – 3pm
North West – Thunder Bay CDSB	October 17, 3-9 pm
Seminar for Chairs, Vice Chairs & Directors of Education Doubletree by Hilton – Toronto Airport	January 16-17, 2009

 

*For more information about OCSTA’s regional meetings please contact Jane Ponte at OCSTA, (416) 932-9460, ext. 23 / jponte@ocsta.on.ca or visit OCSTA’s meetings and events page http://www.ocsta.on.ca/meetingsAndEvents.aspx.

 

Other Events:

Catholic Leadership – Key Challenges & Ethical Tensions

Labour Relations Update

 

Declaring Support for Catholic Education

Each year many boards send out information to parents and other Catholic school supporters requesting that they check the property assessment notice for their place of residence to ensure that they are accurately designated as separate school supporters.

To assist boards in this effort, OCSTA has established a library containing examples of effective communications materials that boards have developed for their communities. All trustees of OCSTA member boards can access this information by logging into the Members’ Area of the ocsta website at http://www.ocsta.on.ca/ocstamembers.aspx. If you do not have your login information please contact your local board office or Pam DeNobrega at OCSTA – pdenobrega@ocsta.on.ca/ (416) 932-9460, ext. 34.

For your reference, in this week’s newsletter we feature a fine example of this kind of communication courtesy of the York Catholic District School Board. The following example was included in Trustee Carol Cotton’s newsletter:

“In Ontario, we are fortunate to be able to send our children to Catholic schools, which provide a strong academic education with a focus on character development based on the teachings of Jesus. It is important that we do not take this privilege for granted—we must continue to show our support for Catholic education.

The property tax rate is the same for both Catholic and public school supporters, and it is your constitutional right to declare yourself as a Catholic school supporter (on your property assessment notice) whether you own your home or rent. It is important to know that every time you move, your property taxes will automatically default to the public board unless you declare yourself as a separate school supporter.

Not sure if you’re a Catholic school supporter?

Find out today by calling the Municipal Property Assessment Office at 1-866-296-6722 or check their website at www.mpac.ca.

You can also get Direction of School Support & Lease forms by calling the York Catholic District School Board at 905-713-1211, ext. 24511, or visit the Admissions section of our website at www.ycdsb.ca.”

 

News from Across the Province

Northeastern CDSB is responding to the “call to assist neighbours in need” by launching a fundraising drive to support missions in Mozambique. The goal is to raise $30,000. Funds raised will go towards the building of a community centre and the translation of bibles, missals and liturgical resources into the language spoken locally in the community. The aid agency involved in this effort is the Consolata Missionaries—an organization that has been working in Mozambique since 1925. For more information please visit the board website at www.ncdsb.on.ca.

London DCSB: St. Jude Catholic School teacher, Brenda Collins was awarded a Certificate of Achievement for the 2007-08 Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence. Ms. Collins was one of 51 teachers across Canada to receive the award which recognizes “outstanding and innovative elementary and secondary school teachers in all disciplines who instill in their students a love of learning and who utilize information and communications technology to better equip their students with the skills needed to meet the challenges of a 21^st century society and economy.”

Hamilton-Wentworth CDSB plans to build two new schools utilizing environment-friendly designs. The board’s recent choice of Lintack Architects Inc. to design the schools was partly due to the firm’s experience with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The Board received positive media exposure in their local paper because of this news.

The Wellington CDSB will be holding their Annual Bishop’s Dinner for Catholic Education on Thursday, October 9 at the Italian Canadian Club in Guelph. Proceeds from the event will go towards the completion of a Student Retreat Centre on the Ignatius Jesuit property. For more information please visit the board site at www.wellingtoncssb.edu.on.ca.

Note: to find website and address information for any of OCSTA’s member boards please visit http://www.ocsta.on.ca/membersBoards.aspx.

Student Trustees

The Ontario Student Trustees’ Association will be hosting its Fall General Meeting and professional development conference in Toronto, October 3 and 4. For more information please contact exec@osta-aeco.org. The Catholic section of OSTA or the English Catholic Board Council is chaired by student trustee Clemence Emmanuel of York CDSB.  He can be reached at: ecbc.president@osta-aeco.org.

Images from the 2007 OCSTA Regional Meetings